SOB_TOM

And I will take the ride operators perspective: First off, as a former ride operator I can tell you that when you are in that drive box, it is hard to keep your eye on the line (especially in the queue houses,) the ride itself (through monitor systems,) and the platform. Its a lot of people to monitor at one time. HOWEVER, when approached about a line jumper, and a second witness can be shown (this is because I have had several "complaints" of line jumping that were proven false,) they will be thrown out of the line. For one kid to ruin an entire day at KI, that is overreaction. I don't know if you have a short fuse, or if it was hot out that day, but if you would have taken a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then waited in line, guess what? You would have rode more than BLSC! Or, bring it up to a ride op when you get to the platform. The people in back of you ARE actually going to remember the incident, and they will back you up because it helps speed up their wait. This may not be an isolated incident, however to be quite honest, the way the incident was handled was very poor by those in the incident, and was handled very well by the park after the situation rose to its peak.

It was very interesting to learn that the Eagle is technically ready to fall right now. No offense to the fans (and I did enjoy the Eagle when I was younger) but to witness a coaster fall on its own would be something to watch (and not from a bulldozer)

The original blocking allowed for up to 7 trains on the course at once. Station to lift Lift to shed Shed to bottom half of lift 2 bottom half of lift 2 to top of lift 2 lift 2 to final brakes And there were 2 final brake locations

Last time I checked, the electricians had at least one red truck, so they could have been out there looking at something. Of course, other departments have red trucks as well.

Yeah I used to do that whole "Did you like your ride on TRTR?" (cheer) "You are in luck because the park opens tomorrow at 9, with TRTR running from 10am-close! See you tomorrow!"

Thumb through all of Interp's 18,175 posts, and the 175 are probably the ones that are not signature worthy. And I would think a parabolic hill would be much better than a right angled hill.. But of course I am right brained, which means that math for me was a horrible subject.

Welcome to the forums! From my experiences, you cannot go to KI without going to the shows as well, and to catch all those PLUS all the rides, thats a two day venture, so I would plan on Thursday riding everything, and Friday (which from when I worked there 02-06) is going to be busier, so I would hit the show lineups HARD.

The differences in generations is finally being realized... And after saying that, man I feel old!

But that is not unusual. In fact, like it was stated earlier, lightening strikes at theme parks are quite common. Tom, who has renamed one ride "The giant lightening rod."

When I was working on TRTR (2003 so I am still allowed to say that!) I remember getting creative with the spiel in preshow. One portion went like this: "When you enter the ride area, you will see a pouch in front of you. Please put your keys, wallets, flip flops, cell phones, glass eyes, fake limbs, toupees, wigs, cats, seeing eyes dogs, reptiles of any sort, and small children inside this pouch. If you lose any articles, we cannot retrieve them until after the park is closed, and Kings Island is not responsible for any damage done to any articles not secured in the pouch." Or going over the main PA asking for Tom Braider to step forward (think about it for a second.) Oh! And lets not forget asking people in preshow to "show proper veneration for Shiva." There was also a group of the ops on that crew who would rotate antechamber and preshow, and act like we are giving an archeological tour of an abandoned temple...

Mine used to be a pair of Propet sandals, which had the heel wrap to it as well to prevent slippage from rides, however since those fell apart after 7 years of use (and for me, a normal pair of shoes lasts me 6 months) I have gone to the thong sandal style from Wal-Mart that costs $1, and they have lasted me about 2 years.

Oh even Traditions at KI are handed down verbally from one ride op to the next, not through classes.

No one really asks, "Hey, what ride used to be here?" or "What year did KI remove The Bat?" And since every industry is trying to cut costs, this is just another way to cut down on training. Plus, I dont remember a time when they were taught KI history.

I read a statistic somewhere (and the source escapes me right now sorry) but the incident rate is actually higher that what it should be listed at. 98% of all injuries occurred at theme parks are "rider error," and 1% ea. is either maintenance malfunction or operator error. Think about those stats for a second...

Interpreter, explaining himself!? Someone break out the candles, get the canned goods, we need to head for the hills!

