Len Soled of Rides 4-U is looking forward to being back on the Gibtown trade shows grounds with some exciting new rides and announcements. The company will have on hand a Mini Pirate Ship as well as a Drop Tower for guests to experience and there is a possibility Rides 4-U will be showcasing a new ride, the “Rock On”, which will be very familiar to trade show attendees.

Rides 4-U announced they will be the sole distributor of the new attraction, manufactured by Altitude Rides of Logan, UT and conceptualized by Mark Blumhagen, a consultant for Rides 4-U as well. The ride will be a modern version of the legendary Swinging Gym ride, replete with the latest in safety updates.

Blumhagen spent two years designing the ride to meet the exacting standards of today's midway and Soled says he is expecting the introduction of the ride will make some waves in the industry. “The ride will be aimed at everyone from rental operators to major carnivals.”, said Soled.



The ride will have 3 cages per unit and the ride can be operated in tandem or stacked for larger midways with larger throughput, enabling more riders to experience the attraction when needed.

The ride will be self-powered and the factory is putting the finishing touches on the first model. “We hope to have the first one at our booth in Gibtown, but at the very least, we will have a video showcasing the ride, and it will be available a month or so later,” Soled added.

“We're very excited to head into Gibtown and have face time with our clients who have shown great continued interest in our products this year.” Coming off a successful IAAPA show, Soled is expecting strong demand from the carnival market.

“We've taken over the market in drop towers,” says Soled. The Rides 4-U team is able to create different height and seating configurations on the drop towers to fit any look or footprint and customers can even choose a hydraulic or pneumatic design. “The majority of our drop towers do not require Non-Destructive Testing inspections because they are bolted together rather than welded together. This is a big savings opportunity for our customers,” said Soled.

In addition to the Mini Pirate and Drop Towers, Soled is expecting to take orders for the Reverse Time ride and the first of its kind — a trailer-mounted mini Break Dance ride sold to Blue Sky Amusements. With new theming and lighting the ride is expected to be a big hit in the mobile amusement business.



Also new this season is the sale of a full size Pirate 32 ride to a carnival company. Rides 4-U will be revealing the purchaser during the trade show in Gibtown.

Soled assures readers of his dedication to the carnival industry. “Of course we love our parks and FECs but we love servicing the carnival industry. For us, it's a sizable share of the industry market,” says Soled. “We love the people and we love to be creative with our offerings. We have no intentions of backing down when it comes to our mobile options.”

In fact, Soled said he is working with the factory to design even more portable models of popular rides to be debuted in the coming year.




Overall, Soled reports great interest in the Rides 4-U offerings throughout the industry. At Gibtown, he looks forward to showing off some exciting new rides and hopefully closing some deals with clients. He also hopes the OABA and the IISA will be able to get together for 2025 to hold one show, together, as a big happy family.