originally posted on 4/10/2019
Bright and early on January 20, 2019, at 8 a.m., 125 attendees and 25 presenters gathered at the Hyatt Place Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois. The audience was full of the many friendly ACE faces from years before. The list of presenters included friends old and new.
No Coaster Con presenters.
Photo: S. Madonna Horcher. View full-sized image.
The first presenter was Marcus Leshock, a reporter for WGN-TV and a coaster enthusiast (listed on the schedule as WGN Roller Coaster Bureau Chief) with tales of his adventures. He broadcasts a regular segment on WGN Morning News about roller coasters. He talked about how being on television affects his coverage and related a touching story of riding Phoenix with his father.
Up next were Brad Donati and Randy Witt, represented Raging Waves, the largest waterpark in Illinois. 2019 marked their third year presenting at No Coaster Con. New attractions were added last year, and 2019 brings more parking, more food kiosks, seating, shade and cabanas. On July 13 the park will host ACE Rides the Raging Waves, with ERT, tours and discounts.
Brad Donati and Randy Witt, Raging Waves.
Photo: S. Madonna Horcher. View full-sized image.
Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri, was represented by Dalton Fischer. Time Traveler was, of course, the big news in 2018. In 2019, the park will be celebrating a “Year of Shows and Festivals,” including Pumpkin Nights — new for the fall. There was a raffle for a trip to Silver Dollar City, including admission to the park for two days, lodging, meals and an excursion on the Showboat Branson Belle.
Duane Marden, the Roller Coaster DataBase guru (rcdb.com), was next at the podium. He talked about lost rides and coaster news — including Dragon Wagon moving from Indiana Beach (Monticello, Indiana) to Fantasy Island (Grand Island, New York). He also noted amusement parks that have closed, including America’s Fun Park (Branson, Missouri) and Heritage Amusement Park (Golden, Colorado). Among the new coasters opening is a kiddie coaster coming to Grady’s Family Fun Park (Bloomington, Illinois).
Perennial No Coaster Con presenter Six Flags Great America (Gurnee, Illinois) was represented by Tess Claussen, Micaela McGinley, John Krajnak, Liz Nemeth and Kathy Thomson. They were excited to talk about Maxx Force, the new-for-2019 launched coaster by S&S Worldwide. Six Flags acquired Rockford’s Magic Waters waterpark, which will drive combo ticket sales.
Gina Fasolo and Bridget LeMaire from Special Olympics talked about the Coaster Challenge taking place on September 21. Participants are eligible for varying levels of perks and prizes, depending on how much money they raise. Last year more than $450,000 was donated for Special Olympics. This will be the sixth year for the event at Six Flags Great America. Other parks will also be hosting Coaster Challenge events. Learn more at coasterchallenge.com.
Kentucky Kingdom was represented by Jessi O’Daniel, Adam Schweitzer and Carly Uglow. The big news in Louisville for 2019 is Kentucky Flyer, a wood coaster from The Gravity Group. Another example of the company’s popular family coasters, it will make an excellent addition to the park’s coaster lineup.
The park reps brought one of the cars for Kentucky Flyer, which inspired much interest and sparked a tongue-in-cheek debate among attendees as to whether it was really a No Coaster Con if there was a coaster car in the room. This year marks the park’s 30th anniversary (kindly ignore the years the park was closed).
Michael Graham, The Gravity Group, Carly Uglow and Jessie O'Daniel, Kentucky Kingdom.
Photo: S. Madonna Horcher. View full-sized image.
A longtime No Coaster Con tradition was next — Heads or Tails — with the winners receiving Kentucky Kingdom ticket packs. (Participants place their hands on their heads or backsides, and event emcee Marty Moltz flips a coin; whoever has their hands in the place that matches the tossed coin stays in the game.)
Photo: S. Madonna Horcher. View full-sized image.
Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, did not send a rep but did send a video promoting Airtime, the HoliWood Nights event. This year it takes place on May 31 and June 1. And Santa’s Merry Marketplace will replace the Kringle Café.
With that, it was time for lunch, which was every bit as delicious as you’d expect a hotel catered lunch to be.
During dessert, attendees enjoyed comments from Michael Graham from The Gravity Group. He discussed the history of the company and moved on to talk about Fireball, the company’s first coaster in China.
New ACE President Robert Ulrich was up next. He noted upcoming ACE events, pointed out that ACE now has one website, replacing the two in use in past years. He also noted that members who volunteer to work the ACE booth for four hours at the November 2019 IAAPA Expo in Orlando will be able to enjoy the convention for free.
ACE President Robert Ulrich.
Photo: S. Madonna Horcher. View full-sized image.
ACE volunteers.
Photo: S. Madonna Horcher. View full-sized image.
