RIP Fantasy Island (1961 - 2019)

One of my earliest career goals was to be a ride operator of a crazy spin ride.  Back then, my idea of a crazy spin ride was Enterprise - specifically the one at Darien Lake which is slightly smaller than most others making it more intense and the only one of its kind left in the world (for most of its time it has been known as Silver Bullet).

Back then I never imagined how advanced things would become.  While Silver Bullet is still a favorite, Fantasy Island's Mind Warp ended up becoming the most intense spin ride ever in WNY and my absolute favorite ride to run (and ride).  And Martin DiPietro brought that to us.  That's the reason I started working there - specifically to run that ride.  Fantasy Island made a childhood dream of mine come true and I'll always love the park for that.  (Shoutout to Mom Said No's Mark waiting to run the ride in this pic.)

But Fantasy Island was so much more.  The whole atmosphere was just perfect - it was my happy place.  A fantasy world with fairy tale characters on one side (Anna in the whale mouth here), nature in the middle with the Eagle's Landing Canoes and then "Fun? Wow!" for the rest with the always changing rides section.

My earliest memory of the park is when I was a kid watching my Dad go on the Devil's Hole ride (the Rotor version - side note, there's still a Rotor operating at Sylvan Beach just east of Syracuse).  I couldn't ride back then as I was too young but always remembered how cool that ride was complete with the devil hanging over it.  The devil made a brief reappearance towards the end of Fantasy Island (Charles fascinated by him here in 2014).

Many years later, the park got another ride that was a huge favorite of mine - a Chance Chaos.  My favorite rides are ones that spin a lot and flip upside down.  And for this one, you could rock the car and make it flip even more.  I tortured the ride ops all the time by purposely getting my car stuck upside down at the end of the ride.  Chaos lasted about 10 years at the park.

When Chaos left. it was replaced in 2007 by Full Tilt.  I wasn't sure what to think of it when it first showed up.  I didn't appreciate it until many years later when I got to run the ride.  It was a fully manual ride - no automatic program.  That's really rare for an amusement park.  The beauty of that is every ride was different.  This ended up being one of my favorite rides to run at the park.  I loved stopping it at the top and tilting it, tilting the platform as it swung down from the top full speed, faking everyone out as the ride ended and tilting it at the very end - yeah I really liked the tilt button.  And I'd never run a short cycle - 5 or 6 minutes was the norm for me.  Had one guest yell out that I was holding her hostage when I ran a 14-minute cycle one night lol.

Another ride I enjoyed running was the 2011 Gravitron version of Devil's Hole.  Same deal with this one - I loved doing long cycles and would have the seats go up and down 2 or 3 times per ride.  And the best part with this - the ride was operated from inside.  Not only did it get us out of the sun but we spun with the ride too (but being in the center didn't feel the forces that pinned everyone else to the wall).

More than the rides, the thing everyone remembers most about Fantasy Island was the Wild West Shootout.  The western town area was a cool place and the show itself tacky in the absolute best way possible.  This was the heart of Fantasy Island.  Just about everyone who grew up in WNY has seen that shootout at least once - and because of how unique it was, usually multiple times.

On the subject of unique - The Blue Goose.  Adults couldn't ride but that didn't matter - just watching it in action was a cool experience.

Back to the other side of the park, Silver Comet arrived in 1999.  I consider this the wildest & smoothest wooden roller coaster in WNY.  And the back seats were the place to be.  I'm going to miss this ride.

In 2014, I was crushed when the Old Mill Scream log flume suddenly went away.  But the replacement was incredible - although really short-lived lasting about a year.  Over The Falls was the type of ride you'd have to pay extra to ride anywhere else but at Fantasy Island no extra charge!  It was wild.  Happy I got a couple rides on it during its short time at the park.  Cheryl goes Over The Falls here...

There was no water involved with the Over The Falls ride, but when thirsty you could always get some free water from the little elephant drinking fountain.  Little random things like that are what made Fantasy Island such a cool place.

And it can't be a park without fried dough.  And with apples on top oh yeah.

