Fastest roller coaster in the world shut down due to injuries that included broken bones

[pirate33]

I ❤ the Giant Dipper at Santa Cruz. IIRC, it has a long ground level route before reaching the chain lift.

You are tough. I rode that a few years ago and, boy, was it rough. Never again, and I love roller coasters. The Ghost Rider at Knott’s is very fun.

 

[neverlandsky]

We were injured with the Green Lantern First Flight at Magic Mountain. The ride closed down finally in 2019. Yet it’s because of that ride we no longer do anything extreme.

 

[mrs. magoo]

My local amusement park has the Jack Rabbit. It is a 101 year old wooden coaster and I love that ride. When you were a kid it was a right of passage to ride it.

 

[georgina]

My local amusement park has the Jack Rabbit. It is a 101 year old wooden coaster and I love that ride. When you were a kid it was a right of passage to ride it.

I think there is also one in New York, but Kennywood in Pittsburgh also has an old Jack Rabbit from 1920 that was my kids' first coaster. Mine was the Blue Streak at Cedar Point.

 

[RedAngie]

Well - the fact that wooden (and other older coasters) are shaky is often considered a badge of honor. And wooden coasters by their nature have to flex quite a bit, because if they were too rigid they might actually suffer more damage from stresses.

The most extreme example of a wooden coaster swaying was at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, San Antonio.

The Rattler, 1992, the year it opened. About midway thru the coarse, the train goes down a hill from the top of the quarry and curves at the bottom. The whole structure noticeably swayed about 10 feet. Of course, it was designed this way.

i understand the coaster has been re-tracked and possibly renamed.

You are tough. I rode that a few years ago and, boy, was it rough. Never again, and I love roller coasters. The Ghost Rider at Knott’s is very fun.

Different strokes. The last time I rode Ghost Rider, about 2011, I swore never again. Maybe they smoothed it out.

 

[bcla]

The most extreme example of a wooden coaster swaying was at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, San Antonio.

The Rattler, 1992, the year it opened. About midway thru the coarse, the train goes down a hill from the top of the quarry and curves at the bottom. The whole structure noticeably swayed about 10 feet. Of course, it was designed this way.

i understand the coaster has been re-tracked and possibly renamed.

Looked it up and it was renamed Iron Rattler. It was a conversion to Rocky Mountain Contruction's I-Box system similar to Joker (Six Flags Discovery Kingdom - was Roar), New Texas Giant (Six Flags Over Texas), or Twisted Colossus (Magic Mountain). I like those coasters because they do inversions on a steel track but connected to a wooden structure.

 

[mrs. magoo]

I think there is also one in New York, but Kennywood in Pittsburgh also has an old Jack Rabbit from 1920 that was my kids' first coaster. Mine was the Blue Streak at Cedar Point.

My Jack Rabbit is in NY at Seabreeze Park. Unfortunately for the park it was closed all last summer for the 100th birthday but I think they have been busy this year.

 

[pirate33]

Different strokes. The last time I rode Ghost Rider, about 2011, I swore never again. Maybe they smoothed it out.

It is on the rough side but nothing like the Giant Dipper. So stay away from that one if Ghost Rider was too rough!

 

[fly girl]

Oh man, we missed going to Fuji-Q Highland when we went to Japan in 2019. Didn't have enough time, but all 3 of us love coasters so no doubt we would have ridden this.

Unlike @starvenger, I prefer metal to wooden. My favorites are smooth, fast rides with lots of air time. I have no issues with launch coasters, I like them. What I don't need to do is go upside down. I am so short that the shoulder harness bangs my head back and forth, it hurts! I can take the newer wooden rollercoasters just fine, my second favorite ride at Kings Island is Mystic Timbers. But The Beast, is truly a beast to my body. Too violent of a ride now that it's 42 years old. When you start the second half of the ride my body is asking why I was so stupid to try it again!

I rode Son of Beast several times before it was shut down due to injuries. I was younger, so maybe that is why it didn't bother me too much. I don't remember feeling as awful as I do now getting off its father.

