Midway Moments: Get ready to shriek on the OC Fair’s Silver Streak
There’s a ride at the Orange County Fair that makes children scream, mothers boogie in place and grandmothers gently tap their New Balance sneakers to the music.
Its Colorado-based manufacturer, Wisdom Rides, advertises that when customers see the ride in action, they’re sure to proclaim it “good-looking.” Wisdom insists the experience will deliver “big-ride action at a speed which youngsters can handle easily.”
“All other family rides,” the company boasts, “pale in comparison.”
It’s called the Silver Streak.
While most fairgoers will easily notice the fair’s celebrated oddities — Krispy Kreme cheeseburgers, the roving troupe of dancing steampunk artists, Arturo the Churro — the peculiarities of the Silver Streak minicoaster are easy to miss.
It has 15 cars, with flames emblazoned on the sides, that clank about in a gently sloped circle. They start off moving counterclockwise before, much to riders’ joy — and panic — they spin clockwise.
Most days, the soundtrack to Silver Streak includes some of the greatest hits of rapper Pitbull. One also might hear LMFAO’s 2011 hit, “Sexy and I Know It.”
Such adrenaline-pumping dance tunes set the mood for Silver Streak. When the music slows, the excitement on the ride clearly dips. The children stop screaming.
Lynn Leslie of Palm Springs took her young niece on the coaster Wednesday. Following her departure, she was still feeling wobbly. It was “surprisingly fast for a kids ride,” Leslie said.
The canvas tent perched above Silver Streak contains pictures of trains, conductors, mountains and, mysteriously for summertime, snow. Blue and white lights sparkle.
Usually, the operators are stoic, saying very little and mostly wrangling groups of riders on and off the cars.
But with enough observation, one can’t help but notice that the prerecorded voice of a woman (who sounds like Barbie from “Toy Story 3”) really runs the show. She proclaims Silver Streak the “fastest new attraction at the fair.”
“Take a ride on the wild side!” she says, summoning riders to pay the seven tickets to hop aboard (as long as they meet the height requirement).
Silver Streak lasts about three minutes. Around the halfway mark, the Barbie voice explains why the cars start coming to a halt.
“OK, we’re gonna slow you down, turn you around and send you back the other way,” she announces. “Hold on! Here we go! Nonstop to the top!”
Children scream at the sudden backward movement. Then they’re encouraged to shriek again.
“I can’t hear you,” the woman exclaims. “Last chance to scream!”
Each of the four times the voice goads riders to scream, they oblige. There’s always at least one child who covers his or her ears to muffle the squeals.
As the spinning ends and the red padded lap bars are released, more eager riders waiting beyond the gate ready themselves for boarding.
The voice beckons.
“It’s Silver Streak time! Here we go!”
Editor’s note: Midway Moments is a column that takes a look at funny, unusual, inspiring — even embarrassing — moments at the 2016 Orange County Fair.
