Holiwood Nights 5/23-24/08

---

Coaster_Family said:

---

eric.walton said:

Again the question begs, what right does HW or any other park have to ask such a thing of you? Sure, they CAN do whatever they want, and we can certainly voice our opinions....

---

I guess the answer would be that this was an afterhours event closed to the general public. You had to be a member of a coasterclub to participate. I would say this makes it a totally different situation from a normal operating day.

I was there with 5 other people and 4 of them were in the age range of 8-16. Never once were we cautioned for anything and nobody in my group seen anything. We were there until closing both nights. Does this make you comment false? No, but if people are going to say things happened to them I am going to point out nothing happened to us.

I hope that since I do not post here much, if at all, that that does not make my post invalid like you indicated earlier to someone. *** Edited 6/7/2008 11:26:04 PM UTC by Coaster_Family***

---

First of all, I never suggested that anyone who had only 1 post was a troll. It was clearly odd that someone signed up that day, and his/her first post was so very... well lets just say opinionated. Did you sign up three years ago in anticipation of this being your first post? Hmmm...... Get over it man.

Secondly, it's all good and well nothing happened to you. I think we all here realize that the group of people that did have something "happen", is a realitively small percentage.

I mean, in the end, good for you right? Nothing happened to you. This thread is about people who did have something happen, maybe you can start a thread for the people who essentially have nothing to talk about.... No one really needed to have it pointed out that there were folks that had nothing happen to them. I think we were all very clear that was true.

---

Chitown said:
So HW has a death in 2003 and everything they do is justifiable?

They aren't the only park to experience a death. Some of you act like HW is god like and since a death happened there, they can act in ways they see fit and all is good at "Leave it to Beaver World"

The female that passed on Raven was going to be a part of the enthusiast event. She did this during normal operating hours but She made a foolish decision that cost her life.

It makes me sick that people think they can compromise the restraints on coasters. I or anyone that attended the recent event should not have to be ridiculed because of a moronic decision 5 years ago.

Common sense needs to be played out here. If blatant unsafe actions happen? YOU ARE GONE.

If you act beligerant or appear drunk? YOU ARE GONE.

Smelling like alcohol or doing something like not having your feet flat on the floor or turning your head? You don't get booted.

Most parks follow this rule.

---

I was there in 03. And I can't agree with you more. Her death is not justification for a free pass, and a "we can do whatever to make our park safe, no matter how ridiculous."

Your post is dead on though. I think HW has gone from one extreme to the other. Should we be allowed to have one click rides? Probably not. I would like to know if one single person tried to obtain a one click ride this year? haha. Should a person be banned for trying to circumvent the saftey restraints? Certainly. Is having your feet too far back on the floor dangerous? No. Is it an idication you are trying to circumvent rules and get more space between your lapbar and legs? Clearly not. Should someone who complies with a request to move their feet forward then even be accused of trying to obtain extra room? Nope.

Holiday World is NOT preventing future deaths by giving breathalyzer test, or making sure people have their feet far enough back. That's over the top......

I'll say it again, if you are beligerant, or doing something you blatantly should not be (like removing your belt going up the hill, or pulling your heals out of your shoes to obtain room, etc. You're booted, and for good.

But giving a ride op, with no specific training, the right to have you tossed only because they think you smell of alcohol is just ridiculous. Giving a citation and attempting to make someone sign something because you think their feet were too far back, again.... ridiculous.

Chi said:

---

"No other park cares if you unbuckle your belt if the ride is done. By doing this, you aren't being unsafe, compromising the restraints, or cheating any system."

---

Since people were being written up for this, I want to note a few things. First, there are at least a couple B&Ms here in Florida where you are instructed via speaker to unbuckle your restraints while on the brake run. So let's just say that for a rider to recognize the ride portion is over is NOT something limited to enthusiasts. If some parks ask you to undo restraints on the brake run, then that seems like something the INDUSTRY should come to agreement on before other parks decide that you are compromising safety by doing so. I'm not putting blame on ANY involved party there, just saying that the issue of "when it's safe to release the seatbelt" is something the parks should decide before implementing such WIDELY varying policies. People DO visit more than one park in a year (I think one Orlando trip and one or two "local" vacations make up a fairly common summer for many families).

If you're going to give multiple rides, simply announcing that beforehand means people WON'T undo their seatbelts. In my years of riding and attending events, the ONLY coasters I've ever ridden and been sent thru the station (without stopping) for multiple laps - Tremors and Timber Terror. But we knew in advance that the ride wasn't going to stop on every lap...so we kept our belts buckled.

Of course, the seatbelts I'm referencing were always a *secondary* restraint. Primary restraint in all the cases I mentioned were lapbars or OTSRs.