I think there is also one in New York, but Kennywood in Pittsburgh also has an old Jack Rabbit from 1920 that was my kids' first coaster. Mine was the Blue Streak at Cedar Point.

COOL!!

Kennywood's Jack Rabbit was my dh's first coaster.
Mine was Blue Streak at CP.

 

[fly girl]

I live about 20 minutes away from Cedar Point. The metal piece that hit her was the size of your hand. She’s in serious condition.

I have not been happy with Cedar Fair for their lack of communication this year. First, at Kings Island they were doing everything to squash details about weeks with multiple fights breaking out at the park (one with over 50+ people). And now it took over a week to get just a few details about Cedar Point accident. And the small piece of metal ... that isn't what I consider a small piece when it is larger than the size of an adult mans hand!! When I first heard the story I pictured a large bolt, not a substantial chunk of metal.
Especially when it came flying off going over 100mph. Yes, I do think it was a horrible accident. I don't think they foresaw this incident knowing that this could happen and said, ehh ... we'll take our chances. But the lack of getting information to the public is terrible optics for Cedar Fair, imho.

I just hope the woman hit will make a full recovery. Family says she is fighting for her life. Prayers to her.

FYI, here is the "small" piece of metal...

 

[luvnwdwgal]

I have not been happy with Cedar Fair for their lack of communication this year. First, at Kings Island they were doing everything to squash details about weeks with multiple fights breaking out at the park (one with over 50+ people). And now it took over a week to get just a few details about Cedar Point accident. And the small piece of metal ... that isn't what I consider a small piece when it is larger than the size of an adult mans hand!! When I first heard the story I pictured a large bolt, not a substantial chunk of metal.
Especially when it came flying off going over 100mph. Yes, I do think it was a horrible accident. I don't think they foresaw this incident knowing that this could happen and said, ehh ... we'll take our chances. But the lack of getting information to the public is terrible optics for Cedar Fair, imho.

I just hope the woman hit will make a full recovery. Family says she is fighting for her life. Prayers to her.

FYI, here is the "small" piece of metal...
View attachment 600049

I don’t care for Cedar Point. Probably haven’t been there in at least 20 years. We also have a Kalahari resort about 15 minutes away and you read in the paper about fights all the time there, sometimes involving guns. It’s always people from out of town too. Don’t recommend going there at all.

 

[bcla]

I have not been happy with Cedar Fair for their lack of communication this year. First, at Kings Island they were doing everything to squash details about weeks with multiple fights breaking out at the park (one with over 50+ people). And now it took over a week to get just a few details about Cedar Point accident. And the small piece of metal ... that isn't what I consider a small piece when it is larger than the size of an adult mans hand!! When I first heard the story I pictured a large bolt, not a substantial chunk of metal.
Especially when it came flying off going over 100mph. Yes, I do think it was a horrible accident. I don't think they foresaw this incident knowing that this could happen and said, ehh ... we'll take our chances. But the lack of getting information to the public is terrible optics for Cedar Fair, imho.

I just hope the woman hit will make a full recovery. Family says she is fighting for her life. Prayers to her.

FYI, here is the "small" piece of metal...
View attachment 600049

The only other thing I can think of similar to that was the time that Fabio was part of a promotion for the first official ride of Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens in Virginia. They had it set up with a camera to capture the first official ride, and geese are there, one hits the camera, and the pieces of the camera just come off and a piece of it whacks Fabio in the nose. A lot of the stories say the goose hit him, but he says it was the camera shattering upon impact with the goose.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

…Big Thunder Mountain …DL
…Mission to Space Journey to Mars Epcot…
…Columbia Sailing Ship at DL …
SclitterbHan in Kansas City, Mo…
Alligators anywhere…

Schlitterbahn was in Kansas...Kansas City, Kansas to be exact (there's Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas). In Kansas City, MO there is Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun though.

It was also an issue because the dang owner didn't consult with a dang engineer on that particular ride which came out months after the incident. But this coaster the OP is talking about seems to be something different unless during the adjustment recently they didn't consult with an engineer in which case I could see issues arising that didn't necessarily happen in the past.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

they were doing everything to squash details about weeks with multiple fights breaking out at the park (one with over 50+ people).

