Long story short, I drove past the small carnival that seems to appear near the beach at Coolangatta every holiday period. Anyway I couldn't spot the Gravitron anywhere and there was the 'Bad Ass Zipper' in it's place... Unfortunately nothing was operating yet though. (Think it opens after dark). Is it the same ride they have at the EKKA and/or Easter Show? Sorry for my ignorance, I know nothing about carnivals...

Dylan, that Zipper you are talking about would belong to Peter Short. That is the one that does most of the Capital Shows. You have Johnny Castle's "Mean Mother" Zipper (Ex Watkins, Ex Luna Park) That does QLD / NSW. Along with that you have Zacchini's Zipper that does VIC / Tas Shows. As well as Davis's Zipper which does QLD, NSW and VIC. This is the Ex Wittingslow Unit. JOHNY CASTLE'S ZIPPER DAVIS'S (EX WITTINGSLOW ZIPPER) PETER SHORTS ZIPPER

Daniel, how do they compare in your opinion? I find the Gold Coast Show one wasn't as intense as the Ekka's.

Tony, I have only rode Peter Shorts and Johnny Castles Zipper. Peter Short's Zipper is actually a Chance Model with heavier cars (Less Flipping... amazingly) Whereas Johnny's is a Ferrari Model (Along with Davis's) I Find that Johnny's Zipper runs a better program than Shorts and is Abit more intense. From what I have been told the Davis Model has had quite a re-work from GCS 2006 (when you presumably would have rode it) Mainly attention to Artwork etc. Several reports show that this unit is ran VERY well now that Dean Davis knows how to run it better. On another note, the Mean Mother Zipper is currently going through a major overhaul and it should be interesting to see what it rides like when it's back in Brisbane.

I rode whatever Zipper was at the GCS in 2007 too. I forget what the colour was.

Most likely Davis's one... allthough it may have been Johnny's but I doubt it. Heck it could have even been Shorts as Ekka was just a few weeks before the GCS.

I want my own!! Apparently there is some movie where teenagers break into an amusement park and what do they do to keep the security guard at bay? Lock him into a Zipper, set it operating and leave him to his torture.

Just lets hope you NEVER see me doing my "Monkey" Trick on Johnny's Zipper In the middle of the cycle when it's going slow I can flip myself UPSIDE DOWN with my head on the floor and feet in the air for the remaining half of the ride and OMG... it's intense that way. And Tony... what a way to torture someone I still owe you a "Virgin" Zipper ride, as my first atempt didn't go as planned

Found the movie... it's this one: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0169190/plotsummary

Does anyone know how long this carnival will be there for or the hours/other rides it has? There's one in Broadbeach too, I saw it on the ocean side ... was all closed-up though, was in the middle of that rain period we had down here. Don't know if it's still there. But I think I'll cruise down to Coolangatta, need a Zipper/carnival fix. A few of us should meet up!

Edited January 14, 200817 yr by Tony Teulan

The Zipper is one of my favourite rides. The thing i like about it is that everytime you ride it its a different experience. The most savage ride I ever had on one (not sure whos it was) was at the Easter Show last year. My GF and I went on it 3 times. The first 2 times were quite tame but the last time the cage never stopped spinning. Plus some intense G forces getting flung over the top. I needed a couple of Panadol after that one. Awesome!

Does anyone know how long this carnival will be there for or the hours/other rides it has?

It's there every holiday period, although this is the first time I've seen the Zipper there... I'm pretty sure it's only open at night, I remember walking through it on NYE a few years ago.

The Zipper at the Easter show would have been the "Bad Ass" Zipper owned by Peter Short. And Dylan this is the first year that the Zipper has done the Coolangatta Carnival as it normally does the Rye Beachside Carnival in Victoria. I am not sure why it didn't go to Rye this year...

So who's up for visiting the Coolangatta carnival?

Uhh... maybe after next Thursday when I've been paid