Enthusiasts on Notice
Anyone who truly works for Holiday World would know that all of my interviews were done with the blessing of the park's owners and PR director. It's quite obvious who you are and why you are bringing this up.
Have Fun!
Paul B. Drabek
And, according to the latest ACE News, what appeared to be violations were observed during morning ERT. Enthusiasts were returning to the station with seatbelts unbucked. I most cases they were unbuckling the seatbelt between the final brakes and station to make unload/load faster.
I dont think these are bad violations. I've been to a few parks where they encourage you to unbuckle your seatbelts when you're on the brake run just before you come into the station to simply speed up the unload/load process. Ones that spring to mind are Hulk at IOA and Oblivion at Alton Towers where a ride op normally comes to the back to the station and shouts to everyone to unbuckle their belts. Also when I've rode the Vampire at Chessington before a few times, the ride ops runs up the sides of the train when it comes into the station and reaches out to unbuckle the belts(It makes things a whole lot quicker as well) Of course I would never think about unbluckling your belt when your actually riding the coaster but if you're on the brake run, I think its perfectly safe to do so
mOOSH
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USE COMMON SENSE!!!! Just because CB has only received one letter from one chain as of yet, it doesn't mean that it's the last. It could very well be the first of several complaints from several major parks and/or chains, as well as the final warning before a total elimination of enthusiast club events!
As for those complaining about "policing isn't my job"... NOBODY SAID IT WAS!!!! Obviously, you don't have to go stampeding through parks issuing citations to anyone breaking the rules, but if you see someone doing something dangerous, tell them to knock it off and do otherwise. The worst that can happen, once again, is someone mutters a few foul words under their breath, but would you rather have them flying out of the cars and not only closing down the ride, but causing a tragic impact on those that the person knew?
In general, Jeff isn't modeling Stalin and saying that we all need to improve our behavior in order to keep the parks from cutting enthusiast events, or that it's our fault that they may be doing so. He's saying that if you are one of the people doing dangerous stuff to stop doing it in concern for your life, and if you aren't doing it, help make sure that other people observe safety rules. We don't own the parks; we can't govern their safety rules, much less the laws of physics.
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Mike Anderson
WE GET IT. Be SAFE & SMART!
Not all will, and to those who refuse to abide by the rules, just go away and call yourselves Ethusiassholes. But please don't endager us all by taking things on the ride that would kill if dropped. That is a camera. A cam in the head would hurt...bad. Just DON'T do it!
Not to mention, in a court of law, you'd be GUILTY of a CRIME. Do you want to be guilty of, possibly, someone else's DEATH?
Think about it.
MrScott
The park creates the rules, and if the rules are broken, the individuals are to be reprimanded. This goes for enthusiasts, kids, and anyone else. Most parks police linejumping horribly, as an example. Let's say a park notices someone, enthusiast or not, breaking the riding rules. Why are they not thrown out of the park immediately? Even if it is at an event, throw em out! Yes, we should take our own responsibility, but for the people that don't, that's what security guards are for. Punish people.
As for the Alvey incident and others like it, the parks bring some of these things on themselves. Outside of HW, everywhere I know that doesn't allow things on board forces you to leave it unattended or PAY for a locker. This is frustrating. And people definately do not want to leave an expensive camera unattended in the station. Then there are signs like at IB, where one says no cameras etc taken on the ride, and right next to it is one saying nothing may be left behind! What are you supposed to do!
In conclusion, people are going to break rules, we can take ourselves into account to help minimize the amount of times it happens, but when it happens, the park has to step in and kick these people out of the park.
Jacob
Jacob Atkinson said:As for the Alvey incident and others like it, the parks bring some of these things on themselves. Outside of HW, everywhere I know that doesn't allow things on board forces you to leave it unattended or PAY for a locker. This is frustrating. And people definately do not want to leave an expensive camera unattended in the station. Then there are signs like at IB, where one says no cameras etc taken on the ride, and right next to it is one saying nothing may be left behind! What are you supposed to do!
What are you supposed to do? Differentiate between riding and photo/video taking. The two do not go hand in hand.
I have thousands of photos and hours of video. I've NEVER taken any of my cameras on a ride, nor paid for a locker.
I'm prepared for the situation. Either our group works out that someone can always hold the extra items, or I plan around it. What's so hard about that? Most of us that takes lots of photos and video know the situation. If you're left in the station with more than a small disposable or point & shoot camera that you can easily slip into a pocket, then you should've put more thought into it.
And you do bring up a good arguement - "I had to take the camera onride with me"
Know what my response as a park owner would be - "No items on the ride...period."
Problem solved. In fact, I saw Cedar Point enforce this on Corkscrew this year with stuffed animals.
I say just post a sign clearly at the entrance - no items may be taken aboard this ride. Now there's no excuses.
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www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park Visits in 2003: 16
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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson
There is a huge difference between carrying your camera on a ride and shooting photos on a ride. Furthermore, most parks seem to recognize this.
With regard to this thread, the key is, if you're carrying, don't switch to shooting mid-ride. First of all you greatly increase your odds of having Bad Things™ happen, and second, you ultimately make life more difficult for people like me who have been carrying with ride-op +blessing for decades.
And if you're going to shoot on board, first of all make sure it's permitted, and second, make preparations and take precautions before the ride starts. And most important, if the park employee tells you 'no', then DON'T.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Who points out that absolutism is absolutely wrong.
RideMan said:--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Who points out that absolutism is absolutely wrong.
I aboslutely disagree with that statement ;)
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www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park Visits in 2003: 16
Now, there's a very big difference between these small, easily secured items, and things like hand-held cameras, but sweeping statements can start to cause all sorts of difficulties.
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--Greg, aka Oat Boy
My page
"What do you want, you moon-faced assassin of joy?" -- Londo Mollari, Babylon 5
Sounds to me like if it isn't out of sight (in a pocket, queer little fanny pack thing, etc) then it doesn't go. That seems reasonable. No purses, souvenirs, cameras, bags, anything hand held.
Even a statement like "all loose items must be secured" leaves it too open ended if you ask me. Define "secured"?
Granted, my "out of sight" rule leaves a bit of an opening too, but it immediately reduces the size of items being taken on rides. This solves much of the problem right there.
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www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park Visits in 2003: 16
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