Photo Setup/Trip Report: Tulsa State Fair

[chadster]

Greetings fellow TPR followers! Tonight I will post the first of several installments on what goes into setting up the Tulsa State Fair. This year, the fair featues the Comet II, a Schwarzkopf wildcat model advertised as the largest portable roller coaster in the United States. The coaster itself was erected about two weeks ago, long before the other rides, attractions, and vendors would show up. The only other location this ride has been this year was at the Wisconsin State Fair.

 

I have permission from the Fair's Manager to be on site to document the work being done. Hope you enjoy!

 

This post will document what occured on Sept 22, 2010. You will see that things progress slowly on the setup side until Sept 27 when things kick into full gear. The fair opens Sept 30.

The Comet II, it used to reside at the Texas State Fair

In 2002, it was placed in storage by a Kansas Company who would eventually refurb the ride.

to my knowledeg, this is the first year it has operated since 2002

the midway contractor has stated recently that he doesn't know if it would return. The ride really isn't all that portable afterall and requires several weeks to assemble and disassemble.

here lies part of an extreme ride, I believe called the sky scraper

rides, food, muisc, beer, and games will line this stretch in a matter of days

The sky ride is also being prepped

ready for inspection

this is where they will take your money

a few rides on site, the ones used here are coming from New Mexico. The Fair there ends on Sept 26, 2010

inside the Expo (QuikTrip) Center, electrical is going in. Did you know this building is one of the largest column free span buildings in the world? 354,000 square feet of column free space to be exact. This building was previously used by the International Petroleum Exposition.

this area will house all types of crap for you to buy and look at

you can buy a portable building

lots of empty space here. Ford will set up a huge display here amung other things

5,000 butterflies will live here, I'll let you count them all

outdoor play sets

and mobile homes

in case you forgot who is sponsoring the building

congrats!!

Edited October 1, 2010 by chadster

[chadster]

Ok guys and gals, here is installment 2, occuring on Sept 27, 2010. A little progress has been made since Thursday as you will be able to tell. The rides are not yet on site.

in case you were worried, the Comet II is still here

the platform has been assembled for the sky scraper, the motor is also ready to be attached.

food vendors are going in

BEER GARDEN!!!!

the power that will operate most of the attractions. The fairgrounds invested heavily in infratructre to avoid as many generators on the midway as possible.

midway is still bare, where are rides you ask? Well, they are East Bound and wound, truckn' down the highway, they gonna do what we say can't be done...safely anyways, ha ha seriously, all rides are stingently inspected by the state, they don't let anything slip by, seriously, I am not joking, duct tape is not an accpetable fix in Oklahoma believe it or not.

ford will have outdoor and indoor exhibits, they also sponsor all of the barns, which by the way are some of the most state of art in the country, especially the super duty barn

Cars to be displayed during the fair have to have special not for sale designations by law

exhibits are going in, including spas

spas

Ford exhibit going on, this is going to turn out to be really cool looking. and the girls they have working on it are really cool looking too

more spas

food

as you can see, lots has been going on over the weekend

people working, or taking a break

the swing sets are finished

no butterflies yet, but soon, real soon

[chadster]

Spet 28, 2010, 12:00PM, the rides are here!!

 

Talley so far

 

Spa Vendor Count = 4

Kiddie Coaster Count = 3

Carousel Count = 1

butterfly trailer

NOTED!

tribute to cedar fair

kiddie ride

this will be a carousel

a really cool one

ferris wheel i think

oh boy, credit whoring!

uh??

beam me up scotty

sad and pathetic

the sky scrpaer is being erected

no comment

hmmm, no fat, no dairy, no good?

i think this is a claw

noted!

duct tape fixed everything!

yes!!! with on ride photos!!!

zipper

wtf?

ohhh, starship 2000

this is where all those power boxes where, now filled with fair food

staging area, things will begin to take off this night with ride assembly. Inspectors from the state will be onsite to monitor and inspect prior to fair opening and throughout the fair.

The Golden Driller is all dressed up for the fair

they will sculpt the driller out of cheese!

ford exhibit taking shape, looks cool

spas

even more spas, the economy must be doing better with all these spa vendors onsite this year

some people still haven't showed up to set up their booths, I'd say 30% will wait until the last day

news station set going up

random appliances

crap to buy

in case you need to move that spa you just got a helluva deal on due to all the competition

priceless, beer tent, frozen margaritas, wine, AA

Got Gold? I don't, but they must being as they have one of these to advertise wanting to buy your gold.

