NIAGARA AMUSEMENT PARK and SPLASH WORLD
Grand Island, NY
Formerly known as Fantasy Island and Martin’s Fantasy Island
Owned By: IB Parks and Entertainment
 2024 - New Attractions Expected - (2/9/2024) A very interesting set of photos were posted on Reddit this week, showing that the pieces of the former Mardi Gras Hangover and Revolution rides from Six Flags Great America are now sitting in a lot at Niagara Amusement Park. The efforts to revive this closed theme park have been a struggle over the past couple of years, with very few new attractions being rebuilt and opened, despite big lists claiming they are coming.
At least in this case, the two rides were both set up and able to run at Six Flags last season, so with any luck Niagara Amusement Park should be able to get these up and running this season. I hope…
As a number of the new attractions announced for the 2023 failed to open at the park, there are several now expected to arrived for the 2024 season. This includes the Serpent coaster (SDC Zyklon/Galaxi) and Miner Mike family coaster (Wisdom). Other attraction listed once for the 2023 season that I don’t believe opened include a Giant Wheel, Antique Autos, Caterpilla, Pony Carts and the Flying Witch dark ride.
???? - Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop Coaster - (2/10/22) The new Niagara Amusement Park and Splash World has officially confirmed that they will be adding a classic Schwarzkopf Flywheel launched shuttle coaster to the park. The pieces have started to arrive on site and it is “expected to begin construction as soon as the weather cooperates!!”
For those wondering, this is indeed the former “Cascabel 2.0” coaster that they bought from Mexico’s La Feria Chapultepec Magico park at the same time as the Triple Loop coaster going up at Indiana Beach right now. Perhaps even more importantly though, this coaster started off as the popular Laser Loop from Kennywood where it operated from 1980 to 1990 before being sold and shipped to Mexico.
I anticipate that a lot of old Laser Loop fans may come out of the woodwork and come to the new Niagara Amusement Park to give their old favorite a ride once again, and given the time that has past, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of multi-generational visitors coming to ride this together once again, with grandparents and parents bringing along their children and grandchildren to ride the coaster.
It is also worth mentioning that until now there was only a single Flywheel launched Schwarzkopf shuttle coaster left running in North America, which was Montezooma’s Revenge at Knott’s Berry Farm. Ironically, Montezuma’s Revenge just closed until sometime in 2023 last week to undergo a massive refurbishment project, so when the former Laser Loop returns it will be the only one running on the continent for the first year. There are currently only two other such coasters still running in the world: Psyke Underground at Walibi Belgium, though technically it was upgraded to a LIM launch system is no longer Flywheel launched, and then the Shuttle Loop at Nagashima Spa Land in Japan.
Good timing with the announcement, as a local reader spotted a few truck loads of coaster pieces arriving on site yesterday, parking at the Grand Island Plaza across the street and sent them in. (Photo credit to Logan Benjamin)
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