March 18, 201411 yr comment_178727 I swear they never got rid of that version... I definitely remember working to it, doing the keyboard section sat on the giant speaker waiting for the train to come in...
March 18, 201411 yr comment_178729 "Adventurers...sit back...hold on tight...you're in...FOR A FRIGHT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!" (Yes, this would be the line of the operators, but this was EPIC!) I don't know why, but I love it how they call you adventures at Chessington.
March 18, 201411 yr comment_178746 Awwww, I prefer hearing, "Sit back, Hold tight, the Vampire is taking flight, MWAAAHHA!" Does the new station version still have the vampire cackle?
March 19, 201411 yr comment_178772 I wasn't saying visual checks should not be done - they should. What I AM saying is that: - the stupid "seat belt clip" on Vampire has no place, since it can be easily disengaged by a rider - there should be TWO automatically verifiable, independent locking mechanisms. This is sufficient - the whole "push/pull" physical check on lap-bars on all rides is ridiculous - either the electronic system works or it doesn't People can jump off Skyway Safari, or stand up on Dragon Falls, if they want. Safety is about the restraints being appropriate, and a visual check that they are being used appropriately. Personally, every time someone checks my lap-bar I wonder how many times it doesn't lock - that they need to check it!
March 19, 201411 yr comment_178774 What about the phrase "Better safe than sorry"? As in, "In order to ensure that the ride is working perfectly we shall check the bars physically, as this could easily detect something that may not be noticeable by visual checks alone"... Just because a system can detect whether or not things are in a set position (we'll use Vampire as the example, which uses hydraulic restraints, and will not dispatch unless the connector has risen, which senses if all the bars are in the 'down' position), doesn't mean that: 1 - It can be over-ridden, which is certainly doable on Vampire as quite often the connector would not raise yet all the bars (after being checked twice) were secure... Usually due to a large person being on board on the level... 2 - Can sometimes be wrong... Even if you had two separate systems, what would you do if they BOTH failed? You need a failsafe, and usually that goes down to the staff who are physically checking the bars... The seatbelts on Vampire do have one use (aside from that extra idea of safety, and potential to ensure that should a restraint fail mid-ride it would not completely lift up and let the rider be prey to the games of gravity and momentum), and that's as a limiter for larger guests... If the seatbelt doesn't fit, you can't ride, again, a safety measure that needs physical checking (and more often than not, a bit of effort) to ensure it's safe for the rider to go on... I've waffled a bit here, but the last comment shows a bit of non-knowledge on the whole case really... It's not a case of bars failing to lock that results in the checks, it's to do with safety procedures that ensure that the guests feel safe and secure, as well as to attempt to prevent any misfortune or idiocy... Whilst rides like Skyway, Flumes, most Rapids and a few other attractions have no restraining system, it's because of: 1 - Loading times and checks would increase and reduce throughput... However some Rapids DO have seatbelts on them, because they can get pretty wild... 2 - Common sense tends to win the day, although some idiotic people have been seen jumping out of water rides, the threat of potential severe injury or death seems to be missed for some people...
March 19, 201411 yr comment_178805 Seems like they've lost the old station track when changing the audio system for Vampire then. As long as they sort out the loop it'd be grand (chessington, the place which had messed up fairground scene audio for years, so this won't happen)
March 19, 201411 yr comment_178811 Fastrack was in op on Saturday, 45-60 min queue otherwise even though it was quiet. They had 2 trains and were training up staff but the loading is still fubar-ed. I can't for the life on me understand why they can't throw a bit of cash and technology at it and get rid of all this manual checking.... A pilot doesn't go and push/pull the engines and wings before taking off! Even my car tells me if my seatbelt isn't fastened.... Regardless of which, even without any safety restraint you'd have to be trying really hard to fall out of the Vampire. H&S gone mad! even though a lot of rides probably don't need manual checks it's peace of mind for the rider. I've been on tons of rides and feel very safe but I still like to have the bar checked by a person. Also it covers the parks in case there was an accident.
