Guests in track area! or Hit your E-stop!

All other Theme Park Employees post your stupid guest tricks here. This forum is not for general Theme Park discussion. Please use the Break Room, for non stupid guest trick topics.
Teddykeiko86
Regular Guest
Regular Guest
Posts: 171
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 10:22 pm
Location: LA

Guests in track area! or Hit your E-stop!

Post by Teddykeiko86 » Thu Apr 08, 2010 8:37 pm

Four words I don't like hearing. Usually means the ride has been E-Stopped (lovely) with guests on it ( great!).
Outdoor attraction have major drawbacks. They can not operate in certain weather, and guests find a way into the track (ride) area. Whether hopping fences that say "WARNING" "DANGER: TRAINS CYCLE WITH OUT WARNING" or just walking the off limits perimeter, they get back there.

Usually looking for a phone or hat, they are oblivious to the fact that they are no longer in the park, but on an off-stage area.

I don't get what goes through their minds as they hope a fence ( there for reason) to retrieve an article that most likely didn't survive the fall (phones).
Obviously, signs are for decoration, and fences are to climb for exercise, at least in the mind of an SG.



User avatar
PatchOBlack
Seasoned Pro
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 911
Joined: Fri Nov 13, 2009 3:07 pm

Re: Guests in track area! or Hit your E-stop!

Post by PatchOBlack » Fri Apr 09, 2010 12:47 pm

Teddykeiko86 wrote:I don't get what goes through their minds as they hope a fence ( there for reason) to retrieve an article that most likely didn't survive the fall (phones).
I suspect mainly air is what goes through the cavity that normally would house one's gray matter. :)

I suppose some of these folks are desperate to be nominated for a Darwin Award.



techie-13
Seasoned Pro
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 537
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 12:32 pm
Location: Former Paramount Parks Employee

Re: Guests in track area! or Hit your E-stop!

Post by techie-13 » Fri Apr 09, 2010 1:20 pm

The follow-up is usually the family of the Darwin Award contestant suing the park because there were not enough signs or fences. I know of a case where the family claimed the park was in the wrong because the gates he went through (to get backstage) and the 6ft. (locked) fence he went over (into the ride area), only had signage in English. And unfortunately, they often cause others to get hurt in their attempts to retrieve the article. :mad: He died but before that happened he shattered a woman's leg (she was on the ride)with his skull. Since this occurred at the first drop of the ride, she was forced to endure the G-forces of the rest of the coaster ride with a broken leg. :eek:



User avatar
PatchOBlack
Seasoned Pro
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 911
Joined: Fri Nov 13, 2009 3:07 pm

Re: Guests in track area! or Hit your E-stop!

Post by PatchOBlack » Fri Apr 09, 2010 1:29 pm

techie-13 wrote:He died but before that happened he shattered a woman's leg (she was on the ride)with his skull. Since this occurred at the first drop of the ride, she was forced to endure the G-forces of the rest of the coaster ride with a broken leg. :eek:
Great googly-moogly! As if having the trauma of not only being injured on the ride, but not knowing how badly the other person was, wasn't bad enough!

If I was the park, I would be tempted to tell the family that sued them that the park, in turn, would back a suit by the injured guest against the family for the physical injuries and the mental anguish caused because this fellow couldn't figure out a locked gate and tall fence meant "keep out".



Syndrome
Practically Lives Here
Practically Lives Here
Posts: 1285
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2006 10:34 pm
Location: Celebration

Re: Guests in track area! or Hit your E-stop!

Post by Syndrome » Fri Apr 09, 2010 1:35 pm

Personally I've always thought it would be appropriate for the SG (or their family, which most likely shares the same bad genes that need to be chlorinated out of the pool) to be used by the theme park and all the other guests for inconvenience, interruption of operations, loss of income and general trauma.



"If you are a dee, please don't marry a dee, 'cause then your kids will be dee dee dee." ....Carlos Mencia

"It's the difference between champagne and carbonated pee!" ....Homer Simpson

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Nice work, pal

mapo
Seasoned Pro
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 514
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2004 2:21 pm

Re: Guests in track area! or Hit your E-stop!

