Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster

[Adam]

As I understand, the Scooby Doo Spooky coaster runs two independent systems to move the cars around the track: 1) Track system (main system) 2) Car system (secondary / backup system) In the case of a fire or emergency shut down, the secondary system is used to stop the car. Wouldn’t it be more practical to have the cars continue forward to the next braking station where there is exit stairs and a walkway?

[Bussy]

Too bad if one of the trains has stopped, piece of the track has broken or any number of other situations that might arise. If the ride needs to be shut down in an emergency it needs to happen instantly. Take it from someone who has years of ride experience the last thing you want in an emergency is the ride continuing to operate. "The Bus is now leaving for Anchor Rise, South Australia"

[Adam]

Thanks for your answer wonderbus, much appreciated. What about in a Fire? The cars have infared sensors in them and if they don't sense fire in front of them wouldn't it be easier to proceed to the brake station so they can get everyone off the ride as quickly as possible, or is this what they do? Also, if the cars sense fire infront of them, they start to reverse, what happens if they do this after the reverse drop? They surely wouldn't be able to make it up that drop.

[Bussy]

The ride will have cameras throughout the tunnels. I am not sure of the training they do at MW but at Wonderland, in Space Probe, if there was a fire in the tunnel the guests would be directed to the nearest emergency exit ASAP. Scooby will have numerous emergency exits throughout the ride that would allow staff quick access in so they can get the guests out. What's this about the cars reversing? The first thing that would happen in the case of a fire would be for the operator the press the e-stop this automatically kills the power to the entire ride, therefore preventing the cars from going anywhere. "The Bus is now leaving for Stokes Hill Power Station, Northern Territory"

[Adam]

...preventing the cars from going anywhere.

While the emergency stop button kills the master system, the secondary “car system” continues to operate. This is controlled with an individual computing system in each car driven by a battery. There is also an infrared sensor at the front of each car which is fed directly to the onboard computer. Extreme heat / fire in front of the car will cause the onboard computer to reverse the car (and signal the cars behind it) away from the danger – or return to the station – depending on where the car is. Does anyone know anymore about the two systems on Scooby Doo? I know that anyone who works at Movie World will be able to help me out. Thanks.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I would assume, with absolutely no factual knowledge of the safety systems themselves, that if the E-Stop button is pressed by an operator, then the systems throughout the ride would be able to signal all of the cars to stop, rather than allow them to continue, at the first available point. The last thing you would want is to have a fire of some description at the bottom of the laser room. While I was not aware that the cars had their own propulsion system, I doubt the units, carrying electric motors, would be able to push what would easily be at least 400kg worth of metal and passengers backwards through those drops. The safest thing for this ride would be for each ride to stop either immediately or at the next available brake run (for the sections where brake runs control entry into the next element). For a car to continue on unless it detects danger ahead is pretty stupid. Eventually, a brake run would fill up where danger HAS been detected, and cars zooming down the drops behind them would not be able to stop in time (kinetic energy.. look it up). The entire track is segregated, computer controlled, and video monitored. If an operator presses E-Stop, the cars had better bloody well stop there and then. with so many cars on the track, allowing them to continue can only compound the problem. Imagine if emergency services are trying to get to an injured passenger, and there are 17 other cars banked up behind them, all watching every gory detail? ut uh... nope sorry. So guests get stopped in areas not directly associated with emergency exits... if there is danger, they will be the first people attended to. if there isn't... they can happily wait in their cars, until the immediate danger has passed, or until maintenance is able to restart the ride safely. at that point, the brakes release, and the car continues to the station where the passengers may disembark safely and with minimal effort. Again I will state, that I was unaware that scooby had any form of motor or braking system on board the car.... where did you get this info adam?

[Adam]

Thanks Alex for your post but I was looking for someone who is familiar with the operational procedure of Scooby Doo. But as for your last question, Scooby Doo employs a fail-safe double system. There are two independent systems: 1) The track system (which includes wheels and brakes on the track) 2) The car system (which includes brakes and a motor in the car)

For a car to continue on unless it detects danger ahead is pretty stupid.

