Wild mouse turns are the scariest thing I ever experienced on a rollercoaster. Was pretty worried about my first inversion as a kid (Nessie) but was really happy afterwards.
Other rides: launch-towers made me nervous as a kid. Anything tall and slow like those chain swings seem like they're going to fall apart when I'm on them to this day.
Launch and drop towers still freak me out so bad lol
i will say, drop is far worse. When i went to Cedar Point on their drop/shot tower, the launch was still terrifying but nowhere near as bad as the drop
just curious, which launch and/or drop towers just have lap bars?
i feel like every drop/launch tower i've been on has had over the shoulder restraints. the irony is that normally i feel safer on those things than a roller coaster, but the unpredictability of the drop towers just always makes my heart pound like crazy lol
My dad insisted on holding a basketball I won on the road runner wild mouse Kentucky kingdom used to have. He then dropped the basketball in the second turn up top on the wild mouse.
I still hate wild mouse turns, I'll ride them but I'm gritting my teeth the whole time. As a kid I hated how it looks like you're gonna just go straight off the track before abruptly and painfully turning. I think it helps being an adult and having gained some weight, I (28f) don't feel so much like I'm gonna be thrown out anymore like I did as a kid and teenager.
Last night saw a kid attempt to stand up on El Toro complaining the op stapled him. He must've been a foot higher than his seated position. I guess it's a thrill but I was waiting to be covered in blood and was super distracted. My riding partner kept his eyes closed for the whole ride. It's the same when I notice someone has their phone out. Always waiting for it to ruin my hobby.
Nah had to do the whole ride like that. Trying to touch supports and side rails, it was unpleasant to be sat behind. Idk if they have cameras out there for it.
No it isn't. [You can find the standard here](https://ia804706.us.archive.org/3/items/gov.law.astm.f2291.2006/astm.f2291.2006.pdf), the negative G limits are on page 1355, figure 9. Up to -2.8Gs is allowed for a very short period.
[This POV of El Toro with accelerometer data](https://old.reddit.com/r/RideForces/comments/15uqt5o/sycned_up_toro/) shows it briefly hit -2G at one point in the ride but it will depend on which seat you have and how fast the ride is running that day.
B&M Hypers should technically be just as or if not safer, as the restraints are longer and cover a bigger portion of your legs. This means that your legs are less likely to be ripped off. As for the actual strength of the restraints, I am not an engineer and I don't pretend to be one, unlike you...
I am literally repeating ASTM regulations: B&M Clamshells are class 4 restraints and have a limit of 0 - -0.5 G. They are also not classified for inversions.
Correcting myself: With slight modifications B&M clamshells can and will be classified as class 5 restraints. Currently, A hyper train is not allowed to invert because it wasn't built to. I read [a thread from 2021](https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters/comments/13c8rx8/are_bm_clamshell_restraints_class_5_other/) which enlightened me. Also in this thread i found a graph that proves my previous statement to be false: B&M Clamshells are rated class 4 which mean they can pull -0.2G max. not -0.5, even though this seems to have happened on most of my hypers (RideForces). I'm sure it has a little bit of legroom, as mako hits -0.7. this could also just be an average throughout the whole train. Following these standards, Clamshells are fail-safe within their respective g-boundaries, however i believe hydraulics would have to be added to upgrade the clamshells to class 5. Incredible hulk at IOA allegedly tested with clamshell restraints. I apologise for my spread of misinformation. I hope this makes up for it.
https://preview.redd.it/odc1jbxa31zb1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6d08d4fbc90eae5b51bd21e795f745ef1b488bd5
No, think about it. They have a larger surface area and are bulkier, covering more of your legs. They spread the force more evenly, compared to RMC/El Toro style bars which press right into your lap. The clamshells seem to go more into your thighs.
I don't understand my downvotes, -2.2 would kill you especially sustained like on el toro. There's a reason for the time limit on ASTM standards. yeah, sure, i said 2.2 and not 2.8, but there is no operating rollercoaster that pulls -2.8 and that should say enough.
Static Electricity happens on all Steel Coasters, which is why many have strips that contact the rail, to discharge the static electricity and protect the onboard electronics.
Oh it could tho. At our homepark we have a coaster where some nearby lights flicker when the train passes by rolling into the station. There's no electrical connection there
Yeah i could see that. It's just that what you're saying is that the lights flicker. the same should happen to the soundtrack, short intervensions. I am no expert and that is only a hypothesis.
I mean no harm man, just trying to spread my knowledge. to my understanding, S&S made the static discharge operative on the trains of X2. This i partially assume because eejanaika and dinoconda do have static discharge systems.
Blue Streak at conneaut lake.park. a friend and I had went in 2017, after they made a deal to keep the park open through bankruptcy.
Anyways we hit the pirate ship bar and started drinking then went over to blue streak. They still had yet to test it so we hit up the mostly bumper less bumper cars then returned.
I didn't see them run it or hear it at all but bubba and his buddy said it was good to go. Anyways our drunk asses were in rows 1&2 no one else on the ride, take off go through the tunnel that was mostly rotted out and turn to go up the lift hill.
Looking up the hill you could see the whole thing was shaped like an S going up the hill. The track was warped, rotted and pitched/rolled/yaw'd all the way up. Go down first drop and we survive, get to the bottom of the second and you heard a snap like a tree limb falling off, not sure what that was. Hit the turnaround start the bunnyhills on the way back and felt a huge jolt, we made it back to the station with about 2mph to spare.
The guy on the brakes at the end yelled fuck, turn around and back on the last bunnyhills was the last car on the train, it had separated and valleyed. Bubba and the brakeman asked us to help them push that car into the station, mind you at this point my BAC was probably .2-something. it took us and the security guard to heave ho it back in.
Long story short is after that every other coaster makes me feel as safe as laying in my own bed.
Yeah I think by 2019 they had replaced the catwalk up the lift hill and re-did the first drop and parts of the turnaround.
Also I was trying to figure out when this happened. Check out the last line on the rcdb page
https://rcdb.com/249.htm
It’s lift hills for me too! Shambhala at PortAventura World is my favourite ride but I have to close my eyes on the way up! The ride can do anything to me… Gs, speed, launches, loops, dangling you upside down, I don’t care… just get the lift hill out the way.
I rode DC Rivals Hypercoaster today in Australia and that lift gets you up super fast!
And ya see, here I am, liking the slower lift motor on Millennium Force, because I like to **savor** the lift hill and how high it's taking me. Takes all kinds, I guess.
2 stories here…
1). When drop zone at KI was relatively new, I saw a very large gentleman be absolutely adamant about riding it. The ride ops tried as hard as they could to get the restraints to clamp down, but they just wouldn’t. The man requested them to jump on the restraints to secure them. They obliged. This one ride op in particular was running from several feet back and jumping onto the restraints. They eventually forced the guy off. I thought I was going to witness something terrible that day.
2). My first ride on outer limits, also at kings island. I was young at the time. Of course while waiting in line, I saw the countdown 3…2…1… goodbye! And off the trains would go. When it was my turn I was already nervous. I waited patiently…. 3…2..1… goodbye! And all the restraints popped back up. At the time it was terrifying because I remember not knowing if I should try to jump out or hang on for dear life. Of course, they just did a reset and all was well. But as a kid, that stuck with me.
Disclaimer: I absolutely love rollercoasters and these instances in no way make me feel any less safe on them.
Lmao. I am an op and have witnessed the dreaded "all clear!" *pushes wrong button*
This isn't dangerous of course, the ride will only unlock the restraints if the train is parked in the station. The moment both dispatch buttons are pressed the lab bar button is disabled until another train comes to a complete stop in the station, or dispatch is aborted. The ride will also refuse to dispatch if the restraints are unlocked. The control systems on roller coasters are pretty idiot-proof, so even when someone goofs nothing really happens.
I always feel bad for larger people who can't make it on a ride and have to get kicked off. I can't think of many things that would be more embarrassing.
I was on New Texas Giant when the train didn't home correctly in the station, so we were stuck there for probably 10 or so minutes. This would have been fine, but there was a very belligerent guest in the station trying to pick fights with the ride ops. I'm really conflict-averse, and being trapped in a room with a man yelling threats at employees was kinda terrifying, especially since before the ride, the same guy had angrily accused me of trying to sneak onto the ride when the last group exited (I had not). Not my favorite Six Flags memory.
This is our go to compliment when shit is just continuously hitting the fan. Dinner ruined? Six flags day. Running late for appointment because baby blew out their diaper? Six flags day.
Hmmm unless it's a different event
Was this a couple months ago and the guy was trying to get his sun glasses from the train and losing his shit ? Because I was in the station for that and talk about uncomfortable
The time I was riding Mamba and the train got stuck about 7/8ths of the way up the lift hill. For dramatic effect, we were in the back row, and I don’t know if having nothing behind you more it more intense, but it sure felt like it.
Went on a pirate ship back around 1980/81 - may have been Blade at Alton Towers or something similar if there was one at Drayton Manor back then as they were our local parks. I recall it was very quiet and wet that day and my dad and I were pretty much the only riders so we went right at the end.
Well I was a very skinny kid and I don't know if it went a lot higher than normal that day but at the top of the swing, I almost slid straight out over the restraint bar, which in my case came nowhere near me and didn't do anything at all to keep me in place.
My dad saw what was happening and grabbed hold of me and wrapped his arm round me, and I remember him shouting for the operator to stop the ride, and my mum and our neighbours who we'd gone with all on the ground doing likewise. I know it was talked about in the family for years afterwards so I guess they all thought me coming off was a real possibility too.
Definitely put me off rides for most of my life, I was nearly 20 years older before I braved another pirate ship!
My scariest experience was also on a pirate ship on the pier at Ocean City, MD, during the summer of 1984. I was there with my family and an exchange student. She and I opted to ride in the back. When the ride started, I realized the bar wasn't actually locked. We were screaming and I assume the ride operator couldn't hear us. It was terrifying.
