Carnival Industry Discussion Thread

I wanted to start this thread for a while. After consulting with a moderator, he encouraged me to do it. So here it is. I don't know how many of you are fans of carnivals and fairs, so this should be interesting.

I'll get the ball rolling with this little news tidbit:

Wade Shows adds new rides for 2015

Wade Shows announced the addition of four new rides for 2015. The show purchased a new Monster Truck kiddie ride from Wisdom as well as a Gravitron themed "Centrifuge". Additionally, the show has added a Quasar themed "Music Express" from ARM and a Zamperla Barnyard themed "Beach Shack". All four pieces are set to debut at the South Florida Fair this January and will also be featured at the Florida State Fair in Tampa. The show will also be leasing (with an option to buy) ARM's new Frenzy Ride for both events. Company owner Frank Zaitshik said "There are several other purchases pending including several more children's rides, other spectacular rides, and support equipment such as trucks and generators".

UPDATED 11/10/14 - Company owner, Frank Zaitshik announced over the weekend that the show also purchased four new Umbrella Rides from Dalton Kid Rides. The four kiddie rides will rack on two trailers for easy transport and to help consolidate loads. The show traded in their trailer mounted Hampton Whales and Hampton Dune Buggies.

Source: Matt's Carnival Warehouse

Adding 10+ rides is substantial for any operation. Wade Shows however has the route to justify this type of investment. They service nearly 100 events annually, including New York, Nebraska, and Missouri State Fairs which all happen concurrently.

Have you ever seen Wade Shows in person? If so, what did you think?

I'm so glad you started this thread! What I love about traveling fairs is the opportunity to experience some of the more rare flat rides that you never see in parks. Many of my favorite flats are usually limited to traveling operations.

I unfortunately have not experienced Wade Shows (Unless they do the MN State Fair), but I've heard good things!

Good idea for a thread! Ever since I was little I was always enthralled with carnivals. I would watch them set up and tear down all the time. And it is nice that RCS (Ray Cammack Shows) is located locally for me as well.

I have heard and read a lot on wade shows but never been able to experience them.

The Carnival industry has its own unique factor. I enjoy watching traveling fairs being set up, and being taken down. It is amazing to see how much ride can be packed into such a small place for transport. However, I do NOT enjoy riding rides at traveling fairs. Most of them are "spin-n-puke" rides, and that is not my cup of tea... Mainly because I will spin... and puke. (I do not handle spinning rides very well.) I do enjoy going to traveling fairs to people watch. The type of people you get at traveling fairs are an whole new breed of people. However, my favorite part of traveling fairs?! The food!!!

I used to enjoy the "traveling dark rides" that some fairs and traveling carnivals would have. But there are very few of those any more, to the best of my knowledge and from current experience. I saw them over in Europe during events like Oktoberfest in Munich or travelling fairs through Germany itself.

That said, are there any U.S. carnivals or traveling shows that still have these (usually) metal dark rides in their roster of rides? These were/are always fun to ride.

Curious, and thanks for any reply to this.

I'm so glad you started this thread! What I love about traveling fairs is the opportunity to experience some of the more rare flat rides that you never see in parks. Many of my favorite flats are usually limited to traveling operations.

 

I unfortunately have not experienced Wade Shows (Unless they do the MN State Fair), but I've heard good things!

They don't bring any rides into the Minnesota State Fair any longer. For those who don't know, Minnesota State Fair (along with the state fairs in FL, WI & TX) is an independent midway. They select the rides individually to ensure they're getting the best possible rides.

I used to enjoy the "traveling dark rides" that some fairs and traveling carnivals would have. But there are very few of those any more, to the best of my knowledge and from current experience. I saw them over in Europe during events like Oktoberfest in Munich or travelling fairs through Germany itself.

 

That said, are there any U.S. carnivals or traveling shows that still have these (usually) metal dark rides in their roster of rides? These were/are always fun to ride.

 

Curious, and thanks for any reply to this.

There are several dark rides still traveling. Typically found on larger shows, you can find a few on smaller 15-20 ride shows.

