Do you trust fun fair rides?

[Hurri]

It's not really fair (pardon the pun) to say that the ride owners are gypsies/pikeys/whatever. They're travelling showmen, and there's a difference.

Funfair rides generally are safer than theme park rides - they are inspected more regularly during build-up and pull-down, and perhaps a more prominent reason is that the person operating the ride quite often owns it or is part of the family that owns it - if they have an accident and their ride is closed or stopped from operating at all, that's their livelihood and their income. At a theme park, you're more likely to have a local 18 year old who is unlikely to know a lot about the mechanical side of things and much less likely to care about it. Obviously there are exceptions and some theme park staff are absolutely brilliant...

I will happily go on any travelling ride. Rather than dismissing them as unsafe, have a chat with the owner about their ride, ask them about the safety and to dispel the myths - most showmen are really nice and happy to chat with fellow ride enthusiasts.

And just to mention about the ADIPS stickers - they have to have passed an independent inspection to operate, if they haven't they will not be allowed to open. The Showman's Guild will make sure of that, along with HSE inspectors and so on.

 

[ambernicole92]

I actually have a harder time trusting the ride operator more than I do the actual ride. I've had run-ins with ride operators who were complete a**holes to my friends and I. The ones that get really grumpy also make me nervous. It also scares me that these rides get taken down a put back up all the time. I know that shouldn't freak me out as much as it does, but whatever. I also avoid going on rides that go really high...

 

[TP Rich]

^ You could argue the theory on the other side - constant reconstruction and moving a ride will wear and damage the parts quicker. Crap example, but say you kept moving house and had to take apart and re-fix your bed, it never feels quite right once it's been reconstructed.

I don't do fairground rides because a) the cycles are too long, spiny and sickly and b)...

Don't worry Ian.... I get you

Likewise.

I'm always nervous on fairground rides, but ride them anyway. The ferris wheel on Central Pier is one of the most terrifying experiences I've ever had. Every time the gondola rotates, it feels as if it is gradually unscrewing...

 

[Sam]

Considering I'm normally blind drunk when I ride them.... yes, I guess I do. Or just don't think about it....

 

[Bear]

I'm fine with the rides, it's the ops that you need to be careful with.

I saw this girl on some spin n' puke contraption spew her guts up EVERYWHERE, and despite distressed cries from her and her friends the op kept the ride going for another 2-3 minutes. Like has been said, some of them are utter assbags.

 

[FaceYourNemesis]

I'm fine with the rides, it's the ops that you need to be careful with.

I saw this girl on some spin n' puke contraption spew her guts up EVERYWHERE, and despite distressed cries from her and her friends the op kept the ride going for another 2-3 minutes. Like has been said, some of them are utter assbags.

These people are showmen by trade and don't have the professional business ethics that the staff at theme parks have.

What worries me most about fairs these days is the certain crowds they attract, and not the rides or operators in question.

 

[Bear]

What worries me most about fairs these days is the certain crowds they attract

You mean other enthusiasts? cool)

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

I don't get the pie key thing!

Anyway, I like most of them because they are better than a lot of flats at actual amusement parks. It kind of depends on the fair though, like there's this one that opens up in the parking lot of the local mall every year and it just seems a bit shoddy, so I tend to avoid it. It's not like the rides are that great anyway. Things like the Michigan State Fair and other big, reputable places like that, I tend to trust a lot more. It's the ride operators that seem more scary than the actual rides sometimes though! I had my harness on way too tight and I asked him to loosen it and he told me "too bad" and another one slammed my foot in the cage of the Zipper.

So in general I trust them.

 

[TP Rich]

I don't get the pie key thing!

 

[FaceYourNemesis]

What worries me most about fairs these days is the certain crowds they attract

You mean other enthusiasts? cool)

If you mean the type that wear tracksuits, smoke cheap cigarettes and wear bling, then yes

 

[Bear]

I don't get the pie key thing!

A "pikey" is a term for a jobless, alcoholic, benefit-sponging buffoon, the kind that normally operate funfair attractions!

 

[Lofty]

I don't get the pie key thing!

A "pikey" is a term for a jobless, alcoholic, benefit-sponging buffoon, the kind that normally operate funfair attractions!

A Pikey is actually a Gypsy. It's an offensive term for the Travelling Community. The same way in which "Knackers" is.