White Trash Carny Ride: Scooters

Riders stuck

Scooters are another name for Bumper Cars. I don’t want anyone to confuse the Scooters that I’m talking about here with the older ‘Skooters’ that graze parks like Knoebels and Keansburg which sport mighty Lusse scooter cars. I’m talking about those little portable versions that are normally at larger fairs. I’m not targeting any ride manufacturer in particular though because quite a few produce these types of rides. These Scooters have about 7 cars going at once with like 5 sitting around near the corners. The area in which the cars can travel around is just big enough to accommodate all the cars, so pile ups are so common that the ride may as well be renamed “Traffic Jam.”

The Ride

Make no mistake, these Scooters, the El Dorado Auto Scooters in coney Island, are not a WTCR!.

Make no mistake, these Scooters, the El Dorado Auto Skooters in Coney Island, are not a WTCR!.

You get into your car and put the restraint on. Older models have a strap that loops around the riders’ body, while newer versions have a giant padded lapbar. Once the ride starts, your objective is simple: you crash into whatever hapless victim you can see. As riders attempt to plow into each other, sparks rain down from the ceiling and grease cakes on the bar behind the riders’ heads. At some point the cars will all get stuck, the steering wheels and pedals will fail to work, and some stupid kid will bump repeatedly into the corner and eventually get stuck behind a broken car. The ride op may run out into the ‘battlefield’ to help stranded riders, like a Johnny on the Spot, and of course there will be the one jerk off who keeps hitting you from the front.

In the oft chance that you happen upon some guy who pulls up beside you and repeatedly steers into your car…well either it’s me or some guy who stole my tactic.

Other Info

Do you hate newer bumper cars but love the old big ass Lusse Auto Skooters? Well if you go to Keansburg Amusement Park in Keansburg, NJ they have a Skooters ride that uses the old Lusse’s and the smaller, newer Lusse cars in the same bumper car arena. There’s nothing like getting one of those old Lusse cars up to ramming speed and smacking right into a smaller car; they’ll actually catch a bit of air sometime!

1 Comment

  • Rosie says:

    I hate Bumper Cars I always had the misfortune of getting into the one car that never worked even if I’d seen it work in line. I don’t do them anymore.

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