 

Well, that is it for today, I just got back from the fairgrounds and have several nighttime ride erecting pictures, I will get those up in the morning.

Edited September 29, 2010 by chadster

[BridgeMan]

Interesting stuff, thanks for posting! I always find it amazing how they're able fold up some of those rides and fit them into the space of a normal semi truck.

[Shavethewhales]

Bleh, the same crappy, dangerous rides and stupid merchandise. The Tulsa Fair is a far cry from what it was when I was a kid. I remember getting out of school to go to the fair, because it was supposed to be such an educational experience with all the groups and activities that would happen there. Now there's really nothing to do but look at RV's and risk your life on Murphy's rides.

 

If only they had the foresight to at least keep Zingo in place, then there would at least be one positive aspect remaining.

[chadster]

^ Why so negative? I do agree tho, the fair is not what it once was with Bell's gone and all, but they are really trying to grab hold of quality exhibits to make the experience better.

 

Anyway, on with nightime pictures of last evening (9.28.10 @ 8:30 PM). I would say about 60 percent of the rides are onsite, the others should arrive sometime today. It was amazing to watch how fast they were being put together. In the hour I was there, two large huss (knockoffs perhaps) were put together and ready to begin testing. Putting together the Ferris Wheels was also an interesting spectacle, within a few hours, the chasis was built and cars being added. Some of the pics are a little blurry, didn't have a flash with me worth having and no tripod.

 

Will be onsite tonight, the transition will be remarkable

 

yummmm......

so here we are at night time, pulling the rides off the trailers, if you never seen this done in person, it's crazy how fast they can setup this stuff up

bumper cars

himilaya brackets being laid in place

not 100% sure what this is as it was still compacted in the trailer

starship 2000 as they begin to unfold the walls

adding the cars to the drive brackets

walk thru

giant wheel going up

and getting its last section added before the gondolas

sky ride getting fresh queue paint

nerd shot

one of the many exhibit halls on site, art deco style

coke machine army

paint ball

the ford display outside coming together

one of three carousel's

sky scaper is almost finsihed and the drop tower being erected

tomahawk

the ride I am calling a top scan

kiddie coaster #3, a wacky worm, with on ride photo

the nicer of the carousel's

another exhibit hall for "Made in Oklahoma"

and the crap inside it

drop tower is still flacid

wtf?

kiddie rides from earlier in the day have been put together

still duct taped

3rd kiddie coaster, the fair can say they have 4 coasters now!

3rd carousel

the 2nd ferris wheel to go up, this was neat to watch, hydro's raised the tower, then the drive motors slowly rotated the structure until it was all put together.

its erect!@!@!

scarmbler, they rotate the top 180 degrees and it falls in place

the best funnel cakes ever, no joke, beats ANY theme/amusement park, and they only do this once per year

what is this mess??

it's an ACE buffet!!

i still like the indoor ford display for some reason

indian nation

and finally, incase you were worried, the butterflies are here

[chadster]

Sept 29 - 24 hours prior to midway opening. Ride inspectors aren't letting anything slip, and they sure hammered the kiddie section to hell with violations. Got all the details in the pics including pictures of the "to do" list on several rides.

 

Only one more update left, opening night tomorrow.

sky thing ready to go, and walkway wrapping, they took a page out of the six flags book!

over 100 effects, in a 5 x 12 trailer, thats amazing!

so, here we are at the dragon wagon, what did the inspection sheet say?

it said, no go.

all of the kiddie rides are now in place and put together in their own section on the west side.

this is a VERY worthy cause, they send packages of donated basics to the troops, postage is outragous and the are regularly in need of monetary donations to send care packages, so go online and send them a twenty!

a kiddie himilaya ride, so, survey says...

opps.

this is one the wheels they were erecting last night, one of the last pictures of my last post

a kid tums approved ride, but....

look close, the bar is covered in yellow duct tape

so it is not OKDOL approved.

couldn't get a shot of the sheet on this one, but, the orange tags were abundant, said something about rough trims, I chucked a little

see? orange=no good, and the trims are tagged

i thought all gyros were greek

all of this was not here yesterday

noted!

walk thru, one of about 4 i've seen onsite

another one being put together

noted!

suddenly the ticket count raised on this ride by two overnight....

