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The 2015 Media Overreacting to Standard Park Procedures Thread


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Since we had about as much as we could handle in terms of media over-sensationalizing standard operating procedures at parks, and it seemed to flood the discussion boards throughout the season last year, I figured we could just combine the madness into one thread where we it can be discussed.

And it has officially begun! The Coney Island Cyclone had to be evac'd from the lift hill today.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Cyclone-Gets-Stuck-on-Opening-Day-Forcing-Riders-to-Take-Long-Climb-by-Foot-297930981.html

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/03/29/coney-island-cyclone-gets-stuck-on-first-ride-of-season/

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Where's the article about Fury 325 having a late-night evac from the brake run on opening day?

Or, where's the article that quotes my sheer torture of having to evac from Gatekeeper while double stacked on the brakes? It was CoasterMania! at the end of the night, and had the evil contraption not broken down, I would've gotten one more ride! That's like everything to me!

</sarcasm>

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Just stay away from Facebook comments on these sorts of articles. I was trying to explain to somebody that riding a roller coaster is many orders of magnitude safer than actually driving to the amusement park to ride it is, and they insisted that that's not true because their car has airbags...

I'm speechless. I'd be willing to bet significant money that more people were seriously injured or killed in the United States in car accidents within the last 24 hours than on roller coasters in the last decade...

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Don't mind the fact that there are numerous redundant safety systems on a roller coaster intended to leave a safe amount of space between trains at all times. A train has to have a clear path or else it's sent into a hard stop at the nearest block brake. Therefore, both theoretically in practice, there is a minute chance of trains colliding. Thus, what benefit would air bags provide? Okay, so there's the freak instance where something such as a tree falls on the track mid-course or the track tears itself apart (what a SOB), but those are extraordinarily rare.

In a car, however, you have humans operating vehicles in close proximity (usually a lot closer than could possibly be considered safe), with no central control system like on a roller coaster. Both in theory and in practice, this system is a lot more liable to result in vehicles colliding.

I know it's not the best explanation, but yep, you are many orders of magnitude safer on a roller coaster than driving to the amusement park. On a short drive, I usually have many moments where either I'm nearly in an accident or someone else is, because a driver is not paying attention. I've never felt like I was about to get into an accident on a roller coaster. In fact, I often feel like trains creep around too slowly between the brakes, station, and entering the lift. ;)

But hey, they don't want to accept that there's some serious safety systems behind these machines, way better than on the roads. You can only provide the facts, you can't convince everyone.

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Roller Coast[er] emergency stops for unspecified length of time, but long enough for a minor celebrity to break the rules and tweet out a selfie, so KTLA is on your side bringing this important news:

http://ktla.com/2015/04/03/disney-california-adventure-roller-coast-breaks-down-strands-passengers/

In other news, yesterday I had to park my SUV on a small slope while I went in a store, enough that I was uncomfortable just leaving it in "Park", so I deployed my emergency brake. A store employee reports that "as far as I know, no vehicles rolled into our building." I will keep you updated on this important story as it continues to develop.

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Oh no! SFStL guests were left stranded (stranded, I say!!) after a power outage. Because, you know, coming to a safe stop where staircases await for safe and easy emergency evacuation, that's totally the same as being stranded. Helpless. Unsafe!! Taer it down!

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/six-flags-closes-early-after-power-failure-leaves-visitors-stranded/article_8d80e73c-c206-524d-9649-d27435d051c7.html

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Roller Coast[er] emergency stops for unspecified length of time, but long enough for a minor celebrity to break the rules and tweet out a selfie, so KTLA is on your side bringing this important news:

http://ktla.com/2015/04/03/disney-california-adventure-roller-coast-breaks-down-strands-passengers/

In other news, yesterday I had to park my SUV on a small slope while I went in a store, enough that I was uncomfortable just leaving it in "Park", so I deployed my emergency brake. A store employee reports that "as far as I know, no vehicles rolled into our building." I will keep you updated on this important story as it continues to develop.

I've never been to California's Adventure, but have seen reports on various websites that Disney doesn't really care about you having cell phones or other recording devices on the rides. I'm not sure if that's actually the case or it's more a matter of "Hey! We're at a Disney park! We have to record ourselves on this ride!" and Disney not catching people doing it.

