First things first, if you can say with a straight face that this ride doesn’t look like it was made in someone’s backyard then you are a LIAR! 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
Scat 2 – look at it go!
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 shrieked “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. Check that, most Scat rides now have a seatbelt to secure riders…the real fun is over.
Other Info
There is a ride called Scat 2 by Hi-Lite rides. The only real difference visually is that Scat 2 has a set of simple, arching light ornaments over the riding platform while the original Scat has a large, elaborate light fixture with round decorations and lighting. The latter usually has the light decoration removed as it’s really non-essential to operation and lessens the load when transporting.
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!
Here’s some photos of Campy’s Amusements’ Scat 2 ride.
Video
And here’s a video of Campy’s Amusements’ Scat 2, a particularly great looking example of the ride with LED lighting and a nice color scheme. Can one even call this a WTCR anymore?
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8 Comments
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.
It might be white trash but about 35 years ago 4 friends and myself rode this all night and called ourselves the Scatt sisters. Now at 45 we still refer to ourselves as just that even on Facebook. What awsome memories lol.
Oh right looks like we have a few eqalified engineermachinery inspectors who don’t know what the fuck they are talking about I hoe they can sign off in the rides logbook to rove they have done a full inspection