---

eric.walton said:redundant quote removed... -J

---

You sound like a child that comes home from school complaining that the teacher was mean to you and you only. Get over it man. *** Edited 6/8/2008 7:04:08 PM UTC by Jeff***

I think we can do without the pissing match, guys.

I was going to reiterate what Bill was talking about. I was on The Hulk at Islands of Adventure yesterday, and that's one of the rides where they tell you to unbuckle the belt while in the stand by brakes uptrack of the station. (And perhaps more shocking, people actually seem to listen and do it.) I can think of other rides where this is the case as well.

Does that make it wrong for Holiday World to run the ride the way they'd like to? Not at all, though if they're going to penalize people, I think it would be more fair to ask them to keep the belt secured until they re-enter the station.

I wasn't there, so really I don't have a strong opinion on any of this. While in a general sense I think some enthusiasts can be obnoxious, I also think it's fair to generalize that enthusiasts tend to do the right thing more often than the population at large, especially at Holiday World, given the accident (I was there that day as well). I guess if the allegations of random persecution were true, I'd be disappointed.

Regarding seat belts, my procedure is to unbuckle my belt as the train is pulling into the station. Granted I've never been to an ERT session at Holiday World, but I had no problem with it there during regular operation, or at any other park.

I don't consider it a safety issue at all, it's just to assist in getting out of the train quickly as soon as the restraints are unlocked.

---

Chitown said:
Your friend did something that I have been doing for years. When you are done with the ride and the train is pulling into the station, you take your seatbelt off.

---

I realize that. I do the same thing. The reason I didn't want to give an opinion on the actual incident was because I wasn't a witness to what transpired. I try not to speculate on matters such as these. *** Edited 6/9/2008 12:06:59 AM UTC by Jason Hammond***

Great post Gator and also a great reply Jeff.

I pretty much agree that enthuisast for the most part behave better on rides than the GP. I've witnessed this hundreds of times from the teens riding with us on a raft ride standing to miss a wave to the GP standing on both Magnum and Gemini at CP.

Jeff, Obnoxious and geeks are two different things. I've met a few I wouldn't generally associate with but the majority I've met we wouldn't know each other and find things to talk about to each other for hours..

I totally don't agree with this smell of alchohol thing. If they smell of alcohol, Ask them a question.

"HOW ARE YOU DOING?" if they answer clearly, "FINE Thank You." then move on. If they are slurring or unattentive then something should probably be done.

The problem with taking your belt off before hand is they can't tell when you did it. *CLARIFICATION* something like a sign like Shivering Timbers has. "ANYONE RETURNING TO THE STATION WITHOUT A SEATBELT BUCKLED WILL BE EJECTED! NO EXCEPTIONS!"

Of course I've had my belt come undone before, Not at HW though.

Thats kinda standard practice by Id probably say over a third of all riders that the ride is over. Just clarify and there will be no problem.

Were also the ones who will buckle the adjacent belt pull the bar down and help operators when we can.

Having strict checks doesn't bother me. You wanna do the belts then bars, Thats fine with me. Just don't pull me off and give me a citation after TWICE you said I was ok to ride.

Chuck, double signing to annoy Jeff :) J/K I forget sometimes that I have a signature locked in.

Speaking of which Chuck, your sig is missing a "G". "Please leave comments ood or bad to know it was worth it" Is that one of those "irony" things, or was it just a mistake? *** Edited 6/9/2008 12:24:57 AM UTC by Jason Hammond***

---

Lord Gonchar said:

June 6th will forever be "Kick Gonch In The Nuts Day"

---

Is there ERT involved on that day? :)

*** Edited 6/13/2008 8:28:18 AM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***

Back off, sista!

You cannot imagine how annoyed I get with the people on B:TR (both at GAdv. and oT) and Medusa who insist on flapping the seat belt release thing in the final brakes. I don't get the appeal, but it drives me nuts. It's a good thing I'm restrained at the time.

My point: Many people release their belts before they get to the final station.

IMO, releasing seat belts while entering the station shortens loading/unloading time, and increases capacity.

If you clearly see someone releasing their seat belt while entering the station, you at least know that it was fastened until that point.

---

Charles Nungester said:

I totally don't agree with this smell of alchohol thing. If they smell of alcohol, Ask them a question.

"HOW ARE YOU DOING?" if they answer clearly, "FINE Thank You." then move on. If they are slurring or unattentive then something should probably be done.

---

Quoted For Truth. Basically you're agreeing with my point. I posted in my comment that according to the security guards, I passed a "field sobriety test" of sorts, as after talking with me, agreed that I didn't appear drunk at all.

IMO, if you consent to taking a breathalyzer test, you're admitting that you're guilty trying to regain innocence. I'll never get behind the wheel of a car drunk, so I should never have to take one of those.