Over the years, there was a bunch of rides that came and went at the park.  The Rock O Plane with the egg shaped cars that you manually flipped was a favorite of mine.  Also loved the Patriot & Flying Bobs.  Don't have pictures of them all but some favorites I do (which lasted until the end) are Flight (one of my least favorite rides to run as you're basically staring up the entire time to watch the ride), Crazy Mouse & Gondola Wheel (way in the back) and Rock & Roll (one of the most popular Fantasy Island rides).  If you rode that, then you probably met the Park Mom - Kim.  She ran that ride for many years until spending the park's final season in the food department.

Another park favorite was the Giant Slide which was sadly missed in the park's final years.  Apex Parks Group tried to fix it up when they took over but the cost to do that made that impossible.  I did like that they at least put a sign there explaining what was going on while the slide sat dormant as they tried to make it happen.

One really unique attraction at Fantasy Island was I Got It.  I don't know of any other park that had this game, which is usually reserved for carnivals and fairs.

I saved my personal favorite for the end.  Mind Warp (a Technical Park Loop Fighter) arrived at the park in 2011.  I drove my boss Zack crazy because that's all I ever wanted to run (and my friend Don always tried to make sure that's where I ended up).  Riding it was awesome, but running it was equally fun to me (although I was always a little jealous as I watched it).  That's the control panel for Mind Warp on the right.

I only worked at the park part-time for the final 3 seasons but a lot of my time there was spent running Mind Warp.  And that will go down as some of my favorite moments in life.  It was a workout running that ride - those 16 restraints that had to be pulled down each time got tiring after 8 hours.  And sometimes a little annoying when one person (always one of the last ones) either got scared and wanted off the ride, wanted to change seats, or wanted the restraint loosened.  When that happened, all the restraints had to be reset and the entire process started again.  But it was so worth it.

I especially loved when Zack put a fog machine under the ride in the final few weeks of the park (for one weekend we even had a bubble / foam machine underneath).  I'm really going to miss running this ride and also the awesome people who kept coming back for it again and again.

Fantasy Island was an incredible place to work and even just to hang at.  I'm not even going to try to name all the great coworkers I met there for fear of leaving one out but hope all of them stay in my life.  And a huge thank you to the incredible park managers & maintenance who did everything they could to make Fantasy Island the awesome place it was.  While it's easy to hate on Apex Parks Group for closing the park in such a rotten way, all the managers on site were the absolute best.  I will miss every one of them as they scatter around the country and I thank them for giving me the chance to work at what was one of my favorite amusement parks.

The final moment for Fantasy Island came on October 27, 2019.  It was a miserably cold day and when the drizzle came, it made things even worse.  By about 3:30 I heard there was only 35 people in the park and the managers decided to close the park for the season shortly after that.

One of my final park memories is when a young kid who was a huge Mind Warp fan showed up right near the early closing.  After one Mind Warp ride, he asked to go again.  I knew he was a fan of Silver Comet too so told him to rush over to it and get the final ride of the season on it because the park was closing early.  I promised him I would give him one more ride on Mind Warp after that.

While Silver Comet probably should have been the final ride to ever run at Fantasy Island, I ran the Mind Warp for him and one other guest after that.  That made Mind Warp the final ride to run at Fantasy Island and I'm kinda happy I got to run it (luckily I had a chance to ride it earlier that day).  A huge thank you to Fantasy Island's awesome maintenance and managers for keeping the power on to allow that to happen for that kid.  I'm sad he'll never get to grow up with the park like I did.

Maybe a miracle will happen and Grand Island or some random investor will save the park at the last second.  But it's not looking promising.  I'm crushed that I won't get to do something I loved at such a perfect place anymore.  But one of my closest friends reminded me all good things come to an end and unfortunately that's looking like the case with Fantasy Island.

For me it was 3 awesome years doing something I loved (running rides) and many, many more just being there.  Thank you to anyone who rode the rides I ran - I'll miss running them for you.  And thanks to everyone who was ever involved with making Fantasy Island one of my favorite amusement parks.

Here's a picture from early in the day (before people showed up) on the final operating day at the park - 10/27/19 at 12:18pm.

5 TV Shows That NEED Another Season

1:  LODGE 49

(AMC / streaming now on Hulu) - 20 episodes

No contest here - by far and away this is #1 for needing to continue.  I actually never even heard of this show until two weeks ago when Hulu randomly put it in my suggested shows to watch (the second season of 10 episodes recently finished airing on AMC and all eps are now available on Hulu).

