Ride You Felt Was Unsafe?

[cal1br3tto]

Olympic Bobsled: This is an SDC coaster owned by Butler Amusements which I rode at the California State Fair last year; it's not a model I'm familiar with (Hurricane, Galaxi, etc.). There were absolutely no signs or verbal warnings prohibiting riders from putting their hands up or recommending that they don't. I put my hands up like I always do. On the second drop, there is a massive pop of stand-up airtime allowed by the single-position lap bars (which only lock in one very generous position, regardless of rider size). During this pop, my hands hit the track above me. Due to lack of signage I see no way I could possibly be at fault.

I rode with my hands down after that. That's still one of the most amazing airtime moments I have ever experienced (on all my laps, not specifically the one where I hit the track.)

 

Chance Yo-Yo: I rode this at a Butler Amusements carnival, and it's a model that tilts. There is both a typical restraint and a chest strap, which I was unfamiliar with. Anyway, there is one dip where I'm absolutely certain that if you didn't hold on, you would be thrown. I used to always like to put my hands up on rides, even when it wouldn't enhance the thrill on a given ride, but this was a very obvious exception to make.

 

Monster Mouse: This coaster at the Puyallup Fair is held together by giant safety pins. I find this endlessly amusing. (Note: I have a strange sense of humor.)

Edited May 18, 2010 by cal1br3tto

[CoasterExpert13]

Mean Streak @ Cedar Point: last time I rode it was in 2008...I felt like clothes being tossed around in the dryer...once I got off, I had chest pains.

[hobbit]

al those fair attractions looks unsafe !

[Columbia]

The only time I felt unsafe was at the San Mateo County Fair - run by Shamrock Shows.

 

The irst was a Zipper - already notorious in the 70's (but all issues since fixed) we were loaded like normal, only to be cycled around the horn once before coming right off. No Zipper forces, no nothing.

 

"Why are we being let off?"

 

"Well see, this here thing fell off..." as the carnie showed us the cable that had just snapped. We ran. We ran far away!

 

Second time was that same night, on a "Roulette Wheel. I could feel the wheels below pushing the structure up, thudding really loudly. Even the decorative plating was flapping off.

 

At the risk of being a run on, a third time was the "Double Wheel" at the Solano County Fair (see a pattern here?) The seats weren't at all even with one another!

[AndCamSS]

Williams Grove Cyclone. Enough said. There were pieces of wood missing from the track in spots! lol

[DannyBoy]

Probably 15 years ago now, I was on Iron Dragon at CP and just before the pretzel ending my OTSR made a click, started hissing then began to slowly rise. I just yanked it down and kept it there for the rest of the ride.

 

The only other time I feared for my safety was during an E stop on RotM Orlando - at least until I realized that it was an E stop. That's a sternum snapping good time!

[pkd freak]

 

Seriously felt like I was going to fall out of this. Perching on a saddle and being thrown around in mid-air isn't my idea of fun!

 

I rode something like this at a carnival a couple of years ago and my harness popped open at least 4 or 5 in. I really thought my life was going to end that min. I've never been so scared on a ride before!

[Schrecken]

Carnival rides aside (they always seem to be suspect), the only ride I ever rode where I felt like something wasn't right was the Paratrooper at Indiana Beach when I was there 3 summers ago. Obviously this isn't a scary ride at all; if anything it's normally rather relaxing. But on the one at IB, every time the ride completed a rotation it kept making this loud "thunk" sound at the same point in the rotation. It sounded like something in the machinery was catching or hitting something. I've ridden many Paratroopers (I will sometimes ride a few times if there is no line) and I've never heard one make a "thunk" noise like that over and over again during the ride cycle. Needless to say, that about the scariest ride I ever had on a ride that isn't at all scary. Of course I had no desire for a re-ride, even though the lines were minimal.

[dropzonefan]

Well, as for the people who say fairs and carnivals are unsaf, I will agree that they aren't the safest places, but at my local fair, the ops actually respect me for being an enthusiast, and the rides seem well enough maintained, considering they travel all over the province.

 

As for times I felt unsafe, I had a near identical story to the person who posted about the round up early on in the thread. I always seem to feel very unsafe on Zamperla Volares... I've felt safer on a zipper than on those poor excuses for flyers.

[A.J.]

The Wild Chipmunk at Lakeside is properly terrifying going around the switchbacks.

[kailisun98]

All the rides in China except for the ones in Happy Valley. Seriously, some rides in China feels like they have ZERO maintenance.

[Moose]

I have to say that is unfair to a lot of other good parks in China. For example, I felt very safe on everything at Chimelong.

 

It's the people's parks and places like that which have no maintenance and I completely agree that I am shocked that I comeback unscathed after riding all of those shitty rides.

[alwaysairtime14]

I was at Rye Playland yesterday. Their Hopkins Shoot the Chute ride closed midday. The cause- a wheel fell off

 

Now I prefer chain parks that just say "Technical Difficulties" instead of the actual cause. No more Playland Plunge for me!

