humphreyhawk

I absolutely loved the old Zinger.....was my very first roller coaster ride and an amazing family thrill ride. I was still young when the got rid of it and to this day WoF fans still regularly bring it up. Especially with the much hated boomerang that sites in it original station. I also hated it when the Orient Express was removed and it kills me to see the Busch Garden sister ride of it still operating strong. It too replaced by a carny ride with no character. Ive only been to to WoF 2x since my teen days when I would marathon OE. All there new rides have just been unremarkable and the park just is sub standard compared to the closer to me SDC. So.....got to give WoF some credit. They must know the love of the old ride and its takes some....uhmmm.......you know....to try to replace it. Wasn't expecting to like this project at all with I heard GCI was doing it. As interesting as it is.....it is still a strange coaster type considering the park already has 2 woodies and there are 2 more over at SFstl. They hybrid part is obviously the most interesting thing about the coaster by it seems like that are going for a more family friendly ride so it won't excite the region that already had Outlaw Run and Texas Giant not too far away. I do love the spiral lift hill.....its kinda silly and fun which ironically imo WoF lacks in it's rides. I do hope there is a tunnel as the website says....that was a major element on the original. Diving through a tunnel that looked like you wouldn't fit. Hopefully.....WoF has a plan for a new Orient too......and it doesn't take 10 years. Plenty space in that old lot for big looping coaster.....something Wof really doesn't have in its lineup. or a maverick like launch coaster.... Just saying.

Not only I'm a concerned about the Museum going forward. I can't image a coorperation being able to build another place like that anywhere else. That entire place is a piece of art. Even if they use the creative team....the insurance and legal departments will never approve anything like that again. That place has already proven it doesn't need marketing. An attraction like that does fine by with word of month in the social media age.

A few points to make about this tragic situation, 1. Two boats where in the water during the storm not too far apart. The lead boat had just made it to shore as the 2nd one was taken over by water. I'm going to assume that the Captain of the 2nd boat was assuming they too would make the last stretch to the shore like the one in front of it. 2. As mid westerners know....those bow echo thunderstorms hit fast. You can have blue skies one minute and full blown storm 2 minutes later. That is no excuse with the situation....I'm curious how bad the weather was when the entered the water. No doubt their was plenty of warning given about the storm. 3. The morning after the disaster....Ripley's CEO gave interviews to the press including one on national TV. I got to give him some credit for his leadership post accident. It would have been easy for him to hide behind a generic statement. It was obvious he was shook up and devastated that it happened....even admitted that they should not have been on the lake. 4. Hindsight being 20/20....they should have put the life jackets on and abandoned ship before taking on water. But again....they where getting close to shore, the other boat just made it, and it took on water fast. Just a horrible situation.

That might be Schlitterbahn's owners best way out. I'm not sure that Six Flags would want to mess with the KC market. Park could be a bargin for an investor though. Buy it, rebrand it, and tear the slide down would be a good way to restart the park. It's getting morbid that the slide is still standing (I know the courts are preventing it from being torn down).

The park might be in trouble.... https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2018/04/11/verruckt-issues-could-imperil-schlitterbahn-debt.html

Orient Express at WoF.....I know it wasn't the greatest ride ever but it seemed to be underrated. It started my love for coasters. I wish it was still standing. I've got to go ride Loch Ness to pay respect someday. I also loved Viper and TnT is hands down the best Arrow mind train.

Branson had a twister hit the the main drag just a couple of years ago. SDC was under a tornado warning last week. Branson is right on the outer edge of tornado alley and the area has had its share of history with them....despite any disputes about the hills protecting them.

I'm from KS...I've seen my fair share of tornados (seriously...5-6 on the ground)...and seen what they can do...both on purpose and not on purpose. I have a healthy respect and curiosity for them. A car is a very danger place to be if you are not paying attention. It's a great place to be if you know about how to watch the storms on radar and know the roads around ya to get out of the path. But I wouldn't mess with trying to see a tornado at night or in the hills. There are reasons why chasers do it on the open plains with plenty of cross roads to escape on. I followed the Joplin Tornado into town on that fateful day:( In a mini-van with my family. We actually saw a few funnel clouds in KS near Parsons that day too and took very slowly on the way home trying to avoid the storms. I was driving back to NWA after visiting family just a few miles from a town (Reading, KS) that get hit the night before Joplin. I've got a picture with my son we took the moment that Joplin tornado touched down. We where visiting with the route 66 Mater (Cars movie) truck in Galana just east of town intentionally waiting for the storm to move through Joplin before we where going to stop and eat. It was heart breaking to drive through town....it was only 10-15 minutes after it hit....I didn't know how bad it was and every major street through town was blocked...ended up near the Walmart that got hit....it was a war zone and I felt helpless to help (had my family with me)...a lot of people just wondering around in shock. I ended up driving over power lines and weaving between wrecked semi's and cars to get through. Off topic but I don't get to tell that story often. Ended up spending most of the next week in Joplin helping with the clean up. I'm a die hard follower of Dan and KNWA....dude knows his stuff. One of these days (maybe when the kids leave)...I'm going to go through the official spotter training. Remember folks....SDC has one of the best and biggest tornado shelters in the country on-site with Marble cave.

