What are your views on Flat Rides.

Good afternoon fellow ride lovers,

I was just wanted to see how many of you feel about alot of these parks, taking out older classic rides such as the old mills, Noah Ark's and Fun houses, along with other stuff such as flying scooters, tumble bugs,a steeple chase and zip o planes and jumbo jet coasters Rainbows. I know that alot of these people don't ride anymore and parks seem to destroy for newer ride space such as coasters and other new rides.

I was wondering if you any of you people think that these rides are worth keeping,?Also if a ride manufacturer was able to reproduce or make these rides available to parks, Would this be something that you would want your park to have instead of a roller coaster every other year.

IMO , I feel that parks these days, need to bring back older flat rides or do something more original then out of the box rides, which there is nothing wrong with, because I just feel like nowadays parks don't have any good flats rides that are relaxing or thrilling enough for the whole family to enjoy, it seems they are either too fast and big these days. I know that some oldre rides are instense as well , but i think that parks should keep many of these rides for our historical purposes and not rip them down or maybe move them to a different section of the park.

Thanks for you time,

Wood Coaster Fan

I'm sure these classic flat rides are a blast. Hearing stories of the Whip, Roll-o-Plane, and Tumble Bug at Riverview from my grandma really make me want to visit Kennywood and Little A-merrik-a. One ride that I'd really like to try, but doubt any exist, is a boomerang. I've seen a few pictures of Riverview's, and it looks like a very interesting ride.

While I personally love a lot of the older flats you're talking about, WoodFan, it makes a lot of economic sense for a park to take them out if they are A. expensive to maintain and B. not drawing the crowds. Some parks like Kennywood or Knoebels manage to do fine with keeping these historical treasures up and running, whilst other parks pull them out without a second thought for a newer flat or a mouse coaster.

I think they're worth keeping, but then again I'm not a CFO of a large theme park trying to balance the budget for that big CCI or steel coaster I put in a few years ago.

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Mike Miller

"You're mental, Trouble Boy!"

Old Rides must go for new rides to come in. Just like Shockwave went for Superman. Of course those old rides are great fun but maintance must be horrible on those things. Plus, some rides just cost too much to keep going if riders aren't going to ride.

A subject near and dear to my heart! All parks need a good mix of rides to appeal to all types of guests. Many large parks have forgotten that big, screaming coasters with 7 inversions do not appeal to all guests, and can't be ridden by the younger crowd or many older guests (not to mention the ones that just don't like rollercoasters).
The parks that have opted to keep the older rides around have found that in many cases they are just as--or more--reliable than newer ones. Although parts may be difficult to find, maintenance procedures are simpler and there are no complex electronics to fail.
While sometimes older rides must be removed due to structural failure (fatigue) or complete unavailability of parts (mfr. out of business), many have continued to provide fun for every new generation.
Some of my personal favorites: Traver Tumble Bug, Mangles Whip, PTC Cuddle-Up, Eli #16 Wheel, Herschell Looper, Bisch-Rocco Flying Skooter, and Lusse Autoscooters.

Just my 2 bits.....

I belive the flats are very important to a park. They round out the park and add entertainment that a roller coaster cannot.

Often, if an older flat is well mantained, it can still draw the crowds. As mentioned, the older flats are often easier to mantain as they are sipler in operation, they have less that can go wrong. And delive it or not, there are lots of parts out there to be had. All of those little parks that have closed in the last 50 years had these flats, and they were often removed and sold after a park closed since they are pretty portable.

Personally, I think that one of the older flats, the flying skooters, is the most thilling and down right scary ride out there, so yes, even in this day of high tech entertainment they have a place.

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"If you make it too smooth, it'll be like sitting in your living room."
-Bill Cobb - Designer, Texas Cyclone

All I can say is... if it says Zipper on it, I am all over it!;)
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www.tripowered.com

While I love old rides I do believe that new rides should come into play. I really loved the sky ride that use to be at my home par, but if it was still there than we wouldnt have an inverter (which has really began to suck and i now think it should go, or at leaste get renovated). But I dthink that some old rides should stay while the crummier ones leave so new rides can come into play.

The Roll-O-Plane reminded me a medieval torture device.

....not that I've had experience with such things. That's not my bag, baby. But...well, yeah.

I wouldn't miss the ride, but I wouldn't mind seeing the few remaining kept around as museum pieces, either.

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~~~ Maddy ~~~
"Stalkee: The woman everybody wants"

Flat rides are the bread and butter of any park, whether it's a theme park or a small traditional park.

I especially love the Whip, Tilt-W-Whirl, and Music Express rides that have been around forever.....and we can't forget the drop towers!! All of them!

Cedar Downs is one of my all-time favorite flat rides.

The newer rides such as Chaos, the Powersurge, and the the HUSS frisbees are the best!

I love flat rides just as much as coasters, and I think most people here feel the same.

Tina

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Feel The Adrenaline....
www.intenserides.com

OK bad experience on tilt-a-whirls as a young child, will never get in one again. They can be removed from all the parks in the world for all I care. That and the flying eagles. Just don't like the *snap* of the wires, though I know they're safe.

Though, any other flat ride out there is great and adds to the trills of the park. Not everyone is up to riding big rides and the just like the low to the ground things for their thrills. You gotta have a good variety to make everyone happy.

