Not the media, but I was walking behind a kid at school on Friday and I suddenly heard him say, "We went to Disney World over Christmas Break and while we were there the WORST thing that could happen happened. We went on It's a Small World and we stopped for a couple of minutes!"

Um, you're making fun of him? I agree, that's the worst thing that could have happened. I can barely handle "It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all..." for the duration of the ride...imagine being stuck there for a few more minutes! Aggh! Nightmares...

There are those here who would be in Seventh Heaven...and have been known to sing that glorious tune on lifthills.

All it takes is for a themepark guest to make a phone call to the media about a breakdown, and it's turned into something else.

Or a quick post on social media.

Or a quick post on social media.

Which, thanks to smartwatches, can now be done FROM a ride that is broken down or otherwise stopped without the rider actually breaking any park rules (I'm assuming that parks aren't so Draconian as to consider a watch to be a loose article).

- homestar92, waiting with bated breath for Twitter support on the Moto 360 so he can live-tweet commentary while on his favorite roller coasters.

Hulk made the news a few days ago while I was there.

http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/on-the-town/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2015/3/24/guests_pulled_off_hu.html

Just read this thread and this stuck in my head so I had to post it.

http://www.news-record.com/news/north_carolina/carowinds-riders-stuck-on-ride-rd-time-in-three-weeks/article_7bdcf176-e6ae-11e4-a4bf-d7ea84c8caa6.html

This video is also hilarious:

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/witness-thrillseekers-stuck-carowinds-tallest-ride/nkrrN/

From that article:

"The station reported that the Fury 325 became stuck mid-air for about 20 minutes just after 7 p.m. Saturday."

Mid-air? Not even on a track? That must have been quite a trick.

Wow, they really managed to break it badly!

I was at Carowinds but not on Fury at this time. I noticed Fury stopped on the lift with no riders at 7:30pm and the empty train remained there until around 8:30pm. My guess is Carowinds immediately got people off as quickly as possible. The ride reopened by 846pm and was operating normally.

These rides are machines, very complex computer operated machine. A computer is only as smart as it's programmer, and the ride's computer did as programmed.

We are seeing the downfall of B&M folks. Welp im all for Kings Island getting a 300ft Mack coaster in 2019... Their coaster trains look sweet!

I was at Carowinds but not on Fury at this time. I noticed Fury stopped on the lift with no riders at 7:30pm and the empty train remained there until around 8:30pm. My guess is Carowinds immediately got people off as quickly as possible. The ride reopened by 846pm and was operating normally.

These rides are machines, very complex computer operated machine. A computer is only as smart as it's programmer, and the ride's computer did as programmed.

We must have been there at the same time. I posted this in response to Tr0y on the Kings Island 2015 Discussion Thread:

Tr0y, on 19 Apr 2015 - 5:35 PM, said:

Apparently Fury325, stranded riders on the lift hill for 20 minutes last night.. The third time in 3 weeks, I thought this coaster wasn't designed by Intamin???

When my friend and I arrived the park last night, an empty train was stopped on the lift hill. We decided to head back to see the entrance of the ride. I was taking a picture of the entrance when my friend started talking to some guy. He said that a train was stuck for 20 minutes with riders. I don't know if they did an evacuation or if it continued with riders as I didn't catch that part. He said that they then ran an empty train and it stopped near the top of the left hill for about 45-mins. The train started moving, a few more trains were dispatched empty and about 15 minutes later, they started letting folks enter the line. It seemed to be fine the remaining hour or so of the evening.

We are seeing the downfall of B&M folks. Welp im all for Kings Island getting a 300ft Mack coaster in 2019... Their coaster trains look sweet!

I believe YOU meant 30 foot.

Terp, who just HAD to.

Currently trending on Facebook: "Carowinds: Theme Park's Fury 325 Rollercoaster Reportedly Stuck for 3rd Time in a Week"

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/carowinds-tallest-ride-stuck-third-time-parkgoers-/nk4CH/

They brought in a chopper for this? Really?

"Stuck", yeah, sure..

The report does mention that the ride does this as a safety procedure.  Still news.  Done to educate and inform the masses....

Just wanted to point this out from the article: 

A statement from Carowinds officials read: “The safety of our guests and associates at Carowinds Amusement Park is paramount. Our rides have a sophisticated, computerized system that can cause ride stoppages as a precautionary measure.”

 

Really? They said that?  

Yep, they said that. It was in the Charlotte Observer's article too.

Terp started that one here long ago. It's true. And it's FUN.

Finally, Charlotte media doing some real journalism in response to the gross overreactions regarding Fury 325 downtime!

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/morning-edition/2015/04/why-n-c-officials-are-taking-a-look-at-carowinds.html?page=all

I like the way they explained this. Hopefully the Department of Labor inspections will reveal all is well and put peoples' minds at ease.

 

I'd feel pretty safe at Carowinds knowing they have these safety systems in place.

I do feel quite safe knowing the track record with the manufacturer and operator, as well as the industry in general.  The safety standards are impressive, and Fury 325 seems to be no exception.  Sadly, it's not always so easy to convince the masses.

 

Remember that Cincinnati media did the same thing last year anytime they found out that Banshee was stopped on the lift..

Rather, ONE particular television station did. Again and again.

^That same station, recently, sent out their helicopter to cover a covered bridge re-opening in a segment which lasted all of 15 seconds and sicked it on the UC band's band camp during the whole OSU band debacle, among other asinine things. 

 

I'm not even kidding.  

Also notice that they are still the only TV station in town with a "chopper" more than a year after they got it.

There exist metros where not every local news network has a helicopter?  Fox, ABC, and NBC all have 'em out here.  How do they get by??

 

</sarcasm>

On the opposite side of the spectrum in terms of new stations covering Kings Island, I find that some good stuff comes from Dayton news producers.  

To the chopper.... Its a very expensive ordeal, and with the way things are going not always 100% necessary anymore at least in the Cincinnati area. 

Yep, they're definitely not cheap and not always needed. Sometimes, media helicopters have to be sent away from poorly thought out stories. You know, like a gunman in the middle of the road who turns suicidal.. Here's a timely example.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/28911048/police-gunman-situation-on-middle-belt-road-in-livonia

On an unrelated note, does the media ever get vehicle models right? That's not a Jeep Cherokee, it's a Patriot.

  I just wanted to throw this video out here for many reasons.... especially what happens aroung the 0:38 mark

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIbTDB4_wMk

Oh, my.

Stopping? No big deal.

How long?

What sad, sad "journalism."