Fading favorite flat rides

I'm assuming you're talking about ACE... I can't speak for them and their plans but I do know of a few other clubs working on a weekend that involves Coney Island parks and Rye Playland. Care to guess which one of those clubs is? ;)

Rob Ascough said:
Intamin Fan: I definitely rode the ride with the "York PA" program!

I think the Tango has a lot of potential as it's scary as hell. The height above the ground is crazy for a traveling flat ride. Reithoffer also had their Power Surge for comparison, and the Tango towers over it.

What I don't like about it is the seats as I mentioned before. There really isn't much to keep your legs steady either except for the upside down t-bar that you would find at the bottom of a ski-lift with full safety bar.

They seemed to be having trouble with the restraints as well (half of the seats were closed-off in 03/04), which I thought was unusual for a ride that probably costs easily two-million dollars. The first time I rode it, I remember passing the ride ops computer and it said something like "Restraint failure. Contact KMG for service." The bottom of the restraint uses a fork-like system to click in and it causes a lot of grief to the ops.

I think if they went with a thicker vest like those found on the flying coasters (either Vekoma or B&M) that it would make for a softer ride.

What I would really like to try out to compare it to is Zamperla's Shocker. It looks like a similar concept, except it's much smaller.

Ok, going back a few pages someone mentioned the Bayern Curve. I personally have not seen one in ages and I missed it at KW by one year, but I stumbled across this on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLbeRvqOcvE

It has good footage of the chairlift and the Bayern Curve.

Tom

You have disturbed the forbidden temple, now-you-will-pay!!!

Intamin Fan said:
Rob Ascough said:
Intamin Fan: I definitely rode the ride with the "York PA" program!
I think the Tango has a lot of potential as it's scary as hell. The height above the ground is crazy for a traveling flat ride. Reithoffer also had their Power Surge for comparison, and the Tango towers over it.
What I don't like about it is the seats as I mentioned before. There really isn't much to keep your legs steady either except for the upside down t-bar that you would find at the bottom of a ski-lift with full safety bar.
They seemed to be having trouble with the restraints as well (half of the seats were closed-off in 03/04), which I thought was unusual for a ride that probably costs easily two-million dollars. The first time I rode it, I remember passing the ride ops computer and it said something like "Restraint failure. Contact KMG for service." The bottom of the restraint uses a fork-like system to click in and it causes a lot of grief to the ops.
I think if they went with a thicker vest like those found on the flying coasters (either Vekoma or B&M) that it would make for a softer ride.
What I would really like to try out to compare it to is Zamperla's Shocker. It looks like a similar concept, except it's much smaller.

I would say that ride is no more than 2 million (Tango). It might be 1.5, but I don't think so. Anyway, the Shocker reminds of a worse Power Surge. It's basically the same thing, but there are 4 seats per row instead of 2. More weight per seats means that the seats rotate less. Power Surge is just so fun.

Power Surge reminds me of the Chaos ride. I hope to see more amusement parks get the Power Surge. It's a thrill, and it has 24 seats. At least it's not 16 like the Freak Out. It might not have the high capacity, but who cares. I rather wait 30 minutes for that ride rather than 5 minutes for a Huss Top Spin.

I like the Power Surge better. They both have the same amount of seats, but Power Surge is just better. I haven't been on the Tango, but I do know what it looks like.

Count me in as a fan of Power Surge rides. I've ridden ones at Coney, Knoebels, Casino Pier and Cypress Gardens and I've loved them all. It'd be nice to see more parks add those.

One thing you must remember Ilovethevu is that the cost of a ride like Tango is not limited to the ride itself. You have to add in the cost of trailers as well. Reithoffer has signs up showing you the cost of some of their rides (Well, at least they did. Haven't been to a Reithoffer show in a few years).

They have a version of the KMG Afterburner called the Wild Claw (same ride). They said it cost two-million dollars to bring it to you, including the costs of the two custom trailers. The Tango also requires two trailers to transport.

I'm not a whip connoisseur, but I found Lakeside's to be enjoyable, and I remember Americana's being the same when I rode it in '98. Actually, I think that was my first whip.

