Woman killed in ride at Six Flags TX

New Posts

TRUE STORY-

About 20 years ago, I took my niece to Six Flags Great America. I weighed approximately 125 lbs at the time. We were on a ride called the Power Dive. It is a big rocket ship where all riders face toward the center while the ride swings back and forth like a pendulum. It goes higher and higher with each pass until you are completely upside down and you are just sitting up there hangin while you wait for it to finally tip over.

There was a shoulder harness that came down over your head and a large padded seat harness that cam down over your lap. Your feet are not restrained. When we were completely upside down, my seat bar popped open!!! Sure, I had all my weight on it, but I was not a large woman by any means. I managed to grab onto the bar and pull it about halfway down. I rode the rest of the ride hanging on for dear life while my but was off the seat and my feet dangled. I was pretty lucky that I was quite athletic at the time and strong and was really able to hold myself in.

When the ride was over, I told the operators who brought managers over and they took the report and my name and information down. They closed the ride to screams from the people who had stood in line for 90 minutes waiting. I felt bad for them, but had to tell what happened. The ride was closed for the rest of day and reopened shortly thereafter. I never heard from Six Flags again. I thought I might get free passes or something for my troubles and the frightening experience but nada. The ride was removed a year or two later to make room for a new ride. Not sure if they had other issues or what.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my experience that things do go wrong all the time, but you may not hear of it unless some tragedy happens. That said, I still go there, ride all of the rides, etc...but am much more cautious in making sure that the kids and I are all secure.
 
BetteDavisEyes said:
Boat rolls backward at Ohio amusement park; 7 hurt
6 hours ago

SANDUSKY, Ohio (AP) — A boat on a thrill ride at an amusement park that bills itself as the best in the world accidentally rolled backward down a hill and flipped over in water when the ride malfunctioned Friday, injuring all seven people on it.

Operators stopped the Shoot the Rapids water ride after the accident, which occurred on the ride's first hill, the Cedar Point amusement park said. Park police officers, medical technicians, ride operators and park visitors waded into the water and helped the passengers off the boat.

Cedar Point officials wouldn't say how the boat landed after rolling downhill. But witnesses told the Sandusky Register newspaper the boat flipped on its side or upside down...

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20130720/US-Amusement-Park-Boat-Accident/
Click to expand...
this ride has serious issues! It is always closed when I go and I have never gotten to ride it. (it basically looks like a roller coaster base but sits in water)
 
nursebeeme said:
this ride has serious issues! It is always closed when I go and I have never gotten to ride it. (it basically looks like a roller coaster base but sits in water)
Click to expand...

Water roller coasters can be lots of fun when it's hot :) Depending on where you sit in the flume, you might stay completely dry or get drenched :eek: Splash Mountain in the Magic Kingdom was operating during our January visit, but we had decided to skip attractions with long waits. Kali River Rapids in Animal Kingdom isn't a coaster (more like a river raft), but even if it had been open during our visit, we would have skipped that because on a previous visit to the park, we got soaked :D
 
BetteDavisEyes said:
Water roller coasters can be lots of fun when it's hot :) Depending on where you sit in the flume, you might stay completely dry or get drenched :eek: Splash Mountain in the Magic Kingdom was operating during our January visit, but we had decided to skip attractions with long waits. Kali River Rapids in Animal Kingdom isn't a coaster (more like a river raft), but even if it had been open during our visit, we would have skipped that because on a previous visit to the park, we got soaked :D
Click to expand...

My friend and I got to ride the water rollercoaster at Busch Gardens about 5+ times in a row because it was closing time so no one else was on line. It was like the log flume, but with a bigger boat. We just stayed in our seats, and just rode the ride over and over.
 
My sons girlfriend has free tickets to the one in GA. I was thinking about going maybe I'll wait. I saw a case many years ago about a lady who's seat belt came loose and she fell some 50ft. She was screaming to stop the ride. Nobody heard her. She tried to hang on but didn't have the strength to hold on and fell to her death.
 
DH and I discussed this unfortunate incident at length last night. If a prospective passenger isn't fit to board a ride (in this case, overweight), whose responsibility is it to discourage the individual from riding? If signs are posted, or as nursebeeme mentioned, there are demonstration seats for potential riders, is it ultimately the passenger's decision that he/she will get on the ride despite a potential risk to their own safety?

I don't go to amusement parks much any more but was at WDW in January of this year. Most of the ride attendants were young people - college age, 20-somethings - and it would seem like a tremendous responsibility for them to be charged with telling prospective passengers that they are too "fluffy" to board the ride. People go to amusement parks to have fun and certainly don't want to stand in line waiting to board a ride and listen to or watch an argument about whether or not someone should get on the ride due to their size.

What are your thoughts on this?
 
BetteDavisEyes said:
DH and I discussed this unfortunate incident at length last night. If a prospective passenger isn't fit to board a ride (in this case, overweight), whose responsibility is it to discourage the individual from riding? If signs are posted, or as nursebeeme mentioned, there are demonstration seats for potential riders, is it ultimately the passenger's decision that he/she will get on the ride despite a potential risk to their own safety?

I don't go to amusement parks much any more but was at WDW in January of this year. Most of the ride attendants were young people - college age, 20-somethings - and it would seem like a tremendous responsibility for them to be charged with telling prospective passengers that they are too "fluffy" to board the ride. People go to amusement parks to have fun and certainly don't want to stand in line waiting to board a ride and listen to or watch an argument about whether or not someone should get on the ride due to their size.

What are your thoughts on this?
Click to expand...
Put a sample seat at the beginning of the line entrance to the ride. If you don't fit securely, you don't ride and haven't wasted all that time in line.

