But I really have an abnormally long body so small probabilities do matter to me. If if 1 in 100 million people hit their head on the Matterhorn Bobsleds while seated properly, it'll worry me.
This was exactly my point on a tall person being able to safely ride the ride. He's not tall while seated because most of his height while standing in in his legs. For me, quite the opposite, I'm average height while standing but am extremely tall when seated.
The best we can give you is this:
But the problem is, the Matterhorn, and many other rides in older theme parks, were built before modern engineering practices and societal standards.
"00crashtest" Welcome to the DisBoard.
Thank you so much for this post. I never knew such a video existed. Now I don't worry anymore on hitting my head on the stationary structures. However, it looks like it confirmed my thought that it's not safe to raise my hands on that ride because they would probably hit (contact up to 5 inches of the hands) the lowest protrusions on the ceiling.
Honestly, I doubt you'll miss it - it's really not a hands-up kind of ride. Hands-up is usually awesome when there's big air and big hills (like some of Magic Mountain's rides) - less so when you're getting bounced around as hard as this. But, honestly - I think you might enjoy this. Have fun!
While it was originally built prior to 1978, it had a major refurb, including new ride vehicles and tubes, and if it did not meet the requirements before, it had to come to code with the changes made.
When did it have a refurb(s), and did the refurb involve any DESIGN changes related to structure or related to ride mechanics, or did it just involve cosmetic redecoration and identical replacements to the original? Because if it is just cosmetic and routine parts replacements (like fixing a car), it almost certainly is not required to meet the updated codes. I'm also concerned about the seismic performance of the structure of the Matterhorn Bobsleds, because it was built before the modern era of seismic codes (starting with the California Building Code 1992), and am afraid that the ride will collapse if an 8.0+ earthquake hits in the nearby Santa Ana Mountains if it hasn't had its last major refurbrishment involving design changes to structural or mechanical components with final approval issued on or after Jan 1, 1993 (effective date of California Building Code 1992). Yes, I am autistic and have OCD, PDD, and Asperger's. I live in California, and whenever I visit downtowns, which is of course filled with pre-1993 buildings, I am always worried that a major earthquake would suddenly hit and I would be crushed by the collapsing buildings. When I visited Tokyo, Japan in Summer 2015, I had absolutely no such worry because Japan is a conformist society in which even private property generally has to be updated to not fall behind a certain number of design cycles to meet the latest building codes (not just structural) for the purposes of public safety and wellbeing. On my visit to Rome, Italy in Summer 2016 and Taipei and Kaohsiung, Taiwan in Summer 2017, I was absolutely terrified about the possibility of an earthquake hitting anytime and just wanted to get out ASAP. The only time I felt safe there was in structures built by international firms since the mid 1990s there, because it was only then that building codes and compliance had improved to a good standard there.
Okay, I'll just avoid the Matterhorn Bobsleds. The answer is as simple as that. Also, from the video brightlined showed me, it looks like the rate of change of acceleration (jerk) is too high on that ride. I'm pretty sure that no regulations in the contemporary era (since mid 1980s) would allow that due to health and safety reasons, including ASTM F2291. I've been on roller coasters with linear motor launches that go at 100 mph in Six Flags and have significantly higher peak g-forces (acceleration) and yet felt nowhere near as bumpy or prone to injury from high jerk as this ride. This ride now feels like an outdated somewhat-dangerous ride of yesteryear that needs to be completely re-engineered. The high jerk (due to inadequate or even lack of transition curves) makes Matterhorn Bobsleds prone to injury and feel out of control despite the low speeds of 27 mph while the high-speed roller coasters in the contemporary era feel planted and controlled (due to low jerk and transition curves) like a track car/sport airplane despite being more thrilling from the higher g-forces and way higher speeds.
This is a really cool "low tech" solution. Love it.
