Flatrides we will never see in the U.S.

For the past two years I went with a couple of my L.A. friends to a "fun fair" called Wäldchestag in Frankfurt/Germany. Of course we do other things while there, but the fair itself is probably crazier than Oktoberfest.

It is a fair in the middle of a forest(i know, it makes no sense) and there are flatrides like the Taumler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kaUFY187-A

(it get's funny after the 1 min nark) I took the video probably an hour ago, god bless the internet,lol.

How come we can not have those in the States?!?!
Anoher flatride I love is Transformer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_cIGHwneMQ&feature=relat

Don't think I've ever typed these three letters in succession before:

O. M. G.

I would ride both of them in a heartbeat. But it's the first time I'd ever wish a shorter ride on something like that..especially Transformer. How does one get off that ride and NOT walk into the nearest tree?

Transformer was pretty ridiculous. I especially likes how it was running with the Star Wars theme music. :-)

You walk into the trees,lwhich is perfectly fine in Germany, lol, this year they had Aquaballs on Water. It makes no sense. Think I took a video of it(will edit later)
I just love this stuff...

I will be doing 2 weeks therenext month. I can't wait to try some of this stuff.

Not a Flatride per se, but dont think we will see this in the U.S either
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpMGQ5h7HAM

I just took these videos today, there are not the best as I could have waited for a better cycle on the Traumler or waited to have more drunks on the Aquball, but my L.A. friends cared more about interacting with people at the dancing areas. Who knew we nerds are sexy out here,lol.

Transformers was pretty awesome looking...and...there is (or at least was) one in the US. That's a Top Star Tour, and there was one in Myrtle Beach. They'd never run it when I was there, but I know people that did ride it and said it was pretty cool.

P.S. those aqua balls are here too ;). They county fair here in NC had them last year.

Pic

Tekwardo said:
P.S. those aqua balls are here too ;). They county fair here in NC had them last year.

Pic

I'm not sure what park..possibly Kings Island last summer..but I've seen Aqua Balls at an American park.

Tekwardo I definitely rode it while it was at the Grand Prix in Myrtle Beach, a park that is now the parking lot of Kroger :(. It was absurdly fun and very cool to watch from the sidelines as well. The one at Myrtle Beach even had a bit at the end of the cycle where the middle beam would stay upside down (while you're spinning on the edges) for about 10 seconds before flipping over and stopping the cycle. If the restraints hadn't required you to brace yourself for every direction change to avoid getting slammed around inside your harness it would have been a 10/10.

We've talked about the Taumler on these boards before. It's insane, and anyone thinking about bringing one over this side of the pond better check with his insurance underwriter first. It even has it's own fan club.

Aquaballs = Check!
I might be deprived as I am living in Los Angeles and the closest County Fair we have is pretty much in Pomona, which means I am a citykid and never actually go out there,lol.

ANYHOW, I have two more days of the fair(it is 4 am here) and you dont come out here for any "credits", but just fun, well, drinking aswell and oh yeah when I find something crazy(unlike Aquaball), I will post it here :-)

You really think so? I know Europeans are more "savy" when it comes to rides(just look on you tube how they deal with a Breakdancer), but I (kinda) think that we're not stupid either and something like a Taumler could work here aswell...

Edit:

This was a repsonse to Dutchman, somehow I can not work the "response" funktion on coasterbuzz..

Mike Gallagher said:
I'm not sure what park..possibly Kings Island

Yup. They were where they are now doing the Dinosaur themed parties.

The Transformer ride has a very similar ride experience as the KMG / Tivoli Spin Out. Spin Out is much smaller. I rode a Spin Out a few times at the Florida State Fair in 2001. It was amazing, and I wish I could go back and ride it again sometime.

Something I enjoyed about Spin Out was that because of the two rotations, the ride would go faster when you were upside down, which pinned you to your seat more. FUN!

We have talked about the Taumler before. Something about it doesn't appeal to me, but I bet that would change with one ride on it.

I'll also recall seeing the recently removed Aquaballs as an up-charge attraction at Kings Island, as well.

I could see the taunler in the US if restraints were added.

LK, Morey's Pier has a KMG spinout called Maelstrom. It's the only permanent North American installation I can think of off the top of my head. I agree it's an amazing ride and probably my favorite flat tied with Mondial's Top Scan and Zamperla's Power Surge.

The Morey brothers actually became fascinated with brining all the European rides they could over to their piers after a trip to Oktoberfest back in the 70's, their insurance carrier probably took one look at that Taumler and said "no friggin way" LOL

Dutchman said:
We've talked about the Taumler on these boards before. It's insane, and anyone thinking about bringing one over this side of the pond better check with his insurance underwriter first.

...and I am SO sure that the carriers in this country are begging for more installations like Taumler... ;)

DejaVuNitro said:
LK, Morey's Pier has a KMG spinout called Maelstrom. It's the only permanent North American installation I can think of off the top of my head.

I was also told by their head of rides that it is one of the rides with the most downtime and might not be long for the piers. As I recall something like 1 out of 5 maintenance calls in the park were for Maelstrom.

Yeah, from the complexity of that ride it looks like they must use the giant tweezers a lot.