Rainbow

The Rainbow (HUSS) was first manufactured in 1983 containing many design elements of the Ranger (HUSS 1981). The ride concept of the Rainbow was quickly copied by various other ride manufacturers, failing to match the size and overall quality of the ride. eg. A.R.M’s Ali-baba.

This ride really has to be seen in motion to be appreciated. It’s typically HUSS - offering riders unbeatable smoothness (hydraulically driven), and spectators a well-lit, perfectly themed visual. Its dominant height of 66ft and solid structure makes a strong presence on any carnival.

The Rainbow appeals to riders of all ages, offering a wide orbiting sensation, with alternating speeds, both clockwise and counter-clockwise. When compared with similar copies, the sensations experienced are un-matched with good side-to-side motion and negative g’s of weightlessness as it orbits to full height.

With 3 trailers required for transport on an over-sized load, it is more common to see the HUSS Rainbow at an amusement park, however there are still at least 5 travelling units operating worldwide in Germany (Stammler Chilibi and Dehner), France (Fleur), Australia (O’Neill), Poland (owner unknown) and America (Wade).

Park models:

  • Singapore (Escape Theme Park)
  • Germany (Serengeti Safari Park)
  • Japan (Gluk Kingdom)
  • Japan (Tojyokoland)
  • Japan (Yokohama Dreamland)
  • China (Chrisland Amusement Park)
  • China (Nanhu Amusement Park)
  • France (Antibesland)
  • Philippines (Enchanted Kingdom)
  • Korea (Everland)
  • Kuwait (Kuwait Magic)
  • Germany (Heide Park)
  • Spain (Port Aventura)
  • India (Esselworld, Bombay)
  • India (Diamond Beach Resort, Madras)
  • Thailand (Siam Park City, Bangkok)
  • USA (Kentucky Kingdom)
  • USA (Elitch Garden)
  • USA (Lake Winnepesaukah)
  • USA (The Great Escape)
  • USA (Wonderland, TX)

33 Responses to “Rainbow”

  1. This is a great ride, you must try it !!!!

    Dean - June 21st, 2009 at 1:41 am

  2. Hey Dean, I did try this ride,and I always get butterflies in my stomack!

    ba-boss-bomb - July 2nd, 2009 at 7:56 am

  3. Hope to see this back at the 2010 RES!

    Chris - July 12th, 2009 at 6:19 pm

  4. Sexy Rainbow, i love you

    loveparade - July 16th, 2009 at 4:41 pm

  5. I’ve seen it at a local fair, but I didn’t really want to go on it. Maybe I will go on it this year. Reminds me of another ride, Moby Dick, which is pretty much the same, only a ot smaller.

    Anonymous - July 17th, 2009 at 10:57 am

  6. What do you mean with “sexy”, ;loveparade??? what this mean????????

    Metronom - July 19th, 2009 at 12:42 am

  7. It looks sexy (The sunface and simply all of the ride is looking very erotic!!! Is this the answer you needed, Metroliner????? BEST regards THE LOVEPARADE

    loveparade - July 23rd, 2009 at 5:05 pm

  8. The Huss Rainbow has always been my favorite ride. I first fell in love with the ride when i was 7 years old in 1988. The first Rainbow i saw when i was that age was at the now gone, Myrtle Beach Pavilion amusement park in Myrtle Beach, SC. It was running strong back then, as the Pavilion just got it, it was new from Huss ( i think ). Of course being 7, i was too scared to ride it. A few years later when i was 12, i got up the courage to ride it and got my thrill for sure!

    I don’t know what happened to the Pavilion’s Rainbow after they closed the park for good in 2006. I heard it was sitting on its trailer behind a go kart fun center in Myrtle Beach. Maybe they will set it up somewhere else in Myrtle Beach, if not the old Pavilion area again. Long live the Rainbow! It is a very awesome and good ride! O’Neil’s Rainbow looks fantastic! I sure would love to have the Rainbow cloud or sunshine face hanging in my bedroom, how cool would that be? :)

    Ben - August 19th, 2009 at 3:29 pm

  9. at the fair in my town this is called the lightning bolt and its AWESOME!!!!!

