XGatorHead 8904 Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 ^Intentional or not, it's comments like Nitrox's that get me fired up, especially when I have two people close to me that are otherwise capable of having a great time at the park even if they do need a wheelchair to get around it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TombraiderTy Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Can someone please explain what happened to Karen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartKI Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Can someone please explain what happened to Karen? Yeah, I don't undertand what happened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Mouse Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Can someone please explain what happened to Karen? Yeah, I don't undertand what happened? I tried searching for the post but could not find it. As I remember, she was in one of the Halloween Haunt attractions and her chair got stuck somehow. Some park employees tried to free it and broke something on the chair. That would make it the park's responsibility to pay for since it's representatives (employees) were the ones who caused the damage. It is ridiculous that the park would take 8 months to repair the damage. I wonder if management or KI's insurance company tried to get out of paying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TombraiderTy Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Wow... that's just kinda a bad impression on the park if it took them eight hours... I'm surprised that didn't make local news, would've been a turn-off from people towards the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Mouse Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Wow... that's just kinda a bad impression on the park if it took them eight hours... I'm surprised that didn't make local news, would've been a turn-off from people towards the park. It would only hit the news if Karen contacted them. From what I have seen on these boards, Karen is a class act and would only make this a public relations issue if the park refused to repair damage that they had caused. I would have lost patience long before eight MONTHS. My hat is off to you, Karen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WooferBearATL Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Excellent points Gator, and I love hearing about the personal experiences of other people at Kings Island. However, I don't think Nitrox was trying to intentionally be rude or insensitive towards guests in a wheel chair. What do ya suppose he was trying to be? I tried searching for the post but could not find it. As I remember, she was in one of the Halloween Haunt attractions and her chair got stuck somehow. Some park employees tried to free it and broke something on the chair. That would make it the park's responsibility to pay for since it's representatives (employees) were the ones who caused the damage. It is ridiculous that the park would take 8 months to repair the damage. I wonder if management or KI's insurance company tried to get out of paying. Like with most any situation, certainly there are additional details to the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Excellent points Gator, and I love hearing about the personal experiences of other people at Kings Island. However, I don't think Nitrox was trying to intentionally be rude or insensitive towards guests in a wheel chair. What do ya suppose he was trying to be? Perhaps he just doesn't see it from their point of view? He wasn't attacking anyone with a disability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Can someone please explain what happened to Karen? Yeah, I don't undertand what happened? I tried searching for the post but could not find it. As I remember, she was in one of the Halloween Haunt attractions and her chair got stuck somehow. Some park employees tried to free it and broke something on the chair. That would make it the park's responsibility to pay for since it's representatives (employees) were the ones who caused the damage. It is ridiculous that the park would take 8 months to repair the damage. I wonder if management or KI's insurance company tried to get out of paying. The employees had nothing to do with the damage to the wheelchair. Many MANY people went above and beyond to help out in this situation that didn't have to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 And gee, I wonder why they did that....I am quite sure that the possibility of bad publicity never entered into their minds...and they'd do the same for anyone else similarly situated.... Why then, pray tell, did it take eight months? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted June 5, 2008 Author Share Posted June 5, 2008 From the things I have heard the rides I was able to ride last year would be impossible this year due to changes. Did they add more restraints that would limit larger sized people access to the rides? I heard this but have not visited the park this year so would really like to know if this rumor is true. Vortex seatbelts are still the same as last year...you rode it fine with me last year so shouldn't be a problem this year No hun you rode it with my daughter and not with me. If you remember I really did not ride any rides that day. That particular day I just watched the shows. I suffer other health problems and I know my limitations. On those days I do not ride anything. The shows were so awesome last year that I enjoyed them as much as I did the rides when I could ride them!! As for the remarks about the "fake" use of a wheelchair - well hun this is my own prescription wheelchair. It is a medical necessity for me. I can walk but only very short distances without a great deal of pain. I do understand what you are talking about and have seen the abuse of that particular item. The new boarding passes that they started about two years ago has worked to limit that abuse!! As for when I do ride the rides. I do not like being unfair to anyone so what we do is get the boarding passes because it is required to have them to ride anything. I have to show the ride operator that I even have one before I can get on any rides. My family member goes and stands in line with everyone else and once they get to the front then I get on with them. This way I am not getting anything anyone else is not able to have. We do not get multiple stamps - actually I don't get any stamps but the stamping process is very fair. Sometimes you have to wait longer and other times shorter times so it all equals out. As for the damage to my chair - this was a design flaw in the attraction - simply hanging the bodies just about a foot higher will not stop any of the fun and will make the attraction safer for those in power chairs. This was an accident waiting to happen and could have happen to people in their own rented chairs/scooters. There are a lot of things that happened that I have not discussed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted June 