Unfortunate Ride Design

Not sure if worth a news post, but definitely an interesting case of context being everything. Can't think of a similar situation where a redesign happened due to aesthetics.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/20/german-theme-park-force...swastikas/

I saw this and think it’s so strange. And not because I recommend the use of swastikas, but because it was clearly an unintentional use. Like a not-so-friendly hidden Mickey.

But they don’t play around with stuff like that, in fact it’s punishable by law, and that’s certainly understandable. What may be stranger is that they claim to have ordered the configuration from manufacturer sketches. I’d need to see and ride a ride before I’d sign.

Anyway, better safe than sorry in this case.

I thought about posting this as news, but decided not to. I can't understand how something like this comes into being without anyone noticing until it's an actual, physical thing. In Germany.

I''m not an avid doodler, but I realize when I'm about to accidentally doodle a swastika, and change it immediately. Surly the manufacturer knew that there were swastikas in the ride's design. Surly, the plans for this ride made it easy to see.

Either the manufacturer didn't think it was a big deal, or they did it on purpose for whatever reason.

As I stare at the photo in the story, the creative person inside me wants to figure out a way to redesign the ride to remove the offending symbol. The park's solution decreases capacity, but it works...

"Braun said the ride would be redesigned. “There will be only three instead of four two-person gondolas per axle,” he said, adding that half the cost of the revamp would be paid by the ride’s Italian manufacturer."

I'd be interested to see the ride manufacturer's sketches.

I wonder what pictures moronic kids would take on this ride and then post to their Instagrams. So weird that both these stories surfaced at the same time.

LostKause said:

Surly the manufacturer knew that there were swastikas in the ride's design. Surly, the plans for this ride made it easy to see.

Hey, Surly only looks out for one guy: SURLY.

Sounds like the customers were rather surly about it.

Don't call me Shirley.

Are you serious?