Trip Report - Sand Blaster Opening - Daytona Beach Boardwalk

Theme Park Review was invited out to the opening of Daytona Beach Boardwalk's new Sand Blaster roller coaster! This was a special event as the Florida Governor, Rick Scott, was also going to be there to cut the ribbon. We hung out with our friends from Orlando Attractions Magazine and had a fun day at this little park in Daytona, and with the new roller coaster, Boardwalk Amusements hopes to bring some new tourism into the area in future seasons.

To give you a little bit of history on the ride, it's had many different homes and many might remember it as the "Zyklon" from Del Grossos Amusement Park in Tipton, PA. Most recently, it was in Delaware at Blue Diamond Park and now it's found a home right on the water in Daytona Beach!

Here's some photos & video from our visit...

(Additional photos & video by Jack Crouse, Banks Lee, and Matt Roseboom)

Hooray! We've made it to Daytona Beach! No NASCAR for us today... just a roller coaster!

We made it to the Boardwalk. This place seems to be known as the "Daytona Boadwalk", "Boardwalk Amusements", and "Joyland" and I think asking for either of those will get yo here!

Oh, no! The park is closed...

Thankfully we have our pass to let us in the private event!

Anyone like a slice of cake?

File this under "Clever catering use for a roller coaster vehicle!"

Yep. Florida Governor Rick Scott was there to open the ride!

Here comes the Governor shaking hands and saying hello to members of the media and people from the Daytona community.

FL Governor Rick Scott introduces ride op Cody "Daytona Boardwalk has created jobs, memories, & tourism in Florida."

"1... 2... 3... SAND BLASTER IS OPEN!"

The park did a really nice job refurbishing this ride.

Banks Lee and Robb Alvey about to take their first ride!

Those dudes need a little push out of the station!

What goes up...

Here's a shot for the lift hill enthusiasts...

The view from the top of the coaster is BEAUTIFUL!

And here we go down the first drop!

OMG!!! YES!!! It does THIS to you!!!!

Those of you who might remember the Zyklon from Del Grossos would know that this is one of the very few (perhaps even the only) model of this kind that runs THREE cars, so the backseat offers some really good airtime on the first drop!

Here's a look at the ride. Basic figure 8 style layout, but FUN!

And FUN is what it's all about!

With this photo... Banks wins the internet!

A look at the ride from the back seat!

The ride was originally built to be portable, but we hope it stays in Daytona for many years to come!

You can see the coaster from a good couple of miles approaching Daytona Beach!

The ride crew having a great time! (We see you Jack & Matt!)

And did we mention the view?

Sand Blaster gets thumbs up from us! Come out to Daytona, hang out on the beach, and check out the rides!

Great report. Looks like another reason to get to Florida

I've always kind of liked these ol' Zyklons--glad this one has a new home.

Thanks for the efforts, Robb - I like the trains, they have really charm...

Thanks once again, for video and photos!

Nice report Robb! Looks like a good ride, backseat airtime, ocean views, mmm... I'm happy to see this coaster having a bright new future.

Another credit in Florida, YAY!

Gov. Scott sure does make things "special". If you live in Florida, you know... LMAO!

Thanks for the update Robb! I was hoping to go get my credit sometime in the next couple weeks. I didn't realize that it was literally right next to the beach. Very nice!

The tie-ins with Attractions Magazine though... Ehhh???...

The tie-ins with Attractions Magazine though... Ehhh???...

Yeah, they are friends of ours.

Hooray for more credits! Always good to see smaller parks expanding.

I guess I've not noticed it before with these types of coasters (portable and non-) but I really like the light standards at the top curve of each side of Sand Blaster. Very cool design.

Nice report! Glad to see that there are smaller parks in your area which are able to keep their business!

Honestly I haven't seen a new Zyklon coaster since the mid-80s - and that's a good thing. These coasters are not very good and the early-70s design is so outdated....

Nothing like a good mom & pop refurb job! The coaster looks great, especially the red-white-blue train. The coaster at Wonderland in Texas (I think it's the same model?) used to run the 3 car train as well:

Looks like they renamed it Mouse Trap? Unique anyway... but those drops in the back seat: *snap*!

When this operated at DelGrosso's they braked it pretty hard coming out of the second helix. It just kinda crawled around the last curve and into the station. Nice to see it flying straight to the finish!!! And yes, the backseat airtime whip was amazing!

Hilarious video Robb, it looks like a really nice little coaster.

Fun and thorough coverage (as always), TPR! Thanks for sharing.

When I was there earlier in the month they were doing a lot of painting, landscaping and other general improvements to the area and it looks like the hard work paid off. The coaster definitely surprised me and was a lot of fun, very smooth and the staff were really excited about it. Kudos to the Daytona Fun Parks family for bringing this great addition to the Boardwalk. I will be back!

Hah, I've never seen a multi-car train running on this type of ride; look great!

I rode this when it was at Blue Diamond Park and I really enjoyed it (we were on the way to Rehoboth beach and stumbled upon the place by accident). It's nice to see it finally has a new home. It's been sitting in that field for years since Blue Diamond Park closed.

When this operated at DelGrosso's they braked it pretty hard coming out of the second helix. It just kinda crawled around the last curve and into the station. Nice to see it flying straight to the finish!!! And yes, the backseat airtime whip was amazing!

I was on it this past Saturday and it was braked at the end, which definitely made it crawl around the last curve.

...Even with that, it's still a fun little coaster.

When this operated at DelGrosso's they braked it pretty hard coming out of the second helix. It just kinda crawled around the last curve and into the station. Nice to see it flying straight to the finish!!! And yes, the backseat airtime whip was amazing!

 

I was on it this past Saturday and it was braked at the end, which definitely made it crawl around the last curve.

...Even with that, it's still a fun little coaster.

I really liked Robb's video and how it flew into the station......I guess that wasn't a very good idea.

I may try to head down there this weekend and get the credit. This thing looks a little quicker than other Zyklon models, and great view of the ocean!

Does anyone happen to know the "true" age of Sand Blaster? The Roller Coaster Database estimates that it first operated in the first park in which it was located in 1971 or 1972, but I haven't found anything more specific than that.

^^^Nevermind, I believe I found the answer here:

http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/forums/roller-coasters-theme-parks/102658

It casually mentions that Sand Blaster (Super Italian Bobs at the time) opened for the first time at a park in Chicago named Adventureland Park in 1969. That means that this roller coaster is about 44 years old, and do you know what that means? It means that Sand Blaster is officially THE OLDEST OPERATING ROLLER COASTER IN FLORIDA (in a fixed location)! The next oldest is Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom, which soft opened on 15 December 1974.

Somehow I missed this thread when it was first posted. Like the fact that there is even more to do in Florida besides Disney.

Missed this one last weekend--no way or time to get to Daytona. Guess I'll snag this credit one of these days, although it won't break my heart to miss it.

Then again, I did ride in a bus all the way from Melbourne to Merimbula to ride a Zyklon during TPR's Australia Trip.