Dissapointing Flat Rides

I love the Chance Falling Star at Adventure Land (Iowa). It's usually very wild, as the operators totally control your ride; most of the operators are older and nice, so you usually get a great program. Sometimes, it's more wild than an Intamin Giant Drop (I think.)

As for the Huss ride programs:
Most rides have various programs which determine ride lengths but also the intensity.
But they also have a "freestyle mode" where the operator can get "creative". This is especially nice when an artist at the controls combines skillfull operation with sound, light and fog effects. Yes, you will find this most commonly on european fairs (France and the Netherlands are especially recommended if you want to get "owned by the machine" ;) )

When Huss released the TopSpin in the late eighties, the only way to operate the ride was with a determined program. It would have only ONE flip at the end of the ride!
When some showman "short circuited" the panel to get manual control and spice the ride up, Huss was shocked. The brakes were not designed to withstand the additional stress.
But Huss wanted to sell and they saw that people would want a wilder ride. If they could not deliver, other (italian) companies would jump in and steal the concept. (They did that anyway!)
So Huss re-designed and re-programmed the TopSpin and it became one of their biggest sellers (and most copied one as well.)

Sadly, most european parks use only the ultr-tame pre-programms as well. The difference is amazing (or boring) and I usually don´t care for flatrides in parks at all.

I am not too keen on the TopSpin but I am absolutely fascinated by the way it can "operate itself". When this gigantic gondola is flipped and stabilized by those arms, you can only admire the engineering skills that went into that ride.

Fancy to operate a TopSpin yourself?!
Check the link! It will lead you to various Alton Towers simulations, which are a funny time-killer if you are bored.
Chose the "Ripsaw Simulator" its the best of them. (you can even activate water effects!)

http://towerstimes.co.uk/interact/games.htm

*** Edited 6/9/2004 3:35:22 PM UTC by tricktrack***

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coasterdude318 said:

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Comet Rider said:
The Claw is what it is--there are no park-initiated changes. Also, with the exception of maintenance mode, there is no manual operation available for this ride.

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I'm not sure I buy that. I've seen Chance Revolutions that spin slowly the entire time, while I've heard some spin much faster. Some Chance Revolutions swing to barely over 90-degrees, yet others swing to the full 120. Especially if the Chance Revolutions are being built exactly to the Afterburner specs, there is indeed manual operation available.

-Nate

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Buy it or not, that's how the Claw is set up, as are most of the other Chance junkers out there. Also, if the Revolution was built exactly to KMG's specs, it would probably be a more reliable and functional ride. KMG did the engineering, Chance screwed up the rest. There are no operator accessible manual controls on the Claw, with the exception of selecting the number of seats available for loading (to automatically balance the load).

I don't understand, then, how one Chance Revolution can only swing to 90* and spin slowly when another will swing to 120* and spin much faster. I'm also fairly positive the Chance-Morgan Revolutions are identical to the KMG rides, which definitely have variable programs. What problems are you speaking of? I haven't heard of any reliability of functionality problems with any of the rides.

-Nate *** Edited 6/9/2004 7:39:21 PM UTC by coasterdude318***

Just a guess here....perhaps the rides are "programmed" at the Chance facility. I'm thinking that if a park gives them the specs for HOW they want the ride to operate, then Chance will "set" the ride to the customer's wishes.

Myself, I would probably prefer to spend some extra $$$ to get a ride that I *could* program on-site, thereby allowing for a VARIETY of rides....of course, that depends on how MUCH extra cash is involved, and even IF the rides are "programmable on site/upgrade-able"...;)

edit: Since Nate revised his post, I'll add that the BEST rides I've gotten were on the KMG Afterburner...:)
*** Edited 6/9/2004 7:39:53 PM UTC by rollergator***

It seems that just because a ride doesn't have a fully manual control mode, it's not excluded from having several different pre-programmed ride cycles.

Definitely agreed, but if you read his original post, I thought it also suggested there is only one program for a Chance Revolution. Perhaps I misunderstood.

-Nate

Usually the Claw at HP delivers as it did twice last Thursday. It felt no different than any of the rides I experienced on an Afterburner at the York Fair. It was great on the five rides I took last year also. But for some reason, the last ride I took was severely lacking. Maybe it was due to lack of people riding. As for the Frisbee, the one at SFFT is just too sick for words. Maybe you just don't like Pendulum-based rides?

Many people have mentioned older rides, but the writer talks about newer rides. I would highly recommend the Zamperla Power Surge if you haven't tried it. Lots of spinning and changes of direction while flipping. It's overgrown "cousin" the KMG Tango is quite interesting also. If Reithoffer Shows comes to your town, see if they have either one of these rides. It's a shame that the Huss Jump was removed from SFGadv., as that was a great ride also. Maybe there's hope that some fair operator will pick it up (or Knoebels). And even though they're upcharge attractions, find yourself a Zamperla Turbo Force, or a Skyscraper, and I guarantee you the words boring won't be pouring out of your mouth. Lastly, I hear the Mondial Topscan rocks, but I wouldn't know.

