Rotor/Gravitron Rides Information and history - Flat Ride Of The Week 11 

PSA: If you ever win a fish at a carnival, DO NOT take it on the Gravitron. My friend did that once. He won two fish. Then a group of us went on the Gravitron. With nobody to hold his fish, he took them with him. When the ride was over, one fish had pretty much disintegrated and the other looked like it was still alive but it was badly deformed. Just something to keep in mind. It was really gross. But since we were like 11 or something, it was kind of funny.

So the joy wheel was literally a flat ride

Man I remember these from the 90s. These rides were EVERYWHERE. The dj was always playing something wild and we made it our mission to move around or do crazy tricks. Ill ride it again this summer at my local fair.

0:22 A joywheel still exists! Its known as the "Teufelsrad" and you can find it at the oktoberfest in munich almost every year.

Do a whole explanation of a Rollercoaster for April fools day.

They used to have a rotor at Kings Dominion and they had to every so often replace bits of flooring due to vomit caused ware.

I haven't felt this happy since my dad came back from getting milk.

I like gravitrons, they had one at the brown county fair when I was in high school. The operator got out and walked above our heads and being a ride op at kings island I thought it was completely crazy and unsafe.

I go to my local fair every year just to ride the gravitron

Fun Fact: Mission: Space in EPCOT is the most expensive Gravitron on Earth!

When I was a kid the covered version of these rides were called Starship 2000. Not sure if that was just in my area.

Absolutely one of my favorite flat rides ever!!!! I usually just stick to roller coasters because too much spinning can actually ruin a day at the theme park for me very quickly, and this is rather recent that spinning rides make me sick. I'm 38 now, and I want to say this started becoming a problem when I turned 35 or around the time I started to notice this. But the Gravatron is awesome, and I can still ride it once or twice in a day before I get sick from it!

Former Starship pilot here. Over a 1000 hours in the cockpit. Never seen a 'tron without the top. There's more than just canvas there! The top integrates a steel cable with a pair of turnbuckles that have to be turned until they are extremely tight. You can see it for yourself on the outside, right where the canvas meets the fiberglass panels that make the structure of the saucer. This cable along with a series of pins and wedges holds the whole thing together and its failure was the cause of that accident. Starship is one of the most intensely scrutinized machines on the midway by state inspectors for this very reason!

The rotor that was built in 2018 and has the cool art on it actually was at my local fair that same year! It could have been a different company or a different theme but this one looks really similar! I live in a small town in kentucky and it was a new ride that year. It hasnt came back which sucks because it was pretty fun! Also holiday world has one that spins 50 degrees in the air!

At my school every year they hire fair rides last year they got one that inverts and we also got a roundup :D

I actually got to ride a Rotor at Six Flags Magic Mountain back in 2006, I was thinking that because I’m fat that once the floor dropped, I’d be dropping with the floor but when the floor dropped I stayed in place, I went on it something like 10 times because the lineup was almost nonexistent, it was so much fun. as for the Gravitron, there’s an amusement park near my house and every August they expand it to include other attractions and one of the rides they bring for that is a version of the Gravitron called Starship 3000/4000, they also occasionally bring a Zero Gravity there as well.

Do zippers next plz, they are my favorite flat ride, with a unique experience.

Back in the 70's I would ride the rotor in Wildwood, NJ. It was called "The HELL HOLE". A fun ride in it's time.

The rotor that used to be at my home park used the observation level as part of the line.

My mom talked about the Gravitron in the 80’s with Kickass soundtracks and Music Videos playing on multiple TV’s in the center. My favorite flat ride as a kid.

I'm not an enthusiast but can happily say that Gravitron is my favourite amusement park ride, and will never pass up a chance to get on one. Its progenitor is kind of hilarious - would love to see that flat circle in action! ✌️🍍

My uncle used to be the owner of Martin's Fantasy Island in Grand Island, NY, and before he sold out to Apex (who utterly KILLED the park after only two seasons of taking over and basically destroyed a MASSIVE CHUNK of my childhood.... the bastards) he put in a Gravatron ride. I can't possibly explain how hard I was trying to get him to give it to me so I could put it up in my yard! I miss taking a Nerf ball into the ride with me and try to toss it towards the center of the ride just to have it come back to the person a few spots away from where I was standing. Good times, man. Good times! Thanks for the nostalgia hit on a day when I really needed it!

i remember the ufo one. we would come off our seat thing and try to run to the bar around the ride op and touch it lol

Zero Gravity is one of my favorite fairground rides. They always had one at my local State Fair and used to ride it all the time as a kid. Was hoping to ride it at the WA state fair at night after the crowds cleared, but then a huge thunderstorm bigger than any the area's seen in 20 years hit the fair at peak strength.

