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The Carnival Endeavor

The Carnival Endeavor is a 12 week focus based on being in the carnival business, not from riding the rides and playing games, but from the actual setting up, tearing down, and other things which make up being in the carnival business. At the end of the season, I will have my reaction, and ponder if I will continue into the Thrillseeker Carnival Series of 2010, which may be the final Thrillseeker Carnival Series.

The actual posts will not be on here. They will be on the Carny Town blog, however, they will be linked upon here.

There is a lot that is dealt when it comes to an endeavor like this, and somehow, I wonder if it was for me in the first place.

THE CARNIVAL ENDEAVOR: THE OTHER SIDE
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12

Getting All Set Up.

The last few days I have been through watching set up of various rides (Himalaya, mainly) and also of various joints and concessions. It is very tedious work indeed.

What I feel is that you have a clear mind and that you have to let yourself go each moment, even if emotionally distraught. Because the process is very rough. You set up rides, you get them inspected (hoping they are of tip top shape), and then you tear it all down. All for that process to happen over again.

Hundreds of miles at a time. Only days between closing of one spot and opening of another.

Would I be able to handle it? As the Thrillseeker, no.

The First 72 Hours.

As you all know, I am no longer in Michigan. I have arrived in New York to start a whole new endeavor. This endeavor could show me the things about a carnival really is, but I will mainly figure out if this is for me, as I might be heading to another approach come 2011 and my approach into another shift. I will be with Midway Rides of Utica for this endeavor.

For me, make it as my 'reality show'. Although I was never a fan of reality shows. It's pretty simple why. Just look at the first few days.

The first two days have been good, upon my first approach here in Nunda, NY. Well, that was because the carnival here was with rides from Powers Great American Midways. Two rides were featured (both Powers) - Vertigo (a rising favorite) and Chopper Hopper (a kiddie ride, but it's shaped like helicopters, oh boy, long story why). Not to mention an interesting game which I loved, but one of them - which I taped about - has caused a little problem with me on Carny Town (more on that later too).

After the carnival, I was a little intrigued. I helped count tickets from after the carnival while teardown was done. With that, was the next stop - Big Flats. This is where things drop to the bottom already. Besides an incident (which I won't talk about), I realize that I am 8,000 feet away from something which I was trying to get my mind off of - airplanes. So I look at myself and say, here we go again. My heart had a big fallout for one in seeing Chopper Hopper. If it was bigger I would have loved to ride on it, as if it was like a big helicopter, and me being the pilot. That would have been fun. And even worse, the mood has been more deteriorating when it comes to me after my videotape of showing about the transition. It's kinda making me wonder about things all of a sudden.

Now we come to setup day for week 2 here at Big Flats. With all of the things lingering in my mind, I am wondering if I can make it to week 3? Heck, it looked like I was finished after week 2.

This is real bad because I was told there is no fun and games when it comes to being a carny, and that there are no days off. I'm beginning now to wonder if this is really the way to go.

Sterling Heights, Rounds 2 and 3: McDonagh's gets 'AAAAA'.

The Forums at Gateway Carnival was actually the carnival that I was expected to skip, because of the many other carnivals that were coming up, with various other shows. Not to mention, M-59 and Mound Road was way off the mark, with the closest bus stop about a mile from the spot (at Van Dyke). However, due to circumstances beyond my comtrol, I coudl not get to those carnivals. Pretty much, I should be a pretty irate Thrillseeker. Freak Out was missed in Taylor and St. Clair Shores. Mount Clemens is still going, although looking for my first Wade spot for the series, and the first rides of Fireball, Twister and Mega Drop. Plus, I missed perhaps Playworld's good spot of where G Force was at, in Warren.

To solace that was two more rounds of Sterling Heights.

They were short runs, but I needed a rush somewhere. It's perfect weather, and the last place I woudl want to be is stuck at home. So, McDonagh's has been the way to go. And with that, lots of win so far for McDonagh's.

Cyclone, their new ride, once again, never ceases to amaze me. Maybe because it is Zero Gravity, with a whole different feel. Pharaoh's Fury is back in the hunt again, afte r

The biggest winner of the Sterling Triple Thriller has been from a ride which I never expected to even get into the talk about thrills - yes, CLIFF HANGER. Cliff Hanger's first ride was NEVER like this before. It stopped for like a split second, while I was in mid air, and then it started up again. I gave that triple double bonus points.

