First things first, if you can say with a straight face that this ride doesn’t look like a little WT, then you are totally LYING! Like any good WTCR, this ride has been known to use solid colors, fluorescent light tubes and ugly padding in its decor. Scat also uses WTCR requisites such as tire drives, vinyl canvas, and the lack of substantial loading platforms or background scenery.
The ride itself is fairly simple, the platforms and boom rotate while riders are pressed against the walls due to centrifugal force. While loading one platform, the other hangs in the air on a slight angle, leaving riders to grasp onto anything in order to not topple over.
The Ride
First you board the platform and lay against one of the 12 panels. The setup is similar to a Round Up, however the panels are tilted back a bit, like on a Gravitron. The ride starts by having just the center hub spin, then the cars spin up resulting in the riders being pinned to the wall with incredible force.
As mentioned, the panels are on a slight angle, this inadvertently results in a slight upward motion when the panels and hub are aligned just right. I remember on one Scat ride, some kid next to me shreked “Oh my god it’s like trying to throw us off!”
Scat rides usually run with both the platforms and boom rotating in the same direction, however some will rotate the two in opposite directions for a short time before switching. On the latter, due to the total lack of centrifugal force, riders must grasp onto the grab bars or risk tumbling about the platform…well, unless you’re this guy.
Other Info
There is a ride called Scat 2 by Hi-Lite rides. I have absolutely no idea what the difference is between that and a normal Scat as the Scat 2 looks exactly the same as the original.
As for the name, the word scat is defined as “to go off hastily,” which seems to work until you take into account that scat is also a term for animal droppings. Despite this, most Scat rides retain their original name; although there is one owned by Kissel Entertainment that has been re-named ‘Surge.’ I kind of like that name actually!
Video
I have two videos here, first is of the Scat at the Mt. Carmel Festival in Berkeley Heights, NJ back when I had a bad camera! Make sure you listen for the peeling out sound of the tire drive…it’s kind of hard to miss actually.
And here’s a newer video of Scat from the same fair:
Scat – Venture Rides – Berkeley Heights, NJ from The DoD3 on Vimeo.
Back to WTCR
I will never forget going to this travelling carnival with my older sister when I was a kid (like some 20-odd years ago). There was a Scat there and I wanted to ride it but she refused to go on it with me because she was scared of it. I was too afraid to go on it by myself so I had to miss out. Since then, I have never seen another Scat at a carnival and to this day I am incredibly frustrated about it!
Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, KY has a Scat 2. I rode that a few times and it makes me so dizzy. Its worse than the Gravitron.
This has to be one of the most memorable rides I’ve ever been on. Back when I was in Primary School, on the day of our annual fete, we had one of these… except it was called the Cyclone.
The rides pretty cool, and I was having fun until…. well it was great except for the fact the only thing that keeps you in your seat is yourself. You’re basically at the mercy of the bars you hold onto either side of you. The centrifugal forces that keep you pressed to the walls help a lot too. But not quite…
The backward tilting angles of the walls coupled with the centrifugal forces actually meant I found myself sliding inch by inch up my seat as the rotational speed increased. And that centrifuge kept me from trying to shuffle back down too.
Basically I ended up hovering with my butt half a foot off of my seat by the time the ride was almost over. Not fun, as I kept thinking that all that was keeping me from being slid up off my seat and out the top of the platform was my own hands straining to hold onto the bars -and yes my hands were sliding up too!
I was only about 11-12 years old at the time, so maybe being older and a bit heavier now would prevent this from happening?
Now, whether or not I would have been flung up and out if I let go is something I wouldn’t personally want to test. Also, I still wonder if the ride kept on going and never stopped… how far up from my seat would I have slid? Would I have kept sliding? Who knows?!
Anyways, I think I became a little more scared of rides after being on this thing.
Haven’t seen another one since. Would most likely NOT go on one again if I did.
Apparently, someone did fly off a Scat ride. Just found this news story…
http://articles.herald-mail.com/1998-06-10/news/25137021_1_awning-carnival-teen
And this follow up story…
http://articles.herald-mail.com/1998-06-10/news/25121819_1_popular-carnival-safety-belt-winchester-amusement
I just rode my first Scat ride at the Scioto County Fair in Ohio, and although the Scat looks like a more crazy trip, I think the classic Round Ups gives a much better ride experience.
This ride looks like it cost around 12 dollars to make. Sad.