Ride Op Horror Stories

I've heard of them, you've heard of them, I'm sure everyone has heard of at least one ride op who had done something crazy/stupid/ scary while running the ride. Ranging from drinking on the job, to hopping on the ride while in motion. Everyone has their share of scares/expierences. I would think it would be interesting if some of you could share your incidents of Ride Op. scares
Thanks!
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EBeth

Legendary had better keep his mouth shut.

You too, rollergator.

;)

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Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

An op at WA almost launched some riders last year on the Double Shot without having the harnesses down....

But then there was the Op named Chris at SFStL *attempting* to destroy the brakes on Eagle...greatly annoying both guests and fellow employees, not to mention the extra wear-and-tear on a multi-million dollar machine....first time I've ever *asked* for someone to be fired from a park...he THOUGHT he was being funny...but he was wrong.

edit: I don't really remember anything from SFoG, GP....well, 'cept the girl who said NO glasses on Acro....but that wasn't really much of anything, just her being *too cautious*...
*** This post was edited by rollergator 6/11/2003 3:17:32 PM ***

I've seen an op ride the running board on a woodie to the top of the lift, then hop off while the train was in motion.

I've also had a ride op dispatch a chute the chute with the front lap bar raised. Not deliberately.

The ride ops on Cedar Downs hop onto the (really fast) moving platform all the time.

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

Jim,

That actually happens fairly often (usually with inexperience employees, of course). At SFOG, the operator/attendent's test for the Great Gasp requires that you know what to do in such a situation.

I believe if it is above a certain height, you are supposed to let the ride continue its cycle. I mean, imagine stopping a chute 150 feet up. A guest could seriously freak out if it stopped in that position and do more damage to themselves than simply letting the chute come back down.

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Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

My brother told me of a friend he had years ago who used to operate Big Bad Wolf. After closing, he would stand in the very back car and bear hug the vertical column that attaches the car to the wheel assemblies, and take it for a spin.

Quite the lunatic, if you ask me.

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-Mike B.
Son of Hulk

rollergator said:

But then there was the Op named Chris at SFStL *attempting* to destroy the brakes on Eagle...greatly annoying both guests and fellow employees, not to mention the extra wear-and-tear on a multi-million dollar machine....first time I've ever *asked* for someone to be fired from a park...he THOUGHT he was being funny...but he was wrong.

What was he doing?
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--George H
---Currency tracking experiment... http://www.wheresgeorge.com (Referring to The "George" on the $1 bill - Not Me)

*** This post was edited by redman822 6/11/2003 3:44:18 PM ***

Bill... I, on the other hand, know of several "employees-only" horror stories. ;)

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Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Oooh boy, I'd better not go there either. Although I did use a landscaping hose to water down passing rafts on Rip Roaring Rapids.

As far as having something go terribly wrong, aside from raft flips, etc, I did have Orleans' Orbit blow a hydraulic hose while the ride was raising. The wheel and arm assembly fell and hot hydraulic fluid sprayed the guests as the wheel continued to spin. The wheel didn't stop spinning for several minutes. The security guards tried to stop it manually, but the pool of hydraulic fluid had them slipping and sliding. Several people went to the hostpital. Nasty evening. Had a case of the shakes.

When you are operating a ride for a couple hours straight and then BLAM!!! Chaos!!!...you're lucky you don't need a change of shorts.

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"It's not a Too-mah!" - Arnold after riding Batman the Ride

George, instead of allowing the train to *coast* in from the holding brakes, he was *slamming* them on and off kinda like the idiot in the car commercial trying to spill coffee on his "friend". While the other ops are quite insistently saying "Stop doing that", the riders were complaining, and those waiting, namely us, were telling him what a jerk he was being....ah, well...HE thought he was funny, and I guess that was what was important to him...

Eh... watching 2 ride ops on a go-kart track standing inside the metal rails all day as the karts wizzed by a foot or two away. Wouldn't take much for an amputation.

Not real exciting, I know... but it's the quiet small things that can really mess things up.
*** This post was edited by Strijder 6/11/2003 4:19:16 PM ***

I have seen two scary things at 'The Lawsuit Waiting to Happen,' otherwise known as Big Chief's Carts and Coasters.

- Ops on Zeus allowing 'no click rides.' Yes, these kids were dispatching trains with lap bars fully open.

- Ops on Cyclops daring my friend Tom and I to ride in the back seat without our seat belt for 'a really fun ride.' No thanks.

Hmmm....I have too many to make a complete list but here are a few:

Watching a op ride the Monsoon boat up the lift then jumping over the left side to take the lift position...his excuse was that he was tired and didn't feel like walking all the way up.

Two op's playing chicken with the scrambler (when it was in Scandi). One lost and got nailed by the car.

Ride op using a coke cup to jam the joystick for Skyliner (ferris wheel) in position so he wouldn't have to hold onto it...then walking away to get a drink. (and this was done by one of our fellow buzzer's...you know who you are!)

Ride op diving into the Monsoon station area to retrieve the height stick he dropped while the ride was operating.

And to think, those are only a few...

GP: This particular chute was 100' tall and totally buries itself when it hits the water. It would have a good chance of ejection without the restraints. I don't know if it has a bar position check on the lift or not. We only moved about 10' before everyone hollered and the ops E-stopped the ride.

OH, crap. I read right over "chute-the-chute." I thought you were talking about parachute drops, not water rides. ;)

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Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

At SFGAm one ride op on Demon kept playing the " welcome to the Demon..." recording like 5 times in a row, and said "this is my favorite rap". He thought it was funny, but I didn't I thought it was stupid.

Also, one ride op on the American Eagle at SFGAm hopped on the train while it was in motion.

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Shockwave @ SFGAm R.I.P 1988-2002
Top 5 Coasters at SFGAm 1)S:UF 2)RB 3) DV 4)V2 5)Viper
Total number of coasters ridden=43

janfrederick said:
Oooh boy, I'd better not go there either. Although I did use a landscaping hose to water down passing rafts on Rip Roaring Rapids.
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"It's not a Too-mah!" - Arnold after riding Batman the Ride

LOL

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Shockwave @ SFGAm R.I.P 1988-2002
Top 5 Coasters at SFGAm 1)S:UF 2)RB 3) DV 4)V2 5)Viper
Total number of coasters ridden=43

General Public said:
Legendary had better keep his mouth shut.
You too, rollergator.
;)
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Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
O.o What's the hush-hush all about? ;)

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EBeth

I was at PKI on the Beast a few weeks ago, and, the driver slammed the station brakes really hard just as the train was leaving the station, pretty big jolt
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