Cajun Cliffhanger
Encyclopedia
The Cajun Cliffhanger was a rotor
-type amusement ride at Six Flags Great America
. It began as "The Rotor" at Chicago
's famous Riverview Park and was one of the earliest Chance Industries Rotors produced. Following Riverview's sudden closure, the ride was purchased by Six Flags
, but mysteriously ended up at Marriott's Great America in 1976 as Cajun Cliffhanger. Only the ride itself made it to Great America; the building that housed it was demolished at Riverview.
The ride was a large circular room with felt lined walls which passengers entered through a door and took a position freely standing against the wall. The door would be closed and the room would begin to rotate. When the rate of rotation was sufficient, the floor would drop a few feet, leaving the riders pinned to the wall by centripetal force
.
On July 19, 2000, two girls, aged 11 and 13, were injured on the ride. Both girls sustained injuries to their feet; at least one had broken bones. The girls' feet were caught between the moving floor and the wall. Witnesses reported the floor was raised at the wrong time. After inquiries found the operators negligent, they were fined $1,000. The ride remained closed until it was demolished and scrapped during the 2001 off-season. Today, a "Zamperla Rockin' Tug" ride named "Jester's Wild Ride" operates in the spot of the old Cajun Cliffhanger.
Rotor (ride)
The Rotor is an amusement park ride, designed by German engineer Ernst Hoffmeister in the late 1940s. The ride was first demonstrated at Oktoberfest 1949, and was exhibited at fairs and events throughout Europe during the 1950s and 1960s...
-type amusement ride at Six Flags Great America
Six Flags Great America
Six Flags Great America is a Six Flags theme park in the Chicago metropolitan area, located in Gurnee, Illinois. It first opened in 1976 as Marriott's Great America. Six Flags purchased the park from the Marriott Corporation in 1984, making it the seventh park in the chain...
. It began as "The Rotor" at Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's famous Riverview Park and was one of the earliest Chance Industries Rotors produced. Following Riverview's sudden closure, the ride was purchased by Six Flags
Six Flags
Six Flags Entertainment Corp. is the world's largest amusement park corporation based on quantity of properties and the fifth most popular in terms of attendance. The company maintains 14 properties located throughout North America, including theme parks, thrill parks, water parks and family...
, but mysteriously ended up at Marriott's Great America in 1976 as Cajun Cliffhanger. Only the ride itself made it to Great America; the building that housed it was demolished at Riverview.
The ride was a large circular room with felt lined walls which passengers entered through a door and took a position freely standing against the wall. The door would be closed and the room would begin to rotate. When the rate of rotation was sufficient, the floor would drop a few feet, leaving the riders pinned to the wall by centripetal force
Centripetal force
Centripetal force is a force that makes a body follow a curved path: it is always directed orthogonal to the velocity of the body, toward the instantaneous center of curvature of the path. The mathematical description was derived in 1659 by Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens...
.
On July 19, 2000, two girls, aged 11 and 13, were injured on the ride. Both girls sustained injuries to their feet; at least one had broken bones. The girls' feet were caught between the moving floor and the wall. Witnesses reported the floor was raised at the wrong time. After inquiries found the operators negligent, they were fined $1,000. The ride remained closed until it was demolished and scrapped during the 2001 off-season. Today, a "Zamperla Rockin' Tug" ride named "Jester's Wild Ride" operates in the spot of the old Cajun Cliffhanger.