originally posted on 11/10/2023
Photo: Jackie Edwards Collection. View full-sized image.
Eighteen attendees from four different states including Texas and Florida participated in the first ACE event in Las Vegas since 2009. Ever since Nevada became part of ACE Pacific Southwest, the region planned to have an event, and on October 14 it finally came to fruition. Having an event in the desert can be a challenge, but the weather cooperated, with sunshine and temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s, making it a pleasant weekend.
Greg Fleming, ACE Pacific Southwest’s assistant regional representative and Las Vegas resident, gave a special “ghost tour” on Friday of the now-defunct Speed: The Ride roller coaster, which operated at the Sahara Hotel until 2011, then relocated to Atika Plaza in 2012 across from the Mandalay Bay Resort. Unfortunately, the Premier Rides launched shuttle coaster was never rebuilt as originally planned. It was an amazing opportunity to see the complete set of coaster pieces unassembled in one area.
Attendees gather in front of the components of Speed: The Ride, preserved in the desert and hopefully destined to be rebuilt one day.
Photo: Greg Fleming. View full-sized image.
Many people don’t know that the first roller coaster in Las Vegas was built in 1954 at Funland, but the Herbert Schmeck-designed Philadelphia Toboggan Company junior coaster only operated for one year. Las Vegas would have to wait another 38 years for its next roller coaster, Canyon Blaster, which was built in 1993 by Arrow Dynamics and is located inside of the Adventuredome at Circus Circus Hotel and Casino.
Adventuredome’s Canyon Blaster was the first of many roller coasters constructed in and around Las Vegas as the city attempted to appeal to families in the nineties.
Photo: Jackie Edwards Collection. View full-sized image.
The period from 1989 until 2014 was a family-friendly era in Las Vegas. Multiple resorts, theme parks, water parks and many other attractions were built to cater to families, and Circus Circus was known as a mega resort. Las Vegas began to become a more commercialized, family-oriented place, with large corporations coming in to own the hotels, casinos and parks (instead of Mafia bosses). Las Vegas continues to reinvent itself to this day, with many family attractions being built once again but with a new twist on fun, like Area 15 partnering with Universal Studios.
At 10 a.m. on Saturday, the event officially started with all-day wristbands for Adventuredome. Being early in the day, there was no need for ERT as all the rides were walk-ons until around noon. Attendees had fun riding the 30-year-old Arrow looper as well as El Loco, an S&S Worldwide model of the same name that provided lots of fun and unexpected twists and turns.
Adventuredome engineer Joey Rukavina speaks to attendees on a number of topics including the park’s future plans.
Photo: Jackie Edwards. View full-sized image.
Attendees had access to a private room where they could grab lunch and drinks and where Fleming introduced the featured speaker, Adventuredome engineer Joey Rukavina. He spoke about his days working at Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia, California) as well as the challenges of operating a theme park on top of a parking structure (featuring a thick rebar mat under the floor to ensure they can manage the loads). Rukavina also talked about the new SpongeBob dark ride that will be opening late 2023 or early 2024. There was also talk of a possible coaster going in where the old Chaos ride existed. (Apparently Adventuredome’s owner is planning to do some shopping at the next IAAPA Expo in Orlando, Florida.) The group was informed that before El Loco was purchased, there was a hope that the Adventuredome could reassemble Speed: The Ride, but those plans were scrapped for the new coaster.
New York New York Hotel & Casino’s Big Apple Coaster was the recent recipient of new trains from Premier Rides.
Photo: Elijah Veluzat. View full-sized image.
After more fun at the Adventuredome, it was time for attendees to make their way to New York New York Hotel & Casino to ride Big Apple Coaster. This 25-year-old TOGO coaster constructed above and around the resort’s buildings is looking great with its new Premier trains, and riding it in the evening with the lights of Vegas all around is definitely memorable.
Some attendees ventured over to the Palms Hotel to see a band with an ACE connection, Yachtley Crew.
Photo: Jessica Gardner. View full-sized image.
For some ACEers, it was time to go to the Palms Hotel where they got to see the brother of ACE’s own Jessica Gardner perform with his band, Yachtley Crew. The band even gave ACE a shout out and had everyone up dancing.
A half dozen attendees made their way to Broadacres Marketplace for a ride on Toy Story Land.
Photo: David Lipnicky Collection. View full-sized image.
Sunday was a day of meetups and surprises. First was a trip to the Mini Gran Prix for a potential ride on Piff the Magic Dragon. Sadly, the dragon suffered a mechanical problem the night before (one of the drive tires on the lift broke off), so it was not to be. A few folks decided to take a chance on the kiddie coaster at Broadacres Marketplace, and six lucky ACEers got to ride the elusive Toy Story Land credit. It was then on to Area 15, where attendees enjoyed the Haley’s Comet zipline coaster. Yes, it’s a controversial credit for those counting it, but it is fun, nevertheless.
Viva Las ACEers will return to the Neon City with more fun, more ACEers and hopefully new credits in the future!
— Jackie Edwards, ACE Pacific Southwest Regional Representative
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