List of amusement rides

"Carnival ride" redirects here. For the album by Carrie Underwood, see Carnival Ride.

Early pleasure wheel in Russia, 1807

Amusement rides, sometimes called carnival rides, are mechanical devices or structures that move people to create fun and enjoyment.

Rides are often perceived by many as being scary or more dangerous than they actually are. This could be due to the design, having acrophobia, or from hearing about accidents involving rides that are similar. For some, the adrenaline associated with riding amusement rides is part of the experience.

They are common at most annual events such as fairs, traveling carnivals, and circuses around the world. Sometimes music festivals and concerts also host amusement park rides.

Types of rides

• Flat rides are usually those that move their passengers on a plane generally parallel to the ground, such as rides that spin around a vertical axis, like carousels and twists; and ground-level rides such as bumper cars.
• In gravity rides, gravity is responsible for all or some of the movement where any vertical movement is not about a fixed point, such as roller coasters, water slides and drop towers.
• Vertical rides usually move their passengers in a vertical plane and around a fixed point, such as Ferris wheels, Enterprise and Skydiver.
• As of the 2010s, some rides employ virtual reality.

Specific themes

• Dark ride
• Bumper cars
• Haunted house
• Funhouse
• Pendulum ride
• Rollercoaster
• Ferris wheel

List of amusement rides

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Year	Name(s)	Image	Type	Notes
1954	Ali Baba		Pendulum ride	The Ali Baba is a type of amusement ride consisting of a stationary horizontal gondola with a 360 degree swinging pendulum.
1961	Alpine slide			A summer toboggan is an amusement or recreational ride which uses a bobsled-like sled or cart to run down a track usually built on the side of a hill. There are two main types: an Alpine coaster or mountain coaster is a type of roller coaster where the sled runs on rails and is not able to leave the tracks, whereas with an Alpine slide the sled simply runs on a smooth concave track usually made of metal, concrete or fibreglass. Both of these types of ride are sometimes denoted with the German name Sommerrodelbahn.
1948	Balloon Race			The Zamperla Balloon Race is a tilting, circular motion amusement park ride manufactured by Antonio Zamperla S.p.A. The ride makes its way up a structure, and at a certain height, it starts tilting.
1965	Bayern Kurve			The Bayern Kurve is a roller coaster like amusement ride that moves a train around a banked circular track, gaining speed as the ride progresses. It is made in both a portable and park model and originally debuted in 1965. It was invented by German engineer Anton Schwarzkopf.
1952	Booster (Fabbri)		Pendulum ride	Booster in an amusement ride made by Fabbri.
1998	Booster (HUSS)			The Booster is an amusement park ride made originally by HUSS Maschinenfabrik starting in 1998.
1985	Breakdance			Breakdance is an amusement ride designed by Huss Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG in 1985.
1972	Bumper boats		Water ride	Bumper boats are an amusement park ride that uses inner tube shaped watercraft that can be steered by the rider. Some are driven by electric motors, some by gasoline engines, and some require the rider to propel the craft by pedaling. Most are equipped with water guns for duels with other riders. Bumper boat attractions can commonly be found in places such as amusement parks, carnivals, fairs, family fun centers, and theme parks.
1920s	Bumper cars		Dodgems	Bumper cars or dodgems are the generic names for a type of flat amusement ride consisting of multiple small electrically powered cars which draw power from the floor or ceiling, and which are turned on and off remotely by an operator. They are also known as bumping cars, dodging cars and dashing cars. The first patent for them was filed in 1921.
1700s	Carousel		Merry-Go-Round	A carousel is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The "seats" are traditionally in the form of rows of wooden horses or other animals mounted on posts, many of which are moved up and down by gears to simulate galloping, to the accompaniment of looped circus music.
1925	Caterpillar			The Caterpillar ride is a vintage flat ride engineered by the inventor Hyla F. Maynes of North Tonawanda, New York, who dubbed it the Caterpillar when it debuted in Coney Island, New York in 1925. It generates a significant amount of centrifugal force, causing the riders on the inside of the seats to crush the riders on the outside of the seats. It was once found at nearly every amusement park around the United States, but is now so rare that an original Caterpillar ride can only be found operating in two parks today. Though only two Caterpillars are known to be operating, there have been reports claiming there are additional Caterpillars in storage or standing (but not operating) at a few other parks.
