Fading favorite flat rides

I rode Magnum...was fun. It's no Zipper, but it was fun.

Not many rides are a Zipper... silly, wacky, batsh*t insane diabolical contraptions that they are!

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chance_turbo said:
...We had one at Maple Leaf Village Park for the last 4 years it was open.

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When it came to unusual rides, Maple Leaf Village rocked. Most of their rides were trailer-mounted and often didn't last more than a season or two, but that didn't mean they weren't any good. They had some rare rides during their lifespan though- the aforementioned Chance Turbo, a Caterpillar-style ride called Lover's Lake where guests rode in swans and a canvas hood with hearts printed on it would cover riders (the canopy was later removed, the swans painted yellow and the ride re-named Music Express), a Huss UFO (lasted only briefly), a unique walk-through funhouse called Showboat, and the only "Hey Dey" I have ever seen in North America. It was sort of a Waltzer/Tilt-A-Whirl style ride housed under a Himalaya-style pavilion. They also had one of the first Wisdom Gravitrons outside of the prototype at Morey's Pier.

The Maple Leaf Village entertainment center (now Casino Niagara) also housed a dedicated Skee-Ball arcade, an Elvis museum, a "That's Incredible!" museum, several restaurants, and was the original home of Nightmares. Man, I really miss that place!

Ray P.

Sounds like it was a great place. Did they have the old-style Skee Ball machines?

I didn't know that Morey's Pier had the Gravitron prototype. Do they still have it, or is the one they have a newer model?

I wasn't going to say it, (since I already mentioned it in about 5 other threads and since it's already long faded) but since ProgRay said it----- Yes! The Hey Dey! There were at least two of them then, since the local park I went to when I was growing up had one as well.

Rob, the MLV Skeeball machines were the ones with the red LED scoring. It was cool having an entire arcade devoted to Skeeball though.

And regarding the Gravitron, the prototype at Morey's looked like this:

http://www.ride-extravaganza.com/rides/gravitron/gravitron_12.jpg

I am assuming that model is long gone! :)

Ray P.

Wow... yeah... that Gravitron is definitely NOT there anymore. But they do have one, I'm assuming it's a much newer one.

I love old Skee Ball machines, especially the ones with the "rolling" sheetmetal scoreboard numbers!

Strickers Grove still has the old SkeeBall as well as the newer ones with the corner holes.

Chuck, who thinks Conneauts were still old style as of two years ago.

Adventureland still has plenty of old school skeeball machines. :)

I believe this is the style Rob Asscow is talking about

What's a Hey Dey?

And I looked at that Tagada on YouTube, looks like torture to me, a sadistic ride ops dream.

KD added their troika in 2002,not 2003 along with Ricochet.

It's a good ride,I'm suprised more parks havn't bought any lately.

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mailgirl said:
What's a Hey Dey?

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It was the pre-cursor of The Twister. The PTC Coaster & Parks Films video shows one in operation. The ones I have seen are covered, similar to a Whip, and they are fierce spinners, just like the present day Twister (with a good driver of course)...

Here is a clip I edited of the Hey Dey from that PTC video.

http://members.aol.com/y2coasters/Hey_Dey.mov *** Edited 3/8/2007 1:04:55 AM UTC by swampfoxer***

Imagine if a Whip and Twister mated...the Hey Dey would be the result. Coney's Steeplechase had one as well, I have footage of it.

I want one! That twister at Williams Grove was pure evil (In a good way)

Chuck

Thanks Swampfoxer. I had to watch that a few times, it's so cool.

Are there any operating Twisters left in the US? I heard there was one in Ocean City, MD, but I didn't run across it last summer on my trip. :(

^Reithoffer Shows has a traveling one. Saw it last year.

As far as permanent Twisters go, the only one I knew of was Williams Grove.

You dont see to many Demon Loops around either.

Lakemont has a Twister (Or did) Last time I was there, The operator did not brake the ride as as needed to get spinnage.

Chuck