(Roughly) Daily

Long-time readers will know of your correspondent’s affection for roller coasters (e.g., here, and here) and those who design them (e.g., here). Today, a(nother) example from Coney Island…

… in 1917 [Coney Island] added an unusual attraction called the Scenic Spiral Wheel, better known as The Top. It was a 45 ton, 70 foot diameter steel wheel that was tipped towards its heavier side where it rested on its bottom edge. Roller coaster track spiraled around its outer rim from its top to its bottom. As the four-car train circled the rim of the wheel, its weight changed the wheel’s tilt so that the entire rig gyrated around like a top running low on spin. The train slowly spiraled down and covered 3200 feet of track in two and one half minutes. A second train with a separate admission climbed up to the top of the wheel, then descended through a long tunnel. The wheel was more interesting to watch than to ride, and consequently only lasted through the 1921 season…

And it is interesting to watch:

History via Pounce-Matics Amuse-Matics; video via Boing Boing.

* from Major Bowes Original Amateur Hour (the radio show that transferred to television as Ted Mack and the Original Amateur Hour)

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As we strap in, we might recall that it was on this date in 1972 that a very different sort of ride– “If You Had Wings”– opened at Walt Disney World In Florida. A two-person Omnimover dark ride in Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom, it was sponsored by Eastern Air Lines and featured travel destinations (mainly in the Caribbean), all of which were served by Eastern.

… Guests passed through a series of colorful theater-like sets with rear-projected short scenes of straw-hat markets, fishermen, limbo dancers, and steel drum bands. Locations featured various Eastern destinations, like Mexico, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad, and New Orleans.

Then, the vehicles reclined into a room with projected snippets of flights taking off on an ovoid-shaped surface. Next, film of snow-covered mountains reflected on floor-to-ceiling mirrors.

As guests disembarked to an area containing an Eastern Air Lines reservation desk, an agent stood ready to assist riders with travel arrangements…

Source

In 1987, Eastern withdrew its sponsorship) not too long before they went defunct. Soon after, Delta became the sponsor and focus; they withdrew in 1997. The space was then refurbished and turned into Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, which opened in 1998… The Buzz experience is skeletally similar to “If You Had Wings”– but riders can control the rotation of their vehicle via joysticks, and are armed with laser cannons to shoot at targets stationed throughout the attraction.