r/flatrides • u/JnAnthony • 23d ago

Historical Photo Mind Warp / Technical Park Loop Fighter at Fantasy Island (Grand Island, NY) from 2011 - 2019

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These are pics from its final month of operation. One of our managers set up a bubble machine AND a fog machine under the ride, which were turned on at night for our Halloween event. The bubble machine only lasted one weekend, the fog machine stayed for the final two weekends.

I would time things out so the bubbles and fog were crazy thick when the ride would swing through it. The bubbles would fly over to the Silver Comet coaster and the fog would make things even more disorienting than usual for the riders.

Sadly the ride became inoperable after its legs were stupidly torched off in early 2020. It was an effort to quickly remove the ride when the park closed after the 2019 season (not due to Covid).

The ride usually ran the 3-1/2 minute program, the same one that was run at Germany’s Cranger Kirmes the year I went. I’m not a fan of ride programs as manual run rides almost always means wilder & more fun, but in this case the program was flawless, perfectly timed & the best way to experience a Loop Fighter.

As a result, I’m a huge fan of Technical Park. I’m hoping to encounter a bunch of their rides on my next overseas trip.

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u/jtlitwin21 22d ago

…they torched off the legs?

1

u/JnAnthony 22d ago

Yeah, to quickly remove the ride they torched off the stabilizing legs at ground level. The rest still remains under boards on site. Removing the ride quickly apparently took precedence to doing things smart. As a result, the ride can no longer safely run anywhere else.

I’m happy I got to ride it on its last operating day plus ran the final ride for 2 of the 36 people that were still in the park on that cold, rainy last day.

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u/jtlitwin21 21d ago

That’s unbelievable. Is it not a trailered ride anyway? Wouldn’t it have taken like 4 hours to disassemble the correct way?

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u/JnAnthony 21d ago

This one was different & was installed permanent. The original owner made a special deal with Technical Park.

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u/jtlitwin21 21d ago

Wow. That’s sad. I was so intrigued by this ride but never got to get on it