Season 1 was just crazy.  For a while I couldn't even figure out who was the main cast.  And the story itself was awesome.  The end of the first season (starting with episode 8) got a little drama heavy and the weirdness went away.  But the season recovered and ended good and season 2 kicked in full blown strange and stayed that way - and that's where this show shines.

Pay attention to every character that shows up - even the ones there briefly.  That's one of the things that I love about this show is random characters keep returning when you least expect it.  And the guest stars you want to see more of, you do.

Even if it doesn't get a 3rd season, the 20 episodes are a perfect story beginning to end.  But if enough people watch on Hulu, fingers crossed a miracle will happen and maybe they'll pick it up for more seasons.

2:  HYPERDRIVE

(Netflix) - 10 episodes

Remember ABC's Wipeout?  That's pretty much what this is, but with cars.

I figured I'd watch one episode just to see what it was then move on.  But ended up flying through all ten episodes.

The stars of this show are not the players or the hosts - it's the track and the location.  Whoa did they do an amazing job making this look larger than life.  The lights, the size of the stunts, even the very real danger.  Yup, danger.  And it happened.  And the cool thing was the show not only admitted it happened, but also showed it, and admitted to the mistake by changing things around after it happened.

But back to the track.  It's like a racing video game in night mode - but real.  The show was filmed at the mostly now unused Eastman Kodak Park in Rochester, NY.  The abandoned buildings, tunnels, and large amounts of unused emptiness push the ambiance over the top.  And with the cool lighting package, it looks like Tron come to life.

From what I hear, people surrounding the industrial park were not happy when the show filmed.  It was done at night and the cars were crazy loud.  But I hope they have to make that sacrifice again because I want to see what stunts the producers would come up with for season 2!

There were some negatives - too many hosts (the interviewer was good, but three hosts was too many), I was disappointed with who won (not even hinting how I feel about the contestants so no spoilers), and I would've preferred to see more of the full races instead of just highlights.

But overall, I want more Hyperdrive!

3:  PEOPLE OF EARTH

(TBS) - 20 episodes

It's been a little while since this was on the air, but I still don't understand how it disappeared so suddenly.

I'm all about shows that aren't normal.  And this absolutely falls into that category.  The spaceship stuff was by far my favorite.  I saw a mention somewhere online that it was very Office-like and those spaceship scenes were exactly that at times - The Office with aliens.

Everything on Earth was good too and I loved every character in the group.  The storyline got a little weird in season 2 but it was a weird show so all good.

Here's the most confusing part though - and it's nothing to do with the show's plot but the show itself.  TBS had renewed the show for season 3.  All the episodes were written.  Then TBS changed their mind and cancelled it.

If all the episodes are written just sitting there waiting to be filmed, I don't get why this show hasn't shown up on Netflix or Hulu.  If those original 20 episodes were to get enough views, there's already a 3rd season ready to go.  And I want to know what happens next!

Even a book version of those scripts would be nice!  But an actual 3rd season would be better.  Let's hope the episodes become more available streaming-wise soon.

4:  SUNNYSIDE

(NBC / Hulu) - 11 episodes

I'm going to miss The Good Place so much!  But this would've filled that hole.  Crazy characters, sometimes completely insane storylines and an awesome cast that could pull off anything.

My favorite storylines were the ones that could never be pulled off on a normal sitcom (the fake business set-up in episode 4 a perfect example). 

I love that after NBC cancelled the show, the remaining episodes still continued online.  And every single week, I watched the new one.

And I'd continue to do that if more are made.

5:  THE CIRCLE

(Netflix) - 12 episodes

I just watched the final episode of season 1.  A good first season and a really cool concept of awarding the prize to the best social media influencer in a closed circle setting.

Even the thought of social media influencers annoys me.  Who are these people and why does anyone care about them?  I don't.  But this show had fun with that.  Yup, there were some that catfished - every reality show's got to have villains and they definitely filled that spot here.  

If the show were to continue, I'd hope to see all the contestants start at the same time.  And maybe less restrictions for them.  I get the impression they were only allowed to communicate with each other at very limited times and with very strict guidelines.  Those limits should be removed entirely.  Same goes with status updates and such - it just seemed like the rules were way too rigid.

It did keep my interest the full 12 episodes though and I liked how 4 episodes were released each Wednesday.  A tweaked second season would be cool to see.  Or a return of the awesome & perfect old Fox Reality Channel show Solitary, which this kinda reminded me in a tiny way (but that's a whole different post).

