Death at Six Flags Great America Gurnee, IL

[james-xp]

Hi, my name is James. I live in Waukegan, IL. Which is not far east from Six Flags Great America, previously owned my Marriot. It was called Marriot's Great America. That's what my Mom told me. There was a mechanic who jumped over a track on May 29th, but was too slow and was hit by the cars on the track. This was in Mardi Gras, on the Ragin' Cajun. You can click this link to verify that. (http://www.themeparkinsider.com/accidents/) I have been on the Rajun' Cajun and it is the WORST ride I have been on in my whole life! I've been on the Whizzer, Viper, American Eagle and the Demon and that is the worst ride I've been on! It gives you severe whiplash, during all the sharp turns, and nosebleeds(there have been many reported) after the ride. They should slow the car down, considering if it gives you bad whiplash when your going fast, if wouldn't if we were going slow. :down:
James ;)

[leonardofury]

Ok I'm getting worried about safety at Six Flags parks. This isn't an isolated incident. If I remember correctly this is the third death at a Six Flags park this year!

[RCT2head]

J**** C*****, i'll never go to a Six Flags park in a couple of years... everyone is in danger of their rides... if a company like that could take their rides and make them super-crappy, you'd think they'd make them ultra-safe, too. glad SF is not one of my home parks... that's why there are national commercials for it, they need positive publicity to cover all of the negatives coming from their deaths... well, it's not working... if they can release it to a message board dedicated to amusement industrys, then they can stand to lose the amount of people coming to their parks. (i hope i didn't just make an ass out of myself saying that)

[leonardofury]

Well there was that bloke that fell off Superman:ride of steel, the ride operator who got hit by Scream and now this :eek: .

[Coaster'Coon]

people are just stupid....

There was a mechanic who jumped over a track on May 29th, but was too slow and was hit by the cars on the track.

Why is that SF's problem?

[leonardofury]

I hardly think having people dying in your parks is good for buiness. Plus the staff should be trained not to cut in front of rides.

[Xzentrificenceo]

As far as I am concerned employees who take shortcuts around the safety rules get what they deserve. 2 of the 3 deaths at SF parks this year where employees not following the safety guidlines, or common sense, and they are winners of a Darwin award. Forest Gump said it best stupid is as stupid does.

[leonardofury]

How come it has only been at Six Flags parks though. I haven't heard of staff being killed at any of the Cedar Fair parks and esspecially not 2 in one year.

[RCT2head]

Well, though i've never been to 1, i've heard that SF is placed in the ghetto section of town, and that's where they hire most of their staff. Maybe urban influence has a factor in it. but, as i've said, i've never been there, so i don't know.

[Coaster'Coon]

Originally posted by RCT2head
Well, though i've never been to 1, i've heard that SF is placed in the ghetto section of town, and that's where they hire most of their staff. Maybe urban influence has a factor in it.

Ignorance.

[IEATPASTE001]

Originally posted by RCT2head
Well, though i've never been to 1, i've heard that SF is placed in the ghetto section of town, and that's where they hire most of their staff. Maybe urban influence has a factor in it. but, as i've said, i've never been there, so i don't know.

Try irresponcible Ride Ops. Poor maintenience. Lack of a collective whole brain for the entire staff at most of the parks. "Urban" influence has nothing to do with it. Just ride op carelessness or rider error. Generally speaking.

[RCT2head]

as i have said, no personal experience included in that assumption.

[james-xp]

All the other rides arn't like this one, this is a tricky one. The only way to get to the rajun cajun generator and other parts are on the other side of the track, and that's the only way over. HEY! Gurnee is a rich city! We have Gurnee Mills, one of the largest malls in America, and Six Flags! Think of the revenue! Why do you think MARRIOT thought to put Marriot's Great America in a rich city? Marriot is a very rich company! Then when Six Flags bought it, everything went downhill...rust on the rides, no new paint, employees are sometimes teens and are depressed, there's trash on the ground sometimes, but they do a excellent job on safty precautions and such.

[leonardofury]

Even so the operator sholud not be crossing the track when the ride is running. Having those part in accessible sound like bad ride design to me, surely a crossing point under or over the track could have been included?

[Coaster'Coon]

I may be confusing two incidents together, but is this the story where the guy had to go to the bathroom really bad, so he cut across the rollercoaster?

