An Original Park Attraction


One of the park's first rides which opened with the park in 1974, the Super Round Up has been moved to several locations in its time at the park.

Its original location was adjacent to the Gingerbread Fancy restaurant, and its paint scheme and lighting was designed to mirror the graceful curves of the building, including the fan design created for the inner panels which matched the upper fan windows.

Over the years several modifications have been made to the ride, including the sliding doors at the entrances and exits, and the removal of the center panels and some of the elaborate lighting.
 
     
     
   
     
     
     
Opening with the park on July 1st, 1974, the Super Round Up was considered one of the park's more thrilling rides in the first seasons.  It was also one of the first attractions completed during park construction, appearing to be ready to open despite the park around it looking very unfinished in construction pictures.

     
     
The ride is a standard Hrubetz Super Round Up ride, which was and still is found at many carnivals and parks throughout the country.   The ride was designed to be portable, with a simple structure that can be assembled and disassembled quickly and easily.   The frame the ride sits on is designed to be integrated into a trailer, with the disk deigned to break down into small, easy to move pieces.

Super Round Up started its life at the park as part of the Strawberry Fair section, and was customized by the park with a bright paint scheme and elaborate lighting package to mirror the neighboring Gingerbread Fancy restaurant.  Originally, the ride had aluminum center panels which were painted in a rainbow of colors and mimicked the fan design of the upper windows  on the Gingerbread Fancy.   This same design was later incorporated into the fan designs that adorned the park's first games area, Goodtime Alley, as well.

The ride kept its factory original sign until 1993.   The fluorescent lit plastic Super Round Up sign was attached to the pivot point of the arm, and for a few seasons had additional curled light strip embellishments to further match it to the elaborate Gingerbread facade.

Early in its time at the park the ride was modified, adding sliding doors to the load and unload platforms to increase safety.   The lighting package was modified as well, removing a section of the crown at the ride's center, and replacing the white bulbs along the spokes with fluorescent tubes.

The aluminum center panels also were repainted, with the initial rainbow fan design being replaced with a blue and yellow swirl design.    Eventually, that swirl design was changed to blue and white, and the body of the ride went from yellow to blue.

The ride's queue was always a simple pipe fence, and the ride had little if any in the way of theme elements.

Super Round Up was always a guest favorite for riders and for spectators alike.   The colorful swirls and lifting and spinning motions made it  a spectacular sight by day, and the bright lights made it stand out at night.  
   


   
   
   
 
   
     
     
     
     
 
     
In 1993, after Time Warner had purchased Six Flags, an effort was made to bring theme elements to all areas of the park, and the Super Round Up was included.   The ride was given a new pink and white color scheme to match the neighboring Gingerbread Fancy's update as it became Granny's.  The area of the park was designated as Fantasy Forest, and with the inclusion of Super Round Up, it was renamed Fantasy Fling.

The original carnival style sign was removed and a pink and white lattice sign was added.   Decorative iron fencing and fresh plantings were placed around the queue, and additional white lattice panels were attached to the ride fence and added as a screen for the rides not so attractive mechanical components.
 
   
     
Technical Information
     
  Manufacturer: Frank Hrubetz & Co., Inc.
  Ride Diameter: 50 Feet
  Area Depth: 54 Feet
  Area Width: 48 Feet
  Weight: 36,000 lbs
  Maximum Height: 50 Feet
Platform Rotation: Clockwise
  Ride Speed: 14 RPM
  Maximum Ride Lift: 80 Degree Angle
  Standing Capacity: 42 Riders
  Riding Time: 2 Minutes
  Loading/Unloading Time: 90 Seconds
  Cycle Time: 3 Minutes 20 Sec
  Cycles Per Hour: 17
  Hourly Capacity: 700
     
 
     
     
In order to make way for the new Evolution ride introduced in 1999, the Super Round Up was relocated beside Batman:  The Ride, along the path towards Roaring Rapids and Looney Tunes Seaport.

The ride had a short stay in this location, being relocated once again at the end of the 2000 season to make way for another new ride, this time Nitro.   The area which had been its home was now being turned into the queue area for the enormous new coaster.
   
     
     
     
The Super Round Up moved to its third location across from the Buccaneer in the spring of 2001, taking over the former site of the Spinnaker, a short-lived flat ride brought into the park in 1999, which rarely ran due to staffing and mechanical issues.    The former Spinnaker pad was much larger than the footprint of Super Round Up, and so it has never quite looked like it belonged on that spot.

As part of the move to the new location, the ride was completely disassembled painted a turquoise blue color and reassembled.  

Part of the reassembly in the new location included an upgraded lighting package, with new low voltage bulbs in plastic prismatic coverings taking the place of the old incandescent bulbs and fluorescent tubes the ride had sported.   The new lighting gave the ride a more traditional look as well as improving energy efficiency.  

With all the changes in the location and appearance of the ride over the years, its simplicity has been a key to its longevity.   The ride's rotation is powered by twin electric motors with pneumatic tires mounted to them.   The tires run along the steel base of the wheel.  

The ride's braking system is a simple hand brake, manually controlled by the operator, allowing the doors to be positioned with the entrance/exit ramp way.  

The lift of the arm is achieved via a large hydraulic piston, which pushes the arm upwards from the base.   The tilt of the arm has been reduced over the years from the near vertical position it originally achieved, to a more tame 45 degree angle.

The large steel arm itself has a simple hinged connection to the base of the ride.   The base is bolted to the concrete pad as a semi-permanent mounting, but is also braced with four legs which give the ride additional stability.

Electricity to power the hundreds of lights that adorn the ride is carried through wiring in the arm to the central hub.   On the bottom of the hub are concentric brass rings which pick up the electric current from spring loaded contacts on the arm.   This allows the ride to spin and the current to still flow to the lights without hard wiring.
   
   
   
   
   
   
     
Watch
Super Round Up

In Action:
 
     
     
Watch
Super Round Up

at Night In Action:
 
     
     
     
  Super Round Up is perhaps one of the simplest rides at the park, yet has continued to delight guests as the first "big ride" for many who are just graduating from kiddie rides to the more adult rides.

 Like almost all of the parks flat rides, in order to reduce the required staffing, the ride can be run by a single person.   Originally Super Roundup required a 2 person crew with one person at the entrance and one at the exit, but now a single ramp serves both purposes, reducing staff requirements but slowing load/unload times.
   
     
     
First Location (1974-1998)
During: After:
   
Second Location (1999-2000)
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Third Location (current location)
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