I doubt that a carnival would pick up the jump. I imagine in the US it would be at least a 5-6 trailer ride (and even more of a pain in the butt to maintain on the road).

Adam

The Top Scan is the end all of flat rides as far I'm concerned, rivaled only by a Soriani & Moser Super Loop on Top.

I find the Zamperla Power Surge's to be really boring, but your mileage may and obviously does vary.

The Mondial Supernova is fun, but there are only two in the country -- one at Adventureland on Long Island and the other, "Indiago," travels with fairs.

I've yet to ride a KMG Afterburner, but they seem fun.

Finally, I really, really, really miss that Jump. It was like the Mary Poppins of flat rides.

As far as I know the Indiago only is booked into the State Fair of Texas.

Adam

That Indiago looked really cool Adam, and Dave L. has me "near convinced" to make it to the State Fair...all he has to do is give me word that the Pax Cobra will show and I'll be booking flights. :)

Flat ride HEAVEN? I hate saying this, because no one should be forced to go to *DisAstroWorld*, but SWAT is , really IS, "all that and a bag of chips"...if the ISSUE that it had earlier this year was a fluke thing, more parks should DEFINITELY pick up a SWAT...yummy goodness, it's *almost* a 48-person Skyscraper...:)

I would be sure to go if the PAX Cobra wasn't there. Definitley a POS from a fabrication standpoint.

Adam

It's built in Russia, right? If the CARS they were putting out are any indication, I'm not expecting *durability*...as long as it lasts thru MY rides, I'm OK with it...;)

An airtime hill on a shuttle looper, though, that's an idea whose time has come...:)

Lasting won't be the problem...the fact that it beats the hell out of you, especially on straight track, is the problem. That was a big reason the contract never went through- it hurts!

Adam

Interesting news about the Pax Cobra. Parc St-Paul, a small park in France actually installed 3 Pax rides in the last 2-3 years. They started with a family coaster called the Wild Train. Its rather weird looking, since its uses 2 kinds of track: Premier Style and flat, Intamin style track. Here's a link: http://www.rcdb.com/installationdetail1354.htm

Ride 2 and 3 came this year, first a freefall tower, that's running right now and a Wild Mouse, that's still in construction. Here are some pictures of the rides, in this topic, scroll down for those of the freefall ride.

http://test00452.sivit.org/ivb/index.php?showtopic=8906&st=0

Now, back on topic, which was dissapointing flat rides.

Most dissapointing for me was Psyclone at PCW. Its just did not do much for me. Perhaps I sat in the wrong seats? I prefer the Zamperla Discovery at La Ronde in that style of ride. Its runs a great program!

Golly, that Wild Train coaster looks like the end all end all of kiddie/family rides. Like a rollerskater crossed with a Spaghetti Bowl.

Tilt a whirls a lot of the times suck , and don't spin well. Usually dissapointing.

The fly-o-Planes at Lake winnie are a turn off to some people because they really hurt your thighs.

What is really boring to me is a Chance chaos. I've only ridden one at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, but it didn't flip nearly as much as I thought it would(as in, twice during the ride).

And yes, Chance Inverters are bad.

all this talking about flat rides reminded me of one that litterally made me think i dislocated my shoulder on it... Spin Out by KMG and Tivoli... talk about crazy... take a Revolution 32 by Chance Morgan and put it on an arm that moves around and flips you over..e-gads my shoulder hurt remembering getting tossed into the OTSR. then again i am only 5'7" and 160 lbs... so i get some serious bangs on OTSR's.

I rode Tomb Raider:The Ride for the first time this year and I think it far from lived up to all the hype about it. *** Edited 6/10/2004 7:08:03 PM UTC by Dragster Freak***

The Spin Out rocked. Unfortunately it didn't reappear at the Montgomery County Fair last year, as it did in 2002. As for the Chaos, it's definitely an "audience" participation ride. In other words, get a friend to sit with you, and make the ride work for you, since the seats are free to rotate any which way. Me and my friend have never been able to top eight rotations on the short program (and I tried with someone else also), but I'm sure it's possible. The trick is to throw your weight back and forth in tandem.

I did some research on the Jump, and I didn't come up with much. The Flat Joint had no idea how many trailers it would take in the U.S. for transport. The only figure I could get off of the Huss site was that it's 90tons for the whole ride including scenery and operators booth! I doubt it would take 5 to 6 trailers though. In example, the KMG Tango is a monster of a ride, as is the Afterburner, but those make it around the country yearly.

And, you'd be surprised at how compressed they can make these rides for transport. I recently went by a carnival that was setting up, and every ride was on one trailer, including the Orbitor. *** Edited 6/11/2004 1:46:05 AM UTC by Intamin Fan***