SOB_TOM

Hate to break it to you, but the metal detectors are removed after each season to undergo maintenance. Most likely, they will be back, maintenance just hasn't had time to reinstall them.

The food, for what they were charging, it is a rip off. Last year, one slice of pizza, fries and a drink was over $5, and the quality was exactly what you got in the midway. So basically, every time I worked and bought food, almost an entire hours' pay went back to the park, and it wasn't even enough to fill me up. In contrast, down at Universal, the quality of the food was much, much higher than what you got in the midway. That same deal, pizza (the size of a large plate,) fries and a drink was around $3, and it was enough to fill me up. Instead of an hours pay, less than a half hours pay went back to the park, the quality was exceptional, with everything made fresh. I have learned through my theme park career (if you can call it that,) Cedar Fair has a lot to learn about how to treat employees, especially regarding meals.

Actually, you are trained to look for people with paralysis, who cannot grip the bar. So what you are saying is that a "he said/she said" case is going to be good to watch? This should be thrown out immediately (faster than the Seaworld case honestly.) Yes, she IS in more danger than a person who can grip the bar. Like I have said numerous times in this thread, most rides you brace yourself against the forces put upon your body with your arms and hands. Those forces can be to the side, where you need to GRIP the bar in order to brace yourself. Again, you are ignoring the evacuation policies. If the evac is done somewhere where she is required to hold onto a handrail while going down stairs, or over a catwalk, she is in more danger not grabbing the handrail than she would be grabbing it.

Except the manufacturers set the limitations, not the parks... The parks may add their own (mostly dealing with height requirements. Perfect example, the manufacturers of Forbidden Journey recommended 48" and above, the ride opened with a 54" height requirement, then went to 48") but mostly, the parks will stick with what the manufacturers say for legal reasons. Also, being able to hold on may not have to deal with being on the ride itself. Like was previously brought up, what if there was an evac situation, and the girl in question could not perform a task necessary to evac safely? Therefor, the ride requirement cannot just "be changed," as you put it, but it would have to be brought up and new forms of evac would have to be researched, then tested, then put into the field. Regardless, I still blame the girl for A) not asking questions about what she would be/would not be able to ride, and trying to make the parks look like the bad guys in this because they were looking out for guest safety. Lawsuit or not, going to the press about this (or any agency that can make this type of incident public) just shows they are out for nothing but money because the parks are looking out for her safety. How dare you, parks of the world. How dare you.

I'm going to say some things that people are not going to like about this story.... the easily offended, skip this post. First off, the rules to ride are NOT set by the parks, they are set by the ride manufacturers, who determine what type of forces the rider undergoes, and what needs to be done in order for someone to ride. The parks are there to enforce those rules, and if they do not enforce those rules, they take on the liability of an injured rider, not the manufacturer. No park wants to take that risk, so they do the smart thing and follow the manufacturers guidelines. Secondly, the rules are not that she has to be able to "hold" onto the restraint, it is "grip." Why the difference? Holding onto something mean you can loosely wrap a hand, arm, whatever, around something, and you are holding it. Gripping something is when you can apply force to something, in this case, apply force to a restraint to help brace yourself for sudden changes of force; left, right, forward, backward, up, and down. So the fact is that to help brace yourself against these forces, someone must be able to grip the restraint, and she could not. Thirdly, a big BRAVO to the ride ops who enforced the rules. Is it a touchy subject? Absolutely, but lets go over the situation here. Lets say that HP would have broken down, and she was required to evac. I do not know the evac procedures over there (and I'm 99.9% I'm wrong here,) but what if the procedure was to grip a rope/handrail/ect in order to cross over a very narrow platform safely, or she had to wear a harness, which she would have to put on herself? Because of her disability, she would not be able to do that. The ops acted properly in this situation and did not put her in a potentially dangerous situation. I personally liked that whover wrote this article pointed out all the things she can do and I applaud her for taking her disability and turning it into a positive (admit it, how many would just sit around all day and mope if you were missing your hands?) but those things they listed, you don't need to grip anything. Equestrian, AKA horse riding, she can do while holding reigns, and I believe rock climbing was in there? Again, you can use your lower body to push yourself up, and use your arms for balance. None of that is gripping, so the person writing the article was trying to point out oranges when we were looking for apples. Finally, every park has ride requirements, and every ride has the ride requirements posted out in front of the ride. In both cases that she brings up, she did not stop to read the requirements, ask an operator, or inquire before they bought the tickets if there would be any issues. The parks down here are more than happy to give out that information if you go and ask, because it elimates the issues that you get while on the actual ride, and elimates the dangers that she may face if she cannot grip the restraints. She is pushing blame on an industry that does everything in their power to educate the public, minus walking up to her while she is buying the tickets and saying, "Hey you can't ride this/this/this because of your disability" (which if you have ever had to deal with a situation like this, is completely the wrong way to do it.) Those are my thoughts, coming from years and years of experience in the industry. While the parents did the correct thing and held their lawsuit, I dont see how the DoJ can do anything about this, except say "sorry 'bout your luck." Go ahead and blast me, I feel it coming on.

