After Delays, Coney Island’s Thunderbolt To Open Next Week [Updated]

thunderbolt
Photo by Allen Shweky/Brooklyn Views

UPDATE (June 3, 2014): The public relations folks for the new Thunderbolt contacted us this morning to note that the opening is now being pushed to next week. They’re not sure of the date yet, but the announcement is coming soon.

Original article:

Coney Island’s newest roller coaster, Zamperla USA’s Thunderbolt, is slated to open this Friday, June 6, according to Brooklyn Views.

When first announced last year, the coaster was originally scheduled to open in time for Memorial Day. That was pushed back until just after Memorial Day, and delayed  again to this Friday.

Still, after 2.5 months of construction, the $9 million coaster is nearly ready for showtime. The three-car coaster will hold 27 people as it zooms along 2,233 feet of track at 55 miles per hour. It’ll reach its peak height at 115 feet before plummeting nearly straight to the ground and into a 100-foot vertical loop, then an 80-foot zero-g roll followed by a heartline dive and corkscrew. That two-minute ride will represent the single-largest private investment in Coney Island in decades.