mattnz

Bloody hell - you feel a bit sad for the guy! How humilitating.

Six Flags Over Georgia was pretty bad on my recent visit, the main problem being simple understaffing. One person processing Flash Passes at the start of the day, which held us up for a long time; no staff to actually check your Q-Bots on Goliath and other rides; two staff members at Papa John's during the lunch hour, while the rubbish bins started overflowing... And we visited Disney World the week before so it seemed REALLY bad! Other annoying things: One train operation on Batman and Mind Bender ALL day long, with subsequent long queues. Then every single ride in the park closed because of a two hour-long thunderstorm - that's EVERYTHING including the Carousal. And earlier our train on Dahlonega Mine Train was dispatched without the lap bars closing! Staff improved toward the end of the day and were actually really friendly. And I had a blast regardless of some annoying moments. Goliath took my breath away!

Great news! I'm glad to hear there's life in this beast yet.

Great little coaster - best of all, there's air on them thar hills!

Uh-oh. Is that an SLC I see in the distance?

Great TR. Phantasialand looks like a beautiful park with some excellent themeing. I love that the old suspended Schwarzkopf dark ride is still operating after all these years. Has Colorado Adventure finally dropped the sub-name 'The Michael Jackson Thrill Ride'!?

This guy is clearly out to criticise Disney from the get go. I think he needs to realise that Disney is all about entertainment. They're an entertainment empire after all. They're not out to transform the world outside their own theme park fences. And people will make of it what they will. If you're a consumer, you'll go there to consume. If you're a kid at heart (like me) you'll go and actually have a good time. He's a typical middle-class member of the bored intelligentsia. True entertainment is in the reinterpretation of life - it is NOT supposed to be a representation. I imagine he likes neo-realist movies. Urgh!

This thread is getting 'hot under the collar'. But then TPR has some good looking men! Ahh! I'm so excited - I can't wait to visit this park in May. I am going with a genuine Southern Belle. She has already explained to me what 'pop tarts' are. (WTF?! And WHY don't we have these in New Zealand?)

GREAT news. I've been reading loads about Anton Schwarzkopf and Wiener Looping looks like an amazing creation of his - I'd love to ride myself someday. GREAT to hear about Thriller/Texas Tornado/Zonga too. I was so scared that might end up as scrap metal. TPR needs to plan a Mexican trip to ride all these Schwarzkopfs someday!

Well, I've done a whole lot of research and it's quite impressive when you look at how safe roller coasters and other theme park rides really are. In terms of restraints and safety it looks like Intamin have had the most incidents re: their restraint systems. I'm sure you've all read plenty about these, but briefly... Superman - Ride of Steel (Darien Lake) In May 1999 a 365-pound guest was unable to close his lap bar properly and was ejected and fell approximately nine feet as the train went over a camel hump hill, suffering serious injuries. Dwaileebe sued the park and Intamin for negligence, and was awarded US $3.95 million. Drop Zone Stunt Tower (California's Great America) Also in 1999, a 12 year old boy fell to his death on the Drop Zone Stunt Tower at California's (then Paramount's) Great America. Following the accident, modifications were made to add redundancy to ride restraints of not just Drop Zone, but all of the Intamin Drop Towers around the world. An investigation was inconclusive and no charges were filed. Perilous Plunge (Knott's Berry Farm) In September 2001 a 300-pound woman fell from Perilous Plunge at Knott's Berry Farm. She was too large to be correctly restrained by the T-Bar and rose out of it on the -1G drop. Hydro (Oakwood Leisure Park) On April 16, 2004, 16 year old Hayley Williams was killed after falling approximately 100 feet from the top of the Hydro water ride. Hydro reopened in 2005 with new over-the-shoulder restraints. In February 2008, the Health and Safety Executive charged Oakwood for park staff not ensuring that guests were properly and safely restrained. Superman - Ride of Steel (Six Flags New England) Also in 2004, a sufferer of cerebral palsy was ejected from Superman - Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England. According to an investigation, the ride operators were primarily to blame for not ensuring the man was properly secured. Intamin was also partially blamed for the ride's safety system, allowing the train to be dispatched without all the restraints properly secured. Some blame was also attributed to the victim for not notifying the operators of his condition. So it seems to me that, generally speaking, Intamin's restraints are safe so long as ride operators use proper caution, especially regarding larger sized guests. (With the exception of Drop Zone Stunt Tower which appears to be a total mystery.) My conclusion: After reading all this I'm not scared of Schwarzkopf any more. He never allowed the Gs to let up long enough for any of this to even be an issue!

