AMUSEMENT RIDES

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One of the coolest looking rides on the midway.....the Allan Herschell SKYWHEEL. Check your next local carnival or state fair---they are usually found there, towering 90 feet above everything else. And at night......wow. A model can be seen here.

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The Flying Scooters (or Flying Eagles/Flyers as they were sometimes called) date back to the 30's and are considered by many to be the best amusement ride besides a coaster. I wholeheartedly agree. Nothing beats an interactive ride, not to mention an an unpredictable ride that frightens the crap out of those riding AND watching! It is worth the time to practice a few rounds on these. A Flyers master will be able to shift his or her weight and use the right amount of turn to the fin to create a little slack in the cables. Once going, you should be able to act like a swing set on steroids.......that is, turn your fin out just BEFORE coming in all the way. That will make the slack of the car catch up. If done right, your car will come back in towards the ride, slow up a bit while the arms above get ahead of you, then WHACK! You and everyone in a 5 mile radius will hear and feel the snap of the cables as the car catches the momentum again, thrusting it outward for yet another turn! At Knoebel's (PA) and Kings Island (OH), you will find the best examples of this ride. Knoebel's (white) are the lightest, with canvas fins and wooden benches. I was able to continuously snap my car from 10 seconds into the ride until 4 minutes later when it stopped! And that's snapping it everytime it went out, AND came back in. Kings Island's on the other hand (blue), are a bit more consistent, having more weight from sheet metal fins. They are my favorite ones overall, and an added bonus is padded seats! The photos show my brother and I soaring high above Kings Island. I also completed a working model of this very same ride, in its original Coney Island colors, where it will sit in my N scale amusement park.

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Everyone loves a good haunted house, and besides the Skywheel and Scooters, I have yet to find a more thrilling ride! Folks, I can't even come close to explaining the outstanding props and detail found at the Haunted Mansions at the Disney parks. But a close second (and this park has so many world class experiences) is the Haunted House at Knoebel's in Elysburg, PA. Right now it costs seperate of the ride pass (to deter vandalism), but it is well worth it. It has a nifty ride through system, and countless rooms and corridors filled with the best effects outside of the Mouse. Here a couple of young guests barely made it out alive...

Click HERE for a sneak peek at the house inside and out.

The Roll-O-Plane is quite unique in its movements, giving the feeling of barrel rolls and dives. The cars are geared so that they never go upside down, rather tip you on your sides and let you feel as though you are in an aerobatics plane (it's only fitting, since the manufacturer is an aeronautics firm!). Lots of smaller parks have these, but only a handful actually tilt like they should (which is fun if you ride with someone). This one is at Knoebel's in Elysburg, PA. Other good ones can be found at Kennywood (PA) and Conneaut Lake (PA).

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The Rock-O-Plane is like a ferris wheel on crack. The main structure rotates like a wheel, but you can freely spin your individual cars. It's loads of fun to get your car spinning in fast tight circles......nearly impossible to stop! Unfortunately only a handful remain, and you are lucky if you see one. These are at Wyandot Lake in Columbus (since moved to Oregon), and a festival in Circleville Ohio, respectively.

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A Fly-O-Plane is the most attractive looking "O-Plane" ride. The cockpits feel like the Roll-O-Plane, but instead you have two steering wheels (for two riders). Once the ride begins to turn, the cables attatched to each plane wrap around the center post. This makes the planes rise above the crowd, allowing plenty of space to perform your aerobatic maneuvers. You can roll either direction, but be careful that you don't get stuck upside down! The G's make it difficult to right yourself until the ride slows down. The challenge is to engage in a continuous roll....I reached 15 before calling it quits. :) The one shown is very rare, and resides at Lake Winnepasukah in Rossville, Georgia, next to the famous Cannonball coaster.

Yet another "O-Plane" by Eyerly, the Loop-O-Plane is a double sided pendulum ride that swings the cars on opposite directions, sending riders on a fast, tight circular journey. Here you see a beautifully restored one at a setup in Chesterland, Ohio.

The bumper cars! Can anyone think of a better way to combine the release of driving frustrations and good old fashioned fun? The best ones I have found are at Lake Winnepasukah in Rossville, Georgia, and Knoebel's in Elysburg, PA. They have twice the speed and punch of any others. Winnie's are the standard fiberglass cars and are fast. The Skooters (shown above) at Knoebel's are the most famous, known for their antique design and heavy, hard hits. You can really send someone flying across the floor!

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The INTAMIN GIANT WHEELS are gigantic spider-like ferris wheels that offer a relaxing and fun view of the area from 120'. Intamin has offered two styles over the years, a Double wheel and Triple wheel. The Double (shown above, at Hersheypark in PA) acts like a teeter totter and spins one side while the other loads. The seats are able to spin as well! Kings Island used to have one of these. The Triple version was only found at either Great America park in Calif. and Illinois. Both have been removed as of 2001, and are seeking buyers. They operated since 1976 and have 3 arms, each holding a wheel of 12 cars. The whole structure rotated in 3 positions so that two were always up and the other loading.

The Turtle, or BUG ride, dates to the early 1900's. There are only 4 left operating that I know of, 2 original styles and 2 more recent styles. The picture shows the "Turtle" themed bug at Kennywood in Pittsburgh below the Steel Phantom. This is one of two originals, while the more barrel-shaped ones (like at Coney Island/Kings Island, OH) were built later on.

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Left: The best scrambler I have been on (out of about 40 lol). This one used to operate at LeSourdsville Lake in Ohio. Right: Have you ever been on a scrambler for 9 1/2 minutes???? Let me tell you---nothing beats those friday nights in 1998 at Wyandot Lake. Here I am whizzing around with a Rock-O-Plane, another favorite of mine, in the background. Wyandot has since been sold to the Columbus Zoo and renamed Zoombezi Bay.

The Yo Yo is a take on the typical swing ride. However, this version is made by Chance Rides and features a single row of HEAVY seats and bars. When combined with the tilt of the ride, you find yourself tipping forwards and backwards as you make each revolution. This is much scarier than it looks, and to ride the one shown (at Indiana Beach) takes bravery as you are over water the whole time!

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The Rotor was a common ride that unfortunately has all but vanished from parks. This is the barrel that pins you to the wall while the floor drops! Very few are left, and Columbus, Ohio is fortunate to say that they have one. Here I am next to the wonderfully themed rotor at COSI, the science museum downtown on Broad St. The right photo shows the one at Geauga Lake near Cleveland shortly before its removal.

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All images copyright Brad Sherman unless noted otherwise. Logos copyright their respective sources.