Storm 'Routine Stop'

[Brad2912]

Also known as "Watercoaster stops in the rain, passengers horrified they got wet". 

PASSENGERS on the Storm Coaster ride at Sea World were stuck for about 15 minutes in what the theme park have called a “routine ride stoppage”. 

The incident occurred around 11.30am at the base of the ride’s incline.

About 15 minutes later, Sea World staff members removed the passengers from the eight-seater carriage, offering them bottles of water and umbrellas according to an eye witness named Paul.

The Victorian holiday-maker said he was on the ride with his family five minutes earlier when a similar situation occurred.

“We were on the Storm Coast just before and it stopped in exactly the same place, just before the incline,” Paul said.

“It was only about 15 or 20 seconds but the other carriage was coming up behind us and my kids were screaming ‘stop the ride’, they were beside themselves.

“My daughter is still in tears now ... she had a panic attack.

“I just wonder what would have happened if the conveyor belt hadn’t caught up and our carriages collided.

 

“I’ve been on this ride several times and this has never happened, it didn’t feel very routine.”

 

Meet Paul. Paul wanted his name in the paper. Paul is a muppet. 

[jjuttp]

I feel this is satire or atleast should be.

But seeing the medias love of running fake news as real, i'm expecting every major news network on this story for the next year.

[red dragin]

Breaking: first images of Paul talking to the reporter! 

[Reanimated35]

1 hour ago, Brad2912 said:

“I just wonder what would have happened if the conveyor belt hadn’t caught up and our carriages collided.

You'd enjoy your free bumper boat ride? 

[Brad2912]

10 minutes ago, reanimated35 said:

You'd enjoy your free bumper boat ride? 

I believe that Paul was under the impression that the Storm boats are nuclear powered and any collision would have led to a nuclear detonation. With China ruling it an act of war against their camera happy citizens, the world would plummet into a nuclear firefight and in turn a barren wasteland. 

One minute your sitting in boat stopped at the base of a lift hill, the next minute, 6 billion dead. 

 

[Santa07]

1 hour ago, reanimated35 said:

You'd enjoy your free bumper boat ride? 

I guess with the recent Dreamworld incident, he was thinking that the boats are exactly the same and would flip

[Reanimated35]

8 minutes ago, Santa07 said:

I guess with the recent Dreamworld incident, he was thinking that the boats are exactly the same and would flip

Thanks. Glad you pointed that out. 

[red dragin]

A friend of mine uses "Muppet" as his G rated insult, and sometimes is a bit of a Muppet himself.

So the photo of Kermit on the phone is my photo of him when he rings, with the Ringtone being "the Muppet Show Theme" 

[MaxxTheMonster]

10 minutes ago, red dragin said:

A friend of mine uses "Muppet" as his G rated insult, and sometimes is a bit of a Muppet himself.

So the photo of Kermit on the phone is my photo of him when he rings, with the Ringtone being "the Muppet Show Theme" 

A lot of the parents from my son's kindy are a little jealous of the things that are created in our household...  

Edited January 21, 2017 by MaxxTheMonster

[bladex]

well it is called "THE STORM" of course your going to get wet. and yeah rollercoaster cars don't flip they are not like boats they are attached to the track very securely PAUL.

Edited January 21, 2017 by bladex

[AllegroCrab]

So they held the boat at the bottom of the lift hill on that short conveyor? Do you know what would happen if the second boat had come up behind? It would have stopped behind because the conveyor wasn't even moving. I don't know exactly why they'd be being held on the conveyor, but I assume there would have been another boat further ahead on the ride that they were waiting for. Chances are the boat behind Paul's would have stopped on the conveyor as well to wait for Paul's boat to get through the ride.

[djmcbell]

On 1/21/2017 at 7:00 PM, MaxxTheMonster said:

Scarred for life...

[GoGoBoy]

This story really, really frustrates me. I knew it was only a matter of time before a stoppage on one of the parks' water rides would lead to totally ridiculous and unfair comparisons with the DW tragedy. Thanks to Paul and his daughter, it's unlikely we'll see any new water rides at the GC theme parks for a very long time. That is a real shame and everyone loses from it. These rides are some of the most popular with families and are also perfect for parks located in hot climates.

What would have happened if two boats had collided on that section of Storm? Nothing. It could have been different it if it was stuck on a high speed section and a following boat hit it -- but the ride control system is specifically designed to stop that happening. That's why these stoppages are occurring. Flume rides like Disney's classic Splash Mountain often have times where the boats back up during the ride and bump into one another. You just can't compare it to a completely different ride type like river rapids. And it wasn't just the fact that two rafts collided on Thunder River, it was the fact that one raft had apparently become stuck and the other was forcibly pushed into it by the conveyor lift. This can't happen on the other water rides that are left at our parks. The setup is completely different.

On another somewhat related note, I am interested in the sensors Storm uses for the safety block system. I haven't been on it myself, but I'm assuming that for the coaster portion the standard track-mounted proximity sensors are used that detect the presence of the train. They usually look like little plastic coloured boxes located at certain sections along the track, for example:

But when it comes to the flume section of the ride, it is likely a type of reflective eye is used, mounted above each side of the trough, detecting a boat passing through when the invisible beam is broken. Lassiter's/Bermuda, Looney Tunes River Ride, Viking's Revenge and the log ride all used this system. You could see the reflectors and light beam instigator on either side of the trough at particular parts of the ride. In the case of the dark rides, these were used to trigger the show scenes too. Can anyone confirm these are the two systems Storm uses?

Edited January 26, 2017 by GoGoBoy