The Mondial manufactured Space Roller, trade name Top Scan, is one of the handful of modern major European funfair rides that have started to pop up in the US and Canada. Typically these large rides weigh too much to travel on US highways (Top Spin is a prime example) so they are almost exclusvely seen in Europe. However Top Scan must have its weight in check, because the lone traveling Top Scan in the United States (owned by Cumberland Valley Shows) seems to show up everywhere!

The main component of the Space Roller is a large boom with a six armed satellite on one end, and a counterweight on the other. The six arms of the satellite are where the people sit, situated in rows of five and facing in a counter-clockwise direction. The rows of seats have the ability to freely flip throughout the ride. The Space Roller is truly the ride at any fair, but that drawing power comes at a price of course as this ride takes 4 containers to move!

The Ride

First, potential riders need to wait in a very disorganized queue line; it’s basically just a group of people herded onto the left side of the platform. When the gates open, the first 30 people that scamper through the gates get to ride. On more recent rides, the ride ops let 30 people onto the platform before each cycle. Now you just need to fight for a certain seat, rather than fight for a seat at all! The seats aren’t braked or anything so when jumping up into the seat, it’s not uncommon for them to roll forward a bit. After seated people will usually try to pull their harness down and can’t because, unknown to them, the harnesses come down automatically. The satellite also spins a bit if there is too much weight on one end, and this freaks some people out because they think the ride is starting with them not secured in.

When the cycle begins, the support arm which, is on a hinge of some sort, moves up a few feet to raise the satellite off the platform. The satellite then starts to spin and the boom begins to rotate in the same direction; the combined motion makes for some pretty high lateral Gs.

Like I mentioned, the seats can flip at random which makes this ride extremely unpredictable. It’s pretty hard to even explain what it’s like since so many sensations are felt. I advise a look at the video to get a good sense of what happens.

One of my most vivid memories of this ride was when the row of seats that I was in stayed upsidedown while the boom rotated from the uppermost point, down to the platform. What I saw was an upsidedown oriented loading platform rushing towards me until the seats flipped upright again. After the ride, it’s not uncommon to stray to the right while walking due to the heavy laterals during the entire ride.

Other Info

A few different rides have components of the Space Roller but provide very different rides. In Europe there is a ride called ‘Inferno ‘ which is also made by Mondial. Inferno has everything the Space Roller has except for the six sided wheel that riders sit in; instead there are two large gondolas that face each other. The two gondolas are able to perform horizontal flips at random, only much more slowly which allows for some massive hang time. I believe that there are only two Infernos around and they’re only found on the Euro funfair circuit. Another ride called “High Energy,’ which is made by Zierer, is basically an Evolution type ride only with the Space Roller’s 6 sided wheel attached to one end. Again, as of this writing, the High Energy is a pretty rare find, the Euro funfair circuit and Blackpool Pleasure Beach in the UK have one. I sure hope High Energy makes its way over here to the US, it looks like a real wild ride!

In North America there are currently two Top Scans operating; one at a park and one on the road. There was a thrid one operating as of 2005, but was removed after an unfortunate accident.

• Operating:
  • Shockwave – Canada’s Wonderland; Vaughan, Ontario, CN
  • Space Roller- traveling with Floyd and Baxter Amusements

• Defunct
  • Top Scan- Adventureland; Farmingdale, NY

Video

Space Roller 2009 (Top Scan) from The DoD3 on Vimeo.

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