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Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park Discussion Thread


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I wouldn't be surprised if the lap bar was unlocked when the car dispatched. It's a cheap Zamperla spinning mouse with Mt. Olympus' fantastic operation and maintenance. But hopefully my guess is wrong.

 

 

I've been on many Zamperla Spinning Mice (Luna Park, SFGAm, Mt. Olympus, Fun Spot USA, Martins Fantasy Island, and Beech Bend) and have never even had a click outside the station. I fully blame Mt. Olympus on this.

OPA doesn't even provide airtime. People got throw off can't be due to the reason on NTaG or S: RoS. If the lap bar already has the ability of protecting the riders, I think the problem is partly at Zamperla. Of course Mt. Olympus' operation is a huge problem, I wasn't saying that Mt. Olympus shouldn't be the one to take the most blame.
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  • 2 weeks later...

I find it very hard to believe they could keep the investigation from going public. People deserve to know what happened, especially anybody who's ever given Mt. O their money and assumed their rides were safe. I can't believe people aren't asking more questions. This is pretty frustrating to me, I really want to know what happened.

 

Is people falling out of roller coasters a thing? Does this happen more commonly than I realize, parks are just able to hush it all up?

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the lap bar was unlocked when the car dispatched. It's a cheap Zamperla spinning mouse with Mt. Olympus' fantastic operation and maintenance. But hopefully my guess is wrong.

 

 

I've been on many Zamperla Spinning Mice (Luna Park, SFGAm, Mt. Olympus, Fun Spot USA, Martins Fantasy Island, and Beech Bend) and have never even had a click outside the station. I fully blame Mt. Olympus on this.

OPA doesn't even provide airtime. People got throw off can't be due to the reason on NTaG or S: RoS. If the lap bar already has the ability of protecting the riders, I think the problem is partly at Zamperla. Of course Mt. Olympus' operation is a huge problem, I wasn't saying that Mt. Olympus shouldn't be the one to take the most blame.

 

We have absolutely 100% no idea whose fault it is, or any way to even begin to speculate.

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Here is another along with a story from a witness:

 

http://m.wkow.com/w/main/story/112394208/

Lap bar blamed in police report for Mt. Olympus Roller Coaster accident

Mar 26, 2014 6:01 p.m.

story image +

 

WISCONSIN DELLS (WKOW) --- A lap bar malfunction is to blame in the roller coaster accident in the Wisconsin Dells, according to witnesses in a police report obtained by 27 News.

 

The Lake Delton Officer who responded to the call at Mt. Olympus Theme Park says when he arrived he saw the victim Anthony J. Theisen on the ground as two park managers applied pressure to his head wound.

 

Officer Troy Spencer spoke with Theisen's wife and asked her what had happened while riding on the Opa "Twister Coaster." His wife told police that they were riding around the corner when her husband flew out of his seat. She told officers it was his seat bar that opened up and became unlocked just before they went around the corner of the track.

 

Theisen was sitting in the first seat on the ride. Officer Spencer checked over the cart according the accident report. He says he pulled on each lap bar from the down position and only the first seat, which Theisen was sitting, came unlocked. Spencer says Theisen fell nearly 17 feet to the concrete below.

 

The Mt. Olympus maintenance worker told police that the roller coaster carts were swapped out that day for others on the track. The police report states the maintenance person did advise those carts were NDT tested and replacement parts were installed. He also told police they performed test laps that morning and everything was working properly.

 

One witness in the police report says she called police after watching the story on 27 News and was with her granddaughter in line when the accident happened. She rushed out of the area before police were there to keep her granddaughter from seeing the incident. She informed police that she saw the victim fall out of the ride and hit three metal poles. That is when she rushed over to the ride operator to tell them and told police that the operator started crying and ran to the bathroom. The witness advised the operator to stop the ride in which they did before proceeding to the bathroom. That same witness tells police she rode minutes before Theisen in that same cart and identified that same seat as the seat she was in. The report states, "she had to hold down the lap bar during the entire duration of the roller coaster ride."

 

A representative of Theisen's family tells 27 News that Theisen is still hospitalized with serious injuries.

So the operator noticed what happened, stopped the ride, started crying and then ran to the bathroom instead of running over to assist the guest? Since this is Mount Olympus, I am absolutely not surprised.

