Attraction Source Forum

And some rides, such as Kumali, check your seat belts as you arrive back into the station, wasting yet more time.

[quote=""AstroDan""]And some rides, such as Kumali, check your seat belts as you arrive back into the station, wasting yet more time.

[/quote]

What the hell? why would they do that, thats the most pointless thing iv herd about at a theme park!

[quote=""Shent""][quote=""AstroDan""]And some rides, such as Kumali, check your seat belts as you arrive back into the station, wasting yet more time.

[/quote]

What the hell? why would they do that, thats the most pointless thing iv herd about at a theme park! [/quote]

I'm not sure that they do, Dan. I have been on Kumali loads of times and have never come across that. What they do on Kumali is go round and make sure everyone's seat belt is unfastened before they release the restraints but they don't go round and check the belts are fastened.
I often unfasten my belt before it get into the station.

[quote=""Dara""][quote=""Shent""][quote=""AstroDan""]And some rides, such as Kumali, check your seat belts as you arrive back into the station, wasting yet more time.

[/quote]

What the hell? why would they do that, thats the most pointless thing iv herd about at a theme park! [/quote]

I'm not sure that they do, Dan. I have been on Kumali loads of times and have never come across that. What they do on Kumali is go round and make sure everyone's seat belt is unfastened before they release the restraints but they don't go round and check the belts are fastened.
I often unfasten my belt before it get into the station.[/quote]

Maybe it was Infusion then... Either that or Kumali they were definitely checking restraints were still fastened when the train came into the station.

I do actually remember crapping myself the 2nd time I went on Oblivion because my restraint wasn't pushed all the way down, until I did it myself as we where going up the lift hill. I always thought the seat belt would of been the last fail safe should things go really wrong?! Otherwise take them off!! Because the whole purpose of a roller coaster or thrill ride is to feel out of your comfort zone! Also the 'fat' seat on Oblivion features two seat belts? Whats the point if its only a psychological thing.

Must have been a bit smelly

Pictures from Today


http://nuebelstar.lima-city.de/EP/28.8/-P1030167.JPG

http://nuebelstar.lima-city.de/EP/28.8/-P1030166.JPGIts irresponsible by the Park! I will write an e-mail.

Gretings

Edit, Crofty. please link to large pictures.

Jesus, that's terrible! I knew Europa Park weren't brlliant with safety checks but that's unacceptable.

Even if it was dispatched with the bars up (which it shouldn't have been) you'd think that since there's cameras on the lift hill the operator should have noticed and stopped the ride.

That's worrying!

On a recent visit to Oakwood I noticed that on some rides they do and on others they dont- on Treetops Coaster, Hydro and Bounce, physical checks were done, but not on Megafobia or Speed...strange!

Nuebelstar can you not pull your own bar down? Why should the staff do it? The obviously know that guests aren't going to jump out and know that the forces aren't enough to eject you from the ride.

Bar checks are another thing that's outdated I mean we have rollercoasters that can flip you mid ride yet some guy still has to come round and check the bars. I think that all the checks should be done by computer and maybe the ops should just do a quick visual check. Imagine how much quicker the queues would go.

Why should the staff do it?

Because it's their job to ensure guests are comfortable, and most importantly, safe....

Imagine how much quicker the queues would go.

To be honest, I think the queues would be considerably longer if theme park staff didn't help with restraints as there are many people who either don't have a clue or don't visit parks as often as we do....

[quote=""Nuebelstar""]Pictures from Today


http://nuebelstar.lima-city.de/EP/28.8/-P1030167.JPG
http://nuebelstar.lima-city.de/EP/28.8/-P1030166.JPG
Its irresponsible by the Park! I will write an e-mail.

Gretings[/quote]
Was just looking at pictures of the Atlantica clone over in Texas, and each seat has its own lapbar, the same as on Pegasus and Flying Fish.

I was today in the Park, and now, they are checking the lapbars.

I like it, that the Park notices the e-mails from Fans.

GReetings

on the subject of the automatic detection of restraints, the reason the staff need to check is that there is no open and closed situation with a harness. theres is open which is when the harness is not in the ratchet mechanism (in most coasters) or the hydrolic locks the piston is in the unlock position, however due to the various sizes of guest the range of positions that register as locked is wide, and a small person could easily fall out of a ride if they only just pulled the harness enough for it to register as locked, i have seen alton staff push on harnesses if they feel its not down far enough. Also its to check the belts which do not have sensors to determine there status.

Belts wouldn't really do that much to stop you from falling out, the force taken to break the three 'clicks' that your harness has had to pass would be more than strong enough to rip the belts out.

We were actually instructed on Nemesis to pull the seatbelt first, then, with both hands on the handles, push then pull the restraint to ensure it is locked.

Thinking back, the system can go wrong. On the nemesis trains, eah row has 3 strips of a brassy looking metal on the top right, which corrispond to three spring loaded 'switches' hidden inside the bar that has the 'put in your seatbelt' stickers. The 'switches' pass a current through a circuit that can only be complete if all four harnesses are locked down three 'clicks'. This current registers with the computer and is shown to the op by a light illuminating (Nemesis rows are actually grouped in twos on the ops panel).

On one wet day in 2006, the train was about to depart, when a host noticed that one of the seats on the back row wasn't closed, yet the light was illuminated and the ride was ready and authed for dispatch by the computer. We downloaded the train, and sure enough, the ride started to dispatch.....we worked out that somehow water must have got into the circuitry at the back of the seat and somehow 'bridged the gap' to create a complete circuit.

Needless to say the train was immediatly garaged and checked.

Weird though, eh?

Another thing that sometimes happens is the harness 'pops', which basically means it is not fully on a 'click' (or a tooth on the ratchet system) . On the first drop, when pressure is applied, it will pop to the next tooth, and people come back terrified thinking that the harness was going to open fully. This can mean the harness will dispatch with 3 'clicks' yet can return on 2.

And yeah rita, some rides can send without harnesses down can't they, like corky.

Whe I went on air in late July 2007, the foot restraints opened while the carriages were turned 90 degrees.
It was no big thing in the end, but they had to push back all the foot restraints.

I assume what happened was it didnt open all the way but slid forward a notch and tripped out the sensor. All they do is bring it back down again and then press it down a touch harder to make sure its completely locked. Its the same on most rides, you pull it down and as soon as it takes a little more weight then it can slid forward and trip out.

The thought of harnesses sliding might scare you but considering that most harnesses has at least 3 more notches before the main harness will unlock, then several safety backup systems, its unlikely you are about to fall out. Has for checking harnesses, that is a must for all rides at Alton Towers. Every ride must have it restraints checked in some form (whether physically checking or visually) prior to the ride starting.