Excellence through Experience

This company was the start of Ride Entertainment, which now encompasses divisions that handle not only sales, but leasing and financing, installation, branding, and operations.

Ride Entertainment stands out as unique in the entertainment industry because it is the only place that offers expertise in every facet of the industry sectors. While many of the companies under the Ride Entertainment umbrella have been grown organically in-house, Ed has also overseen the acquisition of innovative companies like Skycoaster®.

With over 30 years of experience in the entertainment industry, Ed has been involved with many of the largest attractions projects in the world and has overseen the sale and installation of over one billion dollars in new attractions of all types and sizes to amusement parks, zoos, and other recreational facilities worldwide. In building this group of companies, Ed has taken the most pleasure in the team he has assembled that has been instrumental in the company’s growth and the fun that everyone in the company has on a daily basis.

William “Bill” Wright has been involved in the amusement industry since 1975. His first park job was at Six Flags Great Adventure in the mechanical maintenance division. Starting as a mechanic, he was quickly put on the park’s internal installation team. During that time he represented Six Flags Great Adventure as the park’s representative, as his team worked hand-in-hand with ride manufacturers to install, and later troubleshoot, their installations. Throughout his tenure at the park Bill was involved in field analyzing and prototyping many different ride systems.

He also has worked on other large construction projects outside of the amusement industry. While working for one of the largest steel fab and erection companies in Nevada, Bill oversaw major projects on almost every hotel in Las Vegas. He also worked on specialty projects at places like Nuclear Power Plants, Gas Co-Generating plants and Container Cranes in the Ports of New York, Newark and Elizabeth.

In the amusement industry, Bill represented TOGO, installing the majority of their U.S. roller coasters, including their largest at the New York, New York Casino. He also worked for Premier Rides where he oversaw vehicle construction and roller coaster installation. He has been with Ride Entertainment since 2006 and has installed projects across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. As one of the industry’s foremost experts on ride installation and trouble-shooting he is a resource for parks and operators around the world. While at Ride Entertainment Bill has worked on over 50 of the amusement industry’s most complex installations, such as:

• Six Flags over Texas: 400-foot StarFlyer Swing Ride
• Wet’n’Wild Sydney: 250-foot Skycoaster®
• New York, New York Casino: Over a dozen custom retrofits

MJ joined Ride Entertainment in early 2019 in the Parks & Attractions division as an assistant within their financial department. Soon after, she returned to the corporate offices located in Maryland where, in addition to Parks & Attractions, she now works closely with several other Ride Entertainment divisions to ensure smooth operations across the board.

MJ is awesome!

Before coming to Ride, Kris was a radio news anchor in the San Francisco Bay Area. He also produced several, award-winning documentaries for the American Coaster Enthusiasts, focused on the history of amusement parks and manufacturers in Northern California.

In addition to his role at Ride, Kris volunteers his social media skills with the National Roller Coaster Museum & Archives. When he’s not chasing the latest thrill on roller coasters around the world, Kris enjoys cycling and working to raise his bowling average.

Donnie has decades of experience working in the trade and brings his unmatched mechanical aptitude to lead our Installation and Maintenance team in the field. Donnie has been immersed in construction from a young age, worked within a family construction business as an owner, operator and general contractor working on large scale residential and commercial projects. He went on to work in the Ironworkers 5 in Washington D.C. which grew his knowledge of structural steel and rigging. Donnie has now been with Ride Entertainment for 12 years, completing extensive work on new ride installations, ride rehabs, ride relocations, and ride overhauls. In addition to managing all of our teams in the field, Donnie enjoys building his relationships with our park clients and ride manufacturers, helping us deliver quality craftsmanship.

Mike has served on the Board of Directors for AIMS International for many years before becoming AIMS President in 2014/2015.  

Mike has been involved in the amusement industry since the mid-1990’s as part of the team that developed the Superstar Dragster attraction Top Eliminator.  He went on to become the Director of Skycoaster in 1998 and joined Ride Entertainment in 2005 when the company acquired Skycoaster and Superstar Dragsters.  He has worked with several Ride divisions for many years, working closely with parks and installing rides around the world.

Mike has served on the Board of Directors for AIMS International for many years before becoming AIMS President in 2014/2015.  

MJ is awesome!

Originally moving to NYC to complete his M.A. in Architecture, Eli decided to dedicate his time to what was then a part-time position as an operations and design consultant for Ride Entertainment. Bringing with him his passion for building community-led and community-driven public spaces, Eli naturally found his footing in overseeing the business development of Ride Entertainment’s operations division, NY Carousel Entertainment, LLC (“NYCE”). With over 15 years of hands-on experience in high-level management, design, sales and marketing, Eli quickly rose to President of Ride’s fastest growing division. In 2023, Eli successfully added to NYCE’s portfolio of operations Rockefeller Center’s newest attraction, The Beam at Top of the Rock. 

While Daeshawn’s interests are wide and eclectic, his greatly enjoys backpacking on his various travels.