The Great Escape (TGE) Discussion Thread

[coasterbill]

How do you even do this?

 

[Canobie Coaster]

I'm glad a group of people worked together to catch her. However, I do wonder how she got in that position in the first place.

[MisterBrow]

We were just there and didn't notice anything different about the ride. But, basically this is why I was more freaked out with the family on the Lake Compounce Sky Ride than on a 300' ride.

 

My best guess would be straightening out her body to get at her cell phone in her back pocket and slid down under the bar.

 

They should move all of the all of the hard over the shoulder head banger restraints to the sky rides.

[Canobie Coaster]

^ Are you saying it was open if you didn't notice anything different? I would have thought they'd close it for a while.

[larrygator]

How do you even do this?

 

It doesn't take much, only one of the following

1) Be stupid

2) Ignore the rules

3) Avoid common sense

[Philrad71]

^ I think that there should be a #4 choice....all of the above.

[Sluggo77]

Great with how they caught her. Of course several news stories were saying she was severally injured and linked it to other actual theme park incidents. Obviously this wasn't a ride malfunction and glad to see that she wasn't hurt badly.

[MisterBrow]

^ Are you saying it was open if you didn't notice anything different? I would have thought they'd close it for a while.

 

Just there last week and meaning we didn't see anything different from any other sky ride that would have caused this other than rider error.

[Philrad71]

Seriously, I have been on several of these types of Skyrides and it seems that they would prove more difficult to get out of than a regular ski lift.

 

I about crapped myself on the chair/ski lift at Lake Compounce because it seemed like it would be all to easy for a little one (or even myself) to slide out of and land on a pile of jagged boulders many feet below. But I made good and sure that I sat in the chair and held on...albeit with white knuckles. In fact, I don't even think that I moved or shifted the entire duration of the ride!

 

But yes, it does appear that she was doing something that was against park rules that led to her dangling like that from the ride before she fell. Of course, I'm sure that there will be a lawsuit against the park from the family because the restraints didn't do enough to protect her.

[robbalvey]

How do you even do this?

 

It doesn't take much, only one of the following

1) Be stupid

2) Ignore the rules

3) Avoid common sense

Or most likely all three at the same time...

[thrillseeker4552]

Or most likely all three at the same time...

 

This is most definitely what happened, and unfortunately is the most common.

 

I'm glad she is okay, and it was great that random strangers were prepared and caught here, but my goodness, the stupidity of some people...

 

Now everyone is going to say sky rides are unsafe and the cable broke and she was left dangling upside down 300 feet in the air on a "terrifying thrill ride."

[Canobie Coaster]

I just hope none of the random strangers that saved her got any bad injuries if the girl was in that position from misconduct.

[Sluggo77]

^One guy went to the hospital with an apparent back injury from it but on the news they said he was released. Six Flags will end up getting sued. Just such a stupid thing and unless something else comes out it wasn't even close to the park's fault.

[Philrad71]

Nor was CP at fault over the idiot trying to retrieve his phone under Raptor...or SFOG when the kid lost his head (literally) under Batman trying to retrieve his hat...or the kid that stood up and fell out of the log flume at Castles & Coasters. Those families sued and am sure that they got some type of monetary settlement from the parks.

 

I'm sorry, but stupidity and breaking park rules should not result in the family of the deceased/injured getting monetarily rewarded. Yes, it is a horrible thing when it DOES happen and everyone (including the parks) feel bad - but they did something that plain old common sense should have told them not to do.

 

On the other side, when a park's attraction malfunctions or was a major design flaw (IE: Verruckt) results in injury or death, then yes...the family should have every right to sue and be compensated.

 

But with that said...yes, expect a lawsuit.

[Sluggo77]

^Agree 100% on the Verruckt horry story. The rest is like McDonald's having to pay out for someone spilling coffee in their lap. Of course it's fringing hot. If you spill it in your lap it's your fault!

[MisterBrow]

Let's focus on a bunch of strangers deciding, "I could get hurt myself but we're going to keep this person from getting hurt really really bad." and helping anyway.

 

And those people are people that like theme parks. Good people.

[CoasterGuy06]

The rest is like McDonald's having to pay out for someone spilling coffee in their lap. Of course it's fringing hot. If you spill it in your lap it's your fault!

 

There is actually a lot more to that case than a woman spilling hot coffee on her lap.

 

 

Back to this story, it's good she wasn't harmed worse than she was, but yeah I can't imagine she was following all of the rules of the ride.

[WestCoasterKing]

The rest is like McDonald's having to pay out for someone spilling coffee in their lap. Of course it's fringing hot. If you spill it in your lap it's your fault!

 

There is actually a lot more to that case than a woman spilling hot coffee on her lap.

