Carnival Chronicles: A Swing Through Time: My Journey with The Wave Swinger

Hey there, thrill-seekers and carnival lovers! 🎡✨ Today, I want to chat with you about one of my absolute favorite carnival rides – The Wave Swinger. It's a ride that's full of nostalgia, and I can't wait to share my experiences with you.

So, here's the deal. When I was a kid, I first saw the Wave Swinger in commercials for the Miracle Strip Amusement Park, and it always looked like such a blast! Fast forward to my childhood trips to the Greater Gulf State Fair in Mobile, where Century 21's midway featured the Chance Yo-Yo. Now, while the Yo-Yo didn’t have that cool wave motion, it was still pretty neat. But my heart? Totally set on the more grandiose Wave Swinger.

Alright, confession time. As a kid, I was downright terrified of the Wave Swinger. Thanks to schoolyard legends of terrifying accidents – none of which were true, by the way – I stayed far away from this beautiful ride. Stories like “a girl got her legs cut off” or “someone flew off and landed in the parking lot” haunted me. But deep down, I was captivated by its charm.

It wasn’t until my 6th-grade year that I finally mustered up the courage to ride it. My dad took me to the fair in Mobile and I thought, “Why not give it a shot?” Guess what? I LOVED every second of it and I was hooked!

Since then, I've had the pleasure of riding Wave Swingers from various companies. Goodings' didn't have a Wave Swinger in Pensacola for most of their tenure, but they did book one in one of their final years at the fair, most likely from Link Shows. When Conklin took over the midway contract at the Greater Gulf State Fair, we sometimes saw their Wave Swinger, and other times it was the one owned by Cumberland Valley Shows. They were nearly identical, so it was always a mystery whose it actually was.

I've also ridden Wave Swingers owned by Drew Shows, Amusements of America, the one at Six Flags Over Georgia, and several others. Reithoffer Shows used to bring only their Chance Yo-Yo to the Pensacola Interstate Fair, which was my childhood fair, until they acquired their brand new Bertazzon Wave Swinger. Each ride has its unique flair, but the thrill? Always the same.
So, what exactly is the Wave Swinger? It's essentially a swing ride, also known as a chair jet, with an extra twist (literally!). The ride consists of a central support and a spinning frame that can rise and tilt, creating that iconic wave motion. When you hop onto a swing, secured by a steel bar and chain, the ride starts to rotate and lift, giving you the exhilarating feeling of flying over the crowd.
Just about every large carnival and medium to large theme park has had a Wave Swinger or something similar. From Six Flags Great Adventure to Dorney Park and Morey's Piers, these rides have become staples.

The design dates back to 1972, created by Zierer and built by Franz Schwarzkopf, brother of Anton. Since then, it has become a global favorite, with Zierer producing over 200 units. Other manufacturers like Zamperla, Chance Rides, Grover Watkins, and Bertazzon have created their own versions of the Wave Swinger or other swing rides.

Oh, and a quick shoutout to the Chance Yo-Yo. While it's a simpler ride, it’s quite popular among carnivals. I'll dive deeper into the Yo-Yo in a future post, but for now, let's keep our focus on the Wave Swinger.

Whether it's the thrill of soaring high in a decorative swing or the nostalgia of childhood memories, the Wave Swinger holds a special place in my heart. I've enjoyed rides from Conklin, Cumberland Valley Shows, Amusements of America, and even the Gotham Crime Wave at Six Flags Over Georgia.
By the way, I've got my eye on Faller's carnival model of the Wave Swinger. Just in case someone's thinking of an awesome gift for me, no shame in mentioning and no pressure at all. I would be excited to theme it just like the ones I remember at the fairs I'd been to as a kid!

There’s something magical about the Wave Swinger at night when the lights come on. It’s not just a ride; it’s a visual delight! And if you haven’t noticed, it even graces the cover of the 1994 Dave Matthews Band album, "Under the Table and Dreaming."

I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane and my love affair with the Wave Swinger. Share your thoughts, stories, and experiences with this iconic ride in the comments below. Let’s keep the conversation going! If you find this content enjoyable and want to support my blogging journey, feel free to consider a small contribution. Your support means the world to me and helps keep the carnival nostalgia alive!

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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!

Riding the Sky Wheel: Revisited

I wrote this entry many years ago and decided to revisit it, add a little bit more insight as well as throw a couple of new experiences into the article.

A well-known fact about me: I am terrified of heights. Another well-known fact: I love carnivals. And, perhaps the most surprising fact: my favorite ride of all time is the Sky Wheel, better known to the general public as the Double Ferris Wheel.

My first memory of the ride dates back to the late '70s when Century 21 Shows booked the massive Space Wheels owned by Royal American Shows to play at the Greater Gulf State Fair in Mobile, AL. The Space Wheels are two Sky Wheel units sharing a center support. That was the only time I saw and rode the Space Wheels, until 40 years later when Drew Expo brought it back out, newly refurbished at the North Georgia State Fair. Though it was slowed down quite a lot, it was still great to be able to see it and ride it again. After that, the Sky Wheel became a regular staple on the midways of fairs in Mobile and Pensacola until the mid-1990s. Due to the size and the rising costs and difficulty of obtaining replacement parts, many shows have opted to retire the ride.

Having seen the Sky Wheel at every fair I attended as a kid, I feel let down when I visit a large fair without one. A few midway operators understand the appeal of the ride among enthusiasts and have taken the initiative to refurbish some of the older wheels and bring them back out. There are currently about 10 Sky Wheels on the road, and 4 have made it to Georgia fairs that I've attended over the past 10 years.

What's so great about the ride? You might say it's just a ferris wheel. Think again. It's actually a thrill ride disguised as a gentle giant. If you're lucky enough to sit in the "over the top" seat on either end of the wheel, you will experience an elevator drop that tips your seat so you're facing the sky from the top until you make it to the bottom of the rotation. And before you know it, you're back at the top, doing it all over again.

The ride has been manufactured by three companies: it began with the Valare Brothers before the rights were acquired by the Allan Herschell company, and then Chance Rides after they purchased the assets of Allan Herschell, continuing to build these giants of the midway until the early 1980s. It stands just short of 80 feet, usually dwarfing the rest of the midway. With 8 seats on each wheel, its capacity is 48 adults per ride cycle. Check out the video link of my 2011 Sky Wheel on-ride experience to get an idea of what it's really like. If you ever find yourself on a midway with one of these guys, be sure to check it out for yourself and you'll understand why it's known as "The King of the Midway."