New Thunderbolt Concepts + Astrotower is Gone

A quick note, the Astrotower is completely gone as of this morning!  No part of the tower appears to be standing in this shot, taken from this cam.  You can compare to the image in yesterday's story where a part of it was still up.  On another note, look at how crowded that beach is!

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) has sent out a press release about the addition of the Thunderbolt roller coaster to Coney Island next summer.  The release does not contain a ton of new information, other than confirming that the coaster will be built as a private investment by Central Amusement International, the company who operates Luna Park and Scream Zone.

There are some notable differences between these images and the originals that were released, and I'm not sure if that was on purpose or not.  The biggest change is the lift hill - the originals show the Thunderbolt using an elevator style lift hill, where above we see a vertical lift ascent being utilized.  Here a quote about the ride from the release:

Thunderbolt is designed as a one-of-a-kind ‘out and back’ steel coaster, taking riders in a vertical lift reaching a staggering height of 110 feet. Once riders reach the top of the lift, the train will be unleashed onto the first vertical drop and then through a series of elements and inversions while traveling at 65 mph. The ride will then make its return through a series of “bunny hills” that will give riders a floating sensation until the train returns back into the station.

The original images and video were direct from CAI, whereas these are from the NYCEDC - so I really have no idea which of the two are more accurate.

The station for the new coaster also looks a bit less developed than in the earlier images.  Plus the name is just Thunderbolt, where earlier it was called Thunderbolt Reborn.  Small changes, and still could just be differences in the marketing of the park versus an economic development agency.

One thing that hasn't changed is the rest of the Thunderbolt's layout, which stretches in a long, thin line.  The individual nine-seater cars will encounter several inversions on the 2,000 feet of track after the initial lift.  The ride will start not far from the recently reopened B&B Carousel, also close to the Parachute tower.