The reason I ask is because when the music was cut for the clock, the creator of the cut actually left out one of the lines of music in the third repetition just to mess with peoples' heads. It was hysterical to sit up there and watch as everyone would all of the sudden be out of sync with the music.

The main source of the straight line winds was the damage to the sign itself. The metal was not twisted, it was bent (which caused the break) A tornado does not have that type of damage associated with it. And as for the trams (I remember those now that you mention them!) that damage can either be straight-line winds or tornado. That is why the investigation team dismissed that as evidence. Even if they were to look closely, they would see a tram, not the underlying condition causing the trams mishap. With the grass, there were certain areas around the park that the wind naturally swirled (back by SOB it did this a lot) so the grass could not be used as an indicator.

KIDiamondback, I don't know where you are getting your information, but take it from someone who knows EXACTLY what the budget on that clock is/was, and someone who actually worked on the clock for 3 years, but your information is off. If money was the issue with the clock, then it would still be running. I have my own hypothesis on why the clock is not running this year, and I think the closest would be right along with Ryan's assessment. Who would want the chicken dance to interrupt the live show? That would be annoying. And BTW, for those who remember, ever done that chicken dance, and stayed right with the music?

The state of Ohio will already have an inspector there when the maintenance is done on the ride, and that is so the ride can open fully as quick as possible. So thats a non-issue really. And with an incident like this, don't quote me, but I think that MF will have to go through its normal season warm up cycles. I believe that once the cable is replaced, it should be good to go.

I do have a major bone to pick. Stated within the article, it states that maintenance crews are not trained properly. Lets see: When I went through as a tech at KI, I was monitored all throughout the opening months of maintenance (for seasonals, its starts as early as Jan 30th,) as well as every shift I had for the preseason was with a full time employee who oversaw ALL of my maintenance whenever a call went out. So this article is complete rubbish. He also tries to discredit the fact that theme parks have THE BEST SAFETY RECORD out there. This lawyer (most likely an ambulance chaser after reading this article) tries to tell you that the safety record is a sham, that the parks report the incidents. Ok, thats like saying that motorists report every ding on their vehicle, or when a radio goes out on a plane its reported. Thats not the case. EVERY maintenance job I did at KI was signed off on as complete, and that the ride can open to the public BEFORE I LEFT THE RIDE, and those are documents that are held onto for 7 years. So yes, every incident, no matter the severity, is recorded and is thus reported to the park.

Most likely, Intamin has a warehouse somewhere on U.S. soil where they have replacement parts on hand. Or most likely, aftermarket parts could be sought to replace the one that is currently broken, to have it up and running by Coastermania with the part in route, then the other part installed during "scheduled downtime," I.E. end of season.

Some of the ones that I remember saying/hearing while I worked as a ride op are as follows: "Ladies and gentlemen, for the safety of the guests around you, as well as your own stability, we ask that you do not sit, stand, walk, crawl, kneel, or otherwise place your behind on the handrails." "Ladies and Gentlemen, if you will direct your attention to the (insert row) and (number of people back from train,) you will notice he is sitting on our handrails. Now to be fair to the handrails, we have offered a chance for them to sit on him. However, out of politeness, the handrails have declined our offer, but cannot guarantee that they will refuse the offer in the future. Please keep this in mind, and please do not sit on the handrails. Thank you." "Ladies and Gentlemen, because of the abuse the handrails have taken, maintenance has just finished painting them silver, as to hide the marks left from others sitting on the handrails. Because of this, you may notice that the handrails are still slightly tacky in some areas. Please refrain from any unnecessary contact with the handrails to allow proper drying time for the paint. Thank you." (That one always had the offenders jumping off and checking to see if there was paint on their shorts.) Thats all I can really remember right now, but if I remember any more, I will add them.

I didn't even know that place had a basement... I don't know if it still is, but that used/is the Tech Services shop area. Did they have you in the storage area (big garage door on the one wall) or the actual shop? And if you looked closely in there, many interesting tidbits are located throughout that shop...

We all have to start somewhere. I can vouch for Interp, if you want to learn, listen and read between the lines of what he says.

SRM was an ACE event held at Holiday World, but now its not held.