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Eddie Morris
Zingo, Tulsa's beloved roller coaster, would have turned 50 this month. From an article in the Tulsa World, "Zingo was the highest-priced roller coaster in the nation when it debuted in 1968. It was built at a cost of $238,000. The cost to ride it: 75 cents." The ride was so popular that the loan debt was erased in 18 months. Some interesting items from the article:
Bell's Amusement Park opened in 1951. The park was originally located at Glenn Dobbs' driving range near 21st Street and Yale Avenue.
Zingo's path was 2,560 feet. A ride lasted between 98 and 102 seconds. The coaster's top speed was usually between 48 and 50 mph. Zingo's peak was 72 feet above the fairgrounds.
Zingo was named as a "salute to a long gone coaster," the Zingo Cannonball, from Crystal City Amusement Park in west Tulsa.
"Zingo's success paved the way for other new additions to the park, including the haunted attraction Phantasmagoria, the Himalaya('Do You Wanna Go FASTER?!!!'), the Wildcat and a log ride."
Band members from Earth, Wind and Fire "offered to pay $1,000 if they could take an after-operating-hours ride." Because a Distict Court judge was concerned about neighborhood noise, the coaster was forced to cease operating at 9 o'clock at night. The management refused to violate the order and had to disappoint Earth, Wind and Fire.
Growing up I didn't realize how intertwined in my mind the Tulsa State Fair and Bell's Amusement Park were. They seemed somehow inseparable. Bell's has been closed for over a decade now. Yet still to this day when I go to "The Fair" I find myself inevitably meandering down the Midway looking for the rides at Bell's and the KELI Spaceship. As with so much of life I didn't realize then that something that brought me so much enjoyment would come with an expiration date.
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