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Drop Zone


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Why would the park invest more money in making the ride taller? It is already the world`s tallest gyro drop. Also, this ride has been immensely popular since the park built it in 1999. This year they even extended the queue line onto the midway because of how long the line can get. This ride is the only ride at PKI that actually still scares me each time I ride it because it is so high.

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You see, if another park builds something taller, then PKI will probabily just say, "Congratulations. You have just wasted a lot of money on one attraction, and it will take a long time to cycle!"

I just dont see PKI caring that much to extend the drop on DZ. Plus, it would be really hard to do. You would have to take the motor house off with the use of a very high crane which would probabily have to be mounted such as like in skyscraper construction, put that on the ground, install more pipe pieces, eh I will make it easy on myself, its not gonna happen.

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With the height of the tower right now as it is, it already has its problems. But if they did build a taller one, make it right!!! Put the motor at the bottom of the tower instead of the top, you could run the cables through the tower, out the top and connect it to the catch car. It would be so much easier to maintain, and I do believe that its that way with Dominions DZ, maybe Im wrong but it would be easier. Also DONT PUT NO STEPS!!! Thats our prototype! biggrin.gif

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With the height of the tower right now as it is, it already has its problems. But if they did build a taller one, make it right!!! Put the motor at the bottom of the tower instead of the top, you could run the cables through the tower, out the top and connect it to the catch car. It would be so much easier to maintain, and I do believe that its that way with Dominions DZ, maybe Im wrong but it would be easier.

I think the current design for DZ is the best one. if they put the motor at the bottom instead of the top, then isn't that going to require a whole lot more extra cable for the cradle to be pulled to the top? Doesn't that cable have to be replaced every so often? Also, if you change the current design and put the motor at the bottom with the calbes running up through the middle, where are you gonna put the elevator for emergencies at? The current design has it running up the center of the colum, accessible through the porthole at the bottom of the tower. I think this is a requirement for a ride that tall that doesn't have a stairwell since no fire truck in the world is tall enough to reach the top, therefore the only other option for rescue would be helicopter, costing PKI lots of $$$$$ and also the conditions have to be right for a chopper to fly. Just some things that come to mind with the redesign idea.

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Yeah, its not like they`re going to take the elevator to the top and be able to get people off of the ring if it is stuck at the top. I`m fairly certain that if the ride does break down with people on it, that they either drop the ring where its at, or they will slowly lower it to the bottom. Once there, everyone can safely exit.

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Since no fire truck in the world is tall enough to reach the top.

You sure about that one?

The elevator is SOLEY used for maintenance to get to the top of the tower.

Yeah I'm sure this is one case where you guys are wrong. The elevator is used in an emergency to get people down off the ring, if it were to ever get stuck at the top. They bring them down two at a time, and it is mandatory that in this situation, PKI gets Masonand or deerfield fire departments who in turn, get a Hamilton County USAR acitvation. The USAR team brings out all of their gear, which is stored on a tractor trailer similar to say a Pepsi truck, at a fire station in Sycamore Twp. and they have to rig ropes at the top on anchor points, climb/repel down the side of the ring, put harnesses on each person, and release their harness, haul them back to the top, and then send them down the elevator. They made the USAR team do this as a drill, the first spring that the team was around. I know guys from our department who did it, becuse first they had all the guys ride the ride, and then they did the simulated drill of actually removing people form the ride, using dummies. Don't believe be? ask around, I guarantee someone in the park knows about it, since the USAR team drills at PKI at least once a year. Usually they repel down from the top of the column inside FoF for drill. When they go out there, they also learn about whats new in the park, and what role they might have to play if something ever happened on a ride.

Edited by fyrfyter
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Cant say I would be too happy climbing out of my seat at 264 ft with nothing but a rope and harness holding me. I would much rather climb down from a coaster hill any day of the week. That would be one hell of a scare for me personaly. Glad Im not the one doing the resuce.

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I don`t doubt your story fyrfyter. (it actually makes me feel safer that people have trained how to get people off of the ride in an emergency and know what they are doing! However, I remember seeing the ride break down once at about the top of the brakes. When this happened they ended up slowly lowering the ring of seats back to the ground. I also remember seeing them drop the empty seat of rings from the top of the magnetic brakes. Now in some instances they might not be able to do that and would need to use the repellers. I would be terrified to have my bar unlocked 200+ feet in the air. Yikes.

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I can confirm fyrfyter's post about emergency crews repeling in an emergency. The year the park put in Drop Zone ('99) I was still at Oscars and friends with a guy in fire and safety. He told me how they would have to get people off in case of an emergency. (I asked) He told me people were trained to repel. I didn't know they did it once a year.

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Cant say I would be too happy climbing out of my seat at 264 ft with nothing but a rope and harness holding me.  I would much rather climb down from a coaster hill any day of the week.  That would be one hell of a scare for me personaly.  Glad Im not the one doing the resuce.

Its actually two ropes they use. One primary and a Safety line. They will send a rescuer down to you from the top, put a harness on you, and then the guys at the top will pull you back up. So you won't be alone, as there will be a rescuer there. They have only done this drill one time so far. usually, they do the rappelling from the top of FoF, and do this at least once a year. They usually go rappelling in the spring there, while everyone is still in school and the park is getting ready to go, as well as see what other obstacles they may encounter during an emergency at the park, including any new rides that might be installed.

Edited by fyrfyter
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After they try every concieveable way to drop the ring, or slowly lower it, and the motor refuses, then they would repel. I think, not positive, but DZ has like 10 different ways to lower the ring. Im not positive on the number, but its close to double digits.

Oh, and even if the motor was at the bottom, maintenance would still have to go to the top to inspect the cables, the pulleys that would reroute the cables, ect. and for safety reasons.

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there are 7 different ways. one of the last possible ways is for someone to repel down the side of the tower and manually release the chair ring from the catch car and if thats not possible, i believe the last possible solution and i could be wrong, is to release the catch car from the cables.

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I don't think I'd be too crazy for that emergency retrevial system when they unlatch your seat and you have to get a harness on to get free. You'd have to SOMEHOW get the harness onto your butt safely. Meaning you'd have to totally unlatch the restraint to get the harness where it's supposed to go. As I read through the procedures that fyrfyter stated, my hands started to sweat on the mouse and desktop. I hope this is the last resort and not the first thing they do to get you back down the 264 feet you came up.

You know what would be sweet? If they installed an emergency sub ring somehow when they built those rides. It could be like a giant flat donut with a guard rail around the perimiter that could raise to the height of the ring. Now that would be something I could go for! It would probably end up being too impractical though.

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Also that would be the last thing they would resort to. Of course there are other ways to get people down. First they would try to lower them, if that doesnt work then they would drop them. There are other ways but usually those work unless the catch car would not release the chair ring at all. And I thing releasing the catch car from the cables is an option, I mean they could do it because of the brakes catching the chairing and the catch car. It would be perfectly safe.

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My guess is that there is some sort of manual release on the ring. If all else failed, they could send someone up to pull that lever or whatever it is. I'm guessing that there is also something electronic that pulls the ring down once the brakes stop it, if it got to that point, a cherry picker would probably be used to get people down if necessary.

Now, if that thing was stuck, as in there's no way that it could drop, I think they'd have a platform suspended from a helicopter which could retreave the people. I'm guessing that there's some sort of emergency release for the OTSRs. They could individually get people out that way. I can't imagine them trying to get people to jump to a landing surface below... just not reasonable.

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