cal1br3tto Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I noticed this quote (source): A Mount Olympus employee said the man fell off the Opa roller coaster at the theme park, which is in a building behind the water park. The theme park is closed, but the water park is still open. Not sure if that pretty much guarantees it was an employee or trespasser, or if it was just an inaccurate and poorly worded way of conveying that the outdoor dry rides are closed, but Opa is open because it's indoors. Does make me wonder if the victim wasn't riding, but rather climbing on the coaster, whether for maintenance or mischief. Of course, I'm not surprised it happened here, no matter the cause. I've seen and heard of multiple things that just don't happen at other parks, some that were blatantly irresponsible, as well as numerous signs of poor maintenance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GayCoasterGuy Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Yikes, I hope the guy is ok. The last time I was there, I waited while some friends rode Opa (I didn't want to wait in line again). One of the cars spun, one of the cars spun part of the time and another never spun. It was very strange. But I was surprised they were running 3 separate cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPDave Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Nothing so far is pointing to a rider being ejected from a car. Obviously it's too early to tell but it could be someone falling off while walking over the station tracks or something. It wouldn't be the first time on this type of ride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerstlaueringvar Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Mt.Olympus is open now? I don't think that crappy indoor park has heater inside. I KNEW IT! Someday there must be someone fall off from their rides! Maybe Zamperla's quality is not perfect enough to handle Mt. Olympus' violent operation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Unconfirmed reports say the fall was less painful than a ride on Hades 360. Win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilrider Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/Man-falls-off-of-Roller-Coaster-at-Mt-Olympus-Resort-248918561.html Victim was airlifted to the hospital, was found unconscious but breathing, had severe bleeding from the head and arm. Theme park is shut down, waterpark is still open. A 15-20 foot fall may not sound like much, but if one lands on his head, and on a concrete floor, that could easily kill a person. Hope he recovers. Very curious to find out the cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rollercoaster Rider Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/Man-falls-off-of-Roller-Coaster-at-Mt-Olympus-Resort-248918561.html Victim was airlifted to the hospital, was found unconscious but breathing, had severe bleeding from the head and arm. Theme park is shut down, waterpark is still open. A 15-20 foot fall may not sound like much, but if one lands on his head, and on a concrete floor, that could easily kill a person. Hope he recovers. Very curious to find out the cause. On the Bright Side? Maybe this will make Mt. Olympus more safety conscience. I can dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Well, at least we know where the former NTAG ride ops ended up...Too soon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tribar Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/Man-falls-off-of-Roller-Coaster-at-Mt-Olympus-Resort-248918561.html Victim was airlifted to the hospital, was found unconscious but breathing, had severe bleeding from the head and arm. Theme park is shut down, waterpark is still open. A 15-20 foot fall may not sound like much, but if one lands on his head, and on a concrete floor, that could easily kill a person. Hope he recovers. Very curious to find out the cause. On the Bright Side? Maybe this will make Mt. Olympus more safety conscience. I can dream. Keep dreaming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal1br3tto Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Now I feel a bit lost as to whether any open dry rides were closed because of the incident, or if they're all closed for the season meaning the ride was definitely not in public operation. Was that made clear somewhere I missed? (I know I mentioned that earlier, but now I'm wondering if I misinterpreted the article I read, or if I'm just rambling.) At any rate I hope we learn more details soon and where to lay the blame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilrider Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 (edited) ^I am pretty sure the indoor theme park (i.e. dry rides in the same building as Opa) is open all year, so all the dry rides in that area were shut down because of the incident, is how I interpreted the article. The indoor water park, which is in a separate building, remained open. The outdoor theme park does not open until the weather improves. Edited March 7, 2014 by ilrider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BackseatBoss Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 ^I am pretty sure the indoor theme park (i.e. dry rides in the same building as Opa) is open all year, so all the dry rides in that area were shut down because of the incident, is how I interpreted the article, but the indoor water park, which is in a separate building, remained open. That's exactly right. The indoor waterpark is in a separate building next door, which is why it stayed open despite the incident Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirkFunk Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I