7.23.2013

Amusement Ride Safety and You



Whenever a freak accident occurs in the world of amusement parks, a common question always rises: "Are roller coasters safe?" More times than not, media tends to make things more dramatic than they really are. In rare cases, an event really did end with a tragic result (being the recent death on the New Texas Giant coaster at Six Flags Over Texas). Whenever any ride mishap makes the news, many people start to show concern in their safety. CGA Insider would like to assure you, the rider, that thrill rides and roller coasters are absolutely safe!

Freak Accident: This is defined as a rare occurance. Because they are so rare, they instantly become the highlight subject on the evening news. A freak accident can be something as simple as when Superman Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom stopped at the ride's highest point last summer. The ride had actually not had enough momentum to make it through the course and balanced up top in place. Something along the lines of this is really just an inconvenience to park guests as they wait for evacuation (or in this case, being pushed back down the first tower, rolling safely into the station).

A good example is the classic "Illegal POV" scenario. Little does this rider
know, his camera can become a dangerous projectile.
 

Rider Caused Accident: Well, this really shouldn't be considered as an accident as rider's actions would be done on purpose. An example of this would be when some riders jumped out of Logger's Run approaching the drop. One fell to their death while another fell to safety on a platform.  Other instances include riders disregarding the rules the park has in place...loose article policies are in place for a reason. Should an item break loose from one's grips, it instantly becomes a flying projectile! This projectile (whether it be a hat, pair of sunglasses, or electronic device) can seriously injure a rider. Unfortunately many riders don't think of this.  Another example of a rider-caused mishap is trying to bypass height/size requirements. It really is not worth it to try to sneak your child (who is 2 inches short) on the park's newest thrill ride. Body size/proportions are another factor. Ride restraint systems were designed to fit a certain body size. Anything smaller or larger than what the manufacturer specifies can make the restraint systems ineffective. The ride manufacturers set these requirements for a reason. The parks enforce these regulations FOR YOUR SAFETY!



Mechanical Malfunction: This can be something as simple as something mechanical causing the ride to stop. A well known example was when Great America's former Invertigo roller coaster experienced a mechanical failure when climbing up the lift in 2009. Riders were 'stranded' for several hours. Many people tend to freak out over a ride even doing something as simple as stopping on the lift (say, an e-stop for when somebody had their camera out). They then tend to express concern as they wait in line. Unfortunately, the Invertigo mishap frightened a lot of guests and many appeared to be leary of reriding it when it reopened knowing that it was stuck on the lift for several hours. Riders were completely safe however.
So how safe are they? Thrill rides and roller coasters have been said to actually be  safer than driving to work, or better yet - taking a drive to get to the amusement park. One poses more of a risk walking out in the parking lot to get to the park's gates than they do riding the park's rides. According to IAAPA and the NCS, it states this:
Approximately 297 million guests visit the 400 U.S. amusement parks annually and take 1.7 billion safe rides.
The chance of being seriously injured on a ride at a fixed-site park in the U.S. is 1 in 24 million.
61 of the 1,415 ride-related injuries, or less than 5 percent, required some form of overnight treatment at a hospital.
- See more at: http://www.iaapa.org/safety-and-advocacy/safety/amusement-ride-safety/injury-statistics#sthash.NB8bjLTL.dpuf

Traffic-wise and automobile accidents, we are looking at 33,808 deaths. 1,415 injuries or 61 overnight hospital stays is a far cry from the over 30,000 vehicle fatalities. But how can we assure we're safe? Today's rides feature complex computer systems that WILL NOT allow a ride to dispatch unless ALL restraints are locked. Many rides use a ratcheting system for its lapbars or over the shoulder restraints (OTSRs). Many other rides use hydraulic pressure as a means of keeping the restraint locked (in which Texas Giant currently has). Drop Tower at CGA also utilizes a hydraulic system. And if the locking restraints weren't enough, many rides feature a secondary (and sometimes a tertiary) 'redundancy' seatbelt should something ever go wrong.

