CNE 'classic rides' not to be missed
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With the 140th edition of the CNE hitting the midway point, don’t forget about these six “classic rides” before it all ends on Sept. 3.
North American Midway Entertainment spokesman (and Calgary native) Scooter Korek, who was 17 years old when he started working at the company 42 years ago, explains their enduring appeal and history:
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1. Ferris Wheel
This midway staple was invented for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois by George Ferris in a bid to outdo the Eiffel Tower at the 1889 Paris Exposition.
“I’m going to say that that’s been a staple of the travelling midways ever since then,” said Korek. “I’ve seen pictures of the 1920s and there’s the CNE and there was a Ferris Wheel. There was maybe a Whip and a Tilt-A-Whirl and a Ferris Wheel.”
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2. Haunted Mansion
“Our Haunted Mansion, I think we got in 2007 and I’ve got to tell you, it’s been really popular,” said Korek. “I think just everybody needs an old fashioned fright. And there’s been some great dark rides here at the Canadian National Exhibition over the 140 years. Anybody who’s been a CNE aficionado, would remember the Laff in the Dark. And that was here for absolutely ages.”
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3. Zipper
“It’s its 50th anniversary which is kind of apropos for us,” said Korek. “It first appeared at the Kansas State Fair in 1968. I got to tell you out of all the rides we have the Zipper’s got a cult following in Canada. It’s like the Rocky Horror Picture Show, our Zipper, it really is. I almost think with the Zipper, it’s a little bit a rite of passage. When you’re a teenager and you first build up enough nerve or peer group pressure to go on it, when you make your first Zipper ride, all of the sudden you’ve passed into a different dimension in your life.”
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4. Sky Ride
That chairlift-looking ride that slowly goes from one end of the CNE grounds to the other,was preceded by The Alpine Way (‘63-’97) which was dismantled to make way for the Direct Energy Centre (now Enercare). “For me, it’s really a zen experience,” said Korek.
“If I need to get away from work for two minutes everyday I just go soaring across the CNE grounds. And it’s amazing. In the daytime, it’s really nice ‘cause you’re kind of like flying into downtown and the lake is your right side and the midway is full of all the rides. Then at nightime it’s a real spectacular light show. That’s our most popular ride.”
5. Pharaoh’s Fury
“It’s just a great thrill ride. It’s a giant ship that you get into and it swings from like 30 degrees to 80 degrees and swings to the centre of the station and it kind of gives you that free fall sensation and that’s always been one of our most popular rides,” said Korek. “It’s been around for a long time, like four decades. We bought a Tidal Wave in 1977 which is kind of a little bit bigger version of our Pharaoh’s Fury, so it’s been around since then.”
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6. Polar Express
“That debuted at the Canadian National Exhibition in 1980. I was here when we unveiled it. And we built that ride, it was a ground up restoration of an older ride, which was the Himalaya at that point, and that’s built by a company called Mach which is great German engineering that can last forever,” he said.
“The Polar Express is a quintessential ride here at the CNE. It is everything. It is loud music, and it’s lights and it’s a fast ride and you’re going backwards. And (that saying) was invented here on the Polar Express: ‘Do you want to go faster?!’ We were the guys that did that.”
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