One of the ride which quickly became a staple of amusement parks and carnivals everywhere was the Chance Chaos ride, which took the spinning ride in new directions with seat sets that randomly would flip based on rider body weight as the ride lifted and tilted through its cycle.

In the short history of the ride model, there had been several malfunctions reported by various operators in various locations, though never with the one at Six Flags Great Adventure.   In some instances ride restraints failed, and in the most dramatic incident at the Michigan's Adventure park, the ride itself came loose from its mounting and dropped ot the ground.   These malfunctions forced all the of the Chaos rides to experience prolonged closures while the Chance company made modifications.

After closing the Chaos rides periodically for several years, most parks (Six Flags Great Adventure included) made the decision to remove them not wanting to deal with the safety and reliability issues any longer. 

 
 
 
     
As one of the 25+ new rides added to the park in the 1999 "War on Lines", Chaos was one of the most colorful, but also one of the most generic, featuring the standard theme and lighting package offered by the manufacturer, Chance Rides.

The spinning ride offered one of the more unique riding experiences in the park, with an element of randomness rarely found on any ride.   The ride appealed to all ages and rider types, featuring mild thrill with the inverting seats, but in a fairly tame and low to the ground experience.

Chaos was placed in the Fantasy Forest area of the park, beside the Studio 28 Arcade and across from Granny's.   This spot had been the location of the Swiss Bob ride in the park's early years, and was just off of one of the park's most traveled pathways.
   
   
     
     

Technical Information

Manufacturer:

Chance Morgan- Wichita, Kansas

Ride Model:

Chaos - park model

Opening Date:

April 2nd, 1999

Number of Cars:

18

Riders Per Car:

2

Maximum Load:

36 riders/6120 lbs

Seating Limits:

340 lbs per car

Maximum Unbalance:

4 adults/680 lbs

Minimum Passenger Height:

48 inches

Loading:

All seats simultaneously

Restraints:

Neck harnesses, safety lock bars

Approximate Ride Time:

Short Program Cycle:

2.0 minutes

Long Program Cycle:

2.5 minutes

Direction of Travel:

Counterclockwise

Ride Speed:

12 rpm (maximum)

Maximum Boom Angle:

70 degrees

Wind Speed Restrictions:

Maximum Operating:

35 mph

Maximum Static:

70 mph

Clearance Dimensions:

Frontage width (ground):

42 feet 6 inches

Maximum Height:

36 feet

Depth:

60 feet

Power Requirements:

Drive:

75 kW

Lights:

50 kW

Total:

125 kW

 
 
     














Chaos was bright and colorful both day and night, with its festive color scheme of turquoise, pink, yellow and purple.   The rings of flashing lights changed in patterns as the ride spun, lighting up the surrounding area.

Chaos was often closed in its time that it was at the park, with mandatory shutdowns required by the manufacturer as safety issues exposed in other parks were addressed on all of the same model ride.   That combined with a lack of staff meant the ride seemed to be closed more time than it was open.   When the ride was open, it usually drew fairly large crowds.  





   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
     
     
Click the placard below for video of
Chaos
At Six Flags Great Adventure
 
     
     
After several years of spotty operations, at the end of the 2005 season Chaos fell victim to the park's inflatable spider during Fright Fest, and the ride area was filled with webs indicating the ride would not be operating for the remainder of the season.

During the 2005-2006 off season Chaos was removed from the park just as the same ride model had been removed from many other parks around the country as well as from all the other Six Flags parks that had the same ride.   While Great Adventure's ride and none of the other Six Flags parks' rides had experienced any of the mechanical malfunctions reported with the Chaos ride model, it was in the best interest of safety to remove the rides before they became a problem.

The ride's site was cleared for the 2006 season and was turned into one of the park's new Smoking Areas as part of the renewed focus on creating a more family friendly environment and increased enforcement of park policy banning smoking in all but designated areas.  The ride was moved into the park's boneyard.

Like many other parks' Chaos rides, a lack of potential buyers for the rides due to their checkered history meant the rides sit in pieces now, never to be reassembled and operate again.