I will not dwell on the history and lore of the Cyclone; these topics deserve a book of their own. I will also refrain from turning this review into a memoir of my own experiences with the ride. Suffice to say that most who have lived and worked in Brooklyn would have their own stories to tell; Im no exception. The real question is, does the Cyclone live up to its rep and provide a ride that will satisfy the modern thrill-seeker? The answer is emphatically yes. Is it a coaster everyone will love? Probably not, and Brooklynites wouldnt have it any other way.
If you were born after 1985 and your paradigm of a kick-ass roller coaster is Nitro, then you may not understand the fierce allegiance people have to the Cyclone. Swoopy magic carpet rides are fun, no question, and theyre great for when you have a hangover. But some prefer a more...untamed experience, one whose thrills are not simply a function of height and speed but of the illusion that youre riding something thats out of control, that maybe somehow somethings wrong this time. This is the genius of the Cyclone. People think it feels this way because its old or poorly maintained. Theyre wrong.
The reason the Cyclone has been around so long is because riders since 1927 have been thinking exactly the same thing. It feels like this because it was designed to scare you. It does this by dropping you down hills that you can hardly see over the front of the car. It does this by flinging you into the person sitting next to you around each turn. It does this by catapulting you out of your seat over the crest of a hill and shoveling you into the floor at the bottom. It does this by letting you smell the chain grease and hear the shriek of the wheels and see the glasses go flying off the head of the person in front of you and taste that Nathans hotdog in your throat and feel the train impossibly gain speed during the final quarter of the ride.
The Cyclone is great not just for what it is but for what it is not. Its not dangerous; no one has been seriously hurt or killed on it. Its not rickety; its mostly steel and few coasters are as carefully and expertly maintained. Its not gratiutously punishing; although like the rest of Brooklyn, its not there to coddle you either. The Cyclone is the illusion of physical danger folded into a footprint not much larger than a suburban skating rink. If youre willing to let a coaster get a little physical with you, you will not do better than the Cyclone. Start in the front, and when youve got the hang of it, try the back seat for THE essential roller coaster experience.
Somehow, miraculously, the Cyclone has survived urban decay, urban renewal, lawyers, insurance adjusters, drunks, sissies, macho men, debutantes, punks, the Giuliani Adminstration, hypercoasters, season passes, and linear induction motors. I almost hate to mention the Cyclone in public, for fear that the irresistable forces of mediocrity and conservatism that pervade the amusement industry (and most everything else) will somehow realize theyve overlooked it and tear it down, or worse, try to "modernize" it. Until that sad day comes, thank God for the Cyclone, and thank God for what it says about the human spirit that its lasted this long.
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