In the end, amusement park rides are quite safe. One faces more of a risk slipping and hurting themselves in the shower, playing a sport, riding a bike, walking across the street, or even taking a drink of water (Many have had times where their drink went down the wrong way and had a coughing fit, much like myself). With all of this said, go out and visit your local amusement park and enjoy some rides!

7.22.2013

California's Great America Update - First Signs of Haunt Beginning to Rise!


It may only be mid-July but that doesn't stop California's Great America with getting the park prepared for its annual Halloween Haunt! For those unaware, CGA started its Halloween events in 2007 with a single maze, being CarnEvil. This was a teaser as to what the 2008 season would bring, being the park's first full-on Halloween Haunt. Ever since, the park's Haunt event has continued to grow with new mazes, enhancing existing mazes, and even using some of the park's inhouse talent to create custom soundtracks for many of their mazes!
Keeping with tradition of providing something exciting for the new Haunt season, last week, the park announced its new maze "Dia De Los Muertos" in which will take over the former "Club Blood" area. For those unaware, Club Blood took place at the park's defunct Pictorium utilizing some of the path outside and going through the dormant building itself. Some construction walls for Dia De Los Muertos has already began to rise and are already receiving paint!


Here's an overview of what's visible of Dia De Los Muertos. It appears as though it will start along the outside of the building, work its way behind and go back through the building as it heads back out to the Star Tower plaza.
Guests wishing to visit Dia De Los Muertos will enter passing underneath the Gold Striker lift hill.
 Here's a close up shot of one of the painted walls. You can also see some props sitting inside of the maze.

Meanwhile, that's not the only thing going on. Recently, the park applied for a permit to build a 60'x80' "storage building" (which last year, when a storage building was built, it was for the Madame Marie's Massacre Manor maze). Land clearing has begun behind the park's Grizzly coaster.

Leveled dirt...who's excited? Wait, what is that sitting in the gravel pile?!?

This confirms that this is will be Haunt-related. Nothing like the park giving off a very subtle teaser/hint.
In other news, vandalism is still running rampant over at Gold Striker. While the park has addressed the issues with the bent wire fencing and replaced the entire queue with heavy-gauge wire, they continuously sand down the fences every day. On the flipside, at least Gold Striker continues to he a HUGE hit for the park.

Riders taking in the rather forceful first drop.

Quickly zooming around the midway turn.

Just remember that electronics are NOT allowed on the ride. Please put
your cell phone away! In all seriousness, this actually puts other riders at
risk of being injured by what can become a projectile. Leave all on-ride filming
to the professionals and live with your experience in memory.



So that wraps up this update, stay tuned for future updates as the Haunt 2013 season approaches!

7.08.2013

CGA Independence Day Weekend Updates & Gold Striker



The past few days have been a busy few days for the park, in light of Independence Day Weekend. As many know, Gold Striker took on some modifications last week in response to the screaming rider dilemma. The short downtime actually provided some time to give some much-needed attention to Gold Striker's queue.

One of the first few noticeable things in the queue were some extra wood (above) added to the fencing and some heavier gauge metal wiring (below) further up the queue. 


Unfortunately, during the past month of the coaster being open, Gold Striker's queue faces an up hill battle against vandals who either bend the metal wires on the fencing (which eventually causes metal fatigue and leads to wires breaking off), or...pardon the expression being rather idiotic, writing on the walls, sharing their Instagram accounts. The park is out there every day sanding down the walls only to have them littered with vandalism by the end of the day...it's quite sad these days as people have no respect for other people's property.

One of many wires that were ripped apart...
Let's now take a look at one of the important things done to Gold Striker, that is...the new 70-foot descent tunnel!



