Coney Island trip

BostonUrbEx

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2010
Messages
4,340
Reaction score
127
So my girlfriend and I are hoping to have a "day trip" on down to Coney Island at some point in June. The plan is to take a morning regional to Penn, walk over to Herald Sq and get a D or F to Coney. Should be about $250 for the round trip in AM and PM. At midnight or so, grab a regional which arrive in Boston at 8AM or so (time for sleeeeep).

Anyways, I think Coney's attractions go on a ticket system right? How much should I have for tickets? Food? Might hit up the aquarium too, if that's not expensive. Fireworks at like 9 or 10 on the beach, right?

*hopes that at least Van will have some tips*
 
Ummm.... I've only been there a couple of times in the summer. On a nice day it's packed as hell. Honestly the place is a bit of a dump, though they are redeveloping a large swath of it.

It's a fun ride down. D and F trains run elevated so you get to see the city (or urban drosscape that is Brooklyn), N and Q trains run in a trench which is kinda cool too then jump elevated. Either way it's a good go. Actually N is probably fastest. You can get all these trains, AND MORE!, at Herald Sq.

I've never been to the aquarium so no help there.

Ticket system? IDK about that, but food isn't that expensive. Depends on how long you are there for.

The boardwalk and rides are grungy but in a fun "old New York" way which is why a lot of locals are so pissed at the redevelopment.

Check out Brighton Beach, the Little Russia of NYC.

But stay away from the east end of Coney Island, it's all housing projects and pretty sketchy.

You can do NYC for cheap but you just have to know where to go. If I were you I might bring $50-$100 for spending money and be happy you come home with any of it.




Edit: shit... now I kinda want to go :)
 
Ticket system?

You buy a sheet of tickets and each ride is x amount of tickets, right? I've tried searching, but its not clear.



Anyways, sounds schweeeet. Couldn't care less if its a little dumpy looking, just sounds like more character. D or F sounds awesome, I'd love to get some pics from the elevated and just look out on the cityscape, probably take the N back at night, not sure how quickly we'll have to book it after fireworks. How long would you say the ride is for D/F and N?
 

LOL. I wish that was a real play... I'd go to that... and $24 hot dogs must be delicious.



Damn, an hour... from my estimate we wouldn't be there till 1pm then, unless we left earlier than intended. I just want to make sure we have enough time to take it all in! I wouldn't mind paying more for Acela for a faster trip... but it saves like 30 minutes! What a joke, "HSR" my buttocks....

What's faster? Fung Wah bus or a Northeast Regional (seriously)? If its the same time might just take the bus in the AM. Can't beat $1. Pretty dead set on the regional back home though since we have a place to get some sleep while on the way back at the same time.
 
Fastest way is to fly. But Train vs Bus.... bus. It takes pretty much the same time and is way cheaper.

Yeah, NYC is a big place dude. You don't just "hit up" CI, you make it a day. You wanna see it all? Move here.
 
You buy a sheet of tickets and each ride is x amount of tickets, right? I've tried searching, but its not clear.

I've went to Coney Island in 2008. You get a sheet of tickets (I believe $10 for 25...or maybe vice versa $25 for 10, something like that). You're apparently only allow to ride the Cyclone a maximum of two times, and then you'll have to buy another sheet (or so they told me). Other rides you can ride as long as you have tickets for it.Also, there are I believe, 2 other amusement parks under different managements squished into there. You can't use your tickets on those rides. Needless to say, the area is sketchy as f*ck, the carnies are douches, and the rides look like they can break any day now. Save yourself a trip and money and fork over the few extra dollars and go to Six Flags instead, either in NJ or Agawam.

Anyways, sounds schweeeet. Couldn't care less if its a little dumpy looking, just sounds like more character. D or F sounds awesome, I'd love to get some pics from the elevated and just look out on the cityscape, probably take the N back at night, not sure how quickly we'll have to book it after fireworks. How long would you say the ride is for D/F and N?

I took the train from Midtown Manhattan. The ride was a good 1.5 hrs for me (I think it was a total of 29 stops away. Totally trumps w/e Boston has). I fell asleep and woke up with 15 minutes to spare before we arrived.
 
Save yourself a trip and money and fork over the few extra dollars and go to Six Flags instead, either in NJ or Agawam.

Ew, Six Flags... no character at all. :( I'd rather dump money into Canobie and hopefully they'd expand even more.
 
