Will you ride Shoot the Rapids if it open back up?

Given the severity of the accident that has shut it down for most of the summer, there should be an official public disclosure of what exactly happened - and what has changed since then, to prevent a reoccurrence of the incident - before it is allowed to reopen.

Closing it down until the memory of the incident fades, saying it's all better now, and/or performing essentially a ctrl-alt-del, isn't going to be enough to regain my confidence in it's safety.

I have yet to ride Windseeker since it's mishaps for the same reasoning, and no one was hurt when it malfunctioned. Just the thought of getting stuck on it for hours and having to ride the evacuation device down is enough for me to say -- "I'll pass".

So, I take you ride none of the rides in the park since they have all broken down at one time or another with no official statement for the park explaining what went wrong and how it was fixed.

I'm actually assuming he never leaves the house.

I agree with SteveH. This was not just a ride breaking down, it was a severe situation (that thankfully did not have major injuries) Not to mention, the different versions of what actually happened as reported by various sources created a public perception that was not good. A public disclosure of what happened and how it was corrected would not be too much to ask for those that want to know the information.

OK, how about this? Cedar Point gives you a public explanation of what happened, as long as the Sandusky Register offers a public apology for over-dramatizing the event.

The fact that different various sources offered different perceptions should tell your brain one thing: There's a lot of rumor, conjecture, and fantasy being printed as "fact".

I suppose you either simply trust the fact that Cedar Point operates and maintains their rides in a safe fashion, or you do not. Frankly, the latter borderlines on delusion behavior in my opinion.

I see no purpose in offering some type of public disclosure other than announcing it's reopening and safe, and that the issues have been resolved.

No real reason to ride Shoot the Rapids again. It was an alright ride, but I'm not really a fan.

I did ride the New Texas Giant last night with the new restraints and seat belts. I felt less safe than before. Go figure.

SteveH said:
...isn't going to be enough to regain my confidence in it's safety.

The park has never given any reason to indicate that the safety of their guests is anything but an absolute priority. The number of press releases they put out has absolutely nothing to do with how the park prioritizes safety.

It's a sad day when we actually know more (officially) about the Jack Falfas situation, than we know about this ride's safety condition.

Why do we test child car seats to such high standards, then allow a "one size fits all" approach to the same riders that are (on the average) just a few years older, and are far more likely to be subjected to turbulent conditions when in use?

Here is what we do know (from several sources - that all can't be biased in their reporting).

http://pointbuzz.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=1909

(And, for the record... I leave the house daily - Kevin)

Apples and Oranges.
Child car seats (and we'll just expand that to all car safety features) are meant to protect against an accident which can come from an infinite number of directions with an unknown amount of force and protect the passenger from injury.

Amusement ride restraints are simply meant to keep a riders butt in the seat while the ride goes through a consistent and predictable ride path with consistent and predictable forces.

JuggaLotus said...

"Amusement ride restraints are simply meant to keep a riders butt in the seat while the ride goes through a consistent and predictable ride path with consistent and predictable forces."

Silly me, I forgot that what happened at STR was "consistent" and "predictable".

While a rollback might be possible at TTD, I doubt it was ever part of the STR design criteria.

STR...**** broke...obviously noone saw this coming, kinda like the maggie collision, the TTD cable break, the Millie cable break, the maggie lift hill motor blowing, the Iron Dragon chain breaking, corkscrew chain breaking, ect.

There are some things you really can't predict or do in engineering..This is probably one of those times..

Y'all need to calm down..The ride isn't opening, hence they are still working on it

SteveH said:
It's a sad day when we actually know more (officially) about the Jack Falfas situation, than we know about this ride's safety condition.

The Falfas situation is appropriately playing out in court, so yeah, clearly we're going to know more about that situation.

CF owes you nothing insofar as explaining the StR is concerned. Whining about it won't change that fact.

When people end up at a hospital after riding a ride, an explanation of what happened and what is being done to prevent it from happening again to restore faith in its safety is hardly "whining". Parents and shareholders alike deserve to know the risks that have been identified and what has been done to mitigate the situation.
Riding it in blind faith that it can't happen again is foolish.

Theres alot of little things at CP you don't know about, and judging by your stance, I'm sure you wouldn't want to know about them either, nor am I really at full ability to talk about some things...

Just drop it and go ride rides, they know what they're doing

SteveH said:
JuggaLotus said...

"Amusement ride restraints are simply meant to keep a riders butt in the seat while the ride goes through a consistent and predictable ride path with consistent and predictable forces."

Silly me, I forgot that what happened at STR was "consistent" and "predictable".

While a rollback might be possible at TTD, I doubt it was ever part of the STR design criteria.

I didn't say what happened was consistent or predictable. I also didn't claim that amusement restraints are meant to prevent injury in the case of an accident. They are simply there to keep a riders butt in the seat. This is why comparing them to child safety seats is an invalid comparison.

You ride many of the park's other 60+ rides in blind faith, even though it's very likely there are issues with those rides that never made the news.

Anytime people end up in the ER, indicates a problem of significant proportion. And in this case several others were in need of local medical assistance as well - so getting press about the incident isn't the real issue here.
The summer prior to Wildcats removal had a similar rollback accident on that rides lift hill, and people were injured. Although it was removed under the "end of ride life" / Luminosity cover - this likely contributed to its justification to be scrapped rather than resold or relocated.

SteveH said:
Anytime people end up in the ER, indicates a problem of significant proportion.

Just stop...being medical, I've seen people come in on Sunday because they have a cough and couldn't wait to see their PCM the next morning, nothing else...The ER isn't always EMERGENCY...Theres a reason why people sometimes wait a few hours or whatever, it's called Triage.

Just stop

SteveH said:
It's a sad day when we actually know more (officially) about the Jack Falfas situation, than we know about this ride's safety condition.

Actually, you do know about a ride's safety condition. If the line is open and Cedar Point lets you ride, then the ride is safe. Unforeseen things sometime happen, they are machines after all. But, once the ride opens again, it is safe.

If you don't believe that and need to know more, than go to Six Flags or Disney. Oh, but wait. Each of those parks have had fatalities due to ride malfunctions, Cedar Point has had a big fat zero. I guess you'll just need to stay home and play Roller Coaster Tycoon. Be careful a computer malfunction doesn't electrocute you though.

SteveH said:
The summer prior to Wildcats removal had a similar rollback accident on that rides lift hill, and people were injured. Although it was removed under the "end of ride life" / Luminosity cover - this likely contributed to its justification to be scrapped rather than resold or relocated.

Completely wrong, the problem on Wildcat was fixed and the ride opened and ran the rest of the Summer. It was also ready to go in 2012, but it was actually removed because of Celebration Plaza. It just didn't fit comfortably. Not everything is a conspiracy.