INJURED ON JUNIOR/KIDDIE COASTER AT GAD

Yesterday at Great Adventure after riding El Toro, Nitro and Batman, I decided to ride Blackbeard’s Lost Treasure Train b/c the line was short and it was something to do. I’d ridden this once before with a fellow CoasterBuzzer, without incident, so had no reason to anticipate a problem. Coming off the lift hill, I was thrown so violently to the right that it ripped some of the skin off my elbow, causing me to bleed. This incident delayed reloading the train, which was embarrassing, but it is what it is. The problem with Blackbeard for a single rider is that the loosely fitting single position lap bar allows for too much lateral movement. Possibly this could have been prevented by holding on; I hadn’t thought it necessary for a coaster of this type. Anyway, it was hardly a serious injury but was painful. I went to First Aid to get cleaned up and bandaged, then proceeded to Kingda Ka (miraculously, only a 15-minute wait, suggesting that the ride had been closed at some point), hoping that my clutching an ice pack in the loading station would not cause the ride ops to prevent me from riding. No problem, as no-one was paying attention, and no risk of being thrown from side to side in that harness. ( And b/c Zumanjaro was closed the entire time I was at the park, there were no delays in dispatching the KK trains.)

As I said, it’s no big deal; I mention it only as an argument in favour of tight restraints. The bruise on my arm will heal but I will not be rushing back to the park to ride Blackbeard any time soon. And I’m having second thoughts about riding Skull Mountain, as that too has a single position lap bar which is adequate for preventing the rider from falling out of the train but not adequate for keeping the rider firmly in place.

"Hardly a serious injury" and "no big deal" don't warrant an ALL CAPS TITLE.

I can guarantee I've been hurt worse during every day life in the last week than that little bump - but since it didn't happen at [OMG TEH WURST!] Six Flags, I guess it doesn't matter.

edit: Also, this is a coaster designed for smaller riders, so maybe you're just a *bit* taller than the designed demographic, so you feel forces differently. Oh, and you weren't holding on? Suck it up, buttercup.

I wonder how many people would have called a lawyer instead of posting on a forum.

I think you better call Saul.

I always put titles in upper case; just a habit of mine which has no significance.

So Raven-Phile is not a fan of Six Flags. To each his own; I happen to love that park. Only once have I had an unpleasant encounter with a staff member - security guard the day after Zumanjaro opened. Told him I was working on a story for a website and he said that if I used his photograph, he'd sue me. That prompted me to contact the PR dept. to see if it was OK to use photo I shot of ride op loading ride; they gave me a green light. Except for security guard, team members have been easy to deal with. And I run into some fun people there, like the group of guys with whom I rode El Toro yesterday. They wanted to know whether the El Toro tattoo on my leg was real and screamed their heads off during the ride. There is certainly room for improvement at the park; for one thing, the C train on Nitro needs new wheels but the powers that be evidently don't want to make the investment.

You might want to take your sarcasm detector in for some repairs. ;)

Uh...

Why didn't they make you double up with someone one the ride?

Bobbie1951 said:

So Raven-Phile is not a fan of Six Flags. To each his own;

Welp. I'm facepalming so hard right now, it hurts.

ALL CAPS IS THE EQUIVALENT OF SHOUTING ON THE INTERNET.

Could you repeat that sonny? I'm deaf in one ear and can't see out the other.

sirloindude said:

You might want to take your sarcasm detector in for some repairs. ;)

koolcat1101 said:

Uh...

Why didn't they make you double up with someone one the ride?

Because it's not necessary? I rode it once with a friend of mine right when the park opened. We each took a seat in a separate car, and we were the only ones on the train...which is approximately 472 cars long. And it's a kiddie coaster.

This is amazing. Usually enthusiasts are complaining about coasters that have tight lap bars and no single-rider policies. Here we have a thread where the complete opposite is true. On a kiddie coaster, no less.

The way I see it, if I have the gall to be on a kiddie coaster in the first place and my age is a two-digit number, then if I get hurt, I get hurt. I've had uncomfortable experiences on kiddie coasters before, and right before I complained about it, I remembered I was on a kiddie coaster. These things aren't designed with adults as the key demographic.

See, this would be my reasoning for not complaining...

sirloindude said:

right before I complained about it, I remembered I was on a kiddie coaster. I wouldn't want anyone to know that I just rode a kiddie coaster, much less injured myself on it.

I've always loved watching Blackbeard and coasters like it *because* of the insanely long trains. It looks like a snake, or something.

Learn from your mistakes. Prepare for the lateral forces on the first drop of that ride the next time. It's a really fun ride for the size.

I don't consider the Zierer Tivoli coasters to be a kiddie ride, and this is the largest of their standard production models. While its classified as "junior", I think it falls more in the "family" category, or a ride that can be enjoyed comfortably by adults and youngsters alike.
I've been on two of these. This blamed ride, only once for a credit, and more often the one that ran at Geauga. (which I tried to get a spin on every time I went there.) Those that have been on them should remember a couple of things. The seat backs are straight up and down rigid, the seats are also hard with no padding, and are of a size so that adults can ride with kids or with each other and actually fit. The layout and the long train make the ride fast and fun. Those are among the features that elevate the ride to above the kiddie standard, but are also features that seem a little less than cautious. As much as I enjoy these rides, I do recall riding single and feeling the need to grab onto something to keep myself as still as possible on that slippery seat. I never cut my arm off, though.

We should also remember that this story was told to us by Calamity Ja-.... er, I mean our Bobbie who continuously supplies us with story after story about how she is taken by unfortunate surprise- and usually by rides, policies, or conditions in her very own home park. No disrespect, but how she can be so consistently observant yet clueless at the same time is a constant source of entertainment for me, and I can't wait for the next report.

I should have known I'd be called out on a classification technicality. Kiddie, junior, family, toddler, tot, youth, brat coaster...semantics in this case. My point remains...which was tongue-in-cheek, anyway.

I was initially tempted to call this a kiddie coaster but Wikipedia called it a junior coaster for exactly the reasons that RCMAC mentioned (not that Wikipedia is always right). I predicted he would refer to me as Calamity Jane if he read this post! At least he credited me with being observant. I must admit to being in some ways clueless. The reason I got into a hassle with a security guard is that I was hanging around Zumanjaro with the intention of interviewing park guests, as I thought it would be interesting to get some feedback from other people. That's when I was told that I cannot interview park guests about rides without the park's permission. Lesson no. 1 zillion. And on a Sunday there was no-one around to give me permission although it didn't matter anyway b/c before I learned what the park's policy is, I had approached a number of people and couldn't find anyone who was willing to talk on camera. This surprised me. I have such definite opinions about rides that I would talk on camera about a ride with anyone at any time if asked to do so.

Vater's comment re people complaining about restraints being too tight is interesting. I am the exact opposite. The restraints are rarely tight enough to make me feel safe. I feel comfortable only when I can't move anything other than my head, arms and legs. The restraints on El Toro suit me to a T and I feel comfortable with the ones on Batman and KK. Nitro and Bizarro could be tighter. I don't like the fact that there are several inches between me and the lap bar part of the harness on Bizarro but b/c I can feel the restraints tighten going into the vertical loop I've learned to deal with it. For me Runaway Train has the same issues as Blackbeard and Skull Mountain but on that one an injury would more likely be to the legs than to the arms so I brace myself as hard as I can with my feet.

Yes, Travis, I will learn from my mistakes and be prepared for the lateral forces on the first drop - or wear padding, or ride with someone who's overweight and heavily padded.