<i>ACE News</i> Switchback

ACE News Switchback — February 2025

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originally posted on 2/24/2025

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As I dig into the issues selected for this bimonthly feature, I am finding they are one part amusing, one part encouraging and one part bittersweet.

Reading that the annual IAAPA Expo was departing Orlando, Florida, for Atlanta, Georgia, made me smirk — these days, it’s impossible to imagine the expo being held some place other than the cavernous Orange County Convention Center nestled among Walt Disney World, SeaWorld Orlando and the Universal Orlando Resort. I also smiled at the news of Little A-Merrick-A in Marshall, Wisconsin (now spelled Little Amerricka), being selected as co-host of Coaster Con XXVIII, because this summer it will be paired with Six Flags Great America (Gurnee, Illinois) and Indiana Beach (Monticello) for the 47th iteration of ACE’s flagship annual gathering.

Two Great Coasters International, Inc. (GCII) wood coasters at PowerPark (Kauhava, Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland) and Beech Bend (Bowling Green, Kentucky) and a Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) inverted coaster at Knott’s Berry Farm (Buena Park, California) continue being highlights at their respective parks 20 years later, while Elaine Linkenheimer continues playing an active role in the creation of ACE publications. Constants like these are very often good things and should be acknowledged whenever possible.

However, there is some sadness to endure. The 2005 Roller Coaster Round-Up on page 5 notes the classic Schwarzkopf City Jet leaving Gillian’s Wonderland in Ocean City, New Jersey. The L&T Systems family coaster that replaced it would eventually be removed as well, and at the end of the 2024 season it was announced the popular boardwalk fixture would cease operations. The New Jersey shore amusement park is an endangered species, and I fear Wonderland Pier won’t be the last casualty. “Progress” is what eventually claimed Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park (South Carolina), as mentioned in a Speed Bump on page 9. While one had reason to be cautiously optimistic about the situation, the park ended up ceasing operations in 2006 and was replaced with… nothing.

Construction Zone on page 17 shows construction of Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, as the world’s tallest and fastest roller coaster. Two decades later, ACE reported the removal of the coaster as well as many other rides in the park in a supposed overhaul of its corner of the popular theme park. It was something few enthusiasts saw coming and proof of my belief that if you want to experience something, it’s best to do it as soon as possible because one never knows what the future may hold. If only we could read an issue of ACE News from the year 2045…

— Rob Ascough, ACE News Editor

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Here is another incredible ACE News, in this case from 20 years ago, February 2005.

It is amazing to contemplate that ACE's newsletter has been providing comprehensive and insightful coverage for 47 years now, overseen by the many wonderful editors over the decades, such as with this issue under the leadership of the excellent editor and droll writer Mark Davidson.

This issue's cover page highlights Davidson's reporting on ACE's attendance at the annual IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) trade show. It is interesting to me to recall that ACE has maintained a presence at this trade show since at least 1984 (the year in which I first attended for ACE, along with then-President Liucija Ambrosini); and of course I went yearly when I was president from 1986 to 1990. Back then, ACE was not in a position to set up a booth on the main trade show floor (as it is quite costly to do so), and instead ACE had a table with displays and information about the organization that was just outside the trade show floor.

Davidson's 2005 ACE News piece about the 2004 trade show notes that ACE had been attending on the main trade show floor since 1997 (once ACE could afford to do so) and thus realizing the necessity and importance of doing so. ACE has been participating successfully for decades now, making its considerable enthusiasm felt, and thus I believe it has gained the increasing respect and regard of the amusement industry, not to mention the coverage and support provided via ACE News's comprehensively reporting.

Page 2 offers news that the traditional amusement park Little A-Merrick-A will co-host ACE's Coaster Con XXVIII in 2005. That's interesting to see, because of course Little Amerricka will be co-hosting another ACE convention this season: Coaster Con 47, which is also being co-hosted by Six Flags Great America and Indiana Beach. Little Amerricka now has four coasters, including the latest, a coaster the park preserved by buying it after its previous home at Hillcrest Park in Lemont, Illinois, closed and rebuilding the junior Philadelphia Toboggan Company woodie as Meteor.

Page 4 features a volunteer spotlight, highlighting ACE member Elaine Linkenheimer, who was ACE News and RollerCoaster! associate editor. Twenty years later, she continues serving as an associate editor for RC!. As for working in publications, Elaine remarked it can be demanding but ultimately always beneficial, gratifying and worthwhile: "Working behind the scenes of the publications makes you realize how much work and effort the staff does in order to get these out to the members — and it is all volunteers.”

