(Standing But Not Operating from May 1999 - October 2000)       

A longtime staple of parks around the world has been an octopus or monster style ride, and many variations on these rides have been manufactured over the years.  Throughout the history of Great Adventure, the park has featured three variations on the ride all unique in their own ways.  

 
     
     
     
Added as part of the 1999 "War on Lines", Spinnaker was the park's third monster/octopus style ride since the park opened in 1974.  The first of these rides was the Pretty Monster, later known as the Dream Street Dazzler, which was a more primitive version of the ride, featuring fixed cars, but with fanciful faces and flowers.

The second of this style ride was the Monster Spin, with was a more advanced model, featuring cars that spun independently, but was a very stark black and gold structure.


 
The third of these rides was the Spinnaker, which combined the best features of its predecessors, with the full range of spinning motions, and theme elements that made it something more than a run of the mill carnival ride.   The ride featured an elaborate central octopus figure, with arms that raised and lowered as the ride cycled.   The arms of the ride were fierce looking sea dragons, with the cars featuring fish style faces.  The ride was well suited to the surrounding nautically themed area, and the queue and fencing were even given nautical touches to match, with piling style posts wrapped in ropes. 
   
   


     

Technical Information

Opening Date:

April 1999

Closing Date:

April 1999

Removal Date:

Winter 2000
       

Manufacturer:

Soriani & Moser

Number of Arms:

5

Number of Cars per Arm:

4

Total Number of Cars:

20

Passengers per Car:

2

Number of Riders Per Cycle:

40

Estimated Ride Cycle:

3 minutes

Approximate Capacity:

800 riders/hour

Direction of Ride Rotation:

Clockwise

Direction of Arm Rotation:

Counter Clockwise

Direction of Car Rotation:

Variable

Ride Dimension:

55' 9" x 55' 9"

Working Dimension:

53' 2" x 53' 2"

Working Height:

19' 8"

 
 
 
   
     
Click the placard below to see video of
The Octopus
At Six Flags America, a similar ride to the Spinnaker
 
     
The Spinnaker was rarely seen running in the short time it was in the park, suffering maintenance difficulties and staffing shortages.

After a only two years in the park and very limited operations, Spinnaker was removed, with the ride pad becoming home to the Super Round Up ride, now known as Fantasy Fling.



Fantasy Fling was relocated to the Spinnaker's site in 2001 to make way for the new queue for Nitro, and has been operating on there ever since.