To put it in perspective, McDonagh's is once again in position like last year to be rolling as the best Michigan carnival. Cyclone, Pharaoh's Fury and the completely surprisingly Cliff Hanger are the to pthree in rides. (I swear, if Cliff Hanger wins no. 1, there will be a lot of people who might be hanging off of a cliff, LOL.)

However, this next weekend is make or break for me. June is approaching, and the Thrillseeker will have to make some very dire decisions about his next approach. Again, financial issues will be key in pondering whether the Thrillseeker continues with the Carnival Series, or if it will end after this weekend (especially with a big weekend of Orchard Lake and Hazel Park pondering.)

Triple Treat.

The Thrillseeker Carnival Series of 2010 featured its first three-carnival weekend of the season.

The first carnival was held in Sterling Heights, on Mound Road and M-59. There were some interesting new things about this carnival. Of course everything was set up and all, but the funny about it is that there were some very new things to the lineup. In any case, I had a few missions. Get a recorded ride on the Big Ben with the entire midway at night, and get McDonagh's new no. 1 ride - Cyclone - on video. Before all of that I needed to have a little fun. The only rides that were getting all of the action at the start of the day was Cyclone, Pharaoh's Fury, Cliff Hanger, and Larson Fireball. Of course, that was how it was most of the day. Later on, Alpine Bobs opened, and everyone, including I, flocked to that ride. It was an interesting ride with how people were on that ride. After that ride, I went to the two main rides of the day - Cyclone and Big Ben. When nighttime came, both rides were a hit. But Big Ben took the cake. For me, Big Ben won at Sterling Heights because of how I was lifted almost out of my seat by Big Ben. Yikes. So overall, with the new things I saw, Sterling Heights was a win for Friday.

So came Saturday. Saturday I was supposed to go to Redford. That never happened. So by teh timing I had, I decided to head straight to Macomb Mall, in Roseville. Pretty much, why was I turned off?? I don't know. I talked with a few people and got on a few rides. Freak Out was once again a big hit, and it showed because of the lines that started to build when approaching Freak Out. Yo-Yo was okay, and so was Screamer. At night, the strobe lights on Freak Out pretty much brought people flocking to there, and the lines began to balloon. It was a so-so day at Macomb Mall.

Sunday approached, and that meant I had to choose of one carnival. Redford? Back to Sterling Heights? Maybe Berkley? I kinda decided. Redford. I had a bit of an obstacle getting there, though. The last bus from Redford was 7:00. The 6:00 bus never showed up. I got another bus north to get to Plymouth, where I had to do some running and all just to make it to W. Chicago/Inkster for Skerbeck's spot at St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church. When I got there I looked at Vertigo, majorly. Ever since Gibsonton I wanted to get on that ride. I was upset that I didn't in Gibtown (and that Sky Flyer was a big bust at the Florida State Fair), so now here was that chance. Well, sorta. The Plymouth bus leaves from Middlebelt at 7:05. I got to the carnival at 6:46. The line at Vertigo was HUGE. I was nervous that I would have to walk back from Inkster back to Southfield to get home... ack. By the time I got on the Vertigo, it was 7:07. I was a little nervous. It was time to take flight, first. It was a deep experience, of just flying around, looking throguh the skies. It was the whole airplane feel, well, minus about 29,910 feet. After my maiden Vertigo voyage, I ran from the carnival to Plymouth Road (in five minutes!) and I figured, I missed the bus. I was wrong. The bus came ten minutes later. Unbelievable.

An interesting roller coaster of a carnival weekend indeed.

And now for the videos.

First Sterling Heights. There were a lot of things there which I had to show, along with the videos of me on the rides.

Here's Macomb Mall. Not much to show for here, besides my ride on Freak Out.

And here is the only video I could get for a 17-minute approach into a carnival. Vertigo, in Redford.

St. Clair Shores Spring Carnival: Cyclone Rolls into the Top.

After an interesting flight simulation in Warren, it was time for me to head east, for the St. Clair Shores Spring Carnival. Now, it was time to meet Chris Hurley and the rest of the crew of McDonagh's as they begin their season once again. The problem has been the weather, though. It was pretty chilly. It reminded me of the Florida State Fair. Although St. Clair Shores didn't have as many rides. One of the biggest anticipations for the second carnival of Michigan (and the 4th carnival in the series) was the appearance of new rides. McDonagh's brought some rides which were not around in St. Clair Shores last year. Along with a new ride in its midway. I get there, and it starts hailing... uhhhh, what? Hail? Like.... I didn't see any thunder or all, but it actually ... hailed. Odd. But then afterwards, the rides were up again.

