The Big E discussion thread

good memory Im sure

I think it was Terry Knight's garage. Mark Farner had been in bands with him previously (Terry and the Pack) and they were using his garage to get Grand Funk started. I was in Flint with a friend for a week one summer and he took me there that night. Lot's of people were there listening to them practice. Just a couple years later they were big.

We didn't think we would get to the Big E this year but our Saturday schedule just changed. So looking forward to a baked potato from Maine, crazy fried foods, the circus, and maybe some cream puffs tomorrow!

Make sure to get there early. Smash mouth is playing so they're expecting a crazy packed day.

The ride line up this year was fantastic! They had a ton of classic flats like sky master, round up, gravitron, 1001 nachts and of course the zipper.

They also had some unique rides including power surge, speed and twin flip( which ended up being one of the most brutal things I've ever experienced.)

I was let down when I realized the flume was missing from the line up this year.

They haven’t had the flume in years. I feel like each year the lineup gets more ghetto. They always have similar rides, but recently they’ve replaced newer versions with older ones. They replaced Bonzai with Sky Master, Crazy Mouse with Bullet Train, and more like that. It was still pretty fun though.

The bullet train is a brand new model.

I'll take the A.R.M sky masters over the kamikaze model any day.
I liked the mix of modern and classic flats this year.

That's too bad about the flume. This was my first visit in like five years or so.

If the Maine potato line is too long, go to Gate 9 (where you enter the fair- if you park onsite in the grass lot) find the Tots-A-Lot stand. The loaded tater tots and the shepherds pie tater tots are good
Kettle corn from NH building is what I grab on the way out. Good stuff
I got a cream puff on Wednesday. Still awesome!
Made good use of my 17 day pass this year. Attendance had been way down this first week

We will be there very early. No way am I waiting in a three mile traffic jam just to get into the parking lot! We have a plan. Tickets purchased and printed from online, Into the Midway at opening at 10 AM for a little riding. I don't do many flats anymore since I got old. LOL Then over to Maine for the potato (even when the line is long it moves pretty fast). Circus at 1 - gotta be in line for that by 1230ish. Fried foods after the circus. Shop a bit and cream puffs on the way out in the mid-late afternoon before it gets crazy crazy. Maybe we can work in seeing the camels in there somewhere. I also see Joey Chestnut is there for the burger eating contest. Don't know about that as the hot dog contest at Coney Island is disgusting enough. LOL

At the Big E now. It got crazy crazy very early. We parked off site for the first time ever as the traffic for gate 9 was terrible. So far we have ridden a new coaster, had a Maine Potato, saw a pretty good juggler, shopped a bit in the state buildings and right now in the circus that starts at 1. If you are not here now it might be tough to get here. More to come.

--- Double Post Merged ---

just got home from our day at the Big E. Since I posted last, we saw the Circus. We were very disappointed with it this year. None of the acts were bad but they were almost all "opener" type acts. The finale was two guys painted gold doing hand balancing. It wasn't just us because people were leaving during their performance. We spent 45 min waiting for the 60 min circus. I want that time back. Lol.

We did enjoy the state buildings as always. We thought the best was Vermont. Such great food smells in there.

The fried bacon mac and cheese at the food court near the midway was a decadent highlight. Lol.

As we left the area the traffic going to the fair was backed up for miles. You could not pay me to head there in the afternoon.

We had a good day there as we usually do. Just skip the circus this year if you are going.

Went to the Big E yesterday on my bday. Been making my season pass cry this year. This was my 6th visit. Most of the time I stop in real quick for something to eat and roam around for a couple of hrs then bail as I live so close.

I drive past Six Flags on rt 159 then park around the Agawam Town Hall area which is on the left just before you get to the intersection with the little bridge where you turn right toward the Big E.

Parking here gets you out of at least half the traffic congestion and puts you within a super quick walk of entering the main gate by the Mardi Gras floats and the Avenue of States (state buildings).

I got there around 9am. Already heading toward that 90 degree day that was forcast. Stopped to grab an iced cappaccino at Omar Coffee.