I was able to ride the Rotor and the Round Up at Six Flags Great Adventure. They don't have either one now but they were fun. The Rotor was so cool sticking to the wall.

Back in the 1970s, Carowinds had a rotor called 'The Oaken Bucket'. Once when I had a headache from riding Thunder Road, I rode the Oaken Bucket afterward, and that cured the headache. I have no idea why, but I was grateful.

Six Flags Great Adventure had a rotor for a long time, though I think it is finally removed. That would be my first memory of such rides. (They also had a round-up … and still do, though I forget the name of it now.) I've been on the Gravitron at Morey's Pier in Wildwood NJ, but my first such experience was at a local carnival, St. Michael's. Curiously, that Gravitron spun clockwise like the ones in your video, but every Gravitron I've been on since spins counter-clockwise. I'm not sure if that's a US-vs-Europe thing or not. I've seen people on Gravitron rides spin themselves upside-down … and in one very weird case, a person stood on the mat itself, like he was in a space station. No way that was safe, but that was a sight to behold! Thx for the shout-out!

There used to be a Gravitron in Pleasure Island in Cleethorpes I believe this one has been moved to Barrie Island. Me and my friend used to go on it all the time, they are really fun.

I remember riding the graviton at Alton towers in the early 90's. Whenever I tell people about it no one else remembers it.

I would never get on these as a kid. I love them now! They are so basic, but bring a lot of joy to tons of people. Thanks for the history!

I grew up riding the original Gravitron Moreys Piers, Wildwood NJ. One of my farvorite flat rids still to this day.

This is like one of the only rides that I would legitimately get on. When my local fair brings it, I immediately get myself and my friends on. If only I had the same energy for other rides. I remember my first time going on the ride, I was like 7. My aunt, who is only 8 years older than me, took my and my older brother onto the ride, my parents waited outside the ride. It was called Starship 2000 and I remember getting on, terrified. I remember how insane it was the boards would slide up and down and we stayed stuck to the walls, the operator was playing Barbie Girl by Aqua and he had Winnie the Pooh plush with him too. I remember a few teens and older kids on the ride too and they before we stuck to the wall, they did flips to get into insane poses.

Frontier City is my local park. I'll have to try the rotor there once I beat my fear of rollercoasters

Motion sickness is almost always caused by your body telling you you're moving when your eyes are telling you your not. It's generally exacerbated by 'loss of horizon' which humans use to orient up and down. Spinning can cause nausea because it is directly messing with your inner ear. The Gravitron is less likely to cause nausea because there is no sense of motion, the majority of the ride the only sensation is being pushed back into the walls. There is no loss of horizon effect because you begin the ride without a horizon, but with 'level markers' in place and those markers (like the yellow railing) don't change, allowing you to orient. You as a person aren't spinning, and you can't tell that the structure at large is spinning, so both sources of nausea are defeated. That said, people do still get sick, usually after they exit the ride. If you're prone to motion sickness, regain your bearings inside the ride, especially if you noticed the lateral forces of the ride while it stopped. Be the last person off, it's better than hurling, and when you get off LOOK UP at the horizon. If hurling is imminent, book it for a trash can, there's usually one very close to the ride. In general, if you are feeling motion sick on a boat (or other vehicle) stay on deck and move towards the bow. Yes, the bouncy part of the boat. Going below decks will add loss of horizon to your symptoms, do not 'hide' from motion sickness. The front of the boat gives you the best chance of convincing your brain that you are moving the way your ears say you are. You are directly in the wind, you can see and hear the boat moving in context to the water, you will get a bit of spray. Those things help your brain understand that you feel like you're moving because the thing you're on is moving. Also, ask for the boat to speed up, not to slow down, so that you can see forward and feel forward. This is the same reason many people who get car sick sit up front and roll down the window, or better yet, they drive. Operating the vehicle almost always prevents motion sickness because YOU are deliberately causing any changes in motion. Cruise ships are also largely exempt from sea sickness because they are too large to be effected by the all but the largest forces. I learned this from the yellow boat guys in Tazzie and I use it every day. Drive if you can, get forward, increase input. Hope this helps someone else as much as it helped me.