5, 2008 Author Share Posted June 5, 2008 Can someone please explain what happened to Karen? Yeah, I don't undertand what happened? I tried searching for the post but could not find it. As I remember, she was in one of the Halloween Haunt attractions and her chair got stuck somehow. Some park employees tried to free it and broke something on the chair. That would make it the park's responsibility to pay for since it's representatives (employees) were the ones who caused the damage. It is ridiculous that the park would take 8 months to repair the damage. I wonder if management or KI's insurance company tried to get out of paying. The park employee did not damage my chair. There was a design flaw in the attraction. There were bodies that hang from the ceiling in CLub Blood and one of them had their hands tied - the hands somehow got under my toggle switch and somehow ripped the arm right off of my chair. It happened really fast. Suddenly I was slammed against a wall covered in bodies. The security person assigned to me was extremely nice and worked hard to get me untangled. It took about ten minutes to "find" me and get me untangled. With the exception of the manager of that attraction the rest of the employees working that night went out of their way to accomodate me and assist me as much as possible and I owe them a huge thank you. I do not know why the park choose to "wait six months" to even look at it or the six weeks of fixing it. I am looking into that but really don't want to comment until I get more information from my various sources so let's not be unfair to anyone on this one. The park DID finally fix the arm of my chair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted June 5, 2008 Author Share Posted June 5, 2008 Wow... that's just kinda a bad impression on the park if it took them eight hours... I'm surprised that didn't make local news, would've been a turn-off from people towards the park. It would only hit the news if Karen contacted them. From what I have seen on these boards, Karen is a class act and would only make this a public relations issue if the park refused to repair damage that they had caused. I would have lost patience long before eight MONTHS. My hat is off to you, Karen. Thank you so much for that comment!!! Yes I have been extremely patient with the park and wish the ones I have dealt with would take your opinion of me as well lol. I love Kings Island and Halloween Haunt is my favorite time of the year. I have been as patient and as understanding as I possibly could. Thank you so much for that awesome statement to my character!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Maple The Tree King Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 I do not know why the park choose to "wait six months" to even look at it or the six weeks of fixing it. Probably because from the way you tell it seems they weren't obligated to fix it. Did you go through an insurance company to get this settled? If so, maybe you should keep the matter between you and the park. I am looking into that but really don't want to comment until I get more information from my various sources so let's not be unfair to anyone on this one. Various sources? Like kids who work at Haunt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iChase Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Excellent points Gator, and I love hearing about the personal experiences of other people at Kings Island. However, I don't think Nitrox was trying to intentionally be rude or insensitive towards guests in a wheel chair. What do ya suppose he was trying to be? Perhaps he just doesn't see it from their point of view? He wasn't attacking anyone with a disability. Actually I think so too. I don't think he meant anything negative towards handicapped people, he just doesn't see it from their perspective. So please, let's open his eyes. Not bash him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted June 5, 2008 Author Share Posted June 5, 2008 The reasons it took eight months is a question for Don Helbig. It took me almost three months just to finally figure out who to call as I did not hear from anyone for a long time. I reached Don Helbig in January and he told me that they could not look at it until April after the season opened. Don Helbig told me that they were extremely busy with changing signs and getting the park ready for the opening weekend. I called the first part of April and was told to bring it down April 22. Six weeks later my wheelchair was returned to me. For the six months I had it the chair was heavily taped up and I severely limited my social life and any use of that chair that was not absolutely necessary. For the six weeks it was at the park in repair I just did not go anywhere unless they offered the use of a motorized scooter or a manual wheelchair and had someone accompany me to push it as I am not able to do so. So yes I was extremely patient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 I thought it was really nice of Don Helbig to let you use an electric wheelchair rental for free for the rest of the season when he didn't have to. It was also nice of Don Helbig to arrange to have your chair fixed when he didn't have to. Don't you think it's a little cavalier to blame Don Helbig for it taking 6 weeks to fix your chair? They probably had to order parts, which could have taken weeks to get in. I'm not questioning your credibility or anything, I'm just saying that in hindsight, he did do a lot for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted June 5, 2008 Author Share Posted June 5, 2008 I do not know why the park choose to "wait six months" to even look at it or the six weeks of fixing it. Probably because from the way you tell it seems they weren't obligated to fix it. Did you go through an insurance company to get this settled? If so, maybe you should keep the matter between you and the park. I am looking into that but really don't want to comment until I get more information from my various sources so let's not be unfair to anyone on this one. Various sources? Like kids who work at Haunt? Yes the park was obligated to fix it and that was never in question. No one tried to get out of anything so please do not think that - I have not said or even hinted to that. It was almost impossible to keep it between myself and the park because too many people knew about it that night and several of them post on this site. The accident was broadcast all over the park via their radios. I am a very popular person among the employees of Haunt and very well liked. When they saw me at the front of the park waiting for my son-in-law to come out of make-up several got extremely angry. I spent a lot of time calming people down and telling them the park would take care of this - which they finally did do. Yes it took way too long and I am the first to agree to that one but no one at the park ever once denied their obligation to correct this problem. The employees working that night went out of their way to help me. Don Helbig was extremely