I don’t mean the ride continues as per normal. The whole ride would go into “emergency evacuation,” with flood lights, PDA systems, emergency services alerted etc. but if the car stopped in an area that was about to be engulfed in flames, the car has an infrared sensor so it can reverse away from the situation. The default option would be for the car to stop. As far as I know; the cars are designed to communicate with each other and they are programmed to move into a “safe area” for evacuation, for example, you wouldn’t want to evacuate where there is fire. The reason for posting this was to find out more about these two systems. I am not 100% sure on the operation procedures of these two systems but if anyone can help me out who either works for Movie World or has worked with indoor roller coaster emergency systems. Thanks. Rabid, if you could tell me if any of this is true or not that would be greatly appreciated.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

After a little more research, I have been unable to turn up any information on the safety systems of SDSC. I have however turned up a not so relevant piece of information on scooby doo spooky coaster... one with Richard's name in it yet again (from laservision, and describing Rich as "a MovieWorld Patron") lol. http://www.laservision.com.au/pdf/scooby%20doo.pdf

[Bussy]

I am waiting for Richard to give some information on this because you will be looking for a while for anyone here with operational experience on Scooby. To me it sounds like the operators on the ride are just about redundant and it seems ludicrous that this system would be in place. When the operator presses the e-stop that's it, the ride shuts down and has to be reset by maintenance, no cars moving, nothing, complete shutdown. Adam you still haven't answered Alex's question about where you got this information from. "The Bus is now leaving for Ararat State Emergency Service, Victoria"

[Gazza]

Where did you get this about scooby having motors in the car and fire sensors on the car? I thought the ride would just have your standard zone blocking system. and if an emergency arises the E_Stop would be activated and people would just get off on the platforms where the block brakes are. And with fire detection, wouldnt there just be fire sprinklers? So if a fire started the smoke detectors would go off and the sprinker system would start.

[Bussy]

It would more likely be a foam system due to the large amount of electrics throughout the ride. It would cost them a fortune if it went off as most of those systems require extensive work if they are triggered and then there is the clean up cost. "The Bus is now leaving for Flying Foam Passage, Western Australia"

[Adam]

It doesn't matter where I got this info. I am not here to debate it, I want someone to tell me how the two systems operate - but I'm not sure if anyone here actually knows.

…and if an emergency arises the E_Stop would be activated and people would just get off on the platforms where the block brakes are.

Exactly! I agree. This would have to be the safest as it allows for the quickest evacuation time.

it seems ludicrous that this system would be in place

It does seem to complicate things but I think the idea for this is a "fail-safe emergency system" - two completely independant systems. Track system Just like a normal roller coaster. Car system The cars contain radio equipment and onboard motors which are driven by electrical contacts on the track and a built-in battery (as not all parts of the track have electrical contacts). The “eyes” on the front of the cars are heat / distance sensors – a very good idea in terms of safety (put the sensors where the people actually are) – and this information is radioed back to a central control computer. If an object obstructs the track, then the “eyes” will activate the onboard emergency brakes – in the car – and radio to the control system to shutdown the ride. In the event of a fire, when a car senses heat, it radios this information back to the central computer and if it’s before the lift, then the cars behind it are reversed back to the station / nearest exit for immediate evacuation. In the event of a fire power is not killed to the entire building nor the central computer; it continues to operate but the ride is ordered to stop. But, I am not saying this is correct, what I really want is for someone to tell me if it’s correct, someone who actually knows. Feel free to PM me.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

It would more likely be a foam system due to the large amount of electrics throughout the ride.  It would cost them a fortune if it went off as most of those systems require extensive work if they are triggered and then there is the clean up cost.

I would assume that the Laser Room would not be foam though, the room is too big for foam to adequately prevent a fire. As for you Adam, where you got this information is very important, because to be quite honest, it sounds like a bunch of crap that you're making up to start a conversation, so give us your source!

It doesn't matter where I got this info. I am not here to debate it, I want someone to tell me how the two systems operate - but I'm not sure if anyone here actually knows.

