The Yo-Yo, made by Chance, is a swing ride found at many fairs and small amusement parks throughout the country. The first thing that people notice about the Yo-Yo is that the chairs sport a strap that goes around your chest as well as the bar that all other swing rides have…well that can’t be good! The ride itself looks really…sparse; there’s not much to it really! It’s kind of like a skeleton of a swing ride, like if you were to leave the canopy off of a standard swing ride. Yo-yo is also a very interesting name…it doesn’t resemble nor move in a motion similar to any Duncan that I’ve ever seen!

The Ride

Yo-Yo is a pretty odd swing ride. For one thing, instead of the frame rising up to raise riders off the ground, a set of sweeps that hold the swings rise up to a horizontal position bringing the riders up with it. At full extension the chairs are raised about 15 feet off the ground. Next the ride begins to spin, you know, like a normal swing ride.

It’s at this point where the ride gets a bit hairy; once up to speed the whole top of the ride tips to a slight angle. I guess it’s due to how each chair is slung between the two sweeps but every time the swing travels upward, instead of the swing staying level it tips upward and vice versa when going downward. If the chest straps weren’t there, riders would certainly be crotched on the lapbar’s chain lock!

Other Info

Yo-Yo’s used to be as common as cockroaches, but not so much anymore. A lot of big fairs seem to have upgraded to the Zierer or Bertazzon made Wave Swinger, or have gone with smaller Swinger rides which have no hydraulic sweeps to worry about. Some fairs will still bring the Yo-Yo, and to be honest, it’s not a bad ride to have. The Yo-Yo is actually kind of fun, it has a pretty big presence at the fair and it’s able to fold up onto one trailer, which is very attractive to carnival operators.

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