verticalzero

When I was sitting in one of MF trains at 9.30am, I was getting nervous and was not looking forward to the Ops pushing the "lift-hill button". When the train was at the top of the lift hill, I checked out the lovely view before I shut my eyes (never been on a coaster this high or fast before, highest was the Pepsi Max Big One at Blackpool) till 1/2 way down It was opened them for the rest of the ride. I went slightly "dizzy" on MF 180ft 2nd hill after the tunnel. I would ride it again, it is amazing, but I had to push myself to do it. This can happen to anyone, no-one knows their limits until they have tried the coaster. You can't blame the parks for this type of incident, it's down to the people to judge for themselves if they want to ride the coasters. I am not keen on riding coasters over 200ft. I never ride Vertical Drops or Huss Frisbee's. I always start shaking and have even bitten the OHR, I came off the ride "white" and shaking, I class them as mega

I've never been to a 6 Flags Theme park, I went to Walibi World (ex Six Flags Holland) last and this year, but the name changed.

Atleast this ride is close to the ground and not very high, I would not like to think of what would happen if "MF" / "Steel Force" trains separated on an hill.

Any member of staff at any Theme Park should go out their way and make sure the customers are 100% ok. As the UK is going through a Heatwave this week, you should be able to fill-up your water bottle anywhere inc at Parks for no fee. I hope that member of staff is told off for saying what he/she did as it's very dangerous not to have water when it is a very hot day. It's been a bad year for accidents at Parks, It must be the heat or just old parts which fail. I'm going to Walibi World at the end of Aug and hope a wheel or 3 are not lost while going down the 1st drop. It's turing out to be like Final Destination 3 film.

Blackpool's "Big Dipper"

The best Water park I have been to is called "slide n splash" in Portugal. http://www.slidesplash.com/

Ride as many Traver/Prior & Church woodies and have a ride on "Crystal Beach Cyclone" The "Big Dipper" at Chippewa Lake Park would be lovely to see working, those slam doors at the end of the tunnel such a great idea.

Excellent report, you must be very glad not to of ridden SOB that day. I went to Kings Island in 2000 when SOB was only a month old, it was a wild/shaky ride but worth the 9 hour plane flight and 5 hour drive from Chicago. How many miles did you drive..? I'm thinking of doing Cedar Point, SFGA and all the Dells parks in 2008, would you say 3 weeks is enough or shull I go for a month.

You should of done the parks the other way round as you were spoilt for choice at Cedar Point. I went to Cedar Point (Kings Island 2 days later) in 2000 when MF was only a month old, it's 1st drop is never ending and you think you are going to land on the miniature railway track. I love MF def in my top 3 steel's. It's lift-hill light show at night is so amazing, why can't other parks light up their coasters in a similar way. I liked "Mean Streak" nice and fast, shame not much but it's not really built for that. Magnum was heaven, so smooth for it's age. It did rain for 20 mins and I was in one of "Mantis" trains when they closed the ride cos of lightning. Never been to Geauga Lake so I can't say what their rides are like. What is the driving distance between the 2 parks. ----------------------------------------------------- I'm thinking of doing Cedar Point, SFGA and the Dell's parks in 2008, would 3 weeks be enough for this..?

That was a long review, a good one If I ever manage to visit the 2 parks I will know what to look out for. I've never been to Holiday World or Beech Bend as they are about 4000 miles from my house. Your very lucky to be able to ride such great coasters, I have to put up with boring UK ones. I try to go to Walibi World once or twice a year as I find this park has more friendlier staff and you can re-ride if there is no one waiting for your seat.

I wonder if the "chain" was the original one since being opened, if so it has lasted well. I hope this classic ride will be working shortly and thrilling it's passengers for a long time to come. I have never been on this ride, it looks great fun. How about fit a couple of sets of tyres at the bottom of the lift-hill and a trim brake, this should stop any roll-backs.

It's sad to see a woodie SBNO, even worse if it gave a good ride and everyone liked it, I wonder if SF consider it worthy to be rebuilt at another SF Park or just destroy it. As CCI built the ride, there would be "blueprints" around and SF can ask "Gravity Group" to build an even better "Son".