    Melissa - August 20th, 2009 at 4:20 am

  10. They had one of these at the CNE in Toronto this year. It was INCREDIBLE!

    Arcturus - August 27th, 2009 at 2:21 am

  11. The Rainbow is the sexiest ride ever. I did an orgasm, when i just see it!!!!!!!!!!!

    loveparade - August 28th, 2009 at 9:40 pm

  12. The Rainbow is a neat ride but it is commparible to the Ali Baba which is seen at the county fair at my home town .

    TomN - January 6th, 2010 at 1:42 pm

  13. The Rainbow is great and my first experience riding it was at Myrtle Beach back in 1983 or 1984. Webers 1001 Nacht was my favorite of the two. It was Rainbows competition back in the day. When new or in good operating condition ,1001 Nachts actually has a faster orbit speed than the Rainbow. Unsuspecting riders would be going round and round rather leisurely when the panel operator would speed it up! And yes you really did need the uncomfortable lapbar harness for that second element of the ride. There are still a handful operating in Europe and one(that I know of)in Elysberg PA here in the U.S. at Knoebels Amusement Park. This ride should not be mistaken for the smaller(yet some use the same name)inferior versions seen at many of the traveling carnivals. Huss and Weber nailed it perfectly with the counter-weighted roundabouts in the early 1980s.

    Eddie - January 17th, 2010 at 5:31 pm

  14. Hi, The Odenton Maryland Firehouse Carnival has this ride. ONE TIME MY NANA AND PAP TOOK ME THERE AND I SAW MY FRIEND FROM MY SCHOOL AND HE WENT ON IT.

    Jen - February 6th, 2010 at 9:29 am

  15. I too, first saw the Huss Rainbow at Myrtle Beach’s Pavilion Amusement Park in the mid 90’s! I fell in love with the huge sunface and felt it was looking at me! I would build the ride back at home with Lego’s and draw the sunface. I even build a trailer model haha! Anyways, Loved the ride, Miss the park alot! Long live MB Pavilion!

    Joey Belanger - February 27th, 2010 at 2:17 pm

  16. I wanted the Rainbow to come back to the RES this year, but they’ve replaced it with Ali Baba, which is nowhere near as good as the Rainbow. LPS ought to add it as a permanent ride! It’s a very awesome ride which offers a different thrill from its cousin, the Ranger.

    T-Rex - March 23rd, 2010 at 6:44 pm

  17. i was like a magnet to this ride when i operated this ride at the sarasota county fair in 2005-2010.this happened in march 2010 and i was operating it and it got stuck but still a good ride

    cristian - April 6th, 2010 at 3:15 am

  18. I so miss our rainbow at Playland Vancouver. I noticed that since the major accident many have been dismantled or moved. Before i die, I want to connect with that exact ride and sit in my favorite spot. Front row just left of center. The Rainbow at USA’s Great Escape looks identical to the one we had… I wonder if that is where ours went. I believe they got rid of it from there too :( Sad… I am getting old…

    TheFiend - May 7th, 2010 at 3:39 pm

  19. The Rainbow that was at Kentucky Kingdom is missing. Anyone know where it ended up?

    John - May 8th, 2010 at 12:19 am

  20. I remember this at kings island kentucky kingdom!! too bad i was only 5 the last time i went there…

    Dylan - July 7th, 2010 at 4:42 am

  21. this ride at my county fair is called 1001 naughts or somthin like that and its like aladin themed.

    Dylan - July 7th, 2010 at 4:44 am

  22. I came over from Scotland and worked at the Myrtle Beach Pavillion during the summer of ‘94 and I ran the Rainbow. What a blast. I got paid peanuts but it was a great time, especially during the evenings when the boulevard was packed with people cruising. I ended up living in SC and now TX but I never went back to Myrtle Beach-I hear it has changed a lot since I was there and they tore down the Pavillion. Lost times…

    jake scott - July 11th, 2010 at 3:58 am

  23. I love this ride. A huss rainbow has just the right amount of thirll. for someone who cant take nausing ride.

    Please update your artical. Strates shows sold thier Rainbow at auction after not running it for 2 years. I was extremely dissapointed. It was well themed and I loved it, sat on it once for 10 rides in a row, after the third one the ride operator stopped making me get off to get right back in. I wish Huss would update the ride mechanics (it has many technical bulleitns and there curretnly are very few still operating). Long live the HUSS Rainbow!!!!!!

    Tom Stack - August 15th, 2010 at 2:27 pm

  24. I emailed a few people who operate State Fairs and the Wade Shows, who own a Rainbow. and I asked them if it was going to make a return (im in Oklahoma) and heres the reply I got:

    From: GBurchfiel@okstatefair.com

    First of all, thanks for being such an enthusiast that you actually know enough about riding to even recognize the rides and which ones make memories for you. I’m a rider myself—although I don’t always pay attention to the names, so I totally appreciate the fact that you’re missing your favorite.

