Originally I wasn't planning on going to the fair especially after I found out VanHull's Zyklon would not be present, but once I found out the ride lineup I made it a point to go, there were 3 prototype rides at the fair and one ride that's fairly new in the US and just catching on that being..
eXtreme, a brand new Technical Park Street Fighter, Reed Expo just bought it this year and it's one of the first few in the US, it's vaguley a knockoff of the KMG Afterburner but it has a value price tag and only holds 16 people. Outside of that it's a totally different sort of ride, it has more in common with a freak out, though Street Fighter swings side to side rather than back to front like Freak Out which is probably a good thing as under each side of the ride there was a pretty impressive amount of vomit sitting on the ground. I noticed after my first ride I was sort of nauseated and I cant figure out why, may have been the heat. But it's quite a bit shorter than the Afterburner but it's just as intense. Stuff I noticed on the ride was it operated very smoothly, it was built rock solid and the structure didn't shake an inch unlike the very wobbly freak out, and it uses no water ballast tanks unlike the KMG rides, thought the trade off is it's overweight on US roads by a little bit, it weights 76,000 lbs, weight limit in the US is 80,000 lbs and it goes over that with most tractors, but it's manageable by staying off highways away from weigh stations and when you have to go on highway overweight permits aren't all that hard to get, so it seems to be a winner. Also it has a really neat AB touchscreen control system which I didn't expect to see on an Italian ride with a value price tag. But I guess its one of the reasons they have sold over 40 of these in 3 years around the world. Only negative I came away with is the seats are way to close together to the point where the OTSR's are touching, the gondola is curved a little and that puts everyones knees hitting each other, though that's a fairly minor concern, so overall I liked this ride and hope it takes off in the US.
then Wisdom Rides had 2 prototype rides represented there first being Viper a remake of the Venture Rides Cobra which was an Inverted version of SCAT, though Wisdom re did the ride so you can load all seats at once rather than have 2 stop loading. Being a US made ride and a Wisdom no less, it was closed a good part of the day, when it was open it felt very cheap, made scary noises and went very slow compared to a very intense Cobra. Hopefully this is one and done
Next was the Wisdom Genesis, it's the next in the line of Gee Whiz and Moby Dick Miami Trip type rides, only reason it's a prototype is a new drive system (hydraulic I believe), it gave a decent ride and had a really neat backflash and scenery, it was definately more of a Euro style than their previous attempts at this sort of ride. so I guess it was ok.
Next up in the prototype department was a Wave Swinger it was the worlds from from Bertazzon of Italy that fits entirely on one trailer, makes it attractive for the US market and it looks vaguely similar to the larger Zierer Models (Whirligig @ SFGAm) though unfortunately it was closed all day (I guess it is Italian), but no big loss I suppose.
Other than that they had fairly standard rides in attendance. So in attendance was a Chance Century wheel where I figured I wouldn't be able to ride as a single rider but they asked me if I was suicidal and after revealing my photographic intentions I was cleared to ride, Chance has a new rule in effect saying no single riders on ferris wheels, keeps people falling from the wheel in check I guess. Also had a Chance YoYo, Wisdom single trailer Himalaya, a dark ride who's name I didn't Catch, a walk though called Space Oddsey 2000, a Fabbri Double Shock, Fabbri Jungle Drop, Chance Zipper, Tivoli Spinout which I surprisingly fit on though not comfortably , Larson Super Loop (Ring of Fire with Lapbars though it was closed most the day), a FarFabbri Kamikaze which appeared to be running unusaully fast, when I passed by it to ride it was being hosed down, so I passed on that, plus I'm not a real big fan of the Kamikaze genre, Wisdom Starship 2000, Zamperla Shocker which I didn't ride as it was missing an axis of rotation, the main arm was not rotating, Wisdom Tornado which I didnt ride for unspecified reasons, Wisdom Sizzler (ditto), Dartron Hang glider, Majestic Scooters, Tilt a Whirl, a Tivoli Orbiter though it was a very old model and was running slow, also there was a Fujame Wacky Worm (#537 baby!!), that's it for the adult ride area, I didn't venture into the kids area but I did spot a second Tilt a Whirl from a distance along with an Expo wheel and a slide.
In all it was nice but I dont think it was up to par with a real State Fair Midway, though still bigger than most midways around here. Everything there looked to be in good shape, I didnt hang around til night time cause I ended up walking a fair distance away from the rides and didnt feel like walking back and I had a long drive back home to accomplish, but I'll assume the lighting on the rides was decent, at least it all looked intact.
Outside of that I didnt see much else at the fair, I have no real interest in seeing the animals and whatnot, I did check out the food options and nothing really caught my eye though I did get from fresh hand made Mozz. stick from a booth called Hot Wisconsin Cheese which is there every year, costs $6 for one order, but you get pretty close to a pound of fried cheese, tastes good but of course not good for you
Outside of that I parked at a park n ride parking lot on the south side of Milwaukee just off of 94 on College Ave, free parking then you take the shuttle for $6 round trip, I believe parking at the fair is $10 or more now so that helps, admission was $8 and being a friday the Wristband was $25, which is a hair much but I got my moneys worth.
So there you have it, Wisconsin State Fair in a nutshell
and also I hear there is a slight possibility that Murphy Brothers will be back next year though I don't believe it, I don't think any of the Murphy Brothers will ever see US soil again. Fair this year as in the past few years has been covered by Reed Expo out of Texas with an add on or 3.