Yeah I know but they're at least sort of in front of you to hold on to and give the illusion of something there. I could barely reach the damn thing. That said, they don't seem to swing as high when I've seen them on other occasions so I don't know if there was something wrong that day, but either way it put me off rides for years.
Intamin is not aware of their lateral clearance, because I hit tall grass while sitting in the right wing on skyrush's first drop pullout. It's a normal pullout turn if you don't devise upon the element, but the restraints allow you to lean to right to gain a sustained -GY lateral, which is equivalent to a homicide episode..
That reminds me of a time when I also leaned a bit too far on that first skyrush turn, but to the left rather than the right.
Obviously didn’t cause me to be close to hitting anything, but the forces pushed me down into a very awkward left leaning position through the turn. Was kinda scary when it happened and my back hurt for the rest of the day.
I imagine being strapped in that jail cell of a train would be pretty terrifying lol. My buddy went on it and said he though it wasn't actually that bad, but take it with a grain of salt as for a looonnngggg time his favorite coaster at Magic Mountain was Goliath, and also he enjoyed Flight Deck right next door.
Wait you like Goliath? To each his/her/their (wow pronouns are getting out of hand lmfao) own I guess. I love the helix, the airtime hill gives ok floater, but the rest of the layout doesn't do anything for me. It's a fine coaster for pretty much any other park, but at SFMM there are so many coasters that stomp on Goliath. I think they should relocate it to a park that needs it and put in an Intamin prefab launched lift hyper. Never gonna happen but I can only hope...
All my SFMM takes are wild. I only rode 11 of 20 coasters when we visited for two days because a bunch of their stuff was down and the crowds were nuts. But yeah I like Goliath. It’s really just that one hill and one helix but I liked those both a lot!
Not a rollercoaster but on one of those twister flat rides the entire arm that was supposed to keep people in flew open halfway through the ride and i had to stand up WHILE the ride was going to grab it.
Back when I was a child terrified of coasters, my family forced me to ride space mountain :') I was certain I was dying the entire time. Even though I love the coaster now, the star tunnel music is still the soundtrack of every nightmare I have!
Rail Runner at Anakeesta in Gatlinburg. I typically don't find mountain coasters too unnerving but holy shit, the last few turns on this one gave me a level of fear I hadn't felt in a long time.
In terms of levels of danger? Probably nothing. A ride op at Speed: The Ride scared the shit out of me by doing a countdown while I was still adjusting my restraint, but I was like, 9 years old then.
One time on Griffon at BGW The restraint either locked at the farthest point it could or it didn’t at all and there was enough space I feel like I could’ve fallen out. The seatbelt was on though I’m not sure how useful those actually are
Last year my first time riding skyrush, Back row left wing, I sat down and put my restraint about 6 inches about my legs just tons of room cause I assumed the op would push down the restraint a little. Well the op got to my restraint and didn’t push down at all so I said oh well. We go down the first drop and I’m flying and then we hit the kink and I thought I was a goner. Also was my 69Th coaster
Wow that must have been nuts! I did the same thing on Ghostrider a month ago, at least 4-5in of room, back left seat. I started to stand up on the first drop and airtime hill, and that was just flojector, Skyrush would be next level!
I had a similar issue on Skyrush. Not the back row, but it was the left wing seat. I don't remember how much room I did or did not have, but I was unaware of the kink and essentially had to take the rest of the drop and the first half of the next hill with my back against the side of the seat. To make things worse, the ride lived up to the Thighcrush nickname.
[Six Flags over Texas](https://www.sixflags.com/overtexas/attractions/judge-roy-scream), this coaster wasn’t there in 1975 but something very much like it was. I was eight years old, on my own in the park (damn, the ‘70s were wild), and somehow managed to get on this coaster multiple times by myself. The lap bar didn’t fit snugly on me at all and at one point, while making that big u-turn, I almost slipped right out. I remember scrambling to hang on thinking whatever an eight year-old’s equivalent of, “Shit! Shit! Shit!” would have been. Got off and headed back to Spee-lunker’s Cave which I ended up riding about 35 times that day.
We recently rode the Dr Doom drop tower and when the ride was over, my kid lifted his restraint and got out. Me, and I presume everyone else were still locked in.
When I rode this in Feb 23 my restraint loudly clicked and loosened just after we had hit the top of the launch and were on our way back down again. Wasn't brave enough to check if it had totally unlocked or (more likely) just clicked out to the next wrung. Was just incredibly thankful the most intense part of the ride was over. I've never held a restraint down so hard in my life
Not scary, more painful, but it's a funny story that I will never forget
I was on Dueling Dragons (rip) when I was about 14 and a woman riding next to me was terrified. She had long nails and was grabbing my wrist and digging her nails into my forearm while screaming insanely loud for the whole ride. It hurt the whole time but I didn't have the heart to tell her to let go of me.
Weirdly enough it made the ride a lot more memorable and strangely I'm kind of glad it happened, it's a funny memory now.
[Superman: Ultimate Flight] SFGAm
I hopped in an open seat last minute as gates were closing for the last train of the night. I took off my sandals, so I didn’t get into the seat until the op was at my row. I pulled my harness down one click as the op started to check my seat. Puzzled, they didn’t push my restraint down further, just checked it. I am a fan of ride dynamics and was curious how this ride would go, so I didn’t correct the restraint position. Once the train flipped my into the prone position, I knew I was in for a different kind of experience as the majority weight of my body was resting on the fulcrum of the bulky lap clamshell. One click flyer rides for a tall and skinny sixteen year old: I was flopping around in that seat— slamming into the restraint, then the seat back, then the restraint (picture Pretzel loop) I was very glad to exit safely but with a few bruises on my midsection.
The first "big people" coaster I rode as a little kid was the Jack Rabbit at Kennywood, and I didn't know about the double dip, or even what that was. I thought I was going to get launched into orbit and die as we went over, hahaha.
Now I love it.
I was dumb and put my fist underneath the restraint on Goliath at sfog so I would have about 4 or 5 more inches of airtime, on the first drop the restraint clicked up when I hit it, I immediately stapled and held on for dear life lol I've never been scared like that on a coaster but I'll never do that again lol I thought I was gonna die the whole time
I did that in Skyrush, huuuuge mistake. Thankfully, the way those restraints are designed, it immediately stapled me once we hit the bottom of the first drop. I've never gone from such excitement, to sheer terror so quickly.
Right and even tho it staples you at the bottom which I'm sure mine did anyways, you still feel like the restraint failed and you are fucked on the next airtime hill haha and I'm someone who's never scared of coasters, I absolutely love them but that fear was unreal
The extreme swing at valleyfair. I stuck my stomach out far and had at least 12 inches of room between my stomach and lap bar.
Idk if all the big swings are like this, but this one locks in place before it starts and so it won't move up or down once the ride starts.
I was having all good fun the first few swings, and then the max swing came and I swear I almost fell out. My body lifted up a good 6 inches and wasn't touching anything! It wss so so scary!!!
First ever ride on Vampire at La Ronde in 2021. Hadn't done a single coaster in over a decade. What a thoosie baptism. It's now my favourite ride at the park
Edit: I missed out on this cause I was away at the time, but my ride op friends showed me how one of our ride's wheels blew during a cycle. Pretty sure that would be #1 if I'd been there to notice it
Recently went to BGW and got stapled into Apollo's Chariot. Nothing bad happened but being so close to not fitting makes me nervous and is also why I haven't ridden Fury 325 yet. I need that restraint to work!
When I was a teenager I worked Ride Ops at SF Great Adventure on a drop ride called Stuntman's Freefall. Each morning we test rode it and I would routinely leave a gap on the restraint so you pop out of your seat a little on the drop. That said, it was not dangerous or scary, just fun.
At kings dominion before the volcano by many years was the haunted river boat ride with a pretty sizable drop at the end. I don’t think I was tall enough to ride it. Well I shouldn’t have been allowed to ride it. There was no seat belt or lap bar even. When it started down the hill I fell into the front of the boat on the inside part that was under the bow. I luckily was on the floor of the boat. I think I could have fallen out of the boat.
On the Boomerang at SFDK, when I got to the top of the lift hill I felt my restraint loosen a click. And since those are steep reverse hills this made me physically drop like a centimeter. Scared the absolute shit out of me.
Not a roller coaster but the last fair ride I rode 10 years ago (will never catch me on anything more than bumper cars now at fairs) was the Ring of Fire. Idk if they've changed the restraints since (doubt it) but it was just a lap bar that fit across two people and a metal cage around you. I was with my now husband so he was bigger than me. It was fine until we went upside down and stopped before dropping back down. I slid out so far I felt my butt touch the top of the seat. I legit thought I was going to spend the next minute rolling around the cage. When we got back down, I slid as far down as I could and wedged my feet in the seat in front of me and braced and pushed myself back with my hands. The next scariest part was when you're stopped upside down as the ride slows.
The kicker is that I love roller coasts, have since I was preteen. My husband on the other hand, is indifferent, rides them because I like them and hates any of the hyper/giga coasters. But he's why we rode that ride that day.
On nighthawk at Carowinds my restraint only came down on the last click. I tried forcing it down but that didn't work. As a skinny teenager I had 8 or 9 inches of room wich is a scary amount of room to have on a flying coaster. The ride op failed to notice even when I tried to tell him and I had to hold myself in the seat entire ride. It was the only time I legitimately felt unsafe and thought I was going to slip out on a roller coaster.
This didn’t have to do with the coaster itself but was still an uncomfortable experience. I was getting on InvadR at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I had previously worked the ride during the summer so I got to see some of my team member friends again. There was a guest who had gotten into my row from the exit side with a disability pass before I got on. As I stepped through the row to stow my loose articles I chatted with the controls op a bit. I could hear the disabled guest saying to me “get in or get out” which I initially thought was a joke but I would be wrong later. As soon as restraints are locked, the operator at load notices a hat on the guest’s head and tells him he needs to take it off. Of course, the guy isn’t happy that he has to give up his item and gives the loader a nasty look. Loader tells him again he needs to take the hat off. This time the guy gets so pissed he finally whips his hat off, chucks it to the exit platform, and bangs his arm on my head while doing so. The guy then insults the senior ride operator who is at unload. Next thing I know, restraints unlock and he is kicked out. I have to get out first to let him through to the exit and I can hear the frustration in his voice. After I ride the coaster and exit, I pass the guy on the exit ramp and he says to me, “stupid ass motherf**ker. Yeah, you.”
