neo8820

I agree with this. The change in just SFKK itself over the past couple years has been tremendous. The park is much cleaner this season than last. Some of the rides that have been neglicted for years were finally repainted. Additionally, they made the water park friendlier for children. It's a better place to take the family than it was a few years ago. However, they still need to work on their staff...lots of ride ops that you can tell could not (thanks Interpreter) care less.

This is excellent. I've always wanted to do all of these "backstage" activities. It should be a blast.

I hate to make a post without a reference to backup my claim but I'm running late to work. I read somewhere on the internet last night that DZ was still closed because they were waiting for a part that out of an abundance of caution was being replaced.

I definately agree that since the new CEO took over at SF the park is in better shape. There is a much better family atmosphere. I can't speak for other SF parks but this is the case at SFKK.

Eye witnesses as well as pictures confirmed that a cable snapped in two. Upstop, the rides brakes are magnetic and can only fail in the event of the Earth's magnetic poles switching. There are cables that bring the car up to the top of the tower, an most likely, the cable that snapped was on the same vehicle. Those cables are under intense tension and if it snapped, it is highly probable that the cable shot down underneath the car and unfortunately came in contact with the young girl. With regards to DZ at KI, if any of the cables did snap, the seats are far enough away to more than likely not come into contact with it. I don't remember if someone asked on this site if DZ's ride vehicle is further away because of this potential risk but that isn't the reason. It is like that to be able to hold more passengers. This is a true freak accident that was way beyond "worst case scenario". Even preparing for a cable snap during design cannot predict the violent behavior of something under such high tension. This is very tragic and the girl and her family, as well as the many witnesses including the ride operators, need our prayers. The brakes on the Intamin Drop Tower at SFKK are not magnetic they are friction brakes. This Drop Tower was one of the first before they decided to move towards the more advanced magnetic braking system.

Another interesting fact is they NEVER that I have seen run all 5 cars at the same time. Anyone have any idea why?

No it's an Intamin AG Drop Tower. If my memory serves me correctly it was one of the first free fall Drop Towers and I believe it is a prototype.

I too am very interested in knowing how this happened. Some of the videos on local news stations show people working around car three which faces the waterpark. The piece of blue hardware that attaches to the cable and lifts the car up can be seen clearly in the video for cars 2-4 at the top of the tower. The side of the tower with cars 1 and 5 cannot be seen. If my memory serves me right there is only one cable attached to the blue piece of hardware. One would assume from these observations that the cable did not snap or atleast did not snap completely. What are everyone thoughts?

Ok I know this is a forum for KI and not SFKK but I have a general question that is mostly not park specific. SFKK is opening today. The weather is very cold around 35-40. What is the coldest tempurature roller coasters will operate at? I think I read somewhere that wood coasters can operate in colder temps than steel but I don't know the cutoff. Is there a general rule of thumb?

Excellent Point.

Why would the loop be removed it wasn't the cause of the accident was it???

Wow was anyone on it when this happened? I've been looking all over the internet for more information/pictures but can't find anything.

What happened with steel venom this summer?

Ha, so what were your thoughts as you were rolling back through the helix and did they launch you again or did they reload the train with less weight?

I noticed this too. Do they have rollback spikes at the top to prevent the train from rolling back down the helix?

They were loading the folks with disabilities on the unload and there was a train in the ready brakes. Don't ask me why but they were.

I only asked about the flame because I have been on the ride twice where we were stalled at the top while they were loading riders with dissabilities. Both times people started freaking out because they thought something was wrong with the ride and the smell of gas is very evident after the flame goes off. One time a women actually started to panic and get out of the train because she was convinced it was going to explode and we were going to burn alive!

Italian job at the top when the helicoptor comes up and starts shooting it's gun. When I rode this summer they used gas explosions with fire that shot out of the barrels. Now it is just big water cannon explosions.

So what happend the brakes didn't release at the end? I know two trains full with people were stuck for a good 20 minutes.

Went to PKI last night and noticed a couple things that I want to know if anyone knows more about. First, on Italian Job the fire balls right before you go into the sewers were replaced by water cannons. Second, the scrambler looks like it is in the process of being disassembled. Any ideas on the reasons behind this?

Trust me the line wasn't short. Got in line at 10:45 for The Beast. What happend was it broke down and everyone left the line. It reopened around 11:40ish and quickly requed.