Soarin

[marni1971]

I go to Alton Towers for 2 days and miss all the fun...

 

[NickandSammie]

Maybe some real life cyberterrorists just got done reading Ted Bell's Phantom.

 

[wdwfan22]

Did you read any of my subsequent posts? The one you quoted was, quite obviously, a joke.

I'd still like to know how a dad and his daughter actually got out of their locked seatbelts between the time the CM did their last walk-thru/tug-check and when they initiated the ride. I mean, you don't just SLIP out of the seatbelt. You'd have to climb up out of it and onto the seat, then also pull her out.

Quite a feat.

I would also like to know how they managed to do it undetected, unless no one was watching. It also doesn't seem like there was enough downtime to do anything different to the attraction during the downtime.

 

[Annielkd]

Wow, you're really blaming the Cast for this? It was the guests fault entirely! It happened after the flight was enabled and the Tower CM was getting ready to launch. It was a dad and his daughter who got out. There is a quick 10 seconds of downtime between when the ride is ready to go to when it actually goes. It was during that time. The Tower CM noticed them standing off to the side when the ride reached flight level and hit a ride stop, exactly what they were supposed to do. It was the guests fault, not the Cast. Sometimes I think people think Cast members are perfect, and we try to be, but we do suffer from human error just like all of you do.

It's like when someone says they can do our job better. Ok, go ahead and load 87 seats in this flight. Check all the heights, make sure little ones have the center strap, move all wheelchairs into the designated areas, make sure the ECV;s are moved and powered off, move all the bags into the designated areas, make sure flip flops are on the ground, make sure the exit doors are shut, now make sure all the seatbelt lights above the guest seats are on, make sure they're all tugging on the yellow strap, and visually verify no one is in the theatre. Make sure the film has rewound and is show ready before enabling. Make sure you give the correct hand signals and shut your correct door before leaving the theatre. Okay you have to do all this in 2 min. and 15 seconds each and every time. Good luck!

I've gone on Soaring many, many times. It's my favorite ride. I've NEVER had a cast member look like they weren't working hard. They are always corteous no matter how many times they tell people the same thing over and over. People are slow to get into their seats, slow to get out, and they are always patient. I think they do a fantastic job.

 

[Annielkd]

its truly unfair to blame this on the guests, as a previous cast member, i know how much slacking occurs, and in all honesty i can say i did it myself. This, i think was a cast member fault, that could be a brand new cast member fresh out of traning, who forgot to check one last thing, or forgot about the 2 guests that wanted to leave?! anything?! so before we start blaming "stupid guests" lets wonder if it was pure lazy incompetent cast members, disney seems to be getting more and more of those recently!

If I wanted to get out for any reason... I'd yell. I would never take the chance of getting out of my seat knowing that the thing would lift off at any moment. I would ask the other people in the row to yell too if there were a problem. So yeah... I think the guest behaved in a way that was unacceptable.

 

[pintraderpayee]

its truly unfair to blame this on the guests, as a previous cast member, i know how much slacking occurs, and in all honesty i can say i did it myself. This, i think was a cast member fault, that could be a brand new cast member fresh out of traning, who forgot to check one last thing, or forgot about the 2 guests that wanted to leave?! anything?! so before we start blaming "stupid guests" lets wonder if it was pure lazy incompetent cast members, disney seems to be getting more and more of those recently!

Wow....when I read your post, I thought to myself, I am so glad this person doesn't work at WDW anymore! My DD is a CPCM and she has yet to run into one lazy CM. Not saying that WDW doesn't have them (with 55,000 employees in one place there are bound to be some slackers), but you make it sound like every new CM is stupid and lackluster! Every time I have been on Soarin' the CMs have been very attentive and patient. I have run into way more inattentive and stupid-acting guests than the thimbleful of lukewarm CMs I've met over the past twelve years.


