NC State Fair 10/16/04 ..Breaking my fear of flats

I think i read a statistic that said that NC has the largest agricultural state fair in the US. This year we had over 100 rides and attractions, contributed by Reithoffer shows ( ? spelling ). This wont be a long report, I just wanted to hit on my 2 highlights of the fair.

I have never been able to tolerate flat rides, they tend to make me incredibly nauseated, but I can ride any coaster out there. However, I decided to combat my fear of monster, multi-rotational flats, because it had been years since I had tested any of them out, and I wanted to know if they would still make me sick.

I only wanted to comment on 2 of them, because all the other ones were standard fair fare, Kamikaze, Ring of Fire, etcetcetc. First off the fair had a Zamperla Power Surge. Can i just say what a freaking incredible experience that was ! I had to ride by myself, because my buddy would not ride. Needless to say in a car by yourself, your seat will spin alot more than a normal seat with 2 people in it. Thankfully I ended up with a seat that went forward during the ride's run. I cant imagine facing backwards during the duration, I truly probably would have been sick. Even though I was a little shaky when i got off, i've got to say that the Power Surge was probably the most incredible flat ride experience ive ever had. Hopefully there will be some spring up at major parks. I cant imagine why there arent, because the line for it was incredibly long all day.

We also had a Tango, but the wait was simply unreal. Probably at least an hour, and I decided to skip it simply because of the wait.

The other one was a ride by KMG called Freak Out, i think it may be their Afterburner? Anyways, its a giant pendulum that swings almost vertical, and the seats are facing inward, legs dangling, and they seats spin around at a quick clip while the pendulum swings. Talk about some incredible G's at the bottom of the swing too. Going from airtime at the top of the swing to leg tingling G's at the bottom of the swing was incredible. Oddly enough , It didnt make me sick either, so maybe it was all a mental thing? Who knows, but I am now a lover of a good flat :)

Thanks for reading guys, and if you get a chance you should check out our State Fair. The only downside is there are no wrist bands, so you have to purchase tickets to ride each ride.

Glad to read this TR. I am going to the NC State fair next Sunday (the fairs last day). I'm so glad they went with Reithoffer Shows this year. The NC Fair has had a lonnnnng tradition with Strates Shows but the midway just never had any of the new and exciting thrill rides you see and hear about.

Just curious if the NCSF had the Flitzer coaster there. They call it the Racing Coaster.

I've been on Rheithofer's "The Claw", a KMG Afterburner, and it was just as much fun as Delirium.

Glad you had fun, and a major tip on nausea, I get that way too with flats. Go and buy some Ginger pills. It sounds weird, but it really does work. Eat some bread, or subs w/veggies, take 2 ginger pills, and dring plenty of water, while laying off of grease(hard @ a fair, esp in the south, I know!). Trust me, it works wonders!

If you like flats, you've got to ride the Mondial Top Scan. That ride is total insanity

Thanks Tekno, i will definitely have to try that. Believe it or not i didnt have too much grease, just a deep fried Snickers...hehe

Swampfoxer if I'm not mistaken they did have that coaster called the Racing coaster.

^^Cool! That's the Flitzer. Neat little ride. Also, it's getting harder to find these little coasters but they are quite fun to ride.

The KMG Freak Out is the KMG Afterburner's little brother. I rode it at the Maryland State Fair this summer. Whereas the Afterburner has six sweeps, the Freak Out only has four, making for a very tight spin. It also sweeps in a different direction. The Afterburner sweeps parallel to the loading platform, while the Freak Out sweeps 180 degrees to the loading platform.

By the way, you didn't miss much by skipping the Tango. Both my friend and I found it to be extremely uncomfortable on the collar bone due to the vest restraint. I'm glad you liked the Power Surge. I think there are only a few fixed installations of it (including Knoebels). My friend says that a lot of people are instituting a no single rider policy on it, probably because it's inconvenient when the seat doesn't upright itself due to inbalance of weight. *** Edited 10/20/2004 11:43:57 PM UTC by Intamin Fan***

Wow...nice TR. At least someone enjoyed a trip on the Reithoffer midway this season, because I know I didn't. They played three fairs this year in my area and I attended all of them just to be disappointed by what was lacking, not just in rides but in customer service and atmosphere.

I didn't mind the rides at the Bloomsburg Fair this year. I had probably my craziest Zipper ride ever. I swear our car flipped at least 7 times.

Although I didn't care for The Claws ride cycle. It just swung back and forth like a swing ship and spun for 3/4 of the ride or more. The last 20 seconds or so I picked up to full speed and full swing. By the time it started to get cool it was already stopping.

I'm still bummed out The Wall Of Death wasn't there this year. It's probably my favorite thing to see there although the Figure 8 race may be my new faavorite! Talk about crazy! :)

Intamin Fan, let me tell ya, riding single in a Power Surge is something wild. As soon as the car unlocked to begin , my car did a complete flip, it totally caught me off guard.... At the end of the ride cycle, the ride simply stops rotating, and i was left hanging facing downward towards the ground, with my car just spinning. Now if only my home park of PKD would get one...*sigh*

I didnt ride the Claw, we had one as well as the Freak Out, but the Claw just didnt even look to have the intensity of the Freak Out.

We also had a version of the Kamikaze where your feet hung off of the seat, that did an amazing 20 complete revolutions..10 frontwards, 10 backwards. Definitely your 5 tickets worth !!!

Powersurge has been out on the market since at least the late 90's, so I can't see them springing up at parks now...

I can't imagine waiting that long for rides at a fair, at my home fair (the MNSF) there is no POP, and an independant midway. Some rides bring in over $100,000 in a 12 day run, yet most of the time every ride is walk on, or 10-15 min wait at most.

I'm glad you had a good time, and if you think Power Surge was extreme, wait till you get on some of the big Mondial pieces :-)

Cameron, boy do you have it right about the Mondial rides. The Top Scan is now my favorite; I've never ridden a Power Surge.