Dollywood Discussion Thread

[A.J.]

That policy is so weird to me, as a former ride operator. We were trained to push and then pull to make sure that the restraint is close enough to the person's body to keep them securely inside. With the policy you mentioned, it's possible for a guest to not lower their restrain far enough, have the R.O. check just by tugging upward, and then have the guest get ejected from the ride.

Yeah, but don't trains and seats have sensors that will prevent the train from dispatching if the restraint / harness isn't lowered far enough? Let me tell you what, I hate it when someone lowers the restraint for me. I'm a very small guy and I've been stapled on several occasions, it's not fun and it doesn't make me any more safe than if I would have lowered it myself.

[defrocker]

That policy is so weird to me, as a former ride operator. We were trained to push and then pull to make sure that the restraint is close enough to the person's body to keep them securely inside. With the policy you mentioned, it's possible for a guest to not lower their restrain far enough, have the R.O. check just by tugging upward, and then have the guest get ejected from the ride.

Yeah, but don't trains and seats have sensors that will prevent the train from dispatching if the restraint / harness isn't lowered far enough? Let me tell you what, I hate it when someone lowers the restraint for me. I'm a very small guy and I've been stapled on several occasions, it's not fun and it doesn't make me any more safe than if I would have lowered it myself.

 

I had an experience at Carowinds where one of the ride ops got one extra click on my harness on Intimidator. After that extra click he jumped and put all of his weight to get yet another click forcing the seatbelt buckle into my hip bones. I physically winched in pain. His response was a snide "that's better right?" Most miserable ride ever...

 

This is obviously the polar extreme from getting ejected. I don't think you can necessarily trust people in general to put their restraints down enough to be "safe." I know when I was young and dumb some of my friends and I would have a contest to see who could get their restraints the loosest on the woodies at KD. As a teenager, we weren't concerned with safety.

 

Bottom line, I think ride ops should be able to push on restraints but I don't agree with stapling every person with no "reason" to do so.

[prozach626]

Ride operators seem to be doing just fine. When you ride roller coasters as much as many of the people on this site, you're probably bound to have a couple bad rides here and there for whatever reason. We're still talking about teenagers performing the monotonous task of pushing a piece of foam and metal into a rider's gut and not surgeons working with precision tools, right?

[defrocker]

Ride operators seem to be doing just fine. When you ride roller coasters as much as many of the people on this site, you're probably bound to have a couple bad rides here and there for whatever reason. We're still talking about teenagers performing the monotonous task of pushing a piece of foam and metal into a rider's gut and not surgeons working with precision tools, right?

 

To be entirely fair, the situation that I spelled out was on the second weekend of operations this year. So on top of the picture you just painted, it was likely his first week, possibly first few days on the job. I agree, I almost never have complaints with ride ops.

 

At Carowinds last weekend my wife spoke to the grouper on Fury and told her thanks for doing a great job and she said how she really appreciated hearing that. Usually the remarks she gets are not of the "kinder variety" and it was nice to hear a thank you.

 

Like you said, at the end of the day, they're doing their job, trying to earn a paycheck while keeping people safe while they are having fun. A thank you here and there could make someone's day.

[bluestreak]

Anybody at the park today? I want to know what the status of LR is because today is the last day the park is open before I can cancel my hotel if LR isn't open. Thanks!

[kickflipbacktail]

Anybody at the park today? I want to know what the status of LR is because today is the last day the park is open before I can cancel my hotel if LR isn't open. Thanks!

 

I'd also like to know. I plan to visit this sunday.

[mac95]

Anybody at the park today? I want to know what the status of LR is because today is the last day the park is open before I can cancel my hotel if LR isn't open. Thanks!

 

Just called Dollywood and they said that the early entry ride for Saturday is Lightning Rod so I'm pretty sure they have confidence it'll be up and running well this weekend! I don't know if it's running today but at least we have good signs.

[prozach626]

I've heard of false confidence before.

[coasterbill]

Hi Disney! How's life?

 

Parade of Many Colors

 

 

Gather the family for the Parade of Many Colors, an exciting new holiday tradition which begins at 8 p.m. this holiday season. The Parade of Many Colors includes vibrant floats, interactive characters and a number of other surprises sure to inspire guests with its heart-warming message.

 

The Parade of Many Colors was created by Dolly to express the values and principles that she and her family have held dear their whole lives. The new parade reflects the faith, fun and harmony which play prominently in Dolly’s new NBC movie Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love.

 

Link

[dstephe9]

I thought the same thing when I saw it lol..even stole most of the name idea from Disney.. now as long as it is longer than 5 minutes it'll be good! Dollywood parades are so short that they are almost cheesy at times lol

 

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[dkeith]

I thought the same thing when I saw it lol..even stole most of the name idea from Disney.. now as long as it is longer than 5 minutes it'll be good! Dollywood parades are so short that they are almost cheesy at times lol

 

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You do know that Dollywood's name for the parade is not any where near the same as Disney's "Mainstreet Electrical Parade". Has no similarity in the name whatsoever...

[Nrthwnd]

^ Yes it does! It's got the word "Parade"!!!

 

 

 

 

[dstephe9]

Sorry I thought Disney used to have a parade called he parade of colors [emoji14] lol

 

I dont watch Disney parades, I did once but then found out that it was the best time to ride space mountain during the nightly parades.. people like vanish when it's time for them

 

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[CedarFlags]

That policy is so weird to me, as a former ride operator. We were trained to push and then pull to make sure that the restraint is close enough to the person's body to keep them securely inside. With the policy you mentioned, it's possible for a guest to not lower their restrain far enough, have the R.O. check just by tugging upward, and then have the guest get ejected from the ride.

