Flying Scooter Policies and information

[disownedpear]

Hey guys, I'm sure there's at least two people on here that care about this topic. Basically, on Flying Scooter rides, you can "snap" the cables, allowing for a more extreme ride. Some parks allow this, some don't, and I definitely don't want to intentionally break park rules. I've made a list of all flyers where it is possible and the park policies on it.

Bisch-Rocco permanent models

Flyer, Knoebels: Very operator dependent, some won't allow it at all while some will nearly let you tear the ride apart(plz dont). This is the fastest flyer in the world and the only one run on gas!!

Rowdy Roosters, Canobie Lake Park: While this is a snapable model, chains limit the movement of the sails, making it very difficult/impossible. 

Hurricane, Lakeside Amusement Park: Unknown

Flying Aces, Lagoon Amusement Park: Conflicting information so probably operator dependant.

Flying Eagles, Kings Dominion: Operator dependent, but in general the strictest of all of them. They say "CONTROL YOUR BIRDS" ha. Pretty sure this runs with the original motor, making it one of the fastest still in operation.

American Flyers, Lake Compounce: Officially not allowed, but operator dependent. 

Mountain Gliders, Carowinds: Allowed and Encouraged. However, the cycle time is very short, the speed is low and the movement of the sails very limited. 

Premier Model - Flying Aces, Idlewild Park: "Snapping is not permitted as it damages the ride"

Thunderbirds, Eldridge Park: Operator dependent, in general much more allowed than Knoebels, especially if there is no one on the ride with you.

 

 

Bisch-Rocco portable models(difficult to snap, but not impossible)

Section will be updated in Summer of 2023. Incomplete as is

Eagles Flight, Holiday World: Allowed

Seabreeze Flyers, Seabreeze: Apparently impossible but I will try myself in 2022. Rubber stops were installed to prevent snapping but these have proved ineffective on other flyers such as Mountain Gliders. 

 

Larson Models(significantly harder to snap, if not listed it's likely allowed but very difficult, most are run at low speed)

Frontier Flyers, Hersheypark(high speed): Not allowed

Mission Mascaw, Columbus Zoo(high speed): unknown

Screaming Eagle, Fun Spot Kissimmee(high speed): Allowed, watch TPR do it!

Most Six Flags parks: Allowed, however turning the car 180 degrees is not allowed.

Cedar Point: Not Allowed

Air Crow, Indiana Beach: Officially not allowed but operator dependent. Easier than most models due to location on the lake. Dorney Park, Cedar Creek Flyers: Allowed

Flying Scooters, Camden Park: Allowed

Woodstock Gliders, Worlds of Fun: Allowed

Flying Eagles, Valleyfair: Allowed. 

 

 

Feel free to correct me or share your experiences, especially on the "unknown" ones. 

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by disownedpear
Added more info

[YoshiFan]

Frontier Flyers, Hersheypark, not allowed 

Dorney Park, Cedar Creek Flyers, allowed but the cycle is so short and they move so slow it’s almost impossible to get anything more than a small snap.

[Canobie Coaster]

Speaking on the one at Canobie, their's is impossible to snap.  They have metal chains limiting the motion of the fin.  It also isn't a super fast one.

Kong at Morey's is another one with a strict no snapping rule.  That one is located on top of a building, so I suspect it can be snapped if you get a good wind.

Eagles Flight at Holiday World is a hard one to snap, but the park allows it.

American Flyers at Lake Compounce is a slow one, but they're very snappable.  In the past, they allowed snapping, but there was one operator this year who took issue with it.

Flying Scooters at Camden Park allows snapping, but the cycle is super short so you barely have enough time to snap them.

[disownedpear]

Thanks for the extra info guys! I only listed original Bisch-Rocco permanent models as the larson ones, like Yoshi mentioned, almost never allow snapping, and the portable models like Eagles Flight are so difficult I don't see it often done. I'll update the original post.

 

[boldikus]

3 hours ago, Canobie Coaster said:

Kong at Morey's is another one with a strict no snapping rule.  That one is located on top of a building, so I suspect it can be snapped if you get a good wind.

Yes, you can. But they will kick your ass right off the ride and start it back up without you.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Worlds of Fun - Woodstock Gliders (Larson). Allowed but hard to do since it goes slowly and with a short cycle (Located inside Planet Snoopy).

[disownedpear]

2 hours ago, boldikus said:

Yes, you can. But they will kick your ass right off the ride and start it back up without you.

I wish Knoebels would do this instead of slowing the ride for everyone. And thanks for the info guys!

[AlanW]

Indiana Beach - Air Crow (Larson). I remember these being pretty easy to snap (especially for a Larson)... maybe due to catching some nice breezes by the water. These were sadly closed for the day when I visited the park in 2020, but the operator could have cared less about snapping on my prior visit around 2015 or so. Not sure how they are about it these days....

