Zippin Pippin
| Zippin Pippin | |
|---|---|
| Previously known as Pippin | |
Zippin Pippin at Bay Beach Amusement Park | |
| Bay Beach Amusement Park | |
| Coordinates | 44°32′0″N 87°59′2″W / 44.53333°N 87.98389°W |
| Status | Operating |
| Opening date | May 21, 2011 |
| Libertyland | |
| Coordinates | 35°07′10″N 89°58′57″W / 35.119543°N 89.982630°W |
| Status | Removed |
| Opening date | 1923 |
| Closing date | October 29, 2005 |
| General statistics | |
| Type | Wood |
| Manufacturer | Martin & Vleminckx |
| Designer | John A. Miller |
| Track layout | The Gravity Group |
Lift/launch system | Chain lift hill |
| Height | 70 ft (21 m) |
| Drop | 63 ft (19 m) |
| Length | 2,347 ft (715 m) |
| Speed | 42 mph (68 km/h) |
| Duration | 1:30 |
Max vertical angle | 50.6° |
Height restriction | 48 in (122 cm) |
| Trains | 2 trains with 5 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 3 rows for a total of 30 riders per train. |
| Zippin Pippin at RCDB | |
| Video | |
Zippin Pippin is a wooden roller coaster located at Bay Beach Amusement Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It originally opened in 1923 at the Libertyland amusement park in Memphis, Tennessee, and operated there until the park's closure in 2005.
The city of Green Bay, Wisconsin wanted to purchase the coaster, but it had deteriorated too far to be salvageable. They instead purchased the ride's blueprints, and in 2011, an exact replica opened at Bay Beach Amusement Park.[1]
History
Giant Coaster Dips was a wooden side-friction roller coaster constructed in 1913 in the former East End Park in Memphis, Tennessee by John A. Miller and Harry C. Baker. It was built from pine wood. As the park declined in popularity, the coaster was dismantled in 1922 and relocated adjacent to the horse track in Montgomery Park, later known as the Mid-South Fair.
The ride reopened at the Mid-South Fair as Pippin in 1923.[2] After severe damage from a tornado in April 1928, Pippin was rebuilt "higher and longer than before" by July of the same year at a cost of $45,000.[3][4]
In 1976, the city of Memphis opened am amusement park called Libertyland around the Pippin and a few other rides already on the fairgrounds.[5] It was renamed Zippin Pippin and was billed as the most prominent and historic ride at Libertyland. It was Elvis Presley's favorite roller coaster. Presley was known to rent the entire park on occasion to ride it without fan interference.[6] On August 8, 1977, eight days before his death, Presley rented the park from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. to entertain a small number of guests, during which he rode Zippin Pippin for hours without stopping.
The Libertyland website described Zippin Pippin as "One of the oldest operating wooden roller coasters in North America". It cited the ride as being 2,865 feet (873 m) long, having top speeds of 40 mph (64 km/h), having a height of 70 feet (21 m), and a ride duration of 90 seconds. It credited Amusement Device Company as the manufacturer.[7] On October 29, 2005, citing persistent loss of money, Libertyland closed for good.
Zippin Pippin stood out of operation for four years, as several parties fought in court over who would claim the ride. Initially, the ride was claimed by the city of Memphis, though it would still end up being auctioned off with all the other rides still belonging to the Mid-South Fair.[8]
Dismantling and relocation
Dismantling
On June 21, 2006, Zippin Pippin was sold at auction to Robert Reynolds and Stephen Shutts, partners in a traveling museum called the Honky Tonk Hall of Fame & Rock-N-Roll Roadshow. They purchased the ride for $2,500, having initially planned to bid on only one of the ride's cars. The sale agreement required the buyer to remove the ride within 30 days. Reynolds and Shutts consulted with a coaster expert to determine the practicality of moving the entire coaster to another location.[9]
On October 29, 2006, it was announced that the Roanoke Rapids Tourism Bureau had bought Zippin Pippin from Reynolds and Shutts and were bringing the coaster to am upcoming tourist development known as Carolina Crossroads. It would be a 1,000-acre (400 ha) music park, including the 1,500-seat Roanoke Rapids theater, an outdoor amphitheater, a water park, and an outlet shopping center.[10]
On November 16, 2009, a section of Zippin Pippin's track was torn out to determine the salvageability of the materials.[11] On January 28, 2010, crews began dismantling the Zippin Pippin with the hopes of preserving as much of the coaster as possible. The coaster had not been maintained since 2005.[12]
Relocation to Green Bay
On February 7, 2010, the dismantlement was put on hold as Green Bay administrators visited Memphis to examine Zippin Pippin for use at Bay Beach Amusement Park.[13] The ride had partially collapsed during dismantlement, but the deal was not affected as most of the materials were understood to be unsalvageable.[14] After the Green Bay City Council approved plans to purchase Zippin Pippin,[15] the city spent $3.8 million to purchase and rebuild the ride.[16]
The groundbreaking for Zippin Pippin in its new location in Green Bay took place on August 25, 2010.[17] It opened to the public on May 21, 2011. The ride saw 110,000 passengers in its first month of operation,[18] and over 460,000 riders in its first full season.[16] On June 23, 2013, Bay Beach Amusement Park recognized the one millionth rider on Zippin Pippin since its relocation to the park.[19]
Rankings
Zippin Pippin was ranked in Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards for Best New Ride of 2011 with 5% of the vote, coming in fifth place behind Twister at Gröna Lund, Wooden Warrior at Quassy Amusement Park, Cheetah Hunt at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, and New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas.[20]
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| Ranking | 5[20]
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| Year | 1998 | 1999 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | – | – | ||||||||
| Year | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| Ranking | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Year | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Ranking | – | 44 (tie)[21] | – | 37[22] | – | 45 (tie)[23] | – | – | – | – |
| Year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | ||||
| Ranking | N/A | 45 (tie)[24] | 41 (tie)[25] | 48[26] | 41[27] | 32[28] |
Incident
On June 20, 2016, a train carrying passengers collided with an empty train in the station. Three people received minor injuries.[29]
See also
References
- ^ Smith, Matt (March 2, 2010). "City Council Approves Zippin Pippin Roller-coaster for Bay Beach". WBAY-TV. Green Bay, WI. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
- ^ The Commercial Appeal, April 27, 1993.
