Man, that record came out and was real big in Memphis. They started playing it, and it got real big. Don't know why-the lyrics had no meaning. Libertyland Park- Memphis Libertyland 940 Early Maxwell Boulevard Memphis, TN 38104   From Graceland, get on the I-240 north, exit at south Parkway; head east on S. Parkway and go until it dead-ends at E. Parkway. Turn left, then almost immediately turn right on Southern Ave. Turn left on Early Maxwell. Libertyland will be on your left and Mid-South Coliseum will be on your right. The Liberty Bowl is a little farther up on the right. You can see three Elvis sites all in one place!!

Feb08-2010 New home for the King's favorite ride ?  Bay Beach Amusement Park may become home to a roller coaster that was Elvis Presley's favorite ride.   Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt expected to go to Memphis, Tenn., this weekend to check out a wooden roller coaster that is being taken apart there. Green Bay has been scoping out antique roller coasters around the country in hopes of acquiring one for Bay Beach. A roller coaster was one of the recommendations when the city hired a consultant in 2008 to upgrade the park. The city has had its eye on a 1920s-vintage roller coaster, the location of which the owner has asked to keep confidential, Schmitt said. While studying that option, the city discovered the other antique that's for sale in Memphis.

Known as the Zippin Pippin, the wooden structure stands in the former Libertyland amusement park in Memphis. Workers were dismantling it this week and numbering the pieces for eventual reconstruction, but halted at Schmitt's request so he could travel down to see it. The trip, including air fare and hotel accomodations, should be less than $600 and would come out of the parks department budget, according to Schmitt's office.

The ride was built in 1915, then moved and reconstructed in 1923. A sign at the Memphis park claims the Pippin was Elvis Presley's favorite ride, and that he had rented the entire park for a group of friends eight days before he died in 1977. It reportedly was his last public appearance.

The owner is a nonprofit group dedicated to saving the ride and amusement park, Schmitt said. "People don't want to see these things disappear from their communities," said Green Bay parks director Bill Landvatter.

Libertyland closed in 2005 for financial reasons. Both roller coasters under consideration are among the nation's 10 oldest, Schmitt said. Either would be suitable, but Schmitt admitted it would be especially attractive to have a ride that the King of Rock 'n' Roll loved.

"Could you just see having Elvis Presley Day at Bay Beach?" Schmitt said.

Along with continuing negotiations with both owners, Schmitt said, the city is studying Wisconsin's amusement ride standards to see what would be involved in bringing either roller coaster up to code. The cost of either is almost irrelevant, because the purchase price is a fraction of the cost of dismantling, moving, reassembling and re-engineering, Schmitt said. The overall price tag likely will range from $2.5 million to $3 million —about half the cost of building a new one from scratch, Schmitt said.

"We're confident that revenue from rides will pay for the cost of it, and we'd have a revenue source for years to come," Schmitt said.

Bay Beach generates hundreds of thousands of dollars in income each year through ticket and concession sales. If a third of park visitors rode the roller coaster at $1 a ticket, it would quickly pay off the purchase debt and increase the use of the park's other attractions, Schmitt said. Bay Beach last had a roller coaster in 1936. (News, Source: greenbaypressgazette.com)

Several miles away from the sounds of Beale Street is Libertyland Park.  Although the park was built in the 1970's it has a pair of rides that are much older.  According to the American Coaster Enthusiasts the Zippin' Pippin was built in 1923 by famous roller coaster designer John Miller for the Mid-South Fairgrounds.  Three years before the coaster was installed the fairgrounds bought another ride, the Grand Carousel, from Forest Park in Chicago.  It operated there from 1909 to 1920 until a fire burned part of the machine.  It was returned to the Dentzel factory, fixed and sold to the fairgrounds.  It is not known how often the carousel and coaster operated before Libertyland existed.  Both ran during the Mid-South Fair each fall but could have also been open many days each summer to make more money for the fairgrounds.

A lot changed during the 1970's.  Theme parks were all the rage and the city of Memphis saw an opportunity to capitalize on some new revenue possibilities.  The Mid-South Fairgrounds seemed like a natural place to build the new theme park because the carousel and Zippin' Pippin were already located there, it offered a known amusement center for potential customers and could be combined with the Mid-South Fair each fall.  The park opened in 1976 and Libertyland took advantage of America's bicentennial celebration.  Many of the rides that opened that year were painted red, white & blue.  Like many of the era's new parks Libertyland featured an equal combination of rides and family entertainment.  The park was littered with typical carnival and amusement park attractions of the day like a Hrubetz Round Up, an Eyerly Spider and an Eli Bridge Scrambler.  However many of the guests flocked to the beautiful Dentzel carousel that had spun on the fairgrounds since the 1920's.  The machine was so unique and important that it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. 

The carousel is one of the best-kept Dentzel machines in the country and a beautiful ride.  It features 32 jumpers, 16 standers and 2 chariots.  The rounding boards feature jester carvings with yellow collars and green, red & yellow hats.  These alternate with mirrors that have small angels carved under them.  The main colors on the rounding boards and center column are yellow, green, blue and red.  The main column has mirrors that reflect down onto the ride and above the mirrors there are several carvings with flowers and pastels.  The machine has white lights all over and they provide an elegant illumination that is similar to the lighting scheme this ride would have opened with.  The horses' saddles are quite decorative and the carvings often extend the length of the horses' bodies.  Although the recently refurbished Dentzel machine at the Texas State Fair might be called the best existing Dentzel, the machine at Libertyland is a treasure and the park should be thanked for taking such great care of it year after year.