Top 40 Wings of Buffalo 2019

This is a constantly changing list.  Cooks change and then so do the wings.

If it's on this list (even the lower spots), the wings are good!  If it's not on here, either I wasn't a fan of the wings or I just haven't been yet.  I tend to gravitate more towards dive bars and smaller bars when I want wings - not pizza places or restaurants that focus solely on wings.  That's why some places are missing from the list.

Everywhere on here is based on medium, extra crispy wings.  Yeah, some places I have other favorite sauces but I always gotta compare with the standard.

Not all of these places were visited with the MNW group.  About that - MNW is basically a Monday hangout with friends.  For me it's just for fun and not about social media attention.  Although yeah, I'll write about it on this page because I always read the other top wing lists and wanted to share mine.  And it's nice to give credit to the places that have incredible wings.  If only three people read this, that's fine.  I felt the same way when I was on the radio.  I knew having the stars of Mr. Belvedere or The Mole on-air wouldn't be ratings gold but I had fun with it and hoped there was a few others like me that would agree.

So here's my current favorite places...

1:  Dwyers (North Tonawanda) - Still the best wing and wing sauces around.  Chili Lime my favorite.

2:  Grill At The Dome (Tonawanda) - They're #1 for me when it comes to extra crispy wings & the taste is perfect.

3:  MT Pockets (Buffalo) - Another great extra crispy wing with amazing flavor.  Cash only though so watch out for that.  My biggest issue here is trying to keep myself from ordering the incredible Italian Sausage too because then I end up leaving way too full lol.

4:  Kelly's Korner (Buffalo) - Their wings are incredible.  Consistency has been an issue lately but even on a bad day, it's a top 10 wing.

5:  Manor Lanes (Tonawanda - Grand Island Blvd location) - I've been working my way through their wing flavors and so far every one of the sauces has been perfect.  The plain southern fried wing (not actually on the menu) is still my favorite although their medium wing is top notch!

6:  Klimek's Tavern (North Tonawanda) - A tiny bar, cash only and rarely mentioned but whoa the wings are good!  Cooked perfect and the crispiness was done exactly right.


7:  Judi's Lounge (Niagara Falls, NY) - A bunch of people recommended this on a recent online post and they were all right because this place is amazing.  Every wing sauce I've tried so far was good and the wings were cooked perfect.

8:  Adolf's (Buffalo) - I only went here to meet up with friends and ended up being totally surprised by the wings.  So, so good. 

9:  Gene's Junkyard (Tonawanda) - I just love the wings here and it's a cool hangout place.

10:  Nine Eleven Tavern (Buffalo) - They live up to their reputation of having great wings.

(And the rest - not in an exact order, although the wings towards the top are some of my more favorite ones)...

11:  Elmo's (Getzville)
12:  Bada Bing (Buffalo)
13:  Dalmatia Hotel (Buffalo)
14:  DBGB's (Buffalo)
15:  Wingnutz (Buffalo)
16:  Duff's (Amherst)
17:  Gabriel's Gate (Buffalo)
18:  Hot Mama's Canteen (Buffalo)
19:  Union Pub (Buffalo)
20:  Say Cheese Pizza Co. / Comic Book Cafe (Grand Island)
21:  Stadium Dome (Tonawanda)
22:  Brownie's (North Tonawanda)
23:  Grover's (East Amherst)
24:  Lenox Grill (Buffalo)
25:  GFY (Tonawanda)
26:  Crazy Jakes (Tonawanda)
27:  Brunner's Tavern (Buffalo)
28:  Mitchell's Tavern (Tonawanda) 
29:  Ryan's (North Tonawanda)
30:  Odie's (Tonawanda)
31:  Swannie House (Buffalo)
32:  Vinny's (West Seneca / Cheektowaga)
33:  North End (Buffalo)
34:  Route 78 Street Bar (Depew)
35:  Buffalo Roadhouse (Tonawanda)
36:  Mallwitz's Island Lanes (Grand Island)
37:  Bogie's Bar (Buffalo)
38:  Amherst Pizza & Ale House (Getzville)
39:  Swiston's Beef & Keg (Tonawanda)
40:  Sports City Pizza Pub (Buffalo)