 INFORMATION - ATTRACTIONS - BUILDINGS & MUSEUMS - HISTORY |
Removed Attractions
Guide to the removed attraction of the State Fair of Texas
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Broadway Whirl
unknown |
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- A ride of unknown origin. Very few details exist about this ride.
Opened: 1922 |
Closed: ???? |
Intensity: unknown
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Butterfly
unknown |
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- A ride of unknown origin. Very few details exist about this ride.
Opened: 1922 |
Closed: ???? |
Intensity: unknown
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Captive Balloon
unknown |
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- A hot air balloon attached to a tether that took riders up 200+ feet into the sky. Modern day examples of this exist in Branson, MO and Disneyland Paris and treat riders to view from over 500 feet in the air.
Opened: 1906 |
Closed: ???? |
Intensity: unknown
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Carousel (I)
Philadelphia Toboggan Company |
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- A small carousel, smaller than the current 1914 Dentzel Carousel. A typical P.T.C. model, of which it is not know where this carousel went after it left the fairgrounds.
Opened: 1921 |
Closed: 1953 |
Intensity: Low
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Circle Swing
Traver Engineering |
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- Very popular rides in the early 1920's. These swings were the fore-runner to the massive wave swingers and yo-yo's we see today. Traver's circle swing consisted usually of rocket cars or plane shaped cars as they spun around the massive tower. Of the hundreds sold in the early 1920's, only one remains in operation at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
Opened: 1921 |
Closed: 1977 |
Intensity: Thrilling
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Condor
HUSS Maschinenfabrik |
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- A scrambler on a 80 foot tall tower. The Condor was installed during Six Flags' ride rotation program and had previously operated at Six Flags AstroWorld. Currently, the ride operates at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, IL
Opened: 1992 |
Closed: 1995 |
Intensity: Thrilling
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Double Whirl
unknown |
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- A ride of unknown origin. Very few details exist about this ride.
Opened: 1906 |
Closed: ???? |
Intensity: unknown
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Dungeon Railroad
unknown |
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- Very little is known about this ride. It appears to be a dark ride from photos viewed, but could of also been a Scenic Railway type roller coaster.
Opened: 1929 |
Closed: ???? |
Intensity: unknown
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Ferris Wheel (I)
George Ferris |
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- A grand ferris wheel designed after the 1893 Columbian Exposition's Ferris Wheel. Standing somewhere close to the modern day height of the Texas Star, little is known if this was the original wheel or not.
Opened: 1894 |
Closed: ???? |
Intensity: Low
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Flying Scooters
Bisch-Rocco |
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- Typical Bisch-Rocco flying scooters. These very popular rides were once a staple of the amusement park industry. Very popular among the enthusiast group cause of the ability to "snap" the cables of the flyers. Now flyers are very rare, but making a comeback with companies like Plainview, TX based Larson International making a new "updated" version of the popular Bisch-Rocco scooters.
Opened: 1942 |
Closed: 1975 |
Intensity: Thrilling
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Lindy Loop
unknown |
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- A ride of unknown origin. Very few details exist about this ride.
Opened: 1929 |
Closed: ???? |
Intensity: unknown
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Mind Scrambler
Eli Bridge |
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- Indoor Eli Bridge Scrambler that featured strobe lights and other lightning effects. Located near the Fair Park Coliseum Midway arch entry gate, this was one of the more popular rides due to it's air conditioned environment. - The ride was removed before the 1998 fair run for reasons unknown. The "Indiago Wild Canyon" ride currently occupies this spot.
Opened: ???? |
Closed: 1998 |
Intensity: Thrilling
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Mirror Maze
unknown |
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- Typical maze with mirrors. Similar attractions can still be found in fun houses today.
Opened: 1894 |
Closed: ???? |
Intensity: unknown
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Monster Mash
Dark Ride - Pretzel |
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- Classic indoor dark ride featuring animatronic figures. The ride was housed in a castle-like structure and featured a monster playing musical instruments on the balcony. - The ride was removed in the spring of 2002 to make room for the new "Pibb X-Tra Thrillway" and the new PAX Design roller coaster. The PAX roller coaster was never installed and the ride was sadly still lost. It's a shame they couldn't relocate the ride somewhere else on the fairgrounds.
Opened: 1941 |
Closed: 2002 |
Intensity: Thrilling
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Mountain Range
unknown |
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- A ride of unknown origin. Very few details exist about this ride.
