Fading favorite flat rides

I am aware of the abundance of vintage rides in PA parks but I ask, does any of them have a Rock-O-Plane? I haven't been on one since West View Park closed back in the 70s. Maybe one of them appears at some of the county fairs. I don't know if it does, however.

And yes, a good whip is appreciated wherever it is found., I know that PA has several of them. This is a great family-friendly ride that everyone can ride together. KW has a Mangels Whip that is the oldest flat ride in the park (from before 1920). It survived a roof collapse in a windstorm several years ago.

*** Edited 2/27/2007 8:24:15 AM UTC by Arthur Bahl***

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Rob Ascough said:
Doesn't Silverwood have one near Coaster Alley?

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It was there last year.

I first rode a Skydiver at the annual Spring Carnival at Carnegie Mellon, in 1989. Scared the living daylights out of me, mostly because it was a typical "carnie" ride -- duct tape, etc. I didn't see one actually installed in a park until years later.

Anyone else love the Gravitron? (Also introduced to me at the same carnival, actually...)

(Edit: Fixed URL)
*** Edited 2/27/2007 2:01:05 PM UTC by GregLeg***

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Touchdown said:
The one I cant understand is why in the world is there only one Flying Coaster...Why hasnt another park/company come up with a new version of this ride?

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There is a new version called Catch 'N Air. I saw one at a carnival a couple years ago but I didn't ride it. There are some differences from the original. The biggest one is that there is a ramp on both sides of the "jump". The people riding still seemed to get the air, however.

Speaking of scramblers, how many Garbrick Merry Mixers are still around? I know of two: Knoebels and Bushkill. They didn't seem to have the same "kick" that a scrambler has, but the ride action is the same.

I'm not sure why all the Bartlett flying coasters disappeared... good question. That's one of my favorite flats at Kennywood and I KNOW that many parks once had them. I wonder where they went? Someone told me that newer version isn't the same... too bad.

Zamperla has offered what seems to be a faithful recreation of a PTC Crazy Dazy called Demolition Derby for some time now. Maybe they'll eventually come up with a faithful recreation of a flying coaster (no, we're not talking about Volare here)?

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millrace said:

Speaking of scramblers, how many Garbrick Merry Mixers are still around? I know of two: Knoebels and Bushkill. They didn't seem to have the same "kick" that a scrambler has, but the ride action is the same.

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I'm not sure about fixed site, but there is a travelling group in Northeast PA that has one. I saw it at the Sweet Valley Fair a few times when we went back to visit my wifes' family.

Two rides come to mind, and I haven't seen either in a long time, and never at a fixed site. One was called the Cobra:

http://www.flatrides.com/Ride%20Index%20Pages/cobra.html

I have only ridden that at the Cuyahoga County Fair and that was 30 years ago, hell of a ride! The other would be the Turbo:

http://www.flatrides.com/Ride%20Index%20Pages/turbo.html

I never rode it, and also only ever saw it at the Cuyahoga county fair. Sick looking thing isn't it?

Tom

Wisdom made a Scrambler type ride called the Sizzler.

As for Gravitrons, I rode one back in 1992 at the North Carolina State Fair. I enjoyed it but haven't been on one since because none of the parks around me now have them. Maybe I should check out some of the fairs in the area both for this and the Rock-O-Plane

Majestic's Catch'N Air's other big difference is that the ride can run backwards. I believe Bates Midways is traveling with one now and if I recall, the ride ran forwards and backwards.

Ray P. (who only remembers seeing one Turbo- a closed model at Maple Leaf Village Niagara Falls. Looks like a sick ride though.)

IIRC, it's a Catch-N-Air at Riverview park, conveniently located across the street from Mt Olympus (and my baby 'Clops), and right down the road from the airtime MONSTER that is Ava-launch. C-N-A was a pretty sweet ride, more air than spin. Really similar ride-wise to a TechnoJump, but the seating and mechanicals seem pretty different.

edit: Score one for the mentally suspect, LOL.
http://www.pbase.com/rollergator/image/66473353

*** Edited 2/27/2007 4:35:33 PM UTC by rollergator***

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LdScotsman said:

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millrace said:

Speaking of scramblers, how many Garbrick Merry Mixers are still around? I know of two: Knoebels and Bushkill. They didn't seem to have the same "kick" that a scrambler has, but the ride action is the same.

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I'm not sure about fixed site, but there is a travelling group in Northeast PA that has one. I saw it at the Sweet Valley Fair a few times when we went back to visit my wifes' family.