The gravitron is one of my favorite flat rides, I also really like the Reactor a lot

Experienced Starship pilot here. The roof is actually structural and contains a cable that helps prevent the ride from spinning itself apart. The mentioned incident occurred because an inexperienced crew loosened that cable in the moments before the ride was to shut down for an overnight teardown. They didn't know those two turnbuckles at the panel directly behind the operator were literally holding the entire machine together. Gravitron was invented by Walter House, who also designed Super Loop aka Ring of Fire aka Fireball. Both rides heavily rely on cables. You don't so much as touch those cables on a Loop or a 'Tron before that ride is done spinning for the event. Regular inspection for a Starship includes that roof cable as well as the pin and wedge system that secures the wall panels in five places, two on the floor, ceiling and one joining each panel to its neighbor on the left if your looking at the saucer from the outside.

I rode the Rotor at Cedar Point in the 80’s! I loved it. The floor didn’t come all the way back up, so you always slid down several inches at the end. I think the last time I rode it was 1989.

I loved it when the Gravitron ride operator let us turn upside down!

The Timeshaft that once resided at Kings Dominion was awesome and the music and lighting effects as well. I really miss that ride and glad I got to experience it first hand.

They have this at literally every single carnival/fair I go to. This is one of my favorite rides.

I can confirm I have been on the first Gravitron in the world, at my home park Morey’s Peirs, and one of the last Rotors at Canobie Lake Park

YAY NEW FLAT RIDE OF THE WEEK VIDEO!!! i rode a rotor at london’s biggest funfair winter wonderland and it was terrifying but quite cool! my friend rode it 2 times in a row and he was so dizzy it looked like he was drunk 😂

I can't be the only one who feels betrayed over the omission of the tilted "disco round" version?

Browsing RU-vid and found this blast of nostalgia. When I was younger the fair that frequented nearby had one and was originally called Gravitron but at some point was renamed Starship 3000. A fun thing to do on that type was when the ride got spinning fast enough (and if there was room around you to do so) me and my friends would pose ourselves upside down or sideways. The only time I ever had nausea from riding one happened when me and a friend rode it like 5 times in a row due to the lines being short for the late hour and we had the bands that allowed unlimited rides.

I used to love riding this in the late 90s early 2000s at the state fair. I still remember what the ride operator said before he started the ride the first time I rode this when I was a kid, “do whatever you want just don’t get yourself killed”

I rode the one at Canobie Lake Park and I never felt like I was gonna throw up so badly in such a long time, this was back in 2014 (which was my first visit)

At 43, I went on one of these today for the first time! Not too queasy until the end as it slowed down, and I walked away a bit nauseous, but it was pretty fun!

I have ridden all three of these types of rides, including the Rotor at Cedar Point, and I LOVED them all! I never got nauseated at all.

Gravitron and Roundup are some of my favorite rides. The centrifugal force is such a fun feeling. The Joy Wheel also looks like a lot of fun, it would be neat to experience that one.

This is one of my favorite flat rides EVER!

Sylvan Beach has a Chance Rotor in central NY.

When I was a kid we went to fairs a lot and the Gravitron was my absolute favorite. I adored it. Once when I was about 13, there was a little girl a few spaces down from me. I remember thinking that she seemed too small for the ride, but the operator let her on so I figured it was fine. So the ride starts up, everything is as usual. Then when it got fast enough for the pads to rise up, there was sudden shouting. I turned my head to look (it was difficult because of the centrifugal force) and the little girl was gone. There was a piercing scream and the adults over there were yelling to stop the ride. There was loud music, so my brother and I started yelling too and attempting to wave our arms and get the operator’s attention. It felt like an eternity before the operator noticed, but it was probably just a few seconds. It turns out that when those pads slide up, there is a gap under them that is open to the outside. Apparently, the little girl was small enough that her feet got caught in that gap and the centrifugal force kind of pushed her out of that gap. As the ride was spinning, she was hanging with her legs outside the ride, and up to her waist was inside the ride. She was clinging to her dad’s leg to keep from being thrown out. They had to call paramedics to help get her out safely and they took her to the hospital (I’m assuming to make sure she didn’t have any internal injuries). Now when I see Gravitron rides, I just think of that poor little girl screaming and crying and her dad being so panicked yelling for the ride to stop and for someone to help his daughter. I just can’t bring myself to go on them anymore. Pay attention to height requirements, folks! They’re so important! Don’t let kids under your care cheat them by standing on tip-toe, wearing tall shoes, etc and don’t try to convince the ride operators to let you on anyway.

