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The second annual ACE Preservation T-Shirt Gala started with a toast to ACE preservation, featuring this year’s mocktail, the ACE Landmark Lemonade.
An update from ACE Preservation and History Director Josh Brown followed. He spoke about current ACE projects and ACE’s two donations this year to Alabama Adventure (Bessemer, Alabama) and to Happy Hollow Park & Zoo (San Jose, California) to save Happy Hollow’s Danny the Dragon. He teased a few announcements that will be made public soon. Brown was able to offer some insight into the questions he is asked frequently, including suggestions he hears and what many ACEers are most concerned with saving in 2026.
Brown introduced Randy Geisler, ACE’s third president and the ACE preservation manager, under whom the first ACE Preservation Conference was instituted. Geisler spoke about this event, which was hosted at Conneaut Lake Park (now defunct) and Lakemont Park (currently being preserved), both in western Pennsylvania.
Brown then returned to the efforts being made not only for preservation but also for furthering ACE’s preservation mission and awareness of ACE, as plaques are installed around the globe. He discussed the recent Landmark plaque announcements and presentations, including Knoebels’ Flying Turns at Eastcoaster and one that is being shared at The Great Nor’Easter in March.
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The discussion turned to the introduction in 2025 of the ACE Centennial Award, awarded to coasters that have reached 100 years of operation. The first of these was presented to Belmont Park in Mission Beach, California, for the park’s Giant Dipper, designed by Frank Prior and Frederick Church and opened in 1925. Some of the challenges of this particular award include their weight — not only weight in importance and prestige, but also weight of the physical plaques. This discussion ended with a bit of a tease about two announcements coming up in 2026 during future events. ACEers should watch ACE social media for information about these pieces of history.
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After Brown finished sharing, the event shifted to a discussion led by Alex Ramsey of Alabama Adventure. Ramsey started by flashing his ACE membership card, showing how at home he was in this group. Because he is part of a small Alabama Adventure enterprise, his roles include director of human relations, marketing and information technology.
Questions from attendees began with a query about why preservation of coasters is important. Ramsey didn’t grow up a coaster enthusiast but told stories from his youth about how excited he was to visit parks and that these memories fuel his preservation efforts.
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Questions moved to Alabama Adventure specifically. Founded in 1998, Alabama Adventure (originally called Visionland) built Rampage as an opening-day attraction. Since the ride opened in 1998, someone who was able to enjoy it as a kid can now enjoy it with their own kids. For Ramsey, “it’s fun, it’s family, it’s togetherness.”
Originally Alabama Adventure was a municipal park, with cities coming together to build what was then a $100 million park. The goal was to have a local attraction where families could spend time together. There have been a lot of changes since then, but efforts to maintain the park and family enjoyment has never waned.
The discussion included some great photos, slides and videos. The park is currently owned by the Koch family, founders of Holiday World, and the discussion moved to sharing the pieces of the story that brought the park to its current state. There is a strong hope that Rampage will be reopening this season with a traditional retracking. As Rampage has been standing but not operating since 2023, it is encouraging to hear that the park is moving forward on the improvements necessary for the coaster to reopen.
Asked about his career in amusement parks, Ramsey shared that he started as a ride operator at Frontier City (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), working on upcharge rides in the park, and moved up through the park’s hierarchy, eventually making it to operations manager before being hired by Alabama Adventure. His career began because his brother brought him into a “fun summer job,” and working on rides, he “got the bug.”
Next Ramsey announced a great ACE member benefit: admission to Alabama Adventure for ACE members will be free during the 2026 season! He then shared all the discounts associated with the 2026 season passes, which include bring-a-friend days and partnerships with places like Lake Winnepesaukah (Rossville, Georgia) and the Birmingham Zoo. Alabama Adventure opens for the year on May 9, 2026.
Moving on to some of the logistics of the coaster renovations, Ramsey reported that the park has spent half a million dollars a year on Rampage for upkeep to keep the wood in good working condition and ensure that the coaster is safe and enjoyable. He pointed out that Rampage was one of the last coasters to be designed without computers assisting with calculations. Thus, the circumstances result in some unexpected wear and tear in areas. Ramsey showed photos of the drops and banks that are routinely beaten up because of the way gravity causes the trains to hit the tracks.
The park has been working with a few manufacturers to price out and consider how to make Rampage the best it can be. The park is leaning toward using Titan Track. It was fun to hear that this decision is being shaped through comments from ACE members regarding which tracks and updates they have most enjoyed. He laughed when stating, “Rampage is all about laterals.”