Give Kids The World Village, located in Orlando, allows critically ill children and their families to enjoy a week-long vacation at no cost. Each family has its own villa; there are rides, characters and, best of all, ice cream for breakfast! David Lipnicky and Steven Amos were the presenters for Give Kids The World. They showed a short video about the Village – which is the same size as Disneyland. The Village plays host to 8,000 children and their families each year.
Coasting for Kids is back in 2019, with 16 parks participating, including four Six Flags parks, Quassy and Story Land. Busch Gardens Williamsburg is hosting the first event, which benefits Give Kids The World, on the park’s opening day and will open the park early, with ERT, for participants.
Schlitterbahn was next, with the always popular Winter Prosapio doing the presentation honors. She let us know that if an ACEer goes to Texas but not to a Schlitterbahn park, she will take it personally. 2018 was a record year for the Schlitterbahn parks. A new ride opens in 2019 at Schlitterbahn Galveston, but she couldn’t tell anything about it beyond it being tall and one of a kind. As always, she came bearing gifts.
Winter Prosapio, Schlitterbahn.
Photo: S. Madonna Horcher. View full-sized image.
Longtime friend of ACE and ACE member Don Helbig told attendees about the comings and goings at Kings Island (Mason, Ohio) for 2019. The Antique Cars are back, Firehawk has been demolished, and Coney Barbecue joined the food lineup. There will be 10 meetups (special behind-the-scenes tours or gatherings) in 2019; check the Kings Island blog regularly to find out about each one. International Street is being completely redone, right down to the walkways. The park is considering bringing back International Restaurant.
The Beast turns 40 in 2019. Helbig told attendees how the ride got its name. The public relations director at the time, Ruth Voss (who started the ACE walkback to The Beast), kept asking the engineering and construction teams when the ride would be done, and they answered that it was a beast of a ride. The name stuck.
Chicago area favorite Santa’s Village was next with Bryan Kopeck and Liz Phoulavong doing the honors. Kopeck commented that many people think Santa’s Village is a kiddie park. And, he said, it is. 2019 marks the biggest expansion in the park’s history, bringing a new chef, new food, new shows and glow parties to the “Azoosement Park.”
Kennywood didn’t send a representative to present live but did send a video. The big news out of West Mifflin is The Steel Curtain, a steel coaster with nine inversions; needless to say, ACE is pumped.
Pete Owens could not make it to No Coaster Con because of the weather, so he Skyped in. For 2019, Dollywood is making the largest expansion in the park’s history: Wildwood Grove. A new themed area, it will have six rides, including Dragon Flier, a suspended Vekoma coaster. A tunnel and geysers will make it an exciting ride.
The ever-popular Jeff Filicko, braving the Chicago weather, turned up to tell us about the goings-on at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio. He said he loves No Coaster Con and always enjoys the day. The park’s first 2019 addition opened in early January: Pirates of the Deep Sea. All of the theming and construction were created in-house. The revamped dark ride was originally Scooby-Doo’s Boo Blasters. The Joker, the tallest pendulum ride in the world, will hit a top speed of 75 mph, making it the fastest ride in the park when it debuts this summer.
Jeff Filicko, Six Flags Fiesta Texas.
Photo: S. Madonna Horcher. View full-sized image.
Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, Inc.’s Tom Rebbie sent a video of himself giving a tour of the shop. Attendees were entertained by the dinosaur that kept turning up in different areas of the shop, behind Tom. The video ended with the dinosaur walking off into the distance … trailing toilet paper.
Up next, a surprise video from friends at Carowinds. The big news in the Charlotte, North Carolina, park is Copperhead Strike, a double-launch, multiple inversion Mack steel coaster. A new themed area, Blue Ridge Junction, will open in 2019 as well.
Cedar Point’s Tony Clark was another casualty of the weather, but he also Skyped in. The popular Brew and ‘Que is being folded into a larger event named Frontier Festival, taking over FrontierTown. Food, exhibitions and more are all part of this festival. Speaking of frontiers, Forbidden Frontier will replace Adventure Island. You can stroll through and watch, or you can engage the performers. Some of the characters are good, some bad, and some are somewhere in between. Think of it as a “choose your own adventure” attraction. The original train graphics on Corkscrew are coming back. 2020 marks Cedar Point’s 150th anniversary, and they are … not saying a word about what might be coming to the park.
A nice topper to the day: Clark provided vouchers redeemable for a Fast Pass Plus wristband, good any day through Labor Day.
A few final remarks from Moltz brought the event to a close.
Many attendees were staying at the host hotel. Others ventured forth into the snowy night to return to their homes or to check out restaurants for supper.
— Will Moschke
Photo: S. Madonna Horcher. View full-sized image.
@#$%&!
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