 This tunnel not only dampens riders' screams as they take on one of many surprise moments but it actually enhances the surprise moment (which is one of the many spots where your experiencing some airtime)! I found myself quickly pulling my hands down as the train would dive through the tunnel. We can only imagine that the tunnel will slowly get fully painted to match the rest of the ride.


A look at the newly added tunnel from White Water Falls. It reminds us of
Ghost Rider down at Knotts as it is open on the ends.

Now it's time for some other general park updates! One new thing added this weekend was a "Spin the Wheel" game where you would pay a small fee, spin the wheel and guarantee to win something. Odds seemed pretty high for "Front of the line" passes, which were being used for Gold Striker. The fast lane queue was actually bustling 7/7/13!

A lot of guests were spinning the wheel before
getting in line for Gold Striker. It is quite tempting!


 And for the last bit of news, it appears that something has started to rise...something like....a Haunt maze! It's July but Haunt will be here before we know it! Wonder what it will be...



 Stay tuned for future updates and be sure to follow CGA Insider on Facebook for frequent park updates!






7.03.2013

Gold Striker now open!

After a nearly 3-day hiatus, Gold Striker has reopened with a new sound-dampening 70-foot-long tunnel. The official word from the park was this:

Great news regarding Gold Striker. An additional 70 ft. tunnel, similar to the initial descent tunnel, has been added and the ride is better than ever. Feel the rush today.

Stay tuned for a weekend update and a quick review on the new enhancement, as well as photos! And be sure to follow CGA Insider on Facebook for frequent park updates!

7.02.2013

Gold Striker riders....You think you can quiet it down some?!?



Gold Striker recently closed due to exceeding its noise limitations that had been set. Last month, Gold Striker was undergoing noise tests while it officially opened to the general public. It turns out that the ride was just slightly above the max levels that were agreed to by Cedar Fair, the City of Santa Clara, and Prudential. To remedy the issue (which actually was not from the coaster itself, but its highly thrilled riders) was to fully enclose the track coming out of the first turn around. Gold Striker will now feature a second 'descent tunnel' exiting the first turnaround (after station flyby element).

CGA is making a lot of headway on the tunnel construction.
This photo was taken by a park guest on 7/2/13.
Image found on Instagram under #goldstriker

And this photo, also taken by a park guest on 7/1/13 shows
the frame work just beginning to rise in the upper right.
Image found on Instagram under #goldstriker


According to news reports, park officials are hopeful to have Gold Striker running again by July 4th. This coming weekend could be a pretty big  holiday weekend for the park. Having the new star attraction dormant during this time would be a huge blow to the park.

7.01.2013

Gold Striker - Has struck closure...



Yes, you have read the title correctly. Gold Striker has ceased operation as of 7/1/13, giving its last rides Sunday evening. The reasoning behind this was due to noise complaints from the riders experiencing the park's latest adrenaline rush, via Prudential. Prudential owns the 2 office complexes right next to the Gold Striker site, just beyond the parking structures. On 6/28, the park submitted plans for some sound tunnel modifications and as of today, framework has gone up coming out of the first turnaround.

Note the framework that already popped up just within today.

It has not been stated yet as to when the ride will reopen but this weekend could potentially be a big weekend for the park due to the holiday. One can hope that this down time won't last too long.


Mean time, Saturday, 6/22/13, audio technicians were spotted on top of the neighboring office complex with sound equipment collecting sound data while the coaster was running.


What was interesting on 6/30/13 was the fact that the ride did not open with the park at 10:00 (or as of recently, Gold Striker has been opening 30 minutes late). It was "experiencing technical difficulties" and didn't open until around 1:00 or so. Due to the heatwave the bay area is getting hit with, much of the crowds flocked to Boomerang Bay, leaving some really short waits for Gold Striker. This made a great way to get last rides in as several of us were aware of the looming ride closure after the 30th.

An update: The ride's closure has made it to the local news and the article can be read here
There is hope that the ride could be ready for this weekend!


Stay tuned for future updates and be sure to follow CGA Insider on Facebook!