- ^ The Commercial Appeal, July 3, 2003.
- ^ The Commercial Appeal, April 27, 1928.
- ^ "Photo of the Zippin Pippin in 1975". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, TN. July 15, 2009. Archived from the original on July 17, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
- ^ Emery, Theo (August 7, 2006). "End of a Park Fit for the King". Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
- ^ "The Zippin Pippin". Libertyland. Archived from the original on December 7, 2004. Retrieved November 28, 2007.
- ^ Williams, David (June 20, 2006). "Save Libertyland says 'Wait'". The Commercial Appeal. pp. C1. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
- ^ Williams, David (July 11, 2006). "Pippin owners seek expert view on moving coaster". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, TN. Archived from the original on July 28, 2006. Retrieved November 28, 2007.
- ^ "Elvis' favorite roller coaster, Zippin Pippin, moving to Carolina Crossroads". Carolina Newswire. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved January 21, 2008.
- ^ Callahan, Jody (November 17, 2009). "Libertyland demolition begins; salvageability of Zippin Pippin tested". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, TN. Archived from the original on March 16, 2010. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
- ^ Maki, Amos (January 28, 2010). "Derailed: Crews begin dismantling Libertyland's Zippin Pippin roller coaster". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, TN. Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
- ^ "Elvis's Favorite Coaster Could Roll Into Green Bay". WISC-TV. Madison, WI. February 8, 2010. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved February 9, 2010.
- ^ Maki, Amos (February 11, 2010). "Zippin Pippin's roller-coaster ride in Memphis comes to end with dismantling". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, TN. Archived from the original on February 18, 2010. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
- ^ Conley, Chris (March 3, 2010). "Green Bay council OKs purchase of Zippin Pippin". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, TN. Archived from the original on March 21, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
- ^ a b Williams, Scott Cooper (September 24, 2011). "Zippin Pippin's premiere season 'awesome,' opens with record-breaking year". Green Bay Press Gazette. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
- ^ Williams, Scott (August 25, 2010). "Ground broken for Zippin Pippin roller coaster in Green Bay". Green Bay Press Gazette. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
- ^ "Zippin Pippin helping to post big numbers in first month of Bay Beach". WTAQ-AM. Green Bay, WI. June 23, 2011. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
- ^ "Zippin Pippin: Then and Now". Coaster101. September 1, 2014. Archived from the original on January 19, 2019. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
- ^ a b "Amusement Today — Golden Ticket Winners 2011" (PDF). Amusement Today. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 12, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
- ^ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 15 (6.2): 46–47. September 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ "2013 Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 17 (6.2): 40–41. September 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ "2015 Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 19 (6.2): 45–46. September 2015. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ "2021 Golden Ticket Award Winners". Golden Ticket Awards. Amusement Today. September 2021. Archived from the original on November 15, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ "2022 Golden Ticket Award Winners". Golden Ticket Awards. Amusement Today. September 2022. Archived from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ "2023 Golden Ticket Award Winners". Amusement Today. 27 (6.2): 71–72. September 2023. Archived from the original on September 10, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ "2024 Golden Ticket Award Winners". Golden Ticket Awards. Amusement Today. September 2024. Archived from the original on September 9, 2024. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ "2025 Golden Ticket Award Winners". Golden Ticket Awards. Amusement Today. September 2025. Archived from the original on September 7, 2025. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ Wagness, Billy (June 21, 2016). "3 Hurt on Zippin Pippin ride at Bay Beach". NBC26.com. Archived from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
External links
- "Zippin' Pippin – Elvis' Favorite Ride Donated To Save Libertyland". Elvis Australia News. July 6, 2008.
- "Zippin Pippin Remembered – The history of the ride and photos of its last week standing". Lost Memphis.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2010.