Proud parent of a Spring Advantage CPCM:sohappy:

 

[MrNonacho]

My DD is a CPCM and she has yet to run into one lazy CM.

She is very lucky.

 

[Annielkd]

Let's be honest. Do you really think that it's the CM's fault? It's much more likely that these people thought it would be cool to try it. People don't realize that their actions can have major consequences. I'd love to know the motivation behind the actions.

 

[carole]

I've never really felt that safe riding this I always feel like I could slip out. We rode it this morning and the CM asked us to pull the yellow tag but before he moved on he tightened both mine & my husbands seat belt, never had any CM do that before. I must admit it made the ride seem more safer for me as I actually felt 'belted in'.

 

[FoxForce5]

This is a tired song. You don't know that this was a misbehaving guest. Guest can genuinely be afraid and unbeknownst to them put themselves in danger. Granted, there are times where it is most obvious that it's not the ideal time to exit a vehicle, and having worked at Six Flags I can go on and on about the stupidity of guests, it's hard to judge this particular situation without knowing all the facts. If the speculation is that a CM was dealing with an issue and unlocked the seats, enabling the guests to get up is accurate, then it certainly the CM's fault for not paying attention to the ride area.

I agree with you that no one knows for sure what happened except those that were actually there. However, as an attractions CM, I can tell you that 9 times out of 10, when something goes wrong, it's the result of a guest's actions. They don't listen, don't follow instructions, and don't use common sense. Obviously, MOST guests DO "behave", and it's a pleasure to host them. But it only takes a few to ruin the experience for everyone, including the staff.

 

[bethymouse]

so true!

I agree with you that no one knows for sure what happened except those that were actually there. However, as an attractions CM, I can tell you that 9 times out of 10, when something goes wrong, it's the result of a guest's actions. They don't listen, don't follow instructions, and don't use common sense. Obviously, MOST guests DO "behave", and it's a pleasure to host them. But it only takes a few to ruin the experience for everyone, including the staff.

I agree 1,000%!

 

[Annielkd]

Do you think the information will ever be released?

 

[FoxForce5]

Do you think the information will ever be released?

In an official disclosure? I doubt it. But, we may be able to deduce what happened based on operational or hardware changes that occur post-incident. (Or maybe an on-scene CM will eventually share what they know!)

 

[Annielkd]

That's what I'm hoping for... I'd like to actually know what happened.

 

[DisneySaint]

Often happens. They go into the closet just off the main room to get water. Seen that happen many times.

#1 - It's not a "closet". It's the way out of the flight room.
#2 - There does happen to be a water cooler in there, but CMs are not just going in there to grab water.
#3 - Dispatch times are monitored; a CM simply does not have time to sit in "the closet" and drink water. The second they clear their flight and come out back into the gate area, there are guests standing there waiting to be put into their rows.

 

[fosse76]

I agree with you that no one knows for sure what happened except those that were actually there. However, as an attractions CM, I can tell you that 9 times out of 10, when something goes wrong, it's the result of a guest's actions. They don't listen, don't follow instructions, and don't use common sense. Obviously, MOST guests DO "behave", and it's a pleasure to host them. But it only takes a few to ruin the experience for everyone, including the staff.

I agree, having worked for four years at Six Flags it perplexes me how people can behave. My comment is directed at the comments thta flat out refer to these guests as stupid and idiotic...as if they intentionally did this to be "clever" or something.

People get scared on rides all the time and their panic often times results in injuries they cause themselves. I am more undertsanding and sypathetic to these guests than to the morons who clearly try to show off (like the moron on ToT). The guests didn't realize how close to the starting of the ride they were and thought it was safe to move. The real issue is HOW did they simply just get up and leave? That was a CM failure. Even if the guests did intentionally and maliciously climb out of the restraint for purposes other than wanting to exit the ride for fear, the CMs should have seen them right away...not after the vehicles had lifted into the air. Whether that's a design flaw or CMs not paying attention, it should definitely be addressed.