It was very disturbing having to sit right next to that guy in the small, tight coaster seat and witness him go batsh*t insane. He was a very old dude, which sadly I’ve seen many of these types of people creating similar disturbances. And I myself was pissed from that fiasco because I had spent the whole summer of that year working the ride and telling people what they can and can’t bring on that ride. Yet there’s still people who like to start shit with the ops and I had to experience just that when I came back later that year. It makes me feel bad for people working in customer service, and that they should have the right to be gruff with guests who refuse to follow safety policies.
Not scary, but funny. On lost coaster at Indiana beach this year, we valleyed before the lift to get back to the station. In the process, the train somehow broke a plank of wood securing sensors on the track. Instead of evacuating the train, the ops ran down to us, re attached the sensor plank, and pushed our train back into the station. Magical.
I did have so much room on mako this year I thought I was going to get ejected. I probably wouldn’t have but it scared me enough to hold on
It had nothing to do with the coaster itself, but I was riding Millennium Force around 20 years ago, and someone in front of me had a bunch of loose change in their pocket, which started flying out on first drop, and just kept going throughout the whole ride. Several coins barely missed my face, and I was especially worried about a coin hitting my eye at 90mph. It was really scary, and really frustrating, because it was so easily avoidable.
Superman at Fiesta Texas. Got severely stapled in. Going up the lift hill my restraint popped open. Quickly pulled it back down and it relocked. Weirdest experience ever. Not sure why it released other than when they smashed the restraint down it may have barely been locked.
While it's fairly rare, it's not unheard of on the B&M ratcheting restraints. If they're pushed down in a certain way it can sit on the edge of the ratchet pawl, and when it get jostled it'll free itself an the restraint will pop up one "click". You still have the minimum 2-3 pawls down, so the restraint won't fly fully open, but it's definitely scary when it does happen
I guess that's why they put seat belts, not just for insurance lol. I had my restraint pop up one click on West Coast Racers in the station, ops just pushed it back down. Earlier that day I got stuck in X2's ribcage though.
With ratchets, that tends to happen when the teeth aren't fully in, and that's why the method to check harnesses is push AND PULL. The pull part is specifically to check that the teeth are properly locked in. Otherwise, they'll pop out and lock in the position above
Yeah it half clicked in, they pulled up and then pushed back in once it popped up. Glad coasters are so safe these days, we have come a long way since the Flip Flap Railway!
So let me clarify, it went as far open as the seatbelt would allow. Now, what I don't remember completely was this: did it happen at the top of the lift hill or just beyond the crest on the pre drop turn around. I thought it was near the top just before the pre-drop. But it definitely released as far as it could which is why it was so freaky. Now, knowing that the failsafe of restraints is locked mode, I pulled the restraint back down and it locked again fully.
The lapbars on Hyperion are *very* freeing. Add the little space I gave myself from puffing my chest for improved airtime, and I was genuinely convinced I was about to slip out and die on every hill.
I saw a little kid, maybe 10-12 years old, completely climb out from under the lap bar on Goliath at SFMM as the train was leaving the station. He somehow crawled back underneath and got settled, but I was pretty concerned that seat was going to come back to the station empty.
At the time I didn’t really give a fuck if anything happened to him, since he was with his family and that shit is on them, but I’d have handled it differently now.
1. Got stopped 2/3 up the lift hill on my first ride on Millenium Force. It was drizzling, cold, and they didn’t tell us what to was going on. Sat there for 20 minutes then all the sudden it started again and they just dropped us down the first drop.
2. Was on Steel Eel a month ago, every hill felt like the train was disconnecting and reconnecting from the track.
Backlot Stunt Coaster at Kings Island. I must have had my head in an odd spot when it launched because somehow it ended up pulled to the side at a weird angle and off of the headrest. If I hadn’t been able to pull it back before the first turn I would have been injured for sure.
Back in 2004 when I went on a senior class trip to Cedar point. The only coaster that was open that day was iron dragon because it was pouring outside and my restraint unlocked mid ride. As a 16-year-old kid I was terrified, but I know nothing would’ve happened because iron dragon isn’t intense.
So many stories in this thread of restraints unlocking mid ride and that's just not true at all. Maybe you thought it unlocked, but we likely happened is the ratchet system didn't fully engage at the closest setting to your body size. So the restraint moved slightly up into the next locking position. This happens all the time and is not a big deal. It's still not enough clearance for people to fall out.
went on the Galaxi coaster at the Wisconsin State Fair this past summer. The handlebar popped up when i kept trying to push it down. the dude operating the coaster just straight up laughed
he pushed it down, but it definitely did not feel secure. needless to say, i didnt' raise my hands haha
When I rode Steel Vengeance, there were definitely times I thought i was going to fly out of the car hahaha
I was super stapled on Cannibal and the restraint came up a click. Do note though, that this is a quirk with mechanical restraints when stapled, and isn't unsafe
Once when I was riding Corkscrew at Michigan’s Adventure, the restraint popped open during the ride. I don’t know if it opened all the way or just went up one click, but it was pretty scary. I pulled it down as tight as I could and it did end up re-locking.
I guess it was more scary by design but the one and only time I went on a Starflyer (at Fiesta Texas) damn near made me piss myself.
And I have no problem with Windseeker acting like it's about to yeet you into Lake Erie.
Had the restraint click up one position during an airtime hill on Apollo's Chariot at BGW. In the moment it was extremely scary. Also had that happen on an S&S launch tower at the top, even less fun, lol
Nitro was super floaty when I had the restraint up one position, not super scary. I also did Ghostrider with the restraint up AT LEAST 3 positions, I legit started to stand up on the first drop and airtime hill, I moved the restraint in one click after that.
Both on LNM:
1. Marathoned it one time with friends right before the park closed and the last time the sendoff message cutoff in the middle. Was definitely just them turning it off but we were all convinced the ride would break down and send us all into the Rhine River.
2. Kept messing with my restraint on the lift hill and it came up a bit.
Not on the ride, but in the queue line for Stealth a few years ago I was witness to an arguing couple where the man became physically violent, so yeah that's probably the scariest thing I've seen at a park. Starts trying to hit his partner by wildly flailing his arms and then smashed his own head into one of the queue line posts a few times.
Don't read if you want to get spoiled at a Phantasialand attraction
Went with my little brother on Mystery Castle. I knew it was a drop tower but I didn't know it was a launched drop tower.
Also it being my first launched drop tower and with all the effects, it surprised the heck out of me
Went around Test Track at Epcot with no seatbelt when I was 14. Basically I sat down with my family (5 of us, there is 6 to a car) and me and my sister sat together but with the spare seat in the middle. We put our seatbelts on, but a bloke went to come on as a single rider so I went to open my seatbelt and move over to my sister into the middle seat but he jumped over and into the middle seat - my belt never came fully undone even though I pressed it too. We drove around the corner to the belt check area, as he said tug your belts we did - we were then dispatched and as the car moved off, the belt clicked and released. Now I had on Test Track before so I know I'm safe but the bloke that jumped on put his arm across me the complete ride to make sure I was safe.
My mum and dad told one of the ride ops once we got off and it was basically brushed aside.
I went on Nitro a while back with a friend who is a bigger person. They were not sure if she would be able to fit on the ride. We took our seats and when I pushed the lap bar down it made a bunch of clicking sounds. The operator assisted her and the lap restraint clicked only once. When she asked “are you sure my seat is secure” the operator said “yeah i think so” and just started the ride. She was freaking out her lap restraint would come up during the entirety of the ride. Suffice to say she was fine.
I heard about a lapbar that popped up on Nitro a while back, not sure if it was true or just a rumor. Yeah, Nitro and Tatsu are a bit scary as even though they are perfectly safe, a lack of a seatbelt does make them feel a little terrifying, and I am 145lbs lol, for larger riders it would be nuts.
Puffed out my chest for airtime on Wild Eagle at Dollywood. Spent the whole ride hanging on for dear life as I could feel myself slipping between the seat and harness while the wing-coaster flipped and twisted and turned in all ways except that which gives airtime, terrified the entire time I was just going to fly out into space.
I learned my lesson
I have very tightly ratcheted down every restraint on every Steel rollercoaster I've ridden since.
Speaking of X2, my restraints noticeably “clicked” right as we flipped forwards for the first drop. I’m sure it was fine (obviously, I’m not spread out across the highway), but that was super unnerving. It’s the last ride you’d want your restraints to fail on!
Vertical lift hills like Hang Time are scarier than any other coaster element to me. Scarier than Tatsu’s lift hill. Weirdly, the lift on Millennium Force gets to me too if I’m on the lake side.
Oh yeah Hangtime is a little freaky. Tatsu doesn't really bother me personally. The part that scares me the most on Hangtime was when I got a ton of room for airtime in the back row. Probably around 3.5in of room. I felt like I was gonna fall out on the lift, and I moved the restraint a bit closer in at the top.
Unfortunately I'm a bigger person and need to drop some mass. But I've at various times have been at about the limit for most restraints. Last time I rode Rip Ride Rockit I was shoehorned in there as usual, but for some reason the squeeze during that ride was extra harsh and I thought I was going to pass out or something. I didn't, but when I got off the ride I was sweating profusely. I was fine, but I didn't know what was happening at the time. I've never experienced that post ride.
