Thunderbolt Roller Coaster Looks To Rock Coney Island

Ready to go flying down a 125-foot-tall drop with the sea breeze blowing your hair at 65 mph? Thrill seekers will only have to wait until next summer to get a taste of the new Thunderbolt being built at Coney Island.

The new ride, which borrows the name of the original Thunderbolt coaster that was built in 1920, decommissioned in 1982, and torn down in 2000, promises to be a sleek modern adrenaline machine with a signature loop. It will feature three cars that can carry up to a total of 27 people at once. The operation and $10 million price tag of the new coaster is being covered by Zamperla USA, the operators of Luna Park.

City officials expressed excitement over the future construction of the new attraction.

“For a decade, the City has made investing in Coney Island a priority. The Thunderbolt roller coaster will build upon that commitment by providing visitors to Coney Island with a fantastic new attraction, boosting the local economy and helping create jobs in the neighborhood still recovering from Hurricane Sandy,” said New York City Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Kyle E. Kimball.

The ride will be situated by the restored B&B Carousel and the new Steeplechase Plaza. The original Thunderbolt was torn down because people thought it was an eyesore distracting fans at the new Coney Island Brooklyn Cyclones stadium. The lot that the coaster will be built on was owned by fried chicken magnate Horace Bullard, who himself had tried unsuccessfully for years to get the city to invest in Coney Island, only to be left out of the action when they did.