Post by mapo » Fri Apr 09, 2010 1:47 pm

techie-13 wrote:The follow-up is usually the family of the Darwin Award contestant suing the park because there were not enough signs or fences. I know of a case where the family claimed the park was in the wrong because the gates he went through (to get backstage) and the 6ft. (locked) fence he went over (into the ride area), only had signage in English. And unfortunately, they often cause others to get hurt in their attempts to retrieve the article. :mad: He died but before that happened he shattered a woman's leg (she was on the ride)with his skull. Since this occurred at the first drop of the ride, she was forced to endure the G-forces of the rest of the coaster ride with a broken leg. :eek:
Sounds urban myth time.

Do you have a park and year for this? I'd love to look it up and see how stupid the court case was too.

Thanks!

MAPO



Syndrome
Practically Lives Here
Practically Lives Here
Posts: 1285
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2006 10:34 pm
Location: Celebration

Re: Guests in track area! or Hit your E-stop!

Post by Syndrome » Fri Apr 09, 2010 2:20 pm

I can vouch for that one, although I can't name the specific park (but it was a Six Flags). The coaster was a Batman style...might even have been one of the Batmans. I don't have time to do my google fu right now but it's pretty easy to find. I never heard about the broken leg but sadly the rest of the story is pretty much true.



"If you are a dee, please don't marry a dee, 'cause then your kids will be dee dee dee." ....Carlos Mencia

"It's the difference between champagne and carbonated pee!" ....Homer Simpson

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Nice work, pal

User avatar
hobie16
Permanent Fixture
Permanent Fixture
Posts: 10546
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2004 4:45 pm
Park: DLR
Department: Fruity Drink Land
Position: Mai Tai Face Plant
Location: 717 Miles NNW Of DLR

Re: Guests in track area! or Hit your E-stop!

Post by hobie16 » Fri Apr 09, 2010 2:36 pm

I believe it was Great America in Santa Clara, CA.


Image

Don't be fooled by appearances. In Hawaii, some of the most powerful people look like bums and stuntmen.
--- Matt King


Stay low and run in a zigzag pattern.

techie-13
Seasoned Pro
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 537
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 12:32 pm
Location: Former Paramount Parks Employee

Re: Guests in track area! or Hit your E-stop!

Post by techie-13 » Fri Apr 09, 2010 3:16 pm

mapo wrote:Sounds urban myth time.

Do you have a park and year for this? I'd love to look it up and see how stupid the court case was too.

Thanks!

MAPO
The park was Paramount's Great America.
The ride was Top Gun

Here is a link to a story about the accident
Bizarre Coaster Accident Kills Hayward Man at Great America

And because I am an currently out of work student and I'm a cheapskate(gotta save $ for my next Disney trip) here is a cut and paste of an article... (The San Jose Mercury wants you to pay to access the actual article.)

Article 3 of 8, Article ID: 9909100019
Published on September 8, 1999, San Jose Mercury News (CA)
$1 MILLION SOUGHT OVER GUEST'S DEATH IN '98 VICTIM'S KIN SUE GREAT AMERICA
Paramount's Great America has been hit with three separate lawsuits over an accident a year ago that killed a park patron who attempted to retrieve a cap from under a speeding thrill ride.
In two complaints filed last week in Santa Clara County Superior Court, the wife and brother-in-law of Renato Suarez seek more than $1 million in damages, accusing Great America of failing to take adequate safety precautions around its rides. Suarez, 24, was killed last Labor Day -- Sept.
Complete Article, 486 words ( )


In the first article, he is identified as someone else but then they found that person alive and well. And it was never really clarified how that mis-identification occurred.



felinefan
Should be on Payroll
Should be on Payroll
Posts: 3174
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2005 1:23 am
Location: SoCal

Re: Guests in track area! or Hit your E-stop!

Post by felinefan » Fri Apr 09, 2010 4:07 pm

Probably had a similar-sounding name.

Have you tried http://www.themeparkinsider.com ? Click on the park or company that owns the park, and then the accident link. If it's that bad and occurred in the news, it's likely there. Best of all, it's free.


Image

Post Reply