What part of "you can't bring that on the ride don't you understand?" Six Flags SGTs

[dancinghomer]

So yesterday (Saturday the 7th), my buddy and I decided to go to Six Flags and all I can say is “wow, people sure were stupid” based on what I saw. I knew it was gonna be a bad day at the parks knowing the following two things: it was a Saturday and the projected high temperature was 98 degrees, but we decided to go anyways since we got tickets for $30, and my friend is moving for 3 months because he is needed at a different location for his job.

Six Flags has a new policy where anything that can be stored in cargo pockets must be placed in a locker before getting into the line for the coasters. This was done to help speed up the load and dispatch time of the coaster trains, which I did notice that the average time to send a train out had decreased, so the policy is working. Well, it works until you get the SGs. Yesterday in the 6 hours we were at the park, I saw 10 groups of the following scenario: group of 4+ people enter the queue line as a big mob so the greeter at the queue entrance can’t fully see if the person is carrying around anything that can’t be stored and not let them in the line, so when they get to the boarding area they are not allowed onto the train. I was thrilled to see the ride operators standing their ground and kicking them out of the line for not following policy no matter what the people were saying. Of course every other word these people were saying was profanity.

There was one time where I did see a parent who was properly raising their kid. My friend and I were in line for the newer of the wooden coasters where the queue has areas where they have erected canopies to provide shade while you wait. There were these 2 girls standing in line behind us and all of a sudden this gap just keeps getting bigger and bigger because they did not want to leave the shade and continue walking forward, even though had they continued to stay right behind me they would have been back in the shade in about 20 seconds. They started stating loudly that they were not gonna move forward or let other people get ahead of them until the people behind them let their friend join them who still had not entered the line, even though at this point we were in the line for at least 25 minutes. This lady who had her 8 year old daughter with her flagged over one of the Six Flags employees walking the sides of the line selling drinks and asked him to call security because they were trying to get a line jumper in the line with them and for not moving forward (of course nothing happened because he didn’t see it). These girls just started chewing the woman out as well as a bunch of people who were behind them in the line and some people who were farther up in the line. In the end, the line-jumper ended up joining the line, but karma provided justice. About 10 minutes later, the ride started having technical difficulties and broke down. An employee walking down the exit informed everyone in the line that the ride would be down for at least 15 minutes and these girls and the line jumper immediately left the line. So now this lady and her 8-year old daughter were right behind me. During this downtime we started talking and I made sure to commend her on how she was raising her daughter correctly by following the rules. You could tell she was surprised to hear it based on the comments yelled at her that I mentioned earlier.

The other big thing I noticed was that most people don’t listen to their body when out in the direct sunlight and high heat. So many people was getting dizzy and falling over because their bodies were being de-hydrated because they refused to get out of the lines when they started to feel sick. I took myself out the lines a couple times to go cool my body down and get some water in my system, but some people are just too stubborn and stupid to do that.

As the day went out, it was just getting worse, so by the time we left at 4, the 5 biggest coasters in the park were all down. 4 of them were down to technical difficulties and 1 was down due to part of the lift was getting replaced.

[Syndrome]

As the day went out, it was just getting worse, so by the time we left at 4, the 5 biggest coasters in the park were all down. 4 of them were down to technical difficulties and 1 was down due to part of the lift was getting replaced.
I'm not surprised. After following the investigations and lawsuit over that poor kid whose feet got cut off at SF Kentucky Kingdom, I will never trust SF ride maintenance again. Rather than oiling the cables as they were supposed to, they were actually putting corn starch on them to counteract the oil they were getting on 'em from the main part of the ride! They never once oiled the cables, nor did they ever once check them in the manner described in the ride's operations manual. A totally preventable accident, huge amounts of evidence against them, yet they are still fighting in court...geez, give that poor girl a multi-million dollar settlement and be done with it. They're gonna lost a lot more in reputation with all the blatant negligence that's coming out.