Rode one of these towards the end of the night at the county fair with buddy. It was just myself, my friend, and the ride op. The ride Op came out from the middle console control seat and started using the g force to run sideways on the wall of seats. My friend and I both also got up from our plank shaped seats, as best we could. And fucked around, playing with the g forces of the gravitron. It was very unsafe, but we were all okay at the end.

This was my absolute favorite carnival/ fair attraction when I was a kid. Back in the 90s it was pretty common for ride operators to crank the audio system to dangerously loud volumes, for whatever reason, even as a kid I remember them being uncomfortably loud a lot of the time. Then there were never consistent ride rules, depending on the operator. Some would let you basically take any position during the ride. You could try and sit up, or flip around as the Gs increased so that you were upside down for the duration- this was the least common allowed extraneous position likely because it required the rider to right themselves before the centrifugal force subsided or risk falling head first when gravity took over

Can’t believe is still never ridden a Gravitron , I have been on a joy wheel & Rotor however. Great video my friend

There was a rotor named Devil's Hole at Fantasy Island in Grand Island, New York. The ride was removed in 1994, and it was announced the the park would not reopen this year. I recall riding this as a kid.

Turkish Twist at Canobie Lake Park! Ohh man, bringing back some mid 90's memories. Our "older" rec camp for 12 and 13 year olds would go there every summer and just let us loose. Some great times there back in the day.

Gravitron is my favourite fair ride, it’s the best when the fair is empty and the operator lets you do whatever you want. My first ride removal heartbreak was pharaoh’s eye, the round up and my home park Wonderland. At some point they added seat belts to it but when it first opened with no restraints at all it was truly amazing. I still get upset thinking about losing that ride.

I ran the Rotor at Cedar Point in 1980. It was a lot of fun, and people DID throw up on this ride often!! We used to call it the Lunch Review Vehicle! Also ran Geauga Lake Park's Rotor as well. Same manufacturer, different operating systems, but was still fun to operate and ride.

I was on one in Rehoboth Beach, I'm going again this July. It feels like a space adventure. You don't even feel the spinning. Later in the ride the seats go up and down and it's fun and forceful. I love me a Gravitron!

I think I’ve rode both a couple Rotors and Gravitrons. Most of them were at state fairs. The one that sticks out the most for me is Cajuin Cliffhanger at my home park, which had to close due to an injury. (Although I never rode it, since it closed before I was born) These are some really fun rides, and I love trying to move my head off the wall because of how intense the spinning is. also rode one of the ones on an angle this past summer! Enjoying catching up with these vids in order to watch S3.

Geagua Lake had a Rotor in 1996 when I was there but I didn't ride it. I'm not sure when they took it out.

Wow that brings back memories 1996-2006 when I was in school.. They always had rbr hardest hitting bass.. And people was all over the place jamming! That shit was so awesome, that was the ride at the West Virginia Black Walnut festival

The Turkish twist at canobie lake park is fun. It was always fun to push the patience of the ride operator by trying to go upside down. It was also fun to see everyone get hurled on from the observation deck before riding.

I see Gravitrons at almost every fair (also called Starship 2000). For someone like me with a low ride intensity, it's one of my favorites, though sometimes I get a slight headache after riding, and I have to sit down for a while.

