Worlds of Fun

[EeyoresButterfly]

I was at WoF for opening day today, and ran into a couple of SG's. It was very cold (it even snowed for most of the day!) so only a couple of coasters were open, and they didn't open til the latter part of the day. The park was not busy at all, the only reason most of the guests were there is that it seemed a couple of middle and high school groups brought their students. While in line for the Patriot (their newest coaster), I heard one of the teenager boys waiting for the next ride yell "clear" as they were getting ready to dispatch it. Now, this is the term that they appear to use to indicate that the coaster is clear for launch (coupled with a hand signal). I know the teenager thinks he's being funny, but to me that seems like it could have serious safety implications if the ride really was not clear but the operator is hearing the word clear.

The other SG (and this one was minor) was a teenage girl, also at Patriot, who was playing with the load gate. She was leaning with her back against it and was sort of bouncing off of it. Well, this meant the other load gates were also bouncing (and as the person smashed up against one, it was not pleasant). Aside from being unpleasant, I was having images of load gate failures in my head. I used t owork a ride with load gates and if they were pushed too hard they would fail, causing the ride to E-Stop. Thankfully we would just have to shut down the ride and power it back up, but it still can be a big inconvenience, not to mention it can easily cause a ride failure if a car is stopped in a wonky place, meaning that we have to evac and then have maintenance come in and push the car. I don't know if their load gates are as sensitive as ours, but still, their not there for you to bounce off of, they are there to keep you out of the ride path.

[Rob562]

A few years ago, the gates in the station for Superman: Ride of Steel broke because of a SG pushing/leaning on them. For a few weeks, they could not be operated at all. The only way of operating the coaster was to only allow one trainload of guests into the station at a time, and have them enter through a manual gate meant only for employee use at the front of the train, and then walk single-file along the train, filling in each row.

After that, they painted a line on the ground 2-3' before the gates, and became very militant about keeping guests behind that line, out of arm's reach of the gates...

-Rob

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

It goes to show you. Even if you make it from steel, an SG will figure out a way to break it!!!

[felinefan]

I remember when at Knott's, stupid kids would be sitting on the chains at the Calico Railroad (and broke them once), play with the turnstile (already in poor condition), and at the Grand Sierra Scenic Railroad in Camp Snoopy, they'd try to blow the whistle. Especially the adults. I'd try to tell them it's an actual signal and they can get in trouble for pulling it, but they do it anyway. Luckily, on Calico Railroad, I don't think anyone made the connection as to where the whistle was on the train to where the dispatching conductor stood. We never had a guest try to blow that whistle. For them to do that, would be a safety hazard in the making. And yes, we used hand signals as well. A few SGs tried to do them, too. :mad:
(Always seems to be teenage boys--must be something to the study that says that when a boy is concieved, the mother's hormones affect brain development, meaning boys really are born brain-damaged! HOWEVER, I have met several guys who have seemingly escaped this!) :D:

[Syndrome]

Isn't World of Fun where the Timber Wolf coaster is? I remember the Darwin Queen several years back who died after unbuckling herself and changing her seat mid-ride. Then Idiot Mom had the audacity to picket the park for being dangerous. I LOVED that coaster, but it's been ages since I've ridden it and I'm sure they've since muzzled it with more restrictive lap bars.

[EeyoresButterfly]

Yep! I remember when that happened. It's very similar to some of the incidents on the matterhorn. Timber Wolf now has redundant systems, a seat belt and lap bar which cannot be undone once the coaster has dispatched. My boyfriend supervises the area the TW is in and he gets really tired for people asking him questions about the incident which happened years ago.

[Tara_Lee3]

(Always seems to be teenage boys--must be something to the study that says that when a boy is concieved, the mother's hormones affect brain development, meaning boys really are born brain-damaged! HOWEVER, I have met several guys who have seemingly escaped this!) :D:

I heard this referred to once as "Testosterone Poisoning" Sounds like an excelent term to throw back at any guy complaining about girls and PMS... :P

[Mayonnaise]

*Geeks out.*

"Worst case of testosterone poisoning I've ever seen."

*De-Geeks.*

8^P

[felinefan]

Yes, and to think it's literal! Seriously, testosterone is linked to risk-taking behavior. Why don't guys take some real scary risks that won't hurt anybody--like investing in the stock market? :D:

[Randy B]

Yes, and to think it's literal! Seriously, testosterone is linked to risk-taking behavior. Why don't guys take some real scary risks that won't hurt anybody--like investing in the stock market? :D:

But what you think fits that category may not match what we think fits. To some of us, target shooting with a howitzer fits the "won't hurt anyone" description. Can we help it if the paper target doesn't stop the shell and somehow it skipped off the ground like a stone on a lake and blew up uncle joes new car? :D: ;)

Closest I can come to that, personally, was manufacturing and using tin-can cannons. I got very good at firing a tennis ball completely out of sight, straight up. Went through lots of tennis balls that summer.

Randy