extreme, beware

ride thru

ride thru cars

yet another walk thru, very popular this year.

not inspected yet

spare parts stored in the hitch

put together finally

must keep the rides clean

this all popped up overnight

crap to win

not sure what this thing does other than spin, but it won't be spinning yet...

orange = no good, lots of orange on the gondola's

waxing his poll

pricing

this thing has had orange tags on it over half the ride for the last many years, you would think they would get a clue

thought this was going to be a carousel, i was wrong, its a swinger!

double hung banana with pubes!

our friend the wacky worm is still being assembled, and it has a magic carpet section!!

testing

the cheese driller has started

supposed to look like this when done

double noted!

tripple noted!

it just looks slick

a pink fire truck??? (its for breast cancer awareness)

they had like 12 officers working on this for three days, tax dollars at work.

and finally, the bandit doesn't have a chance.

 

opening night pics Friday morning!

[chadster]

Well, here we are on opening night. With gate admission for the GP at $1.00 for tonight only w/coupon (or free for me and my party) the place was packed. As usual, parking was a complete nightmare with some people waiting over an hour to find a spot. Luckily, I found a nice spot by freak chance on the horse track (made my own) which would allow us to easily exit the facility.

 

All rides except the sky ride were in operation with none closed by the OKDOL. All ride operators were also certified and are subject to random checks. Any ride op deemed incapable of performing their duties would be immediately removed and the ride closed by the OKDOL until a suitable replacement found.

 

You can see the transformation from Monday, only a few pictures as the place was so packed on the midway you could barely move. Proof positive that Tulsa needs an amusement park, badly.

overview shot from the east side. Two rides were not allowed to be setup, the super loop and one other, the public excuse was they didn't leave New Mexico in time....however, the midway operator sends OKDOL inspectors at his expense to the New Mexico fair to inspect rides prior to their arrival, which also allows the operator to know well in advance what won't fly, sooo...form your own opinions...

people we buying these, looked, well, disgusting.

lots and lots of people amung all the smoke

insde the Expo, IPE, QuikTrip Center (you chose the name) from the east, looking west. This is the lower level from the above pictures.

mmmm. fudge.

remember that big open space from the above pics, well, here it is, all filled up.

Comet II had NO line, repeat, NO line. I think due in part it was NOT on the 2.00 ride night list, and they upped the cost to 8 tickets, roughly 6.50.

zooooommmmmm

lost of people

the line for the drop tower stretched 1.5 blocks. Tulsa REALLY needs an amusement park.

the sea lions would pose for pictures. prices ranged 15-25 depending on the size. Basically, they were pimping out the sea lions, but they were really entertaining to watch and one of the highlights of the fair this year IMO

sky ride closed. I heard some noises like a bearing going out on the wheel last night, but not sure what the cause of the closure for sure is, it could have been wind, gusts were at 20mph

time to leave. My date had the cheese curds and pineapple, non diary, non fat, non edilble in my book (but she liked it), and I had my traditional funnel cake. Overall, their selection of vendors and layout this year is one of the best I've seen in quite some time. Just wish they had some higher quality rides. Overall, fantastic for the community, both economically, and as something to get out and do!

Edited October 1, 2010 by chadster

[alilstronger]

Looks like a great fair!!!

[dragon2000]

Thanks for the great coverage of this event!

[QueerRudie]

For a small-market fair, this is impressive.

 

 

And your posts need quite a bit more Schwarzkopf...

 

R.D.

[DenDen]

I find the little yellow notes from the inspectors quite fascinating. It made it seem like NOTHING was up to standard for local laws. I gotta wonder if all fairs go through this.

[chadster]

The lead inspector for Oklahoma is one of only a few who is national certified and the only one employed by a state government who is nationally certified. As such, they tend to be a tad more strict. In fact, they will be going to Arizona soon to inspect the rides that will be going to Tulsa ahead of time. Two years ago they told them not to bother bringing the fireball as it wouldn't be allowed on the grounds. Sure enough, it arrived, and sat parked and unpacked in the horse track.

 

I *might* go out ahead of time this year and look at the inspection reports but doubtful I ride much if anything despite being able to walk in whenever I want and ride whatever(it helps to be employed in a position that allows me to do so) I just don't trust Murphy Brothers or their rides. I know wayyy too much about them to have that level of personal confidence one needs in carnival rides.

 

On a side note, the Von Roll was getting a nice pressure washing today.