Whizzer named ACE coaster landmark

It's the first ride I go to at SFGAm. Last trip up (for Zippin Pippin), it broke down just as I got in line. Watching everyone exiting the station was fun. Getting on pretty much as soon as it came back online was even better. No way was I leaving the station... :)

CoasterDemon said:
^Do you remember how many trains you guys ran back then? I know both Whizzer's used to run 5 trains. 3 is standard now - 2 on a slow day.

We had 5, but realistically could only run 4 at best without stacking. The 5 train operation would have been possible before they added seatbelts after the accident (http://www.rideaccidents.com/coasters.html). Loading must have been a lot easier without them.

And stacking was something to be avoided because guests would always try to exit when the train was in the back station block. I think that's how the accident happened in the first place.

I thought the "back station" or transfer track was an unload platform. Of course now that the unload platform is no longer used, I have personally had to yell at many riders, including an E-Stop when some little girl got off on the left side and started running around in the transfer.

^Yikes!

Wasn't the back station used as unload until the early 80s?

When I worked on the Cedar Point Blue Streak 92-93, we had people hop over the metal bar on the left side of train to get out on the wrong side.... it was very goofy. I think it only happened once each time I was there. One of the times - one person did it, then the whole train of peeps started going over. I had to tell them to step back, release the train to dispatch then hurry them across to the exit side. We dared not have a shut down back then...

eightdotthree said:
I don't know why it's a landmark but it was one of the reasons that park was so memorable to me.

I was actually surprised to learn that a Schwarzkopf coaster situated amongst mature foliage that uses seatbelts as the only restraint wasn't already on that list.

Ahh...nostalgia. California's Whizzer was my first coaster back in the day. Would love to make it to Gurnee someday and compare it to my memories.

I may be biased, but I think it's great that it received the recognition.

^I don't think it's really bias... I just think it's a darn good ride! I've taken many people for their first ride on the Whizzer over the years, and it never fails - they love it. Even after the rest of the coasters in the park, Whizzer is also a favorite.

I love the living daylights out of the ride....but objectively, it is hard to state a single criterion which makes it a "landmark". Classic? Absolutely. More fun than you should be able to legally have in IL? Probably.

I believe the Whizzer will receive the award during the ACE 2012 Preservation Conference. Details aren't in yet, but should be a great time. In addition to Great America, Little A-merrick-A and Bay Beach is on the itinerary.

This is one of my favorite pictures. 2 trains on the lift and one rounding the wrap around! Guess that was a 5 train day. When I was a kid, Whizzer was always the first coaster - as it was for many who walked right after entering the park. The whole queue would always be full, but you never stopped walking. That was long before the seat belts were installed, and people used to take stuff with them on rides. Purses, stuffed animals, bags, cameras...

It was a quick wait, due to all those trains. Same deal with the Demon and Eagle at the time. Operations are totally different now, at most parks.

I remember riding the SDC Galaxi at Kings Dominion around the same timeframe. If I recall, there were seatbelts in the cars...but they were optional. I never wore them.

I remember that orange Galaxi :) There was a Flying Dutchman ride close to it as well; it was flying clogs I think... and Apple Turnover enterprise. Ahhh... and the beloved King Kobra. Good memory!

^That's the King's Dominion I remember as a kid (with a huge dry-sack slide). Since it's semi-topical, Yogi's Cave is now history as of this season. Gone but not forgotten.

^And the sky ride, singing Mushrooms and at the time, Grizzly was the hottest thing in the park. It was kinda "The Beast" of Kings Dominion.

Yogi's Cave is gone? That sucks. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but I'd always thought it would be there indefinitely. It's a low maintenance attraction that doesn't take up a whole lot of real estate in the kids area. I make a point to walk through it a least once a visit even now. Ah well, it was never the same after Yogi himself was gone.

Edit: Candy Apple Grove (with the Galaxi, and the dry slide gator mentioned which was one of the few things at KD I never got a chance to ride).

Bill, are you sure they took out the cave? It had been changed to Treasure Cave, hadn't been Yogi's Cave for years. Was there a reason for the removal?

What I've seen from multiple sources is that it is "gone for 2012". That doesn't necessarily mean gone forever, but it sure seems like a more permanent move. No official word from the park anywhere that I've seen.

I called it "Yogi's" because that's what it was to me as a kid, and that's what it will always be...LOL! :)

Billy, yes, I clearly remember the singing mushrooms...for some reason, the Land of Dooz is pretty vague, but Time Shaft I remember - everyone weas laughing while I stood on the floor. Childhood trauma... ;)

I remember the Time Shaft commercial, but I never got to see the ride, I don't think. I only viewed a few photos of the ride.

I've only ridden a couple Rotors--the Time Shaft (several times, loved it), and the one at Hershey. Not sure if it was the ride itself (did Hershey's have a smaller diameter?) or how the planets aligned that day, but I immediately hurled after riding Hershey's Rotor. Side note: whoever decided to place the Rotor and restroom right next door to each other was a genius.

It was great to be at the park yesterday for presentation of the award. The ride was running great as always - and as usual, even better at night!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=218563858269254&set=a.18804...=1&theater