Truly the best and most unique ride in Funtown, a light show and loud music take the boring experience of just a scrambler, crumple it up and punt it out the window. Once the ride starts and light show starts you are no longer thinking about the fact the youre on a slow scrambler. It is now the best experience of your life. Im all for light shows and I love loud music, so this is definitely my ride! Up until last year I was very fearful about the ASTROSPHERE due to its aforementioned mystery. But I once I was dragged on by my friend who happened to be opperating it, I found my new favorite ride. Now I cant get enough of it. Ask any of the opperators and they will tell you that if I am there and Im not working, Im riding it in massive loops. Working at Funtown as I do, I greatly want to become an opperator of the ASTROSPHERE. I know that I seem a little obsessive, but I DON"T REALLY CARE, because thats just how good this ride is. 10!!!

Id have to say that I am biased about this ride, it has been one of my favorites since I can remember, back when there was a haunted house in the park. I am also biased to the fact that a couple of the operators are two of the best guys Ive met. They run an incomparable show, and the best part is that they love what they do, even if its for barely above minimum wage.

This ride is seriously great. I know I am biased because, along with Achibabwa, I operate this ride just about every day of my life. However, the astrosphere is a fantastic ride which has been often immitated, but never very successfully recreated. The premise of the ride:
After waiting in line for an average of about 20 to 30 minutes on a standard day, guests enter a hegagonally shaped airlock chamber where they are given a slightly amusing, but informative briefing on the rules of the ride, and safety precautions. After about 5 minutes, the guests are then let in to a 60 foot, pressurized vinyl dome which holds a 36 person scrambler along with several thousand dollars worth of lighting and sound equipment. When entering, the guests are greeted by the bright green scrambler which is illuminated by an erie black-light ambiance. After being loaded in, with all pins and doors checked (something I have noticed some parks dont always do on their scrambler rides), the ride starts up and gets up to its maximum speed of about 8RPMs...at which point the blacklighs shut off, FIRE ON HIGH starts playing over the speakers and the bubble is illuminated by multi colored stars. Unlike most rides whihc include a light show, this is different each time you ride. Since the entire show is run BY the operators, and each operator has their own unique touch, you never see the same show twice. This ride is truly the heart of FunTown and I hope it stays in the park for many years to come. Unfortunately it is growing incrasingly difficult to find 60 foot vinyl domes, and the current one is at LEAST 10 years old, (it may be the original from the 70s I will have to check next summer) Saco, Maine may lose its most exciting attribute in the future.

The only knock on the ride is it can be slower moving then some scramblers. What is good about it is the soundtrack and the light show. The lighting effects are amazing, funtown spends a lot of money adding to it each season. the ride is always geting a few new features each year. last season the slides with alien faces are gone, replaced with more lazers and onther lighting.
http://mainelycoasters.890m.com/funtown_pictures.htm

i have video of the ride up now. offride of it in motion.

http://mainelycoasters.890m.com/funtown_in_the_offseason.htm
pictures of it with the dome down

The best indoor scrambler I have ever ridden. Excellent effects and all played to the tune of "Fire on High" make for an outstanding ride. The only drawback is its slow operating speed, though I suppose this is to offset the extra long ride cycle this seems to run on.

oh yah..not only is this ride the coolest..but the operators are the two studliest studs to operate the astrophere since the inventing of sliced bread...visit it and let them inform u of its wonders!

This is the best, especially if you like theater shows. But dont bring young children. They may be frightened by the somewhat prominent Fire Exit sign.

UPDATE FOR 06- The Martin Lights made a come back this year with Light Jockey to back them up. By the end of the first week, each opperator had his personalized cue list. The new program means great shows and better control of the lights.--- More of a light show than a ride, the lower speed at which the ride opperates, allows the rider to take in everything; and Electric Light Orchestra’s (ELO) Fire On High provides the perfect soundtrack. The best shows can be seen on the cool summer nights when a Mach smoke machine and three Martin Pro 218s are used. Theses lights are only used at night, when its cooler, because of their sensitivity to heat and the high cost of the bulbs. These lights add a whole new dimension to the show, and the smoke makes each light morph into something more amazing. The entrance and exit tunnels, used to keep the vinyl dome (bubble) pressurized, also add to the effect and keep the ride a mystery to non-riders. Something else you may also notice is that the operators on this ride are not typical. Each adds their own unique sense of humor to the ride safety speech. This ride uses up to 20 lights, 2 operators, and 1 black-light reactive scrambler to make this the most unique ride experience in New England.

just one little word itsarellyasomcoolamazingride,

It is a mind-blowing experience and worth the ride. This attraction is as much a show as it is a ride. The effects are great and the lights are controlled by had so its a little deferent each time you go. They may want to install a permanent dome for this ride and save on maintenance time.