What Is Your Favorite Flat Ride?

[Scoobert McDoobert]

Roller coasters are great and all, but what about flat rides? While coaster enthusiasts commonly skip these rides, they can make or break the overall experience of the park. They are a necessity, and sometimes the flats can even be better than a majority of the coasters. This thread is really just a place to say your favorite flat ride (can be a type of ride or a specific one), and say why it's your favorite. Oh, and dark rides don't count.
My personal favorite flat ride is the Zamperla Endeavour. I rode the one at Kings Island, and I loved the forces, and it was decently themed up as well. That's just my opinion, though.

 

[Boodangy]

I'm a flat ride lover definitely and a lot of coaster enthusiasts do kinda gloss over them when going abroad. I'd get it if it were for going on the big headliner coasters with limited time, but not so much if it involves picking riding generic clones and junior coasters over a rare/big/exciting flat. But to each their own, and some people can't handle flats but can handle coasters. Especially with age.

Anyway for me it's probably right now a tie between the Mondial Shake:

And the Technical Park Pegasus 30:

Both do one of my favourite things which is sudden and extreme changes in g-force and changes in direction. Suddenly going from pressed into your seat to out, back and forth, hanging upside down, etc. In the same category I might otherwise put the HUSS Booster, but I last rode one in 2016 so I can't really compare it since it's been so long.

 

[CanobieFan]

M O N D I A L. S H A K E

But shout out to the well run Huss TopSpin, Frisbee, Take Off, Booster..... pretty much all the Huss big boys

 

[Callum]

Slammer at Thorpe Park will always be my favourite flat Shame it was a maintenance nightmare but i'm glad I got to experience an S&S Sky Swat.

As for current flats though i'd have to say an Intamin Gyroswing is probably my favourite.

I was also a big fan of Black Mamba at Prater, a Funtime Chaos Pendle. Haven't seen one of these anywhere else?

Also a big fan of anything KMG. Their swings and boosters are top tier.

 

[Boodangy]

a Funtime Chaos Pendle. Haven't seen one of these anywhere else?

There's one that tours Germany with the showman Ottens just called Chaos Pendel (with two gondolas) and one permanent installation called Snake also with just one gondola and the snake theme like Black Mamba, located at Skara Sommarland in Sweden

Snake at Skara Sommarland was actually at Gröna Lund for one year during the early construction of Monster to sort of "fill the gap" before getting sent to Skara. I went there last that year and I would've liked to try it were it not for the fact it had a 90 minute queue due to Gröna Lund being a super popular park and Snake only having a capacity of 8 people per cycle.

There also used to be a large model that was taller than the rest and had three gondolas, however that one either just doesn't exist anymore or got sold a long time ago to some obscure fair outside the English speaking world and Europe.

 

[Niles]

After the Coasters, Dark rides, Log Flumes then a good train i maybe get round to a flat ride, definitely unless its something very unique or something i really like i dont really bother so it was interesting to try and think of some.

But for me anything that gives you some level of control is great, flying scooters are fab the best ive done at Knoebels, when you get a snap

The Jet-ski rides like Hydras Challenge at Legoland are great and then i like a good Screamin' Swing just a fab feeling.

 

[Hixee]

I actively skip most flat rides.

Anything super "spin-y", forget it - I just don't have the minerals for that anymore.

Flying Scooters (per @Niles post above) are top tier theme park attractions, though. Better than many coasters, and I truly love them. Especially the ones you can truly "snap" (as I was once taught many years ago by @Snoo, Marc, Tom and Joey (can't tag them)).

I have a weird love/hate with drop towers. I love to imagine I can enjoy them, but I generally hate them. In general, they're Type-2 fun for me - they're fun when they're over. It's such a gamble, 'cos the ones I like have been some of the bigger ones, but I think there's something weird about exactly how the sensation of falling manifests itself that can trigger a horrible feeling for me. Perhaps one for a PhD thesis at some point...

 

[Matt N]

Similarly to @Hixee, I’m not a big lover of flat rides overall. Anything that majorly spins isn’t something I tend to go nuts for, and I’m also not keen on the general repetitive motion of this style of ride.

My main exception to this, though, is a good drop tower. I love a good drop tower! I was on Detonator at Thorpe on Monday, and I honestly think I enjoyed that as much as some of the coasters! A proper drop tower like that just gives an awesome kick of airtime and speed that I love; they’re definitely my favourite flat rides! Shot towers are also great fun, but I don’t have quite as much love for them as a good old straight drop down.

I do also like an S&S Screamin’ Swing. They don’t spin, they don’t seem to provide quite the same nausea associated with something like a pirate ship for some reason, and I really like the airtime at each peak and the speed in each trough! Serengeti Flyer at Busch Gardens Tampa was absolutely fantastic, and even on its weaker cycle, I enjoy a ride on Rush at Thorpe.

The often popular gyroswings have been growing on me a little recently, but I still don’t absolutely love them, find them a bit overhyped, and would definitely take a Screamin’ Swing over a spinning gyroswing. I also rode my first inverting one of these at Adventure Island on Sunday; it had that slow upside down hangtime that I hate, and it was vile! I will be interested to try Aviktas at some point to see what I make of a bigger gyroswing, though; I’ve only done small ones up to this point.

 

[Gavin]

These days, I only bother with drop towers and the occasional giant frisbee / gyroswing.

I guess my favourites are old-school gyro drops. No need for faffy stand up/tilting/whatever gimmicks.

 

[Jamesss]

Slammer was great, a good laugh and not too sickly. Sad the ride type no longer exists.

I normally skip every other flat ride as they risk making me ill.

I used to like drop towers but my fear of heights seems to be set off by them lately.

So it's just coasters and tracked rides for me now!