2016 Osceola County Fair

Because... rides.. and stuff, uh, like animals.
Even without my beloved Huss Top Spin showing up this year... I had a few hours to waste on a Friday before Deka came into town for our trip starting the next day.... So off to the County Fair I went!

Yay.

 Woo, the 2016 Osceola County Fair!

We got to the fair about an hour before the rides opened, so we made a lap around the grounds and saw the non-amusement County Fair.... things.

 Like the Country Bumpkin Band

(uhh....)

 And this giant inflatable Cow!

 Hello Mr. Turkey.

 <3 Quack Quack! <3

 Moo?!

 And... this sheep.

 Baby trees? And stuff.

 OH NO!

#Totaled

(Cow down, cow doowwwnnnn)

 ...Ditsy

Uh, the clown.

 Oh man! And there were Pig Races!!!

(And we might have watched two different showings...)

<3 <3 <3

 New this year at the fair was this Technical Park built 22 meter wheel.
(Dreamland debuted it at State Fair and Jeff and I were the *first* riders on it!) 

It may not look so nice in the daytime... but at night, its covered in LED and even the cars themselves glow!

 Strates Giant Wheel.

For now, the largest portable wheel on the East Coast...

 Overview of the ride midway from the wheel, woo.

 Oh hey, and you can see Mako at SeaWorld!

(and Kraken... and Manta)

 And the little Wacky Worm... that we skipped.

(but had ridden in the past <3)

Sadly, Strates failed to bring their adult coaster this year.

 We gave the Musik Express a pity ride.. and it was playing some awful sounding country song.. The Op looked at me and questioned if I liked the song.. and said he'd put on something better.

Yeah, I don't really think Kid Rock was much of an improvement :P

 Haunted House... thing

 Scary stuff, I tell you.

 New (for us at least) this year, was this ollddd kinda beat-up Chance Casino!

I'd never seen one down here before! So we took it for a ride, but the cycle was pretty lackluster and no real changes.

(Sam Pino used to tear it up with theirs in the 90's)

 Also new for me.. 
My first time encountering the Watkins Hustler!

(although I've been on many-a-Tempest)

Same basic ride, but the Hustler isn't on an angle.

(It was fun :) )

I don't think this, or the Casino were owned by Strates Shows but rather booked in by them...

 I also thought this take on the Rock Wall was rather neat. All 3 sides offered different climbs

(the non visible side was like.. a bunch of pipes)

 KMG Fireball!

Ugh... why bring such a fantastic ride... If you're just gonna run it in bitch mode?

Its almost amazing how BAD you can cycle some of these rides :(

 Thankfully.. This was located next door...

Mmm, Chance Zipper...

 With iPhone securely put away.... We took it for a ride :D
(#NeverForget)

 Oh.. and we did a quick lap on the Ring of Fire.. or as Six Flags would tell you, this AMAZING NEW ROLLER COASTER!!!!! (lololol)

And most excitingly of all...... 

ENTERPRISE!
My first time getting to see/ride Strates' Huss Enterprise. I've been to 11 or 12 of their stops since moving here in 09, never saw it... and was beginning to believe the ride didn't actually exist, despite still being listed on their website.

And with a silly 'No Single Riders' rule in place... 2 grown-ass-adults squeezed into a single car... 
while the other 19 remained empty.

Woo, Enterprise!
After making our second lap around the fair and getting another ride in on the Enterprise we made our way to what is typically our last ride at a fair. Anyone who reads these posts by now should know what it is too...

Yup, a Swing Tower... This one being a Zamp built Sky Flyer.

Woo, swings... and stuff.

(Oh, and a Sea Ray we skipped)

Yup, the 2016 Osceola County Fair and Kissimmee Valley Livestock Show at the Osceola Heritage Park

Other stuffs... and stuff.

Sky Flyer video (via Vine) - Video

An extra Enterprise photo - Photo

Woo

Uh, the 2015 Seminole County Fair

Uh, well... then there's the Seminole County Fair.

This is the most hit or miss local fair for me it seems. I visited it in 2010, 2011, and maybe 2013? It used to be a rather large fair, being held in the parking lot for the Seminole Towne Center mall. Now it takes place just past the mall in a grass field alongside I4, the fair has also shrunken dramatically over the years and is now pretty basic. That being said, I still managed to have a fun couple of hours and it was nice to see Rok'n'Rol up and running, since I had to skip it at State Fair... I was sure to ride it, here in Sanford.

Last year Strates Shows announced they would no longer run their show by rail, and due to this change are unable to travel with their Huss Top Spin as its not "street legal" in the US. I hope they try and reconfigure the trailer for it, since it's what I consider the shows best piece. Now its just left sitting unused on Orange Ave in Orlando.... Anyways, Seminole County Fair

Once finding the fair, kinda hidden in a field in the middle of nothing alongside the interstate... We got our armbands and headed to the giant wheel so I could get a few photos before the sunset.

Yup... the Giant Wheel

Overview of almost the entire midway. 

Its kinda funny to me, back home this would have been considered a major fair... But by Central Florida standards, its kinda small.

Zyklon!

Yaayyy! Roller Rides!! Uh.. and that guy too!

Ah, just a basic seat belt for the restraint. <3

Woo, coasters

Starship 2000
In the early 90's I would get so excited to ride these... as they were one of bigger "thrill rides" fairs in New England had... but now I tend to overlook them for things better.

But since it had been a few years since I had ridden one, we took it for a spin.
(although it was lame they yelled at people for going sideways / upside down)

Rok'n'Rol!!
It has typically been at the Seminole County Fair every time I've visited.. but it still excites me to see it show up.

Since we skipped it at State Fair, we were sure to ride it here... Although it was placed in kiddie land for some reason and it also ran a disappointingly short cycle.
(but I still love the ride)

Him al aya, while looking rather banged up.. is in oddly great running condition and ran with a super long ride cycle!

Jeff sat out while I took the Fireball for a ride... It gave a strange 3-in-1 cycle... Where it kept cycling down.. and restarting. It was also kinda strange to ride a Fireball without any sort of audio playing.

Zamp Sky Flyer... Its too early in the night to ride you!

Haunted House was on the better end of the 'crappy portable dark-ride' spectrum.
It wasn't good or anything... but it was far better than most of the ones I've encountered.

The Zipper!
(Nope, not gonna happen, my face still hurts)

Pretty sunset.... and stuff

Swamp Gator
(no, I don't have this credit....)

We took Zyklon for a second ride as we made our final lap around the midway

Zyklon from the wheel.
it was kinda funny seeing the reactions to people riding it just thinking of how many massive coasters Orlando has.... and yet this seemed to terrify people!

Before heading out to get some snacks and drive back to Orlando we grabbed a couple of quick last-rides, including one on the Giant Wheel. And for a wheel with 24 cars, it seemed rather unnecessary that the two of us were paired up with another group of riders...
(for a ride with maybe 7 people in line.)

Ah, much better! Sky Flyer is almost always the last ride we do at a fair.
I don't know, tradition?

And while I promised myself I'd never ride a Zipper with Jeff again...
(after the horrific PHONE SMASHING MY FACE incident)

We went for a spin, his phone.... left in my car!

Yaayyy....the 2015 Seminole County Fair

Bonus video via Vine - Video
woo