Da Vinci's Cradle

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The first entry in this thread is a WikiPost. As such, it can be edited by anyone with the appropriate permissions.

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.


Marketing Materials​


Ride Footage​

 
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It always goes all the way around. The only difference is that now it doesn't stop and teeter back and forth at the top as much as it used to.
 
I have no actual data to back this up, but it feels like it has gotten sluggish over the years.
 
Zimmy said:
I have no actual data to back this up, but it feels like it has gotten sluggish over the years.
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The ride cycle has been very notably toned down over the last five to ten years—almost certainly in an effort to reduce the wear and tear on the attraction with the goal of achieving lower maintenance costs and downtime.

It certainly makes me sad—it used to be a fantastic ride—but again, I'm willing to put up with a lot as long as BGW keeps this rare flat ride specimen on display in its collection.

Also, another example of cost-cutting this attraction has seen recently is the reconfiguration of the ride's control system. Previously three employees were needed to run the ride: load-side platform, unload-side platform, and control tower. In the Spring of 2017 (I believe?), BGW installed a brand new control panel at the load platform position. This new panel, paired with a camera mounted to the tower and fed down to the load platform operator completely invalidated the tower position. Thanks to these modifications, Da Vinci's Cradle now operates with only two employees.
 
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I saw a video posted online that Da Vinci's Cradle was operating today, even though it isn't part of the Fall Festival lineup. This is the first time it has been running this season from what I've heard. The video showed it swinging back and forth but never making a complete revolution. Does anyone know if the ride operator has that much control over it? If not, perhaps it has been reprogrammed. I wonder if they are trying to reduce wear and tear on this older ride, or maybe they are just easing it into normal operation.
 
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I rode it this past Saturday and was making at least one full revolution around in both directions. It seemed to be doing revolutions every time I saw it cycle.
 
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DJTLG said:
I saw a video posted online that Da Vinci's Cradle was operating today, even though it isn't part of the Fall Festival lineup. This is the first time it has been running this season from what I've heard. The video showed it swinging back and forth but never making a complete revolution. Does anyone know if the ride operator has that much control over it? If not, perhaps it has been reprogrammed. I wonder if they are trying to reduce wear and tear on this older ride, or maybe they are just easing it into normal operation.
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If I had to guess, the controls system is the type that requires an op to keep a button depressed for it to cycle, however if they lift their finger for a moment then the ride starts to slow down to stop. But if they are in the correct operation mode with the power on they could go back to depressing the button for the ride to start cycling again. However, the whole cycle is on a timer so depending on when their finger came off the button determines if the ride does a complete vertical rotation.

However, if guests weren't on it and it's not open my guess is it was in maintenance mode which could allow for an easier ability to control slow warm-up cycles.
 
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Da Vinci's Cradle is now Da Closed, at least according to the website update from this week. So it will sit closed along with Flying Machine perhaps as a way to move staffing and or save on operating costs. Anyone know more? I know Cradle has had more lengthy maintenance in recent years as the ride ages.
 
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As sad as I'd be to see these rides go, aren't they relatively cheap old carnival rides that got permanently installed and are subject to parts shortages, maintenance staff knowledge of how to address issues, and general structural fatigue over time to where it could be cheaper to replace them than repair... In addition to the regular ops staffing issues.
 
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Last I heard- it’s in the same situation that flying machine was in last year. Waiting for parts to be able to operate. I have no idea if this is true or what, but I really hope it doesn’t close, because it’s one of the rides I just giggle on the entire time.
 
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The first entry in this thread is a WikiPost. As such, it can be edited by anyone with the appropriate permissions.
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