No Sir you can't get on this ride... You're wearing a neck brace! (LONG)

[mattm04]

We used to have the Rotor at Hersheypark. People would make the mistake of eating before getting on and many times they'd throw up. So you'd see splotches of vomit on the ground near the ride. So if it was a hot day then the smell would nearly knock you out...lol.
Too many people think safety rules for rides are there to inconveniance them. There's this thinking that amusement park rides are harmless. There are tons of stories around about people being seriously hurt by not following ride guidelines. The most harmless looking ride can be the most lethal.
Hersheypark used to have a virtual roller coaster where you stood in front of a large screen & in front of that was a guide rail to hold onto. Pretty harmless from first glance, right? BUT so many people got sick from it that it was deemed a hazard & was removed!
There are more safety restraint systems in a typical ride than you'll ever see in a typical car. BUT you still have your typical dumb ass who just won't listen to rules...lol.

I remember that virtual rollercaster. It was cool.

[jayel]

Ever since I rode the Gravitron (aka The Whirl N' Puke) at the local Kiwanis Club carnival years ago, I've had no interest in those kinds of rides.

Every time I go to the State Fair, I feel the need to ride that ride (called the Gravitron here). Every time, I climb the wall untill I get stuck. And every time, I remember that I don't actually like being stuck to the wall and unable to move my head, arms, legs, eyelashes... It is a sickening feeling.

[mattm04]

Once of my friends used to work at a major US multi-flagged-theme park. Well he got some guest passes at part of being an employee and invited me and some other friends. It was mid-summer weekend and the park was packed. Well we waited in the shorter lines and he decide to call the Operators of the major rides that always have the long lines from the booth of the ride we just got off. He asked what managers were working that day. Since he had done a lot of work pre-season for various repeative administrative tasks, the managers said we could get in the exits of three rides. We happened to meet a few more friends and we were able to go in the exit of the most popular coaster, that hat a 60+ minute wait.

We waited by the operators area (near the exit walkway) and when the train came in and unloaded the operator told the attendants to let us get on the ride. So we walk in from the back, with hundreds of people looking at us, take the front seats, then the operator opens the gates to let the people who waited in. I kinda felt bad, well, for a minute.

[smileyeagle1021]

I think I must say that IPF doesn't know what he's missing... I love coasters (my overtime pay all belongs to Lagoon, best park in the area, 5 roller coasters, dozens of rides, a midway, and a waterpark, what more could one ask for out of Utah). That said, I know that I'm healthy and I still feel like I got the crap beaten out of me (in a good way) by the end of the day at the theme park, so I know those rides can do serious damage... it's a wonder that people don't understand that.

[Samaliel]

Well, any ride is mostly harmless as long as you follow the guidelines and even then, shit happens. For Mr. Neck Brace, I would have required a signed written statement that any damage that may occur because of the ride are solely his responsibility and may not, in any way, hold the park or any member of its staff liable and let him go in, hoping he'd have to get out on a stretcher.

[South Texan]

I was watching the ride making sure everyone was behaving and not doing anything stupid when I see a 3 year old duck under the rope keeping the guests back and dash past both the attendants and directly into the path off the carriages. These carriages weigh about half a ton each and are moving with a MASSIVE amount of force. Ride operator hits the brakes but it wasn't going to stop fast enough. I didn't think I just reacted! I stepped into the path of the ride, Grabbed the kid with one hand and yanked him out of the way turning so that he was out of the path... But I wasn't. I caught a glancing blow to my left side....

It is rare that I use emoticons, but as a fellow former ride operator, this one sums up my feelings perfectly:

That story cannot be topped.

[South Texan]

Me: Sir I'm sorry but I cant let you on this ride.
SC: WHY THE HELL NOT!
Me: You are wearing a neck brace. Anyone with neck problems can't ride! Also the neck brace would choke you!
SC: Are you kidding me!
Me: No sir I'm not
SC: FINE *storms off*
Me: *Breaths sigh of relief*

I wish I was joking, but I once had a very visibly pregnant woman try to squeeze into one of the cars for a roller coaster I was working. This coaster was NOT gentle and required a metal bar to come down and press into the rider's abdomen in order to keep the rider from flying out of the car. This Mom-to-be was attempting to pull the bar down when I approached her. The woman looked all of eighteen.