Yeah like McDs turning the temp up to a scalding 200 plus degrees so people would slow down on their free refills. Human skin melts at that temperature. No one expects coffee to be that hot. I've spilled regular temp coffee in my lap and the most I got was a sore pee pee. This lady had third degree burns and had to have skin grafts. I'm amazed how many people keep spewing this crap example even though the facts have been known for years.

 

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

[JT325]

Let stupid people in for almost free, you have to take all the acting-out that comes with it. The park and the rider are at fault, in a way.

 

There is a small exception clause for the girl if she is developmentally disabled.

 

Is this still a Six Flags park? Something about the clientele they attract, and all the stupid things they do... and all the payments we've all had to make over the years because of it. Orange restraints (SFGAd, 1987) with ridiculous "Dolly Parton" grab bars (all Arrow coasters owned by Six Flags); extra seat belts; extra-tight ratcheting lap bars - to the point of pain., Super obnoxious and lengthy loading procedures (but it's ok to them, as they found a way to profit from this over a decade ago with Flash Pass.) And the list goes on.

[coasterbill]

Let stupid people in for almost free, you have to take all the acting-out that comes with it. The park and the rider are at fault, in a way.

 

There is a small exception clause for the girl if she is developmentally disabled.

 

Is this still a Six Flags park? Something about the clientele they attract, and all the stupid things they do... and all the payments we've all had to make over the years because of it. Orange restraints (SFGAd, 1987) with ridiculous "Dolly Parton" grab bars (all Arrow coasters owned by Six Flags); extra seat belts; extra-tight ratcheting lap bars - to the point of pain., Super obnoxious and lengthy loading procedures (but it's ok to them, as they found a way to profit from this over a decade ago with Flash Pass.) And the list goes on.

 

I'm sorry, but what the f*ck are you talking about? Anyone who thinks this is the park's fault in any way, shape or form is absolutely insane.

 

The rules of the ride should be common sense to anyone with a functioning brain. All you have to do is sit in a seat and not actively try to commit suicide (because it honestly requires a lot of work to fall out of this thing). This is the slowest and most mundane ride on planet earth. In-case you're a f*cking moron of almost unimaginable proportions, the ride has a safety information sign out front to tell you how to properly sit in a seat with a locking restraint that maxes out at one mile per hour and not die in the process.

 

It's not the park's fault that stupid people choose to visit. To imply that it is is incredibly counterproductive because you're just making excuses for stupid people and contributing to the idea that it's okay to be a complete dumbass because everyone else should have to cater to your stupidity.

 

I hate to talk this way about a 14 year old girl but she did something really stupid, she deserves to suffer the consequences and she has nobody to blame but herself. She'll be old enough to drive in 2 years and if she gets drunk and crashes into a telephone pole nobody will blame the road because it attracts a clientele that likes to drive drunk and crash into telephone poles.

 

Well... the way we're headed they actually might, nevermind.

[JT325]

^Bill, do you think Six Flags caters to a generally well-behaved crowd that tend to follow rules?

 

It's not their direct fault, but they do play a *small* part in the big picture.

[coasterbill]

^Bill, do you think Six Flags caters to a generally well-behaved crowd that tend to follow rules?

 

No, but that's not their problem in any way, shape or form. Everything about this ride should be common sense anyway, but just incase you're the dumbest person on the planet the park has provided an obnoxiously huge rider safety sign out front explaining how to properly sit in a chair for 15 minutes. In NO WAY is this the park's fault. What the hell do you expect them to do? Sometimes natural selection just needs to do it's job.

 

I know that sounds harsh, I don't care.

[JT325]

Sometimes natural selection just needs to do it's job.

 

Yes, I agree with you. But why is it at a Six Flags park so frequently?

 

I know that sounds harsh, I don't care.

 

I can sound harsh too, but I care. Otherwise, why spend time hanging out on an internet forum trying to have a respectful conversation.

[coasterbill]

Sometimes natural selection just needs to do it's job.

 

Yes, I agree with you. But why is it at a Six Flags park so frequently?

 

I have no idea if this is actually a more common thing at Six Flags than it is at the other large American chains. They have more parks in America than any other chain so it would stand to reason that these types of things would happen at their parks more frequently than they do elsewhere but I have no interest in diving into the numbers to see what the percentages are because in the end, it's irrelevant anyway. The fact that stupid people choose to go to their park isn't their fault or their problem.

[JT325]

^Do you think that Six Flags.. somehow tends to cater to a crowd that "acts-out" a little more than those who go to a Cedar Fair park? I also think it's easier to get away with stuff at a SF park than it would be at a CF park. That is not the case here, but a part of the big picture in my opinion. Just my opinion, no one has to agree.

 

What were people calling it on here years ago... the YOLO crowd? (Not familiar with the new term, if there is one.)