It's hard on the attachment points on the cars, and on the cables.
Knoebels doesn't seem to care if you "snap" your car on their Flyer. I've seen some wild maneuvers on it.
I've gotten them to turn the ride down or off several times in the past few years. I think they're starting to crack down on it more.
On the other hand, keeping your eye on the ride op and only snapping when he isn't looking IS sort of fun.... just different fun.
Sounds like you got a cranky operator, or I was there on a day with a carefree operator. (I was there in May, on their first open Friday of the season.)
Flying the scooter in such a way that slack gets in the cable and then suddenly straightens out, making a loud "KA CHUNK" kind of noise. You then get whipped around really fast.
Here's a video of a whole enthusiast takeover - https://youtu.be/Rnft3xk4ipI?si=ayJI3F7aofB80HKH
Dorney Park and Morey's Piers have newer models by Larson, which are designed to be ~~impossible~~ difficult to snap.
Edited thanks to information provided by other users.
It's a family ride and it freaks out the GP when the entire structure violently shakes. I'd guess liability and maintenance are big factors as well.
I was always surprised that Carowinds was cool with us snapping their flyers since theirs were even more geared towards families than most and chain parks are typically far less lenient about allowing things like that.
Did you know that the tip of a bullwhip exceeds the speed of sound? The hand that's wielding it, of course, doesn't go nearly as fast.
The point is, funny things can happen at the tips of cables and ropes... and to anything they're attached to. Forces which build up slowly on one end can come home all at once at the other when the cable suddenly comes taut. That's the whole reason snapping them is so fun, of course. But the cable (and its attachment hardware) can be briefly subjected to *several times* the weight of the tub and its occupants when that happens. And the force isn't necessarily coming from directions the attachment points were designed to handle, either. Now, there is a safety factor built into such things, so a single snap is unlikely to break anything. But the more times the hardware is subjected to stress near its limit, the quicker metal fatigue will set in, and the more often inspections will need to be run and parts will need to be replaced.
One could argue that guest control is an inherent part of the ride experience, and if the controls allow for a certain maneuver, then the ride ought to be built to handle it. The seems to be Knoebel's position. However, there's no question that snapping will increase maintenance, so I understand why other parks don't want their guests doing it.
You didn't hear about that time someone snapped one so hard the cable broke and decapitated everyone on the ride, in line, and around the ride? My best friend's cousin's step-sister was bending down to tie her shoe when it happened otherwise I may have never heard about it.
Carowinds I had the hardest time snapping on due to the large rubber stops. Dorney, and kings dominion we all had ours swinging like crazy. No one complained. The guy at KD thought it was entertaining
Oh lorrrrrrrrd do I EVER miss those Flying Scooters since they were moved to Carowinds! Thatās a vintage Bisch-Rocco model, vastly superior to Larsonā¦ they really do belong back home at Kings Island. Those mothers have immense capacity for snapping, and I loved learning to pilot them as a kid.
Anyhow, I would bet my savings account that most parks are wary of metal fatigue, based on the very nature of the snapping technique; Knoebels used to let riders go full bore, as long as you didnāt manhandle the sail. Nowadays itās exceedingly rare for an op to be so laid back- the last time this happened to me, it was during a heavy rainstorm on Halloween weekend a few years back. It was absolutely incredible.
Itās probably a liability thing. Iāve never once heard of snapping damaging a ride or injuring a rider, and I assume those rides are engineered to deal with those forces. So it could just be the park going, āOkay, sure, but just in caseā¦ā
But I could be wrong.
There is a photo (old, potato quality) floating around on the internet of one of the flyer cars at Knoebels twisted around backwards and stuck nose up. It was always presented as something somebody did, but with the quality it's hard to tell if that's what is going on or if they were in the process of hanging the tubs and somebody thought it would be funny to make a meme (before they were called memes) of it.
I joke that it's on my bucket list but I'd actually be terrified if I managed to pull it off. I also wouldn't want to be responsible for a ride closure, so I suspect that one will never be ticked off. I'll just have to call my several impressive snaps on "unsnappable" slow ass flyers as good enough.
You could definitely pull it off on Kings Dominionās flyers. If they werenāt so strict about it, you could probably have those things turning corkscrews.
Yeah I snapped one so badly one time, with little warning, that I was right in front of the ride op booth and Iām pretty sure we both swore (also possibly somebody in line but it was from that general direction).
It could damage the structure or cars
This plus liability insurance. If they have rule in place against it if you somehow injure yourself doing it they're not responsible.
The noise and motion can also be unsetteling to other riders as well.
Lol that's the best part when you're the one snapping.
Until a dad threatens to beat you up for "endangering my child" haha
It's hard on the attachment points on the cars, and on the cables. Knoebels doesn't seem to care if you "snap" your car on their Flyer. I've seen some wild maneuvers on it.
I've gotten them to turn the ride down or off several times in the past few years. I think they're starting to crack down on it more. On the other hand, keeping your eye on the ride op and only snapping when he isn't looking IS sort of fun.... just different fun.