Should be interesting to find out the official cause the loose lapbar. Either way, it doesn't make the park look good at all.

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Ok so the faulty car had been swapped in that very day, and the locking mechanism was stripped on the restraint that failed. Obviously the maintenance department is completely at fault, how have they not opened a criminal investigation? Mt. Olympus needs to face some serious consequences for this. Someone could have died! I'm not saying this is enough to get them shut down, but... maybe it should be?

 

Also if that witness was telling the truth that she had to hold the bar down the entire ride, why didn't she say something when the ride was over? That's pretty gross negligence on her part.

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The Lake Delton Officer who responded to the call at Mt. Olympus Theme Park says when he arrived he saw the victim Anthony J. Theisen on the ground as two park managers applied pressure to his head wound.

 

FIrst of all, why are two park managers providing the first aid rather than Security and/or an EMT? It just seems so poorly handled, between that and the employee running to the bathroom instead of doing something.

 

From the sound of this, they could/should get in serious trouble. Lap bars don't just pop open randomly unless something's really wrong, and this isn't a new ride... I respect that without all the information, we can't make a solid judgement, but this makes the park look really bad, and their reputation isn't helping them in the least.

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FIrst of all, why are two park managers providing the first aid rather than Security and/or an EMT? It just seems so poorly handled, between that and the employee running to the bathroom instead of doing something.

 

Because they got there first and knew what to do before EMS arrived? Just because they are a manager doesn't mean that they can't assist the person if needed. Although an employee running to the bathroom is a very bad thing.

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FIrst of all, why are two park managers providing the first aid rather than Security and/or an EMT? It just seems so poorly handled, between that and the employee running to the bathroom instead of doing something.

 

Because they got there first and knew what to do before EMS arrived? Just because they are a manager doesn't mean that they can't assist the person if needed. Although an employee running to the bathroom is a very bad thing.

 

My concern isn't so much that a manager is helping with it, especially right when it happened. It's the idea that the police got to the scene before the park's emergency staff. Obviously this is the first report that I've read, and I'm sure there's plenty of missing information, but still. Maybe MO doesn't have anyone trained to deal with that kind of stuff, or possibly the management dealing with it was trained. It just seems odd either way.

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My concern isn't so much that a manager is helping with it, especially right when it happened. It's the idea that the police got to the scene before the park's emergency staff. Obviously this is the first report that I've read, and I'm sure there's plenty of missing information, but still. Maybe MO doesn't have anyone trained to deal with that kind of stuff, or possibly the management dealing with it was trained. It just seems odd either way.

 

It does really seem like theres a lack of activity from staff from the few accounts we've heard.

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The Lake Delton Officer who responded to the call at Mt. Olympus Theme Park says when he arrived he saw the victim Anthony J. Theisen on the ground as two park managers applied pressure to his head wound.

 

FIrst of all, why are two park managers providing the first aid rather than Security and/or an EMT? It just seems so poorly handled, between that and the employee running to the bathroom instead of doing something.

 

From the sound of this, they could/should get in serious trouble. Lap bars don't just pop open randomly unless something's really wrong, and this isn't a new ride... I respect that without all the information, we can't make a solid judgement, but this makes the park look really bad, and their reputation isn't helping them in the least.

 

I think I posted this last year either in this topic or another one regarding spinning wild mouse coasters where my lap bar popped up a couple clicks before stopping inches above my lap while riding Opa back in 2010 and now this happened. Startled me but fortunately it was towards the end of the ride. Mine didn't fly all the way open but enough for me to easily get out of it. I know this one uses individual lap bars rather than the restraints like Ragin' Cajun. I honestly don't know how some of the rides pass inspections there but I haven't returned to the park in quite a few years and probably never will.

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I honestly don't know how some of the rides pass inspections there but I haven't returned to the park in quite a few years and probably never will.

 

I'm right there with you. I go to the Dells 2-4 times every year. I've never had a bad experience at Noah's Ark or The Wilderness. I've never gad a GOOD experience at Mt. Olympus. I don't feel any need to go back. Thanks but no thanks.

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What's sadder than the fact that it happened is the fact that after visiting there last summer, none of this is surprising.

 

Quoted for truth. After visiting, I'm surprised nothing happened before. It seems as the park has spent too much time and money acquiring all the neighbouring lodging properties and not enough on their maintenance department.

