"Discipline"

Well, if the ride malfuntions, for example, the restraints opening during the course of the ride, what would be the chances of the seats belts malfuntioning too. Wouldnt't that extra barrier between staying in and falling out make you feel a lot better.
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~Cody
2002- Mantis Photo "Mole Photo, this is Cody!"
2003- Dragster Photo TL "My uncle is really missing that finger!"
2003 Halloweekends- photo Sup "The camera fell? Poke it with a stick"
2004 Ride Photo Supervisor
"In addition, use of belts in some cases isnt even CP's idea, it was designed by the manufacturer as a part of the attraction. "

Actually, cp does put the belts on most of the coasters. Intamin never designs its rides with belts...their coasters are designed to not need them. But CP has maintence put them on.....for their safety and yours.

And Brian's right, you don't like it, don't ride. Cedar Point has the best safety record for a reason.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

2004 TL CP&LE

2003 - MF crew

2002 - Raptor crew

i think u are missing my point...

my point is that Cedar Point has a very good saftey record for several reasons....not just seat belts

also, all newer intamin rides after the SFDL incident have saftey belts, both here in the US and abroad.

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wdwcp alumni
future CP ride op?
*** This post was edited by vegasbaddboy 3/2/2004 8:24:33 PM ***


vegasbaddboy said:
Afterall, anyone could simply just unbuckle or loosen the seatbelt at any time, so imo you are just as safe without one...but thas just me.

I believe at Kings Island the seatbelts can not be unbuckled until they are unlocked by a ride op. I wouldn't mind seeing locking like that, but rather then having a ride op unlock them, have them release with the lapbars.


good point...there are some rides out there that have seat belt locks...from what ive seen tho Cedar Point doesnt have them...

people unbuckling seat belts doesnt seem to be that big of a problem, otherwise they'd have something else there...or is it?

btw this is a really good discussion...makes me not dread the offseason so much!

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wdwcp alumni
future CP ride op?

First off the amusement park industry safety record is stellar. Not just at the point. The difference in safety between CP and it's other big park rivals has to be nil in the statistical sense.

With that view point in mind i definately think that CP is overboard with the safety. What happened to the Blue Streak is a travisty. Things like that are just there to protect the park from idiots who would stand or put themselves in danger. I'm no expert, but i do remember physics from college; and the point is that with many coasters and rides, seatbelts and bars aren't needed to keep a sane person in the car.

I'm not lobbying for the removal of bars and belts, but i am definately more concerned about the ramifications of a wheel popping off the car rather than a lap bar failure on the Gemini or even Magnum. I definately agree with vegasbadboy here.

And the whole arguement of "if they don't like it they can go somewhere else" is a bunch of balogna. You say it often enough and people will take you up on it, and then where will the park be?

After working on major coasters for the past three years, I've learned alot about guests. Some guests are scared to death to ride these coasters and are only riding because a friend convinced them to ride. They think that the lap bars are going to magically release during the ride. After showing them the seatbelt, some of them calm down a bit. So maybe the seatbelts are for safety and/or guest's piece of mind...

gener said:

And the whole arguement of "if they don't like it they can go somewhere else" is a bunch of balogna. You say it often enough and people will take you up on it, and then where will the park be?

Not to sure about this one. Some people, yes. But many people come to Cedar Point because of it's safety standards. I don't think that people will stop coming to Cedar Point because of something like this...

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TL Millennium Force- 2004
TL Mantis- 2003
ATL Power Tower- 2002
Millennium Force- 2001

As far as riders unbuckling seatbelts, that is something that we ride hosts watch for whether you're aware of it or not. Plenty of times on both Mine Ride and Gemini we would see people unbuckling their seatbelts just after leaving the station and even on the lift. Whenever we'd see this we always stopped the train on the lift and someone walked up to tell the rider(s) to buckle their seatbelt. The rider usually feels pretty stupid afterwards because the whole train is upset about stopping because of his/her decision to be irresponsible.

You'd have to be completely out of your mind to think that seatbelts and lapbars are not necessary on thrill rides and coasters. Just ask the family of the woman who was thrown from the train at Holiday World last year. Cedar Point will not take that kind of chance with its guests. All of the rides can be enjoyed while being secured in your seat by a lapbar and seatbelt. If you really feel the need to have 4+ inches between you and the seat then in my opinion you're a spoiled rider, in that you've been on so many rides that you think you can do anything. Riding rides at an amusement park is a privilige not a right.