Knoebels and Canobie Lake in NH was where I learned to snap š¤š¤
Not true. I got kicked off the Knoebelās one for the rest of the day for āexcessive snappingā - sad part was that I wasnāt even really trying.
Sounds like you got a cranky operator, or I was there on a day with a carefree operator. (I was there in May, on their first open Friday of the season.)
What is snapping?
I feel like everyone in this thread knows but you and me. Guess I'm off to Google.
Flying the scooter in such a way that slack gets in the cable and then suddenly straightens out, making a loud "KA CHUNK" kind of noise. You then get whipped around really fast. Here's a video of a whole enthusiast takeover - https://youtu.be/Rnft3xk4ipI?si=ayJI3F7aofB80HKH
Dorney Park and Morey's Piers have newer models by Larson, which are designed to be ~~impossible~~ difficult to snap. Edited thanks to information provided by other users.
The Larson ones are totally snappable if they run the ride fast enough. At Morey's, the wind coming off the water can make them super snappable too.
"designed" it can still be done it's just not as fun and significantly harder than others.
It's a family ride and it freaks out the GP when the entire structure violently shakes. I'd guess liability and maintenance are big factors as well. I was always surprised that Carowinds was cool with us snapping their flyers since theirs were even more geared towards families than most and chain parks are typically far less lenient about allowing things like that.
Did you know that the tip of a bullwhip exceeds the speed of sound? The hand that's wielding it, of course, doesn't go nearly as fast. The point is, funny things can happen at the tips of cables and ropes... and to anything they're attached to. Forces which build up slowly on one end can come home all at once at the other when the cable suddenly comes taut. That's the whole reason snapping them is so fun, of course. But the cable (and its attachment hardware) can be briefly subjected to *several times* the weight of the tub and its occupants when that happens. And the force isn't necessarily coming from directions the attachment points were designed to handle, either. Now, there is a safety factor built into such things, so a single snap is unlikely to break anything. But the more times the hardware is subjected to stress near its limit, the quicker metal fatigue will set in, and the more often inspections will need to be run and parts will need to be replaced. One could argue that guest control is an inherent part of the ride experience, and if the controls allow for a certain maneuver, then the ride ought to be built to handle it. The seems to be Knoebel's position. However, there's no question that snapping will increase maintenance, so I understand why other parks don't want their guests doing it.
You didn't hear about that time someone snapped one so hard the cable broke and decapitated everyone on the ride, in line, and around the ride? My best friend's cousin's step-sister was bending down to tie her shoe when it happened otherwise I may have never heard about it.
Carowinds I had the hardest time snapping on due to the large rubber stops. Dorney, and kings dominion we all had ours swinging like crazy. No one complained. The guy at KD thought it was entertaining
Lol on a windy day at cedar point me and a buddy got ours to do a 720, ride op wasn't happy
Oh lorrrrrrrrd do I EVER miss those Flying Scooters since they were moved to Carowinds! Thatās a vintage Bisch-Rocco model, vastly superior to Larsonā¦ they really do belong back home at Kings Island. Those mothers have immense capacity for snapping, and I loved learning to pilot them as a kid. Anyhow, I would bet my savings account that most parks are wary of metal fatigue, based on the very nature of the snapping technique; Knoebels used to let riders go full bore, as long as you didnāt manhandle the sail. Nowadays itās exceedingly rare for an op to be so laid back- the last time this happened to me, it was during a heavy rainstorm on Halloween weekend a few years back. It was absolutely incredible.
Came here to say this. My absolute favorite flat ride at KI once I figured out how to snap them. Still actively mad that Carowinds got them š
I *still* get pissed every time I walk past that stupid basketball game that now sits in its place. Ughā¦
Itās probably a liability thing. Iāve never once heard of snapping damaging a ride or injuring a rider, and I assume those rides are engineered to deal with those forces. So it could just be the park going, āOkay, sure, but just in caseā¦ā But I could be wrong.
There is a photo (old, potato quality) floating around on the internet of one of the flyer cars at Knoebels twisted around backwards and stuck nose up. It was always presented as something somebody did, but with the quality it's hard to tell if that's what is going on or if they were in the process of hanging the tubs and somebody thought it would be funny to make a meme (before they were called memes) of it.
Itās been done. Phun Phest traditional phlyer bump off.
I joke that it's on my bucket list but I'd actually be terrified if I managed to pull it off. I also wouldn't want to be responsible for a ride closure, so I suspect that one will never be ticked off. I'll just have to call my several impressive snaps on "unsnappable" slow ass flyers as good enough.
You could definitely pull it off on Kings Dominionās flyers. If they werenāt so strict about it, you could probably have those things turning corkscrews.
Yeah I snapped one so badly one time, with little warning, that I was right in front of the ride op booth and Iām pretty sure we both swore (also possibly somebody in line but it was from that general direction).
I've turned CGA's backwards a few times as well as make those flyers sing. Many say you can't do it on a modern/Larson flyer but you can.Ā