originally posted on 7/6/2019
In an effort to entice more Americans to come to the ACE Western Canada Roundup, the event was held this year on the U.S. Memorial Day weekend, which meant an extra day to travel for those south of the border (Canada’s long weekend happened the week before, for Victoria Day).
It worked, as 70 percent of the attendees came up from the States, where they enjoyed the cooler weather, friendly folks and quirky parks in southern Alberta. Most of the members were visiting these parks for the first time.
The event kicked off at Galaxyland Amusement Park in the West Edmonton Mall (Edmonton), where ACE was greeted by Devin Carradine, park assistant general manager, who escorted attendees to all three of Galaxyland’s coasters before they enjoyed the rest of the park. Everyone expected Mindbender, the legendary Schwarzkopf masterpiece, to be the star of the day, but most of the attendees were quite happily impressed with both the Autosled custom Zierer Tivoli coaster that doubles as an “explore the park from above” attraction and the wicked Galaxy Orbiter Gerstlauer dual-lift spinner. Insane head choppers and ejector airtime on a spinning coaster? Yes, please!
After the coasters, attendees sampled the 3-D theater, the dark ride shooter (Quirks in the Works), the Space Shot (although it’s really a Double Shot) and other attractions at Galaxyland before making the three-hour drive to Calgary.
Photo: Jim Winslett. View full-sized image.
Day Two began at the coasterless but fantastic anyway Heritage Park. Unknown to many enthusiasts owing to its lack of a coaster, Heritage Park has one of the most jaw-dropping collections of antique flat rides anywhere. Howie Smith from maintenance led a very informative Q&A session on the rides and what it takes to keep them looking and sounding like new in a climate that can be quite harsh in the off season. Rides on the antiques were enjoyed before heading off to sample the steam train and other historic attractions at the park.
Photo: Jim Winslett. View full-sized image.
Photo: Jim Winslett. View full-sized image.
Just after lunch, the group gathered at Calaway Park (Calgary) for a Q&A with Park President and IAAPA Board Member Bob Williams, who gave ACE some intentionally vague but very exciting news about the future of the park. No spoilers here! After the talk, everyone was escorted as a group to The Vortex, perhaps the smoothest Arrow corkscrew coaster on earth, for a double trip around with no waiting in the queue. From there, attendees sampled the park’s other rides, including two small coasters, Mini Express and the new-for-2019 Bumble Blast, which was only on its fifth day of operation.
Photo: Jim Winslett. View full-sized image.
A photo scavenger hunt and mini golf tournament added to the fun before ACEers headed out with a load of goodies given by the generous park. Calaway Park is an often-overlooked gem that loves having ACE visit. (We’ll be back!)
When the park time came to an end, everyone went to dinner at Canadian chain restaurant Earl’s for some delicious food, awarding of the prizes for the scavenger hunt and mini golf and some socializing.
ACE Western Canada Roundup will become a larger, semiannual event from this point forward, happening in odd-numbered years. ACE Canada hopes to see even more members next time, eh?
— Jim Winslett
ACE Canada Assistant Regional Representative
@#$%&!
#ACENews