Kiddie Car Classics

Kiddie rides are coin-operated rides that appear in amusement parks, malls as well as outside supermarkets and large stores such as K-mart and Sav-On. more...

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Once common outside smaller establishments like grocery stores, few grocery stores have one or more kiddie rides in their premises nowadays. Instead, they are nowadays more common in malls and large stores, as well as unconventional places like restaurants, food courts and auto dealerships. They are also present in most amusement parks, arcades, theme parks and the indoor recreation area or game room of most hotels.

The Ride

Once the ride is activated with a coin, it moves, motion determined by ride type (miniature ferris wheel, miniature carousel, track ride or stationary platform ride). The most basic rides usually include at very least sounds and music (although some rides, usually very old ones, also lack music and sounds), and more advanced models feature flashing lights, pedals, and buttons for the amusement of the children who ride them. Commercial kiddie rides often use simple but colorful equipment, with, for most types, the driving mechanism usually hidden under vacuum formed plastic covers.

New advanced rides

Newer, more advanced rides usually do not start as soon as coins are inserted, instead prompting the rider, parent or guardian to press a start button. This is to provide time for the rider to seat him/herself comfortably before commencing the rides. These rides will also play a starting message before starting movement once the start button is pushed (some older rides might play a starting message once the coin is inserted, but this proved to provide insufficient time for the rider to prepare him/herself). Additionally, they may also play an ending message once the ride ends to let the rider know that it's safe to disembark. Other safety precautions commonly found in more advanced rides include allowing use of the start button to pause the ride so the rider can reposition him/herself or even disembark safely if he/she so desires, and a slow start/stop action as to not shock and frighten younger riders. The most advanced type known even has the ability to tune into an atomic clock and provide accurate time to the rider. Many of these advanced rides would also accept multiple denominations of a currency (i.e. The same coin slot can accept 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents and dollar coins, making it unnecessary for the parent to go look for coin change of a particular denomination) or even have a paper note acceptor, allow the parent, guardian or rider to purchase multiple rides in advance, and award bonus rides based on the amount purchased, akin to many arcade games (i.e. award three rides if the parent inserts a dollar coin if a go on the ride costs 50 cents, giving the parent an extra ride if he or she should buy two rides).

Read more at Wikipedia.org