[RCT2head]

i believe that was awhile ago, on another thread abotu the guy who fell out

[Harpo]

After the accident at Magic Mountain, I found an article indicating the Six Flags had previously been cited for failing to properly discipline employees who are caught breaking the safety rules. Putting rules in place is fine, but it's necessary to enforce those rules, or else human nature is going to cause people to take short cuts, possibly without considering the consequences.

[IronWolf98]

Originally posted by leonardofury
Ok I'm getting worried about safety at Six Flags parks. This isn't an isolated incident. If I remember correctly this is the third death at a Six Flags park this year!

It has nothing to do with safety, sorta. Ride operators at SFGrAm are trained that maintenance personnel are the only ones permitted in the ride area while the ride is operated. Supposedly, maintenace workers are supposed to have enough common sense, but let's face, people are stupid, and maintenace workers in general are evry arogant. I hate to say it, but it was the maintenance worker's own fault. I'm sure now there has been a change in policy, but I don't know.

[Duane]

Premier Parks has done few things right since purchasing the Six Flags chain. Poorly trained employees is A huge problem. If it weren't for all of their small, secluded yet profitable parks, they would be filing for Chapter 11. I hope they go under soon. They are making A mochary of the Amusement Park Industry. Maybe we'll get lucky and Cedar Fair L.P. will buy more Six Flags Parks.
At least they know what they are doing.

[Harpo]

It's a tough one, here -- I HATE the way Six Flags is run. It is my opinion that they are the worst multiple-park operators in North America, based on my visits to 143 different amusement parks in the U.S. and Canada.

And, with my growing knowledge from my MBA classes that I'm currently taking, it won't surprise me if Six Flags declares bankruptcy within a couple of years -- I think the sale of Geauga Lake and the European operations may have been urgent to bail them out for the short term, based upon some of the statistical figures indicating that their net income isn't enough to cover the cost of their interest expense (much less paying down the principal).

However, if they do declare bankruptcy, I suspect quite a few parks and some very interesting coasters will wind up being closed permanently. Cedar Fair takes a slow, measured approach to their park purchasing -- they generally are willing to add one amusement park (and possibly one water park) every 2 to 3 years.

There aren't many other amusement companies that could afford to take on a significant chunk of Six Flags' operations. Of those that could, it's not really a great fit. I don't see it being the right line for Disney. Busch is very much into landscaping, hence they might not like many of the Six Flags parks where the landscaping doesn't fit the Busch style. I don't think Kennywood Entertainment, Hershey Entertainment, or Silver Dollar City could afford the parks. Paramount (Viacom) hasn't shown much interest in adding parks. GE (Universal Studios) just bought Vivendi Universal, so they may want to see how the parks play out for a while before deciding on any strategy for amusement parks.

So, without a buyer, I could see a lot of the parks permanently closing if Six Flags went belly-up. For that reason, I hope they manage to hold on. However, I'd really like to see some other company buy out Six Flags and insist upon pouring some money into improving the operations and the condition of the parks. I just don't know if that'll happen, however.

[uru94Rct]

This is just my 2 cents but... Paramount Canada's Wonderland takes safety first. On the Ghoster Coaster they have a "Track Crossing" button that shuts down the ride. Six Flags should learn from Paramount.

[holy_reality]

Originally posted by Xzentrificenceo
As far as I am concerned employees who take shortcuts around the safety rules get what they deserve. 2 of the 3 deaths at SF parks this year where employees not following the safety guidlines, or common sense, and they are winners of a Darwin award. Forest Gump said it best stupid is as stupid does.

i assume you are being exaggerative but he didn't DESERVE to die.

It was stupid though.



and something i just realized, that i should have thought of a long time ago

imagine six flags wasn't six flags...

instead of MAGIC MOUNTAIN getting a damn coaster (or 3) almost every year....... every single park, would get new coasters, almost yearly.

Because say SFOT weren't SFOT, it were run by some .. local guys, somehow... (who cared about quality rides, for the sake of idealism)

well, don't you think
#1 they wouldn't have cloned Goliath, their hyper would've been a lot different and potentially better
#2 they would have had another major new coaster by now, what with how popular the park is?

But since I'm assuming six flags monopoilzes their parks and pools their money together, they are going to spend a huge chunk of it on their best selling parks and neglect the rest.

....

hmm.