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originally posted on 10/28/2024

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The cover page of the September 1994 issue of ACE News notes three things that are being felt to this day nearly 30 years later. Some of it good, some of it bad.

Desperado was a big happening — both literally and figuratively — because it represented yet another 200-foot-tall creation of Arrow Dynamics. Desperado was one of three to open in 1994 (five years after Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio), more evidence that the idea of massive nonlooping steel coasters seemed to have arrived, though it actually took another five years before Intamin and Bolliger & Mabillard started installing versions of their own in 1999. An example of a “rare credit,” it took a trip to Las Vegas during its limited operating season for enthusiasts to sample this roller coaster in the middle of the desert, and since its closure a few years back, no one knows when or if it will thrill riders again.

Enthusiasts were forgiven for not being familiar with a little theme park in Santa Claus, Indiana, called Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari, but like Indiana Beach the year before, Custom Coasters International, Inc. (CCI) would put it on the map with a wood coaster that showed the park was about to begin punching above its weight. CCI would end up doing more of this in subsequent years, and although much has been written about the company having constructed coasters to a price that ended up costing their parks a lot of money in maintenance costs, there’s no denying the growth many of those parks experienced by having top tier woodies. Holiday World would end up being a stunning example of this, building two more wood coasters in later years, as well as many other large rides that established it as a true destination.

The thing I love most about this issue of ACE News is how it touches upon the successes and failures of preservation and hopefully serves as a warning for carelessness in the future. The saving of the Crystal Beach Comet at The Great Escape (now Six Flags Great Escape, Queensbury, New York) in 1994 continues to be one of the all-time greatest examples of wood coaster preservation. Just as the Playland (San Antonio, Texas) Rocket became the top-rated Phoenix at Knoebels Amusement Resort (Elysburg, Pennsylvania) a decade earlier, Comet represents a ride that withstood the test of time and contributed to the growth of its new home. At the same time, it’s too bad that the growth of Elitch Gardens (Denver, Colorado) meant it would have to relocate to a new site and leave behind two wood coasters that were good enough to have warranted making the move as well. Mr. Twister was sort of replaced by an updated version called Twister II, but I don’t think there is an enthusiast alive who rode both versions and would give the nod to the “new and improved” coaster; the Herb Schmeck-designed out-and-back Wildcat is one that has become largely forgotten in the last three decades. Ouch.

The piece on pages 8 and 9 in particular represents something special, as it’s one of the last obvious vestiges of ACE as an organization with grassroots tendencies. When I joined the organization in 1990, the mailings didn’t just represent the delivery of publications — inside those envelopes were flyers for events (this was before the internet made announcements and online registrations possible) and other assorted propaganda including the occasional announcement that lots of good wood coasters were needing new homes, and ACE members should write to operating amusement parks to remind them of the possibilities of being improved with new (old) additions. Granted, the “Join the Movement… and Move It!” article was optimistic about there being anything left of the Idora Park (Youngstown, Ohio) Wildcat, Coney Island Thunderbolt (New York) and Lincoln Park (North Dartmouth, Massachusetts) Comet to pack up and relocate (all had either burned down or otherwise deteriorated beyond recognition by 1994), but it’s depressing to think perfectly solid rides like the West Point Park (Lansdale, Pennsylvania) Jumper and the Rocky Glen Park Comet (Moosic, Pennsylvania) were never lucky enough to find second homes. With wood coasters being lost more than they’re constructed these days, rediscovering this article felt like a necessary punch to the gut.

At least the ACE News Flashback feature toward the end put a smile on my face — history repeating itself?

— Rob Ascough, ACE News Editor

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From 30 years ago, another great issue of ACE News overseen by then-editor and-still-sensational ACEer Scott Rutherford.

On the cover is the announcement of a new woodie opening in 1995 at Holiday World. We now know this to be The Raven, Holiday World’s first wooden coaster. Of course they would go on to build the amazing Legend woodie in 2000 and the phenomenal Voyage woodie in 2006. What a great park it has shown itself to be in the last 30 years, including three new steel coasters too: Howler, Thunderbird and Good Gravy!.

It is interesting to note that (according to Roller Coaster DataBase) the year that saw The Raven debut also saw 97 roller coasters open, with an amazing nine of them being new woodies. Compare that to this year with an astounding 226 coasters so far debuting in 2024 — 223 of them steel and a disappointing three new wooden coasters (one in China, another in United Arab Emirates and only one [Bobcat at Six Flags Great Escape] in the United States).

Speaking of the current state of affairs in the amusement industry, there are 11 woodies currently standing but not operating (SBNO) and in danger of being closed down permanently (if we’re not careful), including Lakemont Park’s Leap The Dips (the oldest roller coaster in the world) and Skyliner in Altoona, Pennsylvania; Cyclone at Denver, Colorado’s great Lakeside Park; Hell Cat at Clementon Park in Clementon, New Jersey; and Rampage at Alabama Adventure (Bessemer) to name a few.

