Even though it was a walk on, still took about 10 minutes to get on.
Bullet was next.
Textbook Cedar Fair queue line.
Its "The Raging Bull Thing"
Fiesta Village wasnt open yet, so I had to walk around it to get to the Boardwalk.
Mack spinning coaster.
Ran into another area not open yet.
A train actually cycled as I walked by so I took some pics.
Silver Bullets really lame until the very end when theres a super intense helix. Not sure why they designed one element to be intense when the rest of the ride isnt.
Dont know what prompted the idea for the entirely red lift.
Got to stand here for awhile and listen to an employee be upset he's not allowed to wear a black undershirt.
Gave the Boomerang a pity ride...never doing that again.
I was the only one on the train and it still took 7 minutes to load.
Down for rehab.
Down cause its broked.
Turbo drop.
Has a nice view, like most S&S Towers its pretty boring.
Knott in service.
This did not look like it was going to operate anytime soon (was closed the day before also).
Random dude cleaning the bottom of supports.
Awesome flywheel shuttle loop coaster.
Revolucion was broke.
Litter bins.
Meh
Rode the figure 8 booster bike coaster.
Stupid wireless microphone, I dont care who's dating who.
hahah go Knotts! I got so annoyed trying to get on rides when the majority of the park "opens at 11". Revolucion seems to always be broken..........oh and next time ride the horse carriage!
http://themeparkcritic.com/scripts/profile/ViewProfile.asp?ViewID=2909 A furious storm once roared `cross the sea, catching ships in its path, helpless to flee. Instead of a certain and watery doom, the winds swept them here to Typhoon Lagoon!
That Xcelerator really needs to be painted. Even though Revolucion was broke, it must have opened later on because it's in the video. At Dorney Park, I had no problems getting on that ride, and I was on it a lot of times. That ride is more like the KMG Freak Out than their Afterburner model (Fireball / Cyclops). It spins, but it's not as intense as the other version. The more seats you have, the more it has to spin in order to feel like you do on the Afterburner model. I know the ride is supposedly by Chance, but it's really made by KMG. It's just sold through Chance because they are an American company while KMG is Netherlands.
There is a traveling Afterburner model in the Chicago area, and that ride isn't always working. I think the problem is that it's just so darn powerful. It goes back and forth, and than it spins really fast. I think that's part of the reason why they even have to run such short cycles because it will just breakdown. The three KMG rides I have ridden are great which are Freak Out, Spin Out, and Afterburner, but 2 of those rides aren't made that great. I haven't had enough experience seeing the Freak Out to tell you whether that ride breaks a lot, or not.
This is funny, but you are saying line, line (queue line).
queue = "a file or line, esp. of people waiting their turn" - from dictionary.com
I heard this from someone else, and it bothers them when people say it.
"I've been staring at the world, waiting. All the trouble and all the pain we're facing. Too much light to be livin' in the dark. Why waste time? We only got one life. Together we can be the CHANGE. So go and let your heart burn bright"
KMG designed revolution, it is however manufactured in Kansas by Chance/Morgan.
Not sure if that's still the deal. Chance/Morgan also had a contract for Ronald Bussink Ferris Wheels where they made one (at Niagara Falls) and Ronald Bussink rides basically just the other week told Chance/Morgan to go to hell due to extreme substandard materials and workmanship that Chance puts into their rides, and they awarded their manufacturing contracts to Vekoma.
If KMG were smart, they'd do the same, though I don't think there is any more demand for Afterburners in the US. Basically any park that wanted one already got one.
As for the Afterburners here in Chicago that travel. Most KMG rides are fairly high maintenance. If the operators fall behind at all, a lot of stuff goes wrong really fast(both electrically and mechanically). The cycle is short because that's what KMG programs into the ride. The recommended maximum ride time is 90 seconds, although in Miami a while back on a rainy and slow day I managed to get about a 15-20 min ride on an Afterburner being run manually with only one stop to let another bored carny get on. Second stop I was done for, partially due to the fact that the carny was smoking during the ride and at the time I was a non smoker, and I still don't care for unfiltered smoke, and 15-20 mins of fast spinning and rocking was plenty for me to handle, I didn't feel right for the rest of the day
I think that one was Furerball, which at the time was owned by Cumberland Valley Shows, they were bought out by NAME which runs the one's here in chicago, though I think here we have Feuerball and Fireball (formerly from Farrow Shows which was also bought by NAME).
Favorite Wood Coasters: The Voyage, Ravine Flyer II, Thunderhead, Balder Favorite Steel: Voltron Nevera, Steel Vengeance, Expedition GeForce, Olympia Looping Parks visited: 232, Coasters Ridden: Steel: 894, Wood: 179, Total: 1073
I have never seen the Farrow one in IL. I know it goes to Indiana though at that state fair. For the NAME one (formerly All Star Amusements), they truly ran it for like 1 minute and 3 seconds at night. It was ridiculous. This was a crowded night though as it was in the middle of July. When it's not crowded though, they will give you "double" rides. At the Ohio State Fair (That's Wades), they only ran it once even when it was empty.
I like the KMG rides IL has and I like a number of Chance rides too.
I don't know if I would trust Vekoma building the ferris wheel. I think there would be more demand for Afterburners if they weren't on two trucks. For 2 trucks compared to 1, these Himilayas are killing off the Thunderbolt / Flying Bobs / Alpine Bob rides because of 1 truck, and it's takes a shorter time to put up. How about Chance wakes up, and try to get these rides to 1 truck with less setup time (I heard it's 6 or 7 hours to put up a Flying Bobs ride.). I'm not a fan of the Himilayas, and IL is loaded with them. For the carnivals I know in IL, there are 6 of them.
"I've been staring at the world, waiting. All the trouble and all the pain we're facing. Too much light to be livin' in the dark. Why waste time? We only got one life. Together we can be the CHANGE. So go and let your heart burn bright"
Vekoma actually makes some of the better Ferris Wheels out there, Navy Pier, Moreys Piers and SFKK are all examples of Vekoma Ferris Wheels. The kind of picked up where Anton Schwarzkopf left off (Cedar Point and SFGAdv are examples of those).
Also if a fair is really busy, you can pretty much expect a really short ride on just about any popular ride, especially if there are wristbands. If it's not a wristband day, you're more likely to get a longer ride.
And for Chance, for many years they were the US king of flat rides, basically along side HUSS in the world. Zipper, Wipeout, YoYo, their portable Ferris wheels, are all great rides amongst many other rides they made, though mechanically Zipper is a bit shady, again, proper and frequent maintenance is integral to the ride not tossing trolley wheels over a 100 foot radius of the ride, though even that is no guarantee
It seems after about the mid 90's Chance slid downhill to the point where it's now a joke. Their Slingshot tower has a downright painful launch followed by a lame ride and it's a mechanical nightmare in every possible way. Chaos was extremely poorly designed, the main boom lift cylinder is hilariously undersized, they literally blow no less than once a season (IB's would blow more often than that), followed by poor restraint design, and you don't even want to know what kind of electrical nightmare the ride is. Lots of horror stories out there about that. And lets not forget about Michigan Adventure's who's chaos decided to detach from the boom and go for a short roll. Inverter, while not designed by chance was a dud (Inverter is an ARM ride licensed to Chance). It sold well only cause it looks awesome from the ground while it's running. The ride experience is pretty boring and for most riders it's a one and done, which is never good from a financial standpoint of the operator, also it was plagued with a lot of issues stemming from substandard parts. Also it's the only ride in recent memory I can think of where a manufacturer (ARM) will take your Inverter, tear it apart and modify it into a 1001 Nights ride or a Full Tilt (1001 nights but the gondola tilts outward ever so slightly while it runs). The following is something you don't want to read on a ride bulletin that shows up in the mail from Chance....