Gravitron is also very cool, i tried it at the same place that had the Sombrero. You could take any position if there was space because you would stick to the wall so well. And they always played like europop etc

I went on the Gravitron for the first time when I was a couple months shy of turning 4, and I wouldn't be surprised if I've ridden it over 1,000 times since. I never once thought it was scary or intimidating, I just always thought it was so fascinating that just by spinning the room rapidly you could make gravity turn sideways. I'm now pursuing a bachelor's in physics, since understanding the laws of physics has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember, and I feel like all my Gravitron experience contributed to that

The Super Round-Up at Idlewild Park is a personal favorite as I grew up with it at Kennywood. It has been closed for refurbishment the last two seasons due to a flood that also got to their Tilt-A-Whirl.

Eyyyyy canobie is my home park, such a fun little ride.

I've ridden every Gravitron I've ever seen. You get a good ride operator in there & they'll let you stand up on the seats. We local kids would turn upside down, sit up, & do all sorts of stupid stuff in them. Now I need to find one to take my kids on.

Omg my favorite flat ride.. Atlantic city nostalgia.. thank you!

Worlds of Fun had a Rotor ride called the Finnish Fling. It was one of my favorite WOF rides.

They had a series of Rotors at Kennywood (not anymore). There was also a version of it in that Mountain that became Volcano at Kings Dominion, too. It was a very cool version. As a kid I loved both the Rotor and Gravitron (child of the 70/80s). I've been afraid to get on such things as an adult. The last time I went on a spinning ride, I regretted it.

I’ve seen several traveling Rotors. The only permanent one I knew of was at King’s Island. I can remember riding a Round-Up as early as about 1962 at the Tennessee State Fair. I think Strates show did the midway then. There is or was a permanent Round-Up at Holiday World in Santa Clause, IN. I am a fan of both rides. I can only remember riding a Gravitron once, and that was at Fall Festival here in Evansville, IN. Several health issues keep me off rides these days. Getting old sucks! But there is still a bit of young boy lurking in my 74 year old body that wants to get on thrill rides. About all I get to do these days is stand beside my 3 year old great granddaughter to keep her from slipping off the carousel horse.

Story time: so I was riding the successor to Planet of the Apes at Morey’s Piers (I’m assuming that’s what is referred to) called Cygnus X-1 with my sister and my friend Aiden. We had just gotten off and decided to go on again. We get back in line and scan our wristbands and take our spots. We had our fun feeling the Gs and getting blinded by the strobe lights and the ride was over. As the door dramatically opened, something became very visible. The door missed the stairs. The operator had called maintenance (I think someone came over but I don’t remember). Eventually the operator slowly just rotated the gravitron around until the door was aligned. We got off and my friend Aiden felt sick, so we went back to our shore house, not getting the ice cream we wanted.

Prepare for a comment on each of your videos. I just found you and I'm binge-watching you!!!!!!

I love going on the Gravitron; it’s always a must ride attraction for me. I remember when I was a kid, they had TVs in them and would show music videos. Thinking back, it was probably kind of dangerous. Big, heavy CRT TVs mounted above the operator’s console, centripetal force constantly trying to fling them outward. I don’t see any reason why it couldn’t be done today. LCD TVs are lightweight and would be super easy to secure.

They used to have a Gravitron at Alton Towers from 1990 to 1992 it sat roughly were Oblivion’s station is today

Great documentary! Over here in the UK, I've been on numerous Rotors as it's still quite a common ride. Easily at least 10 of them still in operation and travelling the UK circuit. The UK has a lot of Round-Ups as well, around 30-40 of them. We don't have any Gravitrons though that I'm aware of and I definitely haven't seen one. Looks well smart though :-)

There was a round up at my local fair once. I was too small to ride it. It never came back and now there are none left in my country. There will be a gravitron this year for the first time in 20 years though.

In case you did not know, for some time the Round Up had competitiob from HUSS - their version was called the U.F.O (I have operated one before - Knight Mares at my home park, Canada's Wonderland)

I love the Gravitron. One of my favorite rides ever since I was a kid in the late 80s/90s

Every time I hear U2’s “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” it reminds me of riding the Gavitron at the Calgary Stampede

About thirty years ago, we had a ride op up in the Pacific Northwest who would, once he got the thing up to speed, leave the center pod and walk around the inside of the Gravitron below the panels... Hell of a thing to watch.

