Alexander: The adventures continue with state #3 of the trip: up-state New York, in the lovely northern tip of Rochester, home to Seabreeze Amusement Park!
This classic coaster gem is a must-see for any coaster historian. Half of their roller coasters sport very unique and significant historic designations!
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Up-state NY held much promise on our adventure, but I can go ahead and tell you now the parks on our roster peaked early with Seabreeze and then went way down hill.
Seabreeze is virtually perfect. They have some annoying/arbitrary policies (no re-rides even when the queue is empty; kid required for the kiddie coaster), but other than that this place hits the mark on all accounts.
The kids-only rule didn’t stop us from soliciting some kind local families for for their little ones. It was a success and we were able to achieve the elusive Bear Trax credit.
Bear Trax aside, the park has 3 “adult-sized” coasters.
Whirlwind is your standard Maurer. Nothing to write home about, except for the car never unlocked on our 2nd ride. Being forced to take the entire ride in a fixed (facing backward) position was a unique but uncomfortable experience.
One of Seabreeze’s three great triumphs is Bobsleds, a 1-of-a-kind steel coaster retrofitted from an existing side-friction woodie (a la Leap the Dips).
The perpetually irresistible Bobsled combines the very best elements of wild mouse coasters with an Arrow Mine Train-esque execution.
It indeed feels like a micro Matterhorn Bobsleds on stilts, and it’s every bit as good as that likening could possibly suggest. It was probably the biggest surprise of the trip, securing a proud place in our steel coaster rankings as well as our hearts.
Triumph #2 is the park’s log flume, which proudly serves as the park’s central attraction (in terms of geography and, quite possibly, popularity).
A gentle drift amid other attractions gives way to a fantastic coaster-like drop that would make even the wildest wooden coasters blush.
The g-forces at the bottom of the drop alone were enough to warrant multiple rides on this tour de force flume.
Seabreeze boasts a strong flat ride collection along with its coasters; spinners old and new call the Rochester park home (which, in case you haven’t already figured, is nowhere near the sea. It is perched on the edge of Lake Ontario, however).
The park’s Zamperla Hawk24 install is well loved and well maintained. The same cannot be said for Six Flags Discovery Kingdom’s Hammerhead Shark; what was once a signature ride for “The New Marine World” is now seemingly circling the drain, based on our most recent visit.
Word on the street is these are the oldest Flying Scooters in operation; quite a thing to be proud of if true.
Perhaps the park’s proudest specimen is the 1920 Harry Baker Jack Rabbit.
A mere year older than America’s other classic Jack Rabbit at Kennywood, the Seabreeze Jack Rabbit is officially the world’s oldest continuously-operating roller coaster. Meaning, the Jack Rabbit is the oldest roller coaster in the world to open for business and not close down for any significant length of time.
This feat is especially remarkable considering the numerous fires that Seabreeze endured during Jack Rabbit’s first 15 years; blazes in 1923, 1930, 1933, and 1935 all claimed various rides and threatened the Jack Rabbit.
Ever resilient, however, the Rabbit persisted.
Jack Rabbit runs like a well-greased dream with its buttery tracking, smooth pacing, and grossly underrated Morgan Manufacturing rolling stock.
Say what you will about this 1970s fiberglass oddities; there’s simply not a smoother wooden coaster experience out there.
Walking back from our parking lot photo shoot, we couldn’t help but admire the evolution of the handicap parking space.
BEHOLD! A portrait of functionality (and a 5-month operating season).
Just left of the entrance is the park’s covered midway. The layout here actually hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years or so.
Of course a park like this has a carousel that’s as old as the state of Oklahoma.
Seabreeze runs on its own time zone. It doesn’t seem to make decisions based on competing parks (mostly because there aren’t any), but rather, based on careful self-reflection.
Sometimes, that means building a large Zamperla Disk’o.
Other times, it means going to great lengths to keep a tree supported and out-of-the-way from the roller coaster that was built back when the tree was twig.
Oh, they have a water park here too. It’s nice and unobtrusive.
The park lacks a kiddie area; instead, kiddie rides are peppered all around. LOOK AT THIS PRECIOUS CAR RIDE, GUYS.
New for this year is Time Machine. We found it more enjoyable to watch than to ride, but its a hit with the kids.
Goodnight, Seabreeze! You are basically flawless. Way to set up your fellow up-state NY parks for failure!
That concludes our coverage of the good parks of New York state (The Great Escape is a good park too, but we didn’t get to it this time).
Join us next time for the hot mess express that is the Buffalo NY area parks – Darien Lake and Fantasy Island.
It’s not going to be fun, but it will be interesting. Promise.
Thank you for following along with California Coaster Kings & Cabin Crew Coaster Kings‘ latest adventure: An American Northeast trip through Maryland, East Pennsylvania, Up-state New York, and Ontario, Canada!
Here’s the park’s we’ve visited and will launch reports for! The names will become links as soon as they are live!
- Adventure Park USA – Part 1
- Knoebels – Part 2
- Dorney Park – Part 3
- Hershey Park – Part 4
- Dutch Wonderland – Part 5
- Seabreeze Amusement Park – Part 6
- Darien Lake – Part 7
- Fantasy Island – Part 8
- Canada’s Wonderland – Part 9
- Marineland Canada – Part 10