The Zipper. WOW!!!!

That's one ride I've never been on. It's always unnerved me. Once, in the summer of '98 I worked up the courage to ride one (the influence of peers and wanting to impress young ladies will do that ya know). However, as were were queuing, they had to shut the ride and hose off a "protein spill." The girls in our group were like 'no thanks', and so we all passed. That was the last time I ever even came close to a Zipper. My wife doesnt like spinny/flippy rides and my kids are still too young.

Of course, by the time they are old enough to want to ride those, they'll be "too cool" to ride with Dad. 'Le Sigh!'

The Zipper is my lifelong favorite ride!! I don't think it gets better than Zipper! The strange accelerations and G forces and getting whipped around make this ride amazing. Also the constant sound of metal screws clanking around as if the damn thing could fall apart at any second. The only flat rides that come near it (IMO) are the Chance Chaos rides and the Hi Rollers by Larson. I actually haven't seen either of those for a lonnngggg time.. the last Chaos I remember was at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk but got taken out at least 5 years ago. Haven't seen a Hi Roller at any fairs in the last few years. I always have to track down a Zipper at least once a year!

I have 2 interesting zipper stories

*In high school in the late 90s, a friend and I rode the zipper at the county fair 20+ times in a day. My friend ended up throwing up inside our cage, and thank goodness it was after the ride stopped and we were just slowly rotating to load and unload. I made him tell the employee what he did and he helped clean it up real quick hahaha, I couldn't have a carny have to deal with that alone! But gosh, imaging barf splashing around in your cage throughout that ride... Noooooooo...

*This year at EDC Las Vegas (a huge 3 day long rave at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway), they had lots of of crazy carnival rides, with unlimted free rides on all rides up until 5 in the morning! I am ashamed to say... I took some drugs, and rode the zipper, and it may have been the best ride experience I've ever had in my entire life. I of course would never condone drug use... but I mean, if the opportunity arises to ride the Zipper under those conditions, you might have to take it...

2Hostyl

+1. Good to have you around, even occasionally.... :)

Yes. Been a while.

Man I might just love the zipper more than most coasters. Face down to the ground. Upside-down from the top to the bottom...yah. I always hoped they would build a large capacity version for parks, but I'm sure they could never replicate that freaky feeling of being in a wild-a$$ deathtrap.

I also always thought it would be cool to cross it with a coaster somehow. I guess Fiesta Texas (S&S) has come close, but that seems like such a short ride.

Jan... what's that ride at Fiesta Texas called?

My craziest Zipper ride... my friend and I mentioned to the "carney" how we loved the ride, and he got our tub to flip 38 times in a row—NOT Exaggerating. It was awesome, but my friend was out of commission for a couple of hours.

GooDFeLLoW said:

Jan... what's that ride at Fiesta Texas called?

Batman: The Ride.

http://rcdb.com/12283.htm

And it's not that great. Not much flipping and not much interesting stuff happening on the course. It's really more just rocking.

Come to Puyallup. More than happy to share a ride with anyone on the Zipper. Best flat, bar none.

You are so right about that ride being close to The Zipper! It seems to be almost the same as Green Lantern at Six Flags Magic Mountain (http://rcdb.com/9519.htm), although manufactured by a different company. Coincidentally I just went on Green Lantern for the first time a few months ago, and it is INTENSE; with a similar intensity to The Zipper. It looks like the Green Lantern track layout might have turns/rotations that are tighter than Batman: The Ride. But man the G forces were crazy, and so unexpected. 2 people I was with, a girl and a guy both young, refused to go on it ever again haha. But yes I would say Green Lantern and other similar 4th dimensions give quite similar sensations to the Zipper

--Josh--