don't understand what everyone is having a hard time with. You can go on the Mount Olympus site and see that the "indoor theme park" is open every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 ^Neither do I. LAKE DELTON, Wis. —A 64-year-old man fell off an indoor roller coaster at a Wisconsin Dells theme park Thursday night, according to the Sauk County Sheriff's Office. The man and three others were in a car on the roller coaster when he somehow fell 15-20 feet during the ride and landed on the ground below, according to officials. The Sauk County dispatch center said it happened around 5:30 p.m. at Mt. Olympus Theme Park & Water Park Resort. The name of the ride was Opa. Paramedics were called. The man's condition is not known. The theme park was shut down immediately following the accident, but reopened late Friday afternoon. The Opa remains closed. The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services is leading the accident investigation and expects to put out a report early next week. The ride's manufacturer was also at scene Friday doing its own inspection. At this time it's not known if the accident was caused by a malfunction in the ride or if the rider was not properly strapped in, according to WISN 12 News' partners at WKOW-TV in Madison. Read more: http://www.wisn.com/news/wisconsin/man-falls-off-indoor-roller-coaster-in-the-dells/24851964#ixzz2vKStrAgl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tribar Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 ^Neither do I. LAKE DELTON, Wis. —A 64-year-old man fell off an indoor roller coaster at a Wisconsin Dells theme park Thursday night, according to the Sauk County Sheriff's Office. The man and three others were in a car on the roller coaster when he somehow fell 15-20 feet during the ride and landed on the ground below, according to officials. The Sauk County dispatch center said it happened around 5:30 p.m. at Mt. Olympus Theme Park & Water Park Resort. The name of the ride was Opa. Paramedics were called. The man's condition is not known. The theme park was shut down immediately following the accident, but reopened late Friday afternoon. The Opa remains closed. The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services is leading the accident investigation and expects to put out a report early next week. The ride's manufacturer was also at scene Friday doing its own inspection. At this time it's not known if the accident was caused by a malfunction in the ride or if the rider was not properly strapped in, according to WISN 12 News' partners at WKOW-TV in Madison. Read more: http://www.wisn.com/news/wisconsin/man-falls-off-indoor-roller-coaster-in-the-dells/24851964#ixzz2vKStrAgl I love how it says he somehow fell from the ride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Wow, so it was a rider!??! Has anyone ever fallen out of a Reverchon/Zamperla spinning mouse before?!! Lots of questions for this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteornotes Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 I don't recall anyone ever falling from this sort of ride. There are certainly some questions here. Then again, it is Mount Olympus, so... dt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. M Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 That's crazy. Do these rides even have much in the way of "airtime"? Even if you're somehow not secured properly, how would you just fall out? EDIT: I looked at some footage of the ride, and the cars do seem fairly open, like you could pretty easily fall out if not restrained properly. Must have been one of the turns that threw him out? That's very sad, I hope he makes a full recovery. And I hope he sues their asses off. Considering he's a somewhat elderly gent, I doubt there was any horse play involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dippindotsguy8 Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Wow, sounds like Opa must have been "very aggressive today!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GayCoasterGuy Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Wow, sounds like Opa must have been "very aggressive today!" Doh! Tasteless, but somehow nerdily satisfying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. M Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Let's see how many terrible jokes we can make. Now we know why they call it Opa! Because that's the sound you make as you feel your head being cracked open on the concrete floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8899 Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 ^"Opa" is "grandpa" in German... Also curious how one could fall off these. On faster spinning ones one is quite jammed into seat due to the centrifugal forces so unless you try any stunts I guess this kind of coaster would even be safe without restraints. Interested to see the final report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie200330 Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 So it never actually said it was in motion.....15 - 20 feet, could that be the brake run area? Maybe he fell getting out of the car, perhaps to the left instead of right, and hit the ground inside the structure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 ^The brake run is not that high off the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie200330 Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 ^ After looking into it more, 15 - 20 feet could put the car at the lower switchbacks..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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