Jr gemini derails. (also: Maverick restraint design)

I'll let you guys know in my trip report avaliable sometime late next week. I'll be there Monday through Wednesday unless someone else beats me to it.

I was at Six Flags St. Louis on Wednesday and it was definately apparent that they were trying to balance their budget by charging 15 bucks for parking, 14 bucks for a turkey leg, and a very noticable lack of sanitation. Oh and I don't want to forget to mention 19 dollars for a locker rental.

Tony Hawk's Big Spin will be a good ride for families with younger children.

^ What in the world does any of that have to do with Cedar Point or Jr. Gemini?

Jr Gemini was still down as of yesterday (6/21). Train was in the station parked, but nothing else happening.

The real problem is the shinking budget for protection money. The goons from Youngstown were by the Cedar Fair offices last month. They said, "Nice buncha parks youse got there. It would be a shame if anything happened to them."

Seriously, between Dollywood (stranded on Timber Tower for 6 hours), GL, SFKK, Magic Springs & Crystal Falls Park (coaster stuck upside down for 30 minutes) and Magnum, there have been a lot of highly publicized incedents in the past couple of weeks. Hopefully that is enough of a signal to upper mgmt to keep up the good work on maintenance and inspections.

I hope too that the kids on Jr. and their parents realize that the incedent was handled pretty well, and we're all glad there were no injuries.

yeah, it looks like cedar fair is going to have some more problems since they closed 5 of their drop rides because of the sf incedident

heres the link http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/4913098.html

^How is that a problem for CF? Presumably those rides were closed as a precautionary measure not because there is any real danger on those rides. What happened at SFKK seems like an extrememly freak accident.

It was, and nothing more.

I went to the park from 11-2 today for a ride on Maverick, and Millennium Force before having to work back in Cleveland @ 4pm.

Jr. Gemini is Still closed. The Train, is currently parked half in and half out of the station as seen here:

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p155/AidenShay05/JrGem3.jpg

Maintenence crew was working on the ride when I walked past to grab a few photos. The Area looked like this:

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p155/AidenShay05/JrGem1.jpg

Through the trees, right after the top of the lift is where these cords ran to, where two maintenence workers were working on the track. Loud Banging noises, and drill-like sounds were coming from the area they were working on. I tried to get a snap shot, but the trees are sort of in the way, so I leave you with this pic:

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p155/AidenShay05/JrGem2.jpg

Maverick of course was amazing as always! I'm back row right:

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p155/AidenShay05/MaverickOnRidePhoto.jpg *** Edited 6/23/2007 12:19:09 AM UTC by AidenShay05***

Were you looking for attention?

I can't tell what they're doing on Jr. Gemini, but I appreciate the pics. :)

My main comment was going to be on Maverick. I've seen so many photos of miniature little children riding. If one's head is below the OTSR, isn't that bad? Like, if their head happened to be under the OTSR and they were lifted from their seat by negative G's, couldn't they snap their neck? That just doesn't LOOK safe to me.

EDIT: Oh yeah, you must've been going REALLY fast because the logo blew right off the front of the train. :) *** Edited 6/23/2007 2:36:30 AM UTC by halltd***

No, people are asking for details about what happened so they can fully understand it more. Kindly, I took pics today of whats going onto fill people in somewhat on the situation. When someone submits something to the site, and I read it... I'm thankful for the information and it is very nice of people to do these things. Just was assuming I would provide somewhat more information for people, and maybe would get a thanks. It's not about me its about the ride. Things like this are talked about here because we are coaster enthusiasts, and we all like reading about whats new and going on. Not because we want attention. Not in Highschool again bholcomb, thanks. =o)

AidenShay05 said:

Maverick of course was amazing as always! I'm back row right:

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p155/AidenShay05/MaverickOnRidePhoto.jpg

I noticed 2 things in your on-ride pic.

1) The photo on the right spills over onto the other frame...
2) I love how you can see Dragster in the background of the picture taken in the S-Curve.

Cedar Point could not have known that the JR. Gemini was going to lift off of the track like that. Budget cuts have nothing to do with it. Yes it has been a bad year for Cedar Point, but that doesn't make it their fault, but it is their responsibility.

and Six Flags parks may be falling apart, but Six Flags Great America is still good.

halltd said:
If one's head is below the OTSR, isn't that bad? Like, if their head happened to be under the OTSR and they were lifted from their seat by negative G's, couldn't they snap their neck? That just doesn't LOOK safe to me.

And now you're an anatomy professor too?

The OTSR's are for decoration. You're secured by your legs.

Jeff, do you think in any way it could be a probability that these 'decorations' could be removed, and the restraint's could properly hold the rider in? It certainly would increase the feeling of vulnerability that I already love about the ride, and improve comfort amongst the fairly quick transitions. Eliminating bruised shoulders would be a good thing.

They could be removed. They serve no function in terms of holding you in. Will they be removed? Of course not. They offer a perception of added security.

^ Which is exactly what I said. I was merely stating from the pictures I've seen of kids riding, it appears they could put their head underneath the OTSR. To me, that seems like it could be dangerous. I think you need to take some reading comprehension classes, Jeff.

The shoulder bars on Maverick not only offer a perception of added security, they also offer an innovative way to beat the living crap out of people, and the fact that they didn't include a little pad on the back side means that if the attendant shoves the @#$! thing into your chest, it will cut four tiny little holes in your shirt.

Honestly, the more I ride Maverick, the less I like it.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Well Jr Gemini was finally up and running again last night. The first trains started around 7 or so. My 6 year old was very excited since we had been there since Sunday and it hadn't run all week.