What Really Happened on Shoot the Rapids at Cedar Point July 19th 2013?

[@tippydaug525]

Cedar Point is one of the only parks where instead of hearing "employees reacted poorly due to a lack of training" you hear how efficiently the employees handled an unpredictable situation. 10/10 place to go if you want to not worry about employee screw ups

[@logan_page]

I worked at Michigan’s Adventure for a summer, and even at one of Cedar Fair’s smaller parks they are serious about training. Safety is taken seriously by Cedar Fair at large.

[@thousandthmoon9149]

@@logan_page I'm sure, hence why they don't work with Intamin anymore 🤭 fuck Intamin all my homies hate Intamin this post was made by B&M gang

[@ThumpersMama18]

@@thousandthmoon9149 B&M needs to remake the Dragster

[@aavaaa165]

@@thousandthmoon9149 b&m>>> intamin fs.

[@CALIGIRL702]

I work at CP, we train more than 45 hours BEFORE we can do any job; we also have EXTREME TRAINING THROUGHOUT our employment, CP truly cares about ride safety, food safety and general safety! I love the company I work for!

[@SixWingZombi]

Big props to the operators who acted quickly and decisively during the incident and props to Cedar Point on their effective training of their rider operators.

[@nicholasellis8521]

Honestly, though you gotta imagine how much stress that job is when something actually goes wrong.

[@adde9506]

Honestly, they got very lucky, training or no. "When the boat falls off the lift hill and capsizes, jump in the water and flip it upright" is definitely not in their training. They had exactly the right person on the spot at exactly the right time by sheer coincidence to start the stampede of manpower that prevented any drownings.

[@keiyakins]

Training people to observe, decide, and act rather than panic is a huge task and one that is, as this incident shows, *absolutely* worth it.

[@Tevikolady]

@@adde9506 honestly, the training that Cedar Point members receive makes me not doubt their actions. This WAS the result of training, because I had a friend who worked there for a summer and was excited when he finally got bumped up to roller coaster tech. He said he went through MONTHS of training, and had to know and recognize any possible warning signs as well as stand up to 'Karens' who wanted children who were not ready to ride trying to ride. The amount of stuff he had to know was boggling. So I believe that the employees knew what to do, even if the people who made the coaster-hybrid didn't. It comes down to safety first

[@madderandmadder]

Agreed! A lot of these accidents come down to the operators not acting or paying attention, but these operators were on top of it. Good job to everyone who was working the ride that day.

[@katherinewren9906]

The fact that other park guests jumped in to help makes me happy.

[@michellemahar9030]

Same! It really might have made the difference between life and death!

[@mikereynolds4755]

I was one of those guests. My wife and I had just gotten off of it approximately 5 minutes before the boat slid down the hill and capsized at the bottom...

[@michellemahar9030]

@@mikereynolds4755 that is terrifying! I am glad you weren't in the boat that flipped and that you were able to help! Not everyone can spring into action in an emergency and I am very appreciative for those who can be clear headed!

[@mikereynolds4755]

@@michellemahar9030 it was my wife's first time at Cedar Point, and we had only been there for a little over an hour, with plans to be there that evening and the following day. Needless to say, for a long time, she said there was a dark cloud over Cedar Point. Interestingly enough, though, is that this was the same day that another Intamin ride, The New Texas Giant (I believe), had a guest fall out of the coaster mid ride due to restraint failure, and was killed...

[@michellemahar9030]

@@mikereynolds4755 I can only imagine! It doesn't matter if it is rare. If you see it happens it is going to stick in your mind!

[@moonchildintheafternoon420]

As a ride operator, this is my worst fear. Something I couldn't avoid. So just an FYI, we aren't being mean when we tell you not to rock the boats or to keep your hands in the boats. These rides aren't always fool proof, and as you can see by their actions, we will go in harms way to help you. Keep us and you safe, listen to your ride Ops

[@Nope695]

Former ride operator here and I second your comment! 😉👍 Please listen to the "keep your arms and legs inside the carriage at all times" or "remain seated at all times'" etc. I saw a few nasty injuries in my time because people ignored those simple requests. Was very sad, but also frustrating 🤷‍♀️

[@seventh-hydra]

@@Nope695 People tend to think "Keep your arms in at all times" is just something they say for the sake of it or something, lmao. I know it would be bad for ridership, but they should really have incident photos beneath a sign saying "No, seriously."

[@emmarisby]

I've always been a good kid so I'd never break those rules. I just dont know why I dont pay attention to them much? It makes me wonder how easy it would be careless and why a lot of people arent serious about it. 😭 I guess because you get distracted with how fun the parks are? And forget you still need to be responsible

[@washfish6483]

@@emmarisby good kid

[@benedictdwyer2608]

@@emmarisby same, Bro, same

[@blondievont]

me, who has zero interest in rollercoasters: you know what? what DID really happen on shoot the rapids?

