The Waveswinger premiered in Germany in 1972 as a park model designed by Zierer, built by Franz Schwarzkopf (older brother of Anton). In 1974 the first transportable Wellenflug (as it is known in its home country of Germany) premiered under the same partnership. Since this time there have been over 150 units exported worldwide by Zierer who later went on to be the Waveswinger’s sole manufacturer.
As the name suggests, the ride moves in an oscillating wave-like motion. Tilting at its peak, the carousel rises telescopically flinging riders of young and old into the cool breeze at 30km/h (10 rpm). The rotating top is raised via 4 sets of cables linked to a hydraulic ram inside the central column. The ram then retracts to pull the cables that hold the centre ring (and attached carousel) upwards; eventually tilting over a curve in top of the central pole, which rotates in the opposite direction to create its unique motion. (this moving centre-pole remains ingeniously hidden under the decorative panelling) The carousel is rotated by 2 motors in the roof, while 2 motors in the base turn the curved centre pole in the opposite direction.
The Waveswinger’s popularity continues into the 21st century with Zierer offering five different sized units for 24, 32, 40, 48 and 64 persons, all decorated with the hand-painted Bavarian scenery that riders and owners world over have come to love.
Due to the appealing nature of chair-swing rides, various other manufacturers offer their own versions including, Barbieri, Zamperla, Vekoma, Meisho; and primarily for the North American market – Watkins Swinger and Chance’s YoYo with greater single trailer portability.
Wave swingers are awsome
It is my favorite ride on the midway after flying bobs
One comes to my county fair, this one is owned by Powers Great American Midways and one is at my state fair
Plus there are ones in the themeparks i visit
By the way I also want to buy faller’s carnival model of it and theme it to the one I see at the county fair
Raymond - July 7th, 2009 at 6:28 am
Add more pictures of the wave swinger
if you send me your email I will be happy to send you pictures of the one I see at the county fair and set up pics
raymond
Raymond - July 7th, 2009 at 6:32 am
I have herd alot of stories about these breaking is it true???
Unknown - August 14th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
one of the guys running the ride was hott ! :)
what was his name?he had blonde and brown hair. yummmy x
madison coelli - April 10th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
I LOVE THE YO-YO!
Dylan - May 25th, 2010 at 11:00 am
Hey unknown im answering your question and it is true Wave Swingers do break often.
mb - July 21st, 2010 at 12:53 am
I know somebody that died on this ride, so I’m not ever going on one of these…
Johnny - August 13th, 2010 at 11:40 am
I’m such a baby, these freak me out when the swings start moving towards the post or when the chairs start twisting side to side.
Moon - August 23rd, 2010 at 3:56 pm
When I ride these, it starts off with a HEADACHE!
Annonymous - December 20th, 2010 at 9:17 am
I LOVE THIS RIDW!!! A GIRL AT MY COUNTY FAIR GOT HER LEGS CUT OFF BLOOD EVERYWHERE!! EWWW
Angel - December 21st, 2010 at 7:03 am
I love the wave swinger!
Lindsey - January 3rd, 2011 at 6:11 am
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Lindsey - January 3rd, 2011 at 6:11 am
I’m gonna do a wave swinging dance! Woohoo!
Lindsey - January 3rd, 2011 at 6:13 am
its a step forword from a normal chear-o-plane, i know theat for nothing, hole lot more of a expirance
George - April 26th, 2011 at 8:48 pm
this ride is awesome to look at during the night when the lights are on
harry - June 6th, 2011 at 12:46 pm
I think this rides will be made forever – there’re about half a dozen on tour in germany, plus new ones for example at Heide-Park and Disney’s California Adventure.
VulcanNonibird - June 23rd, 2011 at 6:03 am
As a kid at Great Adventure in the 80’s, went on the wave swing at night. There was a group of guys clowning around. They all had large drinks. The ride operator told them not to take their drinks on the ride, but a couple of them snuck them on somehow. As the ride reached its height and started to spin one of the guys called out “Oh no! I dropped my cup!” As luck would have it, the cup landed right side up. Everyone was cheering for the awesome luck the guy had, that his cup beat the odds and landed standing up. Then the ride operator ducked underneath, and kicked the cup, much to the delight of us riders. It was hilarious.
