bubbapinesole
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 10:21:45 AM
The following are my personal observations after visiting the Miami Dade County Fair yesterday Monday March 21st. My apologies in advance for the quality of the pictures but it was difficult to get good shots due to the crowd size.

Large crowd. Over 35 minute wait to purchase gate ticket and they had 26 ticket windows working. The crowd continued to grow into the night and stayed late until closing at midnight.

All equipment looked great. In my opinion especially:

1001 Nachts - best looking one I have seen.
Crazy Spin - all seats safely work.
Jungle of Fun- Nice to see a different Fun House out there other than the Owen ones.
Space Roller - Looked fabulous! Better than new.
Mega Drop - Great looking piece and the crew working it worked like a well oiled machine. Customers in and out.
Astro Wisdom Himalaya - Best looking Wisdom Himi and operation I have seen. Equipment in excellent shape, good music, fog, siren and the customers were having a blast.

GAMES
Good variety of games and they all looked good. Many had unique graphics, themeing and lighting. No ballon joint or bucket game to be found on site. I am not sure if they are prohibited by the fair board. It sure was nice walking on a midway and seeing 5-6 baloon, bank a ball and busket game joint. Even nicer was being able to walk around and be harassed or heckled by game attendants. I did not notice as many people walking around with plush as I have seen at other fairs lately. Not sue if it is due to the soft sell, low stock throw, or layour of midway.

EMPLOYEES
Employees looked good, clean cut, all in uniform, courteous and attentive and looked more like theme park workers. It was obvious that these employees have attended employee training courses relating to show policy and customer relations.

From what I have seen in Florida so far this year (Central Florida Fair, Dade Couty Fair and Florida State Fair) is that if the weather is good combined with a well run fair were customers get value for their money and a first class midway operator the customers are coming out and spending the money. (On the other hand if you are one of those shows that puts a sign reading great Value 20 tickets for $20.00 and Super Value 40 tickets for $40.00, the customers will see right through it)

Congraulations are in order to the Dade Miami Dade Couty Fair board for putting on a first class event that they and the entire State of Florida can be proud of.

Additionally, congraulations are also in order to Conklin, Farrow and Thebault Bloomness for an excellent operation and for putting money back into their equipment, employees and customer amenities.

Pictures are here:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.c....yahoo.com/ph//my_photos 
The ride list is as follows:

MAIN RIDES
Astro wheel
Conklin Wheel
Farrow Wheel
1001 Nachts
After Burner
Bonzai
Cliff Hanger
Crazy Flip
Crazy Mouse
Crystal Lils
Cukoo Haus
Demons Lair
Doppell Looping
Double Shock
Downdraft
Drop of Fear
Extreme Power Jump
Fireball
Fun Slide
Inverter
Jungle of Fun Fun House
Mack Coaster
Mardi Gras
Mega Drop
Niagara Falls
Orbiter X2
Owens Haunted Mansion X2
Pharoahs Fury
Polar Express
Power Surge
Ring of Fire
Rainbow Rock
Sky Glider X2
Sizzler
Space Roller
Spin Out
Tango
Tornado
Twister
Wild Cat Coaster
Wisdom Himalaya
Wisdom Matterhorn
YoYo

KIDS RIDES
Circus Train
Clown Around
Construction Zone
Convoy
Crazy Sub
Eli Wheel
Euroslide
China Dragon Coaster
Crazy Bus X2
Flying Dumbo
Hillbilly Village
Kite Flyer X2
Lolliswing
MGR X2
Mini Indy
Moser Free Fall
Mystery Machine Sub
Orient Express Coaster
Raiders X2
Rock N Tug X2
Scooters X2
Silver Steak
Speedway
Spider Swing
Spinning Bear
Tilt
Umbrellas Rides X4
Up Up and Away
Wacky Worm Coaster
Wave Swinger
Zamperla Swings






SKYWHEELER and BOILS THE CLOWN for moderators !!!
Cstephens
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 10:42:39 AM
nice pics, oh and the astro wheel listed is really bloomness's century wheel. astro's eli eagle 16 wheel is the one in the kiddie ride area. farrow shows has a century wheel too but they brought their giant wheel insted. did'nt know the fabbri afterburner (space jam) was there, bloomness owns it. who's k.m.g fire ball is there, is it conklin's or farrow's?
Pinetar
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  • Operations Foreman
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 10:43:01 AM
Ryan
  •  Ryan
  • 57.38% (Neutral)
  • Lot Foreman
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 10:43:42 AM
the on labeled astro office is actually the all star office, which is actually the old ed gregory office.