I find it interesting that these rides vary so much from park to park. Is it mostly just a question of how fast the park runs them or are there several factors differentiating them all such as the length was mentioned for one of them. I wonder why they weren't all built to the same specs, the "new" ones excluded.

AV Matt
Long live the Big Bad Wolf

For those of you who haven't visited Camden Park yet, once you DO you will agree that their whip is the most insane!

In "crack" mode of course. :P

I miss the Bayern Curves as well. :)

The Tumble Bugs and the first generation Intamins drop towers are already HIGHLY missed.

-Tina

Intamin Fan said:

They have a version of the KMG Afterburner called the Wild Claw (same ride). They said it cost two-million dollars to bring it to you, including the costs of the two custom trailers. The Tango also requires two trailers to transport.

That's probably a bit of spin. Maybe it costs $2 million PER YEAR to transport the ride but not $2 million to travel to each show. Unless they meant the former and instead it sounded like the latter...

One of my favorites that I don't think I saw mentioned is the Kasper Klaus Roto-Jet.

I'm lucky that my 2 home parks both still have them, the Roto Jet at Knoebels and Hershey's nicely restored Starship America.

And my favorite flat ride and seemingly very scarce ride is the Huss Condor, the only one I've ridden or know of anywhere close to me is the Flying Falcon at Hershey. I think it's still offered by Huss but parks never seem to be willing to install anything that's been around so long.

Morey's Pier still has their Condor even though it's been listed for sale for ages. It's a fun ride but not nearly as thrilling as it looks, nor could have been. It's more of an observation tower with a little spinning rather than something that scares the crap out of people. Spinning wildly 120 feet in the air SHOULD be terrifying!

SFGAm still has their Condor, sitting right next to S:UF to the left as you enter the front gate. Maybe not a *thrill ride* per se, but still MILES better than a Chance Aviator (winks toward Coney, LOL).

Hershey's Whip, for lack of a better word....abomination.

You still have Zoidberg.... You ALL have Zoidberg! (V) (;,,;) (V)

Rob Ascough said:
Spinning wildly 120 feet in the air SHOULD be terrifying!

For some people, doing anything 120 feet in the air IS terrifying!

Only wimps like you :)

This, coming from a guy that likes airplane turbulence and often wonders what it would be like to hold onto the wing while the plane is in the air...

The Condor at SFGAm came from Great Adventure (correct me if I'm wrong). I think it was by the lake. That was the first time I had ridden one, and I remember being pretty scared by it. I've also ridden Morey's a few times when I was younger, and I always try to take a spin on HP's.

Wild West World is putting up a Condor. It'll probably be the tallest ride in the park for now.

Rob back to the Wild Claw sign, the way the sign was worded, it sounded like that's what they paid to buy the ride and also buy the trailers. I seem to remember their Music Express-type ride costing around $500,000. When the average kiddie ride is somewhere around $100,000, it's not out of the question.

I seem to remember Hershey's Revolution (The Claw), which of course is a park version of The Afterburner with eight arms instead of six costing $2-million. And that just stays in one place.

I wasn't aware Morey's still had theirs (Condor), I saw it for sale the other year so I assumed it was gone from the park.

It's still there. Been for sale for at least five years but it continues to operate.

It makes sense that the Wild Claw cost about $2 million- that seems to be about average for a large-scale flat ride. Not sure what it costs to transport but I imagine the figure IS pretty high, considering labor and fuel.

I think Knoebel's Whip is hit and miss. I've had some really good rides on it (nice side slaps and lots of swinging back and forth) and some not so exciting ones. I don't know why that would be.

Doesn't Idlewild have a Condor? I seem to remember them having one in '98 when I visited.

AV Matt
Long live the Big Bad Wolf

^You're thinking of the Huss TriStar, Trinado. The wheels look similar to a Condor but only has three wheels like a Troika and it lifts like an Enterprise (though not totally vertical like an Enterprise). Pretty cool ride IMO and surprised it didn't become popular as it sure had the capacity for the larger parks.

The Condor is also a great family type ride and probably one of the more attractive looking rides when they are lit up at night. *** Edited 3/6/2007 12:52:23 AM UTC by X Factor***