Official Park Pictures: An Observation

I was looking at a CP brochure today and I noticed something interesting. In every single picture of every single roller coaster in the brochure, NOBODY has their hands up. This is true for brochures from previous years, too. I also noticed this in my Millennium Force poster. The train is right by the bunny hop by the station (the part of the ride where almost EVERYBODY has their hands up) and strangely, everyone is holding on. It looks like CP follows their "Keep your arms down and inside the train" policy even in their own brochures. Are the pictures on their website like this also? What about other parks?

I got my season pass brochure from SFA today and there are plenty of arms up in the coaster photos.

It's for insurance purposes, I assume. Think about it, the "official" rule is Keep All Hands and Arms Down and Inside the Train at All Times. If people on official park photos aren't following rules that doesn't really set a good example for other park patrons.

Ironically enough, on the one Media Day I attended, they encouraged us to put our hands up!

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"Yes if by crestfallen you mean KILL US!" -- Homer J. Simpson

I took part in a Photo Shoot for SoB at PKI last year, and they told us not to put our hands in the air. They had to have the pictures match their safety guidelines.

Very interesting. What made you realize this?

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Thank you for riding America's Roller Coast

I've done Discovery Channel shoots at Cedar Point (I'm the blurry thing in the middle of the train on Millennium Force), and the PR staff does indeed instruct you to keep your hands down. The above posts are correct, they can't take the chance of setting the wrong example. All it takes is the one in a hundred billion chances that someone gets out of the train or something and says, "Well they didn't hold on in the brochure!" They certainly don't need that!

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

Yea, I was also there Jeff. Car 5. Not putting up my hands was one of the hardest things to do. It was a blast either way.

When talking to a ride op on MF, when they said keep your hands down and inside the vehicle, a few of us chuckled. The ride op said they only had to do that for insurance reasons.

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MF Drops-15
SOB Rides-2

Very true, for CP photo shoots for brochures, commercials, etc, you are instructed not to have your hands up. I was in a shoot on Magnum early in '98, and they also told us to smile, and we had to wear "summer" clothes (IE tshirts) with no logos on them, even though it was only about 50 degrees out. Going those speeds with just a tshirt is not a great way to wake up in the morning, I'll tell you what! Yes, it is for safety purposes, that lead by example thing. No problem, and different parks just have different policies.

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Po!nt of View: A different look at Roller Coasters.
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Actually Jeff that DID happen where a park's promotional material was used against them. The park's law firm was hating life. This then became a hot topic with the IAAPA,leading to quite a few "how not to" seminars.

Ah Cedar Point, the park that puts headrest on rides that don't need them.

Glad I went to a Discovery Channel filming last year. They didn't care about were you put your hands, as long as you didn't do something really illegal, like hold on to some one else or something like that.:)

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2001- the year of flight!

No ride needs headrests, really.

They don't serve any useful function.

Wolf said:
"No ride needs headrests, really.

They don't serve any useful function."

You wanna bet? ;)
What is the fascination with putting your hands up on coasters anyway? It scares the dooky out of me!

I've done a couple Discovery Channel Tapings, and they mostly didn't care. They liked it when you were yelling and had your hands up, at Geauga Lake on S:UE. It depends on the park.

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BADNITRUS CHAT ON GIGACOASTERS2K-Read More!
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Wolf you obviously haven't been on a LIM launched coaster. Without a headrest it could break your neck.

I too was on a Discovery Channel shoot, and due to insurance reasons, CP instructed us to keep all hands down. Boy that was hard!!!

How do you get onto these Discovery Channel shoots?

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tom
Webmaster@ http://www.islandguide.8m.com
all about PKI,
the Beasts` Den!!!!!!!!

tom said
"How do you get onto these Discovery Channel shoots?"

That's what I want to know.
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"Does anyone know what type of dog spot is?
A Cedar Pointer!"

Be at the right place at the right time, or be an employee is my guess.

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Randy Hutchinson
You build it, I'll ride it...eventually

Or an ACE or other club member, the designer/webmaster of a couple of the most popular coaster sites on the 'Net, riding coasters every day you get a chance... Of course, I could just be guessing too. *Wink*

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Po!nt of View: A different look at Roller Coasters.
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