-Cyclone: One of the newest rides of the McDonagh's midway. I already rode North American Midway's Round Up, so what would Cyclone that would be different? Well, have the effect of Zero Gravity. Zero Gravity has a higher arc, making more thrill. That's exactly what Cyclone did, and it was felt, especially by me. It really got to my head after the second ride.

-Big Ben: The last time I rode Big Ben was way back in Port Huron. Today it almost seemed like I was not going to be able to ride it today. The winds were super-howling and I was like ... okay, maybe this might not be the year for Big Ben. I was eating my fries and pop until I realized that something was popping up. Then I saw it.

Big Ben and Cyclone were the two newest rides to St. Clair Shores. But there were some other rides too.

-Larson Fireball: Usually a Ring type ride would have either one of three things: A screaming crowd, a fast train, or a suspended action. Well, for this ride, all three came into view. Although there was not a lot of screaming. Most of the screaming happened on the second ride (which I forgot to say that I got on it twice). Both rides experienced a fast looping action, This was the real feel of being on a jet in free air, just looping almost that fast (well, maybe not THAT fast, but it was fast indeed). Then how about being suspended in the air for more than 8 seconds? Even though it isn't the 27-second record that was set last year by North American Midway's Ring of Fire ride, to feel it on my first rides of Fireball made things very thrilling.

-Alpine Bobs: Alpine Bobs has really started off in the spotlight early on, while last year it took Bobs a long time to get there. As usual, Bobs (and rival Thunderbolt) usually start off slow. Then it starts to rev up. Now, as usual, the ride ops on Bobs usually induce action and screaming. Hey, it's what makes a ride more interesting. And when I got on, a lot more people got on.  That was typical of a good Bobs ride, which was the experience I had.

-Pharaoh's Fury: What happened to the thrill that Fury had? Well, Fury had a lot of work to do from last year in Wayne to get to no. 1. Looks like the same thing will happen this year. Fury had been short of people in St. Clair Shores (the weather is definitely to blame).

-Skywheel: Skywheel was, surprisingly, the last ride I got on. I was just as surprised to get on this ride on a windy day in St. Clair Shores as I was for Big Ben. Of course, Chris is right there, LOL. And I get him on video while I am on the ride. Another win for Skywheel.

So, after St. Clair Shores, here were the top rides:
(1) Cyclone (105 pts)
(2) Big Ben (104)
(3) Larson Fireball (101)
(4) Skywheel (100)
(5) Alpine Bobs (97)

Fury bottomed out in 6th with only 92 points.

If the weather was coooperative, then I would have been in St. Clair Shores for at least 5 rides of each ride. But it wasn't.

---

THE VIDEOS!

The midway of the St. Clair Shores Carnival, located on Stephens Road off of I-94. Uhhh, I get there, and it's hailing. Like ... what? Ummm, yeah.

Alpine Bobs. If it wasn't for the screaming by the girls behind me, it would have been an interesting ride. Then the operators usually induced screaming. Instead, I happened to be the one doing that - for them behind me, heh.

The Cyclone. McDonagh's new ride. This and Zero Gravity will be major rivals. Cyclone is winning in the scream category, already.

Larson Fireball. An interesting spectacle, as you can see. Especially when you're in the front seat.

Pharaoh's Fury. Would have been better if there were more people. I missed that full crowd feeling when I am in the back, as usual.

The always surprising Big Ben tower. Complete with a freeway and a rainbow.

The Skywheel. Usually a McDonagh's midway is not complete without this. But that was when Fury was still nowhere in the top 10. Heck, if Skywheel got no. 1 this year .... errrr, okay, no more on that.

Warren Rotary Festival: Freak Out, Thunderbolt and Screamer Take Center Stage.

Another tradition begins when it comes to Michigan carnivals. For the third year in a row, Van Dyke Avenue is the spot for the first Michigan carnival of the Thrillseeker Carnival Series. The Warren Rotary Festival. It was deja vu once again. The ride of the festival - Freak Out - was set up like it was last year, just out enough so that the pendulum motion swung out as if you were swinging outside of the street. Unfortunately, I was not on that side of the street to sense such a motion over the SMART 510 Van Dyke bus. It would have been awesome to feel it again for the second straight year.

The crowd at the Warren Rotary Festival started out moderate, but suddenly increased as it got closer to nighttime. The Freak Out line began to explode.

