1. Field of the Description
The present description relates, in general, to amusement and theme park rides, and, more particularly, to a carousel ride system with independently driven, concentric rings that each support passenger vehicles/rider conveyance devices and/or support ride elements (such as line of sight or line of fire obstacles/shields, set or environmental pieces enhancing the ride experience, game elements such as targets or the like, and so on).
2. Relevant Background
Amusement and theme parks are popular worldwide with hundreds of millions of people visiting the parks each year. Park operators continuously seek new designs for rides that attract and continue to entertain guests. Many rides have been utilized for many years with the only changes being cosmetic such as changing theme elements (e.g., to have images and vehicles from a popular movie, television show, or video game) or vehicle designs. Such cosmetic changes do not change the ride experience to any degree as the vehicle moves in the same way, at the same speeds (or ranges of speeds), and over the same predictable path.
For example, the traditional carousel ride is over one hundred years old and is still provided in nearly every amusement park. A carousel or merry-go-round is an amusement park ride that includes a rotating circular platform, which is also used as the loading platform. On the circular platform, numerous vehicles or rider conveyance devices (or just “seats”) are provided and are supported on posts or poles. For example, a conventional carousel may provide rows of wooden horses or other animals mounted on posts. A central rotating hub is used to rotate the circular platform often to looped circus or other music. When the platform is rotated about the central hub (or a rotation axis passing there through), all or many of the horses or other vehicles are moved up and down via gear work or other mechanical devices connected to the mounting post/poles to simulate galloping or other movement of the vehicles.
While still popular, most carousel rides do not provide any interactivity and become very predictable. The ride is generally operated at a single rotation speed and the vehicles (via the supports/posts) are moved up and down in a fixed pattern. This results in a relatively generic experience with a common (among all carousels), repeating dynamic profile. Riders most often will only ride a carousel once due to this predictability and lack of excitement. Park operators and ride designers continue to search for a way to create a new carousel ride that provides a more exciting and variable ride experience, such as with less predictable vehicle movements, enhanced storytelling opportunities, and/or rider interactivity, so as to encourage new riders to try the new carousel ride and to increase repeat ridership.
Another issue with many carousel rides is difficulty with loading and unloading. Typically, the movement of the vehicles up and down is provided mechanically in a fixed or rigid manner such that at the end of each ride many of the vehicles (such as a horse) are not positioned in an ideal load/unload position. In fact, about one third of the vehicles will likely be at their highest position above the circular platform. Many riders, including the very young and elderly, may have difficulty getting into or onto such a vehicle during loading at the start of a ride and may also have difficulty getting out of or down off of the vehicle during unloading at the end of the ride. Hence, park operators and ride designers are also faced with the challenge of enhancing the load/unload operation of a carousel ride.