Hyper Flats

Last year on my Lakemont trip, the Spider ran at a speed so fast you couldn't move your head, and the Tilt A Whirl operator let us ride as long as we wanted to since we were the only ones on it, he just said "gimme a thumbs up when you want off"... now that's service!

The Scrambler at Geauga last year was so fast it was painful... I never saw one go that fast, but it kind of distracted from the fun... constant squash. The boardwalk -whatever- they call their version.

Is that a pet peeve of anyone else... parks that insist on renaming their brand name rides into something else?

Problem Child 2.

loL

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Chooch249 said:

Is that a pet peeve of anyone else... parks that insist on renaming their brand name rides into something else?

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Are you talking about like calling a Chaos; Wicked Sidespin (madeup name) or something like that?

I hate it when they practically mutilate a ride just so it doesn't have it's name anymore like the Riverview Racer at SFStL. They all look bad at SF parks. That is the Chance Yo-Yo.

KW often renamed rides. They used to call their Paratrooper the Skydiver so when they got a Chance Skydiver, they called it the Popover. The only remaining Flying Coaster is called the Kangaroo and the only operating Tumble Bug in the U. S. is the Turtle.

Nowadays, this practice is becoming more common especially with the more thrilling flats. We have Screamin' Swings named Skyhawk, Swing Shot, and Thunder and Lightning for example.

I could swear I saw a Skydiver once called a Paratrooper, too! Or maybe it was Parachuter... it was a long time ago (at an Atlantic City pier in the 60s as a child)

I know the Cedar Point "Troika" was called the "Super Star" down there as well (I ride I LOVED as a kid)... I wonder what the real name of that is? Cedar Pt was another one to rename almost all their flat rides.

CPs Enterprise is called the Witches Wheel. Renaming appears to be a common practice for bigger flats. Smaller, more common flats usually go by their familiar trade name but there are exceptions there as well, especially if theming is involved. HWs Tilt-A-Whirl (which has special theming) is the Turkey Whirl.

La Ronde massacred their Break Dance... Back in 1999-2000, when they moved it to its current location, near the Orbite (S&S Space Shot), they had a single ride operator and usually, they ran it like crazy! The program was nuts. The ride would go full tilt for like 2-3 minutes, then, they'd just stop the main table and the cars would keep on spinning very fast. Add to that the bench seats and as a single rider, you were sliding and whipping all over the place... Due to the exceptional cycle, it become the most popular flat ride in the park!

Six Flags comes in and decide that due to a mysterious "memo" from Huss, they have to modify it. Gone was the great program, now its just run to normal speed 90 seconds and then its over. They also modified the cars and removed the bench seats. You now have individual molded seats and they even added wooden doors on the side of the cars. They also killed capacity by removing the latches from the lap bars. The lone operator has to go by every car, stick a metal pin in a hole and that release the restraints. Horrible...

La Ronde got a Zamperla Discovery in 2003. Its an Afterburner clone, but with horrible restraints. Ride wise, its fine. Program is long and great. But, the ride is too small for the park. 24 seats is not enough and so, it has 60-90 minutes waits all the time! *** Edited 5/31/2007 3:07:49 PM UTC by Absimilliard***

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Chooch249 said:

I know the Cedar Point "Troika" was called the "Super Star" down there as well (I ride I LOVED as a kid)... I wonder what the real name of that is? Cedar Pt was another one to rename almost all their flat rides.

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The actual ride from HUSS is called the Troika, no name change there. KI also has one called the Shake, Rattle and Roll.

Tom