Opened: 1917 |
Closed: ???? |
Intensity: unknown
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Old Mill
Philadelphia Toboggan Company |
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- The Old Mill was a classic Old Mill attraction like those of Kennywood and Coney Island Ohio. The ride was also known as "The Tunnel of Love" later in it's life. Little is known of this ride and the location and reasons for removal are unknown.
Opened: 1924 |
Closed: 1973 |
Intensity: Low
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Razzle Dazzle
unknown |
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- A ride of unknown origin. Very few details exist about this ride.
Opened: 1890 |
Closed: ???? |
Intensity: unknown
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Royal George
unknown |
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- A ride of unknown origin. Very few details exist about this ride.
Opened: ???? |
Closed: 1917 |
Intensity: unknown
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Shoot-the-Chutes
unknown |
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- One of the first rides on the fairgrounds. These rides are still popular today, although much safer and more efficient. The ride consisted of a boat pulled to the top of a ramp, then released and let splash down into a lake at the bottom. The rides are now common place in modern amusement parks.
Opened: 1906 |
Closed: ???? |
Intensity: unknown
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Sky Wheel
Alan Herschell |
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- The Sky Wheel were two 50-foot Ferris Wheels attached boom arm at the center. The wheel spun while the boom arm rotated. The ride towered over 100 feet over the Midway at it's peak. In 1955 an accident involving 4 guests, killing one 15-year old girl and injuring 3 others, promoted the overhaul and eventual removal of the ride.
Opened: 1950 |
Closed: 1957 |
Intensity: Thrilling
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Superslide
unknown |
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- A standard giant slide. The slide was made out of fiberglass material and guests climbed a series of stairs and used a burlap sack to slide down the giant slide and it undulating curves. A similar ride opened the same year at Six Flags Over Texas. Many versions, now safer can now be found at several fairs worldwide.
Opened: 1968 |
Closed: ???? |
Intensity: unknown
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Swiss Skyride Aerial Gondolaway
Von Roll |
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- One of the most loved and missed attractions at the State Fair of Texas. The Swiss Skyride Aerial Gondolaway replaced the slow and aging State Fair Monorail in 1964. The ride consisted of 64 cars that held 4-6 people and traveled over a 3,800 foot path. The ride was one of several installations by Von Roll, this being one of the longest ever built. - In 1979, on the final operating day of the fair, a car became jammed on a jammed roller on a support tower. The ride kept running and another car slammed into the stalled car. A third car slammed into the two jammed cars, freeing the middle car from the cable. The car fell almost 100 feet to the midway below crushing a guest and injuring 15 others. The ride was removed after the investigation showed the ride was running in very high winds and the safety features for wind had been altered to allow the ride to keep running. The accident and a similar one at Six Flags Mid-America (St. Louis) prompted the removal of similar rides all across the country (including Six Flags Over Texas).
Opened: 1964 |
Closed: 1980 |
Intensity: Low
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The Speelunker Ride
Arrow Dynamics |
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- Another classic water dark ride. The Speelunker Ride was very similar to "The Cave" at Six Flags Over Texas. Featuring small boats that traveled through a water trough past animatronic scenes. The location and removal reasons of the ride are unknown, but this ride remains a forgotten piece of State Fair history.
Opened: 1968 |
Closed: 1983 |
Intensity: Low
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Trailblazer Monorail
Monorail Inc. |
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- The first commercial monorail to operate in the United States. Originally built for the 1955 fair, the Trailblazer was plagued with problems in the beginning. In 1956 the monorail became fully operational. Using the old Elk's Arch relocated from Downtown Dallas, the operator sat above the cabin in a small driver panel. The ride consisted of a short 1,800 foot run from the front of Cotton Bowl Plaza to The Music Hall. - At first it was a very popular attraction, and the interest sparked ideas of building a monorail line connecting Dallas and Ft. Worth. This idea soon died and would not be completed until 2001 when the Trinity Railway Express finally connected the two cities via rail. The Trailblazer was removed in Winter of 1963/1964 due to low ridership and problems regarding the structure. The ride was replaced the following year by the classic and more popular Swiss Skyride Aerial Gondolaway.
Opened: 1956 |
Closed: 1964 |
Intensity: Low
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Whip
W.F. Mangels |
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- The classic whip ride that was extremely popular in the early 1910's-1940's. The ride consisted of 10-12 cars around a center island. The cars were pulled along the "track" via a chain and "whipped" around the turns. There are few examples of this ride remaining, one of the best is located at Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, PA.
Opened: 1916 |
Closed: ???? |
Intensity: Thrilling
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