*** This post was edited by BeastFreak on 12/8/2002. ***

Older *mechanicals* ROCK the house!!! I've yet to get on the Rock-o-Plane, but the Roll-O and the Loop-O both left me feeling a bit nauseous...:). That's OK, but a way to really *brake* them at the end of the ride would've been better for my equilibrium. Did get my first ride AFAIK on a Zipper just last weekend, and it was COOL! Hard to believe it, I remember seeing one a LONG time ago at PKD even. Had a more recent chance at LeSourdsville, but passed for some reason...*EAGLE*....Anyone that hasn't ridden a Flyers just doesn't know what they're missing.

Flyer Fanatics' motto: "If they allow snapping, the park's hap'ning, if you can't FLY, walk on by..."

Cedar Downs...awesome, ALWAYS gets a few spins...never CAN figure out why I always end up on the horse headed straight for the glue factory...;). Auto Skooters! Noah's Ark! Enterprise! Falling Star!

Also love Chaos for the *control* over the flipping....think that helps stave off nausea, as does a multitude of rotational axes....(yet another theory from the gator, lol)...Of the newer flats, I love the Inverters and TopSpins/TopScans...I can *flip* all day, *spinning* however, is a limited-time offer....

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nasai said:

All I can say is... if it says Zipper on it, I am all over it!
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www.tripowered.com

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Rob, I haven't ridden a Zipper since 1976 at the Oregon State Fair.I do remember enjoying the ride ,though:).I dont know if my 43 year old body could withstand all that flipping now.The last time I rode the Octopus at Thrillville,USA,I was hugging The Great White God of Porcelain leaving my offering after my ride.I am willing to try the Zipper again,however.The worst thing that would happen is the ride op may have a mess to clean up and I would have to sit down for a few minutes to regain myself.Funny how I can still ride coasters all day and I don't get the least bit sick.I marathoned on the PNE Coaster a few years ago and the only thing I felt afterward was happy!

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Lets' save the Vancouver PNE Coaster before its'too late!

The Tilt-a-Whirl is a classic example. Over a thousand are still running, in both traditional amusement parks and carnivals. You can even rent one for a day or a week for a birthday party or church or school festival. There is a website and a monthly magazine. All parts are still made and the ride itself is still manufactured at a plant you can walk through on public tour. Engineers and physicists consider the TW the purest expression of several mathematical formulas. Research on Chaos Theory is done using Tilt a Whirls. Several doctoral dissertations have been written on the movement. Engineering schools have scale models of the Tilt A Whirl for lab studies. A German company makes a working electric HO Gauge model. Various sets of plans can be purchased for building riding models at home. High school physics classes build working models for final exams in mechanics units.

Not bad for a 70 year old flat ride which is merely a multiply hinged revolving platform with seven wheeled cars pivoting around simple hubs.

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nasai said:

All I can say is... if it says Zipper on it, I am all over it!
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www.tripowered.com

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This qualifies you for M:TR I believe...

Weeee! I can rent a Tilt for my birthday!!!??!!! Does that come with a Tilt operator?

Seriously, the Tilt is one of those rides that has 'withstood the test of time'. Its a very simple ride that produces a wide range of experiences and is found to be fun by young and old alike.

I almost feel ashamed that I went to Minnesota and didn't ride any of the numerous Tilt-A-Whirl's I came accross while up there. Almost, not quite, as my last Tilt-A-Whirl experience at LeSourdsville Lake included a psychotic carney who knew how to manipulate the speed to cause selected tubs (aka: my tub) to spin madly out of control. "I never knew a Tilt could do THAT!". It musta been psychotic carney day at LeSourdsville that day, becuase the day also included a Zipper ride that was almost non-stop flippage again ("I never saw a Zipper flip like THAT", then there was.......

Note that Psychotic Carneys are GOOD things.

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David Bowers
Mayor, Coasterville

We caught one of those *PCs* at Astroland...some sort of Himalaya ride Jill wanted to do....we went zooming virtually until my vision blurred, then he turned it around and REALLY cranked it up.....good times!

I love both old and new flats. The Jumping Jack Flash (Huss Jump), Pendulum (Huss Frisbee), top Spins, and the Evolution at SFGAdv are insanely great, but the old Tilt-A-Whirls and Zippers are equally as good. Too bad age means that I can't enjoy them nearly as often as I used to. :)

In my opinion, YES you should have new and old flat rides in your park! My home park is Kennywood Park in West miffin, PA. If you didn't know Kennywood has alot of older rides, but still today they are still fun to ride! The Whip, Turtle known as the (Tumble bug) Partrooper, Kangaroo, Bayern Kurve, Old mill, and the Flying Carpet. The Kangaroo being the only one left in the world, is still very popular especially for the smaller children, the lines are always long all day! But back to the Topic, Kennywood itself is also bringing in the New rides, and that's why I think parks should bring back the older rides, because they are still very popular;)

It would be interesting to see a survey about the older rides vs. new...one that included only the age and sex of the participants.

I still love the older flats. Scrambler and Tilt A Whirl have been around for as long as I can remember. The older Octopus was much more fun than the current Monster ride. It's been ages since I've been on a whip.

What I really miss are the old fun houses or Cakewalks. You can occasionally find a decent one at state fair or large travelling carnival.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead