# Penny arcade shocker at Disneyland **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339 "2005-03-13T16:24:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/61 "2014-08-23T22:41:35Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > Starting with **[Otto von Guericke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Guericke)** in the 1660s demonstrations of electricity used to do this all the time in the 18th century. > In fact, it’s practically all they did, I read about him years ago. He produced a sulfur ball that gave off “two spurts and a crackle.” ---
**Author:** ![Shockaholics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Shockaholics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shockaholics)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/62 "2015-02-06T21:50:36Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > i hope to god nobody sneezed. hahahaha lol ---
**Author:** ![Shockaholics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Shockaholics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shockaholics)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/63 "2015-02-06T21:53:36Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Dynamite results in more fish 😃 Good one, jasg. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shockaholics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Shockaholics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shockaholics)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/64 "2015-02-07T18:52:47Z")
> **[Shocks and Bonds](http://tailotherat.blogspot.com/2008/11/shocks-and-bonds.html)** > > (Author's note: here's something I wrote in Lynda Barry's Writing the Unthinkable Class. It's in the second person, but it happened to me... This blog entry says that it’s name is “Electricity is Life”. ---
**Author:** ![Shockaholics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Shockaholics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shockaholics)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/65 "2015-08-10T18:01:14Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Not to be a troll, especially considering this is also a zombie, but I visited Disney World, the one in Florida, the second year it opened and I remember my older brother telling me about using said penny arcade ‘shock’ machine. I was only about six years old so when I went to the arcade with my dad and wanted to try it too he just said “No way”. > > Anyway, this was in 1971 or so, so I simply, utterly, totally refuse to believe that any such electrical device would be legal in the US at that time. Nor that Disney World \*especially \*would allow one on their premises. The knobs simply vibrated, there was no electricity involved at all. They vibrated extremely rapidly, more & more, and the sensation simply feels exactly similar to being shocked (numbness, muscle spasms, pain etc.) but without any of the real potential danger from electricity. IOW it was just a parlor trick… That was called “test your courage” and had a knight on a horse crossing a bridge with a dragon on the other end. Lumpy said he jumped up and down and went “eee-eee-EEE-EEE…” on it! ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/66 "2015-08-11T15:08:43Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > A quick search turned this up. [FK901 Low Power Tingler](http://www.bakatronics.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=385) Right! I used to make these as a kid, using little transformers from broken stuff. One battery is all you need. Connect battery to primary (side with fewer windings) through a normally open switch, and “probes” to secondary. A shock is delivered whenever the switch is opened or closed. Avoid dwelling with the switch closed, which just drains the battery. ---
**Author:** ![Shockaholics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Shockaholics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shockaholics)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/67 "2015-08-15T00:07:57Z")
I don’t get the point about recent shockers…I touch an electric toothbrush’s bristle at home and it feels just like the Addams Family one. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/68 "2015-08-15T00:10:38Z")
> [@Shockaholics](#): > > I don’t get the point about recent shockers…I touch an electric toothbrush’s bristle at home and it feels just like the Addams Family one. The point is that some people didn’t believe me when I started this thread a decade ago, that there is a ‘game’ that actually delivered an electrical shock. They were only familiar with the vibrators. I think that’s been put to rest, as there have been links showing the actual electrical devices. And I’d still like to have someone make one for me! ---
**Author:** ![Shockaholics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Shockaholics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shockaholics)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/69 "2015-08-15T00:29:26Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The point is that some people didn’t believe me when I started this thread a decade ago, that there is a ‘game’ that actually delivered an electrical shock. They were only familiar with the vibrators. I think that’s been put to rest, as there have been links showing the actual electrical devices. > > And I’d still like to have someone make one for me! Have you played those vibrators? I only am posting from memory, and I remember they felt like electric toothbrushes. Is this what they feel like? ---
**Author:** ![Phu\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Phu\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phu_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/70 "2015-08-15T16:53:22Z")
In a high school electronics class we had a similar set up on the module at each pair of students desks. It had connections for DC voltage with a variable potentiameter that we stupid guys had fun with. We’d put an index finger from each hand on a DC connector and have somebody rotate the pot as high as it would go. It was 't marked in voltage, couldn’t have been too high. Or in current either. Needless to say the teacher never caught us at this. If you want to experience the same thing, but a higher voltage, get your finger near the spark plug cap of an older lawn mower, weed eater, tiller,or any engine with an old spark plug. Phu Cat ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/71 "2015-08-15T16:59:06Z")
Does it cure schizophrenia? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/72 "2015-08-15T17:08:24Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/73 "2015-08-15T17:22:58Z")
