Da Vinci's Cradle

Manufacturer

Zierer

Model

Flying Carpet

Hamlet

San Marco (Italy)

Debut

1983

Closure

2022

Riders Per Cycle

40

Da Vinci's Cradle was a Zierer Flying Carpet flat ride located in the Da Vinci's Garden of Inventions area of Busch Gardens Williamsburg's San Marco hamlet. It debuted in 1983. After an extended closure, Busch Gardens Williamsburg announced on April 26, 2022 that Da Vinci's Cradle would be removed. Its final operating day is unknown.

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Marketing Materials​

• Original Da Vinci's Cradle TV Advertisement
• The Old Country Chronicle (Spring 1983) Featuring Da Vinci's Cradle
• 2004 Media Kit Photos Featuring Da Vinci's Cradle

Ride Footage​

• Full Off-Ride Cycle from 2009

 

[I305Evan]

Old Cycle:

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It barely goes all the way anymore... also can't remember if I read it here or not, but didn't they get rid of the operator in the tower and moved the main panel to the bottom to reduce the amount of operators needed?

 

[Swiggan]

I'll miss it dearly if it goes away, since for many years it was one of the few flats that didn't aggravate my motion sickness. Finally, in my 40s, it's gotten to the point where I can enjoy more of the rides without a problem but I've been riding Da Vinci for decades.

 

[Coasternerd]

Old Cycle:

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It barely goes all the way anymore... also can't remember if I read it here or not, but didn't they get rid of the operator in the tower and moved the main panel to the bottom to reduce the amount of operators needed?

When was that new one recorded? I remember last year it only went around twice? Not 3 times. Anyways, I wish that original cycle still existed. It was so much better with the original.

 

[Thomas]

The ride cycle? It only goes over the top once now. No switching and going the other direction or multiple times swinging the full way around. It’s a shadow of its former self and not even worth riding. Just a worse battering ram these days.

 

[I305Evan]

When was that new one recorded? I remember last year it only went around twice? Not 3 times. Anyways, I wish that original cycle still existed. It was so much better with the original.

That video was posted in 2019, so I thought that would have been more up-to-date (I haven't ridden this in a very long time, so I wasn't sure of the current cycle. This one was posted in 2017 and this ride cycle only goes around once.

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[Coasternerd]

When I rode in 2021 it went around twice during its ride cycle. I guess the ride isn’t very consistent

 

[ControlsEE]

I'm not entirely sure of how the mechanicals work on cradle, but I wonder if they kept having parts break, such as burning out motors, so they’ve been trying to go a bit easier on it. Not saying it's necessarily right, such as if the motors are going, get higher HP motors.

 

[CoasterTalkBob]

I'm not entirely sure of how the mechanicals work on cradle, but I wonder if they kept having parts break, such as burning out motors, so they’ve been trying to go a bit easier on it. Not saying it's necessarily right, such as if the motors are going, get higher HP motors.

SEAS seems to have a good relationship with Zierer so I would think that they'd be willing to work with them on improvements but it's hard to say what is technically possible -- especially in a park chain that "can't afford" to fix things that break (see: Verbolten).

 

[Icer]

I'm not entirely sure of how the mechanicals work on cradle, but I wonder if they kept having parts break, such as burning out motors, so they’ve been trying to go a bit easier on it. Not saying it's necessarily right, such as if the motors are going, get higher HP motors.

Once the thing is already going, wouldn't work the motors hard at all to run it fully over multiple times. Stopping it and starting it take the most life out of things, but I also doubt the motors are the portion of this that are getting overworked since it is an easy fix to replace them for the long term. There is probably something just out of date about the drive system in it's entirety that isn't efficient, and reworking it to run on an efficient system would cost some up front money, whereas a company like SEAS would much rather just eat a consistent maintenance cost than ever pay up front to save thousands in the long term.

 

[vacoasterfanatic]

another one bites the dust...

 

[Le Moose]

another one bites the dust...

Source?

 

[vacoasterfanatic]

witnessed with my own eyes, people were ripping out all the rides electrical systems, im almost certain this isnt for an update to the ride.

 

[Zachary]

witnessed with my own eyes, people were ripping out all the rides electrical systems, im almost certain this isnt for an update to the ride.

Photos? By your description, it could very well be heavy maintenance. Flying Machine received and EXTENSIVE teardown too.

 

[vacoasterfanatic]

didnt get pics, saw the work going on from battering ram and i wasnt going to risk my phone. to me it didnt look like heavy maintenance. with the ride being so unreliable and a pain to maintain im almost certain that bgw has pulled the plug on davincis cradle.

 

[Jonesta6]

didnt get pics, saw the work going on from battering ram and i wasnt going to risk my phone. to me it didnt look like heavy maintenance. with the ride being so unreliable and a pain to maintain im almost certain that bgw has pulled the plug on davincis cradle.

Plausible <> true, guess someone should go looking for more details.

If it's not a maintenance overhaul but ride removal, would there be any JCC permits required? I mean, they seemed to need permits for demolishing smaller structures, so it stands to reason they'll need permits for rides like this.

 

[warfelg]

Plausible <> true, guess someone should go looking for more details.

If it's not a maintenance overhaul but ride removal, would there be any JCC permits required? I mean, they seemed to need permits for demolishing smaller structures, so it stands to reason they'll need permits for rides like this.

No. A ride and a building would be treated differently.

 

[Coasternerd]

As I stated earlier in the thread, I had heard that the ride could have had a decent breakdown. Still don’t know if that’s true- but could they have been working on fixing that? The ride is good fun and offers a decent throughout compared to some of the other flats.

 

[horsesboy]

didnt get pics, saw the work going on from battering ram and i wasnt going to risk my phone. to me it didnt look like heavy maintenance. with the ride being so unreliable and a pain to maintain im almost certain that bgw has pulled the plug on davincis cradle.

I heard and even believed much the same about Flying machines at one point so I guess time will tell.

 

[bigbadwolffan76]

has anyone evr thought how this ride is called a cradle but it is themed to carpet? thats kinda strange, how did this get approved. would love to meet the bozo who came up with this one!

 

[Coasternerd]

We don’t know if it’s getting torn down yet- very well they could be doing what they did to Flying Machine: giving it an overhaul. They did it for the little balloons over the off-season- gave it all new decking as well as a new motor. Just a guess on the motor part. The park does need to pay more attention to their older rides and they’re starting to do so with the refurbishment of Tradewind and Flying Machine.