Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park is a family-owned

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

located at

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It features six adult rides and 16 kiddie rides, including a dozen family rides that parents and children can ride together. The park is named for its main attraction, the Wonder Wheel, a eccentric wheel built in 1920. The park overlooks the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and Riegelmann Boardwalk along the Coney Island beach. The Wonder Wheel was made a

New York City designated landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

by the

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

in 1989.

History

The Wonder Wheel predates the park, having opened in 1920. It was designed by Charles Hermann, and created and built by Herman Garms in 1918-1920 by the Eccentric Ferris Wheel Company. Until the construction of the Parachute Jump, it was the tallest attraction in Coney Island. It was a stand-alone attraction operated by Herman Garms. In 1955, Garms built Spook-a-Rama, an indoor dark ride. Near these two attractions, Denos Vourderis opened a restaurant called the Anchor Bar & Grill. Also, next door to the Wonder Wheel, stood a small kiddie amusement park called Ward's Kiddie Park owned by John Curran. That area was built in 1950. Denos opened up a concession stand there in 1970. In 1976, Denos bought the kiddie amusement park from Curran. In 1983, Denos acquired the Wonder Wheel and Spook-a-Rama from Fred Garms and Walter Kerner Sr. Today the park still has predominantly children's rides along with several family attractions. Since Denos's death in 1994, the park has been operated by his two sons, Dennis and Steve. In January 2020, Deno's Amusement Park announced a major expansion to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Wonder Wheel. The expanded park would take over part of the abandoned West 12th Street amusement area, shuttered since 2017. The Vourderis family paid $6 million for the land and another $5.5 million for an unnamed ride. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in New York City The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City was confirmed on March 1, 2020, though later research showed that the novel coronavirus had been circulating in New York City since January, with cases of community transmission confirme ...

, the park did not open for the 2020 season, and the expansion was delayed. A Vekoma Suspended Family Coaster called Phoenix soft-opened on June 26, 2021, with a full opening on July 1. Also open in 2021 is Sky Flyer, a micro coaster from

SBF Visa Group SBF Visa Group is an Italian company known for its amusement rides and roller coaster designing. SBF was founded in 1952 by Italo Frison, who initially constructed bumper cars and then children's rides. List of roller coasters As of 2021, SB ...

, which Deno's had purchased at the 2019

IAAPA The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) represents over 6,000 amusement-industry members in more than 100 countries worldwide and operates several global attractions-industry trade shows. Its annual IAAPA Expo in ...

Expo.

Attractions

In popular culture

Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park appeared in The Silver Boulders "Crazy Car" music video from The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie as three attractions at the amusement park appeared in the music video: Bumper Cars, Big Trucks, and Fire Engines.

References

External links

*
Oral histories about Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park collected by the Coney Island History Project
{{Coney Island Amusement parks in New York (state) 1920 establishments in New York City Amusement parks opened in 1920 Coney Island Family-owned companies of the United States