Joyland Books

As part of the proposed Heritage Amusement Park project, one thing we have been considering is the possibility of building a replica of a major amusement park ride that no longer exists anywhere in the country/world. We have been informed that grant funding may be available for such a project.

If you could choose any ride (within reason, i.e. it has to be able to fit into Dreamland), what ride would you choose?

Please post your ideas here, and we will forward them to our heritage lottery advisor.

if you give us a list of rides and pictures then maybe we could tell you what ride we would like to see in dreamland

The first ride that springs to mind is the Virginia Reel. T'was quite a large machine, however, and getting it past Health and Safety without some kind of restraint system would be a tad difficult.

Rob

i would like to see a replica of the virginia reel,classic and very fierce ride. would that be a viable propositon for the size of site you have in mind

The River Caves (Tubs)

A tricky question, a lot of what I'd like to see is already either on the plan or several exist somewhere. So I dug a few books out ......

In the stuff I'd love to see but they're probably completely impossible due to H&S rules and ride throughput section:

Orton Rocket Speedway
The early 1900's looping wooden coaster from Eastham (Merseyside)

Rare but feasible ones that I'd really like to see:

Virginia Reel
Dreamland's Sky Wheel
Coney Island Style Parachute Drop

Less rare (although the first 2 I've mostly seen only in the US) and more practical, but guess these would be more of a buy one rather than make a replica:

Chance Sky Diver
Looper
Cakewalk

Or perhaps a dark ride, along the lines of Laff in The Dark or 13 Spook Street recreation.

Overall though I guess the best of these for a replica are :

Virginia Reel
Dreamland's Sky Wheel
Coney Island Style Parachute Drop
Some sort of dark ride

As is invariably the case, I agree with Vince!
The "Tubs" was a magical ride for children and adults alike - and I think unique with round "boats" and triangular seats.
After that, the wonderful old racing coaster with humpback in the dark, now seemingly forgotten - or the "OverUnder", figure of eight electric "racing" cars from Littlehampton.

Cyclone...

yes i really think the sky wheels should come back as i wasent even born in the 1953 when the first one appered and allso the racing coaster looks good

coney islands cyclone is getting demolished later this year what about this for another woodie to go with the scenic and wild mouse

I really like the sound of the Virginia Reel. Thats the first time I've seen pictures of the one from Blackpool and its really impressive.

I found this thread from the ECC list and would like to add my vote for the Virgina Reel! I did actually ride Blackpool's Reel (circa 1980) and while I didn't like it at the time (a novice 13-yr old didn't really know what to make of it...) I really really wish I could ride it again. What a shame that the last remaining example was lost.

I think that Arrow took detailed measurements of the ride before it went with a view to recreating it in steel, and I'm sure I've seen a picture of the prototype somewhere, however I don't believe that a steel reincarnation would have the same effect. To all intents and purposes, the Reverchon Crazy Mouse is a steel version of the Blackpool Reel but it's just not the same. It's like comparing a modern Mack/Maurer/Arrow steel mouse with Blackpool's wooden mouse! The feel and aggression is totally different.

The coney island cyclone is not being demolished. Astroland park may go away, but the cyclone will remain.

And they should build a top:
http://www.westland.net/coneyisland/art ... lu-top.jpg

thats a relief its not going to get demolished,it was rumoured on another site in the uk that it was.On another note when there is a selection of suitable recreatable rides could we have a poll to see what everyone opinion is

It would have to be The Virginia Reel for me too...I loved the ride..but it would be a huge footprint.

Henry Elmer Riehl's daughters (Rosemary Riehl and Marjolane Ball) who are still alive would - I'm sure - love to open it!

I was in touch with Marjolane a few days ago via email and she continues to delight and enlighten me with stories about her late great father.

Sadly, Luna Virginia Riehl - after whom the ride was named - died of cancer in the 60s.

Gary