More new seatbelts (NOT MF or TTD)

When they put some of the Mantis style stand-up harnesses in the hotel elevators, that will be the time I'll start wondering about these things.

Maybe off topic- but speaking of restraints...

Did anyone notice Chaos has manual, individual bar releases now? So the op has to stop the ride, make the announcement, then go around the ride and manually release the riders from each car. When she finally got to us I asked her about it and she just rolled her eyes. Seems the Chaos has gone from a good gig to a really bad one. Can't do much for capacity, either.

I don't get it. I mean, I understand being proactive with safety devices. I really do. However, in some cases you're looking at decades worth of historic data that would indicate a ride is safe "as is." The industry sure is going to a weird place.

RideMan said:
Shades: Don't panic. Not yet, anyway. Also, the fact that the doors don't latch on Giant Wheel is the reason that ride has had seat belts since the first time I rode it (ca. 1976?).

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Wait a minute. Did I actually read that right? The Giant Wheel has seat belts? A ferris wheel with seat belts? I think I've heard it all now.

Next thing you know they'll strap us into Midway Carousel.

And for that matter, the Matterhorn continues to run belt free with lapbars that do not lock. So go figure.

And Jeff- speaking of decades of historical data, get this. Kennywood has taken the leather straps off of Jack Rabbit and installed airplane style seatbelts. Not C.P. related item, I know, but points to the industries trend of which you speak. In order to increase someone's perception of safety ( insurance company's? the general public's? ) parks are taking more and more safety measures. No one argues with safety, surely, and a careless or avoidable accident is devastating to a park. But can anyone here imagine that the millions of riders the Jackrabbit has delivered since the 1920's were any less safe than they are this year? The biggest threat to parks, unfortunately, is rider irresponsibility. So perhaps parks are left to figure that the harder they strap 'em down, the less chance they have of doing something stupid.

So back to Cedar Point. Is it actually safer to be manually locked into that Chaos car? Mechanically speaking, perhaps. Is it safer for a lone ride op on a slow day to walk around a ride and inspect each empty tub for open lap bars or unlatched seatbelts that might wreak some kind of havoc on the midway? I doubt it. But Cedar Point, like many other operations these days is taking no chances.