So far we're aiming for the 14th but we're not sure what to do about getting to the train. It's probably going to be 6:15am regional. Buses here are too unreliable, especially at that time so buses are out. I thought we'd be going Oak Grove - Back Bay but I realized Oak Grove won't allow overnight parking. Suggestions? Not sure if parking at SS would be cheaper than a cab or what to do. Parking garages in Malden are outrageous so I think that's out.
 
Alright, so for a couple bucks more than a regional we can take Jet Blue in the AM to JFK.

Depart/Arrive 7:45/8:56, sounds pretty good. Will look into MTA from JFK to Coney, not sure how long that takes... Sounds like it will give us more time before leaving and upon arrival.

How much is airport parking for 1 night?
 
park at alewife and take the red to silver to logan.
 
This trip pretty much kicked ass. Nathan's Famous = Amazing! The Wonder Wheel = Holyyyy shiiiiit!

Break it down:

6:15 -- Amtrak #95 departs BOS
10:15 -- Arrive at NYP 5 minutes early
10:25 -- Accidently by PATH tickets at Herald Sq station that look EXACTLY like fucking MTA tickets! What the fuck?! They say MTA!
10:35 -- After waiting in line 10 minutes, station attendant explains why they're not working, they're for PATH
10:45 -- Boarded Q train in the scramble to get to a platform ASAP
Noonish -- Ate some god damn awesome food at Nathan's Famous
1:00? -- Hit up the aquarium which was nice but all the outdoor exhibits were closed except the seals and the penguins were had just be taken out as we were heading for the exit. Could be better though, I think Boston aquarium is much nicer, but it doesn't have the outdoor things like this one does, even if they were off exhibit that day...
??? -- headed for the Wonder Wheel, Cyclone, and all that awesome shit.
??? -- took a bus to 37th in an attempt to go to Coney Island Lighthouse only to find a gated community. After walking north we find another gate, talk to the gaurd, he says just go back south again and they should let us through. After walking around this creepy as Sea Gate community we eventually find the lighthouse. It was a Russian Jew community or something, but they were really weird and seemed afraid of us... I don't understand why the community is gated, it's wicked gay. Would be nice if they just opened it up.
??? -- Nathan's Famous for some different awesome food
??? -- Ice cream!
8:00 -- D train to Times Sq. The elevated was really cool, especially when going around the corners and seeing the rest of the train or looking down the road we're coming off of.
9:00 -- Wander around Times Sq. for a bit.
11:00? -- Take a 1 to South Ferry.
12:00? -- Chillin' with a nice view of the Statue of Liberty. It was really nice, so quiet and peaceful. There were some other couples around and there were a ton of people fishing. It was really bizzarre having all these people fishing after midnight and it was really quiet with all these buildings looming behind us.
1:00? -- Take the 1 back to NYP
2:30 -- No announcement for our 2:40 departure of Amtrak #66. Check the board and it says 30 minute delay.
3:30 -- "30" really means 50. We finally leave.
8:30? -- Supposed to arrive at BOS but hop off at Back Bay so we don't have to deal with the Red Line as Rush Hour approaches. We were supposed to arrive at BOS at 7:40 but whatever, didn't have to be anywhere.


It was pretty sweet. I'd do it again. Though I would have really enjoyed a shower somewhere within that timeframe.
 
That glorious wheel!

5851706856_d0e5079588_b.jpg


^Awesome, double stacked el! Love it!

5851154135_254e4ca303_b.jpg


5851604334_f7fdaaeb1b_b.jpg


5851057573_d6f3374e7e_b.jpg


^ Next best thing to Sam LaGrassa's!!!

I'd post alot more if I didn't have a camera that sucked, but frankly the quality on many is just terrible.
 
The community is both Russian Jewish and gay? Some of each, or an overlap between these two groups?
 
The community is both Russian Jewish and gay? Some of each, or an overlap between these two groups?

Pardon my stereotypical youth-speak. LOL :)

The only thing gay was the massive 10 foot fence and gates surrounding an entire small neighborhood in a city. It started hitting on me.
 
Those are to keep both the poor black/latino youth out and the Russian mobsters in. Coney Island is certainly an interesting place.
 
Looks like a Paragon Park or Old Orchard Beach. Steeplechase Park it ain't.
 

Back
Top