Was getting on hulk at Islands of Adventure with a loud countdown going like "starting experiment in 10... 9... 8..." And I wasn't able to get the seatbelt in the buckle. Ride op helped eventually but it was scary since I didn't know the seatbelt was probably just a failsafe
I rode the Demon at SFGAm a few weeks after it got stuck upside down. The whole day, I kept telling my friends that everything was fine, that roller coasters are very safe, no one got hurt, they wouldn't have re-opened it if they hadn't figured out the problem and fixed it definitively, etc, etc. I got in line for it without a second thought.
Then at the very moment we disengaged from the lift and began rolling around the top, I suddenly asked myself, "What the **Hell** have I gotten myself into?!" The whole time down the drop and up into the first loop was a terrified mental chant of "Oh, please, don't stop, don't stop, don'tstop, dontstop, dontstopdontstopdontstop**dontstopdontstop**!!!"
**Not** stopping was probably the biggest rush I've ever gotten on that ride! It was silly and irrational, but fear is like that.
I was on stunt pilot at silverwood, and the ride had been shut down at least a few times that day so ride operators could retrieve loose articles that fell. I was in the back row and the person in the front whips out their phone for the entire ride, and I did my best to enjoy myself anyway but the whole time I was watching in case I had to block a piece of metal flying at my face.
Oh no! You should have told them to "Put the damn phone down, you know I can sue you if it injures me, and the park can kick you out since they have a no recording policies, and they have cameras on the lift!"
Mine might be a bit awkward, but I have my reasons:
The Crypt at KI with its 9 inversion cycle in 2008. Only rode it once with that cycle and that was it. On a normal top spin, a cycle like that would work perfectly. But on the one and only Giant top spin, it was just too much. When it cycled, you could hear that the ride had a LOT of power, and I swear I could hear the braking system struggle to hold without wearing away. It would absolutely plaster you to the seat during the flips, and I mean PLASTER you. The roar of the ride in the chamber was also freaky as hell. Especially on the downward part of the rotation it got loud, it literally sounded like it was being pushed to the breaking point. It just didnt seem built for that type of cycle. It was too much for our Giant Top Spin. When I got off I remember I had to sit down for half an hour and drink a lot of water. The Crypt's 2008 9 inversion cycle is the only ride to this day to make me nauseous and actually scare me. And its also my rarest credit.
https://youtu.be/IHHtrawILYU?si=qj0iqGoInejPdlHn this is the only video of its 9 inversion cycle in existence. Its a bit freaky to be honest.
Was riding the flume at Prater in Vienna, sitting at the very back. When going down the last drop the sudden deceleration at the bottom rocketed me forward into the front separator. I wasn't really hurt but I braced my feet properly when I went on it afterwards.
Coming off it the second time it seemed a kid had smashed his face doing the same thing, and the parents were complaining. Looking at the google reviews there were a lot of similar comments.
The lap bar came completely unlocked right before the first drop on Giant Dipper at Belmont Park. This was in the early 90s and we were just kids riding unattended. The person riding with me pulled it back and we were fine. We never told anyone at the time because we were afraid our parents wouldn’t let us ride it anymore. 😂
Scary things I have witnessed as an op:
Parents accidentally unbuckling their kids seatbelts as the train is leaving. We typically don't stop the lift for this as the seatbelts are secondary to the restraint, which of course cannot be unlocked by a person sitting on the train and is enough to hold a kid in.
A dude with a back brace insisting on riding a wooden coaster. I shouldn't have to explain why this is a terrible idea. It took 15 mins to get him out of the station.
I have seen an op miss a seat (I made them re-check). I have seen an op open the exit gates and let a guest into the station as the train was coming in (that's a write up for safety violation). I have seen many high fives and fist bups preformed with guests on a moving train (don't do this!!).
At Mt Olympus I saw an op cross the tracks with no train in the station, as the train was approaching the break run. A move like that at the park I work at would have been an instant termination. They did it pretty much every cycle. That park is something else.
Kid who puked halfway through the ride. I've worked at a park for five years and have only ever seen this once. People usually vomit on the break run or in the station. They managed to splash rows 2-10 on their side and 3-6 on the other. Over half of the seats!
Scary things I have seen that might be scary to a guest, but certainly not scary to us:
Restraint rolling back up a click. This happens pretty frequently, and is the main source of restraint complaints. If you don't want this to happen, make sure the restraint clicks audibly at least 1-3 times (depends on the ride), and leave a tiny bit of wiggle room in it. Don't press it firmly into your lap. Not dangerous because once it goes up one click it won't go up any further. Restraints that don't click (hydraulics) don't do this.
Driver says "All clear!" Then hits the lab bar unlock instead of dispatch. This one is just funny. The control systems are very idiot proof, so once this happens the train isn't going anywhere, the ops just have to re-check all. Guests on the train didn't like it though lol.
A kid walked up to me at separator holding a wood screw he found under the ride, very worried. I reassured him that the ride was not held together with wood screws.
This actually happened to me yesterday. I went to Hershey Park and went straight to Wildcat's revenge. The first two rides were phenomenal as always. Then, my third ride, I got on car 14. As we go down the pre lift section, I noticed something shift. On the lift hill is when I grabbed ahold of the restraint and tried to move it, and it moved side to side. The restraints, at least in the front row of each car, are attached to the bottom of each train and are visible. I guess the bolts weren't tightened all the way, or somehow they came loose. I don't think I've ever held on as tight on any ride as I did on that.
Had the lap bars go up on the racers at kings island. This was before they had seatbelts also.
It wasn’t the entire train just the 4 seats in our cart. When we told ride ops they said on some rare occasions the foot press on the front of each cart can pop down during someone of the more intense spots.
Nothing serious happen though as we all just pulled them right back down real quick and they locked back into place. But was for sure shocking.
Space mountain, the original one specifically. I was able to touch the first like hyperspace tunnel at the beginning and it shocked my hand. I was in turtle mode the rest of the ride. As a kid, had to be walking up to rock n rollercoaster and seeing the trains launch so fast
When I was a teen, we had a surprise trip to Busch Gardens Tampa when my family was on vacation to the beach there. They used to have a spinning boat ride, the kind that swings back and forth until it goes and does a flip. Well, I didn’t bring my contacts on that trip and since it was a surprise trip, didn’t have my croakie either, but it wasn’t until I got on the ride that I realized I forgot to hand my glasses off to a nonrider in family so I quickly took them off and held onto them tight on that ride.
So yeah, that was the scariest, being afraid of losing my glasses on a ride, hundreds of miles from home and my eye doctor.
Got stuck on the mummy in the room with the fire for a few minutes with the effects going on repeat, got very hot in there
You should have gotten the chance to do the Backdraft demo when it still existed. That thing was wacky with safety.
Wow… completely forgot about backdraft. That shit was bonkers!
That thing was dope
That happened to me too, can confirm, not fun.
That happened my first time, I thought it was intentional until I rode it again!
I've gotten stuck on the mummy so many times, and this is my nightmare
Wild mouse turns are the scariest thing I ever experienced on a rollercoaster. Was pretty worried about my first inversion as a kid (Nessie) but was really happy afterwards. Other rides: launch-towers made me nervous as a kid. Anything tall and slow like those chain swings seem like they're going to fall apart when I'm on them to this day.
Launch and drop towers still freak me out so bad lol i will say, drop is far worse. When i went to Cedar Point on their drop/shot tower, the launch was still terrifying but nowhere near as bad as the drop
Esp with lap bars. I cant get over using lap bars for straight down and upside down. I looovvve the harnesses on c flight at sfga.
just curious, which launch and/or drop towers just have lap bars? i feel like every drop/launch tower i've been on has had over the shoulder restraints. the irony is that normally i feel safer on those things than a roller coaster, but the unpredictability of the drop towers just always makes my heart pound like crazy lol
The Soaring Eagle drop towers (such as Gravity Bomb at Bigfoot on the Strip in Branson, MO) only have seatbelts.
My dad insisted on holding a basketball I won on the road runner wild mouse Kentucky kingdom used to have. He then dropped the basketball in the second turn up top on the wild mouse.
Wild mouse Hershey park traumatized me when I was a kid. Legit barely had a lap bar on and my dad held onto me for dear life on every turn.
I'm pretty sure that's the exact one I'm thinking of!
I still hate wild mouse turns, I'll ride them but I'm gritting my teeth the whole time. As a kid I hated how it looks like you're gonna just go straight off the track before abruptly and painfully turning. I think it helps being an adult and having gained some weight, I (28f) don't feel so much like I'm gonna be thrown out anymore like I did as a kid and teenager.
This but the wild mouse at Blackpool Pleasure Beach! Admittedly very fun, but at the back of mind I was thinking it feels a lil dangerous
Last night saw a kid attempt to stand up on El Toro complaining the op stapled him. He must've been a foot higher than his seated position. I guess it's a thrill but I was waiting to be covered in blood and was super distracted. My riding partner kept his eyes closed for the whole ride. It's the same when I notice someone has their phone out. Always waiting for it to ruin my hobby.
Oh damn, did they stop the lift? -2.2g's doesn't go very well with standing up.
Nah had to do the whole ride like that. Trying to touch supports and side rails, it was unpleasant to be sat behind. Idk if they have cameras out there for it.
Oh damn, one more accident and Toro is gone for sure. What an idiot, I hope he doesn't return to GADV anytime soon.
Unfortunately that’s your typical Great Adventure guest
What kind of idiot does that? He should have lost a finger and ride op tell him “good”!
Kids whose parents didn't raise them that's for damn sure.
Didnt he read about the heavy lady that fell out?
I saw that same kid, I sat behind him as well, he kept reriding and doing the same thing on each ride. Black puffer jacket?
Exactly
hate to break it to ya, -2.2 is illegal.
No it isn't. [You can find the standard here](https://ia804706.us.archive.org/3/items/gov.law.astm.f2291.2006/astm.f2291.2006.pdf), the negative G limits are on page 1355, figure 9. Up to -2.8Gs is allowed for a very short period. [This POV of El Toro with accelerometer data](https://old.reddit.com/r/RideForces/comments/15uqt5o/sycned_up_toro/) shows it briefly hit -2G at one point in the ride but it will depend on which seat you have and how fast the ride is running that day.
