Replica of Coney Island to Open at Entertrainment Junction June 21st

[BoddaH1994]

CINCINNATI, OH – A remarkable 1,000 square foot replica of historic Coney Island Amusement Park will officially open to the public at 10 a.m. Friday, June 21 at EnterTRAINment Junction in West Chester.

All built by hand from scratch, the Coney Island replica features real working rides from Coney Island’s glimmering past, such as the Shooting Star roller coaster, the Lost River, the Ferris Wheel, Flying Rockets, Tumblebug, Wild Mouse, Sky Ride, Lake Como train ride, Turnpike and Carousel, just to name a few. All rides and attractions are based on historic photos and dimensions of Coney Island in the 1960s, with most items created in a 1/24^th scale.

The Coney Island replica is NOT a small, miniature recreation – the Shooting Star roller coaster alone is 40-feet long and 4-feet tall (!), and the Ferris Wheel is also nearly 4-feet tall.

“Constructing old Coney Island in perfect scale was one of the biggest and most demanding projects we have ever undertaken,” said Don Oeters, EnterTRAINment Junction’s president and owner. “Historic Coney Island is a seamless fit for us because of our proven skills in creating scaled and authentic historic design throughout our 25,000-foot model train display, which is the largest indoor model train display in the world.” It took more than a year to build the Coney Island replica, Oeters added.

Due to space limitations, minimal creative license has been taken in the Coney Island layout, but the millions of visitors who have enjoyed Coney Island over the years will instantly recognize the park’s treasured attractions of the past. The Coney Island replica recreates the park mainly as it was in 1965.

In addition to the Coney Island rides, other features from the amusement park’s golden age include Coney’s iconic entranceway, the famed Coney mall with its perfectly trimmed Ginkgo trees, a Haunted House, Lake Como, Moonlite Gardens, Skeeball and games arcade, basketball games, shooting gallery and the Whip, Cuddleup and Dodgems.

There will also be a working trolley line with running trolleys bustling along Kellogg Avenue and stopping at Coney’s parking lot. The trolleys ran to Coney until 1925.

Nearly a dozen interactive buttons throughout the exhibit will allow visitors to personally engage the ride attractions to make the rides go, lights blink and music play.

The Coney Island replica is located on the second-level overlook of EnterTRAINment Junction. There is no additional admission for the public to visit the new exhibit.

The award-winning EnterTRAINment Junction has 80,000 sq. ft. of family fun with something for everyone, including two world-class attractions – the world’s largest indoor model train display and the wild-and-whacky A-Maze-N FunHouse.

Visitors to EnterTRAINment Junction can also experience a giant kids’ interactive play area, American Railroading Museum, expo center, incredible hobby & toy shop, indoor 1930s village-scape with café, gift shop, and party rooms, and two outdoor train rides (open seasonally.)

Coney Island, nestled along the banks of the Ohio River, 10 miles east of downtown Cincinnati, is a true legend in its own time, with its beginnings dating back to 1886. Beloved by generations and generations of families, Coney Island today features massive Sunlite Pool, water slides, 24 family rides (including seven classic kiddie rides), paddle boats and canoes on Lake Como, Moonlite Gardens, miniature golf, picnic areas, live stage shows and much more.

EnterTRAINment Junction is at 7379 Squire Ct., West Chester, OH 45069. (513) 898-8000. (877-898-4656.) It is open daily, Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sundays noon-6 p.m. FREE parking. For more information, go to www.entertrainmentjunction.com.

[medford]

I think this was mentioned on here in the offseason, though I'm sure many missed it. I'll reiterate, as many did on that thread (could have been on another board, can't remember for sure), if you get the chance to take in entertrainment junction, you won't regret it. I'm far from a model train fan, on the surface, there is little about entertrainment junction that would be "up my alley" other than having a young son that loves trains, which is why we originally went. However, it takes all of about 5 seconds into the display (and at that point you're only seeing like 2% of the total display) to fall in "awe" of the place. The amount of work, the amount of detail is absolutely incredible.

