Marion County Multiple Sclerosis Self-Help Group, Ocala, Florida

Springs Spree to bring in 'world's tallest pinball machine'

Posted: 06/17/2010 2:53 PM

You probably think of Springs Spree as concerts, funnel cakes and foam lizards on leashes.

But maybe this will change your image of the festival: A pinball machine taller than a Tyrannosaurus rex.

Yep, it’s promoted as the world’s tallest pinball machine, and it’ll be one of the blinking, jangling highlights of the 33rd annual Springs Spree, which is expected to draw more than 70,000 to Memorial Park this weekend.

“I have a lot of children come up, look up, and say, ‘Is this really the world’s tallest pinball machine?’ And I say, ‘You’d think that if you helped me get it out of my basement this morning,’” said Sungate Concessions owner Ron Bandy, a Floridian who’s been building children’s amusements for the past eight years.

According to Bandy, the 28-foot-high novelty, dubbed “Space Race,” had never traveled farther west than Indiana before this summer’s tour, which has included stops in Denver and Texas and will include a stop next weekend in Cripple Creek for Donkey Derby Days.