"Boomers" and The Hurricane Coaster at Dania Beach

The news is all over the place here in Florida: One of the biggest wooden coasters in the U.S. (and, without any doubt, the biggest and fastest here in Florida), called the Hurricane, has been closed. It was really a shock for all the visitors of the huge "Boomers" entertainment complex, where the coaster is situated.

The "Boomers" park is located in Dania Beach, a small city nestled between Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood, Florida), and it includes a huge games arcade, a lazer tag area, an outdoor amusement park, a humongous mini-golf (really, it's the biggest I've ever seen, only second to the Pirates mini-golf in Wisconsin), a long Go-Kart area, and, until now, the Hurricane wooden coaster.

Today, we'll take a look at the "Boomers" arcade, at their mini-golf complex, and, of course, at the Hurricane coaster (NOTE: The pictures are in slightly higher resolution, therefore it may take longer for them to fully load. Please, be patient, and enjoy the bigger size of the picture, by clicking on them! Thank you):

The entrance to the arcade:

It has all the arcade games you can imagine:

Many of these games are the ones where you can win tickets. When you're done, you present the tickets you have, and you can win something:

The Interactive Laser Tag Experience (which has undergone a refurbishment, from May 2 to May 13, 2011):

The Banquet Room:

- THE HURRICANE Wooden Coaster -

Finally, what you were waiting for! Take a look at all these pictures of the Hurricane Coaster:

Here's what Miami's newspaper, "The Miami Herald" said about the closure of this wooden roller coaster:
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After 11 years, Dania Beach roller coaster powers down. 

     After 11 years of ups and downs, twists and turns, bloodcurdling, hands-in-the-air shrieks and cries of “let’s-ride-it-again, dad!”, the Hurricane has called it quits....

      Andy Hyman, general manager of Dania Coaster Limited, the company that operated the coaster, said the bad economy was the death knell for the Hurricane.

“We had a great time. A lot of fun,” Hyman said. “But people are worrying about paying mortgages and or credit cards, and putting food on the table. Parents don’t have $50 to give to their kids and say ‘Hey, here you go. Ride the coaster and play video games for a few hours’.”

      The Hurricane, a two-minute theme-park ride without the theme park on which to piggy back, opened on Nov. 1, 2000. Costing $4.5 million to build, it measures 100 feet tall and 3,200 feet long. On its biggest down slope, the coaster’s two six-seater cars flew at 60 miles-per-hour.

 It’s located next to Boomers, a video arcade/go-kart track/batting cage/kids’-party facility.

 Although not particularly successful as a business in recent years, the roller coaster had its moments. Five couples were married while riding the Hurricane. And a number of television commercials were shot on the coaster, which was once ranked by Amusement Today magazine as one of the top 20 wooden coasters in the United States....

      Wooden coasters are a rare thing: Only 182 remain worldwide, compared to 2,300 steel coasters.

 On Tuesday, Hyman notified Joe Tortorella, general manager of Boomers, from whom the site was leased, that the coaster would be powering down in three days.

 “I’m sorry to see it go, but they were not technically a part of Boomers. And Boomers will be OK,” Tortorella said. “We have 12 other rides and a substantial arcade.”....

 Corine Lajoie, principal city planner in Dania Beach, said Friday afternoon that Community Redevelopment Agency director Jeremy Earle has been approaching businesses housed around the Hurricane site for some time about the possibility of redeveloping the area to keep up with the city’s developing downtown core and the remaking of its antiquing zone into the Stirling Design District....

