Niagara Amusement Park: Silver Comet is a CCI That Cannot Be Missed

Niagara Amusement Park has a seriously great coaster that cannot be missed. I rode Silver Comet last Labor Day weekend and adored it, yet I forgot to make a trip report, so here goes. Silver Comet is a fantastic CCI masterpiece. A zippy layout with terrific laterals and airtime, the kind of experience you should expect to get on a CCI, especially one with PTC trains. It is a perfect ride and there is no reason you should not stop at this park if you are in northern NY. There is a solid chance that you could ride this coaster for a long time, non-stop, if you really wanted to. This coaster would definitely be worth residing for hours. It is a really great coaster. 

The layout is purely airtime, lightly banked turns with terrific laterals, and a really nice and compact layout with a ton of action. It is a great counterpart to Ravine Flyer II, about two hours southeast down the Lake Erie coast. 

The park itself is in flux. It has a nice layout with a small lake, woods, and a rebounding collection of rides. This is a big task for the park, since Apex parks took out most of the rides when the old Martin's Fantasy Island was closed in 2020. Gene Staples, the same guy that purchased and saved Indiana Beach and Clementon Park, purchased the park, got the coaster back up and running, and has brought in some other rides to fill in. An SDC Galaxi is in the midst of construction, a small family coaster is also under construction. 

An old Schwarzkopf shuttle loop, which was Kennywood's Laser Loop, is sitting in pieces in the parking lot. I would be surprised if they are able to get that rebuilt, but it would be great if they could.

The park has a main midway that is western themed, and they have regular western shows, which is strange, but cool at the same time. It was better than expected, though I did not hang around for it since I did not have the time. I have never seen a small park like this have an immersive themed experience like this, and I was pretty impressed. 

Silver Comet was designed by Larry Bill and opened in 1999. It sat from 2020-2022 and was brought back to life. It is a terrifically underrated ride. A real gem. 

It surprises me that Silver Comet is often overlooked. A strong argument could be made that this is the best coaster or at least amongst the best coasters in New York State. The only major park I am missing in the state is Great Escape. This ride is at the same level of quality as the other standouts in the state, including the Coney Island Cyclone, Rye Playland's Dragon Coaster, Seabreeze's Bobs, and Darien Lake's Viper and Ride of Steel. It is great doing this park in conjunction with stunning Niagara Falls, which is only 15 minutes from here.