Fantasy Island Amusement Park

Fantasy Island
Location Grand Island, New York, U.S.
Coordinates 43°1′37.2″N 78°58′14.5″W / 43.027000°N 78.970694°W / 43.027000; -78.970694Coordinates: 43°1′37.2″N 78°58′14.5″W / 43.027000°N 78.970694°W / 43.027000; -78.970694
Owner Apex Parks Group
Opened July 1, 1961
Operating season May through September
Area 85 acres (340,000 m2)
Rides
Total 32 total (7 of which are in the water park)
Roller coasters 3
Water rides 7
Website Fantasy Island

Fantasy Island is an amusement park owned and operated by Apex Parks Group LLC. It is located in Grand Island, New York.

History

Fantasy Island opened in 1961 and went bankrupt in 1982. It was acquired out of bankruptcy by Charles Wood, the original owner of Storytown USA. He sold the park to International Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) in 1989 and later re-acquired the park in 1992 when IBC went bankrupt. The second time Wood owned the park, he changed the park's name to Two Flags Over Niagara Fun Park, a name it kept until 1994 when local businessman Martin DiPietro purchased the park and redubbed it Martin's Fantasy Island. On May 14, 2016, the day the park began opening for the season, DiPietro announced that he had sold Fantasy Island to Apex Parks Group, a California-based company; the park kept the Martin's Fantasy Island name for the first season of ownership, then reverted to the original "Fantasy Island" name once the 2016 season was over.[1] Originally, the park only occupied 12 acres (49,000 m2) of land; it expanded to 85 acres (340,000 m2) in 1974. On August 11, 1991, 14-year-old Kenneth Margerum was killed in a 60-foot fall from the Ferris wheel when his seat dropped from its axle. It was found that the park operators routinely removed one or two seats from the ride each day to prevent the ride from moving around in high winds during off-hours. Each time the ride opened, the seats were bolted back onto the frame of the ride. Investigators found that only one side of the victim's seat had been bolted properly. The park's Silver Comet roller coaster, which opened in 1999, was created in the style of the original Comet roller coaster that was located at nearby Crystal Beach, Ontario for many years. In fact, the original Comet was stored at Fantasy Island after Charles Wood purchased it in 1989, the year Crystal Beach closed. Wood would later move the Comet to his Great Escape park in Queensbury, New York, where it was reassembled in 1994 and remains in operation to this day.

Rides and attractions

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Roller coasters

Fantasy Island only has three operating roller coasters as of 2013.[2]

Name Year Opened Status Type Manufacturer/Model Height Drop Speed Comments
Max's Doggy Dog Coaster 2013 Operating Steel kiddie roller coaster Pinfari
Crazy Mouse 2005 Operating Steel Wild Mouse spinning roller coaster Zamperla 42.8 ft (13.0 m) 29.1 mph (46.8 km/h) Like a typical wild mouse, except with spinning cars
Dragon Coaster 1986 Removed Steel family powered roller coaster. Zamperla Was located between Silver Comet and the Giant Slide.
Little Dipper Removed 1995 Steel kiddie roller coaster Allen Hershell
Orient Express 1998 Removed 2004 Steel kiddie roller coaster. Wisdom Rides Themed as a Chinese dragon.

Replaced with Jack and the Beanstalk in 2004. The coaster was also known as "Dragon Coaster."
Silver Comet 1999 Operating Wood Custom Coasters International wooden thrill roller coaster 82 ft (25 m) 50 mph (80 km/h) Modeled after The Comet from Crystal Beach.
Wildcat 1972 Removed 2005 Steel thrill roller coaster Schwarzkopf 44 ft (13 m) Replaced with Crazy mouse.

Water attractions/Rides

Name Type Year Opened Status Comments
Bumper Boats Bumper Boats Removed
Cannon Bowl ProSlide CannonBowl 2006 Operating A generic ProSlide CannonBowl water slide.
Dragster Drench ProSlide ProRacer 2012 Operating A traditional 4-lane racing mat slide
Dinosaur Pool Kiddie Pool 1980s Operating A small kiddie pool with a dinosaur shaped slide in the middle of it.
Old Mill Scream Arrow Dynamics Log Flume ride 1986 Removed 2014 A log flume ride with two hills. The only water ride that wasn't located in the water park area; removed in 2014 due to deteriorating condition and high maintenance costs. Was replaced by Over the Falls.
Raging Rapids Water Slides 1984 Operating A set of two mat water slides that cross over each other and end in a small shallow pool.
Splash Creek Lazy River Operating A lazy river ride with water falls.
Surf Hill ProSlide Water Slide 1980s Operating A small pink racing water slide for small children.

On some older park maps it's mistakenly called "Pro-Slide".

Wave Pool Wave Pool 1995 Operating
Kid Wash Retro Splash Pad 1980s Removed 1995 A metal structure that kids could walk through, with dumping buckets and other squirting novelties that resembled a car wash. Similar to a modern-day splash pad. Was also surrounded by smaller kiddy fountain pools, with the bumper boats at the furthest end. All removed to make way for the wave pool.

