CoasterBuzz Podcast #148 posted

I'm from Baltimore, and live in the suburbs now. I fully agree with what you said about the Inner Harbor, and we actually have (or had- I haven't been downtown in a while) a carousel down there, behind the Science Center. It gets/got a lot of business during the summer. Might be a good idea for the carousel you were discussing as well.

Ok, working now! :)

Speaking of Busch..

Its hard to believe its been a year since the official agreement of the merger of InBev and Anheuser-Busch.

...I will leave it at that though ...

Fading secrecy over a new ride may be a good thing, but whatabout fading secrecy over ride removals? On one hand, guests not planning onvisiting the park that year might make a special trip to get one last ride in. On theother hand it has to be annoying for the park with enthusiasts calling andasking about the ride being removed and petitioning the park to keep it open even after thedecision has been made.

Why would enthusiasts calling and asking about ride removal, or even petitioning to keep a ride slated for removal, necessarily be a bad thing? It's all publicity and right now, anything to get butts through the gate. At least it shows people care and are interested in the park.

Better than apathy and...wait, what if KI said they were tearing down SOB? Would there be a petition or a celebration?

Why? Because enthusiasts have a reputation for being disrespectful morons when it comes to that sort of thing, and frankly, the business is free to do what it wants anyway.

National Carousel Association Census of operating antique carousels

http://www.nca-usa.org/NCAcensus.html

LOL Jeff..

Me likes that one :)

To further add to that, do you really think the few hundred (if that) enthusiasts opinions would trump a parks decision to remove based on safety, or cost to the park?? Im all about wishing the legacies stay, but im also a realist.

Its kind of naive to think that enthusiasts have that much leverage when we only amount to a very minuscule amount of a parks total attendance.

I'm not talking about disrespectful moron enthusiasts. I'm talking about "Joe Average" customers, such as myself, letting a park know how I feel about their decisions. After all, they affect me on a personal level.

I'm not naive in the least. I want customers' feedback on my business. Its how I know what they want from me, and yeah, I have to put up with some "enthusiasts" in my own industry, so don't even propose I have no clue what I'm talking about.

It is naive, however, to not think that every opinion matters.

Every opinion does matter.. To a point..

But the financial viability of a ride vs a handful of enthusiasts opinions (lets be real.. Gen Public wont really outcry on this in most cases), I think its clear which becomes the winner.

Ultimately parks have their reasons for additions and removals.. Most of those reasons are in financial books you will probably never get to see and thus truly understand.

If "Joe Average" really cared, he would've spent more time going to Geauga Lake before it closed.

Exactly my point! It's so funny that you said that. I was going to mention Geauga Lake as an example myself, but was afraid to open the old can of worms. (old worms stink)

100% agreement to both of you. Financial viability, by the way, is what disappoints the "enthusiasts" in my trade. Glad you understand that even though an idea is not financially viable, the opinion of the person stating it matters to both them and me. If it gets them through my door...the least I can do is listen...and occaisionally take their advise.

Thanks guys, I suck at getting my point across clearly sometimes, you managed it, though.

Gee, I'm surprised nobody else posted this tidbit, although Jeff specifically asked for it...

The carousel in Mansfield is not strictly an antique carousel.

It IS an antique Dentzel frame, one which, I presume, was parted out to collectors during that period of time when carousels were worth a lot more as collectible wood carvings than as carousels. The figures, though, were all carved by The Carousel Works (or Carousel Magic! or whatever they are calling themselves now) which is a commercial carving shop located a few blocks away in Mansfield. They create new carousel figures, and they restore old ones, and I think the Mansfield carousel was their first complete machine. So the figures on that machine are less than 20 years old; I think they were carved in the early 1990s.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Ah, well even though I was working radio down there in that part of the decade, I wasn't into this whole coaster/theme park thing at the time. All I remember is that they made it a big deal locally. I didn't get any remotes there, unfortunately. They always sent me to the damn mall.

Carousel Works did the carvings on that machine, and did the refurb on the frame. The organ is a Stinson JB 66, which plays Wurlitzer Style 150 music. The facade was copied from the organ on the Mangels- Illions machine that is now at the Columbus Zoo. It was a one of a kind facade that Wurlitzer put on a stock Style 153 chassis.

I believe that there are two firms still in the carousel refurbishment business in Mansfield. The Carousel Works, and Carousel Magic!. Todd Goings does complete refurbishments over in Marion (I believe he's involved with the B&B machine).

Oh, so Carousel Works is not Carousel Magic!? I thought the one became the other. Shows how much I know about it! :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

The Carousel Works is still Dan Jones and Art Richie. Carousel Magic is Sherrill Anderson, who as I recall was involved with the Rexburg, Idaho machine and moved to Mansfield a while back (I've been out of the business for about five years now. I'm a little rusty, but I've started getting emails concerning certain machines lately).