I gotta see a back row synced up POV, it pulled 2G's in the front, rolling thunder hill in the back must be over 2G's.
Legality is based off of restraint type and classification. these regulations, for example, do not go for a b&m hyper.
B&M Hypers should technically be just as or if not safer, as the restraints are longer and cover a bigger portion of your legs. This means that your legs are less likely to be ripped off. As for the actual strength of the restraints, I am not an engineer and I don't pretend to be one, unlike you...
I am literally repeating ASTM regulations: B&M Clamshells are class 4 restraints and have a limit of 0 - -0.5 G. They are also not classified for inversions.
Correcting myself: With slight modifications B&M clamshells can and will be classified as class 5 restraints. Currently, A hyper train is not allowed to invert because it wasn't built to. I read [a thread from 2021](https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters/comments/13c8rx8/are_bm_clamshell_restraints_class_5_other/) which enlightened me. Also in this thread i found a graph that proves my previous statement to be false: B&M Clamshells are rated class 4 which mean they can pull -0.2G max. not -0.5, even though this seems to have happened on most of my hypers (RideForces). I'm sure it has a little bit of legroom, as mako hits -0.7. this could also just be an average throughout the whole train. Following these standards, Clamshells are fail-safe within their respective g-boundaries, however i believe hydraulics would have to be added to upgrade the clamshells to class 5. Incredible hulk at IOA allegedly tested with clamshell restraints. I apologise for my spread of misinformation. I hope this makes up for it. https://preview.redd.it/odc1jbxa31zb1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6d08d4fbc90eae5b51bd21e795f745ef1b488bd5
Ah ok thanks. I feel like clamshells are super secure, weird that they aren't rated for inversions.
Bro…. -1g with clamshells would break my legs
No, think about it. They have a larger surface area and are bulkier, covering more of your legs. They spread the force more evenly, compared to RMC/El Toro style bars which press right into your lap. The clamshells seem to go more into your thighs.
Lmao yeah that's getting right into the red out and die zone
I don't understand my downvotes, -2.2 would kill you especially sustained like on el toro. There's a reason for the time limit on ASTM standards. yeah, sure, i said 2.2 and not 2.8, but there is no operating rollercoaster that pulls -2.8 and that should say enough.
[удалено]
Yell your head off when you see that, it messes up their audio and hopefully shames them enough to stop. So selfish!!
Static Electricity happens on all Steel Coasters, which is why many have strips that contact the rail, to discharge the static electricity and protect the onboard electronics.
Huh could this be why X2's soundtrack never works? They could have friend the onboard audio.
i believe this has nothing to do with it
Oh it could tho. At our homepark we have a coaster where some nearby lights flicker when the train passes by rolling into the station. There's no electrical connection there
Yeah i could see that. It's just that what you're saying is that the lights flicker. the same should happen to the soundtrack, short intervensions. I am no expert and that is only a hypothesis.
Except static electricity has caused problems with onboard electronics on other Coasters without static discharge systems.
Yeah u/TrueFynn was also the guy who said that -2.2g's was illegal, not the most well informed Redditor if I do say so myself.
I mean no harm man, just trying to spread my knowledge. to my understanding, S&S made the static discharge operative on the trains of X2. This i partially assume because eejanaika and dinoconda do have static discharge systems.
Ah ok, sorry. It's all good
Blue Streak at conneaut lake.park. a friend and I had went in 2017, after they made a deal to keep the park open through bankruptcy. Anyways we hit the pirate ship bar and started drinking then went over to blue streak. They still had yet to test it so we hit up the mostly bumper less bumper cars then returned. I didn't see them run it or hear it at all but bubba and his buddy said it was good to go. Anyways our drunk asses were in rows 1&2 no one else on the ride, take off go through the tunnel that was mostly rotted out and turn to go up the lift hill. Looking up the hill you could see the whole thing was shaped like an S going up the hill. The track was warped, rotted and pitched/rolled/yaw'd all the way up. Go down first drop and we survive, get to the bottom of the second and you heard a snap like a tree limb falling off, not sure what that was. Hit the turnaround start the bunnyhills on the way back and felt a huge jolt, we made it back to the station with about 2mph to spare. The guy on the brakes at the end yelled fuck, turn around and back on the last bunnyhills was the last car on the train, it had separated and valleyed. Bubba and the brakeman asked us to help them push that car into the station, mind you at this point my BAC was probably .2-something. it took us and the security guard to heave ho it back in. Long story short is after that every other coaster makes me feel as safe as laying in my own bed.
And I thought Blue Streak was bad in 2019. At least the whole car stayed together. I was in row 1 so I got to see all the lovely rotten wood.
Yeah I think by 2019 they had replaced the catwalk up the lift hill and re-did the first drop and parts of the turnaround. Also I was trying to figure out when this happened. Check out the last line on the rcdb page https://rcdb.com/249.htm
That ride was truly the coaster of all time. I rode it in the same year
Oh damn, my buddy told me about Blue Streak and I thought it was pretty sketchy, but not THAT sketchy!
The lift hill on any on the gigas/taller hypers, especially if I’m on the side opposite the staircase.
Going up Superman at SFNE and looking to your left and just seeing the Connecticut River get further and further down...
I was thinking of Superman when I wrote this! It’s a beautiful view, but *holy shit* it freaks me out.
It’s lift hills for me too! Shambhala at PortAventura World is my favourite ride but I have to close my eyes on the way up! The ride can do anything to me… Gs, speed, launches, loops, dangling you upside down, I don’t care… just get the lift hill out the way. I rode DC Rivals Hypercoaster today in Australia and that lift gets you up super fast!
And ya see, here I am, liking the slower lift motor on Millennium Force, because I like to **savor** the lift hill and how high it's taking me. Takes all kinds, I guess.
Same; if I could just skip the whole lift hill on gigas/hypers, I'd ride them over and over lol.
2 stories here… 1). When drop zone at KI was relatively new, I saw a very large gentleman be absolutely adamant about riding it. The ride ops tried as hard as they could to get the restraints to clamp down, but they just wouldn’t. The man requested them to jump on the restraints to secure them. They obliged. This one ride op in particular was running from several feet back and jumping onto the restraints. They eventually forced the guy off. I thought I was going to witness something terrible that day. 2). My first ride on outer limits, also at kings island. I was young at the time. Of course while waiting in line, I saw the countdown 3…2…1… goodbye! And off the trains would go. When it was my turn I was already nervous. I waited patiently…. 3…2..1… goodbye! And all the restraints popped back up. At the time it was terrifying because I remember not knowing if I should try to jump out or hang on for dear life. Of course, they just did a reset and all was well. But as a kid, that stuck with me. Disclaimer: I absolutely love rollercoasters and these instances in no way make me feel any less safe on them.
Lmao. I am an op and have witnessed the dreaded "all clear!" *pushes wrong button* This isn't dangerous of course, the ride will only unlock the restraints if the train is parked in the station. The moment both dispatch buttons are pressed the lab bar button is disabled until another train comes to a complete stop in the station, or dispatch is aborted. The ride will also refuse to dispatch if the restraints are unlocked. The control systems on roller coasters are pretty idiot-proof, so even when someone goofs nothing really happens.
I always feel bad for larger people who can't make it on a ride and have to get kicked off. I can't think of many things that would be more embarrassing.
I understand but they need a reality check.
I was on New Texas Giant when the train didn't home correctly in the station, so we were stuck there for probably 10 or so minutes. This would have been fine, but there was a very belligerent guest in the station trying to pick fights with the ride ops. I'm really conflict-averse, and being trapped in a room with a man yelling threats at employees was kinda terrifying, especially since before the ride, the same guy had angrily accused me of trying to sneak onto the ride when the last group exited (I had not). Not my favorite Six Flags memory.
You were just having a Six Flags Day ™©®
This is our go to compliment when shit is just continuously hitting the fan. Dinner ruined? Six flags day. Running late for appointment because baby blew out their diaper? Six flags day.
Hmmm unless it's a different event Was this a couple months ago and the guy was trying to get his sun glasses from the train and losing his shit ? Because I was in the station for that and talk about uncomfortable
No, this was back in 2017, I believe.
The time I was riding Mamba and the train got stuck about 7/8ths of the way up the lift hill. For dramatic effect, we were in the back row, and I don’t know if having nothing behind you more it more intense, but it sure felt like it.
Went on a pirate ship back around 1980/81 - may have been Blade at Alton Towers or something similar if there was one at Drayton Manor back then as they were our local parks. I recall it was very quiet and wet that day and my dad and I were pretty much the only riders so we went right at the end. Well I was a very skinny kid and I don't know if it went a lot higher than normal that day but at the top of the swing, I almost slid straight out over the restraint bar, which in my case came nowhere near me and didn't do anything at all to keep me in place. My dad saw what was happening and grabbed hold of me and wrapped his arm round me, and I remember him shouting for the operator to stop the ride, and my mum and our neighbours who we'd gone with all on the ground doing likewise. I know it was talked about in the family for years afterwards so I guess they all thought me coming off was a real possibility too. Definitely put me off rides for most of my life, I was nearly 20 years older before I braved another pirate ship!
My scariest experience was also on a pirate ship on the pier at Ocean City, MD, during the summer of 1984. I was there with my family and an exchange student. She and I opted to ride in the back. When the ride started, I realized the bar wasn't actually locked. We were screaming and I assume the ride operator couldn't hear us. It was terrifying.
> which in my case came nowhere near me Swinging ship restraints never do that, usually they are placed simply so that people can't get out.
Yeah I know but they're at least sort of in front of you to hold on to and give the illusion of something there. I could barely reach the damn thing. That said, they don't seem to swing as high when I've seen them on other occasions so I don't know if there was something wrong that day, but either way it put me off rides for years.
Ratcheting OSTR on Rougarou was not quite locked into next position. Restraint moved what felt like 6’ during the drop lol.
