Virginia Reel was an older style of spinning roller coaster characterized by spinning circular "tubs" that zig-zagged down a flat-bottomed track.
Virginia Reel was an older style of spinning roller coaster characterized by spinning circular "tubs" that zig-zagged down a flat-bottomed track.
Virginia Reels used a side friction-like track resembling a trench. The tubs, which had inward-facing seats built around the perimeter, spun freely on their chassis as they traveled around the track. Instead of big hills or banks, Virginia Reels featured many unbanked turns and switchbacks to spin their tubs as much as possible. Near the end of the ride were a few helices and a relatively steep drop into a tunnel. [1]
The Virginia Reel was designed by Henry Elmer Riehl, who named the ride after his daughter, Luna Virginia Riehl. The first Virginia Reel was built in 1908 at Coney Island's Luna Park, [2] where Henry Riehl was superintendent.
The last full-sized Virginia Reel was located at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in England until it closed in 1982. [3] The modern equivalent is the Spinning Wild Mouse roller coaster.
There is one survivor, albeit in miniature and semi-powered form, at Joyland (Great Yarmouth). [4] [5]
A similar ride around the same time, the Tickler, consisted of curved rails and posts forming a zig-zag route down an incline surface. Wheeled circular tubs freely rolled and spun down the incline, guided by the rails and bounced about by the posts.
The ride is also featured as a buildable attraction in the Roller Coaster Tycoon simulation game series.
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often featuring multiple areas with different themes. Unlike temporary and mobile funfairs and carnivals, amusement parks are stationary and built for long-lasting operation. They are more elaborate than city parks and playgrounds, usually providing attractions that cater to a variety of age groups. While amusement parks often contain themed areas, theme parks place a heavier focus with more intricately-designed themes that revolve around a particular subject or group of subjects.
A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music and special effects. Appearing as early as the 19th century, exhibits such as tunnels of love, scary themes and interactive stories have been the subject of rides under the original definition.
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Frontierland Western Theme Park was a theme park in Morecambe, Lancashire, England, situated on Marine Road West, which operated from 1906 to 7 November 1999, with a final year consisting of only travelling rides in 2000. Frontierland originally operated as West End Amusement Park, Fun City and Morecambe Pleasure Park from 1906 to 1986 before being transformed into Frontierland for the 1987 season, in an attempt to defeat dwindling visitor numbers.
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The Wild Mouse was a wooden roller coaster located in Blackpool Pleasure Beach which opened in 1958. It was one of only four remaining wooden Wild Mouse coasters left in the world as of the end of the 2017 season, and was held in very high regard as one of the finest and most extreme examples of Wild Mouse coasters.
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Roller Coaster – also known as Scenic Railway or The Scenic – is a wooden roller coaster at Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach, Great Yarmouth, UK. The ride was built at the park in 1932 and has remained operational since. It is one of only two scenic railways still in operation in the UK and one of only seven in the world. In common with most scenic railways, a 'brakeman' is required to ride with the train to control its speed and to stop it at the end of the ride, as there are no brakes on the track. It is the second tallest and second fastest wooden roller coaster in the UK. It is also a Grade II listed building.
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ICON is a launched roller coaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Manufactured by Mack Rides of Germany, the ride opened on 25 May 2018 at a total cost of £16.25 million. The ride is the first multi-launch roller coaster in the United Kingdom, and the first brand new rollercoaster at the park in 24 years. it uses a series of linear magnetic synchronous motors to propel and slow the trains along the track. Icon serves as the park's sixth steel roller coaster and tenth roller coaster overall. The name "Icon" was announced on 10 April 2017 with the tagline, "Dare To Ride”.
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