Freak Out, once again, was the hot commodity of all of the people at the festival. Not as big as it was in Cleveland, but still, the lines were long enough to see that there were a lot of people for that ride. To make it interesting, I rode on there 5 times (that's a far cry from the 18 rides last year). 3 of those rides were with a lot of screaming. Then of course, most of the screaming people are from the daytime sessions. The nighttime version were with the ones who loved rides like this, and there was not a lot of screaming from then. Itw as still fun. Freak Out, for the second straight week, goes beyond my expectations.

Unlike last year, Screamer gets there on the first day, unlike last year when it took the 3rd day for me to get on. Well, the bad part is that the same rule applies: No single riders. However, I got lucky enough to get a ride in. In truth, I ended up getting two. When it comes to Screamer, at most spots, the name of the ride usually applies to what it does: it induces screaming, as Top Gun did in Cleveland earlier in the month (although Top Gun actually had single riders).

If it wasn't for Freak Out, the crowd would be going to Thunderbolt. The line at Thunderbolt was moderate compared to Freak Out, but then, the seat ratio was almost 2 to 1, so as it seemed, the lines were pretty small at Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt also missed something that a similar ride, Alpine Bobs, has. The bobbing cars. Maybe Thunderbolt's is not bobbing-like. It does, but not to the point like Alpine Bobs does. Still it was an interesting ride.

Lately, another ride which has caught my feel has been those of swinging air rides. With Sky Flyer in Florida and Vertigo in Cleveland, I figured that I would make my 'air-apparent' feel with Yo-Yo. Of course, Yo-Yo always falls in the middle. Not as high as the other two I mentioned, but then there is this raise of height during some parts, and some fall, which keeps Yo-Yo interesting.

Then there was Round Up. Like, okay, it's Round Up. Lately I have been with low reviews about these rides. Maybe because of the crowd that I end up on? Either there's no crowd at this ride, or there are some within that crowd that does something bizarre and unsafe on the ride. it all reminded me of Zero Gravity in Cleveland. Yuck. However, on my ride, there was not that. A funny was the guy who was next to me, asking me if I ate anything before I got on here. Yeah, I think I got the feeling of why he asked me, but then, I've done worse. Round UP I can easily hold my own. Even minutes after eating.

I did play a game, though. But it wasn't Crazy Ball (rats). It was Fastball. After a small talk with Mike, I played one game. It was an interesting game, nonetheless. I threw the ball, and I clocked in a speed of 41 MPH. Okay, not a jet, but it was still good enough to win.

There were some ups and downs about the festival. To boot it was pretty chilly. Not too much to hinder the crowd, but a few degrees warmer, and it would have been a madhouse at Warren. Just wait until next Friday, for my second trip there. However, one thing I didn't do that I did this time last year: barf. Probably because I only ride Freak Out 5 times this year, compared to the 18 last year.

Playworld Amusements:

Playworld Amusements Rogers High School
28th St Grand Rapids, Michigan, Very Windy Day And The G-Force Was Not Running,
Still A Medium Crowed Was On Hand, Even Though This Is Playworlds Spot
Some Of Playworlds Rides Werent There And Schmidt Had Theres Of The
Same Ride Instead, Plus Schmidt Had There Dark Ride There As Well !

Ride Lineup
Mulligan Giant Wheel
G-Force(Was Down,Too Windy)
Wisdom Himalaya
Super Shot Drop Tower
Zero Gravity(Round Up)
Tilt A Whirl (Schmidt)
Dark Ride (Schmidt)
KMG Freak Out
Pharous Fury
Majestic Bumper Cars
Cliff Hanger
Carousel (Schmidt)
Dizzy Dragons
Fun Slide
Ole' Western Train (Schmidt)
Wisdom Cobra Coaster
Nascar Speedway
Crystal Lil's(Mardi Gras)
Rainbow Rock(Raiders)

Video's Coming Soon To Video Page !

Thank You !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Girl Says Operator Didn't Close Gate Before Festival Ride

 

On April 23rd at the Chardon ,Ohio Maple festival the operator of J&J Amusements skydiver failed to properly shut and lock the car door,according to Fox 8 reporter Autumn Ziemba two girls we loaded into the cars and the door was not properly shut,the girls shouted to the operator but to no avail,the operator sent the girls up in the air,the girls continued to shout at the operator,as did people on the ground who also witnessed the door dangling as were the girls,after a period of time it took a local police officer to alert the operator of the situation where then he lowered the ride slowly.The girl only suffered minor injuries as well as a fractured ankle.John Richardson,owner of J&J Amusements was called and we are awaiting a call back,Carnytown will keep you updated on any information that we receive.

