Win a chance to be one of the first riders on Adventureland's new roller coaster
Park maintenance workers run test circuits on the 55-foot-high German-built roller coaster "Turbulence," which replaces the popular Hurricane coaster, before the grand opening this season at Adventureland Amusement Park in East Farmingdale, on May 13, 2015. Credit: Steve Pfost
The new Turbulence roller coaster is set to open at Adventureland at 2 p.m. on Friday -- and for a $5 donation to charity, you can win a chance to take the first ride.
Donations must be made through Adventureland.US/firstride by 5 p.m. Wednesday. Each donation of $5 to either the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation or Nassau-Suffolk Services for Autism gives the donor one raffle ticket. Sixteen winners will be chosen at random to take the first ride when the coaster opens.
The top donor to each organization will also win the chance to sit in the front seat with radio DJs from WBAB-FM and WBLI-FM. They can each also designate two other riders to sit in their car with them.
Donors must be 13 years old to enter, but the winners can give their seat to a younger person. Riders must be at least 44 inches tall.
The $4.3 million, yellow and green coaster has two trains, each with three cars that seat four riders each. Each car on each train spins independently, so while the train is plunging downward, each car is simultaneously spinning.
The previous roller coaster on the site opened in 1991 and closed last season. Newsday.com will be covering the grand opening, so check back on Friday for a report on the hoopla.