Two rides come to mind, and I haven't seen either in a long time, and never at a fixed site. One was called the Cobra:

http://www.flatrides.com/Ride%20Index%20Pages/cobra.html

I have only ridden that at the Cuyahoga County Fair and that was 30 years ago, hell of a ride! The other would be the Turbo:

http://www.flatrides.com/Ride%20Index%20Pages/turbo.html

I never rode it, and also only ever saw it at the Cuyahoga county fair. Sick looking thing isn't it?

Tom

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Oh! We have to Cobra at our County Fair every year... A couple years ago I rode it for the first time. Never rode it again! lol Horrible experience with that ride. My little cousin and I were sitting in ther waiting to get "strapped" in. Well the guy is running around there locking ppl in and before we know it he goes right to the control panel and STARTS THE RIDE WITH US NOT LOCKED IN! lol So I'm trying to keep my cousin from falling out, which wasn't hard since the forces were strong enough to keep us in. We went around a few times yelling at him to get his attention when finally a person in line told him to stop the ride for us. When he stopped it he came over to lock us in and was looking right stupid apologizing. After that we rode and I ended up getting really sick from that ride too. The story doesn't end there, but the main part was said. Other than the problem with the operator, I underestimated the Cobra. It's pretty fast and forceful, but a little too much for me lol.

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swampfoxer said:

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Jigga0687 said:
I have a question about one I saw at Beech Bend Scat 2. What exactly does this one do??? lol it looks so weird and unsafe.

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See for yourself! Here is a clip I took of Beech Bend's Scat 2 back in Sept '06. I had to compress it a good bit to upload it so the quality is so-so. You'll get the idea though.

http://members.aol.com/somekick/Scat2_BB.mov[/quote]

It's completely safe. I have never fallen off it ever, and have been on it a lot of times at the carnival over here. It's the Gravitron outside (basically). However, it's so much better in my opinion. The seats don't go up and down though. The cushions are really nice also.

Tilt-A-Whirls are still around. They are at almost every carnival around here. A couple amusement parks the rides are at, are Kiddieland Amusement Park, Cedar Point, Dorney Park, and Cypress Gardens. It's probably at Wild Adventures. These big chains don't seem to want to put them in. That's stupid. They put Scramblers, but not Tilt-A-Whirls. Another one is at SFMM.

The Sky Diver has been disappearing everyone because it has problems. I don't want to get into it. The Eyerly Octopus is different than the Monster. The Monster has 8 arms, and 4 cars per each arm while the Octopus has 8 arms and 2 cars per each arm.

The reason why these are disappearing is because they are really old, and other Octopus came out in which you don't have to load each car separately. A version is like that one at Six Flags America. An employee doesn't have to load each car. It takes too much time. That's the problem right there.

I would have quality than worrying about waiting an extra 5 minutes. The big chains don't think like that. They are worried capacity per ride. I say give me a longer line if it's quality. If it's not great of a ride, I better be waiting only 5 minutes, and not 15. That's how it is today. I'm obviously talking about flat rides. I hope they wake up sometime.

If the Scrambler can get away with having 24 people per ride, why can't the Zipper?? Maybe, it's just the fact that Scramblers aren't that packed.

Flying Bobs rides are at some carnivals, and are at SFNE (Alpine Bobs), Wild Adventures, SFA (I think), CP (Matterhorn), Michigan's Adventure (Thunderbolt), Hay Bailer (Gaugea Lake), and Indiana Beach (Flying Bobs). They are also basically the same ride with different manufacturers. There might be more out there at amusement parks.

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I miss Caterpilars. Those rides were great fun.
I think there's only like 5 running and only one with a working canopy.

Bayern Curves was another favorite. CP had a great one, but it kept breaking down.

Good grief, how could I forget Kennywood's Whip?? I loved that thing as a kid, and it's still fun! When I was little (thanks to all of the rides I nearly fell out of) I was scared of most "big" rides, but I always loved the Whip.

Kennywood is one of the best parks for classic rides, and I wish I didn't live so far away from it. I haven't been there in almost six years! :( :( I love the Turtle, the Kangaroo, the Whip, the Bayern Kurve(sp?). I guess because Kennywood doesn't have a Tilt-A-Whirl, and the two parks closest to me (Carowinds and SFOG) don't either, I thought maybe they were fading away.

The Pavilion at MB had a Caterpillar. :( I hate that they tore that place down. Come to think of it, I think that they had a Tilt-A-Whirl and a Scambler too.

I like rides that the whole family can go on and still have fun. There doesn't seem to be much at SFOG that my mom can ride, for example. I'm trying so hard to find somebody to ride coasters with... I'm quickly reaching the point that I'm ready to say "Heck with it" and go to the parks by myself, but I'm not sure how much fun that'll be.

