The Zipper is a ride which is either loved and appreciated in all its mechanical glory – or despised as an evil machine of terror. Definitely not something to take your grandma on! This creates a completely chaotic ride pattern – flipping riders with maximum white-knuckle force. Furthermore, the whole boom rotates on its own axis at 7 rpm. Just large enough to encase two human bodies side by side – not for the weak-hearted or claustrophobic! No body-hugging safety restraints either, just a lap bar attached to the door, and some rungs to tightly hold on to (if you don’t your head will collide with the grab-bars in front of you!)Įach cage rotates freely on an off-centre axis, while the cages (connected to a cable) move around the main boom at 4 rpm. Zipper’s 12 passenger cages are all about practicality. The Zipper isn’t out to impress its audience with any warm and fuzzy themes – just untamed, mechanical chaos in its purest form. Minimal attempt has been made to modernise the ride over its 37 years of operation – the basic structural blue-prints remain the same. The Zipper is a great ride to watch – 19 tonnes of modestly decorated, well-welded steel. The ride is lean, mean – and very rarely clean: the firmly padded, inner-carriage cushioning has its fair share of wipe-downs. This ride is the standard measuring stick to which all other “scary” rides are measured – if your body can handle two and a half minutes on the Zipper you can handle any other ride on a carnival midway (with possible exception of its cousin – Turbo). Since this time more than 200 rides have been built – distributed all over the world, making it one of the most mass-produced modern-day rides of all time.

The Zipper first made its wicked presence in Kansas in 1968 invented by Joseph Brown of Chance Mfg USA.

Orbiter carnival ride