Yeah, but don't trains and seats have sensors that will prevent the train from dispatching if the restraint / harness isn't lowered far enough? Let me tell you what, I hate it when someone lowers the restraint for me. I'm a very small guy and I've been stapled on several occasions, it's not fun and it doesn't make me any more safe than if I would have lowered it myself.

 

Some rides have that kind of sensor, but definitely not all. Plus, that sensor is designed to indicate that someone is too large to ride, not whether a restraint is fitted properly.. A smaller framed rider could lower the restraint low enough for the ride computer to call it safe, but still leave themselves enough room to not be secure.

[VegasBaby]

Commenting in several topics.

1. Coming from a Safety Trainer of all coasters and even the Zip Lines at the park, here is what I can tell you of our policy. Ever since the woman fell out of NTAG, Dollywood's policy has been that Hosts are not allowed to assist in the closing of a restraint on any ride whatsoever WITH THE EXCEPTION.... At all other attractions park wide guests must be able to secure themselves into the seat and a host will check the bars/locks by tugging against the restraint. Hosts cannot push down for fear of injuring a guest with the bar itself or causing them to be hurt by the restraint during the ride. Hosts may lower the bar to put it within your reach such as a child riding MM or WE, but they cannot push down on a restraint.

 

That policy is so weird to me, as a former ride operator. We were trained to push and then pull to make sure that the restraint is close enough to the person's body to keep them securely inside. With the policy you mentioned, it's possible for a guest to not lower their restrain far enough, have the R.O. check just by tugging upward, and then have the guest get ejected from the ride. Specifically on coasters with really intense negative Gs (aka, every RMC coaster). Which seems like the opposite of what the response should have been to the incident on NTAG. Lowering a bar too much will cause some discomfort (it's happened to me), but not lowering it enough can cause death.

 

Dollywood's policy seems really weird to me as well. Every other park I've been to always has the ride ops push down on the restraints to make sure they are tight enough. And on all of the RMCs I've ridden, the ride ops specifically tell you NOT to pull down the restraints and to only buckle your seatbelts. The ride ops then go down each row pushing down the restraints. In fact, I have learned to position myself a certain way as to not get stapled in the RMC trains so I can actually experience the wonderful airtime their rides have. I just find it odd that Dollywood's policy is the exact opposite of pretty much every other park in America.

[DJeXeL]

^You can thank our lawsuit-happy society for that. All it takes is a few "Your operator hurt me" claims to make a park's Corporate Claims department change the policy.

[Comeagain?]

If a park is consistently getting guest concerns about operators pushing too hard on restraints, that's a training problem with the operator. Every restraint we have in our park is checked by pushing down then pulling up. I only know of one attraction where we've had problems towards the beginning of the season with new ops because it has notoriously difficult restraints. But the problem is quickly fixed.

 

 

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[DJeXeL]

^Agreed however it opens yourself to lawsuits.

[DirkFunk]

The act of operating an amusement park (hell, a brick and mortar business) opens yourself to lawsuits. Different companies have different ways of approaching this. That's all. Not a right and wrong answer, just a question of who is willing to give you more autonomy as a guest (answer: Disney, Knoebels).

[dstephe9]

Well honestly though, my experience this is that only LR employees are following this rule.. some have said they have had it happen to them on Mystery Mine as well but whenever I have ridden it this year, the ops came by and pushed down on it everytime.. they always get that extra click on me that I hate lol

 

Sounds like some ops don't follow the new rules yet

 

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Edited September 1, 2016 by dstephe9

[DJeXeL]

The act of operating an amusement park (hell, a brick and mortar business) opens yourself to lawsuits. Different companies have different ways of approaching this. That's all. Not a right and wrong answer, just a question of who is willing to give you more autonomy as a guest (answer: Disney, Knoebels).

 

Agreed.

[CPmillenia94]

that sensor is designed to indicate that someone is too large to ride, not whether a restraint is fitted properly.. A smaller framed rider could lower the restraint low enough for the ride computer to call it safe, but still leave themselves enough room to not be secure.

 

Small people arent really a concern for these restraints, they would have to be very very noticeably loose to be a risk for the rider, not just a few inches... The ride operator would definitely notice a situation where someone had it so loose. Im trying to think, are there ANY incidents of small people falling out of rides with modern hydraulic t-bars/u-bars?

[dkeith]

^ Yes it does! It's got the word "Parade"!!!

 

 

 

 

 

You're funny!!! lol!!!

[ajfelice]

that sensor is designed to indicate that someone is too large to ride, not whether a restraint is fitted properly.. A smaller framed rider could lower the restraint low enough for the ride computer to call it safe, but still leave themselves enough room to not be secure.

 

Small people arent really a concern for these restraints, they would have to be very very noticeably loose to be a risk for the rider, not just a few inches... The ride operator would definitely notice a situation where someone had it so loose. Im trying to think, are there ANY incidents of small people falling out of rides with modern hydraulic t-bars/u-bars?

 

The closest I can think of is the unfortunate incident at Holiday World in 2003 with a lap bar minimally lowered, and a seat belt that was unbuckled at the time of ejection. While PTC lap bars are certainly not hydraulic, this is an example of a lap bar being minimally lowered and still putting rider in danger when the backup restraint was not in use.

[CPmillenia94]

^Right, and PTC lapbars are notoriously VERY loose in general, especially the single lap bar that it had at the time. But meanwhile phoenix has not had a single incident all these years, so there are many factors I guess..