New Policies on NTG

So I rode New Texas Giant for the first time since the accident last summer. The seat belts don't affect the ride, which is great. A couple of other changes:

a) The MCBR ran wide open. Not even a tap. The beginning part of the second half felt quite a bit faster.

b) No single riders in the last row. I have no idea why.

c) Everyone (I mean literally, everyone) has to try the test seat before boarding. The manager was standing around spieling about how it decreases load time in the station because they don't have to worry about trying to fit people in the station. However, they also allowed loose articles which IMO hurts capacity even more. The 2 trains were stacking pretty consistently.

d) There are zipper pouches in the ride vehicles now. I guess this helps with the loose articles, though there were still large numbers of people crossing the train with bags, sports bottles etc. Also, I saw some people take their articles out of the pouches on the way up to the lift to take pictures or whatever. It struck me as a terrible idea.

The weird thing is that Disney rides have those pouches, and frankly you can bring backpacks on their coasters if you so desire (I've taken my large camera "slingshot" bag on Space Mountain and Rock-n-Rollercoaster). I generally get the safety goal of loose articles, but I can't put my finger on why they almost don't exist at WDW.

I seem to remember those kind of pouches on one of the Top Spin type rides. I want to say it was Tomb Raider at KI. Anyone confirm?

The two riders in the last loaded seat rule was in place when I worked at SFOT in the mid-90s. The idea was that there would always be 2 riders that could see every rider in the train. For the same reason, you couldn't ride any flat ride or ride unit alone. It was always explained to ride operators as an insurance requirement. In my 6 years at the park, I can count on one hand the number of times someone complained about it. Kind of silly, maybe, especially since the rule went away after in the early-2000s. It came back at some point since the accident last summer.

I thought the loose article pouches were in place before the accident. I remember seeing them when I rode during the second season after the ride was rebuilt.

I heard about the test seat policy a few weeks ago. I think it's only been in action since the park opened for full time operation and I've heard they're only trying it out for now.

Mike Gallagher said:
I seem to remember those kind of pouches on one of the Top Spin type rides. I want to say it was Tomb Raider at KI. Anyone confirm?

I can. That is correct. I liked 'em.

It is definitely an old Six Flags management (Harold Hudson) operational policy to require two riders in the last row of all coasters for the exact reason stated. At the time I want to say they also required two riders in the front row as well, but I could be wrong/bad memory on this. When Shockwave opened at SFGA in 1988 I vividly remember being a single rider waiting for the last row and being forced to move or find a riding partner due to that policy.

Anyone notice if this has been re-instituted on other rides or at other SF parks?

Mike Gallagher said:

I seem to remember those kind of pouches on one of the Top Spin type rides. I want to say it was Tomb Raider at KI. Anyone confirm?

Yes and they varied over the years. I can't recall all the different ones, but I remember that eventually (maybe 2004 on) they were replaced with pouches with very large zippers.