Fantasy Island (US amusement park)
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| Location | 2400 Grand Island Boulevard, Grand Island, New York 14072 |
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| Coordinates | 43°1′37.2″N 78°58′14.5″W / 43.027000°N 78.970694°WCoordinates: 43°1′37.2″N 78°58′14.5″W / 43.027000°N 78.970694°W |
| Owner | Apex Parks Group |
| Opened | July 1, 1961 |
| Operating season | May through September |
| Area | 85 acres (340,000 m2) |
| Rides | |
| Total | 32 total (7 of which are in the water park) |
| Roller coasters | 3 |
| Water rides | 7 |
| Website | Fantasy Island |
Fantasy Island is an amusement park located on Grand Island, New York.
Fantasy Island opened in July 1961 and went bankrupt in 1982. It was acquired out of bankruptcy by Charles Wood, the original owner of Storytown USA. Wood sold the park to International Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) in 1989 and later re-acquired the park in 1992 when IBC went bankrupt. In his second stint of ownership, Wood changed the park's name to Two Flags Over Niagara Fun Park, a name it kept until 1994 when local businessman Martin DiPietro purchased the park and redubbed it Martin's Fantasy Island. This name remained until the end of the 2016 season.
On May 14, the day the park began opened for its 56th season, DiPietro announced that Fantasy Island had been sold to Apex Parks Group, a California-based company. The park's name reverted to Fantasy Island after the 2016 season concluded.
Originally, the park only occupied 12 acres (49,000 m2) of land; it expanded to the current 85 acres (340,000 m2) in 1974. On August 11, 1991, 14-year-old Kenneth Margerum was fell 60 feet to his death from the Ferris wheel after his seat dropped from its axle. It was revealed that the park operators routinely removed one or two seats from the ride each day to prevent the ride from moving around in high winds during off-hours. Each time the ride opened, the seats were bolted back onto the frame of the ride. Investigators found that only one side of the victim's seat had been bolted properly, causing Margerum's seat to drop from its axle and subsequently leading to his death.
The park's Silver Comet roller coaster, which opened in 1999, was created in the style of the original Comet roller coaster that was located at nearby Crystal Beach, Ontario for many years. The original Comet was stored at Fantasy Island after Wood purchased it in 1989, the year Crystal Beach closed, before moving the Comet to his Great Escape park in Queensbury, New York, where it was reassembled in 1994 and remains in operation to this day.
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