Shoulder restraints...

Sup? So PKI has removed their shoulder harnesses from the coaster "Flight of Fear" because of how uncomfortable it is with them. Now I was always under the impression that you needed those for any coaster that goes upside-down. But then I rode "Son of Beast" and thus proved that wrong (it has only a lap bar). So then I thought, well, maybe you need them for weird loops, like corkscrews and whatnot. But again, the FoF has gotten rid of theirs (it has a corkscrew) and I have read reviews saying that it is ten times better now. Granted, they are using a 5 point seat belt also.

Sooooooo, I've always thought the "Corkscrew" here at ol' CP would be kinda fun with just a lapbar, because sometimes that shoulder harness gets uncomfortable. Think CP would ever consider that? I was also wondering for you physics people out there, what's the real need for the shoulder ones. And could a coaster like say "Raptor" be ridden with just a weird inverted lap bar, and nothing else? I've found that there is a nice feeling of freedom associated with going through a loop and being able to swing your arms wherever you want to.

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One more post and I'll have 100...I hope I live long enough to do it...

Im not sure though if it would reall y be worth it. I could understand if it were a bigger and more popular ride like FoF is, plus sometimes its not always the horsecollar that hurts on loopers...Its those crappy arrow transitions that throw you into the side of the train. Corckscrew for the most part is pretty short and old, dont get me wrong though, its still a great ride, but would it really be worth it when they could just go and get a whole new looper alltogether with no OTSRs?

Overall I think it would be fun, but after riding flight of fear the other day,I wouldnt mind Cedar Point getting an out door version of it with maybe some added elements. I think anybody who has rode the new FoF (especially Jeff) would probobly agree with me on this one.

I've always wondered myself why the Iron Dragon, or any other suspended coaster for that matter has the OTSR's when they do not go upside down or do a corkscrew. Anybody have any rational explanation for this one?

By the way, I was just on the Son of Beast this past Saturday and although I found the car to be really uncomfortable (I'm 6'-3 and my knees were crunched against the handlebars), I felt that the loop was probably one of the smoothest ones I'd ever been on, especially with no lap restraint. A good ride with really small cars doesn't do much for me. I can't wait to go back and ride it again! ;)

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Mike McCormack
Millennium Force: 5
Raptor: 8
Magnum XL-200: 1
Lifetime CP Coaster Count: 36

Gemini Hand Smacker, you wrote..

But again, the FoF has gotten rid of theirs {shoulder bars} (it has a corkscrew) and I have read reviews saying that it is ten times better now. Granted, they are using a 5 point seat belt also.

Where did you hear that? Flight of Fear has a lap bar similar to that used on Son of Beast but with the addition of an ankle-bar to make sure that your legs stay bent. The only safety belt in the system connects between the back of the seat and the top of the lap bar to serve as both a go/no-go strap and as a safety to prevent the lap bar from opening should the latch fail. For all intents and purposes, Flight of Fear has lap bars PERIOD. It is the most convincing demonstration I have yet seen that there is no need to secure the shoulders on a roller coaster.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

The chassis for Corkscrew and ID are all wrong to do lap bars. The place where your feet go is little more than a fiberglass shell. I also agree that it wouldn't be worth it as there isn't a problem in the first place.

I'd love to see a Premier LIM ride there if it had lap bars. An Intamin launched inverter wouldn't hurt either.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Futuristic bow-wow... do the dog catcher!

Watch yourself here, Jeff. Morgan and Kennywood are attempting to prove that a Corkscrew chassis can handle lap bars. Now can the Arrow inversions handle lap bars? :)

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Scott W. Short
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

I'm almost willing to bet that the floor of the Phantom's Revenge car is significantly beefed up from the original Arrow shell. There really is very little structure to the Arrow looping coaster car tub (I've seen stripped-down Vortex chassis!). Gotta have something solid to attach the lap bar mechanism to.

I've often thought it would be interesting to attach a lap bar to the shoulder bar cylinder, and have a bar that drops down from overhead, much like the one Setpoint came up with for the Swing Thing. Trouble is, I don't think there is enough real estate between riders in a Corkscrew train to do that without creating some significant pinching hazards.

I'm certain Arrow's inversions can be handled safely with lap bars. Probably more safely than with Arrow's poorly-engineered shoulder bars.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I think they should get rid of the OTSR's on Iron Dragon.

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MF Count: 11
First CP Rollercoaster: Corkscrew

We once discussed if a bar of any kind was needed on Iron Dragon.

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Live for FUN!

GO SHAMROCKS!
GO WOLVERINES!