Truth. Theme parks are basically the only area where the Ozarks outperforms the cities. Meth production? (I kid...I kid...sort of)

It is optional....but most of us mid-westerners are too polite to not take the picture...lol. I too hope it goes away....I'm guessing it might take a season or two before it's gone. Saw I lot of people with those pics running around the park. I don't think it is a too polite thing. I think most of them think it is mandatory. The attendants don't ask "would you like to take a picture?" They instead ask "how many?" Then they direct you where to stand. I know they don't ask you to take they picture....which is exactly my point that most mid-westerners will just follow directions and take the pic instead of being 'rude' by saying "I'm not interested". I'm guessing after a couple of re-rides a few 'bold' people we start saying "I've already got one" (even if it's a lie) to skip it....then the trend will very slowly grow as everyone starts seeing the regulars skip it. btw...this politeness is why I can't leave my wife alone with any good salesperson and why she thinks I'm a jerk when I'm negotiating

You have two weigh-ins before you can ride Flying Turns at Knoebels and lots of rides weight you and you don't even know it's happening (like the Great Adventure parachute tower). Tons of water slides have weight limits and many of them are quite low (like King Cobra at Hurricane Harbor in NJ and tons of rides at Volcano Bay). I agree that it's sort of insane to want to ride the ride now, but before the incident I don't think I would have been that turned off by that. Most people who rode it claimed that there wasn't a waiver, but if by some chance there was I would have assumed it was either a publicity stunt or just America being America. I mean... we signed a death waiver the other day to go snow tubing. Snow tubing... I didn't know other rides did that at established parks. The more you know. Well...I'm a chicken with water rides anyway...so I'm not going to pretend to say I would have rode it even without a waiver. I did intentionally pass the park for going to Oceans of Fun (and WoF) twice on KC trips while that slide was open. The trill wasn't that appealing to me and I did question its safety cause their is no way I'm riding a water ride slide that checks your weight. I'd rather locked in on a coaster that has a better record of not going airborne and doesn't use velcro straps. Do riders get some type of extra special coaster credit for riding it?

' How about I call you insane instead...lol I'm not sure I'd ever ride an attraction at a theme/water park that included a signed death waiver and two weigh-in's before you load the ride. If I'm going to do something like that I'd better be jumping out of an airplane, jumping off a bridge, or getting to be in control (drive) of something crazy. I could go on about how dumb that rides design was/is...and point to post on other sites where I gave my opinion before it opened....but that all playing Monday morning quarterback at this point. I don't see any reason why a reputable ride maker couldn't make a safe slide attraction like that in the near future. I have no idea why a slide like that would need a 'airtime' hill.

Hard not to think about the irony of every other post on this board now talking about this being "insane". Which is German for this rides name Verruckt. Here is the Dailymail's summary of the Verrucktity...(get it)...you can see he isn't looking too good... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5568419/Owner-water-park-boy-decapitated-tells-court-suffering-drug-problems.html and....I'd challenge you all to think twice about going to one of these parks. I glad millions have gone safely and I'm know it's probably true other parks are just as bad or worse.....but I wouldn't support this company until there leadership changes now that we've seen behind the curtain.

The plot keeps thickening about the guys who made this ride... https://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/Charges-against-Schlitterbahn-in-decapitation-12796259.php Very sketchy past is coming out about not only the building of the ride....but there personal past including substance issues, domestic abuse, and safety issues at other parks (including other deaths).

It is optional....but most of us mid-westerners are too polite to not take the picture...lol. I too hope it goes away....I'm guessing it might take a season or two before it's gone. Saw I lot of people with those pics running around the park.

I feel like I'm watching a Dateline NBC show in real-time.

