Calypso centerpiece

I was just wondering about what happened to the big lighted centerpiece that used to be on calypso. I looked at photos from the website and other pics from other sites and saw that it had this. When me and my friend rode it last week, she was even wondering that it looked kinda bare in the center. :)

That hasn't been there in 15 or 20 years.

Unfortunately.

15-20 years? Really? I thought it has only been gone for a few years...

Maybe they are going to replace the centerpiece with our old favorite German gal from Schwabinchen!

I can't remember there ever being a centerpiece and I've been going since 1991. Granted those first few years are a bit fuzzy in the memory department (over-use of the Buffalo theory) but I don't recall ever seeing it with the centerpiece, and definitely not in the last few years.

JuggaLotus said:
That hasn't been there in 15 or 20 years.

Unfortunately.

I find this decidedly hilarious considering Walt's photo in the Gallery is dated 2003. We all thought that the year is 2008 but I guess it is actually 2018.

I guess you mean this one.

I was thinking of the car coverings that haven't been around for a long time.

Yeah, the roofs of the ride vehicles have been gone a very long time. It's red heart covered backdrop and and the large flash top to the centerpiece was removed when the ride was relocated to make way for Raptor (1994). The lower portion of the centerpiece remained until at least 2002.

The story I have heard was that the centerpiece was removed to give a single operator a clear field of vision over the entire ride.

That seems logical to me since the exit gates are directly opposite the control booth.