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The Knott's Berry Farm (KBF) Discussion Thread

P. 651: Montezooma's Revenge project terminated?

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Who cares, different parks have different rules. Ive ridden Kingda Ka with my glasses, did not ride with them on TTD because they require a strap (wasnt about to get a glasses strap ), and was asked to take them off on Xcel as well as most other rides at Knotts.

 

Any time an essential item is lost on a ride, such as perscription glasses, theres always going to be disdain and the person expects it back that moment (and ive had to fish out plenty of glasses under SUFs pretzel loop) so I can understand why Knotts doesnt want to deal with that frustration. But at the same time its a pain in the a** asking everyone to take off their glasses so I can understand why parks dont want to do that. Its really silly to argue why or why not.

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I would expect a cable snap on TTD or KK before this one. Although, any cable on any ride could snap given the right circumstances. Obviously it didn't snap for no reason and I would imagine it is inspected daily. Could something have been missed? Cables usually don't break all at once. Strand by strand they break and get weaker until the whole thing fails. But with a high speed ride that could happen very quickly during the course of a day of operation.

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Wow I'm glad those two are ok, could have been alot worse.

 

People saying they were freaking out need to remember they might not be coaster crazy like us. Also stuff flying in your face then the seat movement probably didn't help matters.(Also they were both looking down the leg area so who knows what dammage was down there) I know If I was on the ride and my daughter had that happen, I'd want to get her off right away.

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Does anybody know how often the cables are generally changed on these? I would have imagined that with Xcelerator being down so much already this year that they would have already swapped the cable, but that's just an assumption.

 

Also - other than visual inspection, is there a way to test the integrity of the cables? For instance, if one of the INNER strands of a cable is failing and maintenance can't see it (because it's on the inside of the strand bundle), how else would you even know something is occurring?

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^Apparently once per year. Don't know what happened down by their feet, but it apparently scared the you-know-what out of them.

 

Would scare the bejezus out of me, too. I have been stalled/stuck on rides plenty of times.

 

Hell, I just got stalled on the lift of Goliath @ MM a few feet from the top a few weeks ago for about 10/15 mins while they reset the ride. People freaked out and were screaming, but that was just routine. Nothing really wrong.

 

This event on Xcelerator was truly scary. Even as a coaster nerd, I would have been freaked, too, if my seat dislodged or whatever. I wonder if investigation photos will become public record at some point so we can all see the extent of the damage.

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I cannot provide an answer for the glasses thing, but I have my speculation. I work at Pony Express, and so know the "no glasses period" policy. Honestly, I know there's no reason that glasses would naturally fly off. But I believe that rule is mainly for the 20% of the GP who truly are stupid enough to (a) lose their glasses on the ride and then (b) jump into a restricted area to get them.

 

It's a weird policy, and it sucks to have to follow it, but hey, it's part of our jobs. Hell, we aren't the only one with a weird policy (thinking of Thorpe Park's no arms-raised policy).

 

Back on subject

 

I don't know anymore than what the news reports are saying.

 

And the news reports for the most part have all their "facts" wrong.

 

I know. That statement is mainly to take blame off me for saying anything. I talk about this as an enthusiast looking at it, but I am under the NDA, and so cannot actually anything from the park's stand point

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As far as inspecting the cable, I believe the only way to 'see inside' of it to check the integrity would be to x-ray it which would probably be costly and maybe not practical as you would have to remove it from the ride to x-ray the whole thing. If they were going to do that, they might as well just replace it. I don't know, I guess it's just a visual thing and replacing it per Intamin guide lines. When was the last time it was replaced? Could they have been using it longer than recommended? Defective?

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I wonder how many regular every day elevator cables fail and we just don't hear about it. A quick Google brought up one immediate story from 2000:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/26/nyregion/elevator-cable-failed-at-empire-state-building-city-finds.html

 

So maybe cable breaking is more common than we think? What about air craft carrier launch cables? I'm sure they must break, as well.

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^I know that on Aircraft carriers, at least for the landing cable, they replace them every like 100 landings to prevent a cable snap. But they have to be much more cautious with those as they will literally cut you in half if they snap.

 

Wow yeah check this out!

 

Glad that rides are much safer than THAT! I'm totally still gonna ride Xcelerator, but I'll think twice about it!

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Again why with all the hysterics? It HAS happened before and WORSE, that ride is still operating (Top Thrill Dragster) as well as many many new ones built after the accident.

..............

 

I guess I'm disgusting cause I laughed my head off when I watched the video the first time.

 

What hysterics? Not everyone is a coaster nerd, and it sure seemed like a traumatic event, ESPECIALLY from a person who is scared prior to riding (the GP is more prone to thinking accidents may occur.) So WTF dude? Laugh all you want, but if MY kid had his legs stuck under a restraint that was smoking while he was holding his head, I would freak the hell out. I imagine you would too. How effing hilarious!!!!

 

Unlike most accidents that make the news, this one actually featured a video that was a tad disturbing, especially watching the Dad freak out.

 

And why the hell does it matter that it has happened before and was worse? Go tell that to the two people who left the park in an ambulance. Regardless of the severity of their injuries, they left in a freakin' ambulance. Crappy day. Xcelerator drew blood.

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Again why with all the hysterics? It HAS happened before and WORSE, that ride is still operating (Top Thrill Dragster) as well as many many new ones built after the accident.

..............

 

I guess I'm disgusting cause I laughed my head off when I watched the video the first time.