[@stonedimmaculate2942]

BAHAJHAJAHA

[@Audrey.May16]

I watched one of his videos on an accident that happened on an 80’s mall coaster and I’m hooked!

[@blondievont]

@@Audrey.May16 same!!

[@C00kii0]

Same 🤣

[@trista417]

😂 couldn’t be more accurate.

[@TimothyChapman]

Not being able to drain the track is quite the oversight for a boat-coaster hybrid. Glad everyone survived and without any permanent injuries.

[@astrangeone]

Seriously. Who designed it? It's a water ride, people might fall into the water and be pinned by things...

[@vancewade6251]

And no easier mechanism for releasing restraints in the event of an emergency for ride operators is insane, intamin are fucking clueless I swear

[@MarioMonte13]

. Intamin: let's have a 40lb battery pack that you have to plug in to release restraints. Ride operators: what if it's a partially capsized boat and people are drowning? Intamin: just plug in the battery

[@ejgrae1989]

@@astrangeone like dreamworld australi :(

[@astrangeone]

@@ejgrae1989 Horrible. The designers should be ashamed of themselves.

[@feather314]

That is so terrifying. Just imagine being trapped in a tight restraint while the boat was submerged. I'm so glad no one drowned.

[@botdfbvb]

It helped that they were upsidedown. That didn't allow the water to fully fill the lungs.

[@saulgoodman4451]

I fist-pumped the air when he said no one died because being locked underwater sounds utterly horrifying

[@mikereynolds4755]

My wife, friend, and I had actually just exited the attraction and were walking on the exit path when I heard a loud clicking type noise. At that point, I looked up and saw the boat rolling backwards down the lift hill. I had past experience working a roller coaster, so I didn't think anything of it because I assumed the train would be caught by the dog hook and stopped. As we continued down the exit, we heard loud screams and people running across the park's railroad tracks to jump into the flume to hold up the boat, at which point I ran into the flume as well. I wonder where this T-shaped bar began on the track, because when we heard the noise and looked up, the boat was more than halfway up the lift hill (the larger of the two). Given that, I feel like there had to be some other type of failure that occurred. It was truly a scary scene, especially knowing that had we been a few minutes later, we might have been on the boat, and even scarier that most of the passengers on that boat were young children.

[@animaanimus8011]

Thank you for being brave enough to help. Without people like you those children could have suffered greatly and died. Bless you.

[@Heavens-Humanaterian-Army]

Thank you for shereing...I was on the snowy River rapids right before the 4 people where killed...I knew the water level was way lower than it should be but had no idea it could have caused that freak accident..they were never abel to recreate the accident dispite trying manytime...its was caused by lack of water on the ride and yet it was a freak accident as well.

[@fidellawidjojo6395]

q

[@InfinitePlaylist909]

I don’t know if I could ever ride a water attraction with locking restraints that hug your body. Truly terrifying being trapped in a vehicle in a situation like this.

[@marshawargo7238]

Same reasons I hate mandatory seatbelts in cars! Saying "statistics show" yada yada... They never say anything about how many people died as a result of having a seatbelt on. I'm sure if I should happen to drown in a "couldn't get the seatbelt off" situation my family wouldn't win in a court that issues fines for not wearing a seatbelt.

[@agoo7581]

@@marshawargo7238 Uh no, you are still much safer wearing a selt belt in a car. Please don't spread this misinformation.

[@marshawargo7238]

@@agoo7581 My point is I don't get to choose. Thats all. The government is getting into things we didn't hire them for. They care more about if I died in a car accident than they do about homeless people freezing.

[@mrsbeard5225]

@@marshawargo7238 more people die in car accidents than from exposure.

[@marshawargo7238]

@@mrsbeard5225 Choices!

[@adrianne7882]

Anyone else holding their breath right after hearing the boat submerged the riders? Until I heard all the riders were ok I was wondering how many of them had drowned.