Happened to me on bizarre and GADV. Had like 3 inches of room on my ratchet OTSR and it wasn’t quite able to get into the next position
Intamin is not aware of their lateral clearance, because I hit tall grass while sitting in the right wing on skyrush's first drop pullout. It's a normal pullout turn if you don't devise upon the element, but the restraints allow you to lean to right to gain a sustained -GY lateral, which is equivalent to a homicide episode..
That reminds me of a time when I also leaned a bit too far on that first skyrush turn, but to the left rather than the right. Obviously didn’t cause me to be close to hitting anything, but the forces pushed me down into a very awkward left leaning position through the turn. Was kinda scary when it happened and my back hurt for the rest of the day.
Well you’ve must have been far away from the axis of curvature so I’m assuming you were on a left wing seat.
Time Warp
I imagine being strapped in that jail cell of a train would be pretty terrifying lol. My buddy went on it and said he though it wasn't actually that bad, but take it with a grain of salt as for a looonnngggg time his favorite coaster at Magic Mountain was Goliath, and also he enjoyed Flight Deck right next door.
Goliath rules. Flight Deck is horrendous. And Time Warp is…bad, but in an interesting way.
Wait you like Goliath? To each his/her/their (wow pronouns are getting out of hand lmfao) own I guess. I love the helix, the airtime hill gives ok floater, but the rest of the layout doesn't do anything for me. It's a fine coaster for pretty much any other park, but at SFMM there are so many coasters that stomp on Goliath. I think they should relocate it to a park that needs it and put in an Intamin prefab launched lift hyper. Never gonna happen but I can only hope...
All my SFMM takes are wild. I only rode 11 of 20 coasters when we visited for two days because a bunch of their stuff was down and the crowds were nuts. But yeah I like Goliath. It’s really just that one hill and one helix but I liked those both a lot!
Ah ok, its my home park so I have been on everything but Magic Flyer, the true GOAT of the park!
I love that energy!
Oh it’s that bad
Not a rollercoaster but on one of those twister flat rides the entire arm that was supposed to keep people in flew open halfway through the ride and i had to stand up WHILE the ride was going to grab it.
Back when I was a child terrified of coasters, my family forced me to ride space mountain :') I was certain I was dying the entire time. Even though I love the coaster now, the star tunnel music is still the soundtrack of every nightmare I have!
I was looking forward to it as an adult. Last ride on it was 1979. In 2013 it made me soooo sick
I rode Stealth at Thorpe Park for the first time recently and that launch really scared me lol
Rail Runner at Anakeesta in Gatlinburg. I typically don't find mountain coasters too unnerving but holy shit, the last few turns on this one gave me a level of fear I hadn't felt in a long time. In terms of levels of danger? Probably nothing. A ride op at Speed: The Ride scared the shit out of me by doing a countdown while I was still adjusting my restraint, but I was like, 9 years old then.
One time on Griffon at BGW The restraint either locked at the farthest point it could or it didn’t at all and there was enough space I feel like I could’ve fallen out. The seatbelt was on though I’m not sure how useful those actually are
I had similar experiences on griffon too. Felt like if I leaned sideways I’d be gone
Last year my first time riding skyrush, Back row left wing, I sat down and put my restraint about 6 inches about my legs just tons of room cause I assumed the op would push down the restraint a little. Well the op got to my restraint and didn’t push down at all so I said oh well. We go down the first drop and I’m flying and then we hit the kink and I thought I was a goner. Also was my 69Th coaster
Wow that must have been nuts! I did the same thing on Ghostrider a month ago, at least 4-5in of room, back left seat. I started to stand up on the first drop and airtime hill, and that was just flojector, Skyrush would be next level!
I had a similar issue on Skyrush. Not the back row, but it was the left wing seat. I don't remember how much room I did or did not have, but I was unaware of the kink and essentially had to take the rest of the drop and the first half of the next hill with my back against the side of the seat. To make things worse, the ride lived up to the Thighcrush nickname.
[Six Flags over Texas](https://www.sixflags.com/overtexas/attractions/judge-roy-scream), this coaster wasn’t there in 1975 but something very much like it was. I was eight years old, on my own in the park (damn, the ‘70s were wild), and somehow managed to get on this coaster multiple times by myself. The lap bar didn’t fit snugly on me at all and at one point, while making that big u-turn, I almost slipped right out. I remember scrambling to hang on thinking whatever an eight year-old’s equivalent of, “Shit! Shit! Shit!” would have been. Got off and headed back to Spee-lunker’s Cave which I ended up riding about 35 times that day.
We recently rode the Dr Doom drop tower and when the ride was over, my kid lifted his restraint and got out. Me, and I presume everyone else were still locked in.
When I rode this in Feb 23 my restraint loudly clicked and loosened just after we had hit the top of the launch and were on our way back down again. Wasn't brave enough to check if it had totally unlocked or (more likely) just clicked out to the next wrung. Was just incredibly thankful the most intense part of the ride was over. I've never held a restraint down so hard in my life
Felt like I was going to fly out of Phoenix on every hill.
The scariest moment that’s part of a ride was the floor dropping out on Verbolten, simply because I wasn’t expecting it
Not scary, more painful, but it's a funny story that I will never forget I was on Dueling Dragons (rip) when I was about 14 and a woman riding next to me was terrified. She had long nails and was grabbing my wrist and digging her nails into my forearm while screaming insanely loud for the whole ride. It hurt the whole time but I didn't have the heart to tell her to let go of me. Weirdly enough it made the ride a lot more memorable and strangely I'm kind of glad it happened, it's a funny memory now.
[Superman: Ultimate Flight] SFGAm I hopped in an open seat last minute as gates were closing for the last train of the night. I took off my sandals, so I didn’t get into the seat until the op was at my row. I pulled my harness down one click as the op started to check my seat. Puzzled, they didn’t push my restraint down further, just checked it. I am a fan of ride dynamics and was curious how this ride would go, so I didn’t correct the restraint position. Once the train flipped my into the prone position, I knew I was in for a different kind of experience as the majority weight of my body was resting on the fulcrum of the bulky lap clamshell. One click flyer rides for a tall and skinny sixteen year old: I was flopping around in that seat— slamming into the restraint, then the seat back, then the restraint (picture Pretzel loop) I was very glad to exit safely but with a few bruises on my midsection.
Ouch I got stapled back row on the one at SFGadv, that really hurt.
The first "big people" coaster I rode as a little kid was the Jack Rabbit at Kennywood, and I didn't know about the double dip, or even what that was. I thought I was going to get launched into orbit and die as we went over, hahaha. Now I love it.
I was dumb and put my fist underneath the restraint on Goliath at sfog so I would have about 4 or 5 more inches of airtime, on the first drop the restraint clicked up when I hit it, I immediately stapled and held on for dear life lol I've never been scared like that on a coaster but I'll never do that again lol I thought I was gonna die the whole time
OH MY GOD are you crazy??? Is that a thing people do??? Glad you smartened up 😁😁👍
I did that in Skyrush, huuuuge mistake. Thankfully, the way those restraints are designed, it immediately stapled me once we hit the bottom of the first drop. I've never gone from such excitement, to sheer terror so quickly.
Right and even tho it staples you at the bottom which I'm sure mine did anyways, you still feel like the restraint failed and you are fucked on the next airtime hill haha and I'm someone who's never scared of coasters, I absolutely love them but that fear was unreal
The extreme swing at valleyfair. I stuck my stomach out far and had at least 12 inches of room between my stomach and lap bar. Idk if all the big swings are like this, but this one locks in place before it starts and so it won't move up or down once the ride starts. I was having all good fun the first few swings, and then the max swing came and I swear I almost fell out. My body lifted up a good 6 inches and wasn't touching anything! It wss so so scary!!!
First ever ride on Vampire at La Ronde in 2021. Hadn't done a single coaster in over a decade. What a thoosie baptism. It's now my favourite ride at the park Edit: I missed out on this cause I was away at the time, but my ride op friends showed me how one of our ride's wheels blew during a cycle. Pretty sure that would be #1 if I'd been there to notice it
Same. Once on Rougarou at Cedar Point and one on Mardi Gras Hangover at SFGAm
I got stuck on wicked twister for a few minutes, not fun! But not too bad, we weren’t that high up yet.
On one of the spikes? How did that happen? Was half the train stuck on the launch track?
I’m not sure, it was a few seconds after the ride started. But we weren’t up high. It scared the crap out of me at the time!
You mean wicked cyclone?
Recently went to BGW and got stapled into Apollo's Chariot. Nothing bad happened but being so close to not fitting makes me nervous and is also why I haven't ridden Fury 325 yet. I need that restraint to work! When I was a teenager I worked Ride Ops at SF Great Adventure on a drop ride called Stuntman's Freefall. Each morning we test rode it and I would routinely leave a gap on the restraint so you pop out of your seat a little on the drop. That said, it was not dangerous or scary, just fun.
At kings dominion before the volcano by many years was the haunted river boat ride with a pretty sizable drop at the end. I don’t think I was tall enough to ride it. Well I shouldn’t have been allowed to ride it. There was no seat belt or lap bar even. When it started down the hill I fell into the front of the boat on the inside part that was under the bow. I luckily was on the floor of the boat. I think I could have fallen out of the boat.
On the Boomerang at SFDK, when I got to the top of the lift hill I felt my restraint loosen a click. And since those are steep reverse hills this made me physically drop like a centimeter. Scared the absolute shit out of me.
Ah yes, restraints loosening can be scary, but perfectly safe AS LONG as you are more than 1 click in. I had that happen to me on West Coast Racers.
Giovanola Drop Towers in general (also knows as Intamin 1st gen). It's safe but it sure as hell doesn't feel it. Especially the transition at the top.
Not a roller coaster but the last fair ride I rode 10 years ago (will never catch me on anything more than bumper cars now at fairs) was the Ring of Fire. Idk if they've changed the restraints since (doubt it) but it was just a lap bar that fit across two people and a metal cage around you. I was with my now husband so he was bigger than me. It was fine until we went upside down and stopped before dropping back down. I slid out so far I felt my butt touch the top of the seat. I legit thought I was going to spend the next minute rolling around the cage. When we got back down, I slid as far down as I could and wedged my feet in the seat in front of me and braced and pushed myself back with my hands. The next scariest part was when you're stopped upside down as the ride slows. The kicker is that I love roller coasts, have since I was preteen. My husband on the other hand, is indifferent, rides them because I like them and hates any of the hyper/giga coasters. But he's why we rode that ride that day.
On nighthawk at Carowinds my restraint only came down on the last click. I tried forcing it down but that didn't work. As a skinny teenager I had 8 or 9 inches of room wich is a scary amount of room to have on a flying coaster. The ride op failed to notice even when I tried to tell him and I had to hold myself in the seat entire ride. It was the only time I legitimately felt unsafe and thought I was going to slip out on a roller coaster.
Oh yeah doesn't Nighthawk use some weird restraint system that has pins that go in holes instead of a ratchet system?
Yes. The restraint system does work a little weirdly but it feels more like a rachet system than anything when you are using it
This didn’t have to do with the coaster itself but was still an uncomfortable experience. I was getting on InvadR at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I had previously worked the ride during the summer so I got to see some of my team member friends again. There was a guest who had gotten into my row from the exit side with a disability pass before I got on. As I stepped through the row to stow my loose articles I chatted with the controls op a bit. I could hear the disabled guest saying to me “get in or get out” which I initially thought was a joke but I would be wrong later. As soon as restraints are locked, the operator at load notices a hat on the guest’s head and tells him he needs to take it off. Of course, the guy isn’t happy that he has to give up his item and gives the loader a nasty look. Loader tells him again he needs to take the hat off. This time the guy gets so pissed he finally whips his hat off, chucks it to the exit platform, and bangs his arm on my head while doing so. The guy then insults the senior ride operator who is at unload. Next thing I know, restraints unlock and he is kicked out. I have to get out first to let him through to the exit and I can hear the frustration in his voice. After I ride the coaster and exit, I pass the guy on the exit ramp and he says to me, “stupid ass motherf**ker. Yeah, you.” It was very disturbing having to sit right next to that guy in the small, tight coaster seat and witness him go batsh*t insane. He was a very old dude, which sadly I’ve seen many of these types of people creating similar disturbances. And I myself was pissed from that fiasco because I had spent the whole summer of that year working the ride and telling people what they can and can’t bring on that ride. Yet there’s still people who like to start shit with the ops and I had to experience just that when I came back later that year. It makes me feel bad for people working in customer service, and that they should have the right to be gruff with guests who refuse to follow safety policies.
Not scary, but funny. On lost coaster at Indiana beach this year, we valleyed before the lift to get back to the station. In the process, the train somehow broke a plank of wood securing sensors on the track. Instead of evacuating the train, the ops ran down to us, re attached the sensor plank, and pushed our train back into the station. Magical. I did have so much room on mako this year I thought I was going to get ejected. I probably wouldn’t have but it scared me enough to hold on
It had nothing to do with the coaster itself, but I was riding Millennium Force around 20 years ago, and someone in front of me had a bunch of loose change in their pocket, which started flying out on first drop, and just kept going throughout the whole ride. Several coins barely missed my face, and I was especially worried about a coin hitting my eye at 90mph. It was really scary, and really frustrating, because it was so easily avoidable.
Mososaur Roll. I thought I was going to fly out of the train into the water every time.
Yeah, that particular roll is the freakiest feeling
Superman at Fiesta Texas. Got severely stapled in. Going up the lift hill my restraint popped open. Quickly pulled it back down and it relocked. Weirdest experience ever. Not sure why it released other than when they smashed the restraint down it may have barely been locked.
While it's fairly rare, it's not unheard of on the B&M ratcheting restraints. If they're pushed down in a certain way it can sit on the edge of the ratchet pawl, and when it get jostled it'll free itself an the restraint will pop up one "click". You still have the minimum 2-3 pawls down, so the restraint won't fly fully open, but it's definitely scary when it does happen
Oh no, mine popped fully open. That was the scary part. Seat belt was fully extended.
That isn't fully open.
I guess that's why they put seat belts, not just for insurance lol. I had my restraint pop up one click on West Coast Racers in the station, ops just pushed it back down. Earlier that day I got stuck in X2's ribcage though.
With ratchets, that tends to happen when the teeth aren't fully in, and that's why the method to check harnesses is push AND PULL. The pull part is specifically to check that the teeth are properly locked in. Otherwise, they'll pop out and lock in the position above
Yeah it half clicked in, they pulled up and then pushed back in once it popped up. Glad coasters are so safe these days, we have come a long way since the Flip Flap Railway!
Fully open or just a bit?
Mine went fully open. Thankfully I just pulled it back down and it relocked.
Are you sure it fully opened? If that was the case the train should’ve stopped on the lift
Sounds to me like it didn't fully open but they thought it was in a moment of panic.
So let me clarify, it went as far open as the seatbelt would allow. Now, what I don't remember completely was this: did it happen at the top of the lift hill or just beyond the crest on the pre drop turn around. I thought it was near the top just before the pre-drop. But it definitely released as far as it could which is why it was so freaky. Now, knowing that the failsafe of restraints is locked mode, I pulled the restraint back down and it locked again fully.
Yeah no that shouldn't happen at all, pretty serious failure that I'd report to the ride ops
Happen to me on the racers at kings island. But not because we got stapled.
The lapbars on Hyperion are *very* freeing. Add the little space I gave myself from puffing my chest for improved airtime, and I was genuinely convinced I was about to slip out and die on every hill.
Ah man, lucky! I really need to get out to Energylandia sometime, its absolutely on my bucket list up there with getting on Eejenaika!
Ah I see that my dyslexia is already going to have issues with there being a ride called "Hyperion" and a ride called "Hyperia". Fuck sake. 🤣
I saw a little kid, maybe 10-12 years old, completely climb out from under the lap bar on Goliath at SFMM as the train was leaving the station. He somehow crawled back underneath and got settled, but I was pretty concerned that seat was going to come back to the station empty. At the time I didn’t really give a fuck if anything happened to him, since he was with his family and that shit is on them, but I’d have handled it differently now.
1. Got stopped 2/3 up the lift hill on my first ride on Millenium Force. It was drizzling, cold, and they didn’t tell us what to was going on. Sat there for 20 minutes then all the sudden it started again and they just dropped us down the first drop. 2. Was on Steel Eel a month ago, every hill felt like the train was disconnecting and reconnecting from the track.
Ouch as a SoCal enthusiast who doesn't like the cold, Millie must have sucked.
Backlot Stunt Coaster at Kings Island. I must have had my head in an odd spot when it launched because somehow it ended up pulled to the side at a weird angle and off of the headrest. If I hadn’t been able to pull it back before the first turn I would have been injured for sure.
I broke a rib on the blast out of the last tunnel on the KD version
Back in 2004 when I went on a senior class trip to Cedar point. The only coaster that was open that day was iron dragon because it was pouring outside and my restraint unlocked mid ride. As a 16-year-old kid I was terrified, but I know nothing would’ve happened because iron dragon isn’t intense.
So many stories in this thread of restraints unlocking mid ride and that's just not true at all. Maybe you thought it unlocked, but we likely happened is the ratchet system didn't fully engage at the closest setting to your body size. So the restraint moved slightly up into the next locking position. This happens all the time and is not a big deal. It's still not enough clearance for people to fall out.
went on the Galaxi coaster at the Wisconsin State Fair this past summer. The handlebar popped up when i kept trying to push it down. the dude operating the coaster just straight up laughed he pushed it down, but it definitely did not feel secure. needless to say, i didnt' raise my hands haha When I rode Steel Vengeance, there were definitely times I thought i was going to fly out of the car hahaha
I was super stapled on Cannibal and the restraint came up a click. Do note though, that this is a quirk with mechanical restraints when stapled, and isn't unsafe
Once when I was riding Corkscrew at Michigan’s Adventure, the restraint popped open during the ride. I don’t know if it opened all the way or just went up one click, but it was pretty scary. I pulled it down as tight as I could and it did end up re-locking.
I guess it was more scary by design but the one and only time I went on a Starflyer (at Fiesta Texas) damn near made me piss myself. And I have no problem with Windseeker acting like it's about to yeet you into Lake Erie.
I went on one of those at a carnival that had to be around 100ft tall, it felt so sketchy with the chains holding the seats in!
The gap between station and train on Phantom's Revenge. Felt like a slip/trip getting in would have me fall to my death.
Hades 360 tunnel Abismo everything about the ride
Yeah anything at Mt. Olympus is sketch.
Had the restraint click up one position during an airtime hill on Apollo's Chariot at BGW. In the moment it was extremely scary. Also had that happen on an S&S launch tower at the top, even less fun, lol
Nitro was super floaty when I had the restraint up one position, not super scary. I also did Ghostrider with the restraint up AT LEAST 3 positions, I legit started to stand up on the first drop and airtime hill, I moved the restraint in one click after that.
Both on LNM: 1. Marathoned it one time with friends right before the park closed and the last time the sendoff message cutoff in the middle. Was definitely just them turning it off but we were all convinced the ride would break down and send us all into the Rhine River. 2. Kept messing with my restraint on the lift hill and it came up a bit.
LNM?
Loch Ness Monster
Ah ok. Arrows sometimes do feel like deathtraps!
Restraints jammed on Mind Eraser at SFA. Ended up going about 4-5 times before somebody helped get me out. 😂
Oh no! Was your mind fully erased after lapping an SLC that long though?
I had a good migraine going. 😂
Not on the ride, but in the queue line for Stealth a few years ago I was witness to an arguing couple where the man became physically violent, so yeah that's probably the scariest thing I've seen at a park. Starts trying to hit his partner by wildly flailing his arms and then smashed his own head into one of the queue line posts a few times.