READ MORE ABOUT THIS STORY, DIRECTLY ON THE MIAMI HERALD'S WEB SITE >>

After 11 years of ups and downs, twists and turns, bloodcurdling, hands-in-the-air shrieks and cries of “let’s-ride-it-again, dad!”, the Hurricane has called it quits.
The Hurricane was known to roller-coaster aficionados as the tallest wooden carnival-style ride in Florida. To motorists, it was that gargantuan contraption looming along the east side of Interstate 95 at Stirling Road that made you wonder: What if termites start to feast on that thing?
Andy Hyman, general manager of Dania Coaster Limited, the company that operated the coaster, said the bad economy was the death knell for the Hurricane.
“We had a great time. A lot of fun,” Hyman said. “But people are worrying about paying mortgages and or credit cards, and putting food on the table. Parents don’t have $50 to give to their kids and say ‘Hey, here you go. Ride the coaster and play video games for a few hours’.”
The Hurricane, a two-minute theme-park ride without the theme park on which to piggy back, opened on Nov. 1, 2000. Costing $4.5 million to build, it measures 100 feet tall and 3,200 feet long. On its biggest down slope, the coaster’s two six-seater cars flew at 60 miles-per-hour.
It’s located next to Boomers, a video arcade/go-kart track/batting cage/kids’-party facility.
Although not particularly successful as a business in recent years, the roller coaster had its moments. Five couples were married while riding the Hurricane. And a number of television commercials were shot on the coaster, which was once ranked by Amusement Today magazine as one of the top 20 wooden coasters in the United States.
Wooden coasters are a rare thing: Only 182 remain worldwide, compared to 2,300 steel coasters.
On Tuesday, Hyman notified Joe Tortorella, general manager of Boomers, from whom the site was leased, that the coaster would be powering down in three days.
“I’m sorry to see it go, but they were not technically a part of Boomers. And Boomers will be OK,” Tortorella said. “We have 12 other rides and a substantial arcade.”
“I’ve never ridden the Hurricane, but I’m kicking myself, because I was planning to make a side trip there, while in Orlando on business in November,” said David Lipnicky, spokesman for Ohio-based American Coaster Enthusiasts, a national organization for amusement park and coaster operators. “I’ve had many friends ride the Hurricane and they had nothing but good to say about it. And that says a lot because people who are enthusiastic about roller coasters are very serious about how they determine what makes for a good ride.”
Lipnicky said he hopes another ride operator will step up and revive the Hurricane. But Dania Beach officials say that is unlikely.
Corine Lajoie, principal city planner in Dania Beach, said Friday afternoon that Community Redevelopment Agency director Jeremy Earle has been approaching businesses housed around the Hurricane site for some time about the possibility of redeveloping the area to keep up with the city’s developing downtown core and the remaking of its antiquing zone into the Stirling Design District.
“The Hurricane has provided some great memories and was nostalgic when it was built,” said City Commissioner Walter Duke. “But the reality is the Griffin Road/I-95 corridor represents a major economic development area for our city. Between that and the Stirling Design District emerging to the south of that location, it was probably inevitable that we were going to try to convert the area where the Hurricane sits to a higher and better use at some point.”


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/30/2195764/after-11-years-dania-beach-roller.html#ixzz1LIGOhz8J

All these info here posted are subject to the copyright of the Miami Herald®. All rights reserved.
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The Hurricane has provided some great memories and was nostalgic when it was built,” said City Commissioner Walter Duke. “But the reality is the Griffin Road/I-95 corridor represents a major economic development area for our city. Between that and the Stirling Design District emerging to the south of that location, it was probably inevitable that we were going to try to convert the area where the Hurricane sits to a higher and better use at some point.”

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/30/2195764/after-11-years-dania-beach-roller.html#ixzz1LIGXYmCQ

Now, take a look at more pictures of the coaster:

The coaster's station:

We know that this is not true... :

What a great view:

No train was visible, as the coaster was already closed (all these pictures were taken on Monday, May 4, 2011, while the coaster closed on April 30, 2011):

The view of the coaster from outside the park:

It was incredibly long:

This is the second wooden coaster to close in Florida recently, the other being the famous "Starliner":

From the highway:

- BOOMERS' MINI-GOLF -

Since we were there, we wanted to check out the mini-golf course, and it was really worth it! It is greatly themed, and it was really huge, as we said before:

Nice, little houses:

They are really taking care of the place:

Working on one of the small houses:

- BOOMERS' GO-KARTS -

A look at the Go-Kart area:

And, that is all. Thank you very much for viewing.

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