Wisconsin State Fair 2012

[FParker185]

As I'm guessing at least some of you know, the Wisconsin State Fair's Midway will be independent in 2012, allowing for some of the biggest and best rides to appear on the midway on their way to the MN State Fair. At current the process to apply for midway space is ongoing, and I'll try and update this with what I hear, but the first news for 2012 will be the appearance of a Sky Wheel at the Wisconsin State Fair along with the KMG Stratosphere Swing Tower, a portable 60 meter tower that travels by way of only 2 trailers...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJdx9gF2XCA

Already enough to get me to go (they had me at Sky Wheel)

[Coaster Justin]

Hope they get another coaster besides Shooting Star (I think it's a Galaxy/Zyklon type ride)


The last time I went was in 02. Maybe I can stop there on my way to Bay Beach or something.

[FParker185]

Van Hull's Zyklon stopped showing up around 2007 or so, though the past 2 years there was a Schwarzkopf Wildcat from Reed Expo. However this year I'd expect to see no less than 2-3 major coasters and several smaller ones.

[DeathbyDinn]

Sky Wheel as is this?


I'd love to see the midway be expanded with larger rides. With the fair being so large, I have always thought it's midway seemed, not small, but a little lacking. I've seen tiny fairs get a few faily sized coasters, so I've always wondered why we'd only get one or none.

[FParker185]

Yep, same kind of SkyWheel. The midway contract for basically the past 20+ years was with Murphy Brothers who has no coasters, they always booked in the Zyklon from Butch Van Hull, in the early 00's Murphy Brothers decided to move their operation and do a few spots in China. From what I heard China ended up seizing a good number of their rides, just cause they could. Anyways while all that was being worked out they had Reed Expo cover their route, including the WI State Fair and they were basically just not a good operation. Everything was in kinda shabby shape, they didn't own all that many rides, they didn't book anything in like Murphy Frequently did in the early 00's like Space Roller, Magnum, Zyklon, etc. It went downhill to the point where the fairboard had decided not to renew their contract with Murphy Brothers, and therefor Reed Expo, and they have gone independent, where there is no carnival company. There will be rides there from many different companies now, generally the biggest and best stuff in the country as it's on it's way to the MN State Fair which is the same way. Of course that means there will be no wristbands, and rides won't be cheap, but the quality of the rides will be far superior to what is has been or ever was. And supposedly there might be a wristband at least this year maybe on certain days, though I have no idea how it will work, I'm guessing it will be uber expensive.

[Paradise]

Chocolate covered bacon or there will be a riot at the state fai.....oh yeah....that's right.

[Coaster Justin]

I Don't know if it'll be expensive cause I just checked the site and prices and they're not that expensive.

[FParker185]

well, when you have to pay$2-$7 for every ride you ride like in MN, TX and FL, it adds up fast. Everything on their website according to the extra large, brightly colored, bold font displayed prominently on every single pricing and info page seems to indicate that everything listed is for the 2011 fair.

[tp41190]

2003 was an awesome year for the fair. Magnum, Space Roller, and Turbo Force (the Zamperla Skyscraper) were my favorite. They also has some other interesting rides like the "footloose" which was a inverted Kamikaze/High Flyer ride, and a Moser Star Force. From my memory the star force wasn't working right as the main arm that was supposed to rotate never did...or it only did every once in a while, but it was ok because those metal OTSR hurt like a biitch.



Heres a few more photos from that year
http://www.flatrides.com/wisconsin02a.html

[FParker185]

I hear Star Force was one of the rides seized by the Chinese government. When I rode it the main arm was rotating, but anything out of Italy is bound to have frequent technical issues. But yeah that was just about, if not the last year that Murphy Borthers provided the midway in earnest. I would expect Magnum to be back this year. Mike Wood (the owner) stopped sending it to MN, though with 2 fairs worth doing, I bet he sends his stuff up again. Jane Baxter's Space Roller however has been sold though out of the country(it was the only one)

[Chitown]

I'm not understanding this. Why would the Chinese government seize carnival rides?

[monsterfan99]

^It happens a lot more than people think with entertainment based things. Not theme park related, but monster trucks have been seized in at least 3 countries trying to leave after tours. No reason was ever given and the government sold the trucks.

[tp41190]

That sucks about Space Roller. Top Scan rides are one of my favorite flat rides besides from the Moser Hoppla (like Solar Flair in Edmonton) and your typical skyscraper.

BTW, here are some videos with some familiar rides.

This one has a Break Dance "Twister" (Tivoli version?), Enterprise, Zyklon, Mega Drop, and the Zamperla Turbo Force.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgASm2mL ... ature=plcp

And then here is one that has a Zamperla Shocker, the Log Flume, "Footloose", Power Surge, Chaos, and a Fire Ball.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttMSGYJj ... er&list=UL

[FParker185]

Yeah, the Chinese Government will seize things simply because they can. They have total control over anything and everything in their country. I'm sure though no tears were shed over a few of the rides, especially Star Force, that's where insurance comes in handy.

As for the videos...

At the Delaware State Fair with Wade, the Breakdance is Fabbri, I think they still have it, though Wade doesn't really come around these parts much. Though until WSF went indy, I was really hoping Wade would pick up the spot, they are a first class operation.

And I haven't heard the name Farrow in Years, same for All Star, Astro, Mid America, etc, they were all swallowed up by North American Midway Entertainment, aka NAME. NAME was founded by someone from Ticketmaster. And Shocker was another ride that had lots of mechanical issues, 9 times out of 10 when I saw it it's arm wasn't rotating, regardless of the owner.