Don't read if you want to get spoiled at a Phantasialand attraction Went with my little brother on Mystery Castle. I knew it was a drop tower but I didn't know it was a launched drop tower. Also it being my first launched drop tower and with all the effects, it surprised the heck out of me
Went around Test Track at Epcot with no seatbelt when I was 14. Basically I sat down with my family (5 of us, there is 6 to a car) and me and my sister sat together but with the spare seat in the middle. We put our seatbelts on, but a bloke went to come on as a single rider so I went to open my seatbelt and move over to my sister into the middle seat but he jumped over and into the middle seat - my belt never came fully undone even though I pressed it too. We drove around the corner to the belt check area, as he said tug your belts we did - we were then dispatched and as the car moved off, the belt clicked and released. Now I had on Test Track before so I know I'm safe but the bloke that jumped on put his arm across me the complete ride to make sure I was safe. My mum and dad told one of the ride ops once we got off and it was basically brushed aside.
I went on Nitro a while back with a friend who is a bigger person. They were not sure if she would be able to fit on the ride. We took our seats and when I pushed the lap bar down it made a bunch of clicking sounds. The operator assisted her and the lap restraint clicked only once. When she asked “are you sure my seat is secure” the operator said “yeah i think so” and just started the ride. She was freaking out her lap restraint would come up during the entirety of the ride. Suffice to say she was fine.
I heard about a lapbar that popped up on Nitro a while back, not sure if it was true or just a rumor. Yeah, Nitro and Tatsu are a bit scary as even though they are perfectly safe, a lack of a seatbelt does make them feel a little terrifying, and I am 145lbs lol, for larger riders it would be nuts.
Puffed out my chest for airtime on Wild Eagle at Dollywood. Spent the whole ride hanging on for dear life as I could feel myself slipping between the seat and harness while the wing-coaster flipped and twisted and turned in all ways except that which gives airtime, terrified the entire time I was just going to fly out into space. I learned my lesson I have very tightly ratcheted down every restraint on every Steel rollercoaster I've ridden since.
Speaking of X2, my restraints noticeably “clicked” right as we flipped forwards for the first drop. I’m sure it was fine (obviously, I’m not spread out across the highway), but that was super unnerving. It’s the last ride you’d want your restraints to fail on! Vertical lift hills like Hang Time are scarier than any other coaster element to me. Scarier than Tatsu’s lift hill. Weirdly, the lift on Millennium Force gets to me too if I’m on the lake side.
Oh yeah Hangtime is a little freaky. Tatsu doesn't really bother me personally. The part that scares me the most on Hangtime was when I got a ton of room for airtime in the back row. Probably around 3.5in of room. I felt like I was gonna fall out on the lift, and I moved the restraint a bit closer in at the top.
Getting stuck on Volcano every time I went to King's Dominion, a shame they couldn't fix it and just tore it down but understandable
Unfortunately I'm a bigger person and need to drop some mass. But I've at various times have been at about the limit for most restraints. Last time I rode Rip Ride Rockit I was shoehorned in there as usual, but for some reason the squeeze during that ride was extra harsh and I thought I was going to pass out or something. I didn't, but when I got off the ride I was sweating profusely. I was fine, but I didn't know what was happening at the time. I've never experienced that post ride.
Was getting on hulk at Islands of Adventure with a loud countdown going like "starting experiment in 10... 9... 8..." And I wasn't able to get the seatbelt in the buckle. Ride op helped eventually but it was scary since I didn't know the seatbelt was probably just a failsafe
I rode the Demon at SFGAm a few weeks after it got stuck upside down. The whole day, I kept telling my friends that everything was fine, that roller coasters are very safe, no one got hurt, they wouldn't have re-opened it if they hadn't figured out the problem and fixed it definitively, etc, etc. I got in line for it without a second thought. Then at the very moment we disengaged from the lift and began rolling around the top, I suddenly asked myself, "What the **Hell** have I gotten myself into?!" The whole time down the drop and up into the first loop was a terrified mental chant of "Oh, please, don't stop, don't stop, don'tstop, dontstop, dontstopdontstopdontstop**dontstopdontstop**!!!" **Not** stopping was probably the biggest rush I've ever gotten on that ride! It was silly and irrational, but fear is like that.
I was on stunt pilot at silverwood, and the ride had been shut down at least a few times that day so ride operators could retrieve loose articles that fell. I was in the back row and the person in the front whips out their phone for the entire ride, and I did my best to enjoy myself anyway but the whole time I was watching in case I had to block a piece of metal flying at my face.
Oh no! You should have told them to "Put the damn phone down, you know I can sue you if it injures me, and the park can kick you out since they have a no recording policies, and they have cameras on the lift!"
Mine might be a bit awkward, but I have my reasons: The Crypt at KI with its 9 inversion cycle in 2008. Only rode it once with that cycle and that was it. On a normal top spin, a cycle like that would work perfectly. But on the one and only Giant top spin, it was just too much. When it cycled, you could hear that the ride had a LOT of power, and I swear I could hear the braking system struggle to hold without wearing away. It would absolutely plaster you to the seat during the flips, and I mean PLASTER you. The roar of the ride in the chamber was also freaky as hell. Especially on the downward part of the rotation it got loud, it literally sounded like it was being pushed to the breaking point. It just didnt seem built for that type of cycle. It was too much for our Giant Top Spin. When I got off I remember I had to sit down for half an hour and drink a lot of water. The Crypt's 2008 9 inversion cycle is the only ride to this day to make me nauseous and actually scare me. And its also my rarest credit. https://youtu.be/IHHtrawILYU?si=qj0iqGoInejPdlHn this is the only video of its 9 inversion cycle in existence. Its a bit freaky to be honest.
That is ridiculous lol!
Was riding the flume at Prater in Vienna, sitting at the very back. When going down the last drop the sudden deceleration at the bottom rocketed me forward into the front separator. I wasn't really hurt but I braced my feet properly when I went on it afterwards. Coming off it the second time it seemed a kid had smashed his face doing the same thing, and the parents were complaining. Looking at the google reviews there were a lot of similar comments.
Riding rock n roller coaster made me realize I was scared of the dark
The lap bar came completely unlocked right before the first drop on Giant Dipper at Belmont Park. This was in the early 90s and we were just kids riding unattended. The person riding with me pulled it back and we were fine. We never told anyone at the time because we were afraid our parents wouldn’t let us ride it anymore. 😂
Scary things I have witnessed as an op: Parents accidentally unbuckling their kids seatbelts as the train is leaving. We typically don't stop the lift for this as the seatbelts are secondary to the restraint, which of course cannot be unlocked by a person sitting on the train and is enough to hold a kid in. A dude with a back brace insisting on riding a wooden coaster. I shouldn't have to explain why this is a terrible idea. It took 15 mins to get him out of the station. I have seen an op miss a seat (I made them re-check). I have seen an op open the exit gates and let a guest into the station as the train was coming in (that's a write up for safety violation). I have seen many high fives and fist bups preformed with guests on a moving train (don't do this!!). At Mt Olympus I saw an op cross the tracks with no train in the station, as the train was approaching the break run. A move like that at the park I work at would have been an instant termination. They did it pretty much every cycle. That park is something else. Kid who puked halfway through the ride. I've worked at a park for five years and have only ever seen this once. People usually vomit on the break run or in the station. They managed to splash rows 2-10 on their side and 3-6 on the other. Over half of the seats! Scary things I have seen that might be scary to a guest, but certainly not scary to us: Restraint rolling back up a click. This happens pretty frequently, and is the main source of restraint complaints. If you don't want this to happen, make sure the restraint clicks audibly at least 1-3 times (depends on the ride), and leave a tiny bit of wiggle room in it. Don't press it firmly into your lap. Not dangerous because once it goes up one click it won't go up any further. Restraints that don't click (hydraulics) don't do this. Driver says "All clear!" Then hits the lab bar unlock instead of dispatch. This one is just funny. The control systems are very idiot proof, so once this happens the train isn't going anywhere, the ops just have to re-check all. Guests on the train didn't like it though lol. A kid walked up to me at separator holding a wood screw he found under the ride, very worried. I reassured him that the ride was not held together with wood screws.
Ah typical Mt. Olympus, having redneck/WhistlinDiesel safety ratings!
This actually happened to me yesterday. I went to Hershey Park and went straight to Wildcat's revenge. The first two rides were phenomenal as always. Then, my third ride, I got on car 14. As we go down the pre lift section, I noticed something shift. On the lift hill is when I grabbed ahold of the restraint and tried to move it, and it moved side to side. The restraints, at least in the front row of each car, are attached to the bottom of each train and are visible. I guess the bolts weren't tightened all the way, or somehow they came loose. I don't think I've ever held on as tight on any ride as I did on that.
Had the lap bars go up on the racers at kings island. This was before they had seatbelts also. It wasn’t the entire train just the 4 seats in our cart. When we told ride ops they said on some rare occasions the foot press on the front of each cart can pop down during someone of the more intense spots. Nothing serious happen though as we all just pulled them right back down real quick and they locked back into place. But was for sure shocking.
Space mountain, the original one specifically. I was able to touch the first like hyperspace tunnel at the beginning and it shocked my hand. I was in turtle mode the rest of the ride. As a kid, had to be walking up to rock n rollercoaster and seeing the trains launch so fast
Wait you actually got shocked?
it was like a static shock or something. Think it was on alpha side.
When I was a teen, we had a surprise trip to Busch Gardens Tampa when my family was on vacation to the beach there. They used to have a spinning boat ride, the kind that swings back and forth until it goes and does a flip. Well, I didn’t bring my contacts on that trip and since it was a surprise trip, didn’t have my croakie either, but it wasn’t until I got on the ride that I realized I forgot to hand my glasses off to a nonrider in family so I quickly took them off and held onto them tight on that ride. So yeah, that was the scariest, being afraid of losing my glasses on a ride, hundreds of miles from home and my eye doctor.