Seriously?

HAHA! Good punchline, Whitmore.

Never been hit with anything while on a ride that I can recall, but I did witness a lot of falling cell phones and sunglasses falling from TTD when I worked at Paddlewheel Excursions. They even closed off the area between the boat dock and the tower portion of the coaster to prevent people from getting hit.

Really hope she never reproduced. I am a fan of social darwinism.

LostKause said:

HAHA! Good punchline, Whitmore.

Never been hit with anything while on a ride that I can recall, but I did witness a lot of falling cell phones and sunglasses falling from TTD when I worked at Paddlewheel Excursions. They even closed off the area between the boat dock and the tower portion of the coaster to prevent people from getting hit.

No joke, I was waiting in the Magnum station one day when a phone came flying into the station! I couldn't believe it, but was told its happened a few times at least.

When I worked at Blue Streak in '07 we had a guest bring us a phone that fell from someone's pocket as they went through the loop on Raptor. The phone was cracked all over and so delicately close to actually crumbling, but it still worked! The owner came back for it about an hour later.

The Amusement Safety Organization is obviously the definitive source on real amusement park industries.

Is that the "Amusement Safety Organization (formally club)" that you speak of?

I don't like to call attention to their site, because I think it's a joke, but I just visited it after you mentioned their name and found a video of a pretty startling accident on a shoot-the-chutes ride at Port Aventura.

In fact, I'll link the YouTube video instead.

Vater, wow! Good thing no one appears to be hurt. Could have been a lot worse.

I'm surprised that was a Mack flume. I was all ready to call out the "I" word...

I saw that video a few days ago. It is very interesting. People seem genuinely scared of what is happening. I'm happy no one was hurt.

kpjb said:

Is that the "Amusement Safety Organization (formally club)" that you speak of?

You, sir, are mixing up your CoasterBuzz memes.

I believe you meant to refer to the Coaster Preservation Organization (formly club). ;)

Ah, yes! It's been a while.

I read the article, and I didn't find anything wrong with it. In fact, there is one big factor that was left out of the article, and that is just waiting in line for the rides! If you wait long enough, you can get a serious sunburn. Not to mention all the mindless idiots that think the railings are their personal jungle gym. I can't tell you how many times I have had my hands stepped on, by kids who think they are performing a hire wire act. Waiting for them to dismount, and hit their stupid little heads on the pavement. (A accident waiting to happen.)

Another danger while waiting in line is people who insist on smoking. I once saw a guy light a girls hair on fire with his cigarette, while he gestured to his friends like a tired old drag queen. I have also left Cedar Point with burn holes in the back of my shirt, and had a nice jacket ruined from being burnt in line. There are all kinds of warning signs for people to stop smoking, but they still do it, without care of anyone around them. Even small children, who could easily take a waist high cigarette in the face.

You don't see it often. But, sometime people even fight in the lines, and the shoving match starts. People get knocked down, or punched because there is no place to go to get away from it. Usually punks fighting over a girl, or something really stupid. I encountered that at Cedar Point, while waiting for the mine ride, a bunch of white boys with their pants practically to their knees, fighting over a basket ball. With all kinds of small children around. And, at Great America, where teens were just being total a-holes.

As for the article, I also agree with the dangers of taking kids on rides that they do not want to be on. One lady at Michigan's Adventure was trying to force her daughter to ride Shivering Timbers. It was like watching an episode of Scooby Doo, with the lady trying to force the girl down into the seat, while she cried and kicked and screamed...The guy who worked the ride told her to take her kid and leave. She refused, until he threatened to get security. The whole platform cheered when she left. What a bitch!

So, basically I agree with the article. Parks aren't the problem when it comes to saftey. It's more in the hands of the riders. But, not always. I have seen some accidents. I saw an elderly lady fall off the back of one of the logs on loggers run. The girls working the ride weren't paying attention, and two logs ran into each other in the loading platform, and she fell out while trying to exit. Me and another guy helped her out. Glad she didn't get hurt. With the girls working the ride, just standing there with their mouths open, and did nothing.

Man, you sure seem to witness a lot of accidents and dangerous situations. You must be a superhero or something.

Or Forrest Gump. If it happens, he's there.

No Raven, I have just been unlucky enough to be at the parks when accidents happen. Almost saw a kid drown once at a water park. want to make a joke about that too. I happen to take accidents seriously, and generally care for the safety of others. So, I might just be more observant than someone who doesn't.

Hey, it can happen. Just in my last four or five years, since I've gotten really serious about coasting, I've had to either call park medics or had to help someone out until medics got there many many times. Two were pretty bad, and only one was REALLY bad (possible brain injury guy), but I can imagine where someone may just be unfortunate enough to witness a lot of near misses.

I do think the article is still a bit much though. The hydraulic fluid thing cracked me up.

So, are you, or are you not, a superhero? It's a simple question, really.

But don't we all think of ourselves as superheroes on the inside?

Vater said:

I don't like to call attention to their site, because I think it's a joke, but I just visited it after you mentioned their name and found a video of a pretty startling accident on a shoot-the-chutes ride at Port Aventura.

In fact, I'll link the YouTube video instead.

OMG, the car went off the track and look at all that hydraulic fluid!