I dunno what they’re commonly called, circling rides, spinning rides, centrifugal rides. Which do you like best?
I think I like the Himalaya the best. That’s what they always were called as far as I can tell. Around and around on a hilly track with the operator booming through the public address, “You wanna go faster? Raise your hands if you wanna go faster!”. You’d better hope you remembered to seat the heaviest person in your group to the outer edge or you’d be crushed.
It was always blasting Heart of Glass by Blondie as I remember it. That song always makes me happy.
I’m a bit older and not as steady as I used to be, but I still love a good merry-go-round, especially the kind with uppy-downy horses. (Grabbing for the brass ring is also fun!)
The faster, spinner, more energetic ones just aren’t fun for me, and never have been. I did the teacups at Disneyland only once. I played the game of keeping my cup facing “north” no matter what, always counter-rotating when the ride would have spun it about. (I was alone in the cup. Wouldn’t’a worked with other people hauling away at the wheel!)
I did one of those “spinning barrels” once – don’t know the name of it – where the floor drops away after you’re glued to the walls. Fun demonstration of Coriolis Force! You thrust your arms straight out…and they drag to the left. Pull them back in…and they drag to the right! It would have been fun to try to throw a tennis ball, so I could throw it “to myself.” I think I could work out the geometry by trial and error.
They called it Loop Trainer at Knotts and Reactor at Magic Mountain, but apparently the generic name is Enterprise. It was one of the few rides when I was a kid that would turn you upside down.
One name of the “pinning by centrifugal force” ride is Graviton. While I like it, I’ve only been on it and related rides twice so I can’t pass judgement. I like the Himalaya both because of the music and because it is a good mix of active and sedate. I don’t like the Tilt-a-Whirl too much because you don’t get to choose how fast you’ll be spinning. I don’t mind the tea cups if I’m with someone who wants to spin slowly rather than fast or not at all.
Uppy-downy horses are called jumpers. Where are you riding one that has the rings? I know of only 2 in the U.S. - Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and the Grand Carousel at Knoebels in PA. The carousel at Conneaut Lake Park in PA has a ring mechanism but they haven’t used it in years.
On the subject of spinning rides, how about spinning wild mouse roller coasters like Exterminator at Kennywood, Crazy Mouse at Del Grosso’s, and Time Traveler at Silver Dollar City?
And the standing horses with 3 or 4 feet on the deck are “standers”, while “prancers” have their hind feet on the deck and their forefeet up in the air.
There’s also the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party ride, which — if you have a few people at your table inclined to get it really spinning (you get to control this, there’s a wheel in the middle) — can be a lot of fun:
I am a roller coaster fan, never liked super spinny rides. I always sat out on the ride where the floor dropped out.
There was one called the scrambler and it had fast zig zag motion…that one I liked a lot.
I believe they still have the rings at the carousel at Balboa Park in San Diego, right by the SD Zoo. I haven’t ridden it in some years, so maybe they’ve taken the rings away. Bummer, if so!
I just discovered the name of my fave: The Waltzer. I’m very good at throwing my weight in the right direction at the right time and making the sucker spin a bazillion times while it’s going up (or down) the hill. Of course, if I’m spinning it the other way, I crush the others in the car – FUN! My wife hates this ride (not really).
“That ride where the floor dropped out” was called the Silly Silo at my local amusement park. I heard too many horror stories about it, usually involving projectile vomiting, to want to ride it myself.