[decay1009]

I actually have 2- both from Universal Studios Orlando-

 

1)The Flying Unicorn/The Flight of the Hippogriff- I'm a big guy (250+lbs), and I rode with my 6 year old son. Problem was the lapbar held ME in, but didn't come near him, so when the car turned to his side, I caught him lifting up and out! He thought it was the most fun, and I came off white as a ghost....

 

2)The ORIGINAL Duddley Dooright's Ripsaw Falls- when the park opened, the drop was much steeper, and there were no restraints of any kind- when you hit that fall, you really felt it, and got airtime on the hill coming out of the fall. They have since tamed it way down, but when the park opened....

[Mater]

The only time I've ever felt unsafe was Lex Luthor due to the fact the restraints are more of a lapbar with shoulder handles, rather than an actual OSTR.

 

I knew everything was actually safe, but it was a serious struggle trying to convince myself everything was legit and good to go with that much room to move around in the harness that far up in the air.

[Subject_12]

The Fireball at Wild Waves. You had to hang on to something if you don't want to hit your head on the ceiling. If I go again, I'll ride Timberhawk again instead of it.

[Noporian]

All skyloops. Going only a few mph in a vertical lift hill that goes over vertical with only a lapbar and it feels like falling.

[michaellynn4]

A few years ago, back before SFGAdv replaced the restraints on the Runaway Mine Train, I rode in the last row and my lap bar popped open mid-ride. I was a bit heavier then and could only get the lap bar to click one notch. While going down the drop after the mid-course break, it popped open, so I had to push it back down again. I didn't panic much (knowing the ride and its forces very well, I was confident that I wouldn't fall out), but it was still a weird experience that shook me up. It took dropping 20lbs and the replacement restraints to get me to ride again.

 

Chalk this one up in the "totally-safe-but-feels-unsafe" file: my fiance and I just had our first visit to Hersheypark, and I gotta say, Skyrush and its restraints are like nothing I've ever experienced. I know it's 100% safe, but the forces that ride generates, when combined with the openness of the seat/restraint, had me feeling like I was going to go flying out the side of the train on several occasions. It got to a point that on all of my re-rides I gave up trying to keep my hands up and just clung on for dear life, lol.

[Her0ofLime]

^ I had the same experience on the same ride, only the lap bar had only gone up one notch. I had pressed it down very tight, although I'm very skinny, the ride still managed to have the lap bar go down to where I was practically holding my breath.

It was my first time riding, and I had thought the whole lap bar had gone up, and I had frantically pushed it down the entire last turn. I let go of it on the brake run and realized I had just had a moment of stupidity. I will always remember how scared I was.

[Her0ofLime]

^ I had the same experience on the same ride, only the lap bar had only gone up one notch. I had pressed it down very tight, although I'm very skinny, the ride still managed to have the lap bar go down to where I was practically holding my breath.

It was my first time riding, and I had thought the whole lap bar had gone up, and I had frantically pushed it down the entire last turn. I let go of it on the brake run and realized I had just had a moment of stupidity. I will always remember how scared I was.

[Donatello]

Phoenix at Knoebels is fantastic, however as a skinny teenage girl the restraints don't seem entirely ... adequate for the air time you get on that thing. I thought I would go flying out--so of course I rode it four times.

 

Also, I hate this thing. I thought I'd be trapped in there and die (though it's presumably perfectly safe):

 

[rctneil]

It's the people's parks and places like that which have no maintenance and I completely agree that I am shocked that I comeback unscathed after riding all of those shitty rides.

 

How about that god awful Looping Toboggan that we rode at Fisherman's Wharf? That was terrifying.

 

I also feel unsafe on the upside down lift of G-Force at Drayton Manor.

[2012jarrett]

The Beast's helix, while I know it's perfectly safe, is absolutely terrifying. It feels like the train's going to just shake the structure down.

 

Jr. Gemini/Wilderness Run, while I didn't feel like I would be necessarily killed if anything went wrong, was pretty unnerving because the train actually jerks to the side when the chain lift engages and back when it disengages, and the structure doesn't feel too safe. I doubt CF would allow kids to ride anything where it could even possibly cause an injury, but it sure felt like it! Or maybe it's perfectly fine for kids because it was designed for them and that's just what I get for being a credit whore.

 

I've only ridden one wild mouse (ricochet at Carowinds) but when I first rode it when I was younger, that illusion the trains have where it looks like it'll run off the hairpin got me and I panicked...my mom grabbed my sister by the hair!

 

However, the most danger I've ever felt on a coaster would have to be Son of Beast. That dip at the top of the lift really reminds you of the fact that you're on nothing but a big pile of wood nailed together, and the drop, while it was one of the two good parts of the ride, was absolutely terrifying.

 

An honorable mention would have to be GateKeeper's Thorpe Park inversion if you ride on the left. I know I'm safe, but whoever decided to put hang time that high up in the air has a sick mind! I love it!

[BigBomer]

The old "Rattler Bend" never felt too safe.

[cfc]

This ride at Fisherman's Warf in China was a bit dicey looking, too.

Er, are there supposed to be two cars on the lift hill at the same time?

Isn't that supposed to be attached to something?