Seems more like an insurance/liability protection measure to me. Again, it's important to withhold judgement until after the trial. Grand jury decisions are not nearly enough. As I’m going through this thread since the indictment dropped and things picked up dramatically, this post stands out as excellent commentary. It’s very important to remember who is saying what in any legal matter. Each side is going to portray their case to be as one-sided and clear-cut as possible, and in the end a jury will sort out the facts and a judge or panel of judges will rule on the law. It’s very easy to read the indictment and think that Schlitterbahn was grossly negligent over a period of time and ignored a variety of warnings about this, but that all must be proven at trial. (generally "beyond a reasonable doubt" in criminal matters like involuntary manslaughter, which is quite a high bar to reach) *edit* Just want to tack on this post to say thanks to AllenA07 for a highly insightful post from someone who actually practices law in Texas on pg. 38. I completely agree.... but the smoke if pretty thick with this one that a manslaughter charge at least is a feasible outcome for at least one or two people. I want to know...can the company get charged criminally?

Everyone working in the amusement park industry needs to follow this. Use this as a lessons learned to help prevent anything like this from happening again.

My general advice for SDC is to go to Powder Keg at rope drop....or Outlaw run...both at the back of the park. PK has the slowest operations/capacity and can get backed up even on slower days. Time Traveler kind of messes up that strategy if ya want to steal a quick ride on that first. PowderKeg - is a good ride on all cars - airtime is more forceful in the back as you get pushed and pulled over the first hill - the front is an amazing view and extremely fun to get push over that first hill. Wildfire - imo - very underrated B&M with a great first drop. Seats are mostly the same. capacity is high and usually is a short wait even with a line as long as 2 trains are going. Outlaw Run - Back car is INTENSE - but the whole train just flies through the course. A short and fast rush of adrenaline of a ride. Thunderation - pick a non-wheel seat - it's not very rough but does help a bit with smoothness. Usually is a walk on but is getting more riders this year with TT next door. TT - Remember this is a family ride....the forces are not designed to be intense....wait till you see how slow it goes through the large loop. Super fun ride full of unique sights and feelings due to the slow spin. Don't pass on the SDC homemade classics Fire in the Hole and Flooded Mine - they don't make rides like them anymore. Find the Mill right behind the downtown area and grab a Cinnamon Bread!!!

You can flip over the "rode" part and it says "didn't ride." Although, I'm not sure who would want to take a picture advertising to their friends that they didn't ride the "revolutionary Time Traveler!" funny you post this. The group of 2 families that I went with last week was slit in half between riders and non-riders. So it was fun to take two pics of the groups at that sign and send out on social media.

Last paragraph....wonder why he didn't have any engineers help him....seems like he got overconfident and it caused an unsafe ride. “I don’t really care at all about the manufacturing side of the industry,” Henry said. “They’re a bunch of losers, anyways. My friends that run the parks, own the parks, and build the parks — they’re good guys and they matter.” He looked up at his slide and said, “This just gives ’em another reason to live.

Thanks for your legal insight on this. That all makes a lot of sense. It's pretty obvious that they know they are in a lot of trouble and where using the press release to start communicating a defense. I don't believe they wanted to kill anyone but this information is damning to them in an argument that they did seem to care more about reputation and profits that opening and keeping this ride open would give them....then in providing a safe ride for their customers.

I saw the limited use on Time Traveler. I plan to try and rope drop it once, hit it midday with the Timesaver, and ride it again around closing. Does their Timesaver let you wait for a specific seat or do they pre-assign you a row? With a trailblazers pass...you get to skip the line up to the point they assign you to a row. On the day I rode....one of the trains had one car that had broken restraints and wasn't being used (last car). So the pre-assignments didn't matter since every 3rd train had to skip 2 pairs of assignments. I'd highly recommend the back two cars....start facing forward for the best chance to hit the drop going backwards. I went down sideways and it was great.

Apparently I went on the worst day of spring break....but yeah. TT was 2 to 3 hr wait (without passes) all day. OR was 1-1.5 hr and even WF had it's 2nd floor queue open and a 45min wait. Hopefully the waits will get better when the shows and stores fully open up too.

I don't see a way that they can charge anyone with murder....not with the info that was released to us. As horrific as I see the situation I can't image that they acted with intent to kill....seems like manslaughter would be the most appropriate charge. That being said....they say they where expecting the charge? Where they expecting a murder charge? or was that a media slip-up to get rating for it? Still feels like we are not seeing the larger picture. Sounds like the defense is going to be centered around....well we let our own family ride it....so we couldn't have been neglectful. yikes.