Compare the 2024 SBNO count to that of 1994 in this 30-year-old ACE News, wherein preservation is discussed extensively. On pages 8 and 9, it is argued that since wooden roller coasters have been successfully moved and preserved in the past (e.g., Phoenix at Knoebels, Comet at Great Escape), there were preservation opportunities available back in 1994, with such SBNO woodies as Jumper from West Point Park, Red Streaker from Willow Mill Park, Comet Jr. from Fort Walton Beach, Comet from Lincoln Park, Wildcat and Jack Rabbit from Idora and Thunderbolt at Coney Island. Sad to say, none of these was moved to another park and preserved in the following years, in spite of the hopeful approach ACE News put forth, arguing for amusement parks to consider these marvelous woodies.

Let us hope that of those SBNOs we now see in 2024, something can happen to resurrect them (e.g., will Gene Staples be able to get Hell Cat back into action, which happily looks likely). Will Lakemont Park be able to get the Leap The Dips and Skyliner operational again (please), and what about Cyclone at beloved Lakeside Park in Denver, a park we need to support all we can? We are happy to hear that Rampage in Alabama is being refurbished and is slated to reopen in 2025.

In other words, we have to continue to work hard to support, highlight, appreciate, treasure and save the wooden roller coaster, just as ACE was doing in 1994’s ACE News, and just as we should be doing in 2024’s ACE News (I promise we are working on it, Randy! -Ed.]

In other delights within this 1994 ACE News:

A report on the marvelous Desperado steel coaster, which debuted in 1994 (but which is now SBNO after the resort hotel/casino closed in 2020);
A report on an ACE event held at the old Elitch Gardens to say farewell to the park’s soon-to-be-closed woodies, the legendary Mr. Twister and incredible Wildcat;
ACE’s fifth preservation conference was reported to have been a huge success, held at The Great Escape to honor the newly reborn wooden coaster Comet, moved from the closed Crystal Beach (Ontario, Canada) to run again at Great Escape (and it is noted the park is also home to the Steamin’ Demon, an Arrow steel loop and corkscrew, which used to run as the Ragin’ Cajun at Pontchartrain, showing that steel coasters can be preserved and saved too, and hammering home the point about how great a coaster park Great Escape was);
On page 12 in the ACE News “Turn-Around” section, a question is asked what the coaster term ERT means, and the response highlights that ERT was invented especially for ACE in 1978 when Busch Gardens The Old Country (Williamsburg, Virginia), hosting ACE’s first convention, scheduled the thought-to-be first-ever “exclusive ride time” on its Loch Ness Monster — something I did not know. The park’s generosity has never been forgotten.

— Randy Geisler

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Thirty years seems not so long ago to a long-time member like me. I remember many of these events and announcements as if they happened just a few years ago, not three decades! (A big sigh...) Here are some of those highlights:

The opening of Desperado seemed like another milestone by Arrow, a creator of so many milestones in the amusement industry. I thought that the company would be around forever with creations such as this, as the sky no longer seemed the limit with these bigger and faster hypercoasters. Instead, Arrow would be gone within the decade. At least its legacy lives on with S&S Worldwide, which purchased the company out of bankruptcy and supplies parts for existing Arrow rides.
The permanent loss of Wildcat and Mr. Twister at the original Elitch Gardens location is one that hurt, and still hurts to this day — at least ACE was there at the end to say goodbye to both classics. Yes, Elitch Gardens lives on in a new location with its wooden Twister II, which was somewhat based on the original. Now that park and its rides will need to relocate eventually, and Twister II is now endangered because it doesn't look likely to make the move. There must be some sort of irony there.
A little-known holiday-themed family-owned park in the rural southern Indiana town of Santa Claus announced a 110-foot-tall wooden roller coaster addition. The artwork looked nice enough but nothing very noteworthy. Enthusiasts figured it would probably result in a nice family ride that very few will ever ride. (I hope everyone gets the sarcasm as intended!)
The former Crystal Beach Comet found a new home in the New York Adirondack Mountains at The Great Escape in Lake George, New York, and ACE held its fifth preservation conference there. Of course the setting was different, but the coaster still seemed to have most of what made it special while at Crystal Beach. I'm so glad that Comet continues to live on, and its future remains bright.
Outgoing ACE President Ray Ueberroth attended his final event as president at the conference. Gary Baker surprised him with something that he longed to own — an actual yellow Kennywood directional arrow as a thank-you gift for his many years of service to ACE. Sadly, both men are now gone.
Finally, what was that major development in amusement park history that was learned on September 9, 1994, and mentioned in Speed Bumps? Does anyone know? Now I'm curious!