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Why didn't that one lady report the lap bar not working right after she got off the ride? What an idiot

 

Unless she was like the chick from the NTaG accident that claimed to see everything and then described an impossible sequence of events (thus proving she didn't see anything and was just attention whoring).

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Unless she was like the chick from the NTaG accident that claimed to see everything and then described an impossible sequence of events (thus proving she didn't see anything and was just attention whoring).

 

BOOM!

 

People will say anything for 15 minutes of fame. People will also overanalyze an event if they were somewhere in the vicinity of it, just so they can have some significant "involvement" in their minds. Are we sure that this bystander is over-exaggerating? Not really. But recent trends of society do not let me believe that her account is entirely accurate unless there are several other accounts describing the exact same events. In the case of this event, all I will accept as the most likely sequence of events is the most recent investigation report.

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Just an update from a Minneapolis paper. http://www.startribune.com/local/252915261.html

 

LAKE DELTON, Wis. — A police report cites a faulty safety bar on a roller coaster in an accident that left a rider with severe injuries in a fall at a Wisconsin Dells area indoor resort.

 

An attorney for the family of 63-year-old Anthony Theisen says he remains in a coma at University Hospital in Madison with numerous fractures and a brain injury.

 

Lake Delton police say Theisen fell nearly 17 feet from the roller coaster to the concrete floor at Mt. Olympus Theme Park on March 6. Theisen's wife, Kay Theisen, was riding in the same coaster cart and told police her husband's lap bar unlocked when they went around a corner, throwing him into the air.

 

Officer Troy Spencer wrote in his police report that he checked the four lap bars in Theisen's cart several times and found three bars could not be pulled up. But, the fourth bar, where Thiesen was sitting, came unlocked.

 

"It appeared that the lap bar on Seat #1 locking mechanism was stripped. I checked the lap bars over three times to make sure Seat #1 was the only seat to come unlocked, which it was," Spencer wrote.

 

Police interviewed several witnesses at Mt. Olympus, including a maintenance worker who told investigators the ride was working properly during test runs that day.

 

Theisen's attorney, Todd Korb, said a safety test was done on the ride earlier this week. Sand bags to simulate Theisen's weight were placed in the seat he was using, Korb said, and when the cart reached the point on the track where Theisen was ejected, the lap bar opened.

 

Mt. Olympus said in a statement released by general manager Adam Makowski that the company has fully cooperated with Lake Delton Police and the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services.

 

It's the first time an accident of this type has occurred at the theme park, the statement said. The roller coaster will remain closed pending the results of an investigation.

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Officer Troy Spencer wrote in his police report that he checked the four lap bars in Theisen's cart several times and found three bars could not be pulled up. But, the fourth bar, where Thiesen was sitting, came unlocked.

 

"It appeared that the lap bar on Seat #1 locking mechanism was stripped. I checked the lap bars over three times to make sure Seat #1 was the only seat to come unlocked, which it was," Spencer wrote.

 

Theisen's attorney, Todd Korb, said a safety test was done on the ride earlier this week. Sand bags to simulate Theisen's weight were placed in the seat he was using, Korb said, and when the cart reached the point on the track where Theisen was ejected, the lap bar opened.

 

SMDH.

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The part about the locking mechanism being stripped was in one of the previous articles, this just comfirms everything I already suspected. The biggest new information is that the victim is in a coma. So he still might not survive.

 

Shut the f*cking place down.

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My thoughts are with the victim and the family, here's hoping for a full recovery.

 

It was only a matter of time before something happened at this park. Don't get me wrong, we managed to have a great time while we were there, but it was apparent that their safety efforts were lacking.

 

Hopefully that this man, and his family, will be appropriately compensated. Maybe we will see some safety improvements for this upcoming season.

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My thoughts are with the victim and the family, here's hoping for a full recovery.

 

It was only a matter of time before something happened at this park. Don't get me wrong, we managed to have a great time while we were there, but it was apparent that their safety efforts were lacking.

 

Hopefully that this man, and his family, will be appropriately compensated. Maybe we will see some safety improvements for this upcoming season.

 

 

I think Mt. Olympus needs to look up the definition of "Safety." Chances are if you ask them; They'll say "Is that when you buy a hotel?"

 

Mt. O is for people that think Six Flags Magic Mountain spends too much on Improvements and Maintenance.

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