ilrider

From a legal standpoint, warning/rules signs really don't mean jack and don't absolve the ride ops/park of liability. Those signs are put up to try to protect the park/Intamin from liability before it happens, but they don't protect the park, really. It's like those Caution: Wet Floor signs in stores. If someone slips and falls right beside the sign, you'd better believe the store is still liable. The rider used poor judgment, but the ride ops should not have let him ride.

Yeah, car is best, because otherwise, you'll be taking various modes of transportation and have long travel times.

^No, there isn't a great way to get straight to the park using public transportation. You could take a train from Chicago that could get you to suburbs east and west of Gurnee, but you'd need a taxi to get to the park. That would take you a good two hours each way when you could just drive it in less than an hour each way with a rental car.

Little Dipper at Little Amerricka. Little thing beat the hell out of me!

^Thanks for the advice! That wave pool looks insane! We are going to stay overnight, so we'll have a whole day plus any time we want to spend Wednesday. We want to hit Hellcat as well. We're heading to Green Bay Wednesday to ride Zippin Pippin.

Not to hijack the thread, but we are going to Mt. Olympus for the first time Tuesday, and I've read that Hades is very rough. Are any seats less rough than others on Hades?

It happens to many of us in adulthood. I have to take Dramamine, as mentioned before, an hour before I start riding, or my day is ruined. Choose the less drowsy formula. It really works well!

The latest word from Screamscape is that IW is not leaving SFGAm for many years, thus not heading to SFA.

I expect the park will settle with the parents if/when a lawsuit is filed. It ends up being cheaper than a trial in the long run, and the park doesn't receive the black mark of losing at trial.

Sorry, I know that. The question marks were regarding that lame excuse as to why the coaster is rough (because it's 21 years old). Not buying that as the reason. @Ed Farmer: we bitch because it IS rough. Your head bounces into the restraints over and over. I used to like IW, but there's a good reason the ride is usually a walk-on and people aren't taking re-rides. It didn't used to be painful to ride. If they can overhaul the restraints somehow, then I wish they could keep it due to its history. It is the least popular coaster in the park, though, as it "stands."

I wouldn't wish IW on anyone. Almost nobody rides it anymore because it is a headbanger's ball. Everyone who rides it exits with a headache. It's gotten so bad the ride op actually announced over the mic recently it was so rough because it was built in the early 90s (?????). We all could have gotten a reride, and not one person took it. I don't buy the rumor.

^^Whatever the reason, the ride's so bad the operator actually said over the mic as we loaded, "The ride has gotten rough because it's 20 years old, so hold on to all loose articles." I wanted to call him out on that 20 year excuse. We've got coasters over 30 that are smoother, like Whizzer. But yes, the restraints are different, and I contribute a lot of the pain to banging into them because they're right beside your head. I've been riding Wolf since it opened, and the banging wasn't there for several years. Maybe it's a combination of factors including trains, wheels, restraints.

It's the restraints more than the tracking that's the problem. They changed them. We could have all had a reride a week ago, and not one person on the train took them up on their offer and exited. I normally will always take one reride, but not on that. I agree it' time for it to go, sadly, unless they can replace the restraints with something better.

It's the restraints more than the tracking that's the problem. They changed them. We could of all had a reride a week ago, and not one person on the train took them up on their offer and exited. I normally will always take one reride, but not on that. I agree it' time for it to go, sadly, unless they can replace the restraints with something better.

We thought maybe they're just repainting it, since it's just a banner, not a wood sign.

All this just better us get us a new coaster in 2012.

How many trains have the wraps? Just the one? The Demon wrapped train makes me think they should rename the ride The Easter Bunny.

TDK's pre-show area already is madness when there's a line. They let a group of people into the area, then they often open the door to let a bunch more in, and since the rest of us have to back up to let them in, those people who entered late invariably end up in line in front of us when we exit the room to head toward the ride single file. It's ridiculous.

Really a pretty good opening day for the park. A few coasters went down for a bit but all were open, most for most of the day. Could have been much worse, though it was a bit cold.

^^^ We'll be there Saturday and Sunday for part of each day, but we only live 15 minutes away, so it's not much of a risk on any day.

I have a 2-year-old son who is almost 42" already, so he's ridden some smaller coasters, and he loves them (his favorite is Little Dipper at SFGam), but I would never let him ride without an adult. He behaves perfectly, though. I am curious to hear whether the ride operator saw the child getting out of the restraints or not. A portion of this coaster is a short, dark tunnel, and as I understand it this is where the child fell out.

I have read that there is a lap bar and a seatbelt on the ride. There is definitely a lap bar and then a bar for the riders to hold above that, from photos I've seen. The entire establishment has been shut down by the village of Norridge, and investigations have started. More details are coming out from various news outlets. It sounds like his family witnessed the accident. Horrible, horrible thing, and his twin brother was riding beside him.

This just happened last night on an indoor kiddie coaster, Python Pit, at a restaurant/amusement park near Chicago. Few details other than he slipped under the restraint and got wedged between two cars, suffering head injuries. http://www.suntimes.com/4638714-417/dolton-boy-3-dies-after-fall-from-roller-coaster-at-go-bananas.html

^Robb's first post in this thread said to post that we had written a review so you guys could check it out, so that's why people (including me) are doing so, probably. On another note, I noticed on the page where I entered the review that the word "review" was misspelled twice, I believe as "reveiw."

Just posted a review of Nick Universe. This is an awesome resource! I spent a few hours reading the reviews and viewing a trip reports a couple weeks back. This is very useful--the best resource on the net!