Ok, then why did you ask the question? It does matter where you got the info. If a person by the name of Nightshifter, wearing a Jamie Oliver T-Shirt gave you the info..... THAT is a problem. So - where is your source? because i have spent the last day or so searching the net trying to find anything on scooby's safety systems. I have turned up the company that does the lasers and lighting show, info on the cast and crew that made the movie, and how they were involved in the construction of the ride.... but there is not a single whisper about two independant safety systems. It appears that your oh-so-holiness knows more about the ride than anyone else here, so there is no need for you to ask...

[kennykoala]

i have been on scooby b4 when it has estoped, i was in the laser room. As u go on the turntable at the top and procede with the sharp turns, at the top of scooby, we stopped on the last corner section(on a stright part). at this stage there were a few cars also in the coaster part of scooby. lights came on and pa system told us to wait tempoarly delay. the other cars were still moving which was weird at first they all continued rolling towards us, and if u have been on scooby u will know that at the top were the sharp turn parts are there are about 5 staright pieces 1 after ever sharp turn..... well the cars kept coming until they each got to the straight parts, and as one braked in the straight section oppiste, they continued to brake each car on the straight parts. there was also a car stopped on the turntable, however wat was freaky is that the elevator released its to cars and had them stop immediatley as they got back up the backwards drop and stopped the 2 cars eithin 2 feet of the turn table......these cars were all moving at the point we had stopped on the last straight at the top. (i hope everyone can follow what i mean by the part at the top.(they typical wild mouse part aFTER THE TURNTABLE.)

[Gazza]

Im with alex on this, the eyes on the front of the cars would just be LEDs, and only there for ashetical value. It seems very stupid to have fire sensors on them, what sort of fire system would have its detectors on a moving object that has to keep tranmitting to a base station, when you could just have fire detectors and fire retarding equipment in fixed locations like every other building in the world I really do doubt the existance of onboard motors, an until you tell us where you got that from, im assuming its made up, like seriously, i have never heard of any other ride having motors in the cars as a back up system. The complexity of the control system to get the exact location of each car, then decide on what it should do with each one (direction to go, how fast to move the car ect) would be huge, and it has to make the right decsion. Scooby doo would be no different from any other mack mouse out there, execpt for the fact it has triggers on the track for the special effects. The straight parts kenny metioned is where the block brakes are, all mouse coasters have a zig zag and it serves a utilitarian purpouse of fitting in several block brakes, while still being fun for the riders. Kennys description also echos how it really works. All the block brakes were shut so kennys car stopped at the first block brake it got to. The others cars kept moving because they hadnt got their respective block brakes yet, and when they did, they stopped. Seriously, it doesnt have an on car system.

But, I am not saying this is correct, what I really want is for someone to tell me if it’s correct, someone who actually knows. Feel free to PM me

. So in other words this entire thread has been built on what you think a secondary system would be like on scooby. Your own theroys and not any info from a credible source. You may have just misinterpreted what you heard, rides do have two computer systems, each one keeping a check on the other, and if one fails, the whole ride shuts down. I think this is what is really meant.

[Adam]

This information came from someone who operates the Scooby Doo ride and has read the hand book (as is required to operate a ride). Gazza, I agree with you completely. The system you describe still exists, but if there is a MAIN SYSTEM FAILURE, thats when the secondary system jumps in. What kenny explained (and thanks for that too) would have been when the main system was online and fully operational. The reason for posting was to find out more information on how the cars operate but no one seems to know anything.

[Gazza]

Hmm, did you ask the op something like "what happens if this has an emergency?" The op may have just spun you pork pies about a second system because they might have just dismissed you as being GP and made up something to set your mind at ease, or to avoid having to give a long winded explanation on how a block system really works. Rabid, could you find out for us if this "second system" actually exists. Ta

[Adam]

I would have thought the later explanation would have been easier Nah I didn't ask while I was actually at Movie World. I have removed the posts above that related to how I think it works (as I don't want this info on the net), no one here seems to know anything for real and are just guessing based on other rides, so ill leave it at that. Thanks for the comments though (especially kenny).