Zipper flat ride at Amusement parks

You're just not riding the right flat rides. :)

Mondial's Topscan and KMG's Afterburner are my personal favorites. Give those a shot and see what you think.

-Nate

I've never ridden a Zipper, but it seems to be quite similar to the Rock-o-Plane, which is my favorite flat ride.

However I have ridden very few of the newer-concept flat rides.... only Top Spin.

------------------
A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

Den - having ridden both Zipper and Rock-o-Plane I can tell you they are *nothing* alike! Both are excellent flats but Zippers are, IMO, more intense and much more unpredictable and "scary."

Next time you see a Zipper grab a friend and ride. You won't be sorry!

------------------
Humor Ingredients: all natural flavors, some artificial additives. Sold by weight, not volume. 100% satisfaction not guaranteed. Void in Texas and Puerto Rico.

Yup...I'm with you on that. Best flat out there. We just need Huss to develop a 'giant' version. :)

------------------
"Know thyself!"

Rock-O-Plane at LL was VERY painful on the thighs, but you had a lot more control than on Zipper and Chaos.

------------------
Joe Barnett
Forum Moderator/Editorial Writer
www.pkiunlimited.com

dorney ac13 said:
http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/prhtml77/77098.html

Just so you know, that warning was issued in 1977.

------------------
Please visit the small parks. We don't know what's happening behind the scenes
Woodencoaster.com

Moosh - my brother keeps telling me the same thing. There's a Zipper annually at the county fair so I am definitely going this year... (was out of state last year during the fair).

BTW - the Franklin County Fair in Columbus has a great selection of flats, I hear, but no one around here goes in favor of the Ohio State Fair across town...

------------------
A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

Den - make sure you ride twice. Like the Chaos you stand the chance of having really great rides or incredibly boring rides. But there is a moment on the Zipper that still scares the crap outta me: hitting "the edge" while travelling forward. You'll know it when it happens ;)

Moosh

------------------
Humor Ingredients: all natural flavors, some artificial additives. Sold by weight, not volume. 100% satisfaction not guaranteed. Void in Texas and Puerto Rico.

Never ridden a Chaos either!

On the Rock-o-Plane, I love going over the top at the same time you are rocking backwards. So much fun. I also love hanging upside down when the attendant is trying to unload you. ;)

------------------
A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

Zippers terrify me (hehehe). I haven't been on one since a carnival in 1991, when I "hit the edge while travelling forward," and promised God that if I didn't die, I'd never ride the Zipper again. Before that one incident, I used to really enjoy them though. :)

------------------
UpsideDawnGrrl

Den - Rock-o-Planes are cool because you can control your own insanity. The sheer brilliance of the terror a Zipper can create is that you are at its mercy ;)

DeltaDawn - you were heading towards the ground when that happened, weren't you? Nothing quite as unnerving as seeing the ground and people below rushing towards you ;)

------------------
Humor Ingredients: all natural flavors, some artificial additives. Sold by weight, not volume. 100% satisfaction not guaranteed. Void in Texas and Puerto Rico.

Yes, Moosh. It was scary. :( I'm OK now though, with all the medication and therapy. :)

For all the crazy/insane/stupid things roller coasters do these days, I've never felt 'unsafe.' The Zipper though...every ride feels like you're taunting death...saying "here death, death, death (1)" and then you flip your car just right and save yourself. Hmm...I may have to try one again... :)

(1) that was supposed to read like "here kitty, kitty, kitty" but I think it might get lost by the reader.
------------------
UpsideDawnGrrl
*** This post was edited by dawnmarie313 2/19/2003 4:11:57 PM ***

Dawn - I got the death/here kitty reference. Maybe someday I'll get you back on a Zipper ;)

------------------
Humor Ingredients: all natural flavors, some artificial additives. Sold by weight, not volume. 100% satisfaction not guaranteed. Void in Texas and Puerto Rico.

What fascinates me is that the Zipper is the only ride where I quite literally could not help but to scream in utter terror. I purposefully scream on coasters, because it's just fun to do. But as my two older brothers watched my first ride from the ground, they said they could sense* the fear coming from my car.

* hear very loudly, above all other noise in the state of Maryland

------------------
-Vater
Take a ride...

So, Mooshie, would that be me or you "converting"? ;)

The whole footnoting thing does take away from the humor. I should just let people 'get it' on their own.
------------------
UpsideDawnGrrl
*** This post was edited by dawnmarie313 2/19/2003 4:34:31 PM ***

Moosh,

So true about having to ride twice because that "hitting the edge while going forward" may happen once or twice during your ride or not happen at all. A VERY intense feeling. That one day I did about 15 spins in a row it took all the fun out of it. Talk about feeling out of control! The car just wouldn't stop spinning. My father-in-law was on it with me and he ended up having a nechache for about a week.

I went on one with my daughter the other day(8) and she thought it was way cool. The ride really flings you around. She's a MF and skyscraper veteran so I guess at this point nothing scares her. We went on 3 times and I felt like garbage after the third time. I'm not as young as I used to be.

Anyone remember the Skydiver wheel? Talk about crushing the person next to you when the car passes the loading platform each time. SQUISSSHHH!

Zippers. Rule.

Not as much as Afterburners or well-run Waltzers, perhaps, but for sheer fun randomness (I too have experienced "hitting the edge while going forward" :) ) there really isn't much that comes close.

I haven't been on a Skydiver in a while, but Lakemont has one. I can't ever seem to find a fellow victim, er, riding partner, willing to go on it with me, though.

------------------
--Greg, aka Oat Boy
My page
"Friendship -- more lasting than love, more legal than stalking."
*** This post was edited by GregLeg 2/19/2003 4:37:25 PM ***

Whenever I board a Zipper, I can't help thinking: "OK, this was put together by carnies. They probably weren't drunk yet when they put it together. OK, so it IS held together by a few bolts that are exposed to wind, sun, and rain year round, and maintenance at your average carnival usually consists of some fat dude saying "that looks about right" on his way to the corn dog trailer for dinner. So what if this ride might possibly do serious damage to my neck vertabrae by pile-driving my head into the generous 1/4-inch-thick padding on the roof. None of that matters. Life is but a dream, anyways".

That's why I love the Zipper.

------------------
Mike Miller - Harbinger Of Doom - Killer Of Threads - Cheap Rates, Ask About Our Special!

I have ridden the Zipper once, but was not overly impressed. I believe we just got a crappy car that did not want to flip no matter how hard we tried. We went back later to try and get a better car but decided to skip it as someone had just gotten sick. Normally that is a non-issue, they clean it up and move on, however we were blessed with a top notch ride operator who threw a bucket of water into the car to wash it out....and then started the ride with the remaining riders I for one, was having no part of being dripped upon with a mixture of vomit & water. I felt bad for those who were on and got hit with it.

Being that it has been many years since that, I am trying to remember the loading procedure. Since the cars are free swinging, would it be possible to stop the structure horizontal instead of vertical so you could load several cars at a time? If the cars are truly free swinging, they should revert to the same position as the bottom, or in other words, upright. Like I said, I don't fully remember the loading process so I could be way off base. And since ride designers usually try to speed up the loading/unloading process, I am sure there is some aspect I am missing for this one.

john peck said:
LeSourdville Lakes is now gone.

You sure about this? As of a couple weeks ago the Pirat was still there.

Chuck, trying to get some info from Frank B or Scott Fowler but I've been told a definete yes for opening this year

------------------
Charles Nungester.
Confirmed, Lesourdsville Lake opening for 2003 details soon at Lesourdsville.com