Ted Russell - July 13th, 2011 at 8:08 am
I love this ride,i wanna double seat like turn of century & Magnificient wave carousel!!!
william ehud - October 5th, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Unknown, Typically rides will only break because of a lack of maintenance or because of rider abuse.
Chuck - October 31st, 2011 at 3:13 pm
To unknown,
Q: Do waveswinger’s break very often?
A: No, impossible.
oliver - December 10th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
to raymond, here is my email: ollie.acl@gmail.com
oliver - January 9th, 2012 at 12:08 pm
hey Johnnie, do you know anyone whos ever died in a car? but you ride in those all the time huh?
kyle - January 20th, 2012 at 11:19 am
My mom hates that. She thinks its dangerous.
Lys - May 11th, 2012 at 11:49 am
i see these all the time but they never rise or tilt. just spin around in circles.
James - July 25th, 2012 at 7:51 am
Here is some photos and info on the wave swinger ‘Dragon’s Flight’ at the former theme park Australia’s Wonderland Sydney. Photos and info on its construction, operation at wonderland, ride removal, and current location.
http://www.wonderlandhistory.net/content/dragons_flight
Wonderland History - August 29th, 2012 at 9:44 pm
My friends and I are doing a project on this ride!
Carly - January 3rd, 2013 at 2:07 am
hard to touch kids, have to have long arms
Mr touch kids for a living - May 27th, 2014 at 11:29 am
It isn’t a family ride because it has no double-seats!!!!
Green Ninja - September 14th, 2014 at 9:04 am
How many double seat does the 64 seat waveswinger have?
Laura - November 27th, 2014 at 11:45 am
Hi everybody, if you can add information to our list of Wave Swinger rides from Zierer, please feel free to do so by sending an email: http://onride.de/viewtopic.php?t=34807
Thorsten - August 10th, 2015 at 6:18 am
I am trying to track the wellenflug I ran at one time. It was sent to the World’s Fair in 1984, and I’m told it had a placard affixed from that. It was sold upon it’s completion of that fair. If anyone knows how I might be able to track it, let me know! Thanks! ;)
L.Gran - December 28th, 2015 at 11:24 am
The Wave Swinger has not returned to the South Florida Fair ever since 2010.
South Florida Thrills - February 15th, 2016 at 11:45 am
I’ve also ridden the Yo-Yo before it’s fun.
South Florida Thrills - February 15th, 2016 at 11:48 am
Hello,
I have one of those “Swinging Chair Rides” and the construction and design team I am a part of wants to renovate and redesign the outside of the ride. I was wondering if you would possibly know how much I could sell those “Hand Painted Airbrushed Panels/pictures” on the top of the ride. Only interested in selling those panels, any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Jake Sheckter - August 10th, 2016 at 5:21 am
love these types of rides rode one called the yoyo
j a y d e n - December 31st, 2017 at 5:55 am
heres some of the rides ive been on
-Wave swinger (the version I rode was called the Yoyo)
-Miami (pretty sure i rode one called the moby dick)
-Pirate (love these rides!!! rode one called the pharaoh’s fury)
-Rok n rol
-rotor
-Round up (i think the one i rode was called zero gravity or something like that)
-Scrambler (love these rides, rode a scrambler and a sizzler)
-Tilt a whirl (another favorite of mine!)
-Evolution (pretty sure the one i rode was called something different)
-kamikaze
heres some of the rides i want to go on
-breakdance
-explorer
-galaxy-coaster
-gravitron (saw it once but i was to small to go on it.)
-hurricane
-wild mouse (not sure if ive been on this one or not.)
-octopus
-radar/turbo
-rainbow
-swingin gym (looks really intresting!)
-troika
-chaos
-enterprise
-inverter
-rock o plane
-super loops/ring of fire/fireball
-top spin
-ufo
-zipper
Jayden - December 27th, 2018 at 5:26 am
i want to go on the fabbri eclipse ride, saw it once but the line was way too long.
Jayden - December 27th, 2018 at 5:28 am
With respect !!!
mamaligadoc - January 3rd, 2021 at 5:35 am
It’s featured on the cover of the 1994 Dave Matthews Band album “Under the Table and Dreaming.”
Will - December 11th, 2022 at 6:52 am