[disownedpear]

Air Crow literally has a sign saying not to lol so not sure if it should go on the list. 

 

[CaptainUnknown]

Regarding Valleyfair's Larson model, and I'm speaking from experience as I have operated the attraction, don't know if it's even possible to snap the cables to the point where we didn't train the new ops on what to do if cables were snapped.

[disownedpear]

^Same experience at SFA. I'm wondering if there is a difference between Larson models, as you can see the support structure was changed at some point between Air Crow and Valleyfair's. Note how Air Crows is more similar to a Bisch-Rocco.

 

[JG-77]

I know one major difference I noticed between Knoebels and SFA's flyers construction-wise is Knoebels's sail is made of fabric, and I think SFA's is made of thin metal or plastic (or maybe some sort of composite, IDK). I suspect Bisch-Rocco has more lightweight 'vehicles' compared to Larson, making snapping easier as the wind is able to toss the Bisch-Rocco seats around more.

[BoulderDash]

Lake Compounce was fine with it until a "Karen" incident back in August 2020. They put up signs after saying no snapping. Those signs have been removed, but I think its still kind of a rule. I think they might have slowed it down a bit too. But I have had some insane runs on that thing the last few years. As long as you don't go crazy, I don't think anyone will care. 

[michaellynn4]

I haven't been there in a few years, but doesn't Lake Compounce run their flyers at a glacial pace, anyway? That's how I remembered it, it ran so slow that it was almost impossible to snap even if it WAS tolerated.

[disownedpear]

I've seen a few of those "Karens" at Knoebels as well, so annoying. I do get it though, heavy snapping does look like something is going wrong.

 

I've never found the speed to matter much, you can easily snap Knoebels flyers even when they are running at their low speed, which is slower than any other model. 

[disownedpear]

I was very surprised to see a classic park model listed on a used rides site, as I thought the eight in operation where the only ones left.

https://rides4u.com/equipment/view/3419

Question is, does anyone know where this ride is from? I did as much research as I could but the only photo is a photo of a photo and shows almost nothing. Would be much appreciated if someone on this forum can ID it!

The ride vehicles are unlike any of the flyers currently in operation, and the price makes me think it's not in great condition and probably hasn't been operated in a while.

 

[djb0808]

That photo was taken at Parc Safari in Hemmingford, Quebec. That ride operated there under the name Les Toucans Volants (The Flying Toucans) at least in its latter years. It had at one time been at Belmont Park in Montreal.

[Rai Fox]

On 6/8/2021 at 10:19 AM, michaellynn4 said:

I haven't been there in a few years, but doesn't Lake Compounce run their flyers at a glacial pace, anyway? That's how I remembered it, it ran so slow that it was almost impossible to snap even if it WAS tolerated.

They're much better these days; it's one of the few things at that park that's actually improved.  Still no Knoebels fliers, but definitely respectable enough the last couple times I've been.  They started running them at a decent speed the same year they repainted them with the warbird paint job a few years back (which I think is already gone).

[disownedpear]

Took the trip out to Eldridge the other day. If there is no one on the ride they will typically let you go pretty wild for a few cycles. They don't allow as much but still some when there are other guests on the ride. Good policy IMO. 

 

[tuxedomask5432]

On 6/8/2021 at 10:33 AM, disownedpear said:

I've seen a few of those "Karens" at Knoebels as well, so annoying. I do get it though, heavy snapping does look like something is going wrong.

 

I've never found the speed to matter much, you can easily snap Knoebels flyers even when they are running at their low speed, which is slower than any other model. 

Aaaahhh don’t say that name, you’re triggering my PTSD. 
 

But onto the topic; The flyer model at SFOG. I don’t know much about the manufacture but pretty sure it’s impossible to snap. Correct me if I am wrong. 

[disownedpear]

Looks like it's a Larson model. Something I learned recently is that Larson models have two speeds, low and high. Snapping is pretty much useless when they are run at low, you can do it it's just not nearly as fun. Only park I've been to that has theirs on high was Hershey and that was easy and fun to snap, just not allowed so I stopped.

Anyone know of others that run in high? It's pretty obvious once you've seen the two modes. Pretty sure all CF and SF parks have theirs on low but could be wrong. Maybe I'll add that info to the list if I get enough of it. 

[abovethesink]

I watched a guy snapping pretty much nonstop during the short ride at Carowinds while my son was riding. It was pretty fun to watch and the ride op did not care one bit.

[Miranda Marchese]

I was a ride op at Seabreeze- our Scooters (Seabreeze Flyers, a Bisch-Rocco) had rubber stops installed to prevent cable snapping. 

[disownedpear]

Some offrides from Eldridge in August. They were very gracious in letting me snap so I didn't do too many cycles but it was a really fun day.

 

[pryonisys]

Hornet's Nest at Darien Lake is a Larson I think.  I don't think it goes fast enough to snap, but don't recall any signs saying you can't.