benred23 Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 While in line for Flight of Fear on Saturday evening, I noticed something I never did before. On the staircase leading into the spaceship, on the staircase to the left, there is a handicapped stair lift. I normally wouldn't be too interested in this except looking to the bottom of the stairs, there's no way you can get to it. All the que lines are bolted to the ground and there's no way you can get to it. Was this coaster totally handicapped accessable at one point and just not now it is there an alternate route to get onto the ride. The stair lift looked like it had about an inch of dust around and on it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBEASTunchained Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 I may be wrong but I think that the new stairlift for handicap on Flight of Fear is new for 2012. I also think that there are new or adjusted rules regarding ways for the disabled to get on rides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedarPointer Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 I may be wrong but I think that the new stairlift for handicap on Flight of Fear is new for 2012. I also think that there are new or adjusted rules regarding ways for the disabled to get on rides. It was there before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanna Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 It's been there a while, I recall seeing it many times before, but my husband just noticed it last trip. There's an exit opposite the entry from the round section in the middle of the queue that I seems to be the handicapped entrance/exit. I never could figure out why the stairlift was there when there was an easier means via the alternate entry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWildman424 Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 What's the point in having a lift when handicapped people use the exit just like every other ride in the park? Always wondered that one. It's been there since before I can remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.S.Coasters Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Yeah, that lift has been there for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarketingExpress Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Yes it has been there for a while now... The original policy was for riders in a wheelchair to wait in the regular line with everyone else. Once they got to the stairs they could page a ride op to come assist them with the chair lift and get into the saucer. After sometime it was decided that it would be easier and more efficient to have them go through the exit and get on through the rear of the station as they do today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medford Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 I believe its been there from day 1 when they used to actually que people up inside of the building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 What's the point in having a lift when handicapped people use the exit just like every other ride in the park? Always wondered that one. It's been there since before I can remember. The lift has been there since the ride opened. It's there so that a person utilizing a wheel chair could enjoy the ride's theming and "pre-show" and then have access into the flying saucer. Since 1996 though, I think the novelty of the queue has worn off. You have to remember though that when that ride opened - the theming was right on par with Disney and while an excellent effort has been made in past years to revive it somewhat - it's a shell of its former self. Still today you can find hints of how elaborate the theming was. The announcements out front in "the base," the outdoor queue line radio that references Richmond and Cincinnati UFO sightings (the two cities of the parks that opened the rides) and even if you watch the pre-show it tied in with the voices that give you instructions in the station. At one point the ride ops even wore military like berets and uniforms that had the "Bureau of Paranormal Activity" patch on them. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benred23 Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 Thank you all. Very Informative.. Ive only ridden FOF A Handful of times. Previous to Saturday, I think the last time I rode it was when it had the over the shoulder restraints. Which is prolly why I hadnt rode it since. Those restraints hurt so bad. When were they removed and the Lap Bars put in place? Also, Anyone aware of a Video that shows the original Effects in the Que? Its been so long, I cant remember what they were like. I thought the Effects on Saturday evening were decent... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medford Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 When I rode it earlier this season, I found myself pondering a question regarding the que. What is the average age of a Flight of Fear rider? The reason I ask is because on one of the computer's close to the entrance of the space ship contains a 5-1/4" floppy drive. A quick Wiki search tells me the 3.5" floppy was developed in the late 80s, which means the 5-1/4" floppy was pretty much gone as a regular feature on new computers by the time ride opened up (which is probably why that computer was available as a prop). I asked my 12 year old niece if she even knew what a floppy disk was; it was no surprise that she had no idea, let alone what a 5-1/4" floppy was. If the average age of a FoF rider is around 20-25 (I have no idea what the average age rider is), that means the average rider has likely never seen a 5-1/4" floppy disk. Minutia I know, but made me ponder if the que would be better served to have a little bit of a more modern feel to it, or if the outdated look works well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benred23 Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing. Floppy disk drives, CRT TVs, dot matrix printers, how dated. Lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIVortex Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Do you think they were going to be updated props in there. Money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopan Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Even in '96 5-14's were rare. They most likely just got a bunch of old computer stuff from storage or was being thrown out by someone and put it in there.Much cheaper than putting new stuff in :-). From wiki to answer another question that was asked-Flight of Fear initially had over-the-shoulder restraints, but those were replaced with individual ratcheting lapbars at the beginning of the 2001 season 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanna Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 When I rode it earlier this season, I found myself pondering a question regarding the que. What is the average age of a Flight of Fear rider? The reason I ask is because on one of the computer's close to the entrance of the space ship contains a 5-1/4" floppy drive. A quick Wiki search tells me the 3.5" floppy was developed in the late 80s, which means the 5-1/4" floppy was pretty much gone as a regular feature on new computers by the time ride opened up (which is probably why that computer was available as a prop). I asked my 12 year old niece if she even knew what a floppy disk was; it was no surprise that she had no idea, let alone what a 5-1/4" floppy was. If the average age of a FoF rider is around 20-25 (I have no idea what the average age rider is), that means the average rider has likely never seen a 5-1/4" floppy disk. Minutia I know, but made me ponder if the que would be better served to have a little bit of a more modern feel to it, or if the outdated look works well. I mentioned that in my trip report. The interior is looking tired and old. It was designed during that concrete/xfiles era and right now, it looks like it's unfinished. Sad monitors, that idiotic movie playing over and over again has lost what little charm it had, dust an inch thick on all the props, and the smudgy mirror that ruins the illusion of a complete saucer. If the lights must be on, can't they jazz it up with some lighting and theming? They don't even use the whole building anymore, the queue's on the outside, and then bappo! empty space on the inside. At least put a restaurant or a shirt shop or something there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgoble3 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 I'm 25 years old and I know what a 5 1/4" floppy disk is. I remember my first computer I had for my personal use (a hand-me-down from my dad) was an old 286 with two floppy disk drives, one 3 1/2" and one 5 1/4". I rarely used the 5 1/4" drive, but I would still recognize a 5 1/4" floppy disk on sight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedarPointer Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Don't complain about our FoF's interior until you've seen KD's. No AC in the hangar (this must be long-term, because there are fans mounted to the wall), a black wall obscuring nearly the entire hangar area (which apparently is a Haunt maze), no video, and lots of dust. Oh, and it's nearly pitch black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beast Rider Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I'm 25 years old and I know what a 5 1/4" floppy disk is. I remember my first computer I had for my personal use (a hand-me-down from my dad) was an old 286 with two floppy disk drives, one 3 1/2" and one 5 1/4". I rarely used the 5 1/4" drive, but I would still recognize a 5 1/4" floppy disk on sight. At least they don't have an 8" floppy drive in there! My first computer had 16 MB of RAM and no hard drive. It ran everything off of a 3 1/2" floppy at a blistering 8 MHz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homestar92 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I'm 20 and I have old PC games in my closet that are on 5 1/4" floppies. The computer I'm typing this on has a combo drive with slots for both sizes of floppy. And this computer has a 3.0 GHz Dual-Core and 4 gigs of Ram. In short, this computer is not ancient, I chose to have those drives. I guess some people might call me a nerd, but nerds make all the money and get jobs right now, so I guess it's all good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.