Just a thought: With as many ghost stories there are about KI, do you really think that they would have time to investigate them all? Oh, and Ghost Hunters always does half hour segments (2 investigations per episode,) unless it is the Halloween Episode, where it is a live investigation. I have not seen the episode yet (due to lack of cable in the apt I'm in) but wish they would have come through when the Phantom was still in his Theater. From the stories I heard from coworkers who maintained that ride, it was a creepy place to be when the vehicles weren't moving.

Its amazing, the Dip N Dots guy said the same thing!

I have hated fast pass systems since the day at Disney the 45 minute wait on one ride turned into a 2 1/2 hr wait because NO regular guests were being allowed on the ride, just those with fast pass. HOWEVER, the park is limiting this to an extremely low number, and once those are gone, they are gone. Since the two systems are completely different, I support KI's MORE than I support Disneys (not saying I support any of them, but its a two horse race.) All I have to say is that I have yet to hear anyone at the park complain about the system, or have experienced any major increase in wait times (major being more than 5 minutes longer than what it would be without.)

Remember what news organization this came from. I trust WLWT as much as a complete stranger.

I'm 6`6, 290LBS, and can fit on almost anything in the park except for Vortex and FD. Last time I rode FD (a ride I was easily able to ride back in the mid 2000's I might add,) my hip about dislocated due to the position I had to torque myself into. As for maximum height requirements, I am just barely under the line for DT (we are talking the difference between tennis shoes and sandals under the line,) and am too tall for Delirium. It is frustrating to have something that you cannot control be the deterrent to you riding something (most people, and I say most because thyroid problems do exist, can control their waistline with exercise and dieting, however your DNA is written for a certain height, something completely out of your control.)

Ummm, what? Out of all the years that there was water in the lava scene, not ONCE did it all evaporate. It made the ride area muggy on occasion, however it was never an issue.

So one breeze at CVG located over 30 MILES away from the park hit 31 MPH..... Great. What was the speed at the park? It really doesn't matter what is said about the wind, or what the level is set at, or if it was maintenance or weather related, people are going to complain. The fact that we are having this conversation is ridiculous, considering that it ran for an entire day before closing down whereas other WS have opened for an HOUR and then closed down for what, a couple of weeks!? People need to calm down and realize that these are PROTOTYPES, trying to work out the bugs after state inspection is part of the game you play with prototypes.

However GYK, if you have something too swift when operating, especially when under multiple stresses (weight in the seats, vertical movement of the carriage, horizontal movement of the arms, AND wind stress coming from both forward and from the sides from crosswinds,) not having some forward and backward movement would not be as advantageous as you think it would be. Oh, and the wind limit is NOT 10MPH.

Also take into consideration that when you are walking around the park, you are sheltered by trees, buildings, and rides, knocking down how much wind you feel. So the fact that you don't feel a breeze on the ground doesn't mean the wind is blowing hard 301 feet up.

I think what he means by all the way to the top is the fact that the carriage was designed with the arms about 20 ft below the top of the carriage, meaning that if the carriage was designed with the seats higher, it wouldn't have been so much excess room at the top.

The thrill factor is based not on the individuals thrill, but on several other factors such as speed, ride intensity, and forces you will encounter.

Ever since those seatbelts have been installed, I've been in too much pain by the end of that ride to actually look anywhere. Hate being tall....

Really depends on where it valleys. If it's between the loop and the cobra roll, a crane is the way to go. If it miscatches station-side, all they have to do is push it back a few feet, and the catch car can re-catch it.

Not true. Just because I look into how much it would take to build a new house doesn't mean I've signed the contractor to do it. Its an estimate, meaning they looked into the costs are are determining if that money should be used to revamp the ride, or tear it down, nothing more. I'm sure they have quotes on demolition costs floating around somewhere, and yet that decision hasn't been made. In fact, NO decision has been made at this time.

Every year, the trains are rebuilt, making them look new. I have a major complaint about FD and Vortex, that seatbelt. I am 6`6, and I can no longer ride these two rides without popping my hip out of joint because of how I have to sit in the car to get the seatbelt to fasten. I used to love these two rides, and now, well, I can't. Very upsetting. Oh and don't forget, a section of Beast is technically rebuilt every offseason. This year, it was the first turn that was reprofiled.

Rumor has it that someone asked a driver who was driving some blue B&M track where he was going, and he said Dollywood. Take it for what its worth.

I did see a channel 2 news van pull into the park yesterday, so that's probably who it was.

Speaking of that picture, whats up with the awning angles? Are they doing the separate triangles, AKA Firehawk, or one continuous awning that stretches the entire length of the queue?

Don't forget that Vortex is also sinking and Cobra closed because of "Low Ridership." I'm sure that if the seats actually fell off, the enthusiasts crowd would have heard about it a lot sooner than now. And (No offense,) through a second grader.

Which sounds better, "later" this month, or "eventually?" And anyone love the top of the sign that says "New for 2011," then not open portion? Classic.