That's the good thing about Disney World, I suppose. I've never, ever had the them NOT check any of the restraints. They are pretty nazi-ish about it. I know most of their rides are pretty tame, but at least I'm not going to die on them.

Terrible

My dad took my sister on the orient express at WoF when she was younger (my brother and I were too young at the time) and there was a malfunction and my dad had to literally hold her down with his arm the whole ride to prevent her from flying out. He told me his arm hurt for two weeks after that. He informed the workers and park officials afterward. He was scared shitless he tells us.

What a load of bullshit. You don't know that, and it sure doesn't sound like that was the case based on the OP.

Just because you worked at a theme park doesn't mean you have to be a blind apologist for all workers at all theme parks. Some people just suck at their jobs.

Tragic

http://m.toledoblade.com/local/2013/...dar-Point.html

And there was another amusement park ride accident yesterday at Cedar Point. No one died in that one though. Guess the amusement park gods decided to take a break yesterday.

It's well-known that everything is bigger in Texas, so the "Giant" part of the rollercoaster's name is redundant.

Since her restraint only clicked once, that suggests to me that this lady was obese and ended up finding out the hard way that crash diets don't work.

THOSE NO-GOOD SLACKERS!!

Usually that's the case - the kid who got decapitated by the Galaxi at King's Dominion in the 80's had to try really hard to reach his head up to where that low-hanging beam was. Same with the Shockwave stand-up coaster in the 90's (I think), and as far as I know it's still there.

Also also, I just need to link Action Park in New Jersey, because it's awesome to read.

The thing I am most afraid of is not me falling off a ride, but my son. That would be more horrible then just about anything imaginable.

Talk about close calls, holy crap I went to that 6 flags over Texas in the early 80's. That could have been me :eek:

Story has been updated. Hope this helps


http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro...man-s-fall.ece



Six Flags Over Texas announced Saturday morning that the Texas Giant roller coaster will remain closed as authorities investigate a woman's fatal plunge from the Texas Giant roller coaster Friday night.

The Arlington amusement park still has released few details beyond reporting that its medical staff and city paramedics had responded immediately. The victim’s name was not released.
Besides keeping the ride closed, Six Flags has canceled a concert by singer and actress Bridgit Mendler that had been scheduled for Saturday night.

Park officials offered their condolences to the woman’s family as investigators began to study the cause of the accident, which occurred after 6:30 p.m. Although the ride was closed, the park remained open through the evening.

Early attention was beginning to focus on witnesses’ reports that the woman’s safety restraint may have come undone.

Carmen Brown of Arlington was waiting in line as the victim was being secured in for the ride. She said she believed that the woman’s son was on the ride with her.
Brown said the woman had expressed concern to a park employee that she was not secured correctly in her seat.

“He was basically nonchalant,” Brown said. “He was, like, ‘As long as you heard it click, you’re fine.’ Hers was the only one that went down once, and she didn’t feel safe. But they let her still get on the ride.”

She said the victim fell out of the ride as it made a sudden maneuver.
“The lady basically tumbled over,” she said. “We heard her screaming. We were, like, ‘Did she just fall?’”

Investigators were interviewing witnesses on the ride, some of whom reported that the woman had been thrown from the roller coaster as it rounded a turn. Arlington police declined to comment on the accident.

Hysterical passengers had to wait to disembark as the train stopped short of the platform.
John and Darlene Putman of Rockwall said they were in line to board the roller coaster as the train in which the woman had been riding returned.

John Putman told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he heard two people screaming, “‘My mom! My mom! Let us out, we need to go get her!’”
Reports from park visitors began spreading rapidly on social media online, drawing worried parents and others to the gates to check on family members.
Joshua Paul Fleak posted on Twitter that he believed that the woman’s restraint had come undone.

“Just witnessed someone fly off of the Texas giant two seats in front of me,” he said. “… Coaster turned and she was gone.”
The Texas Giant opened in 1990 as the world’s tallest wooden roller coaster but was closed in November 2009 to convert it to a steel-and-wood hybrid.
Although the rebuilt ride incorporates some of the original structure, it includes 4,700 feet of new track.

When it reopened in April 2011, the expanded coaster offered a smoother ride and a higher top speed of 65 mph. It features a 79-degree drop and three turns sharper than 90 degrees.
Friday’s accident was the second ride fatality for a guest at the park since it opened in 1961.
In 1999, Valeria Cartwright of West Helena, Ark., drowned when a Roaring Rapids raft capsized. Ten other people were injured in that accident.

In March 2006, passengers on the park’s Texas Tornado ride reported injuries when the ride slowed rapidly and several of its swings collided.

In another amusement park accident Friday, a boat on a thrill ride at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, rolled backward down a hill and flipped over in water when the ride malfunctioned, injuring all seven people on it.

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2010 after the company said it needed to shed $1.8 billion in debt. In April, the company posted record revenue.
Staff writer Robert Wilonsky contributed to this report.

The witness in the video at the link confirms the woman was "heavy"

I have seen ride operators kick people off of rides before because they were overweight and didn't fit properly in restraints.

We went to World's of Fun last Saturday... and if I had read this before going, I'd probably of not taken the kids.

If something happened to my kids while riding a ride, that would have been the most horrific thing to see... or if I flew off and my kids had to see that. Holy shit.