The World's 18 Strangest Rides

[Ian]

Each year amusement parks around the world try to one-up one another by building bigger, faster and more intense rides. Abu Dhabi's Ferrari World recently announced plans for a roller coaster that will hit nearly 150 mph, while North Carolina's Carowinds park said it would build a roller coaster with a 211-foot drop. But roller coasters require significant amounts of land, massive investment, and can't be put on a trailer and hauled around the country. This is where a new crop of rides come in, providing more interactive experiences for passengers and bringing thrills to densely populated urban centers. Here, PM takes a look at some of the strangest, scariest and most innovative non-roller-coaster rides.


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[Inverse]

Human Trebuchet... **** off! That's a terrible idea! Although, quite good for the Darwin Awards.

 

[ECG]

Yay for the SkyRoller! Why don't parks build more of those?
I've done 10 of the rides listed & the SCAD tower was my favorite, as everyone at last year's Euro Live knows all to well. :wink:
Can't believe they actually put that Human Trebuchet in operation. :roll:

 

[Mike]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo_oigyFlTA[/youtube]

:shock:
That's insane!
And I've never even heard of it... :?

 

[ciallkennett]

This is probably the most dangerous thing I've seen...ever. How could they not have seen it before someone was killed? Heck, they saw somebody break their pelvis or whatever...

 

[Nic]

Yay! Spin Dizzy gets a mention! Might look tame, but the exit path to that is just a constant pool of vomit. Never been brave enough to try it myself, although have stood and watched many a time.

That human trebuchet thing was as recent as 2002. There were 5 successful throws followed by the 6th unfortunate guy. http://brettmartin.org/articles/DSC.html

 

[andrus]

Yay for flying fury!! Too bad that it has so low capacity they could increase the number of seats in each plane, but then the interactivity will be lost...

 

[Snoo]

Been on a number of those, including the sexy ones in Vegas. I don't think most of them are strange however, but simply innovative to their environment.. with a perfect example given to the Stratosphere.

 

[Pokemaniac]

Been on one of them.

The Giant Discoveries aren't any "stranger" than your average pendulums. They're just a lot bigger.

 

[Ollie]

Been on a few of them.

 

[coasterC]

Skyswats get my vote, they're really odd and the most positively evil inventions ever to exist. Their whole idea was strange, but so effective. I nearly screamed on Slammer and that's something. It's usually woohoo or woah or something, but Slammer's just terrifying. C :twisted:

 

[Naemuti]

Skyswats get my vote, they're really odd and the most positively evil inventions ever to exist. Their whole idea was strange, but so effective. I nearly screamed on Slammer and that's something. It's usually woohoo or woah or something, but Slammer's just terrifying. C :twisted:

I love sky swats. The ops that run them should definitely be called something that rhymes with "swats", though. They bleeping staple you in to the point where it literally HURTS. :roll:

 

[Jake]

^ Erm, you do know how 'swat' is pronounced, right?

 

[Naemuti]

^ Erm, you do know how 'swat' is pronounced, right?

No, of course not. :roll:

Maybe I could make it simpler and just tell people to replace the first "s" with a "t"?

 

[furie]

Actually, I don't think you do :lol:

Swat doesn't rhyme with Cat!

 

[CMonster]

^^ Haha it still doesn't rhyme.

 

[spicy]

That Human Trebuchet is insane! Id love them to make a safer version, if that was possible.

Pieman-
Swat rhymes with alot, but how its pronounced you seem to have forgot.

Remember that Pies make you fat which rhymes with twat.

Ha, god im bored! :lol:

 

[Naemuti]

That Human Trebuchet is insane! Id love them to make a safer version, if that was possible.

Pieman-
Swat rhymes with alot, but how its pronounced you seem to have forgot.

Remember that Pies make you fat which rhymes with twat.

Ha, god im bored! :lol:

Oh, well, I always pronounced it like "twhat". Guess I'm doing it wrong.

 

[Mysterious Sue]

Human Trebuchet!!!! WTF!!!
That is just frightening.

 

[Anonymous]

Why on Earth would ANYBODY want to be flung by a trebuchet? These people must have a death wish or something.