Ride Information

Ride Type:	Bumper Cars
Year Introduced:	1973
Manufacturer:	Soli
Height Requirement:	42" to ride, 54" To drive
Thrill Rating:	Mild
Park Section:	Goodtimes Square
Status:	Standing but not Operating (SBNO)
Flash Pass Enabled:	No

Bumper Cars

The Bumper Cars was the standard amusement park attraction, allowing guests to drive electric free-wheeling bumper cars and ram into unsuspecting guests. Added to the Goodtimes Square section for the park's 1973 season, the attraction was originally named "Doc Snooker's Infernal Electric Bumping Machines." The ride was later renamed "Rockin' Bumpers" before finally being renamed to the generic "Bumper Cars."

The bumper cars housing still stands in the park adcent to Flashback, but the attraction has not operated since 2007.

Reason of Closure

Unbeknownst to most park guests, bumper car attractions typically have a rather involved maintenance process requiring regular, extensive buffering of the floor. This buffering is required to clean off accumulations on the floor which allows the cars to complete the electrical circuit between the floor and ceiling.

In addition to the labor and costs associated with the buffering, the park began utilizing the bumper cars' housing as a location for a haunted house attraction during Fright Fest. Using the bumper cars floor as a walkway for the haunted house proved to be especially damaging to the floor, requiring additional effort beyond the normal bufferings each season.

Continual labor was not the only issue that led to the ride's closure. As the entertainment department invested more and more money into the haunted house, removing the components after each year's Fright Fest increased the risk of damaging the props.

In 2007 the labor eventually culminated when the park spent over a month attempting to buff out the floor after Fright Fest to no avail, which led to the park shutting the ride down permanently at the end of the 2007 season.The building still stands and houses one of the park's several haunted houses during Fright Fest, most recently, the attraction entitled "Studio 13." It is unknown, but rather unlikely whether the bumper cars will ever return.

Ride Comments

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