CORRECTION: The Double Skywheel was actually based on the Space Wheels built by the Velare Brothers. Only one was ever built, now owned by Drew Exposition, but previously owned by Cumberland Valley Shows and Royal American Shows. The photo I used in the video is correct, but there's actually no such thing a Chance Double Skywheel. Apologies for the mistake, and big thanks to @EclipseOfMusicDJ for pointing this out!
CORECTIONS 2&3: Only one topple tower still remains, the Bellewarde one. Also, if you were lucky enough to be in school at Mentor College in Missisauga, Canada, they actually brought a Roll-O-Plane ride to their annual end-of-school "fun day" alongside other rides! (I was there for grade 6-8 from 2015 to 2017, all three years this ride was present!)
The Topple Tower's bird design is based on a novelty item called "The Drinking Bird" that was weighted on one side so that it would dip forward into a glass of water and appear to be drinking from it.
I rode a Tagada in a traveling fair park, the actual insane part was that some people could stand up in the middle of the ride and dance to the music while the thing was shaking up and down. If you could do it without falling down the ride operator would let you ride again without having to wait in line. Absolute insanity.
3:48 I was like "oh, I've visited that Rotor!" before realizing my own username was the image credit lol. When originally posting that picture, I was told by the guy operating the ticket booth at Sylvan Beach that their Rotor hadn't operated at all in 2017 or 2018. I've since heard that it's running again, albeit somewhat slowly. I remember reading that Washington State Fair removed their Rotor shortly after that, and I'm not sure about the status of Tumbleweed at Frontier City. I know Turkish Twist at Canobie Lake is still running strong, and having ridden that one I can say the experience is significantly better than a Gravitron or Round Up. I understand there are a few traveling models still around, and I highly encourage everyone to try one since they're really magical with the zero restraints and centripetal sensation of gravity.
Still have not been on a rotor, I went to the Washington State Fair pretty soon after theirs was removed, really hope I get the chance to someday. I'd love to get up to Sylvan Beach, looks like they've got a great classic flat ride collection with a Roll O Plane and Rock O Plane to go along with their Rotor (which I'm glad to hear may be operating again). Thanks for the comment and the awesome photo!
Kinda interesting to see how different an American perspective is. For example, I totally assumed the Top Star was based on the KMG Move It 32, which I believe is way more common on the European fair circuit than the Moser-built version (although the name makes it quite obvious which of the two it is based on)
@@KnugenMooMoo oh wow, didn't know that. I just know that whenever I see one of these, they are called move-it. (Mostly in the Randstad area of the Netherlands) (but that includes the non-32 move it)
Move it 32 is now in Belgium I believe... move it is possible the smaller version of 32.. I can't remember what the Moser ones are called and I believe they travel Germany
Man this is interesting. Also in regards to the Octopus ride I do know of an actual one with an octopus sculpture and seadragon like cars just like the ones in the game. It features a few more vehicles per arm than the ingame version but the "Polyp" at Bakken in Denmark is otherwise a perfect match. Its a Schwarzkpf Monster 3 built in the 1980's. Also I have experienced a Soriani and Moser Polyp too at a fair around here. It was much more nauseating than the Schwarzkopf (and later Gerstlauer) versions, partially due to the the ride spinning the opposite way. So instead of the main structure spinning clockwise and the bottom of the arms spinning counterclockwise, the Soriani version had both spinning clockwise.
Ay nice! I came across a few of those monsters, very similar to the Soriani and Moser version, but the central arms that the cars are attached to are missing those dragon heads. Awesome to hear your experience riding both models though! Definitely can see why the Soriani and Moser Polyp would bring about the nausea. Thanks for the comment
I have been on Thorpe Park's Slammer. It was a cool ride but super uncomfortable, as it used the old S&S over the shoulder restraints with their lapbars which dug into your collarbones when it hung upside down. I haven't a clue to why Thorpe Park has yet to remove it and it now stands as a weird lawn ornament or a piece of theming for Black Mirror Labyrinth
i've ridden it as well, probably one of my favourite flat/thrill rides of all time... i had no issues with the restraints, but we always had the "no hands" stipulation with friends, so we always had our hands high on everything, it probably helped with seating on this one. if i had to guess, i'd say, that they are in talk with s&s to redesign the seats to make them more comfortable, or just trying to sell the ride before disassembling it. it is a quite rare and thrilling ride with quite good tph when it has no issues, it definitely has a place in thorpe park
Thanks for all the resarch you did - the video was really interesting 😊 9:24 The Huss Booster is one of the best flatrides ever created - I absolutely love "Ghost Rider" on German fairgrounds. It might look extremely abrupt, but albeit being very intense, the movements are surprisingly smooth and not nauseating at all!
On top of that, the one in linnanmaki got bought by Löffelhardt (who own the ghost rider). They had all the missing parts required to make it a traveling ride custom made and themed it to be another ghost rider!
