Rockin' Tug
Encyclopedia
Rockin' Tug is a flat ride manufactured by Zamperla
Zamperla
Zamperla is a designing and manufacturing company in Vicenza, Italy. It is best known for creating thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The company also makes smaller coin operated rides commonly found inside shopping malls....

. The ride is manufactured in both traveling and park versions. It is the first of a line of new "halfpiperides". Zamperla's Disk-O
Disk-O
The Disk'O is a type of flat ride manufactured by Zamperla of Italy. The ride is a larger version of a Rockin' Tug, also manufactured by Zamperla.-Versions:-Ride:...

 is another popular ride from that "family". The difference is that the Tug has a friction wheel, while the Disk-O is powered driven.

The idea itself is not new. Schwarzkopf made a ride called "Shuttle Boat" in 1978, in both portable and park versions.

Design and operation

Twenty four riders are loaded into a tugboat
Tugboat
A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...

 shaped gondola, in six rows of four. The rows face into the center of the ride. The ride is driven back and forth along a track shaped in a concave arc, rocking back and forth. While this is happening, the entire tugboat rotates around its center.

The traveling version of the ride racks onto a single 28 foot trailer.

Appearances

  • Australia - One, a travelling model owned by Better Amusement Hire
  • Austria - At least two travelling models (Grubelnik)
  • Belgium - At least one travelling model
  • Canada - Two, at Canada's Wonderland known as "Lucy's Tugboat",also one with Bob Hauser at West Coast Amusements named the "Rockin Tug".
  • Germany - At least five: one travelling model (Schäfer), and at least four permanent versions in Germany (Kernwasserwunderland, Legoland)
  • New Zealand - One, a traveling model owned by Mahons Amusements
  • Switzerland - At least one travelling model (Lang)
  • United Kingdom - At least five: Rocking Tug at Flamingo Land Resort., Rocking Bulstrode at Drayton Manor's Thomas Land
    Drayton Manor Theme Park
    Drayton Manor Theme Park is a theme park, resort & zoo in the grounds of the former Drayton Manor, near Tamworth in Staffordshire, England.Drayton Manor is best known because it is a theme park and zoo which attracts around 1.4 million people a year. The attraction has a wide selection of rides set...

     (themed after the Thomas and Friends character Bulstrode the barge), Heave Ho at Alton Towers
    Alton Towers
    Alton Towers is a theme park and resort located in Staffordshire, England. It attracts around 2.7 million visitors per year making it the most visited theme park in the United Kingdom. Alton Towers is also the 9th most visited theme park in Europe...

    , Longboat Invader at Legoland Windsor
    Legoland Windsor
    Legoland Windsor is a child-oriented theme park in Windsor, Berkshire in England, themed around the Lego toy system. The park opened in 1996 on the former Windsor Safari Park as the second Legoland after Legoland Billund in Denmark. The park is located within close distance of Windsor Castle and...

     (a Lego/Viking themed longship) and Rockin' Tug at The Flambards Experience, Griffin's Galleon at Chessington World of Adventures
    Chessington World of Adventures
    Chessington World of Adventures Resort is a theme park and zoo in South West London, England. It lies south of Central London. Historically opened as Chessington Zoo in 1931, a theme park was developed alongside it, opening in 1987...

    , Rockin' Tug at Woodlands Family Theme Park Devon
    Woodlands Family Theme Park Devon
    Woodlands Family Theme Park Devon is an all-weather family amusement park and falconry display in Dartmouth, Devon, United Kingdom.Woodlands has over of family attractions including 16 rides. The falconry display has over 50 birds of prey. In November the park hosts a fireworks festival.-External...

    .
  • United States of America - At least ten: travelling models owned by Murphy Brothers Exposition, Shamrock Shows, and by American Traveling Shows; and park models owned by Six Flags over Georgia
    Six Flags Over Georgia
    Six Flags Over Georgia is a theme park located west of Atlanta, in unincorporated Cobb County. Opened in 1967, it is the second park in the Six Flags chain, after the original opening in 1961 in Texas....

    , 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...

    , Valleyfair, Knott's Berry Farm
    Knott's Berry Farm
    Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park in Buena Park, California, now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, and a line of jams, jellies, preserves, and other specialty food, now part of The J. M. Smucker Company based in Placentia, California....

    , Knoebels
    Knoebels
    Knoebels Amusement Resort is a family-owned and -operated amusement park, picnic grove and campground in Elysburg, Pennsylvania. Opened in 1926, the park has more than 57 rides, free admission, two wooden roller coasters, a 1913 carousel and a haunted house dark ride that was featured on the...

    , Kennywood
    Kennywood
    Kennywood is an amusement park located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The park first opened in 1898 as a "trolley park" at the end of the Monongahela Street Railway. The park was purchased in 1906 by F. W. Henninger and Andrew McSwigan and thus began the Kennywood...

    , Waldameer Park
    Waldameer Park
    Waldameer Park and Water World is an amusement / water park in Erie, Pennsylvania located at the base of Presque Isle. Waldameer is the fourth oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania, and the tenth oldest in the United States. The park is admission-free, with a busy midway, well-appointed grounds,...

     and Oaks Amusement Park
    Oaks Amusement Park
    Oaks Park is a small amusement park located south of downtown Portland, Oregon USA, near the Sellwood Bridge. The park includes midway games, about two dozen rides that operate seasonally, a skating rink that is open all-year, and picnic grounds.- Rides :...

    .

External links

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