Ride List

Taken from a PDF list, the IX Center has a list of rides in all of the categories. The list here shows the ride, ride restrictions, and the show and/or person who owns that piece:

-Barrel of Fun (At least 36” to ride alone, 30” – 36” allowed with adult) (Bates)

-Bear Affair (At least 42” to ride alone, 30” - 42” allowed with adult) (Bates)

-Bone Shaker (At least 36” to ride alone, 30” – 36” allowed with adult) (Bates)

-Bug N Round (48” and under only) (At least 30” to ride alone) (Bates)

-Bumble Bee (400 lbs per bee MAX) (Mid America)

-Cliff Hanger (At least 46” to ride) (Mid America)

-Deluxe Carousel (At least 42” to ride alone) (Under 42” allowed with adult) (Mid America)

-Dizzy Dragon (At least 42” to ride alone) (Under 42” allowed with adult) (Mid America)

-Dragon Wagon (56” and under only, or adult w/small child) (Bates)

-Drummer Boy (1000 lbs per tub max) (Mid America)

-Eli Kid Scrambler (Under 48” only) (Bates)

-Eli Swinger (Under 48” only) (Bates)

-Fire Chief (At least 48” to ride alone) (Mid America)

-Flivver Model T 80’ (At least 36” to ride w/ adult) (Between 42” and 54” to ride alone) (Mid America)

-Freak Out (At least 48” to ride) (Mid America)

-G Force (At least 48” to ride) (Bates)

-Inverter (At least 48” to ride) (Bates)

-I-X Giant Ferris Wheel (No passengers who are pregnant) (I-X Center)

-Hampton Dune Buggy (54” and under only) (Bates)

-Happy Viking (At least 36” to ride alone, 30” – 36” allowed with adult) (Bates)

-Helicopter (No riders over 56”) (Bates)

-Hurricane (At least 48” to ride alone) (At least 42” if with an adult) (Bates)

-Movie Magic (660 lbs per tub MAX) (Mid America)

-Orient Express (At least 48” to ride) (Mid America)

-Music Express (Over 52” to ride alone, 48” – 52” allowed with an adult) (Bates & Mid America)

-Pharaoh’s Fury (At least 48” to ride) (Mid America)

-Quasar (At least 48” to ride alone) (Under 48” allowed with adult) (Bates)

-Quadzilla (42” to ride alone, 30” – 36” allowed with adult) (Bates)

-Rabbit Racer (Under 48” only, 36” to ride alone) (Bates)

-Ring of Fire (At least 52” to ride) (Bates)

-Rio Grande Train (At least 36” to ride alone) (Under 36” with a rider over 36”) (Mid America)

-Rock-A-Plane (At least 48” to ride alone) (Under 48” allowed with adult) (Bates)

-Samba Balloon (660 lbs. per balloon MAX) (Mid America)

-Scooter/Bumper Cars (At least 50” to ride alone) (Over 30” allowed with adult) (Bates)

-Skater (At least 48” to ride, 42” allowed with adult) (Mid America)

-Spinning Coaster (At least 55” to ride alone) (Over 45” allowed with adult) (Amus. Of America)

-State Fair Slide (42” alone) (Under 42” with a rider over 42”) (Mid America)

-Starship 2000 (At least 42” to ride) (Mid America)

-Street Racer (Under 54” only) (Bates)

-Super Shot (At least 42” to ride) (Bates)

-Tilt-A-Whirl (At least 46” to ride) (Under 46” allowed with adult) (Mid America)

-Tip Top (At least 52” to ride) (Bates)

-Tornado (At least 48” to ride) (Mid America)

-Tubs of Fun (36” to ride alone, 30”–36” allowed with adult) (Bates)

-Twister (At least 42” to ride alone) (Under 42” allowed with adult) (Bates)

-Venetian Swing (110 lbs per tub MAX) (Mid America)

-Vertigo (At least 42” to ride) (Bates)

-Wacky Worm (Over 42” to ride alone, 36” to 42” with an adult) (Jeff Brady)

-Whirlwind (At least 42” to ride) (Bates)

-Yo-Yo (At least 42” to ride) (Mid America)

-Zipper (At least 48” to ride) (Bates)