Just been watching some YouTube vids of roller coasters getting stuck and the riders having to be let out manually. It got me thinking - I've seen riders of Superman Escape be walked off the ride in the case it fails to launch or it rolls back. What I did want to know is, how do the ride operators unlock the harnesses? I know on Scooby Doo there are levers at the back of each cart, Wild West Falls has the foot pedal. What about any other rides?

There is a connector on the back of each car, the ops have a small battery back that they connec to each car in turn and with the push of a button power is applied and the harnesses are released. You can usually see one of these packs sitting in the corner in the station.

Edited February 19, 200818 yr by PixelPushed

Wrong... There is a connector on the back of each car, the ops have a small battery back that they connec to each car in turn and with the push of a button power is applied and the harnesses are released. You can usually see one of these packs sitting in the corner in the station.

or it is controlled by a computer and the ride ops release the hatches through the panel

The flaw in that logic is that the station would really be the only place with the hardware for the restraint system to work in with the control system...places where evacs take place wouldn't have a way to deal with it (after all a train could stop anywhere between from the station to the launch stage) Im assuming from Dj's description that the restraints require power to lock and unlock, hence there would be sets of electrical contacts that would touch the each car when it is parked.

Edited February 8, 200818 yr by Gazza

There is a connector on the back of each car, the ops have a small battery back that they connec to each car in turn and with the push of a button power is applied and the harnesses are released.

Yup, same goes for the MotoCoaster at Dreamworld. We saw people stuck in the brakes, they went out and released them one by one. Shame they don't have a way of releasing more than one seat at once, but I guess it's easier to instruct individuals then a large group on what happens next.