Post by wolfblood on Sept 17, 2009 22:55:11 GMT -8
Well I just got back from my annual trip to the Puyallup Fair, and naturally I got thing to talk about.
This was the first time I've ever attended the fair on a weekday, all the past years I've only been able to go on the weekend due to school.
Since my Dad was off today and the weather was looking great, we hit the fair...and today was far better then last year since last year it was raining and very crowded. However for today the weather was great all day and night, and the crowds were so much smaller.
Another advantage was since this was a weekday, I could buy a Dizzy Pass. It's an unlimited ride wristband that last's all day, so I was able to hit plenty of rides...more so then I've ever done before.
Now for the ride and attraction reviews, since I did not hit any of the coasters...I'm just going to review or mention the rides that stand out.
Jumping (HUSS Jump 1) - This is pretty much the main spectacular ride at the midway, it proved to be a wild ride in it's opening year...but the past few years it's fallen from grace. When the ride first opened, it was doing everything properly. It was spinning you like crazy and launching you up.
However, after it's opening year it's never launched you up anymore. All it does is spin and gradually lift you up to the top before dropping and repeating the same thing once more.
For this year, while I will say it ran better then last year. Unfortuntly it's not spinning as fast as it used to, and the backdrop has major wear and tear. There are several huge white spots on the backdrop, and it doesn't look too pretty.
In my opinion, they should remove it and replace it with a new spectacular ride.
NEW for 2009! Discothek (Chance? Rotor) - This turned out to be the biggest surprise of the fair for several reasons.
-The ride is a Rotor, it's the ride where you stand in a cylinder...it spins real fast and the floor drops out so you stick to the wall.
-Over the past year the ride was at the fair, and it was known as "Rotor". Though it was kind of old, and it wasn't hear last year.
-Surprisingly, this ride is not listed on the website of the fair for some reason.
This is pretty much a brand spankin' new Rotor with a new name, different paint job and a lighting package. A very noticable difference is the inside of the cylinder, where it has a bumpy rubber lining to help people stick to the wall.
Another difference is the ending of the ride, while most rotors have people go to the center of the barrel and the floor rises back up. In Discothek, the ride operator raises the floor up...but then proceeds to bounce it a couple times to amusing effect.
It certainly is fun, though the ride truly shines at night. From the outside, the sign is lit up with bright lights and there's pumping music, lazers, bubbles and fog to get peoples attention.
Once your inside the barrel, there are two things. Up on the ceiling is a special light system that swirls various patters inside the barrel, and for most of the ride a high powered strobe light is set off. The strobe combines with the overhead lighting system and gives a very wild effect that's just plain crazy to watch.
Now granted, with the spinning, lights and the bouncing at the end...it's certainly not for weak stomachs. However I enjoy these kind of rides, and the lighting just makes them even better.
Another thing that was very nice was the ride ops, the Discothek ride ops were certainly energetic and they looked to be having a good time operating it. Heck some of them were even dancing to the music.
So this is pretty much a revival of the Rotor, with a much flashier package.
As for the other rides, El Nino and Matterhorn did not dissapoint. (Matterhorn is a nice value since they give a nice long ride.)
Party Animals, which is my favorite fun house at the fair..had all of it's effects working so I was happy about that.
Though one big surprise was that a lot of rides were moved around, both in the midway and Sillyville. Which I have to say is not entirely a bad thing since it makes everything look fresh.
Speaking of fresh, you can really see the new wood on the Coaster Thrillride that's been added for it's refurbishment.
Now there is one more attraction to talk about, Weird Al's Brain.
Weird Al's Brain is a new attraction for the fair, it's a 3-D film starring Weird Al Yankovic. It's pretty much a humorous and educational film about various facts about the brain. It's located in a large portable building near Sillyville, which could also explain why all the rides were shuffeled around.
But anyways, this is a very nice attraction (also, it's FREE!) It features a funny preshow that was done in the style of any kind of old-fashioned educational film. Except this one had funny rules such as"Sleep at least 20 hours a day" and "Don't Eat Ice Cream"...it even talked about zombies!
After the preshow, your ushered into the main theater which is rather simplistic. Though the main show is very well done, the 3D effects are nice...and plenty of good humor is spread throughout the 10 minute show. There's a couple of surprise cameo's, and the show isn't afraid to poke fun at itself by having Al hitting a paddleball at the audience with "Gratuitous 3D Shot" at the bottom of the screen.
So if you do go to the fair, check it out since it is a nice show that doesn't cost you anything...and it's also air conditioned which is always a nice thing.
Now for a couple random mentions and thoughts.
-Over at the hobby hall, I have to say the most original collection went to the person who has a collection of Gossamer. Gossamer is a Looney Tunes character that hasn't been in many cartoons, but in ways he is memorable since he's a giant red creature with tennis shoes. (He also got a rather painful manicure from Bugs Bunny.) None the less, you really don't see collections of this character so it stood out for me.
-For some reason my Dad played one of the carnival games and won a stuffed animal. I'm finding this incredibly odd since he's not really the kind of person that does this at the fair. (Usually I'm the one that goes out and plays the games.)
-The fair scones are effin' good...though I only get them from the main stand inside the grandstand area. It's pretty much fresh central.
-I really feel bad for the parents who's kids have those toy trumpets that make a high pitched squaking/ wheezing noise...seriously those things are downright annoying to the tenth degree. Though if they bought them for their kids, well it's their fault for giving the kids ammo.
