jsus

Sorry for the double post. I'm not sure who has more of a black eye in the industry, though. Intamin had trouble with its accelerator model in the initial years but has worked out a lot of those bugs. S&S had its chance to beat Intamin at claiming the fastest coaster title from Kingda Ka. ring•racer was supposed to open at 135mph before Formula Rossa at 149.1 mph.. Well, a long series of accidents that included blowing out the windows of the pneumatics room led to five years of delays, opening at a reduced speed of 99.4 mph. It was then decommissioned after four days but that says more about the state of Nürburgring than the ride. Then again, Intamin has been having its struggles lately as well. See also: Falcon's Fury, Zumanjaro not able to run concurrently with Kingda Ka, etc. No matter what, it'll be interesting to see who current management goes to for its next non-B&M major coaster (not a "family coaster").

It has been said that S&S is not involved in the Polercoaster project anymore; it's all Intamin.

Saying that Diamondback had an accident when it stopped at the bottom of its lift hill is like saying I was in an accident in my car when I pulled over because either the check-engine light was on or someone drifted into my lane. Both are equally nonsensical.

If no live animals were to visit an amusement park, said park would surely go out of business. After all, its paying customers are animals. They're humans. Humans are animals. *gasp* (And what Terpy said)

Oh no! Let's all wish both injured parties a rapid recovery. Especially the maintenance worker, I can only imagine the damage done to him. I can't imagine this being possible anywhere other than a low zone, where there would surely be a fence and lockout/tagout procedures required for entry. If so, I also wonder why he was there while the ride was still operational. Further, is their policy not to retrieve lost loose articles at the end of the day? Or was the guy (or gal) new and didn't know this procedure? Cal/OSHA will surely have a field day.

What is video but a very rapid sequence of pictures usually with background audio? Sounds like someone was testing the ability to get away with stuff. Grr.

Are you sure that The Beast needs a ride to say nice things about it? I mean, it's a beast, why would it need you to boost its ego? Me thinks you are looking for a ride that complements The Beast..

They were doing that on Wednesday also. I heard the announcement about the free water cups several times while in line for White Water Canyon, and a few times in other places as well. Come to think about it, I haven't ever heard them advertise the free water cups before, not even on the hottest and most humid days. I've never heard that before, either. However, at various points last summer, Firehawk did have a five gallon water cooler in the queue where the separator sits/stands.

Many miles southwest. Think they're still walking?

You're supposed to buy a new one every year. They even say on them that they are only good through December 31 of the year issued. That said, you're dealing with minimum wage front of house employees, many of whom haven't been employed before. They might have briefly been told what to look for with the cups, but honestly, I'm not sure they care to check. If the barcode scans, they fill it. That's about it.

Then it's a good thing you're not a designated driver.

Not to make a one-word post, but I only have one word for that.. WHYYYYY???

Said "designated driver" ticket includes The Coca-Cola Company products in lieu of alcoholic beverages (as noted on the order system). If that is where they are setting up for Banshee Brew Festival, I wonder if they'll be using canned/bottled sodas rather than the fountain variety. The former would make the event more interesting to me, a non-drinker. Whether or not the DD ticket includes a souvenir mug is unknown to me. The fun of this event without drinking would be consuming what's bound to be some good food while taking in the atmosphere (and supposedly entertainment). Perhaps, as the ticket is named after designated drivers, part of the fun would be to join your friends who do choose to consume. It's more like going to a bar and asking for a Coca-Cola, since you will be able to ask for Coca-Cola.

^^ And if you had asked B&M if they would build a giga coaster when Cedar Fair was accepting bids for the Millennium Force project, they would've similarly said they couldn't do it. Now, they've built Leviathan and Fury 325. All it takes is time and R&D costs to come up with a suitable system. Without being an expert in the materials in a B&M train, I'm confident they could do so if a customer really wanted it.

^^ You had me really confused for a while.. Then I got it. Sigh.

Yeah, I'll admit the Smiler thing was stupid on my part, what I was trying to go for was it seems media tries to dish out blows against thrill rides every chance. Probably not for any specific reason other than it increases viewership. I completely agree that routine evacuations based on safety systems shutting down the ride and standard operating procedure being followed are not newsworthy. Like I said, nobody was in harm's way on Diamondback this afternoon except from the sun. That's also why I said that SOP was not followed with The Smiler, and people were not only put in harm's way but received life-changing injuries. That's not just media-speak - you try living with an artificial leg. I can only imagine what one must go through. When SOP is followed and no one is ever in any serious danger, it's not newsworthy. It happens everyday to keep people safe. The media does it because they know people will eat it up. They have to be out there first because everyone will otherwise find out via social media. When SOP is not followed and people receive life-changing injuries, that's extremely newsworthy. If you don't care, fine, but you better believe I want to know any time an amusement ride has a serious accident.

You're right. Nuclear warfare would be much worse; let's only ever report on the possibilities that it might occur. *shrug*

So, life-changing injuries such as leg amputations are not significant and newsworthy? Diamondback stopping safely on the lift and doing a lift evacuation is hardly newsworthy; no one was ever in harm's way except from the sun's rays. Standard operating procedures were followed by both the ride and its operators. The Smiler took a girl's leg. It badly injured several other riders. That's extremely newsworthy. Standard operating procedures were not followed by either the ride or its operators (or both). The same? Not even close.

Or Word documents! As for me, I've been to the park 6 times* this season. *This number does not count days worked in park. Spreadsheets (or better yet, database-driven applications) are much better to track the overall picture, from visits to dining plan meal redemptions and even rides ridden. All tracked over time. Okay, so I'm not that far yet.. Just visits and meals. For the record: Cedar Point: 2 meals, 2 days Kings Island: 8 meals, 5 days Knott's Berry Farm: 1 meal, 1 day

That's what spreadsheets are for.

See also: http://www.whio.com/ap/ap/ohio/riders-unloaded-after-safety-alert-stops-ohio-roll/nmZsf/ http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/warren-county/mason/Diamondback-roller-coaster-breaks-down-temporarily-stranding-riders

Yep, and it's the close quarters that make it all the more of a common courtesy/respect for others thing. And that's why I am most bothered by guests smoking in line. There's simply no getting away from it.

The concern is not about the disposal of the beverage container, but rather the possession and consumption within the tight confines of a queue..

How far is the District of Columbia from Mason, Ohio? Google sayeth approximately 7.5 hours, add an extra in current traffic, and ~475 miles.

Cedar Point's Monster seemed operational on June 5th during CoasterMania! At a minimum, it was not in any state of disassembly.