Rai Fox

That's a bit scary. I would have thought they'd have to at least occasionally test high stress parts of the ride like that. It's not as if no one knew metal fatigue existed before this accident.

The whole question of the NDT on the arms is the big, obvious one now. I'd love to know how frequently it's done (not just the welds, but the whole arm) and how long since it's last one. I don't want to assume that any inspectors didn't do their job yet; they may have done their jobs thoroughly and competently, but just weren't asked to do it often enough. That's just "wait and see" material there. Seems likely to me that what will come out of this will be requiring that to be done far more frequently (if it was required at all? I certainly hope so!), and that can only be a good thing for safety in the long run. Possibly higher prices passed on to riders in the end, but I'll pay a little more to know I'm safe on rides like this.

That's good news, at least! Hopefully Maelstrom isn't out of action too long either; I've only managed to get on one of those rides once before, but it was a good one. No idea what the timeframe looks like for it though.

I've bitched about unnecessary seatbelts more than a few times but...I admit this makes me think about taking that back.

Hershey's Claw is a Chance Revolution. edit - I had no idea the Chance rides were designed by KMG, too.

Mandatory shutdown of Fireballs and Move-its...that is not what I wanted to see before heading to Morey's. It's for the best under the circumstances, but...ouch. I hope KMG can get this behind them soon, and make sure it doesn't happen again...

I looked it up last night and the manual states that a "Level 1 or higher Non-Destructive Test (NDT) Company" is required to annually inspect for welds and joints on these attractions. You wouldn't be able to do something like Ultrasonic testing on this every time it is taken down/put up. That's a bit worrying, but it does explain this a bit too. Only the welds and joints, so it sounds like they're not required to do the same studies on the structural members. I have a feeling that might be changing after this.

Does anyone have any insight into what a normal schedule for NDT is for a ride like this? They have to test more than just the pins; metal fatigue is a known problem and I imagine there must be some regular testing of all structural components, possibly just not every time its set up? Anything's possible but if they'd cut it before I imagine it would have been a straighter line, and would have broken along that. That break is anything but straight.

It doensn't look like a weld here, though; it looks like a solid metal arm snapped, from that picture. That could be far worse for the future of these rides, if there's any kind of engineering, material or manufacturing defect that could cause that.

It's been more than 25 years since I've been to Storyland...(oh wow, am I really that old now? )...but those pictures still bring back so many memories. I can't believe how much of the place I remember, actually. I loved Dr Geyers' Raft Ride; I thought it was the most amazing thing in the world as a kid. Those antique cars, too. My first time there, I was probably, I don't know, six years old, and it was the first time I was ever allowed to "drive" on a car ride like that, with my notoriously panicky mother in the passenger seat with me. We took the first turn out of the station and there's a solid "clunk" down as one of the rollers that keeps the car over the guide rail hit the concrete. I might have been young but I wasn't stupid. This was opportunity! After a few attempts at getting off the track being halted by the wheel itself just bouncing off the guide, I turned right when the track curved left and made a bumpy exit from the rail. Freedom! Of course that gave the ride ops a pretty good idea that something was wrong. My mother is sitting next to me acting as if we're in burning plane, and one of the ops has abandoned his station to come sprinting over, but I'm having the time of my life, really driving without a rail now! At least for the fifteen seconds before the ride op caught up and jumped onto the sideboard of the car to take over control. If there was one moment from my childhood that I wish I had video of...

That picture of the failed arm looks pretty damning. I always hope that something like this will turn out to be operator or procedural error, something that can be learned from and guaranteed not to happen again. It sounded like that might have been the case here with the mention of the operator working on or tightening something before the accident. With that picture, it looks far worse for the ride, and others like it. Damn...I was supposed to finally be getting to Morey's to get on It, too.

I'm sure Canobie is quite hesitant about used rides at this point, but just the same, how about this? http://www.ebay.com/itm/HUSS-TRI-STAR-AMUSEMENT-PARK-RIDE-carnival-GREAT-CONDITION-/161198002672 Looks like it's the one that used to be at Kennywood and Idlewild, if the description is accurate. Probably far from the most popular ride, and nowhere near new, but I remember loving the Tristar at Riverside park before it became SFNE. I've wanted to find one running again since. If Troikas can be making a comeback at Cedar Fair parks all over, it's not entirely far-fetched to imagine seeing a Tristar again!

Catwoman's Whip at SFOT. https://www.sixflags.com/overtexas/attractions/catwoman-whip-0 It's the new Zamperla take on the classic Enterprise. I really need to get on one of them myself...

They do allow it in the campground though, although their official policy basically says they "discourage" it, IIRC. As long as you're not staggering around drunk or just generally being a drunken moron, they don't have a problem.

Not quite a crock pot, but I saved up tickets over seven years and got a toaster oven from Fascination! Judging from the amount of dust the attendant cleaned off the box before handing it to us, it was probably the same one sitting there all those seven years. It's great, though. Now I can claim anything I cook in it is Knoebels food, in a way. Sort of.

Did what actually happened with that ever come out? I always wondered if the coaster was just too far gone to be worth saving, or if it was an issue with the land, or something else entirely?

