• Event: Youth Sports Festival
  • Where: North Brunswick, NJ
  • Date: 6/16/10
  • Ride Operator: Reithoffer Shows

I was tipped off about the Youth Sports Festival (aka the Route 1 Fair or DeVry Fair it seems) by a reader of The DoD3 last year but didn’t go since Amusements of America was doing the show; not that I have anything against AoA, but they were to do the Meadowlands Fair a week later which I would definitely be going to. Anyway, this year I found out that Reithoffer was going to be doing the spot with their orange unit which meant that their Huss Tornado would be there! I didn’t want to miss this one, so I headed over to North Brunswick to check it out…and I wasn’t let down! Here’s the fair lineup:

  • Tornado (Huss Flipper)
  • Tango
  • Crazy Mouse
  • Gentle Giant (Chance Ferris Wheel)
  • Wild Claw (KMG Fireball)
  • Orbiter
  • Himalaya (Wisdom)
  • Yoyo
  • Pharaoh’s Fury
  • Zipper
  • Starship 3000
  • Sizzler
  • Tilt-a-Whirl
  • Tornado (Wisdom)
  • Scooters
  • Fun Slide (I don’t remember but they probably did)
  • A myriad of kiddie rides
  • A bunch of games
  • Copious amounts of greasy treats
  • Quite a few shows (Wambalds Circus, Pig Races, Tiger Show, etc.)

Well damn…this was actually better than the Meadowlands Fair! Also not only did they have Tornado, but they had a KMG Tango as well! I immediately set out to find an open ticket booth to buy ten tickets for the two 5 ticket rides. Tickets were $1.25 a piece but ten were being sold for $11. First I went on Tornado which had no line being a Wednesday night; I was actually the only one on it for that cycle. I asked to bring my video camera on to film which one of the ride ops seemed basically indifferent about.

The ride itself was quite a bit more intense then I thought it would be with the car whipping from side to side as the platform rotated at full speed. The angle that the ride rose to didn’t seem as steep as Touchdown, but the ride was markedly faster. The cycle slowed the platform down twice to get the cars spinning around, although I kind of had to coax the car into spinning by leaning to one side.

After Tornado I took some time to film the ride before heading over to Tango. I had the chance to ride this back in 2002 or so but didn’t because I thought I’d get sick on it…then I never saw it again until now. I didn’t have any qualms about getting sick this time, but I did fear the standup/floorless seating ,which by most accounts are not comfortable. I mean, just look at them!

I chose an outermost ‘seat’ (pretty much a bicycle seat) and pulled down the harness which consisted of large metal bars and some seatbelt type straps that hugged ones shoulders. Once the ride lifted, I noticed that it wasn’t nearly as bad as some people make it out to be; I bike a lot so maybe I have a resistance to this sort of position or something! That doesn’t mean it was comfortable though! As the ride flipped around my shoulders took a beating as I was tossed around in the seat like a ragdoll! The total cycle was pitifully short, but then again it was about all I could take without feeling moderately ill afterwards.

Afterwards I basically walked around taking video and photos right up until the place closed at 10pm. Many if not all of the rides were in incredible condition with working lights and nice color schemes. One ride of note was theĀ  Gentle Giant ferris wheel which had LED lights on the sweeps that went through a series of patterns. The Himalaya was also pretty nice with a really robust light package, unfortunately it was a smaller Wisdom model which seems more like a kiddie ride on steroids than a large, respectable Super Himalaya or Musik Express.

8 Comments

  • Robert says:

    I’m glad you finally made it. I actually expected the carnival to be less impressive then in years past when AoA was doing the carnival, but this year’s festival was the most amazing one yet! Of course I went on Saturday night 6/19 because I have a thing for fireworks, which meant the grounds were barely walkable and the “lines” were messy jumbles of people grouped together. Yes, I was cut more than once.

    We do have another carnival in North Brunswick, Carnivale Italiano, and before the NBYSF existed it was usually a big deal, but now it’s dinky with only a handful of rides and not much else to offer…so don’t bother.

    • DoD3Brian says:

      Yeah, I was totally surprised by this carnival as well. I think the midway may have been about as large as the NJ State Fair actually,which is another Reithoffer spot only with their blue unit (crosses fingers for Flip n’ Out!)

      While I was heading down to the NBYSF I actually passed another carnival close to Rt. 1 in Edison. I think it was a church carnival; did you happen to check it out?

  • Adam says:

    So yea…If this is the Orange Unit that will be going to Allentown starting tomorrow then I’m really looking forward to it.

    They brought the Orange Unit last year but didn’t have the Wild Mouse coaster, Gravitron, or the Wild Claw set up. I don’t know why though as the Horse Park of NJ had PLENTY of room to set it up. Maybe this year will be different. Didn’t get to ride Tornado last year as yea…tickets were expensive. Picked up some discounted Pre-Sale tickets this year so I’m pumped to give it a twirl haha.

  • Jack says:

    The Wild Mouse wont be in Allentown because its set up in Brockton Ma. Also the Flip N Out is sitting in the winter quarters and probably will never be used again.

  • ZX-14 lady says:

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    Sent via Blackberry

  • ... says:

    yea the carnival is pretty awesomee … n this year its going to be amazing.. wednesday is suppossed to be the best day to go (6/20/12) because there is supposed to be a bollywood dance school performing at around 7:30.. so yea it’ll be greatttt

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