Photo TR: Delaware State Fair, July 27th.

[AmyUD06]

Disclaimer: I promise I'm not @LeJebba in disguise.  His fascination with Wade Shows defies all comprehension, and his posts including the stock photos of the rides are legendary.  Here, you will find actual photos of the rides!

So, my group of co-workers (6 in total) were trying to plan some sort of "camaraderie-building" activity, and me being the trip expert that I am, had initially suggested everyone going to Wildwood.  For various reasons, that plan fell apart, so we settled on the Delaware State Fair, which was conveniently occurring around the time we were trying to plan for the trip.

With my newfound lack of tolerance for alcohol, I go to to play the role of sober-guy on this trip, which was quite a change.  After the hour drive to get there, during which my co-workers were already drinking, we arrived.  Various people wanted to check out the pig races and petting zoo for some reason, but I wandered the grounds, checking out the variety of food carts/trucks and the rides, of which there were plenty.  Most was your standard carnival fare, but they did have some rarer rides, such as an Enterprise and Zipper.

I did grab an awesome mac-and-cheese-grilled-cheese from one of the food trucks, sadly of which I did not take a picture nor remember the name.

Sadly, most of the group had zero interest in any going on any rides, so while they drank and did whatever, myself and one other guy decided to hit a few of them.

First up was "The Haunted" (according to the sign) or "Zombie Apocalypse" (according to their website) their two-trailer dark ride.

It contained neither Haunted things nor Zombies.  Nothing could compare us for the hilarity that would ensue.  Not only were the cars SO incredibly small (us two adults had to wedge ourselves into a car), 90% of the "scares" didn't light up or move, and the rest were pitiful.  A Bill Tracy dark ride this was not.  2/10, solely for the comedy factor.

Next up was the Pinfari Zyklon, "Super Cyclone," which was the only adult coaster they brought.

Notably, none of the trim/block brakes were activating on our ride, so we got a nice quick trip through the course giving some positive Gs on the helices.  It also had the most hilariously pointless seat belt arrangement I'd ever seen on a coaster, where they went from the floor to the lap bar on the same exact axis, making them do absolutely nothing.  Coaster #174 under my belt. 5/10.

We then moved on to the Enterprise.

In the back drop, you may notice a close approximation of the space station from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as pointed out to me by my riding buddy, who is a huge Star Trek fan.  Other graphics on the backdrop were literal screen captures from other Star Trek shows, I'm told.  I guess copyrights don't exist in the carny world?  On this ride, they were enforcing two odd rules:  One, no single riders...which meant that us two full-grown male-presenting adults were crammed into one car.  Two, there was a minimum of 4 riders total (two cars) for them to operate the ride.  While you might think this has to do with balancing the wheel, as I did, it clearly was not the case as they loaded us two and the other group into cars with only two empties between us.  The cycle was super-short, too - basically as soon as it got to the top angle, it started going back down.  Either way, it ran at a good speed, so....6/10?

At this point, the rest of the group was drunk/exhausted and wanted to go home, so we called it a night.  But, being the good TPRer that I am, I of course snapped pictures of all of the remaining adult rides.  Enjoy.

And that's all from the fair.

[BitterOldHag]

Thanks for sharing.  I have never seen Wade Shows in person.  The rides look surprisingly well maintained and that dark ride sounds tremendous!  

Looks like that zipper has the new cars with OTSR’s and a plexiglass front instead of the old school cage that sits an inch away from your nose.  I could never ride a Zipper these days, but I’d be curious to see how those new cars ride.  Their Reverchon Super Himalaya looks awesome as well and has a great light display. 

Again, thanks for posting the pics!  

[disownedpear]

I was just wondering why no one ever posts TR's from fairs, they are often more fun than amusement parks for me! 

Bummer about the Zipper, maybe it's still amazing, but for me the fun was always getting thrown around that car, and it always baffled me why the new cars still even have a door? I feel like if the front was open it would probably make up for it. 

Deggeller Attractions still has a classic Zipper which is the best I've rode, pulls more G's on me than any ride I've been on. They do the Maryland and Virginia state fair, will probably post some photos from the Maryland one. I think they have the only Huss Supernova in the United States as well.

Thanks a lot for the unique TR!

[Chiselphane]

ZeroShock is kind of amazing.  Ten bucks to jump onto a big pillow.