-There's a deep fried place that sells something called "Red Neck Sushi". While I did not try it, I had the Alligator on a Stick and it was pretty good.
This was the first time I've ever attended the fair on a weekday, all the past years I've only been able to go on the weekend due to school.
Since my Dad was off today and the weather was looking great, we hit the fair...and today was far better then last year since last year it was raining and very crowded. However for today the weather was great all day and night, and the crowds were so much smaller.
Another advantage was since this was a weekday, I could buy a Dizzy Pass. It's an unlimited ride wristband that last's all day, so I was able to hit plenty of rides...more so then I've ever done before.
Now for the ride and attraction reviews, since I did not hit any of the coasters...I'm just going to review or mention the rides that stand out.
Jumping (HUSS Jump 1) - This is pretty much the main spectacular ride at the midway, it proved to be a wild ride in it's opening year...but the past few years it's fallen from grace. When the ride first opened, it was doing everything properly. It was spinning you like crazy and launching you up.
However, after it's opening year it's never launched you up anymore. All it does is spin and gradually lift you up to the top before dropping and repeating the same thing once more.
For this year, while I will say it ran better then last year. Unfortuntly it's not spinning as fast as it used to, and the backdrop has major wear and tear. There are several huge white spots on the backdrop, and it doesn't look too pretty.
In my opinion, they should remove it and replace it with a new spectacular ride.
NEW for 2009! Discothek (Chance? Rotor) - This turned out to be the biggest surprise of the fair for several reasons.
-The ride is a Rotor, it's the ride where you stand in a cylinder...it spins real fast and the floor drops out so you stick to the wall.
-Over the past year the ride was at the fair, and it was known as "Rotor". Though it was kind of old, and it wasn't hear last year.
-Surprisingly, this ride is not listed on the website of the fair for some reason.
This is pretty much a brand spankin' new Rotor with a new name, different paint job and a lighting package. A very noticable difference is the inside of the cylinder, where it has a bumpy rubber lining to help people stick to the wall.
Another difference is the ending of the ride, while most rotors have people go to the center of the barrel and the floor rises back up. In Discothek, the ride operator raises the floor up...but then proceeds to bounce it a couple times to amusing effect.
It certainly is fun, though the ride truly shines at night. From the outside, the sign is lit up with bright lights and there's pumping music, lazers, bubbles and fog to get peoples attention.
Once your inside the barrel, there are two things. Up on the ceiling is a special light system that swirls various patters inside the barrel, and for most of the ride a high powered strobe light is set off. The strobe combines with the overhead lighting system and gives a very wild effect that's just plain crazy to watch.
Now granted, with the spinning, lights and the bouncing at the end...it's certainly not for weak stomachs. However I enjoy these kind of rides, and the lighting just makes them even better.
Another thing that was very nice was the ride ops, the Discothek ride ops were certainly energetic and they looked to be having a good time operating it. Heck some of them were even dancing to the music.
So this is pretty much a revival of the Rotor, with a much flashier package.
As for the other rides, El Nino and Matterhorn did not dissapoint. (Matterhorn is a nice value since they give a nice long ride.)
Party Animals, which is my favorite fun house at the fair..had all of it's effects working so I was happy about that.
Though one big surprise was that a lot of rides were moved around, both in the midway and Sillyville. Which I have to say is not entirely a bad thing since it makes everything look fresh.
Speaking of fresh, you can really see the new wood on the Coaster Thrillride that's been added for it's refurbishment.
Now there is one more attraction to talk about, Weird Al's Brain.
Weird Al's Brain is a new attraction for the fair, it's a 3-D film starring Weird Al Yankovic. It's pretty much a humorous and educational film about various facts about the brain. It's located in a large portable building near Sillyville, which could also explain why all the rides were shuffeled around.
But anyways, this is a very nice attraction (also, it's FREE!) It features a funny preshow that was done in the style of any kind of old-fashioned educational film. Except this one had funny rules such as"Sleep at least 20 hours a day" and "Don't Eat Ice Cream"...it even talked about zombies!
After the preshow, your ushered into the main theater which is rather simplistic. Though the main show is very well done, the 3D effects are nice...and plenty of good humor is spread throughout the 10 minute show. There's a couple of surprise cameo's, and the show isn't afraid to poke fun at itself by having Al hitting a paddleball at the audience with "Gratuitous 3D Shot" at the bottom of the screen.
So if you do go to the fair, check it out since it is a nice show that doesn't cost you anything...and it's also air conditioned which is always a nice thing.
Now for a couple random mentions and thoughts.
-Over at the hobby hall, I have to say the most original collection went to the person who has a collection of Gossamer. Gossamer is a Looney Tunes character that hasn't been in many cartoons, but in ways he is memorable since he's a giant red creature with tennis shoes. (He also got a rather painful manicure from Bugs Bunny.) None the less, you really don't see collections of this character so it stood out for me.
-For some reason my Dad played one of the carnival games and won a stuffed animal. I'm finding this incredibly odd since he's not really the kind of person that does this at the fair. (Usually I'm the one that goes out and plays the games.)
-The fair scones are effin' good...though I only get them from the main stand inside the grandstand area. It's pretty much fresh central.
-I really feel bad for the parents who's kids have those toy trumpets that make a high pitched squaking/ wheezing noise...seriously those things are downright annoying to the tenth degree. Though if they bought them for their kids, well it's their fault for giving the kids ammo.
-There's a deep fried place that sells something called "Red Neck Sushi". While I did not try it, I had the Alligator on a Stick and it was pretty good.