Took a few minutes to watch the camel show... know the expression about watching grass grow? Well after about 5 minutes I got a little bored with it and headed to the first building- New Hampshire. The super trending food item there this year is their mac and cheese. Its a big order and they put the homemade cheese sauce from the sauce pan on the mac just before handing it to you. I predict it will possibly become "a thing" similar to Maine baked potato.

Headed over to look at the midway. Had a friend with us who had a child. I watched her go on some of the flats. Brought back some memories, I smiled. Not much exciting to say about the midway except that maybe a ride operator who could complete a sentence in English or at least smile once in a while would go a long way with kids given the $$ paid.

I went to look at some toys- power equipment- for when I become independently wealthy some day. I do like the V plow or at least a bad @ss tracked snowblower that can move a small glacier.

Im hungry again, Rhode Island building for seafood- some of those thick and meaty fried quahogs….jeez, maybe not. Today’s clam strips looked like the thin and scraggly left over batter crumbs out of an old school Howard Johnson’s frozen fried clams box. The woman serving explained that the hurricanes have really limited the availability. Makes sense.

Took a walk over to the booth for the Haunted tix for their haunted thingie. Last year I bought tix and had a blast in haunted Storrowtown. Not sure I will get tix or not this year.

Checked out the petting zoo. Damn those goats are mooches. Saw the Elephant giving rides. Looked at his eyes and face. Felt sorry for him. That’s no life, walking around a parking lot at fairs, shackled to a stake with morons climbing on your back all day.

Next I was off to look at hot tubs. Not because I want one…Oh that water is warm. Swirl your hands around let the sales guy think you care about the water temp when really it’s the perfect place to wash petting zoo hands.

Checked out the Michaelangelo art exhibit in the Young building. Was pretty cool I guess. Ironic the guy had so much appreciation for beauty yet what was on display showed me that he painted some unattractive nude models.

Went in the Better Living Center to see what the newest gimmick is this year. Didn’t see a bunch of mop or steam mops demo’s this year. No shammies drinking up bottles of coke either. I guess nobody cleans their house anymore.

I always enjoy watching the crowd turn into “seagulls” as they begin circling to keep sampling the dips with those pretzel sticks.

Didn’t ride the yellow slide this time which is always a tradition when I go. Checked out the progress on the butter sculpture by Mallory building. Pretty cool.

In the OctoberFest beer garden (between the Mallory building and the midway) there was deep fried cannollis, deep fried kool aid, deep fried peanut butter and jelly.

Looked for the Mechanical Man all season. Still havent seen him.

Had to head out late afternoon to pick my daughter up from school so didn’t see the parades today but there is nothing really new with the parades this year. It was so damn hot...i like going to the Big E at night.

Grabbed kettle corn from the back on NH building on the way out.

Until next time Big E!

^Casey cringed at the elephant rides too. She double cringed when I told her that when I was a kid we used to go to the "freak shows." Thank God we trend to progress as a society, albeit slowly. Maybe next year the elephant rides will go the way of the freak shows. One can hope.

Sounds like you have gotten your $$ worth on your pass.

I stopped in yesterday.

Depending on what you count, there were up to 5 coasters there. The largest was an Interpark Super Cyclone. Then they had 3 kiddies in Wacky Worm, Orient Express, and Go Gator. I believe the latter does not allow adults from past years. Then they had Mouse Trap, a gravity driven dark ride.

The highlight were the flats. Mega Drop was the best ride there and right up there with Larson towers in terms of intensity. Twin Flip is one of the most dizzying attractions I have ever ridden. Hyper Loop was an inverting frisbee with a ton of floater air. Power Surge was pathetic. I didn't get a single flip on it. They also had Speed but the line was a bit too long.

Speaking of lines, they were offering a skip-the-line pass for $15. I have never seen that before at a fair. I also didn't see a single person using it. Each ride had a separate gate that listed the number of people who could skip per cycle.

Not sure if I would count the dark ride as a coaster. but Yes mot Go Gaters don't allow adults.

That ride is a coaster. A chunk of the ride is a car rolling free thru the course by gravity. Coaster!

I know I consider it a coaster, but for others it doesn't pass the smell test.

Either way it's pretty unique and the "theming" inside is laughably bad.