The Monster is an
amusement ride manufactured by
Eyerly Aircraft Company
Eyerly Aircraft Company was an amusement ride manufacturing company in Salem, Oregon, founded by Lee Eyerly in 1930. The company originally intended to design flight simulators for the aircraft industry but shifted to amusement rides after an early ...
. The ride spins while moving up and down at a slow pace. Each car spins while giant arms move up and down in a circular motion. Riders may experience the feeling of weightlessness when going in the air and coming back down to ground level.
Design
The Monster and the Spider are two different rides. The Spider is an offshoot of the
Octopus
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
, which has 8 arms with either one or two seats at the end, whereas the Spider has six arms with two seats at the end of each arm. The Monster has six arms similar to the Spider however it has four seats on the end with a rotating arms operated by electric motors where the seats are connected .
Existing rides
* Monster-
Cedar Point
Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Opened in 1870, it is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the U.S. behind Lake Compounce. Cedar Point is owned and op ...
, originally opened in 1970 and was refurbished and relocated within the park for 2014. (Monster model)
* Monster-
Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, opened 1995 but, was removed for the addition of Dominator in 1998 but, was returned in 2000 to its current location. (Monster model)
* Monster –
Essel World (Monster model)
* Monster-
Kings Island, opened in 1972 but, originally operated at
Coney Island (Cincinnati, Ohio) from 1969–1971. (Monster Model)
* Monster-
Valleyfair, opened in 1977. (Monster model)
*Spider-
Elitch Gardens Theme Park, opened in 1969 at the original location of
Elitch Gardens. Opened at the current location in 1995. (Spider model)
* Spider-
Idlewild and Soak Zone
Idlewild and Soak Zone, commonly known as Idlewild Park or simply Idlewild, is a children's amusement park in the Laurel Highlands near Ligonier, Pennsylvania, United States, about east of Pittsburgh, along US Route 30. Founded in 1878 as ...
(Spider model)
* Spider-
Waldemeer & Water World (Spider model)
Now defunct
*
Bell's Amusement Park
Bell's Amusement Park was an amusement park located in Tulsa's Expo Square, part of the Tulsa State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma. It operated for 55 years before closing in 2006. The park was previously owned and operated by Keli and Jason Fritz. An ...
in
Tulsa, Oklahoma had one known as the Spider. (Spider model)
*
Blackpool Pleasure Beach The Monster! operated from 1968 to 1995. It was replaced by Ice Blast. (Monster model)
*
California's Great America
California's Great America, often shortened to Great America, is a amusement park located in Santa Clara, California. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, it originally opened in 1976 as one of two parks built by the Marriott Corporation. Califor ...
had one known as The Lobster where it operated at the park from 1976 until the early 1990s. It was located in the Yankee Harbor section of the park. (Monster model)
*
Canada's Wonderland had one known as Shiva's Fury (later The Fury) that operated from 1981–2003. It was removed for the 2004 addition of Tomb Raider: The Ride (Renamed Time Warp in 2008). (Monster model)
*
Carowinds
Carowinds is a amusement park located adjacent to Interstate 77 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The park straddles the North Carolina-South Carolina state line, with a portion of the park located in Fort Mill, South Carolina. However, it has an of ...
The Witch Doctor (later renamed Black Widow) operated from 1973 to 1987. The Cinema 180 Theater replaced the ride in 1988. (Monster model)
*
Frontier Village operated a Spider (named Tarantula) from 1975 until the park's closure in 1980.
*
Geauga Lake had operated a Spider known as the Black Squid from 1970 until the park's closure in 2007. The Black Squid was relocated to
Kings Dominion but was in too poor of condition to be reassembled.
*
Hersheypark in
Hershey, Pennsylvania purchased a Monster from Eyerly in January 1972, which was installed in the newly built Carrousel Circle for the 1972 season as part of Phase I of the park's redevelopment project. The ride was removed from operations after the 1983 season.
(Monster model)
*
Kennywood Monongahela Monster operated from 1979 to 1989. It was replaced by the
Swing Around. (Monster model)
*
Kings Dominion The Monster operated from 1975 to 1988. It was also known as The Bad Apple during its years of operation in the park. (Monster model)
*
Lakemont Park,
Altoona, Pennsylvania removed in 2010 due to rising maintenance costs. (Monster model)
*
Lakeside Amusement Park The Spider operated until in was dismantled prior to the beginning of the 2017 season. (Spider model)
*
Lakeside Amusement Park (Virginia) The Monster was operating at the park as of 1985. The park eventually closed at the end of the 1986 season. (Monster model)
*
Pontchartrain Beach, The Monster operated until the park closed in 1983. (Monster model)
*
Silverwood Theme Park, The Monster operated from 1988 until the end of the 2004 season. It was replaced with the Trabant in 2005. (Monster model)
*
Six Flags AstroWorld,
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
Black Dragon operated from 1968 to 1977 in Oriental Village section of the park. (Monster model)
*
Six Flags Magic Mountain Jolly Monster operated at the park from 1973 to 1981. (Monster model)
*
Six Flags Over Georgia Mo-Mo The Monster operated from the early 1970s to the mid-late 1980s. (Monster model)
*
Six Flags St. Louis
Six Flags St. Louis, originally known as Six Flags Over Mid-America, is an amusement park featuring characters and rides from many Warner Bros. films and tv shows such as, Looney Tunes, DC Comics, and formerly Scooby-Doo. It is located in Eureka ...
Mo-Mo The Monster operated from 1973 to 1994. It was replaced by the Riverview Racer in 1996. (Monster model)
*
Williams Grove Amusement Park
Williams Grove Amusement Park is an abandoned amusement park near Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. The park operated from 1850 until 2005.
History
The Williams family began hosting picnics in 1850 at a small grove located in the village of Williams ...
had one known as The Monster. It is currently unknown as to when The Monster opened at the park but, it is known that The Monster closed and was sold when the park closed in 2005. (Monster model)
*
Worlds of Fun in
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...
had one known as the Octopus. Last Season 2014. Removed due to unavailability of spare parts. (Monster model)
See also
*
Octopus (ride)
References
External links
Monster at Cedar Point{{Amusement rides
Amusement rides