Memories of Gooding's Million Dollar Midways at the Pensacola Interstate Fair in the 1980s

I originally posted this story a while back and thought it deserved a revisit for accuracy. Interestingly enough, shortly after I shared it, a certain carnival Facebook page decided it was good enough to copy and paste as their own. And when someone pointed out their blatant theft, they blocked me. Classy move, Pounce-Matics Amuse-Matic. Maybe consider coming up with your own content for your pages?

After my parents moved my sister and me to Pace, I didn't realize that we would no longer be going to the Greater Gulf State Fair in Mobile. When fair season began in the area, the Pensacola Interstate Fair was much closer. To my parents, a carnival was just a carnival—all the same rides, food, and blah blah blah. The fairs in Pensacola and Mobile either overlapped or ran at the same time, and we thought the company that owned the rides was the same one that brought rides to both locations. Somehow, we believed Mobile would get the bigger, better, and flashier rides. To a kid, the grass is always greener everywhere else.

Something with the Gooding's logo. Source Unknown.

I really didn't know at the time that there were a whole lot of carnival companies crisscrossing the country, playing different fairs simultaneously. In Mobile, we'd seen Al Kunz's massive Century 21 Shows, which held that spot for many years until Conklin took over, with additional rides booked in from Cumberland Valley Shows. When Conklin took over the fair in Mobile, it seemed to be a seamless transition because Century 21 had many of the same rides Conklin had, such as the Himalaya, Skywheel, Sky Diver, Trabant, Scrambler, and other classics. The only difference you noticed was the addition of newer, more massive thrill rides like the Enterprise, Wave Swinger, and Rainbow.

In Pensacola, we got Gooding's Million Dollar Midways. Gooding's was a massive carnival in terms of the number of spots they played each year. They held contracts with many large fairs and supposedly had enough units with enough rides to play over 10 large fairs simultaneously. In reality, Gooding's Million Dollar Midways didn't own many rides. Rumor had it, the only equipment they owned were ticket booths, generators with their logos painted on, an office trailer, and maybe a girly show. Their business model was based on booking rides from other carnival companies to fill a midway. This meant that you not only had rides from Gooding's—if they actually existed—but also from Link Shows, Royal American Shows, Cumberland Valley Shows, possibly Reithoffer Shows, and several others that had a good working relationship with Milt Kaufman, the owner of Gooding's. Essentially, their fairs could be considered an "Independent Midway" of sorts.

As we pulled into the parking lot, my eyes were transfixed on what makes a fair a fair for me—the Skywheel. That lot could've had no more than two other rides, and I wouldn't have cared less because the Skywheel was the ride I loved the most, something that hasn't changed over the years. Not only was there one Skywheel, but there were two—both at opposite ends of the midway. As we walked the midway, I saw many differences compared to what I'd seen in Mobile. There were many duplicates of rides throughout the midway: two Zippers, three Scrambler-type rides, two Paratroopers, five music-type rides, three Ferris Wheels, and so on. This fair was bigger than Mobile, but only because they had multiples of the same type of rides. The Wave Swinger was the only ride I remembered from Mobile that Goodings didn't feature on the midway, though it was in the commercial. Instead, we got a Chance Yo-Yo and a Watkins Swinger, except for the last year when a Wave Swinger made an appearance.

Pensacola's rides weren't as flashy, and the color schemes didn't really match, but the fair was definitely solid. 1991 was the last year Goodings held the contract for the Pensacola Interstate Fair. Reithoffer Shows took over the following year. Goodings went out with a bang that last year. The midway was filled to capacity with pieces booked in, ranging from classics to modern rides of the time.

For those interested in ride line-ups, this is what I remember from Pensacola the last year Goodings played the fair. Keep in mind, this was 1991, and I had no clue who owned what other than the Giant Wheel owned by Link and the Wave Swinger, which was either Deggeller's or CVS's ride:

• Skywheel

• Tilt-A-Whirl

• Geister-Bahn

• Zipper

• Fantasy Fun House

• Super Sizzler

• Scrambler

• Sizzler

• Spider

• Force 10

• Paratrooper

• Crazy Dance (owned by Royal American)

• Giant Wheel (owned by Link Shows)

• Magical Mirrors

• Super Jets

• Sunshine Speedway

• Hampton Umbrellas (5 of them)

• Mini Scooter

• Gravitron

• Wave Swinger

• Round Up

• Thriller Dark Ride

• Lil Scrambler

• Reverchon Himalaya (with 7-8 seats tied off)