Page 8 offers a story about Cypress Gardens, recounting all the attraction has been through since it debuted in 1936, such as adding amusement rides after the park unexpectedly closed in 2001 and then reopening in 2004 under new ownership as Cypress Gardens Adventure Park. Happily, the park survives to this day, now as Legoland Florida (since 2011), these days offering three coasters, including the Coastersaurus (originally called the Triple Hurricane), a Martin & Vleminckx junior wood coaster.

GCII gets a couple of mentions in this ACE News. On page 13, Davidson reported that GCII snared two projects announced at IAAPA — Thunderbird at PowerPark and Kentucky Rumbler for Beech Bend, both designed by Jeff Pike. Happily, both of these woodies are still standing and operating, as is another GCII twister, Thunderhead (designed by Mike Boodley) at Dollywood (Pigeon Forge, Tennessee) mentioned on page 12. It is noted that the Dollywood woodie is "magnificent,” remarking how the coaster blew people away when it opened in 2004 — and let me add that Thunderhead continues to blow people away, especially after 2022 when the ride was retracked, allowing Dollywood to show the right way to give wood coasters some TLC. Many ACEers were able to re-experience Thunderhead in 2023 during ACE's convention at the park, causing this wooden twister to become a top-five, best-in-the-world ride in many enthusiasts’ estimations (including mine). I am pleased to see Davidson mentioning this amazing woodie in ACE News when woodies need and deserve all the attention they can get.

Speaking of great woodies, Holiday World & Splashin' Safari (home to six coasters now, including three phenomenal woodies) received the IAAPA Applause Award — amazing for a park so small compared to the other awarded heavyweights in the industry (Disney, Universal, Cedar Point, Europa-Park, etc.) The article shows that ACE enthusiastically supports great leadership in the industry and through such featured reporting encourages its members to patronize these great parks and their wonderful coasters.

Finally, in his "View From the Lift" column, Davidson highlights how on a trip to some small parks such as Storybook Land in Egg Harbor, New Jersey, he and some friends (led by the late great ACEer, Donna Piper) had a blast at this "treasure" of a park with all its rides "kept in prime condition." This demonstrates how good ACE News was (and still is) in bringing attention to special parks, including some of the smaller, out-of-the-way parks (even the kiddie parks), and the unique experiences ACEers can enjoy together when they gather as enthusiasts. By the way, Storybook Land still exists and is home to Bubbles The Coaster (an E&F Miler Industries family coaster) and a new one on the way in 2025 — Cinder Roller Coaster, an SBF Visa Group Spinning kiddie steelie.

— Randy Geisler

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Twenty years flies by so quickly, it seems. Funny how IAAPA announced that the annual expo was leaving Orlando for Atlanta in 2005. Apparently, this didn't last long as it has been returning to Orlando ever since.

Some highlights:

Hersheypark's (Hershey, Pennsylvania) mine train, Trailblazer, was getting its two trains refurbished by Premier Rides.
A sneak peek of the ride system known as Robocoaster that would be used in Universal's groundbreaking dark ride, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, at Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida.
Philadelphia Toboggan Company celebrating its centennial in 2004 at the IAAPA Expo.
GCII announcing two new wood coasters, including what would become Thunderbird at PowerPark and Kentucky Rumbler at Beech Bend Park, based loosely on the Playland (Rye, New York) Aeroplane. Thankfully, both coasters are still with us today.
Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari (Santa Claus, Indiana) winning the prestigious Applause Award.

In other news:

Hersheypark canceling its announced Turbulence "Frequent Faller" ride from Interactive Rides owing to a contract dispute about the price of steel adding an unexpected $1 million to the project.
Long-time friend to ACE and ACE Honorary Member Janice Witherow leaving Cedar Point after 14 years.
Two rare pictures of Elaine Linkenheimer actually riding roller coasters!
An article about the reopening of Cypress Gardens in Florida with four roller coasters: Fiesta Express from Zamperla, a Vekoma roller skater called Okeechobee Rampage, Swamp Thing — a Vekoma junior inverted coaster — and a junior wood coaster from Martin & Vleminckx called Triple Hurricane. (The park would close a few years later and would be converted into Legoland Florida.)
Another article on Knott's Berry Farm adding a custom B&M inverted coaster, Silver Bullet.
Construction photos of Hydra: The Revenge at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania; Hades at Mt. Olympus Theme Park in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin; and what has to be the most ironic photo of all — the construction of Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. Sadly, that once record-breaking coaster is now in the process of demolition.

There are lots of other tidbits of information scattered throughout this amazing issue of ACE News, but you'll just need to read the rest of it yourselves!

— Dave Hahner, Historian