Why the Gravitron at New Bedford’s Feast Took Me Right Back to 1988

On Thursday night, I made my first-ever visit to the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament in New Bedford, and while I enjoyed every bit of it – the Madeira wine, the delicious food, the wonderful music, more Madeira wine, even more Madeira wine – it was the trip back in time via one of the carnival rides that I loved the most.

Among the rides was the Gravitron, a ride I hadn’t been on in probably 30 years. Some of you may know it as the Starship 2000, the Alien Invasion, the Alien Abduction, the Twister, or one of its dozen or so other names.

It looks like a spaceship, and it rotates at 24 rpm on its axis, allowing the riders inside to experience centrifugal force equivalent to three times the force of gravity. Riders slide up the walls of the ride and are suspended against the walls as the ride continues to spin.

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Even if you've never seen one in person, you've likely seen the meme that has been going around the past few years.

I have been looking for one for years, wanting to recreate the rides of my youth, when it was hands-down my favorite ride at any fair or carnival. However, it had fallen out of favor, I guess, as thrillseekers sought more thrilling rides, and its 1980s-style depiction of a futuristic alien craft started to look dated.

Why This Was the Perfect Year to Visit the Feast

Perhaps it was fate, then, that I chose 2025 to make my first visit to the Feast, because friends who have been going for years told me they’ve never seen a Gravitron there before. It’s almost like we were meant to meet again at Madeira Field.

How the Gravitron Defined My Childhood Summers

I fell in love with the Gravitron the minute I first saw it back in the mid-1980s. The ride had been created in 1983, a Generation X spin (pun intended) on the old Rotor ride that had been around since the late 1940s.

However, unlike the Rotor – which involved a spinning chamber and the floor dropping out from under the riders, suspending them “mid-air” against the walls – the Gravitron didn’t need the floor to drop, but instead had individual panels that slid up, taking the rider with it.

The future was now, back then.

Add to it the dazzling lights and stainless steel facade, and I was hooked. Every time I saw a Gravitron, I wanted to board it for a “flight,” but alas, I was not yet allowed to ride it.

After a few summers of longingly watching it spin round and round at the Brockton Fair, the Kingston Carnival and the Marshfield Fair, I finally got to ride it for the first time in 1988, when I was 10 years old.

For all its sleek and stylish exterior, once I got inside, it was even cooler. The dimly-lit chamber was enhanced by video screens over the control area in the center, and those screens were running a constant stream of hard-rock music videos. A fog machine kicked in as Guns N’ Roses started the first strains of “Welcome to the Jungle” on the video screen and the ride began to spin.

The Difference Between Then and Now

Fast-forward 37 years later, and my most recent ride was almost as thrilling as the first. I felt great afterward, but did wake up feeling a little sore the next morning from the G-force.

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Still Spinning After All These Years

The Gravitron at the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament doesn’t have all the extra bells and whistles that you might have found with its 80s counterparts – no music, no videos, no fog – but it was still a blast and well worth the six credits required to ride it.

In fact, when I bought my ride wristband, I loaded it with 18 credits, thinking that maybe I might just ride the Gravitron a couple more times over the course of the Feast weekend. So if you’ll excuse me, I think it’s time to go for another spin.

The future is now, again.