The beginning of what are now commonly known as Miami’s, stemmed from Flying Carpet rides (first produced by Anton Schwartzkopf). In the early 1990’s, a Dutch showman, Kroon, bought a “Topper” ride for his son [with side-ways seating], and told him he could have it if he could make a success of it. The showman’s son decided to fit a frontward facing bench – making way for the world’s first Miami. (Incidentally, this prototype ride model was since sold to an Australian showman, re-named Sidewinder – see photo)
The showman’s family was surprised with the success of this ride and soon manufactured a Miami of their own. To cut a long story short, the Kroon family later went on to form the Dutch-based KMG manufacturing company, and have since manufactured and exported many Miami’s and other amusement rides all over the world.
Other manufacturers soon latched on to KMG’s success, and developed their own Miami variations. These include UK based: Nottingham UK Ltd, KT Enterprises, and ARM (producing only 2 units, now based in USA under Chance), Belguim-based manufacturer Sobema [no longer in business], US manufacturer Wisdom and a number also manufactured in Australia.
Many thanks to Ian Bickerton for the above information
The Miami is highly compact ride, fitting on one trailer with minimal setup & tear-down time - they practically fold themselves up! The ride motion is essentially a high speed Rainbow / Ali Baba / 1001 Nights, with alternating clockwise / counter-clockwise movement of varied speeds. While the swing height is nothing in comparison to the Rainbow, the Miami makes up for its modest size with quick accelerating rotations. Due to the high negative g-forces experienced at the top of rotation (ie. the rider is lifted from their seat), all miami’s have ‘over the shoulder’ safety restraints. These quick accelerating movements are due mainly to counter weights on each gondola arm, which in all models except Wisdom’s, are located behind the backdrop.
Miamis’ have a high reputation to live up to when it comes to amusement ride art – personally, since each Miami has its own large and unique backflash of airbursh art. Some of the best examples are in the UK designed and painted by Paul Wright.
For more information on this great ride, checkout Ian Bickerton’s Miami Madness – with over 100 great photographs, and a comprehensive list of every Miami ever produced. As of 2008 there are 6 Miami type rides travelling Australia.