1954	Cliffhanger			The Cliff Hanger is an amusement park rider that is meant to simulate hang gliding.
1984	Condor			The Condor is the trade name of an amusement ride sold by HUSS of Bremen, Germany. It was debuted at the 1984 New Orleans World's Fair, under the name "Cyclo Tower".
2003	Disk'O			The Disk'O (also known as Skater or Surf's Up) is a type of flat ride manufactured by Zamperla of Italy. The ride is a larger version of a Rockin' Tug, also manufactured by Zamperla.
c.1910	Devil's wheel
1943	Double Shot		Drop tower	a drop tower that drops riders down at high speeds
1972	Enterprise		Ferris wheel	a giant Ferris wheel
1992	Evolution		pendulum ride
1893	Ferris wheel
1946	Fireball
1930s	Flying Scooters
1953	Freak out		Pendulum ride
1982	Freefall		Drop tower	riders freefall at a high speeds
1994	Frisbee		Pendulum ride
1954	Fun Slide
1983	Gravitron
1954	Gyro tower
	Hayride
1905	Helter skelter
1940s	Hurricane
1960s	Infinity		Pendulum ride
1950s	Inversion		Pendulum ride
1950s	Jump and Smile
1984	Kamikaze		Pendulum ride
1977	Kiddie ride
1982	Looping Starship		Pendulum ride
1952	Loop Fighter		Pendulum ride
1933	Loop-O-Plane
1933	Loop-the-Loop
1929	Madhouse		Dark ride
1926	Matterhorn
1930s	Mechanical bull
1982	Miami Trip		Thrill ride
1977	Monster
1986	Motion simulator
1954	Music Express
1952	Octopus
1926	Old Mill		Water ride
1968	Omnimover
1976	Orbiter
1957	Paratrooper
c.1893	Pirate Ship		Pendulum ride
1999	Power Surge
1983	Rainbow
1981	Ranger		Pendulum ride
1971	Red Baron
c.1978	Reverse bungee
1956	River caves		Water ride
1980	River rapids ride		Water ride
1978	Rockin' Tug
1948	Rock-O-Plane
1974	Rockstar		Pendulum ride
1700s	Roller coaster			The roller coaster is an amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson obtained a patent regarding roller coasters on January 20, 1885, which were made out of wood, but this patent is considerably later than the "Russian mountains" described in the article.
2013	Rollglider			The Rollglider is a type of a thrill amusement ride that has a steel pipe track designed with turns, dips and loops, using gravity-propelled trolleys to slide down the track.
1970s	Roll-O-Plane
1940s	Rotor			The Rotor is an amusement ride designed and patented by German engineer Ernst Hoffmeister in 1948. The ride was first demonstrated at Oktoberfest 1949 and still appears in numerous amusement parks. The Rotor is a large, upright barrel, rotated to create an inward acting centripetal force supplied by the wall's support force. Once at full speed, the floor is retraced, leaving the riders stuck to the wall of the drum.
1940s	Round Up
1938	Scrambler		Flat ride
2004	Screamin' Swing		Pendulum ride
1884	Shoot the Chute		Water ride
2003	Sky Swatter
1992	Skycoaster
1965	Skydiver
1963	Skywheel			The Skywheel is a ride that is essentially a double Ferris Wheel with each wheel attached on each end of a large boom that rotates on its axis causing the wheels to rise and fall while rotating independently as they rotate around the boom axis causing a gravitational thrill more spectacular than a normal Ferris Wheel. The ride was constructed by now defunct company Allan Herschell Company.
1996	Space Shot		Drop tower
2000	Speed		Pendulum ride
1940s	Star Flyer		Swing ride
1955	Super Shot		Drop tower
1996	Super Star
1960	Swing Around
1920s	Swing boat		Pendulum ride
1951	Tagada
1948	Teacups
1914	The Whip
1926	Tilt-A-Whirl
1996	Top Scan
1990	Top Spin
2002	Topple Tower		Pendulum ride
1955	Tornado (Mondial)
1951	Tornado (Wisdom)
1944	Tow boat ride		Water ride
1970s	Troika
1930s	Tumble Bug
1950s	Turbo Drop		Drop tower
1953	Twist
1978	UFO
1957	UltraMax
1933	Waltzer
1963	Wipeout
1968	Zipper

Literature

• Florian Dering: Volksbelustigungen. Eine bildreiche Kulturgeschichte von den Fahr-, Belustigungs- und Geschicklichkeitsgeschäften der Schausteller vom achtzehnten Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart. Greno, Nördlingen 1986, ISBN 3-89190-005-8.
• Karl Ruisinger: Kirmes Special. Karussells 1950er und 1960er Jahre (= Kirmes Special 1). Gemi Verlag, Reichertshausen 2005, ISBN 3-9808913-3-X.
• Sacha-Roger Szabo: Rausch und Rummel. Attraktionen auf Jahrmärkten und in Vergnügungsparks. Eine soziologische Kulturgeschichte. transcript-Verlag, Bielefeld 2006, ISBN 3-89942-566-9 (Zugleich: Freiburg, Univ., Diss., 2006).

External links

• http://www.ride-index.de − Datenbank der Reisenden Fahrgeschäfte in Deutschland (in German)
• History of Fairs - Fairground Rides - Modern Rides :: National Fairground Archive
• U.S. patents for roller coasters and related rides