Insufficient as in not actually safe enough. I believe there was an incident involving a boy slipping out of Togo stand-up restraints once.

Insufficient and uncomfortable!

I don't always understand American.

That's what she said. Oh! I thought it was my poor English! 'Sufficient' and 'insufficient' sounds a lot better than 'efficient' and 'inefficient'!

Speaking of which, I don't think these are sufficient on a boomerang: Surely you must end up with a bruised stomache having that pushed into you!

Thanks I will! I actually love the idea of lap bars. I've been on Arrow coasters with their hideous OTSRs so I'm not surprised there are lots of 'lap bar enthusiasts' on here!

I am a bit of a 'theme park virgin', and not an overly-experienced rider, but I was wondering how people felt about certain restraints on coasters that don't seem quite 'safe' to me. A good example would be on the OTSR-free Schwarzkopf coasters. I am visiting Six Flags Over Georgia in May, and feel a little nervous about riding a looping coaster - Mind Bender - that has lap bars only! I know lap bars are great for comfort and air time, but what would be the scenario if the coaster stalled in the loop? Also, what's up with the restraints on this Boomerang at Wiener Prater: http://www.rcdb.com/ig1093.htm?picture=21 http://www.rcdb.com/ig1093.htm?picture=22 Now that just doesn't seem right at ALL! EDIT: I changed the wording of the thread to 'insufficient' which is more descriptive of what I meant than 'inefficient'.

Fun! Some nice pics there. I'm going to Universal Florida in May. Did you find it easy enough to do both parks in one day?

I kind of thought Pony Express might be a good addition to Knott's - it's a family-oriented ride after all isn't it?

While I encourage everyone to ride a coaster before passing a judgement, I would disagree with this statement. I don't think I even gave Magnum a "courtesy ride" during my last visit. The ride does nothing for me any more other than re-arrange my kidneys. --Robb YEAH?! I have read loads in favour of this one so that is interesting to hear. Of course it's an Arrow so perhaps I shouldn't find it surprising...

I haven't been to either CP or SFGA (yet!) but after reading so much about both parks I would go with Cedar Point for the following coastering reasons: Magnum XL-200 - pretty much a 'must' for any enthusiast Mantis - not the best perhaps, but a good stand-up nonetheless Maverick - new, unique, highly-rated coaster Millennium Force - consistently rated one of the best in the world Raptor - a very good B&M inverted coaster design Top Thrill Dragster - similar to KK, but with lap bars! Wicked Twister - unique impluse coaster And the park has its classics: Blue Streak - quite a good woodie from what I hear Corkscrew - first coaster with three inversions Disaster Transport - there aren't many of these around... Gemini - fun racer, once the tallest coaster in the world Wildcat - it's a Schwarzkopf after all! For non-coastering reasons, Cedar Point obviously has an excellent collection of rides and certainly dwarfs Six Flags in that department. I must get my A into G and get there!

Twisty goodness galore! Nice pics, but I still think the colour scheme for Fahrenheit is a little yucky.

I dunno, the Gold Mine coaster at Rainbow's End has to be one of the best coasters on the planet for sheer enjoyment value, not to mention awesome theming. Well that's true. Also we have a pretty cool log flume as log flumes go. And a (smallish) Intamin drop tower and Arrow Loop & Corkscrew (as in my pic). I will have to do a New Zealand TR sometime.

Cool pics! As per your name, just what IS happening to Zonga?! Will it ever roll again? (Excuse me if this has been discussed in depth on here before!)

Question: Just what is the difference between LIMs and LSMs? And... does anyone think there's a difference in the force of the launch each gives?