Coney Island Amusement Park - Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest

Nathan's, home of famous Coney Island hot dog eating contest Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York Photo by Sarah Ziegler

Coney Island has been entertaining guests for over a hundred years with attractions like Shoot the Paintball at a Moving Human Target and Nathan's world famous hot dog eating competition - in which Sonya Thomas holds the female record for eating 41 hot dogs in ten minutes.

The theme park is a relic of old-time entertainment and it feels like you are walking onto the set of a classic 50's film. The wooden bones of the Cyclone Rollercoaster's tracks are still exposed to the salty air of Brighton Beach, and now the site has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places

At the start of the 1900s, when Coney Island was referred to as the People's Playground, you would still see most of the same attractions that are here now, but the signs dotted along the promenade now read "Really Fun. Really OPEN" with capitals, a testament to the local determination to prevent development and preserve the area's character..

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