AXIS at Knoebels - CoasterBuzz

Does any one know whatever happened to the AXIS at Knoebels? It was one of my favorite rides at the park and for the last two/three years it has been gone. I'm just wondering if any one knows.

A friend tells me it was getting old and hard to get replacement parts for, so they sold it and replaced it with Power Surge...
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rollergator - intent on improving the "guest experience" - coming soon to a park near you

yea i saw that ride on tv ,one of the best looking flat rides ive ever seen

Old and hard to get parts? It was 4 years old and was made by Zamperla.. the same designers who built Power Surge.

Old Town is trying to get rid of theirs, but no one wants it. The ride is a mechanical nightmare.

Does anyone know where there are any pictures of this Axis for us that aren't familiar?

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ULTIMATECOASTER.com - In Search of the "Ultimate" Thrill
http://www.ultimatecoaster.com/

Not sure about pictures, but you can find an AXIS ride at Old Town in Kissimmee FL (not sure if they call it AXIS or not).

It may have been "one of the best looking flats rides" SFMM02 ever saw, but it was not all that thrilling to ride, at least I did not think so. Because it moved so slow, there was no centrifigual (or centripidal or what ever force) working on you... just plain old gravity and all it did was cause the blood to rush to your head and give you a headache... at least that was my experience with it. Neat ride to ride once for the sake of riding it, but I will not miss it on any return trips to Knoebels.

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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."

The ride is a Zamperla miXer, but Knoebel's couldn't call it that because of the adjacent (Garbrick) Merry Mixer.

knoebelsrocks clearly holds a minority opinion. In my opinion, the ride wasn't much fun at all; it was a ride once to say you did, then you don't have to do it again. It was an unpleasant ride that wasn't even all that interesting, a ride that probably didn't generate much in the way of re-rides. It's a ride that a carnival can do well with for the first season or so, but after that, once everybody's ridden, its appeal drops pretty fast. And in an environment where rides live and die by ticket count, a miXer won't last long.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

It's what we in the business call a oncer. A big ride with a lot of flash, but like you said Rideman few if any rerides. They will be around until they're paid for and then they're sold off ASAP.

Hmm, I just visited Old Town, I didn't remember this type of ride being there ...

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ULTIMATECOASTER.com - In Search of the "Ultimate" Thrill
http://www.ultimatecoaster.com/

A oncer. I like that term. This ride looked to me to be a lot like the old Flight Commander at PKI (and others). Hanging from restraints at slow speed just isn't that fun in my opinion.

I feel the same way about Hammerhead at Knotts, it is just three minutes of "I hope the restraint doesn't fail".

Now Chaos... That is a different story.

ErikTheRed

Coastin Carl said:
"Hmm, I just visited Old Town, I didn't remember this type of ride being there ...
"

In March 2001 there was on located in the "front" section of the "park" (or is that term too kind? Should I say "Property?")... not in the back where Windstorm is located. Seeing nothing from the main highway that really interested us up front, we did not walk up there. If AXIS (or as it is properly termed miXer) is no longer there, could have been removed since then... that has been 6 months ago, and with no winter season closure in Fla, I suppose rides can be removed/replaced at anytime.

Or on second thought... is my memory failing and did I just see it on Old Town's website prior to our visit (when we were checking out hours of operation)? In any event... at ONE time, an AXIS (aka miXer) was operating at Old Town.

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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."

*** This post was edited by SLFAKE on 9/10/2001. ***

Yup, when I went to OLD TOWN at the end of April the miXer was still there....but not operating as usual. Adventureland in Iowa has one as well. I think thats it for the US installations.

Okay everyone, I have a letter from Mr. Knoebel about the AXIS topic. The Axis has become a problem child for parks, mainly because of the control system. Sometimes it "takes a fit , and doesn't want to run " as he put it. The Knoebels AXIS was sold somewhere in India, and the Power Surge has taken its place.
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You gotta love the signs "HUSS Maschinenfabrik, BREMEN, W. Germany" and "Made By Zamperla"