Ccron10 Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 As awesome as drop rides are, it's only a matter of time until a member of the oh-so-incredible Great Adventure clientele throws some object at an oncoming Ka train and everything gets shut down. I think we'd see some serious roof covers over the paths and a canopy over the top of the drop track before they'd close Zoomanjaro or Ka. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. M Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 As awesome as drop rides are, it's only a matter of time until a member of the oh-so-incredible Great Adventure clientele throws some object at an oncoming Ka train and everything gets shut down. I'm pretty sure there's going to be a lot more space between the drop tower car and the coaster track than you're picturing. I doubt you'll be able to even see the track on either side as you're going up. You'd need a heck of an arm to have a chance of hitting it (but wait, how much forward velocity could you possibly get when strapped into a chair with no room behind you for the "wind-up"?) and even then, there's lots of opportunity for crazy people to throw stuff at any coaster train that's near the path. This kind of stuff does get taken into consideration before multimillion dollar projects are started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parallax Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Guests at Great Adventure have so many places where they could throw things at trains. The exit to Dark Knight runs parallel to a section of track. If someone wanted to they could easily throw something when a train was passing. Superman: Ultimate Flight's queue runs entirely underneath the ride and the first drop comes very close to the path. It's not really easy, but someone could do it. The entrance to Bizarro in the center of the cobra roll is pretty much begging for someone to throw something at it. And out of all of the rides that are easy to throw stuff on, the one time it occurs is when someone throws change while on El Toro. The way I look at it, anyone who knows anything about rides and safety isn't going to throw anything because we aren't stupid. The people that don't know about ride safety would be too scared to throw something at a ride because they don't know what might happen. Movies like Final Destination 3 lead people to believe that a video camera could derail a speeding, multi-ton train. The amount of people who believe this stuff is incredible, which is why it doesn't happen. I'd be willing to bet that people who would throw something are turned off by the idea of something breaking and people getting hurt or killed, but most likely people getting hurt. As specific as my idea was, even the "coolest" kids don't want to hurt someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSum1_55 Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 ^That post seems a bit too optimistic, considering that an occurrence like that in Orlando handicapped someone for the rest of their life and caused a popular coaster to run differently than it had been for the past ten years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrischucktown Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 Does anyone know when the drop ride is opening this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerstlaueringvar Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 ^That post seems a bit too optimistic, considering that an occurrence like that in Orlando handicapped someone for the rest of their life and caused a popular coaster to run differently than it had been for the past ten years. What? What happened? Which coaster is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koasterking48 Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 ^That post seems a bit too optimistic, considering that an occurrence like that in Orlando handicapped someone for the rest of their life and caused a popular coaster to run differently than it had been for the past ten years. What? What happened? Which coaster is that? Dragon Challenge. They no longer duel thanks to idiots that leave loose stuff in pockets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. M Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 ^That post seems a bit too optimistic, considering that an occurrence like that in Orlando handicapped someone for the rest of their life and caused a popular coaster to run differently than it had been for the past ten years. What you're talking about is accidental, a far cry from somebody intentionally lobbing something at an oncoming coaster train, for no reason other than to hurt a stranger. You'd have to be borderline psychotic to do that. I mean, we trust people to drive next to sidewalks without intentionally swerving to hit pedestrians, just because. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
necoastergp Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 ^That post seems a bit too optimistic, considering that an occurrence like that in Orlando handicapped someone for the rest of their life and caused a popular coaster to run differently than it had been for the past ten years. What you're talking about is accidental, a far cry from somebody intentionally lobbing something at an oncoming coaster train, for no reason other than to hurt a stranger. You'd have to be borderline psychotic to do that. I mean, we trust people to drive next to sidewalks without intentionally swerving to hit pedestrians, just because. I'm pretty sure it wasn't proven either way and the dueling stopped as precaution anybody being at risk, but back to SFGrAdv Zumanjaro looks good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerstlaueringvar Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 If you really want to kill someone on a coaster, just put a cable above the track. If the coaster has no headrest, it can turn into an automatic head chopper ( I mean real head chopper) If someone wants to do stupid things to a coaster, nothing can stop them at all! No matter walls, nets or even it's an enclosed coaster. Rides are designed to have maximum safety unless it's Chinese knock-offs. But in some occasion, anything could happen. It's also the main reason I think Smiler shouldn't run like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garet Posted February 4, 2014 Share Posted February 4, 2014 It's also the main reason I think Smiler shouldn't run like that. To be fair Smiler doesn't even need idiots to throw things at park guests, it will just do it itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medusa99 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 UPDATE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brassinthegrass Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 God I love this tower. Can not wait to see this thing test! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokey Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Wasn't expecting that much reinforcement for the tower, looks great though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodie Warrior Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 This ride is going to be terrifying. But why does Kingda Ka need extra supports when Superman at SFMM did not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boardwalkbullet91507 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Looks kinda wonky; I really wasn't expecting that much reinforcement, but I'm glad to see progress moving forward. This is going to be one interesting attraction when it's all done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garet Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 This ride is going to be terrifying. But why does Kingda Ka need extra supports when Superman at SFMM did not? A wild guess but perhaps Superman already was structurally secure enough for a drop tower to be added? I'm guessing either because it's a different ride type or maybe it was built to withstand potential earthquakes? (did that happen for superman? I feel like some-one mentioned it a long time ago but I'm not sure) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Oh wow, definitely didn't expect that. Awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 So they're substantially reinforcing the tower with a ton of new supports and building a brand new pathway with an animal area stretching a pretty substantial distance that leads to 3 separate drop rides... Obviously it is or they wouldn't be doing it, but is anyone else surprised that this is cheaper than just building a drop tower in the park somewhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Way more marketable for sure. People dropping right off the tallest roller coaster in the entire world?!? OMG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBrylczyk Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 ^ Also building a free standing drop tower of that height is madness. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Star Flyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_koppen Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Obviously it is or they wouldn't be doing it, but is anyone else surprised that this is cheaper than just building a drop tower in the park somewhere? I do think it's a bit cheaper, but I doubt they are saving a lot of money on building it this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcjp Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I hope that in the end it doesn't look too chunky due to the extra supports. I think the least there are the better a ride looks (like I305). But if they're doing it, it's because it is necessary, I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alilstronger Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 ^ If the tracking looks anything like on the side of Superman in Cali it won't look too chunky at all. I like the minimalism of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterPrince Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 So they're substantially reinforcing the tower with a ton of new supports and building a brand new pathway with an animal area stretching a pretty substantial distance that leads to 3 separate drop rides... Obviously it is or they wouldn't be doing it, but is anyone else surprised that this is cheaper than just building a drop tower in the park somewhere? The baboons are actually going in the old Safari Discoveries/Temple of the Tiger viewing area. Great Adventure History says it will be covered with a mesh roofing. Hopefully this means the old path between Plaza Del Carnaval and Golden Kingdom opens up as that was a perfect place to view the tigers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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