> [@Shockaholics](#): > > Have you played those vibrators? I only am posting from memory, and I remember they felt like electric toothbrushes. Is this what they feel like? To me, they felt like the handgrips when I was riding my two-stroke Enduro back in the day, only more so. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/74 "2015-08-17T07:27:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The point is that some people didn’t believe me when I started this thread a decade ago, that there is a ‘game’ that actually delivered an electrical shock. They were only familiar with the vibrators. I think that’s been put to rest, as there have been links showing the actual electrical devices. > > And I’d still like to have someone make one for me! I believe you. Back in pre-Kayla days, my wife and I had annual passes. We’d each grab a handle and hold hands (or sometimes kiss) while the voltage was applied. It was pretty fun 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/75 "2015-08-17T18:00:29Z")
> [@Octarine](#): > > I believe **FriarTed** ’s talking about an electrotherapeutic-type device invented by Nikola Tesla - he tried it out on his good friend Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain, and discovered it was also an effective, er, laxative. Hopefully the arcade shocker doesn’t share this feature. 😃 As **Duke of Rat** said, “There used to be the same machine at an old time soda fountain/grill across from the junior high. Put a penny in it, and turn the knobs on the front (looked like door knobs best I can recall) and see how high you could stand it. I wasn’t even in junior high the first time I tried it, and there was a timer or reset or something in it, it didn’t start right up. So I’m turning the knobs back and forth when BAM it kicks in at about 95% power. I lifted the whole thing off the counter, it shocked the crap out of me.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/76 "2015-12-19T05:14:36Z")
**Update** The Electricity Is Life game – the one that actually, really delivered an electric shock – is no longer in the Penny Arcade at Disneyland. On Monday, the first thing I did upon entering the park was to go to the arcade (which is pretty much devoid of arcade games) and put my quarter into the ‘Electricity’ game. Much to my disappointment, the real Electricity Is Life game had been replaced by a visually similar vibrator. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![stanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@stanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stanger)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/77 "2015-12-19T15:25:18Z")
This thread reminded me o fa time back in junior high (1965-1966) when somebody was passing around a shocker device that worked like others mentioned, but incorporated into something a little more inventive. The kid that brought it to school would hand you what appeared to be a standard size hardcover book, the only odd thing about it was that the hard covers were covered with aluminum foil and the title looked glued on (if examined closely enough). When you held the book and opened the front cover, you would get a quick single that would not really hurt, but scare the hell out of you since it was totally unexpected. Each time you closed the book and reopened it, you would be shocked, so it wasn’t simply charged by a car ignition capacitor. In retrospect, it looked to be homemade, but it looked good enough that no one suspected what it was or could do. Never seen anything like it since. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/78 "2015-12-19T16:28:51Z")
> [@stanger](#): > > This thread reminded me o fa time back in junior high (1965-1966) when somebody was passing around a shocker device that worked like others mentioned, but incorporated into something a little more inventive. > > The kid that brought it to school would hand you what appeared to be a standard size hardcover book, the only odd thing about it was that the hard covers were covered with aluminum foil and the title looked glued on (if examined closely enough). > > When you held the book and opened the front cover, you would get a quick single that would not really hurt, but scare the hell out of you since it was totally unexpected. Each time you closed the book and reopened it, you would be shocked, so it wasn’t simply charged by a car ignition capacitor. > > In retrospect, it looked to be homemade, but it looked good enough that no one suspected what it was or could do. > > Never seen anything like it since. That is same exact timeframe as the one I built. Mine was in a cylindrical cardboard shipping container about 2.5"x10" with two bands of aluminum foil. One of the popular electronic magazines had the project. I wonder which one. ---
**Author:** ![ChickenLegs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@ChickenLegs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChickenLegs)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/79 "2015-12-19T16:56:24Z")
> [@stanger](#): > > This thread reminded me o fa time back in junior high (1965-1966) when somebody was passing around a shocker device that worked like others mentioned, but incorporated into something a little more inventive. > > The kid that brought it to school would hand you what appeared to be a standard size hardcover book, the only odd thing about it was that the hard covers were covered with aluminum foil and the title looked glued on (if examined closely enough). > > When you held the book and opened the front cover, you would get a quick single that would not really hurt, but scare the hell out of you since it was totally unexpected. Each time you closed the book and reopened it, you would be shocked, so it wasn’t simply charged by a car ignition capacitor. > > In retrospect, it looked to be homemade, but it looked good enough that no one suspected what it was or could do. > > Never seen anything like it since. I have seen this several times. The book title was usually something enticing (for the time) like “101 Sexual Positions”. Haven’t seen one in years. [![](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2130/422/1600/shocksexbookbig.jpg) ](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2130/422/1600/shocksexbookbig.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![ChickenLegs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@ChickenLegs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChickenLegs)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339/80 "2015-12-19T16:57:27Z")
By the way, I really enjoy this thread. The shocker arcade game at Disney World, around 1977, is part of my personal collection of childhood memories. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penny-arcade-shocker-at-disneyland/294339.md?page=5)