nice to me that night and made sure that the report was made and even allowed me free use of their electric scooters for the remainder of haunt because he knew I was wanting to go to every single operating night of haunt. I will say that I worked with one of the moderators of this site, that has posted on this issue, to try to do some damage control by posting a humorous post of what happened. i am sure it is still around on this site in the trip report. It was our desire to keep things calm and positive. I hope these have answered all of your questions about the chair. My real question for this thread was do you honestly think the park is handicapped accessible and have you ever seen anything that might be changed to make it safer for everyone? If so have you possibly told anyone in management to effect positive change?? My experience was not the best and it is my intention to possibly see if people can look around and help others by alerting management to positive changes so that things like this can be avoided in the future. I do not expect everything to be accessible but do think that there should aways be those changes in process to make the park an enjoyable experience for all park visitors. As for why would I go to the park?? Well actually that is a very good question. I enjoy the park, the employees are totally awesome to me and the shows are just done so well I have to give major kudos to Kevin and his entire staff for doing such a fantastic job!!! I have not been to the park this year but have heard they are just as well done this year as last and to me that takes some major talent! Those of you that posted positive comments about this - thanks sooo very much!!! Negative comments are often done out of ignorance of the real situation. I went into more detail than I ever wanted to on this site to give you the knowledge and possibly a better understanding of the issues that the handicapped have to endure. Unfortunately most people do not look at the handicapped as a person - but we are. We have feelings and would love to have the same respect given to anyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted June 5, 2008 Author Share Posted June 5, 2008 I thought it was really nice of Don Helbig to let you use an electric wheelchair rental for free for the rest of the season when he didn't have to. It was also nice of Don Helbig to arrange to have your chair fixed when he didn't have to. Don't you think it's a little cavalier to blame Don Helbig for it taking 6 weeks to fix your chair? They probably had to order parts, which could have taken weeks to get in. I'm not questioning your credibility or anything, I'm just saying that in hindsight, he did do a lot for you. I am trying my best to keep this on the positive side but you know as well as I do that I can get very nasty about what was done and how so please keep those kind of comments to yourself. I felt I was being extremely nice about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 I thought it was really nice of Don Helbig to let you use an electric wheelchair rental for free for the rest of the season when he didn't have to. It was also nice of Don Helbig to arrange to have your chair fixed when he didn't have to. Don't you think it's a little cavalier to blame Don Helbig for it taking 6 weeks to fix your chair? They probably had to order parts, which could have taken weeks to get in. I'm not questioning your credibility or anything, I'm just saying that in hindsight, he did do a lot for you. I am trying my best to keep this on the positive side but you know as well as I do that I can get very nasty about what was done and how so please keep those kind of comments to yourself. I felt I was being extremely nice about this. You were. That wasn't the issue. You just kind of mentioned in your first post that the issue was resolved but you still weren't happy. I just didn't want the fine folks of KIC to get the wrong impression about Don Helbig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 I thought it was really nice of Don Helbig to let you use an electric wheelchair rental for free for the rest of the season when he didn't have to. It was also nice of Don Helbig to arrange to have your chair fixed when he didn't have to. Don't you think it's a little cavalier to blame Don Helbig for it taking 6 weeks to fix your chair? They probably had to order parts, which could have taken weeks to get in. I'm not questioning your credibility or anything, I'm just saying that in hindsight, he did do a lot for you. I am trying my best to keep this on the positive side but you know as well as I do that I can get very nasty about what was done and how so please keep those kind of comments to yourself. I felt I was being extremely nice about this. Karen, I'm trying to understand the point of this topic? Is it to raise concern or draw attention to potential risks for guests with disabilities or to bring up your own experience. While I respect you and realize you have a disability I don't see the point in constantly bringing up the issue about your chair and the park "having" to fix it. As far as I can tell, from what you said, the park was in no way obligated to fix the chair. You mention that you felt that way, however how were they legally obligated to do so? Did you go about some official means of confirming this? In the end it seems the park went out of its way to help you out and even gave you a nice perk for this season. Regardless of the stress caused shouldn't you have some respect for those who helped you and keep this agreement between you and the park? It was almost impossible to keep it between myself and the park because too many people knew about it that night and several of them post on this site. The accident was broadcast all over the park via their radios. I am a very popular person among the employees of Haunt and very well liked. Actually, I doubt most people here would have known about the incident until you posted it. Just because it was broadcast over park radios does not mean "everyone" knows about it. A few posts back someone mentions how you did the right thing about working with the park about your issue and not making it a public relations affair, and I respect you for that, however this topic has strayed from talking about the disability policies at Kings Island to you giving a personal narrative about how the park somehow is obligated to you and mistreated you as a guest. I will say that I worked with one of the moderators of this site, that has posted on this issue, to try to do some damage control by posting a humorous post of what happened. i am sure it is still around on this site in the trip report. It was our desire to keep things calm and positive. If damage control is what you were intending, maybe keeping the incident between you and the park and off of the internet would have been a more productive route? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 This topic is going no where... and fast. Closing... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts