Entering the Xcelerator Que

When I was walking into the Xcelerator que there was a group of people in front of me, and the ride op was checking all of them before they entered the que. He asked a man, who didn't seem very heavy, although was a little overweight, to sit in the seat they have at the entrance while everyone waited and watched, as the op didn't let anybody past him. Then the man was told he couldn't ride because the lapbar didn't fit all the way down. I thought it was terrible, this rider was humiliated in front of about 10 people who were waiting, and then his wife left the ride with him. They ought to have another way of doing this. Has anybody been suprised that they were not allowed to ride (he wasn't really all that heavy). Knott's seems to be totally overdoing the whole safty thing, I experienced it all over the park, but I guess its necessary. Anyone else experience this?

~Nick

Now what would happen if he waited for an hour, sat down in the car, and then had this happened? Would that be any better? I certainly don't think so. Hence the test seat.

Its nothing to be embarrased about, the ops are looking out for your safety, and that is honorable.

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Xcelerator-
0-82 in 2.3 seconds! =Wow!

I'd rather be told I couldn't ride there than be kicked off of the train itself. Think of the dispatch time it saves also, checking people out front instead of on the platform. If Knotts is going to be so strict about lap bars and seatbelts, I'm glad they're doing it this way and running the ride more efficiently.

I had to sit in the chair too, fortunately I made it!

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Mike Miller-On the gravy train to coaster nirvan***

If this was me, I'd rather be told before I got in line that I couldn't ride. I've seen it too many times where people have waited in line for an hour or two only to be told they're too big/short/tall/etc. to ride. I'd be ticked if that happened. Come to think of it, I better go on that diet. :)

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Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

Knott's chucked a woman out of a similar seat on Perilous Plunge... what do you expect them to do? We can assume the ride op in that case didn't want to embarass or be embarassed, and now that woman is dead.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"Let's stop saying 'don't quote me,' because if no one quotes you, you probably haven't said a thing worth saying." - Dogma, KMFDM

Jeff, i agree with you but i think Knotts has gone just a bit too far. On perelous plunge, you can even move at all(and im not kidding). They completely staple you on Xcelerator, and i got yelled at for pulling my own lap bar down instead of letting the ride op do it. Finaaly on ghostrider, the crew checked the restraints twice, which made dispatch times horrible.

[needless and unedited quotation removed -J]

Yes, it may be embarrasing, but I'd rather be embarassed than be put at risk from being thrown from a roller coaster ride.

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A CoasterForum Member
www.thrillnetwork.com/boards/index.php?referrerid=211

*** This post was edited by Jeff on 8/1/2002. ***

What they should do is position the test seats in a slightly more discreet area. And dont hold up the rest of the people so they can witness the event. Allow the person to have a little dignity if they are too large to ride.

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signature withheld for no apparent reason

I was at Raging Bull in SFGAm once, when a man, who had waited in line for about an hour, couldn't ride because he was too large. He was yelling at the ride ops, telling them off for not letting him ride. There was no one manning the test seat outside, as there never is. It would have been courteous to have a ride op at the test seat, but they didn't. He still could've sat in the seat, but knott's system is to prevent things like this. I would take embarassment for an extra hour at the park. They can't let people through, because they have to check them all. Something like that has never happened to me, but I would want to find out in front of a few people, instead of wasting an hour and finding out in front of hundreds of people. Perhaps the area could be more discreet (sp?), but the system itself is fine.

Edits: Improper Abbreviation

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D-Mon of Darkness
LIVE LIVE INVERTED - ALPENGEIST

*** This post was edited by D-MONOFDARKNESS on 8/1/2002. ***

B&M Rocks, the "stapling" on Xcelerator is not that bad. Have you been recently? As far as lapbars go, they are not forcing them into you like they used to.

And one more thing: Don't pull on the lapbar. You do realize that if you push your lapbar an inch, they have to release ALL lapbars. Just follow the instructions that they give you. Let them put it down. And I thought only the GP did that kind of stuff.

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Xcelerator-
0-82 in 2.3 seconds! =Wow!

On Hypersonic the lady who was a little overweight could fit in the car with the lapbar down but the seatbelt wouldn't reach so she couldn't ride. The wait was only 20 in though.

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-Sean

At PKI I have seen so many times a persn wait over an hour and not be able to ride because their legs were to long or what have you. Then they get embarrased and have waited a long time for nothing. I think places at Knotts and CP are smart for donig this before people get in line instead of up at the station. PKI normally has a guy sitting out at teh entrance but I have yet to see him/her say anything to anyone about them possibly being to big

You need to be a size 43-44 to not fit Xcelerator's lapbar and seatbelt. If the lapbar didn't close all the way without stepping on it all the more power to them to not allow him to ride for his own safety. I have seen 58 inch tall teenagers with thin builds who have already riden just fine be tested however, and they fit all the time. The location of the seat is just fine. I've seen a few ops who won't let others test the seat, though. They dictate who uses it. Anyways, how could the test seat be in the middle of nowhere and lock. There is a hidden button to release the lapbar.

*** This post was edited by Speedy on 8/2/2002. ***

Now if only they would do that Perlouis Plunge. Last time I went (which was a week ago) it was about 5:30 pm and adn it was pretty cold and it took 10 minutes for each boat. So I haven't gotten to ride

CoasterFanMatt said:

B&M Rocks, the "stapling" on Xcelerator is not that bad. Have you been recently? As far as lapbars go, they are not forcing them into you like they used to.
And one more thing: Don't pull on the lapbar. You do realize that if you push your lapbar an inch, they have to release ALL lapbars. Just follow the instructions that they give you. Let them put it down. And I thought only the GP did that kind of stuff.
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Xcelerator-
0-82 in 2.3 seconds! =Wow!

I read xcelerator in early July, and they did staple me badly.

Second, i pulled my lapbar down like i do on any normal coaster. What is so different about this one that the ride ops have to pull it down.

I agree. I don't see what's so wrong about having the guest pull down the restraint. If it is not down far enough then the operator can push it down more. If someone has a reasonable explanation I would love to hear it.

I can tell you that at CP if every guest sat there like an idiot and did nothing, it'd take a heck of a lot longer to get trains out. We appreciated it when guests know what they are doing and all we had to do was check and like Joe said, push down further if it's not all the way down. I think it's crazy for a park to get upset at the guest for doing their own restraint. Contrary to what CoasterFanMatt said, I really doubt that a guest pulling down a restraint too early has any affect on the control system of the ride.

Having said that, I have absolutely no problem with Knotts pulling someone who looks to be a bit on the large side to have them try the test seat. It is better done right there than in the actual train in front of even more people and at more of an expense to capacity.

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-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew

Perilous Plunge never has 10 minute disbatches when I'm there. As soon as I exit the boat and get a spot on the bridge the boat begins going up the lift. Maybe 4 minutes on a good day, 3 on a very good day.

The stapling on Xcelerator is much more relaxed now. On my first day riding they pushed it until my bladder had pains, but 3 weeks later they just touched my thighs. Those who have ridden it weeks apart can tell you this is being done.

On my last ride I put the lap bar down by accident while the ride op was standing over me waiting for me to put on my seatbelt. Not too far, just several inches. I didn'd do it on purpose, but rather because I was hurrying to put on the seatbelt and instincts kicked in. The ride op quickly reminded me "I'll lower the lap bar, " so I stopped. No lap bars were released at all on my last visit and I was in the station 8 times that day (4 rides). They don't care anymore and they probably would allow you to lower your lap bar, but then some wouldn't because it tells you not to in the video.

Maybe someday when the ride's employees call in sick and they need someone to look after the entrance.

Please allow me to clarify what I said. It is policy on Xcelerator not to allow the guests to put down their lapbars. The operators are the only ones allowed to do so. In the event that a guest pushes their own lapbar down, the lapbars of the entire train will be released.

Now, we can all say that this policy is a bit strange. I've never encountered anything like it at any other park, or even on another ride at Knotts. Of course it makes things go a lot faster to let the guests do this (and on any other ride the ops appreciate it), but for some reason, it is the policy to only let the ride ops push lapbars down.

I guess the opposite of Knott's policy can be found at Bell's Amusement Park, where they don't even check lap bars on Zingo, their wooden coaster. That's what I call a generous park! :)

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.:| Brandon Rodriguez |:.
http://www.coasters2k.com