I asked her if she was pregnant, and when she said she was, I told her she could not ride this or any other thrill ride in such a condition. She said she was willing to accept the risk. I told her the park's rules would not allow it. She refused to get out of the car despite my foreman and the ride's supervisor telling her the same thing. We had to call security to force her out of the car. She screamed she was going to sue us as she was lead away.

I was only sixteen at the time, but even I could figure out that a bar pushing with great force into a pregnant woman's stomach while she was being thrown and jerked forward and backward by that coaster would not be good for her unborn child. My mind still shudders to think of the damage it could have done - and the fact that she was willing to put her unborn at risk just so she could have fun for a moment.

Some people really do not comprehend the danger that exists in these parks.

[Bradester]

This reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Marge warns Homer not to get on a carnival ride due to his heart condition. He ignores her and climbs in anyway, the ride jolts, and he cries, "Owww, my heart!!"

That mother deserves much bad karma.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Thanks My co-workers all called me a 10000 kind of idiot! Mainly because i could of been killed!

When children are involved, we react before we think. That's hundreds of millions of years of evolution going back to our earliest ancestors that tells us to "protect the next generation"

It's why birds will do the whole "I'm an injured bird (and I @#$%ing hope I can fly away before it gets me)" routine.

It's not idiotic, it's instinct. Kudos for saving the kids life. Just one thing...after the EMT looked at you and told the woman that if it was the kid and not you...what was the look on her face.

M

[BlaqueKatt]

When children are involved, we react before we think. That's hundreds of millions of years of evolution going back to our earliest ancestors that tells us to "protect the next generation"

And also to spare yourself the whole-"I just saw an innocent child get hurt/killed and did nothing" part of the brain.

[Apathy]

I just hope the kid realized what happened. He probably went home to have his mom tell him that he "doesn't have to put up with being touched like that."

It's hoping too much, I assume, to think that the mother might have learned to be a better parent.

[digilight]

Lexi, as a parent with a 4 y/o and a 6 y/o who can at times do stupid shit without thinking (allthough they are usually pretty good compared to most). I must thank you for saving that kid. As for what that hambeast of a mother did in screaming at you and crap, I gotta say, I would have been sending you flowers at the very least if not buying you dinner for you and your s/o or a friend or something to express my gratitude.

And damnit, now I'm hooked, I need more of these theme park stories.

[Mamadrae]

My mind still shudders to think of the damage it could have done - and the fact that she was willing to put her unborn at risk just so she could have fun for a moment.

Reminds me of my...1st anniversary I think...

It was the husband's year for planning and he had plotted a day at the local amusement park. He had planned it as a surprise so I didn't know about it.

He gets me in the car and we get there and I start swearing the minute we start pulling in and telling him we should just go home.

This is not normal from me so my husband knew something was up.
I had found out the week before that I was pregnant and had been planning on telling him during our time out.

My poor hubby had already gotten the tickets and all so instead we made it a game day. Didn't go on a single ride but hit up all the little games and arcades they had instead. I was also happy to get my funnel cake of doom. Mmm...funnel cake with a sundae on top...

I'm hungry now.

[TealJellyfish]

It is rare that I use emoticons, but as a fellow former ride operator, this one sums up my feelings perfectly:

That story cannot be topped.

That is probably the worst of it I have to say but I had at least 1 sucky customer a day when I worked there. We had a saying at my park. "You are to stupid to ride"
And on occasion we would actually say it to customers!

[TealJellyfish]

Lexi, as a parent with a 4 y/o and a 6 y/o who can at times do stupid shit without thinking (allthough they are usually pretty good compared to most). I must thank you for saving that kid. As for what that hambeast of a mother did in screaming at you and crap, I gotta say, I would have been sending you flowers at the very least if not buying you dinner for you and your s/o or a friend or something to express my gratitude.

And damnit, now I'm hooked, I need more of these theme park stories.

Ill post the story in a new thread about the parents who brought me a massive fruit basket!

I am glad I saved the kid and I hope he learned from it...