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Roller Coast[er] emergency stops for unspecified length of time, but long enough for a minor celebrity to break the rules and tweet out a selfie, so KTLA is on your side bringing this important news:

http://ktla.com/2015/04/03/disney-california-adventure-roller-coast-breaks-down-strands-passengers/

In other news, yesterday I had to park my SUV on a small slope while I went in a store, enough that I was uncomfortable just leaving it in "Park", so I deployed my emergency brake. A store employee reports that "as far as I know, no vehicles rolled into our building." I will keep you updated on this important story as it continues to develop.

I've never been to California's Adventure, but have seen reports on various websites that Disney doesn't really care about you having cell phones or other recording devices on the rides. I'm not sure if that's actually the case or it's more a matter of "Hey! We're at a Disney park! We have to record ourselves on this ride!" and Disney not catching people doing it.

In 2010 when I was at Hollywood Studios, the guy beside me in the front row on Rock 'n' Roller Coaster pulled out his camera on the launch track and proceeded to shoot a POV of the whole ride. When I circled around to get back in line for another ride, I asked the cast member at the point where we were being held short of the pre-show room whether cameras were allowed, and he said that they were not allowed.

Now, having said that, 1) that was in 2010, and rules may have changed since then, and 2) Rock 'n' Roller Coaster is quite possibly the most extreme ride in all of Walt Disney World, so that rule may very well have applied to only that ride and not to most others.

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Okay believe it or not but for most of the public this sort of thing is interesting and different. The news reports on it because people will want to read/watch about it.

Plus it gives news stations an opportunity to bring a news story that is a bit more light hearted and easily relate able to almost all people.

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Oh no! SFoG guests were left stranded (stranded, I say!!) after a power outage. Because, you know, coming to a safe stop where staircases await for safe and easy emergency evacuation, that's totally the same as being stranded. Helpless. Unsafe!! Taer it down!

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/six-flags-closes-early-after-power-failure-leaves-visitors-stranded/article_8d80e73c-c206-524d-9649-d27435d051c7.html

I'm being anal, but the article's actually about SFStL, not SFOG. :)

Speaking of which, SFStL had this happen last year, too. Twice, if I remember correctly. I wonder what's causing it.

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I'm not sure what the real rule is, but no ride ops or ride managers care about phones and loose articles here at WDW. They openly allow trains to leave the station with cameras and stuff out.

Heck, I have ride managers on Facebook that have selfies on Big Thunder Mountain.

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Until one day...

You'd have thought the lessons from Dueling Dragons would have been universal.

That being said, EVERY decision at Disney is well thought out and typically dollar driven.

If it's not a conscious decision, it's misfeasance of the first order.

Allowing guests to produce personalized memories outweighs an eye, a brain, perhaps a life?

Seriously?

Pathetic.

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I like Busch Gardens' policy- that you can use a GoPro with a special chest strap. A very good compromise. (Although there's already plenty of great, park-approved POVs on youtube done by folks like Theme Park Review. Unless you're riding in the rain or something, the experience will be pretty much the same.

I feel like smartphones ruined everything. So many people can't just be in the moment and enjoy things.

Edit: Fixed. Thank you.

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Not the media, but I was walking behind a kid at school on Friday and I suddenly heard him say, "We went to Disney World over Christmas Break and while we were there the WORST thing that could happen happened. We went on It's a Small World and we stopped for a couple of minutes!"

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My first and only trip to Disney World, we went in March so of course it rained almost the whole time. Being 10, I didn't care, I liked rain and it didn't bother me. When it was seriously pouring and there was a lot of lightning, I went on Haunted Mansion 20-something times. Kept having power outages and the ride would go out and be completely dark and stop for a 30 seconds to a minute, then start back up. It was pretty cool. Added an extra dimension of scariness!

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Not the media, but I was walking behind a kid at school on Friday and I suddenly heard him say, "We went to Disney World over Christmas Break and while we were there the WORST thing that could happen happened. We went on It's a Small World and we stopped for a couple of minutes!"

Um, you're making fun of him? I agree, that's the worst thing that could have happened. I can barely handle "It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all..." for the duration of the ride...imagine being stuck there for a few more minutes! Aggh! Nightmares...

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