Former Non-Flatriders: What ride, or rides changed the way you thought about flats?

I've always loved flatrides, but THE flatride that I still drool over and hope to get back to, was the Waltzer at the South Pier at Blackpool.

Afterburner? Delirium? Tomb Raider? Fun, but mere child's toys compared to the Waltzer. Picture a Tilt-a-Whirl on massive amounts of steroids, and you're approaching a rough approximation of the Waltzer.

Except the Waltzer is even better. Especially after you've been on it three times in a row and have tipped one of the operators, and he's concentrating soley on your car. Just ask Sean what I was like when I finally came staggering off... :) *** Edited 3/25/2005 6:17:24 PM UTC by GregLeg***

Apart from drop towers, I very, very rarely ride flat rides. The reason is that in general, I have limited amounts of time to spend in parks, and if I have extra time, I'd rather a) ride a coaster again, or b) spend it in the arcade.

That said, I have been riding Top Spins lately, because it's the rare flat ride that doesn't spin in tight lateral circles. I really wanted to try Delirium last time I was at PKI, but no one I was with wanted to, so we passed as a group.

I love Tilt-A-Whirls but I can't ride them anymore -- too nauseating, it ruins the rest of my day. I never pass up a Rock-o-Plane, but it's hard to find a real amusement park that has one anymore.

You know what I just realized? I've been to Cedar Point a million times, and not counting the drop rides, I have NEVER ridden a flat ride there. Ever.

For years I was about nothing but coasters when I went to parks, but right here at home at PKI that all changed around '03. First, it was TR:TR that got me going, but at the time I believe it was mostly the effects. Then it was Dropzone! That thing kicked my butt, (I'd ridden Power Tower before, but DZ just blew me away!).

Then, lastly it was Delirium. I had more fun on this flat than any other I'd rode yet. Didn't have the height, or the effects, but it doesn't need them either. The most fun I'd had on it however was last year at Beastbuzz during ERT...it was nuts!

My stomach still can't handle the Scrambler, Tilt-a-whirl, or any of the other spin-n-puke rides, but there are some I love now!

It doesn't hurt that I've "dragged" Go With Gravity to a couple of really good carnivals put on by Reithoffer Shows (Great Frederick Fair and the York Fair). I made a bargain with him for the York Fair last year--I'll pay your POP price and you keep letting me see movies for free at the theatre you work at. It's a win-win situation:) I was upset when he told me he had rode a ride called Street Fighter at the Glen Burnie Carnival last year and I had never heard of it! (it's made by Technical Park and it's a KMG Freak-Out type ride). For some reason, we never connected on that one, or I would've been there so fast! I don't know if there's a ride that "changed" my mind on flat rides, but I think Iron Eage at SFA probably started me on the path to searching out the more extreme and rarer flats. Personal favorites right now: Power Surge, Frisbee, Top Spin, Afterburner/Revolution. Least favorites: Hi-Roller/Krazy Train and the KMG Tango. I thought I really liked the ride the year before, but the program they ran for us this time was too violent and hurt really bad. It felt like our collar bones had been crushed by the vest restraint. It's sad that the program I liked from the year before came after our ride.

The flat that changed my opinion was Thunderhawk at Worlds of Fun. Before I rode that I didn't think twice about flats, now I try to fit them into my park schedule.

I guess I am on of the sadistic people who love rides that spin.... At least at my whim. The only free spinner I don't like is the skydiver. The only ride with excessive gs for my liking was force 10 at Lakemont.

Don't care for inverters,top spins,scramblers,music express and trabants. love rock-o-planes,zipper hurricane,high roller,round up,tilt a whirl,tempest,and the best flat of all the giant wheel at hershey. Nearly got kicked off for scraping up the pavement upon set down. Spin it fast enough and you can't tell your 70 feet up!

To this day I dunno what it is about it but I LOVE the Falling Star at Adventureland I always get lots of re rides on it. Mixer and Inverter at Adventurland aint bad either. Dont usally enjoy Power tower or detinator type rides (Freefalls) much. I dunno just not really into them. Then again riding the Mamba at WOF I felt just as relaxed as I am sitting on my lazy boy in my living room so.

Have to love a good Whip-- ride that is, like Dorney and Knoebels. Do wave swingers count as flats? I like those too, just hate having to climb onto and off of the damn things under those little bars.

My favorite flatrides as a kid and my days at long defunct Lakewood Park:

Lindy Loop-- a track with humps like a Music Express but the individual cars could also rock forward and back on curved "skids" while going up and down and around.

Looper-- two people sit in a round cage facing each other. You operate a foot pedal to get the cage to rock back and forth and eventually roll right over. If you worked it right, you could just keep rolling over the entire ride. On that ride, getting close but not flipping over was more nauseating than rolling.