Chance Rides Manufacturing, Inc. has been contacted by Comer Industries, Inc., the U.S. distributor of the main drive gearboxes incorporated in the INVERTER amusement rides built by Chance Rides, Inc. in 1999 and 2000 (refer to the Comer correspondence on page 4 of this bulletin). There is a concern that a manufacturing defect has occurred in some of the supplied gearboxes creating the potential for gearbox output shaft failure and possible damage or personal injury.
That's a really nice way of saying, if you have those gearboxes, there is a Chance that the gondola will loose it's gearing, start freewheeling and crash into the ground.
Favorite Wood Coasters: The Voyage, Ravine Flyer II, Thunderhead, Balder Favorite Steel: Voltron Nevera, Steel Vengeance, Expedition GeForce, Olympia Looping Parks visited: 232, Coasters Ridden: Steel: 894, Wood: 179, Total: 1073
I always felt that the Inverter lights were kind of a copy off of the Zipper. It looks good, but it just as you said is a pretty boring ride. I never been on the Slingshot tower. I have been on the Chaos, and I really like it. I think it was there way of having the Zipper, but for it to load all at once. I really wish that would have worked out.
I think the Zipper was made more for when people were lighter. When it's up in the air, that's 90 degrees it has to lift those cars, and those motors don't look that big even though their are 4. The thrillingness of the Zipper is still applied today as how many carnivals still have them.
I heard that the reason why carnivals don't have the Toboggan anymore is because it needs 3 trucks (One is a crane.). That ride is like the roller coaster. Why couldn't they just redesign old stuff that people really liked, and carnivals would buy them? I haven't been on that ride or the Sky Diver. I heard the problem with the Sky Diver is that it might fall over. They are making ferris wheels today that aren't falling over.
I really didn't care for the Skywheel I more recently been on. There was no thrill to me. It was just a double Ferris Wheel.
"I've been staring at the world, waiting. All the trouble and all the pain we're facing. Too much light to be livin' in the dark. Why waste time? We only got one life. Together we can be the CHANGE. So go and let your heart burn bright"
Chaos, Slingshot and Inverter were all answers to European style rides, which look much cleaner and well built than American rides to that point (like the scaffolding + Duct Tape look = Zipper), also European designed rides tend to have more axis of rotation, though the Slingshot was an answer to the Huss Shot n' Drop and to a lesser extent the Maurer Soehne Power Towers that travel in Europe.
Zipper has plenty of power to do what it does. Size doesn't mean anything for electric motors. It's worth noting that you are or will be seeing fewer and fewer zippers out there, Chance no longer sell them, and it's only a matter of time til they stop supporting them.
Carnivals want new rides, not simple redesigns of old stuff.
As for tipover of wheels, that generally only happens in severe windstorms. It's been ages since a Skydiver tipped over, now the few that are left traveling they generally run guy wires from the center hum to stakes in the ground to hold it upright even in the nastiest weather. Regular Chance ferris wheels tip over far more often. On century wheels you will probably notice unpainted galvanized outriggers welded onto the main supports, that tries to alleviate the issue, but in really high, storm force winds, they still can go over. I cant say any ride of any kind in the past 20-30 years has tipped over/blown over with people aboard.
I personally love SkyWheel, though it's not really a Chance Ride, they got the design when they bought Alan Hershel, Chances of seeing one at a fair though are extremely remote unless you know exactly where to look, they are a complain to move.
Favorite Wood Coasters: The Voyage, Ravine Flyer II, Thunderhead, Balder Favorite Steel: Voltron Nevera, Steel Vengeance, Expedition GeForce, Olympia Looping Parks visited: 232, Coasters Ridden: Steel: 894, Wood: 179, Total: 1073
Do you go to SFMM at all, or do you just not like that place? Thanks for posting more pictures.
"I've been staring at the world, waiting. All the trouble and all the pain we're facing. Too much light to be livin' in the dark. Why waste time? We only got one life. Together we can be the CHANGE. So go and let your heart burn bright"
That boomerang sticks out like a sore thumb doesn't it...yeesh...I remember first seeing an update on this park on The Girls Next Door where the bunnies visited and rode all the big rides...I love Kendra.