March 20, 201411 yr comment_178910 Sorry Gladiator but I think Benin hit the nail on that one more accurately. Just to add to it though, and I'm sure this has happened to people before; you climb on a ride like Nemesis Inferno, or Dragon's Fury, and they push the bar and it goes one more click (without being forced). It's to ensure you're safety in the long run. A better example would probably be Slammer or Rush, where quite often people struggle to get the bar down as from a seated position it isn't the easiest thing in the world to push down sometimes. The system says the bar is locked, because it's folded over you're waist. But it could still be *shrugs* four, five inches from your waist depending on your build (admittedly, that kind of distance if you're a skinny rake). So on that basis, I think there'd be a lot of deaths on rides like Slammer and Rush without bar checks... Also, bars do sometimes fail, sad but true. And we're not talking to a degree where you're at danger most of the time; but, and I've witnessed, a larger rider on Inferno, the bar broke, yes it has a second piston (or whatever it is called on Inferno) so he was safe but, what if his body pressured the bar to break the other one? Et voila, seatbelt. Some rides obviously don't have them, but have their own measures in place; like AIR with the lock pins on the bars. Again, they don't always click straight away hence the check.
March 21, 201411 yr comment_178924 2 - Common sense tends to win the day, although some idiotic people have been seen jumping out of water rides, the threat of potential severe injury or death seems to be missed for some people... A lot of rides that only have lap bars are just to stop idiots climbing out of the car if it stops on the lift hill. One example was the Black Hole (RIP) at Towers, it didn't have bars when it opened, but they reailsed a few years later that if it stopped on the lift hill and someone climbed out to the left they would fall to their death as there is only stairs on the right. I imagine it would be a similar case with runaway train, scorpian express, rattlesnake, etc.
March 21, 201411 yr comment_178940 According to ThemeUK, the third train is back and in the process of testing!
March 21, 201411 yr comment_178941 According to ThemeUK, the third train is back and in the process of testing! Though I'm not holding my hopes up currently, this does sound rather promising and hopefully we will see the return of three train op soon which for a ride this popular is needed.I think this year could be Chessington's year, just like last years was Thorpe, filled with park improvements and the like.
March 21, 201411 yr comment_178944 Good news if true. Looks like some people who were convinced it would never return have been proven wrong! Anything is possible.
March 21, 201411 yr comment_178950 Vampire was running two trains today (and it was really dead running with a handful of people) and I wondered why until I saw the back end of the train (it's train 1 which I'm sure was running last year) whilst I couldn't picture from the front water dummies are inside the restraints. Maybe this is why fastrack has returned...
March 21, 201411 yr comment_178953 Yay, means we'll get to sit on the second lift for ages again. Ah I miss those days. This is only good if the operations are severely improved! Stacking on 2 trains is bad enough, imagine that speed of operation with 3 trains. But it seems like Chessie's year so hopefully operations will have improved and 3 train op will work I'm also liking the queue line fencing repaint!
March 21, 201411 yr comment_178955 Will only be a good thing if the overall staffing/operations improve... Otherwise as said, we'll be all stuck on the second lift...
March 21, 201411 yr comment_178958 What happened to all that business about train 3 being scrapped for parts for the other 2 and never to return?
March 21, 201411 yr comment_178961 Train three certainly was canabalised to keep the others running. If this return turns out to be true then Chessington have been out shopping for quite a lot of parts.
March 21, 201411 yr comment_178962 Vampire was running two trains today (and it was really dead running with a handful of people) and I wondered why until I saw the back end of the train (it's train 1 which I'm sure was running last year) whilst I couldn't picture from the front water dummies are inside the restraints. Maybe this is why fastrack has returned... I thought that looked familiar from last weekend on Vamps!
March 21, 201411 yr comment_178964 Train three certainly was canabalised to keep the others running. If this return turns out to be true then Chessington have been out shopping for quite a lot of parts. Or contacted Vekoma to replace the parts that were used?
March 21, 201411 yr comment_178976 The operations for the ride would need to improve massively for them to actually be allowed to run all three. It's part of Merlin's new safety policy.
March 21, 201411 yr comment_178977 Or contacted Vekoma to replace the parts that were used? Well yes, that is likely to be where they have gone shopping.
March 21, 201411 yr comment_178981 The operations for the ride would need to improve massively for them to actually be allowed to run all three. It's part of Merlin's new safety policy. Running the ride efficiently or not would not affect the safety of the riders. It'd affect the experience, but not the safety.
March 22, 201411 yr comment_178989 A sign of common sense prevailing per chance? Any sighting of air gates at Buccaneer then?
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