Next one planned is Morey's Piers, four weeks from tomorrow, followed by Knoebels. I'll very likely end up hitting Lake Compounce or SFNE before then, though, just not concrete plans yet. Maybe Water Wizz up in Mass, too.

Yes yes absolutely yes on Millennium Force! When they first built that coaster, it was all I heard about, even in general media. I remember a major front page article on it in my state's newspaper, half the country away. All the talk, all the awards...and then after that, more than a decade of enthusiasts talking it down. By time I finally got to the Point two years ago, I'd been well conditioned to accept that it was just a tall, boring, coaster, and that the General Public were just taken in by the numbers and didn't care about the ride experience. Still, I wasn't going to skip riding it entirely, so on I went, didn't bother waiting for the front or anything. It wasn't going to be worth it. HOLY CRAP WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH EVERYONE. It was insane, just relentless speed, such an incredible flow to the layout. Of course I went back around for the front and EVEN BETTER! Then, two years later, going back to Cedar Point a few weeks back, I'm thinking on it and somehow all over again I'm not expecting much. I mean, it probably wasn't really /that/ good, it was just that my expectations had been so low last time, it had seemed better than it really was, right? I could go in expecting to enjoy it, probably a solid 8/10 decent ride? NOOOOOPE. Got off it grinning like an idiot (and with more than one ex-mufflehead exploded on my face). Absolutely 10/10, and one of my favorites anywhere. And yet, I have a feeling when I get back there, I'm going to underrate it again, until I ride it.

Yeah, the layout's been modified, to the coaster's great detriment. Hill profiles were changed so they could fit the waterpark in, I believe at one point two hills were joined into one long, entirely pointless hill so they could stuff something else beneath it. I never had the chance to ride it before the changes, but it's definitely not much of a coaster now.

Yeah, I understand. Just didn't have much choice at this point and I don't mind sucking it up and paying extra for the one night. I've been wanting to get to Morey's for years, so it's worth dropping a little extra cash to make it happen while I can.

Yeah, I'm sure lots of them are great. I'm just a bit on the cautious side with hotels; I've had two incidents with bedbugs in the last few years (one I noticed in time, one that I didn't...to be fair, both were at chain hotels.) and I reaaaaallly would like to not run into that again. I'd rather go with a chain that I trust for my first visit to the area - Red Roofs but not be the most luxurious hotels but I've never been to one that wasn't clean and reasonably well kept. Once I've actually seen some of the other hotels, I'd probably be more willing to consider them next time.

There are rooms available but not what most would call cheap. I just got a room at a Red Roof a few miles back from the shore, $300 with tax and fees for a saturday in August. For a Red Roof. The one I usually say in near Dorney is about $70 a night, for comparison. Bearable since I'll have 3 others going with me to split it, but still pretty ridiculous. You can do a little bit cheaper but some of them are a bit sketchy looking.

This is exactly why I have no tolerance for idiocy. One moron does something impossibly stupid and now we're going to lose how many of these iconic rides? Absolutely infuriating...for a decision to be this bad, it had to have been made by the insurance companies.

Do I get to decide /when/ I get to ride it? If it's pitch black night, of course we're going with the Beast.

That's plenty of time to do everything you want. The waterparks open I think @ 9am, Mariners and Surfsides rides open @ noon, usually Adventure opens at 2pm. The trick will be to hit the rides before evening on Saturday, when they do get busier on the mid-summer weekends, basically after everyone has eaten dinner. Even then, you are looking at 20 minutes or so tops for the coasters and more popular flats when its really busy. You'll see things pick up after 5/6pm, but die down around 10pm when the little kids get tired and the strollers exit stage left. They have midnight hours, sometimes later if its busy and late night is when the boardwalk is the best. I know you said you don't need to know the must rides but unless you are credit whoring you can skip Doo Wopper and Rollies Coaster, both are eh. The Flitzer is awesome. It will have a long line after 5pm, hit it during the day but even if you have to wait its worth it. The big 3 coasters are all great now that Nor'easter is all new again. Ride Great White @ night in the second-to-last last row. Dont skip the flume, Giant Wheel, Ghost Ship, IT, Atmosfear, Kong, Riptide, the Waveswinger, and for fun do dumb stuff like Pirates of Wildwood, Dantes Dungeon, etc. Add in the upcharges and there is tons to do. Food? Here's a little Wildwood food guide I posted a few months ago. It gives you the full run down. Don't listen to this joker ^ about Curleys. Joe's Fish Co is an awesome bar, but Curleys Fries (right underneath/in front of Joes) are overpriced and overrated. Go to Idaho Potatoes near Mariners instead. A word of advice about hotels: People that frequent WW stay at the same spots every year, and tend to book far in advance. Don't bother looking in Wildwood unless you want to drop some heavy coin. People book for the week and in mid summer its impossible to find a room for one night, or even all weekend. Nearby you may be able to find something but its not going to be easy. I'd start looking as soon as you can. Thanks! That's everything I need to know. I'm looking at hotels now, there are a few well rated ones nearby still available; not cheap, but doable, and plenty of them 30-45 minutes away. I don't see any problems there but I'll get one booked tonight just to be sure.