Amusement Park rides...bad?

Kip Ockenfels: i don't think so

Terrell Lawman: with todays technology most accidents are the riders fault like not keeping there hands/feet inside the train/vehicle. but old wooden roller coasters are still operating today and can cause injury's. some more serious than the others, for example, i rode a roller coaster(wooden) in new orleans and it hurt my back a little because it jerked me around. i don't think todays rides are that dangerous as long as they have routine safty checks and people follow the guidelines.

Stephnie Patout: I think there's a lot to look at based on what you're saying. First, any type of mechanical transportation can be dangerous because of the difficulty involved in stopping it. Look at our automobile accidents every day for an example. I would have to say that in the case of the recent Six Flags accident, neither the girl nor the park is to blame if the park was doing routine checks on the ride as most theme parks do. Any time you g! et on a ride or any moving vehicle, you risk your safety to a degree. If you put it in perspective, more people are hurt in automobile accidents because there are more of them than theme park rides. Malfunctions happen, and there isn't a way to stop every single one. I worked at three different theme parks over the years in Florida, and I have to say that I would not hesitate to go on any of their rides because I have both heard and seen their safety checks in the mornings which even involve the employees going on the rides first to check them out. However, where I see a gray area is with carnival rides. After working at these parks, I hesitate to ever go on a traveling carnival ride again. There is SUCH a difference in the way carnival workers set up a ride versus a theme park. That is why more ride accidents occur at carnivals than theme parks. Well, that and the fact that not all theme parks were reporting their accidents until the last ten years, but even then, their a! ccidents were few and far between.Of course, the most ironic f! act is the increase in the popularity of a ride after an accident. I witnessed a man fall out of the Superman roller coaster at Darien Lake Six Flags back in 1997. The line when it re-opened was twice as long. The same has happened elsewhere. People know their lives are somewhat at risk on these rides, and most don't seem to care....Show more

Dionna Doyel: I was at cedar point four days ago, which is basically the same thing as six flags, just a little farther out of the way for me...I rode ever coaster there, and I don't think they're dangerous at all, theres a lot of time and money spent to make sure that the rides are working properly...i think the six flags incident was just a freak accident.

Melissa Lavallie: It was many years ago and I don't recall the name of the coaster, but it was a wooden roller coaster in the Riverview Park in Chicago. As far as I know the park and all its coasters are gone now.I was probably around 7 or 8 years old, and I loved roll! er coasters then. I didn't ride a steel roller coaster until many years later, at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, in San Antonio. My current favorite coasters are all steel coasters--Superman Krypton Coaster, at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Great White and Steel Eel, both at Sea World, San Antonio.

Pamela Meno: My first roller coaster was the Big Dipper, a wooden coaster in Santa Cruz, Ca. I remember when the Demon coaster opened in San Jose, Ca I was there to ride it that day.=^..^=

Branden Round: yes

Monty Sieloff: I disagree, i dont believe amusement park rides are bad.. they are great, depending upon which park you visit, i've only been to one, which was Disneyworld, which is trustworthy..

Dannie Briseno: I haven't walked into an amusement park, for about 2-3 summers now. I used to go on roller coasters, when I went on them, but I wasn't a huge fan of them. I don't think parks, inspect their rides enough. You always hear about ride accidents. The par! k I used to go to, always had at least 4 broken down rides, when I was ! there. (Everytime) Maybe these parks are so short handed, they need more employess.

Charline Granes: I've been on the ride that the girl had her feet cut off in and I'd have to say the design wasn't very good. There were exposed cable and a lot of them and the braking system wasn't smooth at all. I would it was the park's fault in that case, but overall I feel that roller coasters and thrill rides are incredibly same. Here is a credit to their safety: A roller coaster designer once said that you have a better change of dying in a skateboard accident than ever getting hurt on a thrill ride.

Clifford Gombos: I heard that the reason that cars on the roller coaster only go 2/3 of the way up the track is because when it went all the way to the top the back row was able to touch the superman, and a little boy who couldn't reach unbuckled himself and tried to reach the superman but the car came back down down and he died. I just wanted to know if it was true or one o! f those rumors people make up. I would also like to know why one of the two tracks is never used anymore. links to stories on what happened would be nice. Thanks!!!

Lorine Helwick: Mine was the spinning dragon at Worlds of Fun. It was so boring. But my second roller coaster was the Patriot. Then Mamba. and some more. lol

Laveta Fathy: NO WAY!! my first roller coaster was demon too at great america. i have season passes there and my bro always went on roller coasters and i was scared. 1 time he made me go on and i loved it. now i go on invertigo and stuff too. i agree wit u also, its not scary, its fun. this thursday wen i go to great america and go on demon i will remeber this question!

Marcel Then: mine was the scorpion at Busch Gardens. I got on it when i was like 5 or 6. I dont think you live any where near coasters but i live by Disney, Universal theme parks and Disney Theme Parks.

Lindsey Zanardi: probaly not...try losin some weight....

Mi! cah Schwarcz: Yes that ride in Kentucky went horribly wrong but it wasn! 't the girl's fault. Things like that are rare and people who say that amusement parks are unsafe would think driving a car is unsafe which it is to a degree, but we can't live in fear of what might happen if we did we would all be locked inside our houses and never leave because something bad might happen. We have to get over fearing everything that isn't a hundred percent safe because nothing is but that doesn't mean you shouldn't use good judgment before getting on a ride like that. If it looks unsafe or like something might be wrong with it don't ride it....Show more

Leticia Laiben: geez... I LOVE LOVE Cedar Point... but after that incident, I won't go back on the Power Tower (same type of ride, I think)... but you can't keep me off roller coasters ....they are too much of a thrill... I am going at the end of July! yay!

