SF-Atlanta

I just got back from a little tour of duty, so to speak, that included Atlanta and most of the Orlando parks.

I won't bore you with the details of Orlando, but there was one interesting little tidbit that happened in Atlanta. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

My first ride was the Georgia Scorcher. I mentioned to my coaster mate that none of the kids were being measured and some of them looked very borderline to me. She agreed, but this didn't really affect her the way it did me.

Much later in the day, we were standing in line for Ninja. An Op made an announcement that they were shutting down the coaster to add a second train. After a 10 minute interval of testing, they started loading passengers again. The first train left the station and started up the lift hill. About 1/3 of the way up, the train stopped. The mechanics were still on-site having just added the second train and were arguing/debating (hard to tell from where i was standing). Another Op came down the steps with the measuring stick in her hand and proceded to walk up the lift steps. After a few minutes, a superviser came briskly walking to the ride. Now, at this point, I was pretty much in shock, as were the rest of the people in line around me. This surely couldn't be happening.

But it was....they made a boy get out of his seat and be measured ON THE LIFT HILL STEPS!!!

The boy was not more than 4 years old and was clearly not tall enough. The superviser picked the kid up and carried him down the steps and back to the station.

Unreal.

The only other editorial I might make is that Superman is much better in Atlanta than Chicago.

Well, if lil junior would have took a dive into the lake,would you not have agreed with that last scenario?

Granted, you are always safer out then in, walking down the lift is the last thing operations ever wants to do.

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"Step on that lapbar and make it nice and tight!"

Why would they wait until the kid was not only sitting in the train, but halfway up the lift to check his height? Call me a complete idiot, but I always thought it was easier to tell how tall a kid is when he's standing up.

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-Mike Buscema

'No matter how skilled the designer is, every time we push the envelope we learn new things about coaster design.' --Dana Morgan
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Perhaps an ingnorant ride operator decided to let the kid pass, but was caught after the train had left the station? I'm glad that they stopped it on the lift hill. Other wise the child might have been injured.

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"The Mountain Slidewinder. Voted The #1 Non-Rollercoaster Ride in America Amusement Business Magazine, 1991"