Why Do Parks Dumb Down Their Flats?

[ultradude306]

It's a simple question, really. Anyone who's been to the smaller parks/fairs probably has noticed the flats there doin some pretty crazy s***. I've noticed that at bigger parks, however, their flats seem to be running pretty slow, at least most of them. It doesn't make sense...a lot of these parks have killer wickedly awesome coasters that can deliver insane forces (outlaw run, Goliath SMM etc.), but their flats don't usually measure up. Even @ my home park of Canada's Wonderland, where a lot of the flats seem t outshine the smaller, average coasters, a lot of them seem to be running at maybe only half speed, like our top scan, Shockwave. Just type into YouTube, Shockwave Canada's Wonderland, then look @ another top scan & you'll see what I mean. It seems to be like this for most flats @ big parks, which to me doesn't make sense... Why can they have these crazy coasters, but not ramp up their flats?

 

Anyone know?

[Angry_Gumball]

I'm just going to take a shot in the dark at this and guess that perhaps running it on a more mild program puts less stress on the ride in the long run, thus keeping maintenance costs down, as well as maybe downtime. I also think it depends on what the given flat ride's demographic is. Let's put CGA's Tiki Twirl and KI's Surf Dog. Tiki Twirl's classified as a "Thrill Ride" while Surf Dog is a "Kid's Ride." I'm not sure how much different they actually run but the seating arrangements being different. In the end they're the same ride essentially but a kid may be less frightened riding Surf Dog instead of Tiki Twirl.

 

Wipeout at Santa Cruz and Peanuts Pirates at CGA are another example of an identical ride (Break Dance Type 4/Rodeo, Huss). The one at SCBB runs a bit quicker and to me, feels like it's demographic is the mild thrill seeker. Peanut's Pirates lives in the middle of 2 kids areas in CGA and runs a little mellower cycle...(though I've gotten some pretty intense rides on it by leaning left/right to enhance the spin or trigger one).

 

Or we can assume that maybe it's an America thing and that people would sue over a ride being too intense for them/they got off sick and walked into a light post/tripped over their own 2 left feat when walking off dizzy.

[ultradude306]

Ya, I guess that makes sense, but I'm still puzzled.

 

First, wouldn't the smaller parks want to cater to every kind of park goer too? I've seen flats targeted @ 'thrill seekers', which were WAY less intense than the coasters branded by the park to be just as intense.

 

Second, in regards to the lawsuit thing, anybody could say the same '2walked into a light pole' excuse to try and get a quick buck with rides like kinda ka, a ride that gets EVERY GP freaking out just looking at it, but so far, I don't think anybody's sued SFGA over that ride. In addition, it's often the bigger parks who run their flats slower, and these bigger parks have the $ to pay lawyers if any legal troubles were to come up. In contrast, the smaller parks, who may not be able to afford someone to bail them out, seem to do the craziest s*** with their flats. Also, this is not just an America thing. I've seen this flat thing in Europe & the UK as well. Just look at places like Alton Towerss.

 

Finally, in regards to them breaking down, I've personally been on EXTREMELY INTENSE FLATS THAT've been running for almost 20 years with no real mechanical issues. The ride I'm talking about was actually at a god-darn carnival, and had less downtime than some of the flats at parks I've been to.

[Jew]

I don't think it is about the intensity as much as the maintenance. Flat rides at theme parks are going to put in A LOT more cycles than the traveling rides (maintenance on rides goes by # of cycles in addition to daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly/yearly), and also don't have the advantage of being disassembled every week.

[ultradude306]

I don't think it is about the intensity as much as the maintenance. Flat rides at theme parks are going to put in A LOT more cycles than the traveling rides (maintenance on rides goes by # of cycles in addition to daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly/yearly), and also don't have the advantage of being disassembled every week.

You're right... That'd also explain the reason why a lot of the cycles are shorter... Less wear and tear, and a shorter cycle = more people moving through as well, which is obviously important for the bigger parks, as there is way bigger crowds.

[simon8899]

Some points come up for German carnivals:

 

The flats often run - nearly - empty to drag more people to ride. So they're running for advertising.