This isn't exactly a "fading classic" (Carowinds is bringing theirs back, I understand) but what about those looping pirate-ship type rides? (Carowind's used to be the Frenzoid I think, and SFOG's was the Looping Starship.) I like those, as long as the seat belt buckle doesn't land in the wrong spot, or the OTS restraints don't poke ya right in the stomach right after a meal... OWIE. Kennywood had one for like, one season I think.

As far as that goes, I like Kennywood's Pirate Ship! Sitting on one of the end rows and catching as much air as possible! WHeeeeeee! (Thought I was going to fly out of that one too as a kid, but at least I rode it with my parents and they helped hold me in. Don't have THAT problem anymore... :D )

I used to like the swings, but what are the weight limits on those things? Eeep, I'd hate to fly into orbit! I don't like rides whose restraints seem on the flimsy side.

I rode something kind of like the Skydiver or something similar at a carnival, and it scared the bejeepers out of me. I think we lasted like one revolution before asking (begging) to be let off! Too slow of a revolution, ugh. I kept waiting for the car to pop open and dump us out while we were upside down.

Now the Wheelie or Enterprise is fun! The first few times you go upside down it kind of feels like you're going to fall out or something, but then it becomes sort of relaxing.

Carousels are beautiful to look at, but they're not really one of my favorite rides anymore. I like to watch them, but it doesn't seem worth riding them. I liked them a lot when I was a kid though.

Maybe I should start a "favorite rides when you were too little to ride coasters" thread, huh? :)

I used to like trains too, but a lot of parks still have them. I used to pretend that I was going somewhere really exotic.

Boy, I need a coaster fix! :)

CatPurrson

I love Enterprises and this is probably my favorite flat. KWs Volcano is great with an almost completely vertical tilt and a good ride cycle. Add the theming and this is a must-ride for me when I go to KW.

I don't know if Huss makes them any more but I hope that they continue to provide parts for the ones that are still around. This ride is also found with some of the major carnivals.

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FLYINGSCOOTER said:I miss Caterpilars. Those rides were great fun.I think there's only like 5 running and only one with a working canopy.

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Two - Canobie's, and Idlewild's. MBP had disabled the canopies for what *sounded* like a poor reason to me...I'm guessing maintenance didn't want to mess with it when HC5 was taking up SO much of their time...LOL!

^^ CatPurrson, yes, MBP had a scrambler (Eli model, IIRC), sat nestled inside the second helix.

BGA still has a looping starship, named Phoenix. I've offered to trade it for Knoebel's Phoenix, no takers thus far... ;)

Quick note about Whip rides. Mangels' Whips, like at Idlewild, KW, etc., are *fabulous* rides. HersheyPark has some sort of really subpar knockoff - a real travesty IMO considering HP is celebrating their 100th.

*** Edited 2/27/2007 5:58:13 PM UTC by rollergator***

One of the best Mangels whips that I ever rode was the one at the long defunct West View Park. They had great Flying Scooters and classic Lusse bumper cars as well. Add those two great classic wooden coasters and an outstanding Tracey darkride and this park brings back great memories.

Most of the rides at West View were those classics we are discussing here. They included the Scrambler, Tilt-A-Whirl, Caterpillar (fully functional), Rock-O-Plane, Trabant (earlier smaller version of the Wipeout), Round-Up, Paratrooper, and Tumble Bug. n There were also an antique carousel, a gas powered auto ride a train that circled a small lake, and a large kiddieland comparable in size to Rye Playland's kiddie area.

Scooter, I think that catapilar is at Canobie Lake in Salem, NH (my closest park). I never had he chance to ride the thing.

Speaking of Chance SkyDivers, the short-lived Chance Tumbler looked to put a nasty spin on an already rather nasty ride. The only picture I could find was this one:

http://sfog.playride.com/wheel_burrow.jpg

I assume one wheel loaded in its entirety at ground level while the other spun on top? Looked WAY too complicated for its own good!

Ray P. (who fears Chance Skydivers, Zippers, Turbos, and Toboggans)

^ I was about to mention the Turbo. I rode most off the rides mentioned as a kid, but the Turbo was the one that scared the crap out of me. As a kid I think I was attracted to the Turbo because the modules reminded me of plain m&ms.

The only thing scarier than a Turbo to me was the Zipper. Never, ever rode one as a kid. I would be 37 years old, at Puyallup, before I was dragged to my (near) death on a known killer by some crazy drummer. ;)

I remember when Chance had problems with Zipper cages popping open and causing fatalities back in the early 1970s. The Comsumer Product Safety Commission even put out a warning about the ride until this was fixed. A Chance Skydiver at KW also had this problem during the 1960s. KW removed the ride soon after this happened along with its other Chance ride, a Trabant. KW has had a better relationship with Chance in recent years as they added a Wipeout (a bigger version of the Trabant) to the park. The ride remains in the park at present.