[@hanthonyc]

i love how dedicated you are to the actual technical analysis of coasters. makes it so much more meaningful than any clickbait-y video with someone reading a wikipedia paragraph haha

[@failedhuman2830]

The people going in to save people's lives is rare, honestly people like this are heroes to me. I had my rubber ring flipped when I was 10 in a fast paste water course, i swam to the rocks on the side, trying to grip onto these wet plastic rocks but I kept getting dragged under the water, so what basically kept me from drowning was doing jumping motions and using the rocks as a lift up, even thou my hands kept slipping, I screamed for help each time I jumped and what's ironic there was a life guard right next to me! He didn't notice me but my dad herd me screaming and jumped in which is dangerous cause fast moving rubber rings and water but honestly some time has already past and I was exhausted, I was thinking to just let go and hopefully grab onto someone's rubber ring which is stupid, dangerous and I haven't even past the drops in the course yet but I felt so hopeless. People on the rubber rings noticed me but did nothing and just stared at me, I'm 22 now, that makes me sick to the stomach, they watched a 10 year old struggling to stay above water and did nothing, a hecking child. The least they could do was shout at the life guard but no, they didn't want to get involved. I hope that situation they saw haunts them.

[@toni4157]

Yep! I was lucky to have someone help me when something similar happened to me on River rapids when I was 7.. I had gone down a waterfall and my tube flipped over and I went under the rapids and couldn’t come back up bc I was so light, there was a BIG waterfall that was after the one I had just gone down but it was a small opening in between the rocks but I couldn’t get myself off the corse no matter how hard I tried because I was being thrown forward and right before I went over the edge of the waterfall some guy had grabbed my by the shoulders with me fully submerged underwater and pulled me onto the rock pathway....

[@failedhuman2830]

@@toni4157 That dude is a hecking hero, god I don't even want to imagine what would have happened if the guy didn't pick you up at that split second, that was some fast thinking. Feels good I'm not the only one who experience this but its not so good because the safety for these rides are nonexistent, even when there is possible fatal dangers, such as drowning or getting crushed. They really need to do something about this. Mine was at splash down, the Mississippi ride ^^

[@toni4157]

@@failedhuman2830 yep exactly!! When he pulled me out there were multiple people near him standing on the rock path that weren’t even paying attention to me, apparently it was more than common for kids tubes to be flipped over and people had been standing on the rock edge to grab anyone who had gone under... I wouldn’t have died if I had gone down but I would have hit some rocks pretty hard and have been more banged up than I alr was... but gosh when your in those situations it’s just so scary especially if your helpless and don’t know if someone will help you or not

[@jamief.8489]

Haven't got time to read your thousand word essay but its only Americans that are shocked at people's kindness it is quite common everywhere else around the world

[@ext93]

Hecking? Fuck

[@sociallyawkwardstephanie9522]

It’s crazy that this ride was removed and no one was killed but there’s rides that remained open for years after taking someone’s life.

[@ToxicSpaceDust]

I think it depends on who’s at fault. If it was a ride malfunction then yeah, but if it was an Operator’s fault then I could see why they wouldn’t take it down.

[@aliciacleeland2257]

I remember Disney ripping Thunder mountain apart after the accident to find that it was the person's fault for standing up!

[@KaylaG4153]

This ride wasn’t very popular as is though - I’m sure that was a pretty big contributor to them dismantling it. And it did technically reopen for a little while after the accident. I get what you mean though.

[@jamief.8489]

You just say the ride but how do you know it hasn't been fixed up

[@tomlink5784]

Disney actually ripped thunder up because 1: it was honestly getting old. 2: the train cart itself derailed and destroyed a huge swath of track.

[@Mark-oc9gz]

Imagine creating a flume ride where the ESTOP doesn't drain the water from the trough....

[@proferabg]

The reason why they don't drain is because the ESTOP might be because of a passenger hanging outside of the vehicle and if you drain the trough you might crush said rider with the boat.

[@justlolatthisworld7917]

​@@proferabgLOL they're locked in their seats. That scenario seems infinitely more unlikely than a boat capsizing, which actually did happen.

[@notusingthisaccount1551]

@@proferabg they could create two estops for two reasons

[@aWritingSparrow]

The log flume where i work does actually! A more traditional e-stop, and a dump valve. It does what you think, it dumps all the water from the ride. Its only meant to be used in very specific circumstances

[@kenepo4u496]

The same was true for Green Lantern: First Flight at Six Flags Magic Mountain, which ended the relationship with Six Flags and Intamin because of the fact that the coaster was a failure from the beginning.

[@hangtimechills3461]

Even though that was the main reason they ended their relationship I think that another big reason was the fact that their coasters cost so much. They ended their relationship with B&M for that in 2012 with X-Flight costing around the same amount as what Intamin offers.

[@Metaphysician2]

@@hangtimechills3461 this makes me wonder: are the coaster manufacturers being greedy and inefficient, or are the park owners simply unwi.ling to pay the real cost of the kind of product they want?

[@hangtimechills3461]

@@Metaphysician2 It depends, Like Mack Rides coasters cost considerably less in other countries because the cost of shipping materials here is expensive. But Orion cost 30 million and KI is right by the B&M plant so I don’t know.