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Mine Ride/Gemini 2003
Top Thrill Dragster 2004

GO BUCKS!!!!!!!!

Well put.

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TL Millennium Force- 2004
TL Mantis- 2003
ATL Power Tower- 2002
Millennium Force- 2001

Yes, very well said!

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2004 - ATL Mantis
2003 - Mantis
2002 - Mantis
2001 - S.C. Foods Supervisor

As an enthusiast and a ride op, I have found that most rides are the same if you ride the proper way. What is the proper way you ask? Having the restraint (lapbar or OTSR) snug agaisnt your body.

It really shouldn't matter if you come off your seat (which is what's meant by non-promitted "airtime"), you still get the same amount of force if your lapbar was 4"+ or snug against your lap. I see it as a mental thing that people think it's more when it's really the same.

The only people I really see getting angry if CP becomes more "anal" are some enthusiats, and very few GP. As an enthusiast, you should know more then any of the GP why Cedar Point is very strict with the rules.

What I've noticed, is for the most part people will listen (even if it is after a few times) to what you tell them to do. Some will try to argue, but ultimately it's for the safety of the riders, and us as Ops are there to ensure people follow the rules (which are there for a reason) and be safe.

The Holiday World tragedy was devistating to everyone invloved, and those who weren't, it really opened a lot of eyes, including higher up's at parks (not just Cedar Point).


And the whole arguement of "if they don't like it they can go somewhere else" is a bunch of balogna. You say it often enough and people will take you up on it, and then where will the park be?

This has always been true, for anywhere, not just parks. Also, your comment about not needing lapbars is not necessarily true now-a-days, with companies adding higher "negative" G's to rides, some form of restrian IS needed to keep you in the train (as shown by previous incidents). However, there are roller coasters that do not have restraints (Roller coaster at Blackpool Pleasure beach comes to mind), but they are very "tame" compared to today's monster coasters. Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls at Islands of Adventure also doesn't have restraints but provides massive airtime, at the same time, I know a LOT of people that refuse to ride it because of it.

I know this is really long (I only meant to make a small reply...opps) so I'm going to end it here.


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PTC '04
PT in '03 look for me at CP!
Area 3 Games, 2002
Still the weird guy from California
*** This post was edited by RCFreak 3/3/2004 2:43:59 PM ***

Some a$$hat spun himself out of the teacups at Disneyland and they have now made it harder to spin the teacups fast. That ride has been there nearly 50 years and there was no record of anyone doing that before.

It is the future of the industry to have redundancy after redundancy, even at the expense of logic.

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"You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world...but it requires people to make the dreams a reality."


gener said:


With that view point in mind i definately think that CP is overboard with the safety.


I dont think you can ever go overboard with saftey...better to have a pissed off person than a dead person... does CP do a lot more than comparable parks yes, is it overkill, no.

The point when things reach overkill are the rediculous "racing harnesses" they have on Perilous Plunge...im not trying to point the finger here, but if that rider had been secured properly, it wouldnt have happened...thats why there are so many warnings about body size and what not...

Im a relatively big guy myself, and i would never put myself in danger just to ride something...

as for that Holiday World incident, they said that she was actually attempting to stand up and as a result was ejected from the train...it was the result of improper positioning of the restraint on behalf of the rider. then again you have to wonder if the staff was trained to have the rider sit all the way back and have the restraint touching the riders body?

when i worked as an op at two parks here in Vegas, we always had to make sure the peson was sitting all the way back with the restraint touching.

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wdwcp alumni
future CP ride op?

Does being safely in your seat make your day suck or something? Come on. The big rides (TTD, MF) have restraints that hold you well in place. But Gemini, Mean Streak, etc, let you hop out of your seat a bit, while still being retained by more loosely fitting lap bars. There is a fine line between fun and stupidity, and CP won't let you cross it.

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'04 TL Power Tower
'03 WT crew/ATL Sky Ride
'02 WT crew
*** This post was edited by Mathew 3/3/2004 10:10:57 PM ***

Yes, but, to an extent, having lap bars too "proprly secured" is PAINFUL. Case in point- Magnum. Coastermania 2003, my bar was to snug and on the airtime hills I was screaming -- IN PAIN! If it had been up just an inch, I would not have hit with as much force. That was the worst pain ever!

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