Windseeker move from Knott's to Worlds of Fun prompted in part by ladder dispute
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[Ed. note: Seemingly lost from these news stories is the fact that no one has been hurt on these rides, guests or maintenance workers. While any stoppage of the ride off the ground is certainly scary, it isn't necessarily dangerous. It seems the press is not willing to concede that point. -J]
Cedar Fair is moving the Windseeker ride from Knott's Berry Farm to Worlds of Fun in part because of a dispute with CalOSHA about maintenance ladder requirements. Cedar Fair, which owns several WindSeeker rides, announced a week ago that it would move the ride.
Read more from The Kansas City Star.
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So much stuff doesn't make sense here. The issue is the type of ladder? Ok, but wouldn't they notice that before they allowed the ride to open in the first place.
And what about Vertical Velocity at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom which has had the same type of "single rail" ladder for 13 years now?
2012 SFGAm Visits: 26 2012 Season Whizzer Rides: 84 X Flight Rides: 91
Notice that moving the ride to "flyover country" means it can operate as is...
Also note that Adventureland (IA) is putting up a Windseeker.
There really are no surprises here (other than Adventureland passing up the seemingly more reliable Funtime ride)...
Maybe the single rail thing has something to do with the height? Windseeker must be twice as tall as V2.
I was thinking that this could be a result of liability at the other parks.
If a maintenance man falls at one of the not California parks and gets hurt.
Some lawyer will sue and say they did not make the changes park-wide because they are cheap and it hurt this guy.
As I said in another (private) forum:
...California decided that the maintenance ladders on both the inside and outside of the tower are unsafe. These ladders have a single center beam to which a fall arrest climbing device is permanently attached, with rungs sticking out from both sides. Note that the ride operated at Knott's for several months with this sort of ladder (remember, I rode it!) and others have identified other rides in the state which are equipped with similar ladders. I'm not sure about the interior ladders, I know there are landings inside the tower, and I thought those ladders had outside rails.
But in my opinion, this isn't about ladders at all. California was unhappy that there was no evacuation method, so Mondial addressed that concern with the ridiculous evacuation baskets. So California came up with another reason to close the ride. A skilled welder could probably retrofit the ladder to meet the new requirement, but what would it matter? Odds are that California would figure out some other reason not to open the ride. The safe money says that California wants that ride gone, and Cedar Fair is smart enough not to argue. Knott's loss is Worlds of Fun's gain.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
/X\ _ *** Respect rides. They do not respect you. ***
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