[@tsubasa83_ch]

I still find it crazy that both SF and CF have essentially blacklisted Intamin. I'm sure they've found work for other parks in North America, but those big two refusing to work with them is most likely to be a red flag.

[@josealcazar2922]

@@tsubasa83_ch well as of right now it looks like they found work under Universal Studios. They built Hagrids motorbike adventure and they're building Velocicoaster

[@Gabes1321]

Cedar point: hey Intamin, we loved maverick so now please build another good ride! Intamin: well no but actually no

[@villek3722]

This was just bad investment from CP...why you would buy 10 million dollar water ride and not make it exciting with theming like other parks?

[@Gabes1321]

@@villek3722 exactly. Stupid Cedar Point

[@cb5141]

@@villek3722 they need a dark indoor ride like exterminator at kennywood or flight of fear at kings island

[@villek3722]

@@cb5141 yeah and a good dark ride!

[@FreezeMaster5]

Well Intamin did give us a lovely coaster called Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure at Universal Studios Orlando Florida which is amazing and another coaster on the way(The newly announced Velocicoaster)

[@friendlycryptid6797]

OH! I mistook this for another incident that ended much *much* worse. Edit for those asking: I was thinking of the Thunder River Rapids Incident.

[@yumahummus5033]

Thunder River Rapids

[@friendlycryptid6797]

@@yumahummus5033 I think that mite be it.

[@Hiphop618]

@@friendlycryptid6797 My guess is Verruckt at Schlitterbahn.

[@yumahummus5033]

@@Hiphop618 No I'm pretty sure it was Thunder River Rapids at Dreamworld Gold Coast in Australia

[@emelianemone777]

@@yumahummus5033 both were horrific accidents/results of absolute neglect & a complete disregard for safety on the part of the owners & operators of the respective parks. also, tbh, the footage in this video is reminiscent of verruckt (KC native here & poor caleb's life was ended by that slide on my birthday, so it stands out in my mind). the thunder river rapids ride was entirely different... but ultimately, both were horrible, one decapitated a child & one led to multiple people drowning/getting crushed by the "lift" mechanism for the rafts at the end of the ride.

[@Zexion579]

No loss of life and it was still closed. Wow props to the park. Usually that's not how this plays out.

[@tydune2631]

It wasn’t closed because of this incident tho. Unless you mean the temporary closure for the investigation/maintenance, which I’m certain is mandatory. The reason it closed for good was because of lack of popularity with visitors to the park.

[@keith_5584]

Glad to know everyone survived. Immedately was thinking assisted breathing if they were stuck underwater. Also chain tension sensors and strain gauge sensors could have warned of the snapping before it even happened. Usually before something snaps it bends, cracks, wobbles, vibrates, and/or heats up. You are spoiled for choice on sensors in this age. I would think that company would have a problem with their engineers putting too many sensors rather than not enough.

[@garygsp3]

Chains usually stretch as they wear. Which is why roller chain manufacturers have wear gauges that measure the stretch in a chain. If you go outside the tolerance it's time to replace the chain. It's a stupid easy test to do and would take longer to go to the maintenance shed to get the tool than it would to actually perform the test. During seasonal operation I would think all lift hill chains would be gauged at minimum of monthly. Chains don't generally wear very fast and despite how long you think they run. Compared to an industrial environment they barely run.

[@normalhuman9878]

Installing too many sensors is because of incidents like this

[@berkeleyisonline160]

ppp

[@Funfair2304]

These videos are informative, dont create panic and are overall really entertaining, unlike the clickbait videos seen everywhere. Keep it up!

[@puwcyk]

OMG speed is soo problematic. Working on it was awful. Worst coaster ever

[@TheCoasterFlood]

worst coaster ever as in most boring coaster ever?

[@NickyD]

isnt that the same model as maverick

[@equatoremerald]

@@NickyD No, that's iSpeed. Speed is a water coaster at Energylandia

[@MoreSkaterJon]

@@equatoremerald ye

[@H20fanatic20]

It used to constantly break down that first year it open. They even had a night where employees could ride it beefier the park opened. I declined and rode it with the guests 🤷🏼‍♀️😂

[@jeffcunningham308]

Thank you for keeping me entertained Stay safe bro

[@Coolsomeone234]

Imagine still being in Quarantine

[@Coolsomeone234]

@Uranium 233 ok stupid

[@jeffcunningham308]

@Uranium 233 I meant just during all these lockdowns and stuff not being open

[@maincoasters]

why do y’all still say quarantine and still go places. pls stop

[@maincoasters]

@@jeffcunningham308 what’s not open . you must live in california

[@cecebruh6287]

"Top Thirill Dragster is one of the most problematic rides" bro i laughed, i live closeby to the park and that ride's ALWAYS closed because it's having issues.. like at least every other visit

[@katen6859]

Haha yeah it's always closed or people are stuck on it half way up. I miss the Demon Drop!