Has there been an update for this this coaster, can it be saved from the water or is it doomed. It is only 5 years old, hardly run in.

I'm glad I do not have Subatomic Toasticles! I bet they hurt

The only way to combat this is if all Theme Parks had an x-ray system like in "Total Recall" si-fi film, you can see the human skeleton and anything they are carrying. I hate Q jumpers ( if he did that and the victim told him off for pushing in), they should be evicted from the park if caught. Could have CCTV watching the Q-lines and all the food areas. I carry a camera in my car and if I am not driving and get "road-rage" I photo/video their number plate and car.

Can someone post a pic of the ride as I do not know what it looks like. I hope no more accidents happen for the rest of the season, the parks have had far 2 many to deal with.

I wonder how the guy managed to get the knife past the metal detectors, you ave to be so careful when you go out. pic's needed

The Rapid offers two elements, which the manufacturer Intamin had not built before. On the one hand the 12m high vertical elevator with a following drop sequence, on the other hand a large whirlpool that the boat threatens to devour. A similarly new rapids ride can be found at the Legoland Billund in Denmark, which also has an elevator element. Read more and a POV video: http://www.lifthill.net/berichte/alpinrafting_eng.php

The Birmingham Pinnacle - a 175-metre tower and the first of its kind in Europe - will be developed next to Millennium Point to provide a futuristic tourist attraction and a major boost for the city's strategy for growth over the next decade. This iconic landmark will become the tallest building in Birmingham and house a selection of theme park rides and a specialist restaurant at the top of the viewing tower, in what will undoubtedly be a revolutionary step forward for the leisure industry. The truly spectacular experience offered by the rides will include a freefall parachute drop the outside of the tower, a flight trainer out over the edge of the tower terrace 300 feet up, a gyro tower ride which will take up to 50 passengers to the highest point where they can enjoy a panoramic view, a bungee drop ride, an eight seat giant drop, and a high level seesaw ride. Read more with link below: http://www.rocinternationaltowers.com/index.htm

Def Leppard at Don Valley Stadium UK in 1993. I've been busy riding coasters ever since.

Crazy Frog head should be squashed under some "Army Boots". Some of the worst songs ever made

Jeff Wesson - can you post the video/pov for us to see the coaster "racing".

I went to the Park at the end of May and both rides were working fine. Sledgehammer looks and I would never go on that type of ride Dreamcatcher was fun, water cannons are used when the train is over the lake. Their Clown coaster has a very good 1st curved drop and layout.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vertigo, the suspended coaster type ride from Doppelmayr has been postponed until 2007 following technical difficulties... It says the ride passed the initial testing stages, but fails to function as necessary. This is the second high profile ride not to open in 2006, following on from the Flying Dutchman project at Efteling, which has also been postponed until 2007. I'm pretty sure Doppelmayr had built a test circuit for this ride to iron out technical difficulties before proceeding with a park installation - anyone know more?