I hope there is some cool "death machines" (as I jokingly like to refer flat rides as) announced at IAAPA this year!

I've been trying to look for a carnival database and have yet to find one that still exists; ridesdb used to be exactly that (pretty much the rcdb of carnivals) but that site is down now. Does anyone know of an equivalent? (Not flatrides.com; that site hasn't been updated in years.)

Have you ever seen Wade Shows in person? If so, what did you think?

I went to the NY state fair this year and it was Wade Shows' first time bringing their midway (it had been Strates Shows before). The midway was very clean and had a lot of unique rides. One small disappointment was they had advertised the ARM drop tower coming which didn't show up. One the plus side, they did have two roller coasters, a Zamperla wild mouse and a Pinfari RC-48.

The rides were good when they were open, but there was a lot of downtime. The RC-48 was closed both nights that I went and the Wild Mouse was closed one of the nights. The rides that were open were great though, especially the Fabbri Booster and the Technical Park Pegasus. The Pegasus was the one flat ride I've been on that was more intense than a Zipper.

It was also great to see Wade Shows had a Huss Rainbow decked out in LEDs. It had been years since Strates brought their Rainbow to Syracuse.

Overall, I think Wade Shows brings an excellent midway. They also have a large assortment of rides to mix up the midway every year. I did miss the Huss Top Spin from Strates but all the unique rides that Wade brought more than made up for it.

I typically don't visit carnivals as I don't know a reliable source to track traveling coasters (If anyone here does, please let me know!). I do remember riding a Dragon Wagon of sorts that was owned by Shaw and Sons Amusements out of Maryland. I was a wee tyke back in those days, and I know they don't own it anymore.

I did make the trek to the North Georgia State Fair last year to ride their Schwarzkopf Wildcat, and I ended up being pleasantly surprised by seeing a Wacky Worm...with adults allowed to ride! It was a nice fair to visit, and I'd like to visit more. I might try to head up to the Big Butler County Fair in Pennsylvania, as I know they've had a Wacky Worm in the past. I'd also like to check out that large fair in Toronto (the name alludes me) sometime as well.

Quite a few exciting Carnival related announcements from IAAPA:

KMG was pleased to announce that three Inversion deals had been finalized, all of which will be delivered and showcased at the 2016 IISF Trade Show in Gibsonton. Wisconsin based Mr.Eds' Magical Midways, Butler Amusements, and All Around Amusements have all signed contracts for new Inversions.

Powers Great American Midways recently took delivery of a one trailer Inversion, themed Khaos, at the North Carolina State fair. The ride was the 9th top grossing ride at the event, which Theunisz finds amazing considering the ride's 12 seat capacity in comparison with large roller coasters, flume rides, and other spectacular rides that were at the fair.

Tim and Pam Casper's PBJ Happee Day Shows is set to take delivery of a new Inversion this winter. The new piece themed "Flatline 360" will be on display at the IISF Trade Show in Gibsonton this February. The new ride replaces Casper's existing Inversion, "Nemesis 360" which the show recently sold to a show in Canada. The new attraction has an updated LED lighting package and new software and will feature a similar color scheme to the Nemesis.

Zamperla had one of the largest indoor displays, displaying their new Fiesta Balloon Ferris Wheel, a 33ft tall balloon gondola wheel. The attraction all racks on one semi trailer and features a direct drive motor gear box as opposed to a rim driven application.

Chance will be building its first portable Zipper in over a decade. Pat and Doug Skinner, of Crystal lake, Illinois based Skinner's Amusements purchased a new Zipper with a LED Lighting package from Denny's Electronics at the show. Prior to that, the last piece Chance sold to a portable show was the Free Style for Ray Cammack Shows in 2013.

^ I think I am most excited about that new Zipper being built.

How neat, a new Zipper ! I wonder if there has been any updates to its appearance ? Any pics ?

Was hoping for more new ride announcements. Nothing major from any of the big manufacturers. KMG announced a larger inversion and smaller StarFlyer. They also are working on a new top spin style ride, but no word of that from IAAPA.

Has anyone seen the new zipper yet?