Coney Island - One of the Modern Wonders of the World.

[tommysmalls]

SERIOUSLY!

circa 1905 they had 3 massive amusements park with attractions that make canada's wonderland look like snoozeville:
- a midget city (midgets from all over the continent)
- 24 hour lit beaches
- rollercoasters that leap frog over eachother
- barrels of love (where strangers would roll around in a barrel together)
- gigantic steeplechase horse track (operational 24 hours a day)
- largest ballroom in the world (24,000 sq ft)
- 1/2 mile pier big enough for 60,000 people
- simulated submarine ride
- simulated flight over manhattan (before invention of plane)
- canals of venice ride/model (100 years before vegas)
- fighting the flames (a regular torching and extinguiching of a building on fire)
- recreation of pompeii

...and lots, lots more. the Dreamland park could host crowds of 250,000 without congestion.

http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/coneyisland/articles/dreamland.htm

And the craziest thing is, there were 2 other massive theamparks besides dreamland

 

[tommysmalls]

here's a link for LUNA, another coney island biggie: http://www.amusementhistory.com/luna.htm

 

[KiFe]

so much for that.

 

[tommysmalls]

Dreamland's Leap Frog Railroad, built out on a special 400 foot long pier jutting into the sea, was a one track railroad that went nowhere. It was built to meet an absurd challenge once posed by Mark Twain; "the only thing Yankee ingenuity had not accomplished...the successful passing of two carloads on a single line of tracks." Each of the Leap Frog cars were equipped with a pair of bent rails on their roofs that allowed the approaching cars to glide over or underneath each other. The 32 frightened passengers bracing for a collision, were relieved when the other car safely passed overhead. On the return trip the cars changed positions so that passengers on both cars got to experience the sensation.

Hell Gate's visitors were transported in a boat along a spiral water flume to the gates of Hell. The action took place in an open fronted building where a 50 foot whirlpool drew boats crowded with passengers into constantly narrowing circles, until before the eyes of astonished spectators, they dove into the center of the pool and disappeared. It was a clever device for drawing in paying customers, for by allowing everyone to watch one of mankind's primal fears for free, most were curious to see what happened beneath the pool. At the gate their boat became caught in a whirlpool where the iron and wood channel's slope suddenly dipped and the boats dropped into a subterranean channel which followed a torturous course under the building to its exit point. Its Plaster of Paris caverns collaborated the popular conception of the Earth's interior. Ellis' attraction replaced the previous year's lackluster Submarine Boat ride.

Fighting the Flames, cast of 2000, including 120 fire fighters, complete with four engines and hose wagons, and an extension ladder fire truck had to save a full sized six-story hotel constructed of iron that was set on fire. First there was the cry of "Fire" as people in the street spotted flames in the hotel's lower stories and the excitement in the neighborhood as the alarm was turned in and they stood watching the flames leaping upwards from story to story. In Dreamland's most exciting show, there was the noisy arrival of the fire fighting apparatus from fire house located on either side of the square, the arrival of the Fire Chief Sweeney who began giving orders, the pumping of streams of water into the flaming building's open windows, followed by breathtaking rescues of people jumping into a net below. As the flames rose higher, those trapped inside fled towards the roof. But just as the roof began to cave in, firemen rescued 15 with the aid of scaling ladders. 1500 spectators watched from bleachers just inside the buildings ornate facade which was decorated with sculptures of fire fighters. The show was expanded the following year with an entire block of burning buildings.

 

[Aphrodite]

I got on the wrong subway and went there by mistake once. lol

 

[tommysmalls]

The Barrels Of Love consisted of two horizontal cylinders,approximately 10 feet in diameter. The tubes were mounted in line, resolvingsoftly in opposite directions. The mechanism was almost silent and insidethe large pipe there was a sort of humming from the wind. At either endthere was a small staircase leading up to an entrance. One, feed men intothe machine, the other women. The attraction does not pretend to transfera narrative evolution, you just enter the circuit to experience the rotation.There are no regulations, walk through or contemplate as long as you wish.In here it is impossible to remain standing. We do not care because thewalls are all fluffy. Men and women fall on top of each other. This conditionis wonderful. The rotating machine, a machine of desires, fabricates syntheticintimacy between people who would otherwise never have met.