I wish they would have brought all of them. That was the thing with RCT3, the flat rides and having the ability to make waterparks and zoos was incredible, Planet Coaster really missed the boat when not having enough flat rides and then having a separate game for the Zoo stuff.
As a finn Id love to ride zipper one day. Several others too but a zipper in particular. Gravitron will always be my fav flat ride. Not only have I turned myself upside down during the ride Ive also walked around it while it was running, holding on the middle bars when it got fast, heh.
2:31 There is at least 1 Theme Park that has a Mechanical Bull. It´s Fraispertuis City in France, and it isn´t even a upcharge or coin operated attraction, It´s just a regular "ride" in their lineup.
Thanks for sharing this; so much nostalgia in one place. I still hold out hope that Chance will begin making the Turbo and Troika flat rides again. If I had to choose from this RCT3 collection, I’m a Trabant style ride from way back. If there’s one around, I’m on it.
I live in the same town in Minnesota where the Tilt-A-Whirl wad invented and manufactured. It was a bit of a bummer when the company was bought out and manufacturing moved. There are still a number of reminders around town though.
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this but the octopus (as seen in RCT3) was almost an exact copy of a ride at Drayton Manor Park in England in the early 1990s. You might be able to find an image of it if you search for that specifically 😊
Hey you're right! And the first person to mention this. I only came across photos of the Great Adventure/Wild Waves octopus while doing research so this is a great find. Thanks for the comment! :)
the classic rotor, thankfully i managed to ride that 10+years ago as teenager at a fair, at that fair there were two prices for it one for the ride itself and 1 for the observation deck above it
It has been running much better in 2022 and 2023. In 2021, I only got on 2 times. But, 41 times in 2022 and 19 so far in 2023. I hope to be around 50 for 2023 after 4-5 WinterFest visits.
I like how you included rides like Bucking Bull and Phoenix Twister as they are non-reskinned theme-exclusive rides that are the only one of their kind. That's some true exception-ruling right there.
Wow, those are some glaring omissions! I find it hard to believe that the Tilt-a-Whirl and the Matterhorn weren't in older RCT games, they're such icons of flat rides that them not being there is shocking to me. Of course, it is called ROLLER COASTER Tycoon, not Flat Ride Tycoon, so I suppose it's understandable. I would get sick on all of those! I think I love the double Ferris wheel the most, it's just a nice, simple, pleasant little thing. Ferris wheels are just cool to me, though. EDIT: Another great video! Thanks.
Yeah it's interesting that those two took such a long time to make an appearance! I'd definitely get sick on a number of these rides, especially if I'm riding them after eating a bunch of fair food haha Thanks for the comment as always!
As for the Loop the Loop - it reminds me of Rush in Thorpe Park. Definitely not *exactly* the same kind of ride, but it does feel like it might originate from the same family of rides at least.
Thanks for the information! Glad to know the real life rides behind RCT3. My fav ride is Phoenix Twister, there is a model looks like it in Berjaya Time Square Theme Park near my house.
I actually had the chance to ride one of the Sky Wheels that he was talking about, and let me just say that those things are SO much scarier to ride than it looks like, it's like a normal ferris wheel on steroids
I miss Catapult. It wasn't the most comfortable ride, and it took forever to load-cycle-unload; but it was quite intense, and it gave some great sensations that haven't quite been replicated by any other ride I've ridden.
Yeah it's cool to see how many people in the comments have ridden it, probably because of the model that travels to popular fairs in SoCal. Should have said that it's rare everywhere outside of California haha
10:13 - I was about to say Chaos was made by Zamperla but backtracked Reason being is "Chaos" is the name of the *Chaotic* Frisbee ride at my homepark who just likes to randomly break down (Mainly with the Sensors falsely saying "Restraint Open" or something along those lines) 10:28 - One of my First Eyerly Rides I rode was based off of one of these (Spider at Waldameer - Still Operating today rode it yesterday)
5:00 the KMG Afterburner model is the original version of this ride, chance rides simply acquired the rights to manufacture and sell the ride for the North American market at some point, as there are some portable KMG Afterburners still operating on the US fair circuit.
Happy to see RCT3 videos still to this day. Such a underrated gem! Also, looking at the footages of the rides really gives me nostalgic vibes despite the only theme park I ever visited is Phantasialand.
11:43 the Waikiki Superflip pictured is the ride Tidal Wave from Flamingo Land UK, it was removed a few years ago - they toned the ride cycle down and it never flipped riders or inverted. Not sure why they did that as it was an awesome ride - pictured behind it is the Vekoma SLC Kumali which is a smaller model of Oddessey at Fantasy Island UK, which in turn is also one of the tallest SLC in Europe!
You're right! That's awesome, thanks for pointing this out, it's the first example I've heard someone mention of a mechanical bull at a North American park
I think that Planet Coasters rides are a lot less obscure than RCT3s, even the flat rides are pretty easily identified. Although it does have some obscure ones like the two seat inverted coaster from Giovanolla. But I would still love to see a video on it.
