Dodgem technique: Hit or Miss?

The dodgem is a venerable ride that I still enjoy after all these years.

When you ride, do you try to "dodgem" (the other cars) or do you go for the hit? I find that I try to dodge strangers, but go for the hit against family and friends. Kind of sadistic really, but we always seem to get a laugh from it.

My technique precisely. Seems rude to hit someone you

don't know.

ok so I know this is about what your technique is but im curious to know which dodgems have you ever ridden and think were the best?

I hit everyone. :) It's how I take out my road rage. ;) Bumper cars is not the place to be polite. Everyone hits everyone, and that is why it is fun. I hit a couple stranges last week, and a couple strangers hit me as well. Life goes on.

I like to find one person when I'm with my friends, pin them in the corner and sit back and relax. Haha

I circle around one end of the track and try smack people as much as possible. I also enjoyed playing Death Race 2000 when I was a kid. :)

First you have to get out in the open to build up some speed, then pick your target. Hit everyone, and throw your body weight into the hit. :)

CP/PKI Dude: I think CP has a pretty nice Dodgem. Good size, although the cars go a little slow (damn lawyers!). They used to have an older version at the front of the park that was oval shaped and had a center island so you were "forced" to go in one direction only. Not that much fun, but you had to love the smell of ozone from all the sparks overhead.

SFMM has a faster Dodgem as I recall, but you had to be more careful there. If there were a lot of gang members in the park that day, you might get a cap in your **s if you hit them on purpose!

I personally try to go for the holy grail (or should I say holy bell) if Im with people I know. Im of course speaking of timing a head on collision with a rear collision on a stopped car with someone I know. Its really fun to watch someone's bell get rung like that (they literally vibrate back and forth) Ive only been able to do it a handful of times, all to my sister but thats what Im always after.

If Im alone, I dont ride its not fun when you dont have a target you know.

Me ans my cousin get 2 cars that are closest to one side of the area. Then we see who can make it to the other side first. This takes great planning ahead of time to avoid traffic jams. :)

My brother hit someone with a head on, he pushed them right into my car and i nailed them from behind almost instantly. The car literally lifted off the ground enough to throw sparks when it slammed back down. It was the best hit i have ever seen on a bumper car.

My technique is pedal to the metal, all full out if your on the ride your fair game, including the out of service cars. T-bone ya, head on, rear end ya, blind side you. I am your worst nightmare and I cackle and smirk while doing it.

We watched some guy go after only little kids and get them all head on. I know, everyone's fair game, but really, they were his only targets. >_>

Anyways, I seem to spend most of my time stock in a bumper gridlock of sorts, with people stuck around me in all directions. And my last one, for some reason I can't explain, was definitely sluggish.

But I love Cedar Point's bumper cars way more than Kings Island's. They make you go around in a circle on the only adult bumper cars there, and it's not very bumpy at all.

My goal is to ride around the circuit as many times as I can without getting hit at all, so I guess that makes me a dodger. Of course on a great ride like Knoebel's all bets are off . One of the best times you can have on any ride, anywhere.

I haven't ridden CP's ride yet this year, but we took a spin at KI early in the season and those cars are soooo freakin slow, I almost laughed. Really, no fun whatsoever.

I love pranks, and here's a good one for the Dodgem. When your ride is slowing down, put the wheel so that the car is rolling perfectly straight forward. Then when it stops, before you get up, turn the wheel exactly half way around, leave it that way, then hide and watch. The person who gets your car next is in for a surprise when the ride starts and their car immediately shoots backward. It can be very funny, depending on who it is. They usually back right into someone, and it always takes them a panic filled moment or two to get everything straightened out.

subversive genius:) :)

If they are like me they mess with the wheel before the ride starts.

Today at the park I witnessed the best hit ever. 2 cars hit a car at the same time and it lifted into the air onto both of the black bumpers of the 2 cars. It stayed there a while and then fell to the ground as the other 2 cars backed away. It sounded like a real car wreck.

Best bumper cars I've been on were the ones at Knoebels - they're fast and heavy.

Oh yea - and I think it's fun to hit whoever you can. :)

But that's the funny thing, Your mom... They usually don't mess with the wheel, they just sit there and wait, especially (and not to be sexist or ageist) if it's a lady or a kid. I've had some really good laughs with this. (but I tend to act simple where ever I go...)

I run the old 2nd Dodgem from CP @ MiAd and I usually see the teenager boys do the more rough driving. I do have to say that after running the ride the entire day, you can get very rusty very fast. Also, the cars are falling apart. Just today about 5-6 of them were not working for various reasons. I've also seen cars fly up off the ground before if someone gets hit too hard, then I have to yell at them to avoid head on collisions.

Wow! Those old dodgem from CP are still in use?! I figured they had long ago gone to the scrap heap.