Tereasa Sorensen: I had a really bad experience at Hershey Park, but we think that's because of the age of some of Hershey's rides. I'm bot! tom heavy, so my waist and hips are larger than the rest of me. I want to know if Dorney's rides are possibly a little wider than Hershey, or should I not even bother?

Joesph Smithmyer: mine was the demon at six flags great america when i went there for eighth grade like 6 weeks agoi really didnt even think i would go on it but the double loop and double corkscrew wernt even scary it was fun

Talisha Digrande: I myself love them. I lived in Florida and been on all the rides there 100's of times (bush gardens, disney world, epcot, universal) well u get the picture. My opinion is u do or u dont. I do belive that there all realy dangerous but isnt that the fun of it? Yes, some of the rides are more dangerous than others but its not the coaster its the design of them and the tunnels that are bad, like the one the girl lost her feet in. They do need to do more random check ups on them. One of my friends at Bush swore she saw part of the coaster come off the tracks, a! nd she told one of the park mang. they stopped the ride and shut it dow! n the rest of the day, now we dont know exactly what happened but they did listen and took action very quickly,so they do care. BUT like I said before it is all up to you. I know I'll keep ridin, ITs fun....Show more

Jeff Frizzell: what are the odds of that happening though i wouldnt mind losing my feet on a roller coaster because all id smell is LAWSUIT

Toshiko Reimers: Mine was the Roadrunner Express at Fiesta Texas in San Antonio in 1997. I was almost 20 years old. My second coaster, Rattler (on the same day), started the addiction for me. I spent hours on various coaster websites on the internet when I got back home.... Today I think I prefer wooden coasters, but I love em' all!

Raleigh Lufkin: I went on the Ghost Rider at Knott's Berry Farm when I was about 8, and for a few years after that I refused to go on any other coaster because Ghost Rider scared me so much. Me just being a little kid it was super fast and bumpy since it was wooden.Now though I! love roller coasters. =]

Ignacio Imbier: growing up in florida, disney had been the main park i have gone to. i am scared of heights so i would never go on roller coasters. one time most of my friends were goin on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at the Magic Kingdom and said i shoud try it. i did and i loved it. ever since i have gone on everything. i still have not made it out to Bush Gardens but i want to try them too. i like speed more than i dislike heights so coaster work for me. still won't get on a ferris wheel.

Dawn Saha: Honestly it was this little kiddie one when i was 5 and i didn't get on another one until about 10 years later and it was this one called Hi-Roller and it was at a carnival that i went to about a month ago. I was terrified at first but it ended up being really fun!

Queenie Ruthers: cedar point has NEVER had an accident that severely hurt anybody. occasionally people will do stupid things and they will get hurt but accidents like s! ix flags are rare because these rides are very safe. power tower at ced! ar point which is very similar is safe also, more safe then the one at six flags. but i still dont like it.

Cyndy Grimes: It depends on how much you weigh and your size. It also depends on what rides you want to try. For the most part, Dorney Park has been really good at accomadating people of all sizes and they really try to fit in the family friendly type of thing. Some rides and coasters will fit bigger sizes of people, especially their inverted looping coaster, Talon. In certain rows they have "big boy" seats that are bigger and can accomodate larger sized people. When you get to the park or a specific attraction, I would ask the employee if that attraction would fit you and your size. Have fun!

Booker Moros: My very first "real" roller coaster was the Wildcat at Hershey Park. It was the most fun I had ever had (I was 9 and was yet to discover girls :P) anyway, I still remember the goofy lookin picture I got afterwards...my face was pulled back and my hair ! was blowing in the wind. Fun times for real!!!

Cortez Badolato: yes i do. yes these things are rare but so are a lot of things but they still happen. where do you think Final destination came from

Giovanna Sherlin: No, it's just old and crappy. *First of all, you can't unbuckle yourself.**Second, even the dumbest kid's natural instincts would tell him that jumping out of his seat would be a really bad idea.***Third, why would only going 2/3 of the way make it any more safe? I'm pretty sure you still hit the ground just as hard.Also, thanks for making me giddy, I'm going down to Cali in a week or so and I'm making a trip to Magic Mountain. Can't wait!!!Edit 1:Oh, and if you have any fears, just know that the ride is pretty mellow all things considered. Very fun.Edit 2:And I believe the only death on a ride there happened on Goliath a few years ago. I think some woman had an anyuerism while riding it.

Russell Mckinzie: it is extremely rare for an instance li! ke this, those ppl who said that stuff are like really extreme. amuseme! nt parks are meant for safe fun, go have funsrry if i sound like an add

Cherlyn Tefera: So RUMORAnyways, they made it go 2/3 because of money issues. they just couldnt support it so they cut down a bit.Actually, the reason is because it's an old ride. When it first opened in 1998, it went to 100 mph and reached near the top. Now it needs a lot of refurbishment if it is to reach the top again, and Six Flags doesn't want to pay a huge amount of money for one of their less popular rides. Also, it uses tons of electricity, this is why you will never see both sides running at once. The other answer is false, there are brakes at the top to keep the car from going too far, which it has never been in any danger of doing.

Chris Wilczewski: Everything out there is prone to failure.....there is no such thing as perfect. Rides are just like any other piece of technology, they will brake/fail at one point or another. You cannot expect them to function properly forever. All r! ides are dangerous (some rides are more dangerous than others)that's why all of them get tested, planned in advanced before being built, and given a lot maintence. People cannot blame the government or anybody else for accidents that happen....it is our choice wheather to get on the rides or not, nobody makes us ride them. Either way you can never keep people happy and satisfied, if there werent amusement parks people would complain that they arent provided with fun/entertainment....but if we do have the parks, they complain that they're dangerous and risk their lives....Show more