12:45 While that ride is currently called Professor Delbert's Frontier Fling, it was instead called RipCord at the time the picture used was taken, and was located outside the park near Soak City. It has since been relocated to the Frontier Trail area of the park and renamed.
I’m kind of surprised you didn’t do the buffalo round up because I have never seen a ride like that and I thought it might have a real world counterpart
I can't speak for the fair circuit, but I wanted to come back to pour one out for the Chaos, considering the final permanent one at the Adventuredome closed last year. sleep well, my downtime-plagued, candy-colored prince.
Six Flags Great Adventure used to have a Rotor, I think its been replaced by something else. Tagada is like something that crawled out of Action Park looking for more.
Oh my gosh I hate that ride! 😂 last year I saw one at my local fair and decided I would ride it after being scared for 20+ years. I get in and the seatbelt is broken. I tell the guy and he’s like just hold on to the lap bar. And shut me in. Now, to be fair I was completely safe and locked into the cage but boy was I getting thrown around. I will never ride that again even with a seatbelt!
Well, seeing my hometown in one of your videos was not on my bingo card today. I'm also not surprised it was for the tragada, I even went on it that year as I was working at the airshow it was at. They're absolutely insane but you are going on the ride at your own risk.
I lived in Seattle for a bit so I always shout out Washington when I can - looks like the Octopus at Puyallup was built by Eyerly, didn't mention their Octopus rides in the video but they're classics. Thanks for the comment!
Yup, Canobie has a ton of the flat rides here! Has the gravitron as well, and more. Fun fact: Roller coaster tycoon 2 actually filmed their commercial in Canobie Lake Park! So basically, it's the real life RCT!
Some of these rides that Canobie has are the Roundup, Chairswing, Top Scan (Equinox, though it's closed now...), Discus, Rip Tide (as shown in the video), Barn Stormer (though it's a bird), Thunder Bobs, Tilt-a-Whirl. The park even has the decor that you'd find in RCT. With these facts combined, I am certain that RCT took some inspiration from Canobie Lake Park in decor and flatrides.
Xcalibur has been removed from SFSL. I did get to ride it once and that was enough. 😅 I grew up calling the Loop o Plane the salt and pepper shaker…. Has anyone else ever heard of that or did my dad just make it up?
I rode the old Rotor at Six Flags Great Adventure it was so much fun but I hated the Gravitron when I rode it at the Meadowlands fair when I was 6 or 7
I got to ride on the slammer at thorpe park (sky swatter ride) the year before it closed and it was my favourite lol. glad i got to ride it before it closed but it always seemed to have technical issues and when it was operating the queue was never more than 2 ride cycles long bearing in mind most thorpe park rides can reach up to 2 hour queues. its sad seeing it sbno its pretty overgrown now (well as of last year when I went) and they have been using its queue line as a queue line for black mirror maze
I actually met someone the other day who had also ridden slammer and had the exact same things to say about it haha, sounds like it was an awesome ride. Really bummed I'll (likely) never get the chance to ride one of those. Thanks for the comment!
From What I understand about the Sledgehammer from Canadas Wonderland. It doesnt suffer from technical problems in the obvious way of "it keeps breaking down." Being one of a kind, if they ever need simple parts, they have to wait weeks for them. Imagine if you needed to get something simple like an oil filter or tires for your car specifically built everytime you needed a new one.
That makes a lot of sense. From what I've heard it's a bit of a combination of the two - the extended downtime is a result of what you mentioned but once it is up and running, it doesn't operate for that long since it's so prone to issues
@JNattyBoi Understandable. My only source for what I said was me chatting with an employee a while back. Honestly, I could be 100% wrong. But now that you mention it, whenever I've seen it running, you may only get a half day out of it. But it did run the full day when I went may 27th that just pass so hopefully it's getting better
This was a fantastic video! I have been on some of these, like the Matterhorn and Tilt a Whirl, but I have yet to try some more intense ones. I don't think the spin doctor is in my near future. I did live in the UK for a period of time and have seen some of the fair rides in action, I hope to get to ride some of them soon when I move back across the pond.
True! The KMG model was definitely worth mentioning, I think I was hyper-focused on the name similarities between the in-game ride and the Soriani and Moser model
It's a easy mistake to make, I would say the In game one one looks more like the Moser version as that one then the KMG in my eyes but I guess moser took there idea from KMG version
the hard rock ride used to come to my local fairs but im pretty sure it’s defunct (if not defunct it’s probably in a warehouses, hard rock was owned by butler amusements
Went to Thorpe Park 2 days ago, Sadly Slammer (Sky Swat) is just sitting there abandoned, rusting away, while all the other rides surrounding it are operational most of the time, the ones that were even older have been torn down already, so there's still hope. (But the main problem with the Sky Swat is that the required parts for the ride are no longer being manufactured by S&S so the ride cannot be operational due to safety concerns) I do remember being at the park once, when it was in operation but my friend was too scared to go on it so we didn't, wish I could've back then.
