THE BALLOON MAN

Friday, March 19, 2010

KITCHEN MAGICIAN (SAN DIEGO 2010)

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JORDAN WORLD CIRCUS 2010 ALBUQUERQUE PROGRAM

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Thursday, March 18, 2010

Christmas is coming early this year for guests and fans of Idlewild & SoakZone as the Royal Hanneford Circus will return during the park’s 2010 season.
The Royal Hanneford Circus last visited Idlewild & SoakZone back in 1997 and from the day they left our guests have never stopped asking for the circus to return. We’re thrilled to bring the circus back to Idlewild – summer can’t come fast enough!
The Circus will take place June 12, 2010 – August 22, 2010 with three shows running daily Friday through Monday and two shows daily Tuesday through Thursday. Guests will be able to enjoy the circus under a big top tent behind Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood of Make-Believe.
Family owned and operated, the Royal Hanneford Circus is sure to be a special treat for families and children of all ages. Tentative acts and performances include comical clowns, quick change artists, and daring acrobats such as the Flying Fernandes Family performing exciting, top of the tent, aerial acrobatics on a giant rotating Space Wheel and more.

Ligonier, PA
Just off PA Turnpike near New Stanton

INTERESTING!

http://www.coneyislandhistory.org/

Astroland Owner to Sell Rides, at Last

By: Chris Rovzar

Ever wanted to buy a giant swinging pirate ship? Some bumper cars for your Williamsburg loft, perhaps? A Tilt-A-Whirl? Well, you may get your chance.

The former owner of the Astroland amusement park out in Coney Island has finally given up on seeing her fantasy land rise again. Carol Albert, who will return to Coney this summer to run the Cyclone roller coaster as always, tells the Post that it's finally hit her that the incoming Luna Park, selected by the city to replace Astroland when they bought the land under it in 2008, is inevitable, and she's not likely to find another place in the city to erect the 22 rides she's kept in storage just in case.

"It seems unlikely" that the city will help her find another spot along the boardwalk out there to rebuild the park, she said.

Astroland was built in 1962 as a "space age" theme park, but anyone who'd been there in recent years knew it as a blast straight to the past.

The new Luna Park, which features nineteen state-of-the-art rides designed by Italian Antonio Zamperla, will open to the delight of children and freaks all over the city on Memorial Day.

Astroland Amusement Park has closed to make way for developers, but fortunately the legendary Cyclone roller coaster still stands strong. The landmark (and wooden) ride may take a mere two-minutes-and-30 seconds to experience, but don’t let that fool you. Its 80-foot 60-degree jaw-dropping drop was described by Charles Lindbergh as "more thrilling than flying solo across the Atlantic.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

RINGLING GOLD RETURNING TO CONEY ISLAND! (FROM MIKE NAUGHTON)

Wednesday, March 17th 2010, 4:00 AM

BY Erin Durkin
DAILY NEWS WRITER
After months of wrangling, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus has struck a deal to return to Coney Island this summer.
"We're very excited to have the circus back. It's a great draw," said Councilman Dominic Recchia (D-Coney Island), who said the show would run from June through Labor Day.
Ringling Brothers will pitch tents on the same W. 21st St. lot where it made a Coney debut last summer.
The show drew thousands to the faded seaside mecca, but its return was cast into doubt as the circus and landlord Taconic Investment Partners squabbled over money - and what to do with the school buses parked on the lot under a separate lease with Taconic.
Ringling Brothers officials, who had expected to have return plans finalized by last fall, threatened to take their show on the road if there was no deal by this month.
Under the new agreement, the buses will be moved to a city-owned lot on W. 29th St.
Circus officials declined to comment before papers were signed to make the deal official, but they previously promised that if they were able to come to Coney, they'd put on a brand new show called "Illuscination."
"It's a really fun show," Steve Yaros, vice president of Ringling Brothers' parent company, Feld Entertainment, said last month. "We have an illusionist, who's our ringmaster, who ... makes people and animals and things disappear and reappear."
"We also have an amazing lion act, which we haven't had in a few years," he said, adding there were also "some pretty amazing Chinese acrobats."
Recchia said a highlight would be a chance for city kids to check out circus animals up close before the show. "It gives them something that they read about and see in movies," he said.
The circus will join a new Luna Park, with 19 rides made by Italian amusement giant Zamperla, at the other end of the Boardwalk. Officials hope to make "The Greatest Show on Earth" an annual Coney attraction.
"With the circus and Zamperla, we've got a doubleheader this year on Coney Island," said Coney Island USA founder Dick Zigun. "I'm thrilled."

From The New York Daily News