![]() I hope Disney finds a restraint design for its flume rides that truly promotes safety for all its passengers. Even a seat belt or lap bar for a flume ride needs to be designed with more care than one for a roller coaster or dark ride. That doesn't mean one might not be possible-I just can't imagine it. I can't imagine an over-the-shoulder restraint on a flume ride that doesn't cross that line. Riders also panic at the end of the ride if sometimes it refuses to slide forwards like it should, and requirng assistance.Īs a former CM on Big Thunder Mountain, I can tell you from personal experience that restraints don't stop people from getting out of a ride vehicle on a lift.Īnd while I'm sure that a restraint can cut down on the number of idiots who actually pull a stunt like that, and I support efforts to make rides as idiot-proof as possible, my line for appropriateness is drawn at the point where a restraint puts the non-idiot public at risk. It's fairly effective, but a (very) sharp brake at the end of the ride makes them painful. These tend to be pulled back by the ride ops. Originally it had seatbelts, but these were replaced with a padded ram which presses against your front. This is a dark coaster ride where riders site between someone elses legs, in twos. Well, this type of restraint is used on the Black Hole at Alton Towers. This would still lower the number of people per boat, but would be far less dangerous and uncomfortable than the shoulder restraints. Something like the padded lap-restraints they have on Jurassic Park, but instead of being lowered, they slide back onto the lap of the person? Then the person sitting in front of the now-restrained person would do the same. >Can't someone invent some sort of sliding restraint. I wonder if someone in Imagineering didn't leak this story in an effort to create an uproar and kill off a bad idea, once and for all. But we're talking about a system to protect against something with near-infinitesimal probability anyway. I know that the chances of a flume log flipping are close to infinitesimal. Make it 48 inches, or even 52, to ensure that little kids aren't put at risk.ĭon't install a system that potentially *increases* the risk to adults who do respect the rules. If Disney thinks that the current no-restraint system, or even a lap-belt restraint is insufficient to protect little kids on Splash, I say-raise the height limit. (Seat belts?)īut if Disney's lawyers are asking for a restraint system based on the incident at Roger Rabbit, they are making a mistake. (That one focused on Dudley Do-Right at Universal's Islands of Adventure.) I, for one, would welcome a sensible restraint system on Splash, as well. We've talked about the need for better restraint systems on flume rides in another thread. That eliminates two safety dangers: Little kids who are two small to be restrained by the ride vehicle when it is operating at full motion and little kids are are too young to know better than to hop out of a moving amusement park ride. Let's not forget that the most important safety feature on Splash Mountain is its height restriction. One of those boats flips, and people die. ![]() Now, as for Splash Mountain, I'll say this: Over-the-shoulder restraints on flume rides are nuts. I urge Disney to consider spending more on retaining top attractions employees as another sound investment in guest safety. High employee turnover, and a lack of employee experience damages guest safety. Disney's wages for attractions employees have lost significant buying power over the years, making it impossible for high-qualified attractions employees to stay with the company for years. as an excuse for more cutbacks in personnel, let me say that these "improvements" will not make for safer attractions. If Disney is looking at load gates and better restraint systems as an enhancement to top-quality personnel, I hope we'll all welcome that.īut if Disney see loading gates, etc. Smart, experienced operators can anticipate trouble, and either prevent it, or stop a bad situation before it becomes an injury accident. However, I throw in my two-bit opinion by saying that the right personnel can be as important, if not more, than physical changes in promoting ride safety. ![]() You've seen the effects of this order if you've seen the new loading gates at places like Thunder Mountain. Al Lutz reports on another site that Disney's considering an over-the-shoulder restraint system for Splash Mountain.Ī little background here: Disney's legal team has ordered all attractions to be reviewed for safety enhancements when they go down for a major rehab.
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