I read that they were going to put the 5 point seat belt on the FoF before the park openned. I went on Preview Night, and it was broken down so I never got to see it, so I was just going on what I read they had planned. A lap bar only system sounds great to me.

Regarding the SoB lap bars, they certainly are tight on the legs. I'm only 6'1" and I was feeling it. Some guy who was 6'7" had to get off because he couldn't fit. I don't know why they made the seats so tight.

Still...Considering The Raptor had the right chassis for a lap bar (which would look weird on an inverted coaster) would you really need the shoulder restraints? Do they do anything more for you than to keep your arms down? The only coasters I have ever really felt that the shoulder harness were protecting me were on The Mantis or King Cobra at PKI.

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Question: How do you explain the actions of millions of people who wait hours upon hours to be drop

Im 5'10 and I couldnt stand the SOB cars. First off all they are almost as ugly as a Morgan Hyper Train. But anyway I dont understand why they raised they floor up. I felt like I was slouching the whole ride, when ussually want to sit up as straight as I can. Why didnt premier put a lapbar on similar to MF (between the legs), that would have definetly allowed more freedom. I dont know, maybe its just me, but am I the only one who felt trapped on it?

Premier didn't do it because they aren't very good at their job. When I heard they were going to do the cars for the SOB I cringed after what they did to the Flight of Fear. I'm glad they don't do any of the cars at CP. It's like they try to make the most uncomfortable seats in the world.
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:) :(

I felt SOOOO trapped on the SOB. NO leg room what-so-ever!

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Cedar Point '00
Force: 5
Raptor: 8
Magnum: 1
Lifetime CP Coaster Count: 36

I have to agree.. the lap bar on SoB sucked. I rode it twice and the second time it clicked in one notch too tight.. I couldn't breath through the whole ride. I thought I was going to pass out. The ride is jolting enough.. try to ride it without oxygen. The best lap bars have to be on Raging Bull. The "clamshell" is the most comfortable lap bar I have ever dealt with. It's perfect for us 'bigger' coaster fans :)

I think maybe CP could do something to the CORKSCREW that would make it better, they could do something like phantoms revenge at KW, they could keep the corkscrews over the midway. but take some of the other part of the ride out, and build a whole new part of the ride, cuz if you take out the corkcrews over the midway, its like MF getting bombed down, by a terrosist. then they can get some other company (other than ARROW, very SHORT coasters and OTHR's) to make to have a lap bar through the inversions, like intmain. that would be cool!

its the ride, not the records!
-me

www.coreysamusementparks.homestead.com/home.html

HEY GEMINI HAND SMACKER,
they do make the worst, but you should see morgans on the texas cyclone at SF astroland, the headrest is like a semi circle around the back of your head, and is about 2 feet high, so you can't see anything, just go to joyrides.com and look under astroland then texas cyclone, you can see hoe restrictive they are!

Those are pretty bad cars on that coaster. Possibly some of the worst I've ever seen. I'm sure that really takes away from the ride.If they ever put something like that on a coaster at a park that I visit frequently, I'd boycott.
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Bad cars do not a good coaster make...

Rollerfan, you're a little behind the news...

For the 2001 season, the headrests have apparently been completely removed from the Texas Cyclone.

So for 2001 (so far) we have: Soft seats on Texas Giant, headrests removed from Texas Cyclone, new shoulder bars on Taz's Texas Tornado, shoulder bars replaced with lap bars on Flight of Fear and Flight of Fear, track renovation and conversion to lap bars on Phantom's Revenge, and flume replacement on Wild Thornberry's River Adventure.
All the other parks are (well, except for the Texas Tornado) applying long-awaited, long needed retrofits to their coasters...do you suppose Cedar Point will take the hint and come up with some soft seats for Mean Streak and Blue STreak?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Just as long as they don't order anything from Weiland Schwartzkopf.

There might be a problem with retro fitting the trains in the state of Ohio. I happen to be a larger sized guest at amusement parks and cramming my butt into some of the older seats can be a chore. (I vividly remember getting into the stand up coaster at PKI with 2 attendants pushing the arm restraints together to lock the strap...now THAT's a stupid set up for restraints. I don't know how women are able to handle them...) When I was in 6 Flags Great Adventure, I had asked one of the attendants why they wouldn't make the seats bigger like that have on some of the new coasters. (Medusa has a seat set aside for larger guests.) They told me that once a ride is built, New Jersey will not let you make any modifications to the ride or the trains. So it might be the same in Ohio.
(and I do feel sorry for the attendants who have to pack me into the stand up coasters, but I thank them profusely!)