"Comfort collar" incident incites panic on SeaWorld San Diego's Electric Eel roller coaster

They should just ditch those dumb things. I believe they already did on Icebreaker in Orlando. I can't understand why they're there at all.

I can't speak to Electric Eel, but from riding Tempesto, comfort is not what I would use to describe the restraints.

Get rid of the stupid things they do nothing.

Absolutely baffling device.

Comfort collars or not, I think Tempesto is really fun. My buddy lost his glasses on the inversion at the top of that ride, and he was even using a strap.

I was in line for Tigris at BGT when someone that got off claimed one of those stupid collars came loose. They were having a meltdown over it. They stopped the ride, maintenance came over clipped it and unclipped it a handful of times, and said good to go.

Get rid of OTSR's no matter what type, there is simply zero need on coasters. Seatbelts as well but that is a different discussion.

I also occasionally get kicked off those rides, not because my lap bar doesn’t fit (it goes green) but because my torso is the largest part of me (height and weight) and the stupid carabiner they lace on the thing is a pain for me to latch. If the restraint is properly locked I should be able to ride, I have no issues if I don’t fit and the restraint doesn’t lock but don’t kick me off because some useless extra “restraint” fails.

I know I tend towards the bigger size but it gets frustrating when a seatbelt that isn’t needed (CF B&M Hypers, CF MF trains where it’s a combo of harder foam and the belt) A comfort collar or measurement seat belts are cut too small (CF Gen 2 B&M Restraints.)

If I can ride other rides with the same restraints (Never have an issue on Wild Eagle, Invadr, Thunderhead, Apollo) days to a few weeks apart then someone is purposely restricting the device. I’ve even been kicked off Valravyn while my restraint is showing green but the belt won’t buckle.

And yes, my weight and me is a constant issue I struggle with but I am very active and my 6’3” long torso frame does me no favors. I just wish we would stop with the uneeded restraint theatre, you have a primary restraint, with reduncies a little fabric seatbelt is not going to be the difference between life and death. Save them for the older restraints (PTC, Arrow lap bars) that are too rudimentary to have redundancies or at the very least do some quality control and make sure your redundancy works up to the primary’s maximum safe allowance.

LostKause:

Comfort collars or not, I think Tempesto is really fun.

Fully agree. I really enjoy Tempesto. The front row is a really great experience. One of the few coasters that I will wait for the front.

I tend to be a big weenie when I navigate slow, upsidedown rolls, and comfortable or not I hung on to that collar for dear life.
Tempesto was a blast though. Everyone should have one.

I couldn't tell if Tempesto was fun or not! The "comfort" collars are distractingly annoying, and I couldn't wait for the ride to be over. My friend had ridden Tigris at BGT, and said he didn't remember the collars being as much a problem as they were on Tempesto. Not sure what the difference is. Too bad, because I really wanted to like the ride.

See also, incredibly awkward seating position on Jersey Devil, which we rode that same weekend. Would be a fun layout if I didn't have to ride with my legs in an opposite-of-manspreading position.

Conversely, i305 absolutely redeemed itself. My previous experience was in May of 2010, right after they added extra trims, when it still had the original hard OTSRs. At the time, I said it was yet another Intamin coaster ruined by sucky restraints. But now, it's finally that love child of Millennium Force and Maverick I'd always expected it to be.

This has been, Rides That Shouldn't Suck; thank you for listening. I'm your host, BirdHombre.

Call them what they are – Discomfort Collars.

I have been on Ice Breaker both before and after the collars. While removing them helped, the cumbersome and painful shin bars still make what should be a fun little airtime adventure too painful to be worth the hassle.

Those comfort collars are the absolute worst. They make it really hard to load and unload, are quite uncomfortable, and do nothing. I personally don't have much love for the Sky Rocket 2's. I mean, they're fine rides but between the terrible capacity, the fact that their cloned everywhere, and the often uncomfortable restraints, I really don't get much out of them.

In California, as they are builder applied, SeaWorld is going to have to apply to DOSH for a variance first, which will have to be approved by the manufacturer.

I've read in a few places that the whole thing was a 'non-event', but I am not completely unsympathetic with regards to the panic.

The park said in a statement that the device is not the restraint, and that there was "no safety issue."

Ostensibly, it looks like a restraint, whether it's restraining you or not - the crew certainly wouldn't dispatch a train if it wasn't fastened, so if it did come loose or whatever mid-ride and you knew no better, I understand why someone thought that there was a problem.

Right, but they weren't satisfied with the explanation either and went on to get as much attention as possible.