Almost anytime there are fights at Worlds of Fun (sadly a common enough summer occurrence) the news picks up on it. Either because of the large group of people (and normally that's outside the gates that those really large fights are occurring) or because someone filmed it and put it up on social media (like an incident that occurred this June when a group of girls went after a 12 year old). That said tends to be a PR-speak that comes out of Worlds of Fun (well it's owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment so more like them) as far as the details. Police though typically get involved.

Some of the bigger fights in recent years can have several hundreds involved (one of them a few years back was almost 300). Unfortunately parents sorta treat the place as a dump zone for their unruly kids. There are teen curfews in place in that city for several spots but not Worlds of Fun. We can't claim tourists here, it's just usually teens and young adults that have troubled lives for the most part (I'm sure not all but it's def. the case in enough of the incidents).

 

[fly girl]

I don’t care for Cedar Point. Probably haven’t been there in at least 20 years. We also have a Kalahari resort about 15 minutes away and you read in the paper about fights all the time there, sometimes involving guns. It’s always people from out of town too. Don’t recommend going there at all.

I saw a brawl at Kalahari on the news that happened the same weekend as the first Kings Island brawl (week before Memorial Day, I believe.) Some guy just punched a woman out cold. It was awful. AWFUL! I have never had any interest in any "resort" in the Sandusky area. The only reason we go is for CP, and typically stay just 1 night paying high prices for a Hilton Garden Inn. I have always enjoyed CP, they have my favorite coaster, Millennium Force, but it is never an annual visit like Disney. Just a totally different vibe.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

I saw a brawl at Kalahari on the news that happened the same weekend as the first Kings Island brawl (week before Memorial Day, I believe.) Some guy just punched a woman out cold. It was awful. AWFUL! I have never had any interest in any "resort" in the Sandusky area. The only reason we go is for CP, and typically stay just 1 night paying high prices for a Hilton Garden Inn. I have always enjoyed CP, they have my favorite coaster, Millennium Force, but it is never an annual visit like Disney. Just a totally different vibe.

I’d rather fly to Orlando and go to WDW then drive 25 minutes to Cedar Point.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

In other (semi-related) news, Top Thrill Dragster is shut down for the season after a bracket came off of one of the trains and struck a guest waiting in line in the back of the head. Obviously not an injury suffered while on the ride, but a nasty injury nonetheless.

https://news.yahoo.com/cedar-point-victim-struck-metal-030200521.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

The last two times I was at Cedar Point, 2018 and 2015, Top Thrill was closed for the day. Not that I minded; I got tired of that and the similar Kingda Ka at 6F NJ about 10 years ago.

 

[soccerdad72]

The last two times I was at Cedar Point, 2018 and 2015, Top Thrill was closed for the day. Not that I minded; I got tired of that and the similar Kingda Ka at 6F NJ about 10 years ago.

That wasn't unusual - it seems like it was 50/50 as to whether it would be running on any given day. It's a little temperamental - given that it goes 120 MPH, you don't want to be riding it if it's having any sort of issues. I don't know how they hadn't checked for brackets that weren't 100%. Things like that should never happen.

ETA: I agree about TTD - once you've ridden it a couple times, it gets old, IMO.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Decades ago, I used to say if I could choose my method of death, it would be on a rickety old wooden coaster that jumps the tracks and smashes into the cotton candy stand at a seaside amusement park.

The opening scene of the mid-70s film “Roller Coaster” approximates this.

I loved that film. The opening crash scene was filmed at a now defunct park in Norfolk, Virginia, I believe.

Rebel Yell at Kings Dominion.

Revolution at Magic Mountain.

A young Helen Hunt as George Segal's daughter.

And of course the band Sparks singing BIG Boy.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

My local amusement park has the Jack Rabbit. It is a 101 year old wooden coaster and I love that ride. When you were a kid it was a right of passage to ride it.

Sea Breeze?