    I’ll be honest with you about why it isn’t part of our current operator’s traveling inventory. It’s particularly due to an incident in Sweden in 2008 where the manufacturer and operators were charged with taking the Rainbow out of circulation for quite some time until the cause of the accident was determined. Resulting from that determination, owner/operators were told to reverse an earlier recommended repair procedure (if they had already done it) to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars and a many months wait for available parts. Quite simply, some opted not to currently throw that kind of money toward the ride since the confidence from the manufacture only came back with a “weak okay” to operate after this incident. In fact the one operating at the South Carolina Fair, which just ended I think, was involved in an electrocution – all the details aren’t in on that as to cause so a judgment is probably unfair, but still the ride has suffered some hardships post 2008. I don’t know that as many are actually in operation anymore. Due to these hardships, our owner/operator has benched the ride which you can imagine is a huge hit to his operation. Rides are EXTREMELY expensive and to have one sit idle is extremely unfortunate.

    We take great pride in doing the very best to put on a carnival of size and interest to as many people as we can. We have more than 70 rides, with many new and unique ones. I hope you can find something on which to have fun. While I know they are not exactly the same, I recommend the structure and experience of the Space Roller and Fire Ball which have similar feel in that it’s one arm rotation with a rider end that spins on another axis.

    This may have been more information than you cared to know, but I took the chance that if you are that specific with your complaint…you probably want our whole story. I’m sorry, again, that your favorite ride isn’t here and hope that you can give some other super-spectacular rides a chance.

    Thanks for taking the time to let us know about your concern and disappointment.

    Sincerely,

    Gina Burchfiel

    Vice President – State Fair

    Ray - October 21st, 2010 at 2:18 pm

  25. This Ride Would Be Scary!

    Angel - December 21st, 2010 at 6:44 am

  26. Are any still in operation? And no, the Rainbow is NOT comparable to the Ali Baba, Ali Baba can’t kiss the Rainbow’s cloud covered butt! I miss the 1980s when fair rides were of amusement park quality.

    John - January 13th, 2011 at 11:36 am

  27. Hello, in my country (Argentina) is called “LA CARRETA DESBOCADA” (The runaway cart). When I started called “EXPEDICION AL ARCOIRIS”(expedition to the rainbow), a few years later was themed as a wagon (western theming.) Location: PARQUE DE LA COSTA “Buenos Aires Argentina (LOCATION: TIGRE). for more information about the park visit: http://www.parquedelacosta.com.ar. thanks. it was moved to English with google translate. sorry if you do not understand some things

    alan.BS.AS - June 6th, 2011 at 8:57 pm

  28. Who is the original version?

    HUSS Rainbow or WEBER 1001 Nacht

    LouisCP06 - June 21st, 2011 at 3:22 pm

  29. do they have it at the oc fair this year or i meant will they?

    sydney - June 30th, 2011 at 7:54 am

  30. Love this Ride. First whent on 1001 Nacht at Adventureland Long Island circa 1984. It was prone to problems though and only lasted 2 years there, replaced by a HUSS UFO. First saw Rainbow on a TV commercial for the Westchester County Fair. Immediately fell in love with the Sunshine face and colorful lighting. Always wanted to see one in person. Got the opportunity in High School on a trip to Myrtle Beach. Pavillion was an impressive amusement park. Lots of stuff crammed in there. Lots of great rides, including the Rainbow. Just as awesome of a sensation at I remembered. The Pavilion’s Rainbow faced the main road, right across from the ocean, so when you were at the top you’d look out and see the ocean, great view. Found out just last year that Pavillion closed. What a shock. Darn shame. Great amusement park. Wish I took more pictures while I was there. Too bad we didn’t have digital cameras then.

    Ted Russell - July 13th, 2011 at 5:11 am

  31. isnt this called the”ali baba”?

    oliver - December 4th, 2011 at 2:11 pm

  32. Huss is the original designer and manufacturer of the ‘Rainbow’.All other versions are knockoffs!In light of an accident in Switzerland many operators have discontinued this ride due to drive shaft fatigue that caused the accident mentioned.The ride must be completely disassembled to inspect this part making it extremely expensive.This is also the reason why this ride is slowly(and sadly) becoming extinct.

    CJ Ride Purist - January 3rd, 2012 at 2:26 am

  33. thanks for that comment, CJ Ride Purist, it helps me alot.

    oliver - January 7th, 2012 at 12:06 pm

Leave a comment

(required)
(will not be published) (required)
Comments: