Photo TR: Broward County Fair

[Jumboshrmp]

I had been looking forward to this day for about a year. Ever since I lost my fear of all rides once I stepped off my first coaster with inversions, I had been looking to ride some of the more intense flat rides. On Friday, November 24, I went to the Broward County Fair.

 

The prices were steep, but worth it for me, being a ride enthusiast.

For JUST ADMISSION, you had to pay $10.

If you wanted to ride all of the rides all day long as much as you wanted, you had to pay $25 in advance or $30 at the gate (at least this includes admission).

You could buy an unlimited pass for every day of the fair, complete with a Photo ID for about $60 in advance or $90 at the gate. Once again, this includes admission.

I went for the $30 ride all day wristband, I didn't buy in advance. It was worth it though, but I wouldn't go more than once a year.

 

The fair wasn't as big as it was last year. Last year they advertised it a having 100 rides. Well I'm going to give a quick list of the most notable rides they had there this year.

 

Freak Out, Tango, Zipper, Power Surge, Ring Of Fire, Wild Mouse, Gravitron, Sling Shot (which was actually a launching drop tower despite the decieving name), Pharoah's Fury, Avalanche, Twister, Tilt a Whirl, Dutch Wheel (the name for the giant Ferris Wheel).... and I could keep going on but those were the major rides.

Ok, now on to some photos:

 

The fair was open from Noon to 12 am on Friday, and I got there at about 12:30. It looked like it might be a rainy day but it turned out nicely.

 

The first ride of the day was the Wild Mouse coaster (my 33rd Coaster). Nothing too special, it was fun, but probably had the lowest capacity of any of the major rides.

3 out of 5

 

After that I went straight to the ride I was looking forward to the most, the Freak Out. This ride is like the KMG Afterburner (Fireball in the US), but it only holds 16 riders. I never had to wait in any line and this was the least painful ride of the day. I love this ride for the airtime. My only complaint is that the cycle is pretty lame. You start off spinning and begin to swing. After a few turns you stop spinning . Then you finally begin spinning again once you reach the full swing, but you only get about 4 swings before the ride is over. I rode it 7 times.

4.5 out of 5

 

Starship 3000?

Inside!!!

Next I went over the Gravitron, or as it was called here, the Starship 3000. I had never been on one of these before either. Basically it spins you around and you stick to the wall, but I wasn't expecting the walls to slide up! That gave me a good scare. I layed upside down and did all sorts if fun things, but still, this ride doesn't do much else. Still a classic though. After 2 rides I give it

3 out of 5

 

Right next to the Starship 3000 is the Power Surge (Zamperla). The only time I had ever seen one of these was in the IAAPA 2001 video on this site. The Power Surge was definitely Freaky. many times during this ride, you put your entire weight on the OTSR. There is no "crotch belt" either, so its pretty scary. The seats were minimal, and most of the scariness of this ride wasn' because it was fast or forceful, but because you constantly felt like you we're going to get thrown on the ground. Oh, and if you ride this by yourself, your seat will be sideways. Ha. I rode 4 times.

4 out of 5

 

Now I finally went over to the Tango, the ride I had been putting off for the first hour because it looks so scary.

I had been watching videos of this ride and I was fascinated by the movements. It looked like a truly terrifying ride. I was quite dissapointed.

It was more like a "hold on and endure the pain" type of ride. It didnt stop me from riding it 4 times though. I enjoyed being on the ride, and the view was neat. But the pain is rediculous. The restraint holds down both of your shoulders, and it also pushes really hard right above your..erm..privates. Watching this ride, I give it a 5, it is an incredible ride to watch, but when riding it, I give it

2.5 out of 5

 

Ring of Fire

It was fun going around in a loop, but the view was terrible, the seats were uncomfortable and very confined... Not much else to say, and I only wanted to ride it once

2 out of 5

 

The Zipper. Wow, I sure was in for a treat. I was always fascinated by this ride ever since I was a little kid. I never saw myself getting on it, but I actually did. Because the ride was older, I wasnt expecting it to live up to the other rides. But it surpassed them. I was having a contest with the group of people I was with to see whose car would flip the most (without flipping it yourself). I won, and got 6 spins in a row. My seat also happened to get stuck upside down for about 4 seconds near the end of the ride, not sure how that happened. Because you can't ride by yourelf, and nobody else in my group wanted to ride, I only got to ride once. But this became my favorite ride of the entire fair.

I give it a very rare

5 out of 5

 

Well those we're all of the major rides that I feel are worth reviewing, but here are some extra pictures:

 

Whooo big Ferris Wheel. I must give credit to this ferris wheel, if it weren't for him I wouldn't have gotten most of those neat photos.

 

See? The Power Surge has NO CROTCH BELT (I actually think that's what it's called, too)

 

Woohoo KMG!! (I love when manufacturers put their name on the ride)

 

This is for you ferris wheel enthusiasts

 

Wow, what a miserable life this woman must have. I can't believe people still actually pay to see these things anyway.

