![]() Though I love high G rides, and think that the faster a ride can go,the better, it will benefit the theme park industry more to go to the "Technological Thrillrides" such as Universal claims to have cornered the market on. You can sure bet that talk was thrown away this morning. You will see a strong surge in more family rides at all of the big chains, especially disney, who was talking about having its first 6 inversion coaster built at the Animal Kingdom when they began talking again about "Beastly Kingdom". Personally I cant see going to a park without an intense ride, but thats me. People are wanting more theme to a park, and a lot of folks see something like a coaster as a blemsih on the landscape. ROTM doesnt exceed more than 3 G's, and thats only in its initial launch. It shows with the success of such rides like Spiderman and MIB, even Revenge of the Mummy, though it is a coaster. I think the public really is starting to lean towards a less intense G-force type ride. And with insurance rates for high G force attractions sure to rise in the aftermath of this most recent death, that future might be coming to a theme park near you sooner than anyone might have expected. Rides like Disney's Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Universal's Men in Black Alien Attack, and Legoland's Fun Town Fire Academy and Splash Battle represent the future. And that the video game generation craves attractions that they can control. Theme park managers, like their counterparts in the movie business, have learned that repeat visits create blockbusters. Smart theme parks are looking for new attractions that engage riders, empowering them individually, or collectively with the other riders in their vehicle, to alter or determine the effects and outcome of the ride. The near future of the theme park industry lies not in thrills, but interactivity. Talk to theme park designers, and they express their excitement not for new ways to throw riders' bodies around, but for new ways to engage their minds. Six Flags CEO Mark Shapiro has declared that his company, the industry leader in that arms race, is done with record-setting, high-intensity thrill rides, and will instead look to recapture parents with kids by offering more family-friendly rides. The theme park industry already is moving away from the high thrill arms race of the past decade. Unlike heart or back conditions, or pregnancy, most people at risk for the type of ailments exposed by high G rides do not know that they are at risk, severely undercutting (but not negating) the effectiveness of stronger warnings. If you know the G force of a particular ride, please browse to it in our listings, then click the link to add that information to the ride's description.īut the tragic number of deaths at Walt Disney World over the past years, many linked to high G force attractions, might signal the end of the development of such rides in the theme park industry. To that end, I'm asking registered Theme Park Insider readers today to help us collect that information. And I'd love to see parks publicize the G forces exerted on their rides, along with the time that riders are exposed to that force. Parks should urge people with high blood pressure to avoid these rides, as they already warn or ban people with heart, neck or back problems, as well as pregnant women. ![]() Yes, theme parks could do more to warn their visitors of the danger of high G attractions. On Mission: Space, the peak G force is much lower than on Rock n' Roller Coaster, but it is sustained for a much longer period of time. Such preexisting medical conditions led to the death of two riders in the past year on Disney World's Mission: Space, another high G force ride. Put someone with a congenital defect, or even a bad case of high blood pressure, on a high G force ride and aneurysms and stroke can result. High G forces and circulatory problems provide a potentially fatal mix. Authorities have yet to determine the cause of death, but in 2000 the ride was the scene of a non-fatal incident where a rider suffered bleeding in the brain. Witness Rock n' Roller Coaster at the Disney-MGM Studios theme park in Walt Disney World, where yesterday a 12-year-old boy died. With twists, turns and sharp acceleration, even a relatively low speed ride can exert force on the body three, four and even five times the force of gravity. Not height, not speed, not length, but the pressure exerted on one's body. But over the past decade, theme park thrills have added a fourth dimension. Traditionally, thrill ride fans measured the intensity of their favorite rides three ways: tallest, fastest, longest. Robert Niles The end of the high G force thrill ride? June 30, 2006, 9:52 AM
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