Fair/Carnival question

I live in NC, and our state fair will be starting up in less than a month. This year we have Wade Shows doing our midway, which is a first. I was curious if anyone had been to a fair/carnival run by these guys, and if so how was it? Their website has some pretty good rides, they have a Spin Out which I may be hesitant to ride after that woman was thrown to her death from one, and Turbo Force, which is a long arm with a seat at each end that swings around at high speed. Anyways, ill type up a TR after i attend, but just thought I would ask on here for opinions on their midways, and what not. I dont post often, but I figured I would now because there's alot of knowledgable people around here. Thanks guys !

Well, I've never ridden a Zamperla Turbo Force (I've seen pictures :) ) but I've ridden it's cousin by Gravity Works called the Skyscraper (formerly at Dorney, moved this year to Valleyfair!).

I can tell you that it (the skyscraper) is an incredibly awesome ride, and I don't see why the Turbo Force would be any different. Definitely worth at least one ride.

David, a lady was thrown from a Topscan, not a Spin Out. A Spin Out did get stuck upside down either this year or last. All I can say is that the Spin Out is phenominal. Expect very heavy g-forces. No one has brought one around where I live since 2001 which is disappointing. I've ridden two Turbo Forces and they rock. They're shorter and not quite as fast as the Skyscraper, but they're no less intense. I would expect to pay extra to ride this just like at the park because of low capacity. I paid $10 x2 to ride the one at the Montgomery County Fair in MD several years ago.

For a list of ride safety bulletins pertaining to Spinout rides, look no further than the NAARSO web site, in their Ride Bulletins subsection. The Spinout bulletins, found under Tivoli (since KMG and Tivoli both manufacture Spinouts, it seems) are very detailed and cover what the problem is, and how it can be fixed.

Other than that, the ride is intense, but fun and even rerideable at the same time. Be prepared for alternating G's that want to push you back in your seat at times and hang you upside down out of your seat into the shoulder bar at times, and a bit of lateral G's as the ride spins around on three different axes. The interesting trick about the Spinout is the rotating platform, which makes the spinning upside down of the claw assembly additive with the motion of the spinning platform for a considerably fast upside down spin.

Just be aware that some Spinouts may have just a bit of free motion in the (hydraulic) shoulder bar for rider comfort, but that's a whole lot different from a scenario where the bar may actually be loose. This surprised me the first time I encountered it, because the Afterburners and Experience rides I've ridden have had the bar almost rock-solid rigid when pushed on... so don't let it scare you if there is a small amount of free motion.

*** Edited 9/16/2005 3:30:09 AM UTC by RideSafety***