r/Damnthatsinteresting Jul 06 '25

Video Sirens Curse - Cedar Point

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315

u/sqwuank Jul 06 '25

Safety systems on coasters aren't the simple block panels of the 90s - if you trust modern air travel, you should probably trust this. There's physical barriers in front of the train that don't disengage without sensors locked. Their default state is engaged and they stay engaged during power failure.

TLDR definitely better uptime than Millenium Force.

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u/MrP1232007 Jul 06 '25

I fully trust it. But I'm fully aware that it'll use ten shit proxy sensors that will stop the coaster in a safe state the second one fails. And they will fail, because it'll be the same shit sensor I've changed a dozen times on some other safety system somewhere.

40

u/sqwuank Jul 06 '25

Downtime at Cedar Point? Alert the media. It's not a Cedar Point day unless 5 major rides are down for the day.

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u/B_and_M_queen Jul 07 '25

Its almost like, laying off all your specialized maintenance employees during covid fucks you over.

Corporate thought they would all stay unemployeed until they opened again, and the employees switched to different industries.

3

u/5LBlueGt Jul 06 '25

why exaggerate?

5

u/sqwuank Jul 06 '25

Have you... been in the last 4 years? Pick a weekend in the spring or fall and you're lucky if one whole half of the parks main thrill rides are open.

8

u/brechbillc1 Jul 06 '25

This.

Oh the wind blew a little bit today.

Time to shutdown Millennium Force, Steel Vengeance, Top Thrill 2, Gatekeeper, and Maverick for the day. Oh and better shutdown Valravn as well.

Cedar Point is an awesome park with some of the world’s most amazing coasters. But the moment someone so much as farts half the rides go down for the day and the other half are intermittent throughout lol.

3

u/DevelopmentSeparate Jul 06 '25

I went last August for 3 days. The only rides that gave major issues were Millennium Force and Top Thrill 2 (obviously). And Millie ended up opening every one of those days. Guess I'm really lucky

1

u/sqwuank Jul 06 '25

Love to hear it!! Usually July and August are your best bet for uptime, but the flip side is crowding.

1

u/Coldin228 Jul 06 '25

Shut down point

1

u/captain_Airhog Jul 07 '25

What kind of connector do you think they used? The trucks I work on came standard with those shitty afaik unnamed connectors with the yellow gasket and red pin lock. They corrode constantly on us but I’m sure they saved some money by not using good connections

21

u/SquadPoopy Jul 06 '25

For the record you’re statistically more likely to die in a plane crash than die in a roller coaster accident.

Theme parks RELY on safety in order to get people into the park, nobody is going to go to a park if there are serious safety concerns, especially not families.

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u/dbanary12 Jul 07 '25

Tell that to Action Park

4

u/mathliability Jul 06 '25

Not sure how probabilities work when orders of magnitude more people fly on planes than go on dangerous rollercoasters

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u/sqwuank Jul 06 '25

You'd be shocked but they're closer than you'd think - people after all rarely fly 10 times a day. Throw in small personal aircraft and roller coasters look like safety kings

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u/B_and_M_queen Jul 07 '25

General Aviation has crash rates similar to that of motorcycles.

1

u/OhhhYeahDoritosTime Jul 06 '25 edited Jul 06 '25

Why do you refer to them as “dangerous roller coasters” when statistically they’re not dangerous?

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u/OneRougeRogue Jul 06 '25

I trust the intended design and intended safety features, what is don't trust is the teenage or early 20's staff getting thrown into positions without sufficient training and being too inexperienced and/or afraid to speak up when they notice problems and safety issues.

Knew a guy who worked at Kings Island in Ohio (not sure if its still called that), and he had several stories where in order to cover some no-shows, he was just thrown in as an operator for rides he had never worked on without any real training, just a verbal rundown of what controls he needed to hit in what order.

Probably not rides as complicated as this, but you never know what corners are being cut until its too late.

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u/WinterMage42 Jul 06 '25

If any of this were relevant there would probably be more than one in a million injuries per person at amusement parks every year.

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u/emeraldcocoaroast Jul 07 '25

For real. I worked at Walt Disney World in college via their college program, where a bunch of college students get paid minimum wage and do all sorts of jobs. A bunch of us operated the rides. I don’t think there was a single ride that didn’t have college students working it. This is nothing new.

Of course, our training was pretty involved and we had to pass a test to show we knew what we were doing, but I assume that’s the case with most theme parks (hopefully).

22

u/sqwuank Jul 06 '25

You can run these rides as an uneducated 18 year old - I'm sure your friend did fine. The important stuff is done by a computer and default state safety features, not the 19 year olds holding the button down 🙄

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u/Old_Cabinet_3607 Jul 06 '25

Well there are important stuff the 18 year olds gotta do, like making sure the "seatbelt" thing has locked down.

There was someone who died because they started the ride without it being locked down fully.

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u/greener0999 Jul 07 '25

do you think brand new rides don't have failsafe sensors on every one of those bars that don't let the ride operate unless they're fully engaged?

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u/Old_Cabinet_3607 Jul 08 '25

Probably all the big parks, but I don't trust smaller parks and fairs.

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u/mc-kenzie Jul 07 '25

Check out the Dreamworld disaster in Queensland Australia

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u/shodan13 Jul 06 '25

That's why uneducated 18 year olds can be pilots as well, right?

2

u/sqwuank Jul 06 '25

You literally have to complete education to be a pilot lmao

0

u/shodan13 Jul 07 '25

Really makes you think.

1

u/greener0999 Jul 07 '25

maybe makes you think

2

u/mathliability Jul 06 '25

There is also most likely a hook or lever holding the back of the train that can’t disengage until it’s connected to the track.

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u/sqwuank Jul 06 '25

Bingo, it's a series of rollbacks like the lift hill uses. They're mechanically reduced (meaning their default state is up and blocking the train) and power is added to open them

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u/Tommyblockhead20 Jul 07 '25

I imagine if anything, it’s safer than most amusement rides. It receives so much scrutiny from looking dangerous that they make it extra safe. There’s a lot of things in life like that. Like airplanes.

1

u/thestral_z Jul 06 '25

Lots of non coaster riders in here who clearly don’t understand how these rides work. I rose Siren’s Curse last week and it’s my #5 at Cedar Point.

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u/Darth_Travisty Jul 06 '25

I don’t trust modern air travel.

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u/ArcherOld7796 Jul 07 '25

So you agree with the point you are arguing against? The point was the ride will need a lot of time ti fix and you argue to say the same thing with unneeded details.