Stationary Zippers?

Just going over some video from last summer and I have a some footage of the Zipper at Trimper's in Ocean City.

Is it true that this is the last one with a permanent, non-traveling home?

Wikipedia lists it as such, but I really can't believe there's no other Zipper in the world that's not nomadic.

I've always heard that Trimper's was the only permanent amusement park ever to have a Zipper. Yes, every other Zipper in the world travels. I believe Neverland had one, and it's the only example that springs to mind, but does it really count? Was that place ever open to the public, even for a day? Somehow I doubt it. Besides, Mike practically bought the entire Chance catalogue and from photos they look like nothing more than portable rides in a nice setting.

It's such a GREAT ride, would be nice to see them more often.

I remember there being 2 of them at the Lake County Fair in Crown Point, IN, when I was a kid - it was a HUGE fair, so they had lots of rides.

There sure don't seem to be as many traveling here in the US anymore. I think there may have been some accidents.

I had 110 flips back in 1999 - I would have no interest in doing that these days though! That was crazy. Such a great ride!

My zipper is stationary most of the time.

...Wait

I love Zipper rides, but I rarely get to ride them. First of all, they are hard to find. Second, the times that I find them they don't allow single riders, and I am either alone or with someone who doesn't want to ride.

It's one of my favorite rides, and I've only rode one a few times. :(

I fear now I am "too old" to enjoy a Zipper.

...And the innuendo here was completely unintended.

Innuendo, and out the other, I suppose...

LeSourdsville Lake had a Zipper as part of its ride complement in the 2002 season. If the park had continued, its Zipper would have been permanent...

It seems the Skydiver gets more still dates than the Zipper, for some reason.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Hmmm. Just found it a little hard to believe that just one of these in the world has a permanent home.

That's a fun fact.

I saw a modern picture of a Zipper in some park just a few days ago. It wasn't Trimpers, but I can't think of what the park was...I just remember thinking, "Hmm, I wouldn't think this park would have a Zipper."

I may be mistaken, but I really don't believe I am.

I don't know why so few parks had Zippers but one reason they were popular among traveling carnivals was because of their excellent portability. Zippers were one of the few "spectacular" rides that could travel on a single trailer. The setup time was also quicker than for rides such as the Skydiver and the Turbo. The one major drawback for the Zipper was it's low capacity.

There were indeed some serious accidents involving Zippers back during the 1970s attributed to a faulty latch design. Some of these were fatal and this led to the Consumer Product Safety Commission issuing warnings about the ride. The latches had to be changed as a result of this. Many parks might have shied away from the Zipper because of the bad safety reputation that the ride had for a while.

Dave -LeSourdsville's was most definitely up and running when we visited on the unexpected grand reopening of Screechin' Eagle. And that Zipper *rocked*! :)

Between the safety issues Arthur noted and being a capacity nightmare, not surprising you don't see them around much anymore...

What about the Puyallup Fair near Seattle? Isn't that a permanent carnival?

Also, Coney used to have one across from Deno's. Definitely need more zippers at parks! Such a crazy good flat ride!

Yeah, it's good. Good at dislodging food from my stomach and making it land in a trash can. I used to be able to ride those all day long, now I'm lucky if I can even look at one.

Anyone seen the Canadian film "Rollercoaster"? A teenage boy locked the perverted security guard into a Zipper ride and turned it on and left as revenge for doing inappropriate things with him. That was a really cool movie. lol

Unless it involves Helen Hunt, I'm uninterested.

I know this has come up before but in light of the conversation bears repeating. World's fastest Zipper ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F2k-jiQQAg

No way. I'd love to, but I wouldn't make it out alive.

http://www.angelfire.com/nj/wwbysea/MOREYS/zipper.htm

^^^That is truly insane. I think I'll take a pass too.

I read somewhere that the first few production models had larger motors and it was so intense, they started using smaller motors. I wonder if that one was one of the original models?

I always thought they could build a large version of the ride for permanent installation.

LostKause said:
Anyone seen the Canadian film "Rollercoaster"? A teenage boy locked the perverted security guard into a Zipper ride and turned it on and left as revenge for doing inappropriate things with him. That was a really cool movie. lol

Find a clip Travis! I'd like to see that.

Sounds kinda like some of the CP managers when I worked there ;)

Here is the IMDB page for the movie Rollercoaster and here is the trailer, which doesn't include a hint of the Zipper scene, unfortunately. :( That's the most info on the movie that I can find, Billy.

I bet Netflix has it if you wanted to see it. For an indie film, it's really good.

Sorry to go so far off topic. I keep doing that.