• Flying Carpet Funhouse

• Pirates Den Dark Ride

• Ghost Hunters Walk-Thru

• Amor Express The Love Machine

• Music Fest

• Alpine Haus Funhouse

• Musik Express

• Boomerang

• Roll-O-Plane

• Bumper Cars

• Bumper Boats

• Flume Ride

• Kiddie Bumper Boats

• Glasshouse

• Loop-O-Plane

• House of Fun Funhouse

• Ghost Train

• Raiders

• Enterprise

• Eli Hy-5 Wheel

• Sea Dragon

• Swinger

• Eli Eagle Wheel

• Space Rader (Ring of Fire)

• Flying Bobs

• Sky Diver

• Racing Coaster

• Kamikaze

• Hurricane

• Toboggan

• Carousel

• Trabant

There was talk on the news that there were over 120 rides and attractions, but realistically, I can only remember maybe 85 at the most, collectively among the years I saw them. Unless they were including pony rides, concessions, kiddie attractions, games, and the sideshows. Gooding's seemed to feature an obscene amount of glass houses, funhouses, dark rides, and walk-thrus, so a good bulk of my not-remembered attractions may have included those. There may have been more out there, or I may have some of the lineup from the year before mixed in. I really wish I'd had the foresight to take photos at carnivals the way I do now. Up to that point, I'd never seen a midway packed out like I did that particular year. Back in the day, I never really thought about what was actually owned by the shows that were booked in and what wasn't. Now that I have more knowledge about rides and carnivals, I can safely say that if Gooding's Million Dollar Midways owned anything featured at the fair, it was most certainly not the larger and newer rides. The following year, Reithoffer definitely came in with a bang to top Gooding's last year and did rather well. They brought in most of the Blue and Orange units, as well as their Green unit, which was dissolved and broke off as a separate show in the late '90s. In addition to the three Reithoffer units, they also booked in much of the entire All-American Midway, as well as a few independently owned rides, such as someone's Chance Rok-N-Rol.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my memories of Gooding's Million Dollar Midways. Do you have any carnival or fair memories, personal stories, or experiences you'd like to share? I’d love to hear about them in the comments. Your stories and memories make this journey all the more special. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support my storytelling journey, any small token of appreciation is always welcome. Let’s keep the joy of sharing memories and stories alive together!

The Hi-Roller: A Carnival Ride from My Nightmares

Y'all know I love me some carnival rides. So, take a look at this photo for a hot minute before proceeding to read my blog. Have you ever seen one of these in action? Did you ride it? Well, I did, and the first time was enough to be the last time for me.

Side By Side, Ring of Fire & Hi Roller

I used to love the Super Loops aka Mega Loop aka Ring of Fire, built by Larson International, before my body began to tell me I am not built for multiple inversions within a short period of time. I loved the upside-down action back in the day. THIS ride, however, looks like someone took the idea of the Super Loops, squished it down to an oval then combined it with parts used to build various kiddie rides, creating the most nightmarish ride I have ever ridden in my life.

The Hi-Roller aka Crazy Train, manufactured by Larson International, began to pop up on carnival midways in the mid-1990s despite its low capacity. The ride consists of an oval track mounted onto a frame. Riding along the track are five triangular-shaped cars that hold four people each, and you definitely do not want to be in the car with someone who may suffer from any sort of motion sickness. Most of the early versions were themed Hi-Roller, featuring graphics of poker cards, slots, and other casino-related visuals. The 90s brought in the casino themes with rides like the redesigned Trabant, which Chance Rides renamed Wipeout. For anyone who's ridden this ride, you would agree that Hi-Roller is a fitting name, allowing a casino theme as well as a description of the ride experience.

Riders enter one of the five, four-person cars, sitting, facing the car in front of them. If they are claustrophobic, they better speak up before the operator locks them in because once it starts, there's no turning back... then again, they will be turning back and in every other direction. The only comfortable thing about this ride is the padded lap bar. When the ride begins to move, you think it's going to be tame because the train starts to slowly trod around the track. However, the second the whole structure begins to spin, all hell breaks loose, and you are banging into the person next to you and they into you for the duration of the ride.

One of the best parts of the ride, if you are not opposed to the nature of the movements, is the fact that you can see the reactions of the riders in front of you unless the plexiglass window is caked with dried vomit. As you round the bend in the turns, you will be quite close to each other, adding to the chaotic experience. Did I mention that the cars flip open when the operator lets you out? Just imagine a power outage or the ride breaking down while the cars are in the turn, trapping the riders until they either winch the train to the straight position or the ride starts back up. There's not much ventilation, so it gets hot, and if someone was sick on the ride, you might catch a few whiffs of whatever they left behind.

Have you ever ridden the Hi-Roller? If so, what are your thoughts? My takeaway from the one time I rode this ride was that it’s similar to the time my sister convinced me to get into a clothes dryer, then closed the door and turned it on. Just awful.