Shoot the Rapids?

Great news! Still waiting anxiously for my first STR rollback!

Shawn Meyer said:

RCMAC said:
All this complaining about Shoot the Rapids, seriously. It may not be the greatest flume out there, but I'm of the opinion the water rides at Cedar Point have always been rather so-so.

Very well said dude! In my opinion, Shoot the rapids is the best water ride at Cedar Point! I'm happy that Jason McClure announced that it will be open for the 2014 season. Sounds like by Memorial Day! Awesome News!

Go back and read what I said. Carefully.
Anyway, I'm glad your beloved Shoot the Rapids is making a resounding comeback (who thought it wouldn't?) and you have only happy things to look forward to dude.

Shoot the Rapids probably is arguably the best water ride at Cedar Point.

The Browns are also arguably the best professional football team in Northeast Ohio.

:)

For all the Whoo-hoos out there that are glad STR will reopen - without an explanation of what has been done to prevent a mishap like this happening again - I say bon voyage!

Don't get too excited Steve. You're going to have the privilege of riding the first boat out! Compliments from those of us with inside connections. We've been assured that extra duck tape has been applied so nothing bad ever happens again. ;)

Why is it so important for you to know what the problem was? You're not involved with the fix, whatever the fix was it will be the same whether you know about it or not. Your knowledge would not influence or change anything. Do you have trust issues?

No, Pete, you don't understand. As a park customer, Steve is entitled to an explanation. The park owes him that.

^^ Adam, that was funny! :)

Being honest, still have never been on STR...If it's hot, hydrate lol..

Every product has it's warnings and disclaimers. This is why there are signs posted at CP for people with heart conditions, potential pregnancy, neck/back issues, etc. - and why commercials on TV list the potential side effects of using their product (from financial investments to pharmaceuticals to exercise machines), so you can understand the risks involved before riding.

As a consumer, we are all entitled to an explanation of the past safety record of any attraction. Especially one that has had issues. To reopen without posting such information could also indicate absolutely nothing has been resolved, and the condition still exists - but the risk is so low, we figure it will never happen again. Such practices have been the downfall of many a park in the past - so this isn't something new and different we haven't seen before.

In comparison, when a car company issues a recall or safety notice, information is posted as to why and what will be done to correct the problem. Even though I am not a certified mechanic, the severity and corrective action has been documented to at least reassure me and others preventative action is now in place to correct it and prevent it from happening again.

Amusement ride safety reports from the Ohio Department of Agriculture are public record. I don't think they're online, but I'm sure it's easy enough to request them. http://www.agri.ohio.gov/rides

The first step in correcting a problem is admitting there was one - in the first place.

When a ride manufacturer issues a service bulletin or safety notice, information is included as to why and what must be done to correct the problem.

Manufacturers typically only post bulletins when there are multiple instances of a ride in service which may suffer from the same problem. A unique ride with a unique problem will generally get direct attention from the owner and the manufacturer, so no service bulletin is warranted.

But yes, ride manufacturers issue lots of bulletins. Here's a place to see a bunch of them.

--Dave Althoff, Jr. (yes, I am still around!)

SteveH said:
The first step in correcting a problem is admitting there was one - in the first place.

Which they did, by closing the ride until it is fixed and safe to reopen.

I checked the site that was referenced for service bulletins and it seems Intamin (and Mondial the makers of Windseeker) has never had - ANY posted.

By closing a ride and doing a "quiet" investigation, CF is repeating the mistakes it made with SOB at Kings Island. Lighter trains, loop removal, and structure improvements resulted in reopening and closing cycles which dragged on for years and without any official word as to why it was SBNO - ultimately, SOB (like it or not), was sadly demolished without a definitive reason.

Other rides like Windseeker have had similar track records and you have to wonder if they did enough to pass inspection or really fix the problem. Moving the Windseeker out of Knotts to Worlds of Fun is a perfect example of this - because it didn't meet the local inspection, so they moved it to another state where it would pass inspection.

It all depends on how you look at the result, and what you define as "fixed" - I guess.

^ SOB injured dozens of people and led to millions of dollars in lawsuits.

Windseeker got stuck for a few hours. What kind of connection is that??? With every post I see it makes me believe you are just a very dedicated troll.

SOB was probably one of the biggest failures of a modern wooden coaster ever. Windseeker has been much more reliable than TTD and at least it wont fall like Vertigo.

How do you know it won't fall down like Vertigo? No disclosure was ever made on that ride either.
All parks learn from mistakes, but if they aren't discussed and known about they are bound to be repeated.

They removed the rides, what more "disclosure" are you expecting?

And just because they don't call you in doesn't mean they aren't discussing the issues that have occurred. They are just discussing them with people who will understand the problem and be able to offer legitimate solutions to the problems.

Fine, open STR back up (just press Ctrl-Alt-Del), it's all better, just like my I.T. guy fixes things.

SteveH

It's really just plain sad to read your posts. It must be terrible to have a such a sense of entitlement, only to be denied the full and complete disclosure you deserve on every aspect of every occurrence of your daily activities.

FYI:
Coffee is Hot!
Water is Wet!
Ice Is Slippery!
Sand may be Itchy!