Serial_Thriller

I thoroughly enjoyed the additions you guys have made to my post, perhaps I will incorporate them into next years statement. Anyways, I hope everyone has a safe season, may your airtime be great, and your downtime be minimal. - Cheers

Superman would be an easy ride to take down, cut the tower with a torch at the base and fold it over on the its launch track. Its long over due anyways. More then 35% of the rides propulsion system has been malfunctioning / non-op since the mid 2000's; No telling how much of the system is actually working now.

This number is based on information gathered from several places including OSHA, its international equivalents, state regularity authorities, news paper articles, internet search's. For regions which do not actively calculate accidents or deaths an estimation based upon regionally assumed risk. I will admit that perhaps I should have said 153 estimated deaths. Rather the point of numbers is moot, as one death is more the enough.

The problem is that a lack of leadership shows throughout an organization. If a department is failing, it is because the management of the department has lead them there. In the Six Flags instance, Six Flags employees are subconsciously taught to point fingers and lay blame instead of taking charge to resolve. In reality most of the time it is because someone of higher power is enacting a policy that is outside of the operating guidelines, manuals, or corporate policy and is placing undue restriction upon its subordinates. Or in short, we call this a management power trip. Six Flags is going to do what its fearless leader and a group of highly paid consultants tell it to, until such time that they realize they are doing it wrong or run the company further into the ground.

If the ride came from New Orleans, it would be subject to meeting regulatory requirements again. Just about everything at New Orleans is considered insurance salvage. However so long as no modifications were made beyond restoring it to operational condition then I don't see why it would get a "new" height requirement. Does anybody know if anything has changed on it since its move?

Well who has the picture of the rides branded certificate; Then we can find out if its regulatory, insurance, or Six Flags.

The height requirement issue is a little more complex then you give it credit for; Rider requirements are set by the manufacture in agreement with the original owner and sometimes the insurance company or state regulator. Once a ride is branded a height requirement on its title, to change it you must go threw the process of establishing a new height requirement. This process requires a new engineering report, modification (maybe), testing, regulatory approval and finally the insurance company will say yes or no. It can be done, but sometimes its not worth the time or money. While I cannot speak for Six Flags, I know of a few parks who make it company policy to establish higher then recommended height requirements because they get decent discounts on the insurance premiums.

Feel free to post it where you wish. You may already find it translated into many languages and posted at rides and break rooms across the country, and across the globe.

25 Years with Six Flags 1 Year with Universal 3 Years as an independent consultant for various smaller venues 1 Year with Disney Expertise in Theme Park Operations, Maintenance, Training & Management with specialized training in industrial automation and control systems. Whats yours?

For the last six years on another coaster site it has been tradition for me to open each operating season with some words of wisdom. To inspire the future generations who will be joining us in the finest tradition of park operations. As our industry celebrates 115 years in the service of fun, and we are all in this together, I felt this was worth a re-post here. Before we get started I would like to take a moment to reflect upon those who gave their lives in the ultimate sacrifice of service. In a last ditch attempt to avoid a collision with a reversing monorail, Austin Wuennenberg remained at his engineering station and made valiant attempts to avert collision and keep the guest on board his monorail safe until such time he was crushed in a collision. If it was not for his actions, and his dedication to the guest in which he faithfully served. The force of the approaching monorail traveling at full speed would have pierced the passenger cabin and more then likely killed its occupants. In 2009 153 operators and maintenance personnel were killed worldwide in accidents involving amusement rides. Similarly we failed to protect 331 guest, and over 10,000 suffered some sort of injury. While I am reminded that theme parks are statistically safer then airlines, there is always room for improvement. For those of you whom this will be your first job, Welcome. You have signed up to operate heavy machinery in climates of varying extremes for extended periods of time with our breaks in a fast paced, exhaustive, repetitive, dangerous, unhealthy and sometimes hostile work environment. If this doesn't sound like your cup of tea it would be in your best interest to find another line of work. In recent years the operators role has been down played by the reliance of automation. Guest think that operators are only button mashers, ticket takers, and rule enforcers. Frankly, I say that's bull poo-poo. Now more the ever qualified and professional operators are needed to insure guest safety. Computers are only as smart as their creators, they simply cannot handle all of the external factors that come into play in the day to day operation of a ride. Ultimately an operators job is to (1.) interface with the guest and to insure their safety. (2.) To monitor the automatic operation of the ride, and to be prepared at anytime to manually take control of the ride or quickly stop its operation. (3.) To object to the operation of the ride if at anytime the operator feels an unsafe condition exist. 1. Interfacing with the guest can be a difficult task at times. They say that when a guest enters into the gates of a park they become a sugared up tantrum prone three year old. The fact is that they payed a lot of money to visit the park, and rightfully so they expect world class service. At all times an operator should be courteous, professional, clam, and firm on matters of safety. Everyone is responsible for enforcing park policies and there must be a consistent level of enforcement throughout. 2. Guest enter ride perimeters, trains skip blocks, hydraulic lines break. What do all of these problems have in common? They are require operator interaction to correct and stop the operation of the ride in a safe and controlled manner. An operators duty is to the the ride at all times it is in operation or motion. A distracted operator is the equivalent of an intoxicated operator. You have no business being on any phone at anytime the ride is in operation. If you find it necessary to chase A$$, do it while the ride is not in motion. You can save time by ordering business cards with your booty call information already printed on them. 3. Who is at the ride more often, Maintenance, Electricians, or the Operators. After a week of operating you have probably cycled your ride more then 150 times. After that time you should understand how it works, how it responds under certain conditions, whats its quirks are, and what it sounds like under normal operating conditions. More often then not it is an abnormal sound that triggers the concerns of the operator. Similarly as an operator moves about and observes the operation of the ride, it sometimes becomes apparent that components have failed, are operating improperly, or are missing entirely. You should never be afraid of raising objection or asking for assistance if you think something is out place. However you should use your knowledge of the ride to make a professional decision and plan a course of action. In my time I have worked with many coworkers in the maintenance department who become annoyed when an operator calls upon them for a safety check. It is my opinion that these type of people are not worth the ground that they stand on. I have witnessed many of these same coworkers end up with mounds of paperwork because they ignored request to investigate problems with rides they were responsible for. Not to mention the fact that they had to rebuild and repair equipment that was involved in minor or major accidents. Operators are the heart and soul of a park. They set the pace and the precedent in which all the other departments revolve around. Most guest do not come to parks for the food, for the shows, or for the games. They come for the rides and the chance to be scared poo-poo-less on a subsonic three hundred foot plus multi-million dollar piece of hardware built and installed by the lowest bidder. So remember, 1. Your duty is to the ride and the safety of your guest. 2. No matter what happens remain calm and be professional. 3. When things look out of place, stop, evaluate, respond. 4. Be prepared for anything at anytime. 5. Know your ride, Know your guest. 6. Humor fix's everything. When things look dark - Smile, Tomorrow will be worse.

I don't think they even know what they are doing any more. Every press release says something different and today's PR stunt was simply odd at best. Something just seems very wrong about this entire situation.

It was announced today that the remnants of the Texas Giant will be demolished on Monday, 11/16/2009.

I wonder how the ride structure will handle in such a corrosive environment. That can't be good for launch cables.

Unofficially there may be some delays in demolishing the former ride structure. The state has not completed their investigation into Junes accident.

I think Six Flags is starting to pull out all of the stops in order to raise fast cash. I noticed when scrap prices started going up things started to go missing out of the chains many boneyards.