While the business is competitive, it's also innovative, Dick Chance said. The whole thing depends on how well do people like the ride. Ideas for rides come from a variety of sources, but most come from within the industry. Chance Rides executives show customers computer models of possible new rides and ask for feedback. Dick Chance makes the final decision on any new products.
Some new rides are takeoffs of older rides.
The Aviator, for example, is a modern version of the Flying Scooter, built in the 1940s. The Inverter was born after a New Mexico artist came up with the idea and crafted a model out of Legos, Dick Chance said. The model lay in a drawer at the company for a couple of years. The industry is not always fun and games. Last month at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, an Arkansas woman was killed and 10 people were injured when a raft on the Swiss-made Roaring River ride capsized.