I'm very GP, just to get that out of the way. But when I was a kid, I loved riding Worlds of Fun's rotor, the Finnish Fling. I believe that WOF's rotor queue line ran up over the gallery level. I'm pretty sure it was the queue, but if it wasn't the queue it was the exit path. But I really think it was the queue. But the walls to look over to see down into the ride were taller than the minimum height requirements, so the very first time I ever rode it I really didn't know what I was getting into until I was actually on the ride. But I loved it! I know that if I look through old photo albums from the '80s at my parents there's an on-ride snapshot or two that my father took of me and some siblings, with our feet dangling. But when I was around 20 I threw up less than an hour after leaving WOF, and Finnish Fling happened to be the last ride I rode, so I blamed it. Perhaps unjustly. My occasional motion sensitivity has only gotten worse, so that I have to be sure I'm loaded up on anti-motion sickness medicine, and pace myself when I go to amusement parks or carnivals. I have seen Gravitrons at traveling shows, but I've never ridden one. Worlds of Fun still has a Roundup called the Bamboozler, but I haven't ridden it in decades, because I felt like the padded back rest was an inch or two too short for me, and having the back of my head driven back into a perforated steel panel didn't make for the most comfortable ride experience. It was fine when I was shorter, though.

i absolutely love both the Gravitron and Round up rides, both are childhood favorites

I went on that ride at canobie lake park last summer (it’s called Turkish twist) and it was really cool. I would 100% recommend it. Just don’t go on it if you have motion sickness or you’ve recently eaten.

I remember the original Elitches in Denver Colorado had one of the original rotor style ones called the mine shaft (this might have been moved to the "new" elitches but i cant remember). Lakeside amusement park in Colorado still has an operational Round-up.

As someone from FC as a homepark, the rotor was a fun ride! its currently down for extreme refurbishment.

The rotor at canobie lake park is one of my favorite flat rides there. Super fun rides

I used to love riding the Roundup style ride. It adds something to it to be tilted up in the air and out in the open like that over the standard rotor or gravitron that’s covered.

My local fair had a Roundup ride called the Tasmanian Tiger, and I rode it every year! It prominently featured the Warner Brothers character Taz, and I once rode it four times in a row, causing me to lay in the car for the rest of the fair with nausea. They're great rides, I just overdid it.

The Gravitron was my favourite ride as a kid at Dreamworld (our major themepark in Aus). We used to be allowed to wiggle ourselves around on the wall so we were upside down or side ways while it was going full tilt, then the operator would give us a time warning to return to the original position before they slowed the ride. Then when I went back in later years they'd renamed it to The Vortex and you weren't allowed to shift on the wall anymore. There were always rumours that someone had been injured due to being upside down or something but this was all before the internet was really being used so I have no idea if there was actually an incident. Anyway, the ride was so boring after the freedom we'd originally had so we found another ride instead XD

We had the Gravitron and then Starship 3000 every year at our school carnival. It is probably my favorite carnival ride of all time. Record is 26 times in a row. I miss it. I wish my body could still handle rides like this.

I used to operate a graviton.. there is a common myth that the operator feels the effects . I never got dizzy .. on a side note if you ever go on a graviton ,make sure your money,phones,wallets are secured because when people move around on the walls there is a small space between each pad which objects tend to fall between and people don’t realize they probably lost said thing on the gravitron.. I can’t even count the amount of phones, money,wallets jewelry I would find behind the pads on tear down.. on another side note , I never liked operating the roundup for the simple fact that the operator needs to stand on the stairs to engage the hydraulics

AstroWorld in Houston Texas had one called the Barrel of Fun. It was removed when it floor lowering mechanism couldn't be fixed. Six Flags Over Texas had Spidletop.

Canobie Lake Park’s version in Salem New Hampshire USA is called “The Turkish Twist” and is a rotor style ride. I remember when it went in and it was very very popular. I don’t know if it’s still there today.

YES! These are one of the only two rides I'll ride at the fair/carnival

I used to enjoy the Gravitron (it was called Starship 4000) at the CNE/Screemers(when it was at Screemers, they took it away after I think the 2nd year I went) but now I get sick a lot easier than I used to on that ride. I can maybe do it once and that's if it's the first ride I do, or within the first few rides, but other than that, that's it.

The Turkish twist at Canobie Lake Park was awesome , I remember in the 90’s some kid died on it somehow trying to do a handstand .