Friday, July 30th, 2010

Accident Databases

We've been getting a good deal of questions asking about past carnival ride accidents in other states -- please feel free to check out our Carnival Ride Accident Database.

Accidents at Permanent Amusement Parks? You can read up on our Permanent Amusement Park Accidents page.

Have a great weekend and thank you for reading Amusement Safety Organization online!

Posted at 7:45 AM

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

Parks and Allowing Water Into The Park

It's a frustrating thing, we're sure. You get to the front gate, you're about to enter, and bam, you can't bring in that bottle of water. Allowing bottle water into an amusement park is hit and miss. One park will not allow it in, but give it a few hours, a new employee at the entrance and....you're allowed to bring it in.

There's really no need to conceal your bottle water in a backpack or in a baby stroller, just walk in with it. Many parks will allow you to bring in the water if it's sealed, which makes sense. There's always that one person who'll substitute water for hard liquor and ruin it for everyone, though.

There are other options, too. We're seeing a lot of people who bring Camel Baks into the parks. Keeps your water cold, but can be a nuisance as you have to take it off and put it on every time you board a roller coaster.

We've compiled a list of amusement parks and how they handled bottled water being brought into their park 4 ways: Using a Kleen Kanteen, Unopened bottle of water, Opened bottle of water, and using a Camel Bak. You can view the results here.

Three parks really stuck out during this project with how they handled bringing water into the park. Kings Dominion, Six Flags America, and Worlds of Fun were adamant with regard to letting outside water inside the park. All three giving the same spiel, excuse, etc... "You can use our water fountains, ask for water at any food stand, or just drink your water right here before entering."

Chug my ice cold water before entering the park -- brain freeze anyone?

Posted at 2:30 PM

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

Accident Alert: Girl, 9, Thrown From Ride

A 9-year-old girl was injured after she was tossed from a carnival ride at the California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles, California. Read More.

Super Himalaya Ride in Operation - Backwards

Carnival Ride Accidents in California:

• Fair Ride Fails; 7 Injured
• Fair Worker Struck by Ride; Leg Severed
• Woman, 33, Has Fingers Severed by Ride; Children Injured
• Ride Collapses; 24 Injured
• Carnival Worker Knocked Out by Amusement Ride
• Child, 6, Killed After Fall From Ferris Wheel
• 4 Children Injured After Inflatable Ride Topples Sending Them Into The Street
• 3 Boys Injured After Carnival Ride Topples Into a Sinkhole

Posted at 7:15 AM

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

Consumer Safety Alerts

From Eureka, Missouri -

ID#	Issue	Ride/Type	Operator	Summary
10-0727	Misc.	N/A	Disney's California Adventure - California	Consumer indicated that employee could not provide her with information on how to get to first aid station. Guest indicated she needed to get to first aid station due to headache.
10-0726	Back/Neck	Boss / Wooden	Six Flags St Louis	Rider indicates that rough nature of ride caused neck and back pain. Went on to indicate that neck pain was mainly due his head being whipped around by the ride. Back pain, he indicated, was due what he described as, "the bumps of the ride running up my back."
10-0725	Back	The Beast / Wooden	Kings Island - Ohio	Rider indicated that rough nature of ride caused back pain. Indicated that he was sitting in very first car of train on the right side.

Second issue with The Boss roller coaster for the 2010 season. ASO was at the park today and can say that a lot of the injury complaints with the ride are more than justified. It's hard to believe that the park would not know how rough this ride is -- in fact it'd be interesting to see how their first aid injury log an ASO's match up with regard to this ride.

For the most part, though, Six Flags St. Louis was a good visit. Information regarding Screamin' Eagle was dead on, too. While it was not an intense ride, it's rough and not what one would call, "fun."

The Boss - Six Flags St. Louis

We don't get it, why is it that a guest can't get directions to Disney theme park first aid stations? Do cast members not know the location? Is dealing with an ailing guest not good for the Disney image?

We have a visit planned down to Disneyland and California Adventure (we hear the new World of Color is amazing, so we'll have to check it out) here in the next few weeks. Meeting with a few cast members who have information to share.

Maybe this time we'll get one of those Dole Whips, we hear they're amazing! :o)

Posted at 5:45 PM

Monday, July 26th, 2010

Guest Experience Information

Ever since we started Amusement Safety Organization, it never fails, consumers will inquire about non-safety related issues. Cost of a soft drink too high, cost of parking was robbery, they felt cheated with how much they paid for admission, employees blew off their concerns, the list goes on... We originally planned to have a traveler type section that would try and answer those questions,  however, it never quite got off the ground. You could say we left it on the back burner, I suppose.
 
The past 4 or so months, these types of inquires have increased. We find ourselves answering questions and in the process wondering why we aren't putting something up on our website. There's one re-occurring guest issue, and that is:

• Venue Response: How well does a park respond to your problem?

We offer a look into this past weekend's visit and how this particular park failed to take ownership of the guests problem.

Type	Venue	Issue	Grade
Lost Item	Six Flags Magic Mountain	Employee was informed that guest had lost their wallet and they inquired as to where they could report it. Employee forwarded guest to another employee who did the same thing. Guest finally passed on to supervisor who assisted.	-

We'll see what kind of feedback comes in and decide on how we run with this.

Posted at 4:20 PM