[Coaster Justin]

Update?

Spin City
http://www.wistatefair.com/wp/index.php ... game-area/


1 Month Away

[FParker185]

55 rides are booked, which is ok I guess being it's first year as an indy fair.

No lineup yet, though word has it Rave will be there which is a modern version of the Chance Rotor and Murphy Brothers might just send up their Wildcat Coaster, no confirmations though until either A. a lineup is released or B. the fair opens for business and we all see what's physically there. Only stuff 100% confirmed is Stratosphere Tower and the Sky Wheel, and it will be Stratosphere's first time set up in the US I think, so I wouldn't even call that 100% if issues arise.

[Coaster Justin]

Compared to Big scale Euro Fun Fairs, Is 55 rides big or dull?

[FParker185]

Compared to a decent sized European Fair, that's about as dull as it gets, most fairs will have around 100-150 attractions, with more at the really big fairs like Dusseldorf. Hard to compare though since fairs come in all sizes in Europe, most of them have maybe 20 rides with only one or 2 spectaculars.

I think it will be a good USA State Fair, better than most, but not quite Florida, Texas, Del Mar or MN.

[Coaster Justin]

Do You Have Money Burning A Hole in your Pocket?
http://www.marshfieldnewsherald.com/art ... gh-July-14


I Don't know how Season passes would work at a fair.

[Ilovthevu']

I have just seen the list of rides for this fair, and I'm not that impressed. I think it's the fact that a lot of those rides you can find in IL - stuff like Force 10, Alpine Bobs (In which you can find with Spectacular -- Music Fest-- if can even find them anymore), Freak Out, Zipper, Orbiter, Genesis (basically the Moby Dick ride), Starship, Full Tilt, Scooters, Sizzler, etc.

The only stuff I see that is so different is the Sky Wheel, KMG Fun Factory (EDIT: I was wrong with this. I was thinking of the other Factory ride called X-Factory that is more like a 1001 Nachts ride. This ride to me reminds me of a Scat type of ride, but it's more freaky.), and the Wisdom Viper (which I compare more to swings than a real thrill ride).

And sure, I would be more inclined to go if you didn't have to pay for every ride with a wristband, but if they are having independents like this, it's not worth for me to go. Carnival rides are very expensive without some sort wristband. You spend $5 for a ride that on the used market is $400,000, and you spend $5 for a ride that is used on the market for $50,000. Kind of ridiculous..

I think they should have got NAME to do this. Have All Star bring in Yo-Yo, Power Surge, KMG Fireball, Century Wheel, Scooters, Tilt-A-Whirl, Spider, 1001 Nachts, Matterhorn, Inverter, Sizzler; Astro bring Pharoah's Fury & Orbiter; Mid-America bring in Alpine Bobs, Zipper, & Remix (if they are ones that own that).

And the thing is, is that carnival people actually think they are cheaper than amusement parks. An amusement park is a whole lot cheaper than going to a carnival because of the season pass. A season pass, you could visit 100 days if you wanted to compared to $20 for 4 hours at a carnival.

[FParker185]

Yeah, it's not as great as I was hoping, though if the grosses are up this year, and everyone leaves happy, then it will become a stopping point for all the really big rides on the way to the MN State Fair.

Full ride list at.....

http://www.carnivalwarehouse.com/brnews ... sf2012.pdf

Also the carnival doesn't get $5 if you pay in 5 tickets, for each $1 ticket sold the ride owner gets about 35 cents, the rest goes to the fairboard, utilities, tips and throwbacks, etc, and don't forget there is the cost of the ride (over a million for most rides new), the cost of insurance(probably quadruple the number you come up with in your head), the cost of setup, tear down and transportation, which involves alot of fuel and even more insurance and regulations, and general overhead like maintenance. It isn't cheap.

[DeathbyDinn]

Being the first year they've done this, I'm not surprised they didn't go huge. Like has been said, it it does well, it it will expand.

The only real disappointment for me is that Comet 2 isn't on that list and I don't see any coasters that could fill it's spot. (Unless they're listed under the ride name and not the model name). I've always wondered why the smallest, cheapest ghetto fairs were able to have wild mouses and pinfaris where as the WI state fair, despite being pretty big and a huge event, has had a number of years where a wacky worm is the biggest coaster.

[Coaster Justin]

I Count 3 Coasters
- Jungle Twist
- Wacky Mouse
- Windstorm

Is There more or Less, Anyone?

[Ilovthevu']

^^It's ironic you said that (ghetto fair) because last year with Murphy Brothers, things were looking really, really bad. Tilt-A-Whirl with no brakes, graffati in Zipper cages, Spin Out had a lot of taped up harnesses, Shocker and Orbiter weren't working, lights out on Eli Wheel, Cliffhanger had something wrong (maybe paint), Double Shock hadn't been painted in forever it looked like. It looked like a company that was about to about to go out of business very soon.

You know when a carnival is in trouble when they have so many rides up for sale including Extreme X, Wisdom Viper, Genesis, Cliffhanger, and the Wave Swinger. I think the reason why is because those rides except the Cliffhanger are newer, and they probably feel that people would actually want to buy them, and they need the money.
On this site:
http://www.irmpri.com/product.htm

And NO that's not SFGAm's Condor. That's Morey's Pier.

[tp41190]