What's new
By:
FORUMS - COASTERFORCE

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Shoot the Rapids Incident

I've heard some pretty sketchy things about the StR boats. It doesn't surprise me that there was an accident, but that doesn't change the fact of how awful it is. I was there last weekend and they STILL (after three years) were not loading the full train. It's very unsettling, seeing as how I rode the ride less than a week ago.
 
Somebody has Tweeted CF to say that the person hospitalised has been discharged now - so it doesn't look as bad as it first seems.
 
^Except of course that if designed correctly, a boat should never ever be able to go backwards down a lift hill, and a boat should never ever be able to capsize, it's not as bad as it first seems.

I mean really. Virtually every water ride I've ever been on has anti-rollbacks, UNLESS it's an Intamin.
 
rollermonkey said:
^Except of course that if designed correctly, a boat should never ever be able to go backwards down a lift hill, and a boat should never ever be able to capsize, it's not as bad as it first seems.

I mean really. Virtually every water ride I've ever been on has anti-rollbacks, UNLESS it's an Intamin.
Click to expand...

This has already sent screamscape Lance into his usually rant about restraints on water rides.

Having been involved with the lapbars on Dudley Do Right, one of the usual requirements is proving the boats cannot flip/capsize. But, again, if the ride is not prepared for a rollback of any kind, who knows.
 
Personally, I never understood why Intamin decided it was necessary to over engineer their anti-rollbacks so that they don't make any noise at all. I like the old school clackety-clack noise that the old Arrow loopers made. B&M have made theirs much quieter, but you can still hear that they are working.

It's clear now that the silent anti-rollbacks are just one more thing that can fail.
 
Does it have anti-rollbacks? The only decent picture of this lift hill I can find has something that looks way too small to be one...

The truth is that Arrow built dozens of flumes without restraints, and it wasn't an issue. Now, manufacturers start adding restraints to water rides and we get problems. Obviously part of the problem is idiots who stand up on those water rides without restraints and another part is overly cautious insurance companies trying to stay ahead of litigious people looking for a handout.
 
I believe if you look closely at a pov video you can see the rail with the anti-rollback teeth on it to the right of the chain. I will admit I haven't ridden this ride, so I could be mistaken. However, if it doesn't have anti-rollbacks at all, then that's criminal negligence as far as I'm concerned.
 
rollermonkey said:
Does it have anti-rollbacks? The only decent picture of this lift hill I can find has something that looks way too small to be one...

The truth is that Arrow built dozens of flumes without restraints, and it wasn't an issue. Now, manufacturers start adding restraints to water rides and we get problems. Obviously part of the problem is idiots who stand up on those water rides without restraints and another part is overly cautious insurance companies trying to stay ahead of litigious people looking for a handout.
Click to expand...


It was and is an issue, especially as flumes got longer and taller. Besides kids (or guests in general) getting scared and jumping out, you had the idiots who would jump from seat to seat or stand up and "surf" boats to get a laugh from their friends.

UO and Disney didn't decide to put lap bars on their logs just to inconvenience people. They did it because they were tired of people jumping out and decided to force them in for the duration of the ride rather than have them get hurt doing something stupid.
 
No... it wasn't an issue until people started being idiots.

Nobody ever fell out of an Arrow log flume unless they STOOD UP.

That's rider error, pure and simple.
 
rollermonkey said:
No... it wasn't an issue until people started being idiots.

Nobody ever fell out of an Arrow log flume unless they STOOD UP.

That's rider error, pure and simple.
Click to expand...

I agree, no one ever "fell" out of a log flume, but due to lack of restraints they could get out on their own accord.

People have been idiots since the dawn of time and will continue to do so in saecula saeculorum.
 
I think anyone passing this incident off as not a big deal is an idiot.

In ways, it's worse than the Six Flags incident - which is arguably a fault of poor procedure or staff not doing their job properly. This is just full on scarily shoddy engineering.
 
Disney put on the lapbars because people would get out and walk around when the ride broke down...

As for the incident, this could be a major issue for CP
 
therick311 said:
I believe if you look closely at a pov video you can see the rail with the anti-rollback teeth on it to the right of the chain. I will admit I haven't ridden this ride, so I could be mistaken. However, if it doesn't have anti-rollbacks at all, then that's criminal negligence as far as I'm concerned.
Click to expand...

Those most definitely are the anti-rollbacks you see in the POV but man, are they narrow. I could definitely understand that if this wasn't a mechanical failure (ie, anti-roll dog snapping) that the dog may have just slipped past the anti-roll teeth.
 
therick311 said:
I believe if you look closely at a pov video you can see the rail with the anti-rollback teeth on it to the right of the chain. I will admit I haven't ridden this ride, so I could be mistaken. However, if it doesn't have anti-rollbacks at all, then that's criminal negligence as far as I'm concerned.
Click to expand...

You can clearly see "Anti-roll" back teeth on this lift hill pic, maybe the boat did not connect fully to them at the bottom of the lift, very weird how this accident happened.

 
rollermonkey said:
^Except of course that if designed correctly, a boat should never ever be able to go backwards down a lift hill, and a boat should never ever be able to capsize, it's not as bad as it first seems.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I meant in terms of people injured, not the accident happening itself :)
 
Just got back from CP earlier and should really go to bed, but the park had all of Shoot the Rapids drained today. We took the train through the queue and it was a ghost town. I saw no workers or anything. I saw one boat sitting in the drained channel but it didn't appear damaged so I doubt it was the one that rolled back. Video later but that's what I saw.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top