It may not be something you need to see annually (unless you're like me and have small kids), but I think everyone would enjoy a trip at least once, and likely a repeat trip every couple of years as they continue to make improvements and changes to the layout.

[BoddaH1994]

I try to go about twice a year. There's always something new to check out. Plus they do Christmas and Halloween stuff too.

[CoastersRZ]

I still need to get out there. Not sure if they did it on purpose or not, but June 21st is actually Coney`s official birthday too.

I may just have to get out there sometime this summer! I love model trains too! (I have a train that circles my room!

[The Interpreter]

Oh, I'm sure it's on purpose. Mefford never misses an angle. Ever.

[medford]

I still need to get out there. Not sure if they did it on purpose or not, but June 21st is actually Coney`s official birthday too.

I may just have to get out there sometime this summer! I love model trains too! (I have a train that circles my room!

Knowing your love of Coney, and learning about your love of trains, take a couple of hours some day and make it a must do. You'll be kicking yourself for not taking the time earlier.

[KI-ORIG-EMP]

Even thought it is not from the same era that the Coney Island replica is from, but it would be nice if they could include a model of the Island Queen that used to bring families to Coney. My parents used to take the Island Queen from the public landing to Coney and spend the day there. They rode the rides, swam in Sunlite Pool and danced at Moonlight Gardens. They were sadden with the Queen burned while being worked on in Pittsburg.

[violakat03]

I've been wanting to go to EnterTRAINment Junction for years but this has made it a "must" for me. I'm not really that into model train displays in that I don't normally go out of my way to see them, but I do love looking at them, especially well-designed detailed ones. I have a feeling I will be able to spend all day in there without feeling I've gotten to see and appreciate it fully.

Dollywood had one set up this past Christmas but all of the detailed portions were far away from the viewing areas which made it difficult to see and appreciate them. Apparently there was supposed to be an additional viewing platform but they couldn't figure out how to make it work the way they'd planned.

[shark6495]

Wife and new born son took me to Entertrainment today. It was awesome. I am a huge model train fan, and didnt know if I would enjoy the bigger G scale trains. But was I wrong. It was awesome. I took some photos and thought you all would enjoy them.

Shooting Star

Panorama

Dent School House

Full photo Set

http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthott/sets/72157634148070014/

Pictures taken on an iPhone, sorry about quality.

[BB1]

One thing that I wish could actually come about to modern day Coney Mall at Kings Island would be the old popsicle trees that looked just fantastic. Personally the modern Coney Mall at KI doesn't look like it should be this way, it needs to actually look like old coney, not just the new mark up.

On another note, does anyone know what kind of trees they were?

[TheCrypt]

I think ginkgo trees. The park allegedly stopped trimming them when they found the trees were dying because of it.

[medford]

They were Gingko trees. If they were of the male variety (at least I think its the male variety, but could be female, be sure to ask, then double check and get it garunteed prior to ever buying one for your property) there is a very specific reason why they would remove them, they produce extremly foul smelling fruit every handful of years. I don't know if that was the case with some of them or not, but if it was, there is little doubt they needed to be removed, or fear turning guests off.

[medford]

So we finally took our five year old back to entertainment junction today, he's been adkins for awhile, and with school starting back up next week, figured today was a good day. Place was nice, as always, but I can't emphasis enough how blown away I was by the coney mock up. The shooting star really worked, simply amazing and it definitely wasn't a tiny model, this thing was pretty long and high. The wild mouse worked, the flume ride worked, ferris wheel, carousel, sky ride, car ride, it all worked. Blown away. One of the workers told me they put $100,000 into it, not including the volunteer labor. I,ve mentioned in the past, and after seeing this I'm more convinced than ever, but if KI were to take tower gardens, and put in a couple of these mock ups from different eras, throw in a nastolgia store with old KI shirts and stuff, it would ne a huge hit.

If you haven't seen it, it's worth your effort. Amazing.