Thanks for the pics, liked the landscaping and stuff.
www.modernmidways.com 
"If life was fair elvis would be alive and the impersonators would be dead"-carson
Cstephens
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 10:47:45 AM
oh and one more thing, i don't see a gravitron/starship ride listed wonder why there isn't one there, astro has a starship 3k, bloomness has a gravitron with wizard art work on it'scenery wall and farrow has a new starship 4k. surely they could have brought at least one, why did'nt they do that?
Skywheelrider
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 10:50:57 AM
After what happened there last year, I doubt they want a Gravitron on the midway.

Bubba, nice trip report. Less than 90 rides, I thought this fair had more? I will look at the pics when I get home and get on the cable connection. This dial-up at work is awful.

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." -- Mark Twain
bubbapinesole
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 11:05:00 AM
CStephens - I believe the Fireball is the Conlkin one. I am only saying this beause I saw a fireball sitting at Farrow's winter quaters yesterday.

Thanks for the clearing up of the Astro and All Star pieces I usually just say Astro when referring to those two shows.

I can tell yoiu without a doubt that there is no Gravitron/Starship there. I believe Skywheeler is correct in his reasoning. There is also no Zipper or Bobs of any type. I also found interesting that the Wisom Matterhorn and Himalaya sit almost directly across from one another on the same row.
SKYWHEELER and BOILS THE CLOWN for moderators !!!
Ryan
  •  Ryan
  • 57.38% (Neutral)
  • Lot Foreman
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 11:09:57 AM
question, what game was this pic at?? The beads seem to be working here.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.c...dnm=beeb.jpg&.src=ph 


www.modernmidways.com 
"If life was fair elvis would be alive and the impersonators would be dead"-carson
crazyspin
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 11:18:00 AM
Quote:

quote:


Originally posted by Ryan

question, what game was this pic at?? The beads seem to be working here.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.c...dnm=beeb.jpg&.src=ph 




the fair usually hands out beads at the front gate. The picture looks like it was taken in front of Conklin's Wildcat coaster.
bubbapinesole
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 11:22:18 AM
The beads were being thrown out during the parade off of floats and by Skywheeler's Senorita. The parade went right in front of the rides and the crowd in line just moved back until after the parade.
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Ryan
  •  Ryan
  • 57.38% (Neutral)
  • Lot Foreman
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 11:26:34 AM
heres the million dollar question.....

how many 2 story water races and baskeball joints??
www.modernmidways.com 
"If life was fair elvis would be alive and the impersonators would be dead"-carson
bubbapinesole
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 11:50:00 AM
Ryan - no two story basketball game. And not many two story games, There was one for sure possibly two.
SKYWHEELER and BOILS THE CLOWN for moderators !!!
Skywheelrider
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 12:30:03 PM
Ahhhh, cable access! lol Got to look at the pics. And they look fantastic. You take some awesome night shots. One time I need to see this fair. Thanks for sharing the pics!
"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." -- Mark Twain
salesman
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 12:49:56 PM
Thanks for the nice Pics Bubba, I really appreciate you posting them on this forum. Looks like a nice spring night in Miami. Last time I was at that fair was in 1984. 21 years ago I remember the ride line up being as follows:
(2) TILT A WHIRL
(2) SKYWHEELS
(2) SUPER LOOPS
(2) SIZZLERS
CONKLINS GIANT WHEEL
WAVE SWINGER
YO YO
TEMPEST
COBRA
SPIDER
(2) FLYING BOBS
ZIPPER
CHANCE TOBBOGAN
SKYDIVER
MARK I
DOPPEL LOOPING
ROTOR
HUSS RAINBOW
HUSS RANGER
HUSS ENTERPRISE
HUSS UFO
HUSS TIDAL WAVE(PIRATE)
ROUND UP
POLAR EXPRESS
REVERCHON HIMALAYA
THE CATERPILLAR (HIMALAYA TYPE RIDE W/ A COVER DEPLOYED OVER THE CARS)
THE SKY BUCKETS
(2) GLASS/MIRROR HOUSES
CRAZY BARRELS
(2) GIANT SLIDES
PARATROOPER
+ A FEW MORE BIG RIDES I CAN'T REMEBER
KIDDIELAND HAD ABOUT 35 OF ITS OWN RIDES, MORE THAN OUR LOCAL STATE FAIR HERE. THE FAIR STILL LOOKS NICE AND AS IN THE PAST STILL GETS THE BIG CROUDS. HEARD AROUND THE LATE 80'S THEY HAD SOME PROBS WITH GANG VIOLENCE, BUT MY UNDERSTANDING IS THEY CURBED IT. THANKS FRO THE PICS...
"I'm Just, SICK WIT-IT"
bubbapinesole
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 12:50:02 PM
Skywheeler - but how about the Senorita I reserved for you???[:p]
SKYWHEELER and BOILS THE CLOWN for moderators !!!