[NessaMcTastic]

I haven't been to Six Flags Great Adventure here in NJ in a very long time but after going to WDW and then going to GA, well...Six Flags just doesn't compare. I felt a lot safer (and more entertained!) on the rides at WDW than at Six Flags. Syndrome, I totally agree. After reading that article I decided that never again will I go on any of the rides at any Six Flags. The workers act like they don't care and it shows in their customer care and in the care they put into the park.

[Freak]

Pfft, Six Flags Maintenance is probably one step below Knott's. While I don't trust either Six Flags or Knott's (just from personal experience, I knew more about my ride than my mechanics did!:confused:), I find it totally idiotic that you would try to counteract lubrication of a ride. Freakin' morons! Oh well, it's not like they didn't do that at Xcelerator, Screamin' Swing or Mine Ride or anything.:eek:

[felinefan]

Just wait, sooner or later they'll start doing that too, as cheap as they are.And when an accident happens, they'll scream even louder than SF did that it's not their fault. I mean, they recently had a woman who broke her neck on Ghostrider, and they claimed she went on it with the neck already broken! It's on themeparkinsider.com, under "alleged incidents".

[Shorty82]

The last time I went to a Six Flags was years ago to the one in New Orleans (formerly JazzLand). That place was dirty! A good bit of litter, petrified gum all over the walkways, nasty bathrooms. One bathroom was so bad upon leaving it I immediately found and told a custodian and she didn't care. Alright, so she couldn't clean it herself as it was the men's room but what she should have done is get hold of a male custodian to clean it, not blow me off.

Disney goes above and beyond on keeping the parks clean and safe. A lot of hard work goes into keeping the attractions safe. AFAIK all guests who were killed or injured on a Disney attraction were doing something stupid they shouldn't be doing.

[felinefan]

If you go over to the site www.themeparkinsider.com, and read the ride accident reports, you'd be right most of the time. I think they have links to other ride incident reports from around the world and here in the U.S..

[Syndrome]

Disney goes above and beyond on keeping the parks clean and safe. A lot of hard work goes into keeping the attractions safe. AFAIK all guests who were killed or injured on a Disney attraction were doing something stupid they shouldn't be doing.
Yup, the only two I can think of that were not directly attributable to SGs (or Gs with hidden medical conditions) were BTMRR and Columbia, and both of those were at DL, not WDW. Other than those, I can't think of one incident where the finger couldn't point directly at some type of guest fault.

But of course the way the Slantinel and the Orlando TV stations portray it, a person could enter the Magic Kingdom in a body cast with their head half chopped off, tie themselves to the Wedway track with a suicide note tacked to their chest, and bleed to death from the pre-existing neck wound before the ride vehicle hit them and it would still be reported with the implication that Disney was somehow at fault.

[smart1hermione]

Disney goes above and beyond on keeping the parks clean and safe. A lot of hard work goes into keeping the attractions safe. AFAIK all guests who were killed or injured on a Disney attraction were doing something stupid they shouldn't be doing.

I totally agree with you. Disney is by far the best example of theme park in the USA.

For the most part, deaths and injuries at Disney have been incurred by stupid acts (*cough* Grad Nite) or pre-existing conditions. But Disney's had its fair share of blame too, for instance, the CM who was crushed between revolving corridors in America Sings, the Thunder Mountain fatality, and the little boy who slipped under the restraint on Roger Rabbit.

I think a lot of people come to amusement parks and leave their common sense at the door, expecting guardian angels or whatnot. If you listen to the rules and just use your head, then even the "act of God" accidents will decline.

[Ms. Matterhorn]

AFAIK all guests who were killed or injured on a Disney attraction were doing something stupid they shouldn't be doing.

That's not entirely accurate. While most of the fatalities at DLR were caused by the guest doing something stupid, not all were so. The accident at DLR in 1998 in which a guest was killed by a cleat which tore loose from the Columbia Sailing Ship was due to the wrong kind of rope being used and a poorly trained manager working the dock. The accident on Big Thunder in 2003 which killed a man was found to be due to improper maintenance.

[lady ulrike]

and the little boy who slipped under the restraint on Roger Rabbit.


