GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Bay Beach Amusement Park could be gaining a new ride before the season is done this fall.
The city’s parks committee agreed Wednesday evening to accept the donation of a new tot-hopper ride from the Friends of Bay Beach, the park’s fundraising group. The full city council is expected to approve the donation at its next meeting.
In April, FOX 11 was the first to report the Bay Beast and Falling Star rides were permanently removed from Bay Beach ahead of this season.
City officials had said the Bay Beast would have been too costly to repair and the Falling Star ride was being decommissioned across the country.
The incoming tot hopper ride is almost identical to the Bay Beast, according to city parks officials. It is just newer and about 10 feet taller.
“The ride is currently located at an amusement park in Orlando, Florida,” said Dan Ditscheit, the city’s parks director. “It’s not in operation right now at this date, but it was recently in operation, so it does work.”
Two city employees recently flew to Orlando to check out the ride. It was built in 2005 and last refurbished in 2015.
Not having the Bay Beast at Bay Beach has been costly. It averaged about 200,000 riders a year, according to Ditscheit. At 50 cents a ride, that is $100,000 a year in revenue.
“We really needed to replace it to keep everybody happy and we need the revenue,” said David Charles of the Friends of Bay Beach.
The ride’s donors are aiming for an August 1st opening date. There is also hope two more rides could be coming in the near future.
“They’re in that category of I’d guess I’d call them mid-teenage rides, something similar to the Falling Star, in that category,” said Charles of the rides the Friends of Bay Beach is looking to purchase. “They’re not crazy carny rides. They’re just nice rides that you can take your grandkids on or adults can ride on.”
The city expects to spend between $15,000 and $20,000 to install the new tot-hopper ride.
Negotiations are still taking place to acquire the ride, but Charles expects it will cost the Friends of Bay Beach between $30,000 and $50,000.
The city estimates it would have cost $350,000 to repair the old ride.