 

What's the point of this ride anyway?

 

And here is one last roller coaster picture for you people saying "I'm bored, this guy doesn't post very many roller coaster pictures"

 

 

I look forward to returning to the Broward County Fair next year! Hopefully I'll be able to make it to the South Florida fair when it comes early next year (I think).

Thanks to everyone who spent time reading this. Oh and by the way, the fair ends today (11-26-06) at 10 PM. I hear that Theme Park Review is showing up there at some time, but I dont feel like paying admission again to get in.

[apollo210]

You actually liked thje Zipper? No kidding, I am surprised.

 

Well anyways, that fair looks fun, but a little ghetto. The mouse looks painful but fun! I can't wait to ride my first in December! Also, the Tango does look painful, I hope I don't ever ride one. And finally, the Avalanche is a boring ride type with no Airtime.

[pvcoasterguy]

That Crazy Mouse looks like a smaller version of the standard spinning Reverchon/Zamperla mouse. Does anyone know if this is true?

[Jumboshrmp]

You actually liked thje Zipper? No kidding, I am surprised.

Yes, actually I really did like it. It was one of the older ones with the heavier cars. Supposedly they spin more. But yeah, the lap bar actually fit just right, not too tight and not too loose. And I don't really mind bumpiness as long as it isnt lateral. I did hit my head on the back of the seat once but the ride was fun.

 

 

That Crazy Mouse looks like a smaller version of the standard spinning Reverchon/Zamperla mouse. Does anyone know if this is true?

Yes, the layout is pretty much exactly the same as Primeval Whirl at Animal Kingdom. I noticed that the first dip doesn't have as much of a curve on this one, which makes the first drop less scary.

And the mouse actually isn't very painful at all.

[dj snow]

Thank you for your report. It truly was educational, entertaining and life-affirming.

 

 

Seriously, looks like a decent fair and, if it's not too crowded, not a bad deal on the wristband either.

 

Stay away from those Gravitrons!

 

Oh, and maybe Mark can clue us on on the crotch-belt question and Power Surge.

[robbalvey]

Yes, we were there today! We'll have our pics up later on. Still need to get down to the Santa's Enchanted Forest. (We'll be there around 5ish if anyone wants to meet up)

 

Overall the fair was pretty "meh." The mouse was really bad...didn't spin at all, and most of the other flats we had been on before. I think we spent about 30 minutes in total, spending more time eating Elephant Ears than riding!

 

Of course, the 30 laps we took on the kiddie coaster probably ate up 10 minutes of our time there too!

 

It was cool getting a couple of bonus credits!

 

--Robb

[BarryH]

Great pics!

 

Who is the fair's midway operator?

[Jumboshrmp]

Great pics!

 

Who is the fair's midway operator?

Do you mean the supplier of the rides? Like Hildebrand or a similar company?

 

Well I kept seeing the name Reithoffer all over the rides, so I'm going to assume that was the company. Look at the picture of the power surge (with the caption about the crotch belt). You see the name on the sign. And that R is the logo on the ferris wheel.

[BarryH]

^I mean, what company operates the midway? Their logo should be proudly displayed all over the place. It's probably Reithloffer, but some midways (like at the Florida Fair in Tampa), it's several midway operators who come together to make one giant midway.

 

Ive never seen a spinning mouse at a Reithloffer midway.

[jedimaster1227]

I really do love Power Surge. I was able to ride one when I went to Cypress Gardens about 6 months ago. To me, it was the best ride in the park and when the ride op let me keep riding without stopping the ride for 5 times, I was in heaven! It was insane, but afterwards, I was like: ...

 

It was a fun ride though. Glad you had a good time! I really did enjoy this TR!

[eddie200330]

Reithoffer (SP) is the supplier of the rides and midway at our local fair here in Allegany County Maryland. They usually bring 1 or 2 "hot" rides and the rest are just your average carny rides. Once they brought aFlitzer,never anything of the magnitude of spinning mouse type coasters. Zipper is definitely the best (scariest) fair ride just for the fact you spin so out of control and you keep waiting for the pins to fly out and your cage to go soaring throught the air!

[BeemerBoy]

I know I've been away for several years now, but when did they move the location to Lockhart? When I was growing up down there, the Broward County Youth Fair was always a pretty big deal, but now it seems really ghetto.

[bgwfreak]

Nice report.

 

I've yet to get on a Zipper. But both times I saw one this year I was by myself and probably couldn't have ridden anyway.

[Jumboshrmp]

I know I've been away for several years now, but when did they move the location to Lockhart? When I was growing up down there, the Broward County Youth Fair was always a pretty big deal, but now it seems really ghetto.

This was the first year they had it there.

Last year it was about 15 minutes farther away from me, and yes I think it was bigger (but I never went in).

 

How was it?