Wiener Prater is a wonderland of crazy flat rides, but the best of the bunch is Black Mamba.
This is not only the best ride at Wiener Prater, but Black Mamba may just be the best flat ride I
have ever ridden. This Funtime Chaos Pendel is absolute insanity. There aren’t too many
of these rides out there and that’s a shame because they’re amazing. So in this video,
I will be reviewing Wiener Prater’s Black Mamba. So what is a Chaos Pendel? At first glance, this
attraction looks like a booster or skyscraper with the long, rotating arm and free-flipping gondola.
But this ride is so much more. The main arm is fixed to a secondary arm that also rotates at a
different speed. This causes noticeable variations in the gondola’s acceleration that result in some
crazy forces and wild flips. This is basically an amusement ride version of the swinging sticks toy
on Pepper’s desk in Iron Man 2. It’s mesmerizing to watch. Especially since this one has a
beautiful snake head for the counterweight on one end and a flashy lighting package at night.
The biggest drawback to this ride is its low capacity. I think this is one of the biggest
reasons why so few parks have them. The Wiener Prater version only has one gondola that seats
8 riders per cycle- 4 riders sit on each side, back to back. As a result, it had the longest
line of any attraction at Wiener Prater. This Austrian park has no unlimited wristband,
so the pay-per-ride system kept the line at manageable levels. The ride was no more than
a 15-20 minute wait at worst on a summer Friday night. And towards the very end of the night,
the ride became a near walk-on. If I remember correctly, each ride on
Black Mamba cost roughly 5 or 6 Euros, which was well-worth it for such an exhilarating attraction.
To be honest, I was surprised it wasn’t higher given this ride’s capacity.
Riders are restrained by snug over-the-shoulder restraints,
which is completely understandable given this ride’s violent motions.
The crew working Black Mamba will load the gondola lightning fast
if there’s enough people in line to fill the vehicle. They know time is money. If there aren’t
7 or 8 people ready to ride, they will wait a few minutes waiting for additional riders.
Once the platform drops, the main arm starts rotating slowly. The first half rotation is
super slow, but the rotation quickly increases in speed until reaching the ride’s max 50 mph
or 80 kph velocity. But the ride feels far faster as the wind powerblasts you in the face.
At the same time, the smaller arm is also rotating. This results in
a myriad of sensations throughout. Most rotations caused the gondola to flip.
And then the vehicle would abruptly rock on the downswing.
And that disorienting motion is paired with the powerful positive Gs on the downswings
that feel like they’ll rip your legs off. What’s extra crazy is that this ride dishes
out airtime. And lots of it. When the two arms move in unison, you get some very shocking,
sustained, and forceful airtime going over the top. You are launched out of your seat and your
shoulders are pinned against the restraint. And that airtime is even crazier since the
gondola will usually be flipping simultaneously. Getting airtime this strong while also inverting
was a mindbending sensation. And because of how the smaller arm varies the motion,
you could never quite anticipate when one of the synched rotations would occur.
When the two arms were out of synch, the rotation was more reminiscent of a traditional booster.
You’d get a thrilling flip high above the ground. Keep in mind, this is what you felt
in the worst case scenario. And that was still on par with what you experience on a booster,
which is one of the wildest flat rides out there. That’s how insane Black Mamba is.
Then the cases in between replace the powerful and sustained airtime of a synched rotation
with varying degrees of floater airtime, which still feels plenty wild when you’re flipping.
Not only is Black Mamba wildly thrilling, but the experience is super long. Each cycle was roughly
3-3.5 minutes in length. Midway through the ride you’d pause at the top and reverse direction.
Being able to experience these crazy forces both forwards and backwards is magical.
So what would I rate Black Mamba? Is there any question, this ride is earning a perfect
10 out of 10. This is not only a world-class flat ride, but it’s better than most roller coasters.
The varied motion kept me on my toes. And the forces this ride delivered
were incredible. Black Mamba rapidly shifted from negative Gs
to extreme positive Gs in a flash all while mixing in disorienting flips.
Black Mamba took my breath away and I really wish more of these are installed,
even if they need to be upcharge attractions. The experience is so good that I’d happily pay it.
So those are my thoughts on Black Mamba, the Funtime Chaos Pendel at Wiener Prater.
What are your thoughts on this crazy flat ride? Do you agree it could be the world’s best flat ride?
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d
appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a
lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!