What it's like to ride Adventureland's new coaster, FireBall
Shrieks reverberated through the air.
“That’s what you want to hear — the screams,” said a satisfied Steve Gentile, co-owner and president of Adventureland in Farmingdale, which unveiled a new, $1.5 million, vertical, red-and-yellow roller coaster called FireBall on Tuesday.
Fifth-graders from the North Babylon School District on a class trip were the first parkgoers to get to board the neon yellow gondola cars, which draw passengers 60 feet in the air — higher than the park’s Ferris wheel — and then plunge over the edges of five curves, each one making riders feel they are falling from a cliff.
Yeslyn Vazquez, 11 (left), and Glenda Euceda, 11, on Adventureland's new ride called Fireball, Tuesday, May 17, in Farmingdale. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
“When you go over each curve, your car is rocking and you get a sense of free-falling,” Gentile said. “It’s not so much the speed — it’s the plunge.” Gentile, 56, has been on FireBall once himself, but admitted he kept his eyes closed.
“Amazing,” said Isabella Harbus, 11, a fifth grader from Belmont Elementary School who, along with classmate Aiken Alfaro, 11, was on the first car to ever take kids up, and who spent much of the time on the way down screaming. Said Aiken: “I felt my heart drop.”
Michelle Bertucci, 48, a paralegal, was on the class trip as a chaperone for her 10-year-old daughter Arianna’s class from the district’s William E. DeLuca Elementary School, and she jokingly declared herself “the cool mom” after she got on the ride as well.
“They dragged me,” she claimed, but Arianna wasn’t having it. “She wanted to go on,” Arianna said. Mom’s reaction to the experience was so intense she repeated it twice: “It’s crazy. It’s crazy.”
Gentile and other Adventureland staff watched for the response of the initial riders. “I was a little nervous,” said Gentile, because he never knows what the feedback will be on a new offering. “Now when you see the kids coming off the ride … I’m totally satisfied right now. I’m proud of what we did here.”
The FireBall is part of the park’s 60th anniversary celebration this year. While it will be open to the public beginning Saturday, the official grand opening is slated for June 22, Gentile said. The park is still awaiting signage and two LED flames that will be mounted atop the ride; it is delayed due to supply chain backup and is expected to arrive June 19, he said. Riders will need to be 42 inches tall to ride with an adult, 48 inches tall to go solo.
The ride is included with park’s pay-one-price admission of $41.99 for ages 2 to 24 and $31 for people older than 24 when purchased online; tickets are an additional $5 each when purchased at the park. The park is open weekends until June 17, when it opens daily. It’s also open the Friday and Monday of Memorial Day weekend.
A crane lowers a roller coaster car during the construction of a new roller coaster at the amusement park Adventureland in Farmingdale. Credit: Kendall Rodriguez
In addition to FireBall, the park has added five more admission booths this year, bringing the total to 11. Other new additions include new claw machines in the arcade — players crank a claw that descends to try to grip a prize. The park is also replacing the old High Striker carnival-style game with a new one for those who want to try to test their strength by swinging a hammer hoping to ring a bell.
FireBall was initially ordered in 2019 for the park’s 2020 season, but when the pandemic hit, Adventureland canceled the order, Gentile said. The park reordered it in time for this season, he said. FireBall was custom-made for Adventureland by a company in Switzerland, Gentile said. It replaces the park’s kiddie carousel and bungee jump and is the third roller coaster at the park, joining the Rattlesnake and Turbulence, which debuted in 2015. The ride goes up to 15 miles per hour and lasts 70 seconds.
Tuesday’s first day went smoothly, except for one technical difficulty when a car was stuck at the top for a few nerve-wracking moments. “It was terrifying,” said Kristina Miller, 42, a teacher’s aide who was in that car, but she was laughing about it on the ground. Megan Hamchuk, 30, also a teacher’s aide, was in the car as well, sitting next to a student. “He was laughing and having the time of his life,” she said.
Daniel Oliphante, 10, a fifth grader from Belmont Elementary School, is student council president and spoke for his classmates. “I thought the ride was pretty intriguing when I looked at it,” he said. “When I went on it, I was exhilarated.”
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