Sorry, I have to dispute this one, I know someone who worked the attraction when this happened and the kid was found between the two attached cars, not to the side of the car where it was plausible that he slipped out, but right smack in the middle of the two connected cars.

The kid was upset when the car was dispatched and the best that can be figured out is that one parent tried to pass the child to the parent in the other car. This comes from a very reliable eyewitness.

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Sorry, I have to dispute this one, I know someone who worked the attraction when this happened and the kid was found between the two attached cars, not to the side of the car where it was plausible that he slipped out, but right smack in the middle of the two connected cars.

The kid was upset when the car was dispatched and the best that can be figured out is that one parent tried to pass the child to the parent in the other car. This comes from a very reliable eyewitness.

That goes beyond SGism into the realm of "what the heck were they thinking?" (you also have to seriously question their abaility to safely raise kids!!) Sheeeesh!

[SRT_GB]

Sorry, I have to dispute this one, I know someone who worked the attraction when this happened and the kid was found between the two attached cars, not to the side of the car where it was plausible that he slipped out, but right smack in the middle of the two connected cars.

The kid was upset when the car was dispatched and the best that can be figured out is that one parent tried to pass the child to the parent in the other car. This comes from a very reliable eyewitness.I haven't been on Roger Rabbit in quite some time, but I remember being able to rotate those cars. So in theory the door opening could have been to the side between the two joined cars. Am I wrong?

I didn't really care who was at fault in that accident, what irked me the most about it was that with all the bad publicity DLR got in the aftermath, they told the media that all emergency calls would start going to 911. But what they didn't tell the media was that CMs calling 911 would still be connected to the same internal emergency response system that the old 4204 number connected us to. I suppose having 911 available helped us remember where to call in an emergency, but I think the real change happened a year later when DLR started paying to have AFD paramedics on site 24/7 and bought emergency response vehicles for them to use on property.

Regardless, I still feel much safer on any Disney ride/attraction than at fair or carnival rides. Lots of my wife's family worked at Magic Mountain and they could tell you it's gone down the tubes since Six Flags took over. OTOH SF sold its park near Seattle last year and it's doing a bit better now since the new owners market it differently. Around the time they sold it I read that SF became a victim of its own aggressive growth-by-acquisition business plan and too many of the parks they acquired became liabilities.

[Rob562]

That goes beyond SGism into the realm of "what the heck were they thinking?" (you also have to seriously question their abaility to safely raise kids!!) Sheeeesh!


Something similar happened on Spaceship Earth a few years ago.
Kids were in the front seat of the car, parents in the back seat. Heading up the first incline in the darkness, the youngest kid starts getting scared. Dad stands up (still on the rather steep incline in the dark), reaches over and tries to lift the kid up and over the seatback into the back seat. Kid slips from his grasp and falls out of the car and gets his leg run over/pinned by the car...

-Rob

[Princess Susi]

In Denver, we have a Park called Elitches which started as a family run amusement Park many, many years ago and then Six Flags bought it and for years it was Six Flags Elitches. Just recently Six Flags sold it and now it is no longer a Six Flags and I can go there.;)
They were trying to bring in all these shows and characters when it was Six Flags and trying to copy Disney Parks, it was so obvious. They never went over and I think that is why Six Flags got out of Elitches.

They have a water park there too. We also have another water park called Water World, (duh!) up here by us in the burbs. It is about 6 blocks from us! They have a cool wave pool there I want to try out this week before my surgery. I won't be able to do anything after that so Water World here I come!:drown:sharkbait
The swimming Princess

[Shorty82]

They were trying to bring in all these shows and characters when it was Six Flags and trying to copy Disney Parks, it was so obvious. They never went over and I think that is why Six Flags got out of Elitches.

Six Flags has tried copying Disney before and they have always failed. They, and most other amusement parks out there, just can't meet the high standards of Disney Parks and the imaginations of the Imaginer's.

They have a water park there too. We also have another water park called Water World, (duh!) up here by us in the burbs. It is about 6 blocks from us! They have a cool wave pool there I want to try out this week before my surgery. I won't be able to do anything after that so Water World here I come!:drown:sharkbait
The swimming Princess

When I went to Typhoon Lagoon last week I was impressed by their wave pool. I have never seen anything like it before.