 

People pay up to $10 per ride and therefor expect a long cycle for their money. In a park you pay a flat fee and you can do the short cycle as often as you like.

 

Showmen at carnivals get the quite cheap industrial energy.

 

Rules and regulations specially when it comes to compensation for "costumer stupidity" are way less strict here. If someone makes something stupid in or around an operating ride this person will so get no money in court.

 

Maybe a point that most flats here are made in Germany or Italy and as distances are shorter maintenance is easier and faster to come by.

[Anything]

Parks usually have your money so are basically saying screw you. Fairs are usually pay-per-ride so they want you to ride, and hopefully re-ride!

[Voxelmatic]

I don't know if this is true or not, but from my visit yesterday to SFA, it felt like all of the flats were running just as well as their carnival counterparts.

[Aceattack52]

They probably do this because a large park has flats for families to enjoy, and larger rides that appeal to the audience of people who like more extreme thrills. Small carnivals and such don't have these rides, so their flats are more extreme, that way they can appeal to the audience that seeks more intense thrills.

[disownedpear]

I don't know if this is true or not, but from my visit yesterday to SFA, it felt like all of the flats were running just as well as their carnival counterparts.

 

Last time I went to SFA the round-up flat was running really slowly, so slow the forces barely held you in.

[Moose]

My guess is that at fairs the rides make money per rider. In order to attract riders and even attention from the midway, the crazier the program the better.

[A.J.]

I would agree with that. I think that the other reason is to increase the longevity of the rides.

[palmerleeberry]

One dumb-down I hate on flat rides are the short ride cycles: some rides in some parks are way too short for me to get any type of thrill. I do know for a fact that these rides are controlled by a computer program that runs the ride according to its instructions, but they could surely reprogram those computer to ensure a much longer, more satisfying ride.

 

Of course, that is my opinion. Does anyone feel like I do on certain types of flats?

 

"I'm not perfect; I just love to ride!!!"

[simon8899]

^ Best of course is a manual controlled ride that is in tune with the music. Best example here are Break Dancer here - they've one operator and one DJ doing the music, the operator gets the music program from the DJ on his screen and can sync ride and lights to the music. Another are Top Spins - an operator with lots of experience can roll you over for more than 100 times in a row if he wants to...

[dropzonefan]

I always found that strange as well... Besides the reason mentioned above, I lso believe that many (not all) flats are billed more as family rides, whereS parks tend to build coasters and market the coasters to thrill rides.

 

As for why fairs run their flats on crazy programs (IMO the way they're meant to run), is because they don't tend to be able to haul around large coasters (with the largest being Olympia looping).

[Double0Kevin]

I've worked at parks where flats were run on tamer programs because the more intense ones were more expensive to insure. On one specific ride it was a constant back and forth until we were finally able to switch to a longer, more exciting program. I doubt this would be an issue in any country other than the US as we do love our lawsuits here, and also was likely more of an issue with the cheapness of the chain I worked for.

 

Otherwise, yes, the longevity is a big factor. Parks are always looking for way to increase reliability while minimizing cost.

[themeparkkid]

I think carnivals make the rides faster because some are pay per ride and some take tickets. They want you to pay or buy tickets to get money. A shorter ride time means more pph, and that means more money.

[Mater]

Firefall at CGA already shakes laterally enough. I wouldn't want it or any of the other flats there running any crazier.

[linearinduction]

Lagoon had to Neuter the Ride Cycles on Samurai (Mondial Top Scan) and Cliffhanger (Mondial Splashover) after problems with the Motors over heating. After a Gearbox Failure on Samurai in 2008 that Closed the ride for most of the Season, Lagoon further neutered the Cycles. Still a great ride, but no where near as wild as it once was. Cliffhanger got 2 New Motors after both gearboxes failed during preseason 2003 and then again in 2012. All the problems stem from Lagoon wanting both rides to have AC Motors instead of the Standard DC Motors. After consulting with Canada's Wonderland, Cliffhanger seems to be operating with much less downtime now.