Sign the Zippin Pippin petition here!

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7/11/2010 15:43:08

Zippin' Pippin' Picture Report   As most fans know, there was a valiant effort to save Memphis' Libertyland, but alas it was unsuccessful. This past week a short ceremony was held to unveil a marker for the Zippin Pippin and Libertyland. Elvis's name was mentioned at both the ceremony and on the plaque. Sandi Pichon, along with Joyce Ripley, Sue Mack, Mike Freeman and Tom Kirby were the only Elvis people who attended. They felt like he needed a representative there, even though it wasn't solely about Elvis. Mayor Wharton made an appropriate speech and it was also attended by the board of directors, and Memphis Historian. Jimmy Ogle explained details about the marker: “With the advent of Tiger Lane, we decided to locate the historic marker at the new (limited access) entry into the property on the east side of East Parkway and Young Avenue (northeast corner). At this location, the marker will be “distanced” from the Tiger Lane activities and have a stand alone presence right at the traffic light, bus stop and new entry. It will be due west of the actual location of the Zippin Pippin and right at the old Fairgrounds Amusement Park entrance.” This will be a great reminder to all who visit the fairgrounds of the pieces of history which used to stand there. A picture report is now available at the Member’s Area. Click the link below to experience a ride on Elvis's Zippin' Pippin'     YouTube

6/11/2010 5:11:53

Zippin Pippin Land Mark We got this picture from Sue Mack, taken yesterday when the major reveled the landmark

On October 29, 2005 Libertyland closed its doors forever. While undeniably a loss to the community, it was the proposition to auction off Libertyland’s rides – including the Zippin Pippin and Grand Carousel – that prompted the formation of “Save Libertyland,” a group of activists led by Denise Parkinson.

Save Libertyland argued that by destroying Libertyland, the city was, in fact, destroying part of its history. And with the Pippin and the carousel on the National Register of Historic Places, they may be right. They began their fight by organizing protests and gathering signatures for a petition to save the park. They even attracted investors who were willing to revitalize the park, including T-Rex Entertainment who offered to lease the park for $10,000 per month. The offer was initially declined both by a city official and members of the Mid-South Fair Board. Now, though, the city is willing to consider such offers.

The group’s second major victory came when they prompted the city to look into its own rights to the rides. After much research, the city attorney produced documents proving that the city owns both the Zippin Pippin and the Grand Carousel, forcing the Fair Board to take the two rides off of the auction block.

A city council committee then recommended that the city terminate its lease with the Fair Board and have them vacate by the end of the year. This doesn’t mean much, though, in terms of saving the park as the committee has not yet announced its plans for the park when the Fair Board is gone.

What will happen to Libertyland? That remains to be seen. While its historical value is undisputable, to those who grew up riding the Revolution, Zippin Pippin, and the Log Flume, its sentimental value is without measure.

The Zippin Pippin is one of the country's oldest wooden roller coasters. It was built in 1912 and was moved to its current location at the Mid-South Fairgrounds in 1923. In 1976, an amusement park called Libertyland was built around the coaster. Elvis, himself, loved the Zippin Pippin and would occasionally rent out the entire amusement park so that he could ride it without interruption. In fact, a sign posted at the coaster's entrance reads:

"The Zippin Pippin was Elvis Presley's favorite ride. The "King" rented Libertyland August 8, 1977 from 1:15 am to 7 am. to entertain a group of about 10 guests. Decked in a blue jumpsuit with black leather belt, huge belt buckle with turquoise studs and gold chains, the "King" rode the Zippin Pippin repeatedly during a two-hour period. He lost his belt buckle on the ride that morning, and it was found and returned the next day. Elvis's Libertyland rental became his last public appearance. He died August 16."

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Elvis' favorite roller coaster Zippin Pippin comes to Green Bay:  2010 Jan  Good News - Green Bay Wisconsin's Bay Beach Amusement Park will soon be home to a classic wooden roller coaster known as the Zippin Pippin. The remains of the defunct ride were purchased from a Memphis, Tennessee park last year. It was known to be Elvis Pressley's favorite roller coaster as he often rented out the park so that he could ride it without being bothered by fans. Reports are that Pressley rode Zippin Pippin eight days before he died. To support the ride's history, Bay Beach Amusement Park is working on adding Elvis' favorite food, peanut butter and banana sandwiches. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bay Beach Amusement park is aiming for the ride to open when the park opens on May 7th. Even with the harsh Wisconsin weather, recent construction photos show that Zippin Pippin's track work is nearly complete. It appears that the park should be able to hit their target date. Bay Beach Amusement park is the ninth oldest operating amusement park in the U.S. according to ZippinPippin.org. The park is already home to historic amusement park rides, so this classic wooden coaster with an interesting claim to fame should be right at home.

18/04/2011 4:27:25

Green Bay seeking 1st rider for Elvis' coaster   Green Bay city officials are holding a contest to decide who'll ride Elvis Presley's favorite roller coaster first when it opens on May 7 at Bay Beach Amusement Park. Officials want residents to write about why the amusement park is meaningful to them in the coming days before the opening of the Zippin Pippin. The Green Bay Press-Gazette reports entries are due April 25 and a winner will be picked April 26 during Mayor Jim Schmitt's annual State of the City address. The city is spending about $3.5 million to re-create the wooden roller coaster that operated for decades in Memphis, Tenn., and was well-known as Elvis Presley's favorite amusement park ride.

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