[BRWombat]

In Denver, we have a Park called Elitches which started as a family run amusement Park many, many years ago and then Six Flags bought it and for years it was Six Flags Elitches. Just recently Six Flags sold it and now it is no longer a Six Flags and I can go there.;)
They were trying to bring in all these shows and characters when it was Six Flags and trying to copy Disney Parks, it was so obvious. They never went over and I think that is why Six Flags got out of Elitches....I was just thinking of Elitches this morning. When I first saw the "new" Elitches in downtown Denver, I couldn't help but wonder what they were thinking. The old location on 38th was wonderful -- tree-filled, closer to the mountains, lots of character... just a classic old-school amusement park. (Aren't I right in remembering that the Wildcat was like the third oldest roller coaster in America?)

The new spot is just another soulless, generic Six Flags ho-hum ride collection. :( Whatever it calls itself, to me it is not and never will be Elitch Gardens.

[Syndrome]

When I went to Typhoon Lagoon last week I was impressed by their wave pool. I have never seen anything like it before.
Before Mr. Syndrome had ever been to WDW, I tried to explain TL's pool to him and he just didn't get it. Virtually every other water park has an "agitation" pool vs. REAL waves like TL. Now that we live here, he loves to go over there in the evenings when the crowds are thinning and swim in the wave pool. Nothing like it for sure!

[felinefan]

From what I recall of the incident on Roger Rabbit, the little boy wasn't supposed to be seated next to the cutout door of the ride unit, but was anyway. During the ride, the stuffed animal he was holding fell out, and he leaned out the cutout door to retrieve it. In so doing, he fell out and was pinned under the ride for several minutes before being rescued. I'm getting this from newspaper reports of the accident. Had an adult been seated by the door and not the child, and had the toy bbeen stowed somewhere during the ride cycle, the accident wouldn't have happened.
I remember when I was interviewing for the job at Knott's, it was a recent event, and during the course of the interview, while talking about the issue of ride safety, I brought up the incident. The interviewer, I forget his name, but at the time he looked a bit like Mr. Disney, remarked that a friend of his was operating Roger Rabbit when the incident occurred, and really traumatized him.

[Shorty82]

Before Mr. Syndrome had ever been to WDW, I tried to explain TL's pool to him and he just didn't get it. Virtually every other water park has an "agitation" pool vs. REAL waves like TL. Now that we live here, he loves to go over there in the evenings when the crowds are thinning and swim in the wave pool. Nothing like it for sure!

I didn't understand what was so good about TL's wave pool until I saw it for myself. Naturally I'd heard of it and all but didn't understand what the big deal was until I saw the first wave for myself and my jaw dropped.

[hobie16]

Wave pool? Wave pool! We don't need no stinkin' wave pool!!!

http://www.zannel.com/webservices/content/AVU15G8DPH/Image-568x440-JPG.jpg

http://www.pdmaui.com/onlinestore/photography/jaws_solo%20(Medium).jpg

http://peahipointmaui.com/images/jaws_2018_c4nb.jpg

[Rob562]

For those who are interested in the behind-the-scenes mechanics of the TL wave pool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5ges4Amqoo

(Ever notice that just before each wave, the wave pool sounds like the first moments of a giant toilet flushing?) :p:

-Rob

[lady ulrike]

I haven't been on Roger Rabbit in quite some time, but I remember being able to rotate those cars. So in theory the door opening could have been to the side between the two joined cars. Am I wrong?


It's true that you can rotate the cars, but not immediately and the accident occurred within the first couple zones of the attraction.

And Feline Fan, yes that's what the parents claimed that the toy fell out and the kid tried to get it, but like I said the evidence points elsewhere from what I've been told.

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

For those who are interested in the behind-the-scenes mechanics of the TL wave pool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5ges4Amqoo

(Ever notice that just before each wave, the wave pool sounds like the first moments of a giant toilet flushing?) :p:

-Rob

Hmnm, Kinda makes you wonder about Disneys "recycle" program!!!