The discussion then moved back to Ramsey’s career. When asked which role through the years was his favorite, he mentioned the benefits of each of his varied positions. He spoke to the enjoyment of operations and helping young people learn new skills and engage in new roles and seeing their progression from early, no-responsibility teens to teens moving through their first jobs and learning how to make things work. He also admitted he really enjoys the marketing side of operations, because it is creative and allows for benefits to the park. He did add that he “cannot make a post without being asked when Rampage will reopen.”
As a family park, there are some small elements that are special to its day-to-day operation. Regarding gardening efforts, Ramsey noted that owner Dan Koch can identify the genus and species of the various palm trees in the park. Geographically, Alabama Adventure is only 20 miles south of the climate line where palm trees can grow, and the park takes advantage of that in cultivating its botanicals.
Wooden coasters are a challenge and expensive to maintain. Costs associated with maintaining and updating trains add up quickly, as does retracking. Keeping a wooden coaster at a par has become a labor of love, so if an owner doesn’t love it, they are not going to save it, because there are much more financially stable rides to install. Originally Rampage cost about $3.5 million, but today the cost would be $30-40 million to build. There is always the potential to reprofile, but the legacy of the roller coaster is important.
Another of the park’s roller coasters, Cheddar Chase, has been relocated and maintained and continues to delight guests. While Ramsey spoke about the efforts to keep this coaster running smoothly, he shared some video of the ride.
One of the fun reminiscences Ramsey shared was his part in the effort to add new rides, bringing in attractions and waterslides. He got into the company van with a bunch of other employees, drove to Missouri and rented every U-Haul in town to fill with giant water slide pieces, then drove them back to Alabama to unload and do it all again the next day for weeks. With a smile he told attendees, “Anything to get the park better, and growing.”
Ramsey defined a successful season as making sure as many people as possible have fun and enjoy their days. The memories and helping visitors who would otherwise not being able to have those experiences is why he comes to work every day. He loves making coasters accessible and fun. He ended by telling attendees that ACE can help small parks by supporting them online and sharing positive comments about experiences and choices they are making.
Next to speak was Gary Kyriazi, who shared comments about his book, The Great American Amusement Parks: A Pictorial History, and the fact that he didn’t know until recently all the work being undertaken by ACE preservation. He loved learning how parks are gaining knowledge related to the tough changes in the industry and building awareness for the challenges. Following this introduction, Kyriazi shared both photos of his research process and shooting segments that were a part of making the film.
Attendees were then treated to a viewing of Kyriazi’s short film “Save the Wood Coaster.” This video was narrated and included comments about the parks and rides that have been a part of coaster history.
Following the film, Kyriazi fielded some questions and was able to share some of the process of the traveling and riding. He mentioned that the documentary was promoted by people like Vincent Price and Merv Griffin, showed awards and discussed the different festivals where the film was shown.
Kyriazi then introduced Tim Cole, who has been a proponent of coaster preservation for much of his career and was a member of the Save the Coaster Committee that was responsible for saving Giant Dipper. He shared some of his experiences with coasters that have had struggles over the years and the preservation and fundraising efforts that were all part of his process.
The discussion then moved to challenges. Cole shared that raising money was the most difficult hurdle. Many chili cookoffs and a beach ball were among the memories associated with the early efforts.
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Hunter Lawrence from The Gravity Group was on the call, and, as one of the narrators of the film, was able to share her film experience and make a plea to ACE members to share their interest in old rides and parks and make their interest in the rides being saved clear. Without parks knowing that preservation is important to guests, most will not prioritize it.
The event then moved on to a discussion from ACE Events Director Tim Baldwin. It was exciting to be able to thank him for stepping into this role, which was vacant for a few months, and the huge effort he has made to make this year’s events work. Baldwin shared and discussed the schedule for the upcoming Spring Conference and all the really exciting things happening at Six Flags Over Texas (Arlington), including paver upgrades, ride theming and menu changes to make the park as happy a place as possible for its 65th anniversary.
An exciting announcement included that the Saturday afternoon in the Spring Con schedule is light because the event includes a free ticket to ride Prairie Screamer, less than 10 miles from Six Flags Over Texas at Traders Village’s Prairie Playland in Grand Prairie, Texas. Attendees should get excited, because there are food and special elements that are going to be available only at this event. The Sunday part of the event at Frontier City is in place with some great ERT and is followed by an opportunity to visit the National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives in Plainview, Texas, on Monday. Baldwin stressed that if vacation and travel time allow, this is a not-to-be-missed opportunity. He underscored that these parks have been gracious in terms of access and pricing and that members will be very pleased with the event.
— Jes Niemiec, Online Events Coordinator
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