Maverick Restraints

Has anybody ridden Maverick with the updated restraints? How is it?

On another note, the ride went down yesterday evening, which it apparently had been doing all day. The ride ops were calling out seat numbers and messing with the harnesses on each seat, so there might be an issue with them. I highly doubt it's dangerous, however. They did shut the ride down last night for mechanical issues and gave riders in line the option of going to Rougarou, MF, or TTD.

I rode it today with the new restraints. I did like it much better. I was almost at the platform when it went down last night, it was how my day went yesterday lol. At least today was better 😊

Does your head still slam against the restraints?

No not at all. New restraints are very nice, however I never had issues with the old ones either.

These restraints tend to "hug" your upper body a tad, especially in the shoulder area. Not like a staple or anything tight. The material around the restraint is this thick plush/foam deal that is quite soft, so you just feel that a bit during the ride. However no issues during the ride. It didn't make it better or worse for me per say, again no issues prior, especially with that coaster, it's already fantastic to begin with.

I rode today. Much better ride with new restraints. Old restraints hurt my ears.

Several trains had seats unavailable today. I saw at least 3 rows tied off as unavailable.

I like the new restraints, they are more comfortable, although I never had an issue with the old ones.

For those that are wondering if your head slams against Maverick's new restraints, there is nothing physically to the left or right of your head any longer, so the answer is invariably no.

The new restraints are the current gold standard for inversion coasters, and any self-respecting new coaster train would have them. Take Rougarou for example, brand new trains for 2015 fitted with state of the art comfort restrain...oh wait, forget it.

I love the new restraints. They are snug but give a little. Your head and ears do not get banged around anymore.

While they are a whole lot more comfortable than the originals, the new shoulder restraints on Maverick are still a terrible design. Getting in and out is a hassle because the restraint is in too close to the head, but the bigger problem is that it is a flexible restraint in a 'one size fits all' configuration. In order to accommodate bigger/taller/bustier riders, there is quite a lot of excess material that bunches up in the narrow portion where it attaches to the lap bar. The operators try to pull this down by cinching down on the safety belt, but the assembly is so springy that it pops back up again. That spring action also seems to want to take the lap bar with it.

Also, the trains now have go/no-go switches on the lap bars and control feedback, but in standard INTAMIN style, there are no indicators on the seats, nor does the control feedback indicate which of the four bars is in the no-go position. Dispatch delays are the rule, rather than the exception.

In all, they have replaced one terrible design with a far less painful terrible design.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Oh goodie. I hope they don't take the El Toro approach of stapling everyone in the no-go car until the sensor gives the all clear.

I've never had a problem with head banging on Maverick, I'm tall enough where it's not usually an issue. The problem I had with Maverick was when it would staple my thighs and make the ride unenjoyable that way. Have the new restraints changed that in any way?

Can someone explain the go/no go system in more detail? How does the train communicate with the control system? How does the restraint detect closure? I thought the train was just energized with a magnet system to release.

I have a vague understanding of it, I'm sure Rob or others will chime in.

The train parks and a piston pushes this contact plate up to the train from the track in the station. Once it makes contact it can unlock the restraints, lack of power locks them. However somewhere on that plate something is energized to tell if it's locked or not via sensors that relay it back to the ride. If you notice the two dispatch enable panels have an orange train locked button and when pressed drops the contact plate and is no longer in contact with the train. That button when pushed basically says hey train is locked, everyone's good to go, computer says it's good to go, alright platform is clear. Then when it's time dispatch enable is pressed along with the corresponding buttons on the panel in controls.

Mind you all secondhand and a bit of seeing it myself. Had a roomie work Maverick, not I, so just going off of that. Any more detailed explanation, someone from the crews past or present or a few other more tech savvy people will have to jump in.

The go/no-go system is just that. There is a limit switch on each lap bar, and the limit switches are wired in series (an AND gate). When all four switches are closed, the GO signal for that car is sent to the ride controls via the electrical contacts on the train.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I also am curious if the new restraints pin your thighs down. The later half of the ride would always become very unenjoyable, add to that the extreme headache caused by the head banging, this was a once-a-day ride for me. Glad the head problem is fixed, but is the leg one fixed too?

I think it would be cool if they put these softer restraints on Wicked Twister. I've never had a problem with those but I know many others have complained about them. Would that even be possible? They would probably need to be redesigned a little.

Maverick00 said:

I've never had a problem with head banging on Maverick, I'm tall enough where it's not usually an issue. The problem I had with Maverick was when it would staple my thighs and make the ride unenjoyable that way. Have the new restraints changed that in any way?

No but if you slide up in the seat while loading so the bar is at your waist, it cuts back on the thigh crushing feel. I learned this last year. The lap bars are the exact same.

Give the operators some time to get used to the new harnesses. After working with them for a while it gets easier to tell which harness isn't far enough visually.

Are the GO/NO Go switches new with these restraints?

Why did they even put them on, if so? Was it the ZacSpin ejection accident on Inferno (which I think was unauthorized modifications to the restraints?) I was under the impression that the line on the seat belt marked the go/no go position on the restraint.

The way the safety belts function now is different, as they are clearly intended to 'adjust' the shoulder restraint. The buckle is now attached to the flexible member at the point where the shoulder restraints come together instead of being attached rigidly to the lap bar. In this way, the safety belt can theoretically apply tension to the shoulder restraint (although in practice it can't really). This means the belt has to be considerably longer than it was, and more important, the length of the safety belt bears almost no relationship to the position of the lap bar.

As for the limit switches themselves...I do not know if they were present with the old shoulder bars or not, but our old friend ASTM F2291 implies that they are necessary.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.