Luna Park Races Toward March Opening

New track on the Cyclone © Luna Park

When the waters from hurricane Sandy receded from Coney Island they left in their wake $8 million in damages to Luna Park and Scream Zone, the pair of amusement parks operated by Zamperla.  With the clock still ticking, operators of the park have been racing to have everything up and running in time for the season opening, March 24th.

The salt water destroyed many of the ride's operating systems, including rusting out many electrical boxes and ruining ride motors.  With repairs already well underway, the hope is that all can be repaired back to operating order.

The operators are also continuing their multi-year refurbishment of the famous Cyclone roller coaster, including rebuilding approximately 600 feet of track.  Some of that work can be seen above, and in this gallery shared by the park.

Luna Park will also be home to "three new rides," according to this report.  One of them will be called Water Mania, and will be the first instillation in the world.  A design image of Water Mania can be seen in this story from Parkworld.  The ride will feature two turntables filled with spinning cars, much like a tea cup ride, only with water blasters located at each seat.  No word yet on what the other rides may be.

Near the parks, the B&B Carousel is set to reopen this year, and the parachute tower will receive an all new lighting system.  While there's still plenty of work to do before full recovery is achieved, it will certainly be worth it once the Summer 2013 season kicks in!