Confusion in mainstream media has led to a number of inaccuracies and conspiracy theories about Sunday's events. The following is a list of questions and answers provided by Maureen Kaiser at PKI. Q: What happened? When? What were early reports? A: On Sunday, July 9, at 4:45 p.m., a Son of Beast train rolled into the station after completing a full cycle. Some guests complained of discomfort. The Kings Island safety team, as well as Mason Fire and Safety immediately responded. 27 guests were transported to area hospitals. 25 were treated and released that evening. 2 were admitted to the hospital. Q: Other reports say there were more guests at the hospital. What’s the deal? A: We transported 27 guests from PKI. I don’t know about the number of guests who may have walked in on their own. Q: Who is inspecting the ride? A: On Monday, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and OSHA ride inspectors, as well as industry experts, arrived at the park to begin their inspection process. Q: How is PKI assisting with the inspection? A: We are cooperating fully with the Department of Agriculture. In addition, engineers and safety managers from Cedar Fair and PKI, as well as PKI ride maintenance technicians are assisting with the inspection. Q: What have you learned from the inspection? A: Preliminary evidence indicates there is a cracked vertical wooden post. Preliminary reports also indicate that this would not have been found by our pre-opening inspections and likely happened just before or right as the incident occurred. Q: How long will the inspection take? A: It could take weeks. Q: When will the ride reopen? A: The ride will remain closed until we are completely satisfied that the ride is safe. Q: Where is the cracked wooden post? A: In the rosebowl. Q: Is the loop separating? A: No. Q: Is the loop dangerous? A: No. Q: Why is a train stopped on the tracks? A: Two trains can’t be in the station at the same time. Therefore, to get the guests out of one train, another must leave the station. Q: Were guests in the stopped train? Did they have to walk down the hill? A: No. The train was empty. Q: Why is it still there? A: The inspection is in its early stages and we don’t want to jeopardize it by sending a train through a complete cycle. Q: Why were empty cars sent out of the station before this incident occurred? A: We had a biohazard incident earlier, and our park protocol for this insists that checks must be conducted before we can load guests again. Q: How many board feet of lumber will the Department of Agriculture inspect? A: 2.5 million board feet of lumber will be inspected. Q: What is the daily maintenance done on Son of Beast? A: 1) Mechanical (PKI Maintenance) 2) Electrical (PKI Maintenance) 3) Operational (PKI Rides Operations) Park maintenance technicians walk every inch of wooden track to complete the daily inspection. During daily inspections, workers look for anything unusual including loose fasteners, deteriorating wood, misalignment of steel and wood connections. They will also test all safety systems and thoroughly review the trains to insure they are operating correctly. All inspection processes are based on master check lists, developed specifically for Son of Beast. A boom lift is used by the park for the sole purpose of inspecting the loop on Son of Beast every day. Q: Didn’t PKI file suit against the manufacturer of Son of Beast? A: Yes Q: Wasn’t a part of the suit regarding sub grade wood? A: Yes. However, all lumber determined to be sub grade was replaced or reinforced before the ride opened in 2000. Q: Was any of the wood mentioned above in the area we’re focused on now? A: No. Q: Did PKI get a hefty sum of money when the lawsuit was finished? Some $20 million? Why wasn’t this reinvested in the ride? A: We have received a judgment on this case, and we are in the process of recovering a portion of the money promised. At this time, we have received no money as a result of this lawsuit. Q: How many guests does each train hold? A: 30 guests. Five cars to a train. Q: How many guests have ridden this attraction since it opened? A: We have provided nearly 6 million safe rides since the ride opened in 2000. Q: Why didn’t the ride open with the park on Sunday? A: As mentioned above, wood coasters require extensive inspection before they can open. If irregularities are found, we tend to them immediately. This can take time. There was work down in a different area of the ride than the area in question. Q: Does maintenance happen daily? A: Yes. Safety is our top priority at PKI, there is no doubt about that. We will never open a ride to our guests unless we are completely confident that the ride is safe. Q: What about the work done over the winter? A: We did an extensive amount of work during the off season to improve the comfort of the ride experience. Q: When was the ride certified by the state? A: May 19 Q: Is there wood hanging from the track? A: No. Q: Did Cedar Fair voluntarily close the ride Sunday? A: Yes. Our ride operators were fantastic. They recognized the issue and took steps to ensure safety. This set the wheels in motion at PKI. We responded immediately and continue to respond to guest needs. Q: Have you talked directly with the media at all? Or are you just releasing statements and stonewalling them? A: We held a press conference on Sunday night. I did interviews with news crews all day yesterday. My job is to keep people informed and I will do that until this story is complete. We utilize a variety of methods to do this – statements, press conferences, one-on-one interviews. Q: Am I safe on roller coasters? A: YES Q: Am I safe at PKI? A: YES!! I can’t stress enough how important safety is to our guests. Any hint that we’re not serious about that is, frankly, ridiculous and horribly untrue. We exist to provide safe and memorable experiences for our guests and will do everything in our power to provide just that.