Dry rides

Name Opened Status Type Comments
4x4 Truck Ride Removed 2008 SBF Kiddie ride Art work depicting some cartoon characters such as Wilde Coyote. Was located where Rockin Tug is now.
Antique Cars 1961 Operating Arrow-Huss Antique Car ride
Beanstalk 2015 Operating SBF-Visa Drop n' Twist Replaced the Moser Spring version of the same name.
Blue Goose 2011 Operating Allen Hershell Kiddie ride Originally operated in the 1980s. Was refurbished and brought back to the park for the 50th anniversary.
Boats Operating Allen Hershell Kiddie ride
Bugs Removed 2011 Venture Kiddie ride A small circular ride featuring ladybugs going around a mushroom.

Currently in storage.

Carousel 1961 Operating Allen Hershell Carousel
Chaos 1997 Removed 2007 Chance Chaos Ride Replaced with Full Tilt in 2007.

In 2009, Full Tilt moved to Patriot's location and "Mega Disk-O" was placed in its old location.

Cinema 180 Removed 2003 3D cinema theater
Crazy Bus 1997 Removed 2013 Zamperla Crazy Bus ride Replaced by Rockin' Tug
Rok O Plane Removed Sky Diver
DareDevil 2001 Removed 2008 Chance Slingshot ride Drop Tower

Replaced with Flight.

Devil's Hole[3] 1975 Removed 1994 Chance Rides Inc.
Devil's Hole 2011 Operating Wisdom Gravitron A Rotor version of Devil's Hole originally operated at the park.

Originally, Devil's Hole was supposed to come in green which led to the Devil Statue art work to be accidentally painted green, but after that mistake was corrected the Devil's Hole ride came in yellow and orange.

Rock & Roll 2015 Operating Bertazzon Musik Express (new for 2015)
Flight 2008 Operating Zamperla Star Flyer Replaced DareDevil.
Full Tilt 2007 Operating ARM USA Ali Baba Replaced Chaos.
Flying Bobs Removed 2003 Chance Rides
Giant Slide 1975 Operating Slide Manufactured by Whitehead Plastics.
Gondola Wheel 1994 Operating Chance Rides Giant Wheel Located in the back of the park across from Crazy Mouse
Grand Circus Menagerie 2008 Operating Satori Kiddie ride Features antique cars and motorcycles & Animals.
Iron Horse X2 1961 Both Operating Allen Hershell Iron Horse One of the park's original attractions. MFI Currently has its original Engine & Cars installed at the park, The Park also has the train that came from Beaver Island State Park and uses that as a spare Engine & Cars.
Jack and the Beanstalk 2004 Removed 2015 Moser Spring Ride Themed after the beanstalk statue located near the ride.
Jets Removed
Kiddie Train Operating Zamperla Rio Grande A miniature train ride for kids.
Magic Ring 1961 Operating

Zamperla |Kiddie ride

 Features motorcycles
Mega Disk'o 2009 Operating Zamperla Disk'o ride
Mind Warp 2011 Operating Loop Fighter ride The first ride of its kind in North America.
Nitro 2003 Removed 2009 Zamperla Nitro ride This was the only park installment of the ride.
Over The Falls 2014 Removed 2015 KMG Speed The largest ride in park history at approx. 131 feet tall.
Paratrooper Removed
Patriot 1989 Removed 2009 ARM-UK Kamikaze ride After the 2008 season the Patriot was sold, however well being set up by the new owners, improper handling let to a hydraulic cylinder bursting, causing the ride to collapse. Full Tilt was then moved to its current location in 2009.
Rampage 1979 Removed Double Ferris Wheel Manufactured by Watkins, this was an originally a trailer-mounted ride.
Rockin' Tug 2013 Operating Zamperla Rockin' Tug Replaced the Crazy Bus
Red Baron Operating Allen Hershell Helicopter
Sea Ray 1995 Removed 2011 Mulligan Pirate Ship
Scooter Operating Majestic TM1400 Euro Scooter Was part of Martin DePetrio's traveling carnival before he purchased the park.
Sizzler 1994 Removed 2011 Wisdom Sizzler ride A Scrambler style ride, replaced with Mind Warp in 2011.
Space Shuttle Removed 1993 A swinging ship ride that was made to look like a rocket ship.
Starship 2000 2009 Removed 2011 Wisdom Gravitron ride Replaced with Devil's Hole in 2011. Was leased
Super Spiral 1977 Removed 2002 Round up ride
Tea Cups 1997 Removed 2014 Zamperla mini Tea Cups Replaced by a larger model like the ones at Seabreeze in Rochester, New York and Lagoon in Farmington, Utah.
Tea Cups 2014 Operating Zamperla Midi Tea Cups Slightly larger model of the old Tea Cups.
Tilt-A-Whirl 1992 Operating Sellner Electric 7 Tilt-A-Whirl
Tranbant Removed
Up Up and Away 1996 Operating Zamperla Samba Balloons
YoYo Removed 1994 Chance Rides Inc A chair swing style ride.

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ Fink, James (May 14, 2016). "Fantasy Island bought by California company". Buffalo Business First. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 2016-05-14.
  2. ↑ "Martin's Fantasy Island". RCDB. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
  3. ↑ "86'd Rides vol 2: Hell Hole | The DoD3". domainofdeath3.com. Retrieved 2016-09-07.

External links

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