JMO
 
EGirl said:
Put a sample seat at the beginning of the line entrance to the ride. If you don't fit securely, you don't ride and haven't wasted all that time in line.

JMO
Click to expand...

Some rides actually do have this. Everything is so politically correct though that you know some people would get uptight about it and raise a stink.
 
ok folks im local. Im in dallas and have been to six flags many times.

I dunno who said the seats don't click, but the last time I rode the TG it did. It is the attendants job to manually pull on the seat to see if it has clicked into place. I believe it clicks 2 or 3 times. I generally belive that the seats on rollercoasters dont look the sturdiest, but that is IMO.

This is the 3rd accident I know of at Six Flags. The roaring rapids ride flipped over and killed someone about 2 years back and the Taboggan ride flew off the tracks and I think people just got hurt. That was about 5-6 years ago.
 
eileenhawkeye said:
It's actually probably safer today that in the past because there's a lot more regulations that have sprouted up due to accidents in past decades. For example, there was a fire at a haunted castle at Six Flags Great Adventure in 1984 that killed eight teenagers. The building didn't even have a sprinkler system, no fire drills, the wall was made of inflammable material. But due to that tragedy, there's been so many rules and restrictions passed where something like it could never happen again. There was another accident, I think in California, that caused an organization to start that would regulate all the rides to make sure they were safe.

Also, a lot of ride accidents are caused by the guests' own negligence.
Click to expand...
That'd be CalOsha. They inspect the rides at Disneyland.
 
cityslick said:
Some rides actually do have this. Everything is so politically correct though that you know some people would get uptight about it and raise a stink.
Click to expand...

Yes, I can see some folks being uncomfortable with this in front of other riders. The "sample seat" could easily cause a confrontation similar to my earlier suggestion with a ride attendant telling someone that they're too large (or otherwise unfit) to ride safely. :moo:
 
BetteDavisEyes said:
Yes, I can see some folks being uncomfortable with this in front of other riders. The "sample seat" could easily cause a confrontation similar to my earlier suggestion with a ride attendant telling someone that they're too large (or otherwise unfit) to ride safely. :moo:
Click to expand...
Doesn't matter- better too be told you are too heavy to accomodate the weight/structural requirements of the ride, than be dead. Locally here about 30 min. from me, but I was working in the area when it happened, a few years ago, several teenagers (possibly graduating from high school) decided to override the one rider at a time limit on the waterslides at WaterWorld. They overloaded the slide, and it broke, killing one girl who fell to her death.
 
BetteDavisEyes said:
Yes, I can see some folks being uncomfortable with this in front of other riders. The "sample seat" could easily cause a confrontation similar to my earlier suggestion with a ride attendant telling someone that they're too large (or otherwise unfit) to ride safely. :moo:
Click to expand...

Yup, then it becomes almost the same situation that airlines are dealing with how overweight people crowd the seats to the point where they infringe on the other passengers. They can put notices up about having to be under a certain weight to ride but I'm not sure you can put that decision in the attendants hands if someone ignores the notice.
 
My son once went on the swings. After he was up, I started panicking, he was practically sliding out, another parent came up to me and said the same thing happen to her child. First he will never go on that ride again. I think, and I don't but blame at the attendant on duty, unless it comes out that way in this case. But they put these teens in charge of rides, I don't know about any of you but I was always quite intimidated, I doubt I would be able to tell someone they couldn't go on a ride, back in that age group. Lots of large people get on rides everyday, I doubt it is due to that. To be honest, the seat thing doesn't look to safe to me, I can see someone easily slipping right out. They should put seat belts in every ride along with a lap belt, or shoulders, whatever else it usually has. But I guess that might lose them time....
Inspection on rides should be the top priority for every amusement park. Safety first, then fun.
 
I always see seats outside coasters. I think it's a good idea. I highly doubt anyone would actually try the seat unless they knew for a fact they could fit, and it was just as a joke. But I think that if someone sees that they are too big for the sample seat, they wouldn't bother going on the ride. Why deal with the embarrassment of being told you can't ride because you weigh too much? I don't understand the argument that they should just let anyone ride, even if they weigh too much or are too short because they don't want a confrontation.
 
cityslick said:
Yup, then it becomes almost the same situation that airlines are dealing with how overweight people crowd the seats to the point where they infringe on the other passengers. They can put notices up about having to be under a certain weight to ride but I'm not sure you can put that decision in the attendants hands if someone ignores the notice.
Click to expand...

I don't know about other airlines because DH and I always fly Delta (formerly Northwest) that requires severely overweight passengers purchasing two seats to accommodate their girth. We've seen "arguments" about this while checking in for a flight, and it's not pretty. Same thing happens at the boarding gate when passengers about to board are told that they have too many and/or too large carry-on bags that will have to be checked. They go ballistic even though they are not charged for the last-minute checked bags because having to wait at the bag claim area will delay their progress when they deplane. :rolleyes:
 
I just think things like weight are a very sensitive subject for a lot of people and I don't think the amusement parks (or really any other business) wants to get into the practice of telling someone they can't ride because they are fat. Now, in this particular case I guess we will find out more if the restraint was actually clicked in (probably not). In that case the attendant shouldn't of let this lady ride. But if the restraints click in (despite how smushed in the person is), I don't think you can deny someone riding.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 176 more.
Total: 2,801 (members: 177, guests: 2,624)

Online statistics

Members online
177
Guests online
2,624
Total visitors
2,801
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
592,502
Messages
17,970,034
Members
228,788
Latest member
Soccergirl500
Back
Top