Hey Dey-- description in Tour de Pennsylvania parks thread. We always got free rides on it, because my aunt knew the guy who "owned" the ride. Maybe that's why the park closed.

I'd have to say it was the first ride on Banshee at HW that got me back into flat rides. After that, I slowly started checking out other rides as I felt I could handle them. I have a pretty weak stomach for spinning, so I'm still not too adventurous, but I will try out new rides that look to offer more than just spinning.

I spend most of my time at SFoG and they don't have much to offer by way of flats. Crime Wave and Shake, Rattle & Roll are improvements, but there still isn't much there.

Lindy Loop! So that's what it was called. I have old footage of that ride at Coney Island.

I found this description of the Lindy Loop (thanks to Google) on the Erie Beach website. This sounds like the ride I remember. Does this sound like what you have footage of, Mamoosh?

"The `Lindy Loop' (not Looper), a Spillman ride of the mid-1920s and early 30s, was similar to the later Herschell `Looper', but the cars resembled old fashioned sleighs and did not go upside down. Instead of runners, they were mounted on crescent-shaped rails, with the curve down and the ends up. At the top, attached to the ends, was a rounded canopy, giving the whole thing the look of two circles or wheels with the sleigh between them. There were eight of these units mounted on a circular track that undulated, like on a `Caterpillar' ride.

"The sleighs were mounted in such a way that they could roll forward and backward on these crescent-shaped rails. As the track moved up and down the hills, the sleighs began rolling back and forth. At maximum speed, depending on passenger weight, they would roll quite a bit, climbing the rails front and back. Passengers had no control over the movement. The action resembled a demented lawn swing on a skateboard."

Yep!

Another fun one at Adventureland is the Himalaya and G-Force, those will make you dizzy.

Favorite golden oldies:

• Caterpillar @ Heritage Park, Calgary - runs on a similar track to the Turtle at Kennywood, but the caterpiller has a curtain which folds over riders so it's like a dark ride - you can't see the track and the dips.
• Ferris Wheel @ Heritage Park, Calgary - this one runs fast, you're nearly weightless going down.
• Whip @ Heritage Park, Calgary (and many others). - If they run fast enough, they're lots of fun.
• Scrambler @ Great Escape - all scramblers are good, but this one runs in the dark with a disko theme. They 'enhance' it a lot for halloween. :)
• Flyers @ Knoebels Grove - all flyers are great. 'nuff said.

Favorite new rides:

• Disk'O @ Cypress Gardens - strapped in motorcycle-type seats, on a disk facing outwards, the disk spins and rocks back and forth like a skateboard ramp. It's freakier than it looks.
• Sledge Hammer @ Paramount Canada's Wonderland - I don't know what kind lf lunatic designed this thing, but I like it.
• Any drop ride.

The #1 flat ride on my 'ride before I die' wish list is the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island.

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greatwhitenorth said:

• Sledge Hammer @ Paramount Canada's Wonderland - I don't know what kind lf lunatic designed this thing, but I like it.

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Huss. I'd love to get to Eh-Ville and ride it one of these days...

I'm sorry to say, but I went the other way completely:
I used to like flats but the older I get the less I can stand them - at present, I don't really like a single flat ride that I know of.
The new rides that appear seem to have more and more resemblance to weapons of mass-torture than joy rides - I can't understand the fun or excitement about them.
The best I like presently is the "Geforce" like swing ride and it's different variations...
One ride on them however was having me see neon colors that night in a dream - something I have never experienced before or after.
It was possibly due to a minor brain trauma or concussion.
I only like coasters.

Years and years ago a Himalaya type ride at a carnival got me very close to heaving. I swore off of flats for years after that until somebody dragged me on Chaos at Cedar Point. I loved it and always have to have a few rides on it when I visit the park. I really dig every Huss I encounter, especially the newer ones. I love drop towers, especially The Drop Zone(either one) and Acrophobia. I had too many rerides with no wait times on Power Tower during Millennium Mania and all that bouncing really did me in. I still ride it today, just not 12 times in a row. ;)

I remember riding something that sounds just like that looper...but it was called Rok-N-Roll. Is this what it looks like?

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

One flat I'll probably never get to ride again and loved is the Mondial Shake. It tours the US at Fairs.

This thing is a Tilt a whirl, Zipper, Scramber and rock-o-plane all in one.

Chuck, who knows adam sandy knows who owns it but I'd like to find where it's gonna be. I caught it at the Ohio State Fair in 2002

Another Sick flat that I've only seen at Lakemont and Williams Grove is the Twister.

Lakemonts op didn't work the ride so it sucked but at Willaims Grove, It was the operators mission to make you spew. I swear we spun for the most part of 6-7 minutes and finally I had to raise my arm for him to stop us.

If anything at Williams Grove is worth visiting to some of you. It's the Twister!

Chuck, who had a great time at WG. others might not.