 

What hysterics? Not everyone is a coaster nerd, and it sure seemed like a traumatic event, ESPECIALLY from a person who is scared prior to riding (the GP is more prone to thinking accidents may occur.) So WTF dude? Laugh all you want, but if MY kid had his legs stuck under a restraint that was smoking while he was holding his head, I would freak the hell out. I imagine you would too. How effing hilarious!!!!

 

Unlike most accidents that make the news, this one actually featured a video that was a tad disturbing, especially watching the Dad freak out.

 

And why the hell does it matter that it has happened before and was worse? Go tell that to the two people who left the park in an ambulance. Regardless of the severity of their injuries, they left in a freakin' ambulance. Crappy day. Xcelerator drew blood.

 

 

Sure not everyone is a coaster nerd, but I am, I only speak for myself and myself only, and to me it made me laugh and as always, I think blown out of proportion. And no I wouldn't freak out in this case, what good is it to my kid to freak out, if anything my response would be more to try to clam them (and myself) down as more injury could occur from them trying to struggle out of a situation they can't move from. I HAVE been involved with things of this nature before so yes I do happen know how I would react and it wouldn't be to freak out.

 

And quite frankly I'm glad the GP think accidents can occur, people (especially the GP) are far too quick to forget they are riding on multi-ton pieces of steel with a very real chance that something like this or worse can happen. See all the little kids getting unfortunately struck and killed by the little carnival coasters that barely go around 15mph let alone anything larger and faster. That's not to say they are not designed to be as safe as possible, but as this proves accidents can and will happen. For me this is where the thrill comes in, knowing I have no control over the situation and having to trust in someone else (or many people in the case of rides) and just letting go.

 

My response to the "it happened before and worse" was in reference to the previous comments of how people hope that this will lead to significant changes. My point in that statement was to imply that if any changes were to be made, they have already happened after the first accident five years ago on Top Thrill Dragster and if it's happened again on any of the other Intamin Accelerators that use a cable for launch. That's not to say they can't still learn from this and change some things to try and prevent another incident on this scale, but nothing drastic will come of this as far as people are hoping and this can and probably will occur again.

 

And as far as leaving in ambulance's, while most of the time they provide a vital service, things like this skew my view on judging the severity of situation like the guy claiming back and neck injuries (that is not the dad that freaks out) when no one besides the kid suffered any injuries. Again, not to say his claim is not valid, but we can all admit some people are always out for a quick buck. Regardless, I wish them both a speedy recovery.

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"I know that on Aircraft carriers, at least for the landing cable, they replace them every like 100 landings to prevent a cable snap" (atem122)

 

The Navy has looked into replacing their cable launching systems with LSM technology (at this time, I don't think they're still pursuing it). So apparently the military is looking for better ways to launch aircraft off of carriers.

 

I don't know why Intamin went back to cables to launch the trains on their rocket coasters. Saving energy, perhaps, as LSMs/LIMs take some power. However, I've heard that the hydraulic system isn't exactly an energy miser, either.

 

Y'think coasters might go back to relying on a free, plentiful source of energy, like gravity?

 

Eric

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^Yea, you don't see any lift hills blowing up in peoples faces.

^^And that is true. I know it wont be possible to switch over, was just being hopeful is all. But at least for newer coasters they can look into it. I mean for safety reasons since cable driven coasters are proving dangerous.

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Sure not everyone is a coaster nerd, but I am, I only speak for myself and myself only, and to me it made me laugh and as always, I think blown out of proportion. And no I wouldn't freak out in this case, what good is it to my kid to freak out, if anything my response would be more to try to clam them (and myself) down as more injury could occur from them trying to struggle out of a situation they can't move from. I HAVE been involved with things of this nature before so yes I do happen know how I would react and it wouldn't be to freak out.

 

I HATE that this video is all over the internet now and how anyone thinks they can evaluate what happened and how the riders reacted. You have no idea how serious THIS situation was because you were not there! You were not involved in this situation, so you have idea how you really would have acted if you were. Also you don't how these people reacted! You have a 30 second silent video that only shows a brief initial reaction! You don't know who they are talking to and you don't know what they are saying.

 

@ RCFreak: I know I quoted what you said, but this message is for everyone! This accident was terrifying for everyone involved! It's sad that someone thought they should share it with the world, because no one involved in the accident wants to ever relive that again. And I'm sure they didn't want the world to see this video and more, didn't want the world to talk about what they would have done different in this situation.

 

If you have something to say about ride safety, cool! If you have any concerns about ride safety and what is done to help prevent accidents like these from happening, call the park! But please, don't criticize the riders!

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I HAVE been involved with things of this nature before so yes I do happen know how I would react and it wouldn't be to freak out.

 

Lemme just quote myself again. It may not have been this specific situation, but my experiences in life (and amusement parks and rides and accidents on them from an employee standpoint and as a guest) leave my statement as valid as when I wrote it.

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My problem is that you are judging these riders from a silent video that briefly shows an initial reaction. You didn't see what his kid's leg looked like. you don't know who the father was talking to. You don't know how far away the nearest person was he had to address, and you don't know what he said. All you have to judge him is a few quick arm movements.

 

I also really don't care how you think you would react in this situation, but just that fact that you think you can judge these people.

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My problem is that you are judging these riders from a silent video that briefly shows an initial reaction. You didn't see what his kid's leg looked like, you don't know who he was talking to. You don't know how far away the nearest person was he had to address, and you don't know what he said. All you have to judge him is a few quick arm movements.

 

I also really don't care how you think you would react in this situation, but just that fact that you think you can judge these people.

 

Where am I judging the kid?

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