2019 Teasing Begins...

I was hoping for the Three-Way Figure Eight Roller Toboggan. Catchy name for a coaster.

At the risk of sounding entitled, that was a pretty elaborate Mine Ride poster that was created just to tease a newly painted logo. It looks great, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit bummed. Excited, however, for more nods to the past in the run up to the 150th!

The logo looks great and I agree, the White Water Landing mention was the most interesting part of that blog post. White Water Landing version 2 would be great, but if that is too big of a toy to ask Jason for, those beloved character signs that used to be by the major rides would be a great old/new addition!

Tony and Jason: Paint is nice and all but the experience, almost 1/2 a century later, is rubbish. It’s beautiful, nostalgic, littleish kid friendly, yet absolute rubbish. You can paint a 💩 gold, but it’s still

Oh, never mind.

Weren’t they testing Gemini trains on CCMR at one point? I’m pretty sure all the other mine trains I’ve ridden (Adventure Express, Carolina Goldrusher, Railblazer) had Gemini-esque trains instead of the one click thigh crushers.

CCMR is so uncomfortable to ride. They need to update the lap bars. If it was more like Adventure Express at Kings Island, it wouldn't be a bad ride. Until they update the lap bars, which will probably never happen, I won't set foot on it again.

it is surprising that Cedar Fair hasn't done anything about Mine Ride's restraints. If they conceptualize the ride as a "family ride," then they must anticipate adults wanting to ride the coaster with their family. So, why they allow lap bars on a coaster that crushes the thighs of more than half of the adults wanting to ride the coaster is beyond my understanding.

^^^someone posted a picture on here once of Gemini trains on CCMR, but I can't find it.

Here's a link to the picture on Reddit, looks like it was about 6 years ago.

https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters/comments/p6fu2/gemini_train...reek_mine/

Seems like an easy upgrade at the time. I’m sure the 2 Gemini trains have been stripped for parts since then.

Doesn't S&S make similar train designs to other mine rides out there that are comfortable to ride in?

Urumqi said:

So, why they allow lap bars on a coaster that crushes the thighs of more than half of the adults wanting to ride the coaster is beyond my understanding.

Because the coaster was designed in the 60's before 39.8% of Americans became obese.

Pete said:

Urumqi said:

So, why they allow lap bars on a coaster that crushes the thighs of more than half of the adults wanting to ride the coaster is beyond my understanding.

Because the coaster was designed in the 60's before 39.8% of Americans became obese.

I’m not sure it’s an issue of obesity. I cannot sit in the seat without having to cross my ankles at an angle and, even then, my knees are crushed into the front of the car. Of course, all of this raises my thighs and makes it almost impossible for the bars to come down without a big push. I think the issue is bad 1960s design.

Agreed. I’m not obese but I am over 6’ tall. Because each car (6 seats) share the same locking mechanism for the lap bars.. the largest person of the 6 gets crushed/stapled. It’s absurd.

Pete said:

Urumqi said:

So, why they allow lap bars on a coaster that crushes the thighs of more than half of the adults wanting to ride the coaster is beyond my understanding.

Because the coaster was designed in the 60's before 39.8% of Americans became obese.

Remember Blue Streak before seat belts and seat dividers? Serious air time if you were a kid riding riding with your 6'4" father!

Yeah, but both old Blue Streak and Mine Ride restraints lock in one position. They are not adjustable for the largest person, they lock in the same position regardless how big or small the riders are.

To think most of those crazy coasters from the 1920s - probably the 1960s had fixed lap bars without seat belts. Unfortunately it only takes a few bozos to ruin it for everyone.

Augustmueller said:
To think most of those crazy coasters from the 1920s - probably the 1960s had fixed lap bars without seat belts. Unfortunately it only takes a few insurance writers or lawyers to ruin it for everyone.

I fixed that for you.

Kind of surprised we haven't seen an official announcement on this yet... Usually we know something by the end of the season.

Urumqi said:
I’m not sure it’s an issue of obesity. I cannot sit in the seat without having to cross my ankles at an angle and, even then, my knees are crushed into the front of the car. Of course, all of this raises my thighs and makes it almost impossible for the bars to come down without a big push. I think the issue is bad 1960s design.

Not just the 1960s design. Today’s Mine Ride train is very different from the way it was even back in the early 1990’s. If you were observant and rode the ride in 2017, you got a slight taste of how it used to be. I’m too lazy to track down the exact year (but I’m sure I raised a stink about it on rec.roller-coaster when it happened), but in the 1990’s, the original upholstered seat cushions were replaced with the rock-hard high density foam they have now. My theory is that the new “cushions” were made by measuring the originals and ordering up hard foam of the same size. Ignoring the fact that when you sit down on or lean back against a sponge-rubber stuffed vinyl cushion, it squashes. The current cushions are sized to match an unsquashed cushion...but they don’t squish when you sit on them.
Last summer, *one* seat had a squishy bottom cushion (2-1 seat 3, if I remember right) and that alone made a *huge* difference in how easily I could fit into the train. And that’s with the hard back cushion still holding me too-far forward in the seat. Swapping out both cushions for soft seats, or at least for cushions constructed to the squished dimensions of the original seats, would allow Mine Ride to easily accommodate a much larger audience.
The lap bars have also been modified. Those bars are only about an inch in diameter. Padding was added some years ago which makes them fit a little tighter, but also protects the teeth of some of the smaller riders. I’m not going to advocate for removing the lap bar padding. But I would love to see a return to soft seats.

—Dave Althoff, Jr.

^Dave, perhaps you or someone can clarify this issue regarding CCMR lap-bars; each "car" has three rows of seats. The front row of each car is the roomiest, followed by the second row, the third row is the tightest. Why can't they adjust the latch or gear or whatever causes this to occur. On nearly every load cycle they have to address the fact that someone in the back row cannot lock down, either from girth or height. If all three rows are connected I would think there would be some adjustment sleeve or gear slot to remedy it.