[@bgreen1007]

The matenience is insane. They have to work on it every single day mid day. Most days it's closed for several hours if not all day.

[@Gameday2159]

Everytime I go I just assume it's broken lol

[@simplytropical-9830]

Ofc it’s going to be like that it shoots over 100 miles per hour in less than how many seconds and they have to make sure they check it enough so that people are safe cause that can be a really dangerous ride if not

[@shannon81726]

top thrill dragster and king da ka both lmao

[@ElToroRyan]

Fascinating video!! Was always curious how this accident occurred! Thanks for making this!!

[@josiahsimmons9866]

Too bad he didn't talk about the block sections... :(

[@CoasterCollege]

Always means a lot coming from you! Glad you liked it!

[@Chris28-633]

ElToroRyan!!!

[@josiahsimmons9866]

@@CoasterCollege Just so you know, that frown was facetious, I loved the video.

[@CoasterCollege]

@@josiahsimmons9866 ha ha, your good, I too enjoy talking about block sections but I don't want to knockoff ryan too much!

[@MonsterFlame1]

Honestly, there are quite a lot of Intamin coasters with bad reliability. Especially Kingda Ka & Dragster which you can't expect to live that much longer.

[@TonyKimtheamusementparkfan]

I applaud Intamin for their design risks and challenges, but sometimes I feel they take it a bit too far. I appreciate their effort, but if it has to cost a park a ton of money to maintain the ride, and for a park to close that ride more often that open it, that should be a turn off right there.

[@timothykaczmarek5871]

@@coasternerd6978 Top Thrill Dumpster

[@timothykaczmarek5871]

@@coasternerd6978 I worked at Cedar Point this summer and that thing is just a giant penis with lights. Dumbest ride in that park.

[@unusualuncle9938]

I’m surprised Kingda Ka has lasted this long considering the constant maintenance closures

[@timothykaczmarek5871]

@@unusualuncle9938 And that one is longer than Top Thrill Dumpster too. That thing was a colossal waste of money and space. I only go on it if the line is less than 30 minutes.

[@xathira]

Another well-done video! I love that you not only talk about the events of the accident, but actually *explain* how the accident occurred--as in what ride flaws were present, and how they could be fixed/are more reliable on other rides. This series did wonders to help me with a lot of theme park anxiety. Great job! (and yayyyyy Orion footage :D)

[@SiddyE]

7:42, that's my dad shirtless in the back and my mom with the pink shirt. My mom was the one passenger hospitalized with a gash on her head.

[@calebfogle6355]

This kinda reminds me of pilgrims plunge with the whole too scary looking for kids and too boring for adults

[@inazumabokyaku-shinigodsei61]

Yeah as a kid I was scared of the giant drop, but as I got older it was meh. Then someone died and it got shut down.

[@tinyshawn1991]

@@inazumabokyaku-shinigodsei61 Where was that at?

[@inazumabokyaku-shinigodsei61]

@@tinyshawn1991 Holiday World

[@QueenOfTheNuggets]

@@inazumabokyaku-shinigodsei61 are we talking about pilgrims plunge? Because I’ve looked into that and the only thing I can ever find is the one about that chick falling off the raven

[@hopecraft1895]

@@QueenOfTheNuggets I live super close and go every year. No one ever died on the pilgrims plunge but they closed it due to it having lots of issues and breaking down. My friends got stuck at the stop for like 30-40 min once.

[@MrCameronsterling]

Thanks to everyone that helped avoid a tragedy and loss of life during the ride, patrons as well as park ride operators

[@biglwutang84]

I didn't know I needed this channel in my life. This is so dope. Great work. Knowing what happened makes rides less scarey.

[@Green-us9kf]

I actually saw Shoot the Rapids fully functioning when I was younger, and I remember hearing about this accident on the news. My older siblings and friends went on that ride before the accident and I was too scared to. The "too intimidating for younger riders" thing was so accurate lol. Really glad nobody got hurt in the end though!

[@j0nrages]

Happy to hear no one died after watching 16 other horrific coaster disasters last night

[@CrazyDash9]

It’s such a shame Intamin coasters are so unreliable. They’ve created some of the most revolutionary coasters loved by people all around the world. Hopefully with velocicoaster being the first Intamin in the past few years in the US, we see improvement to the overall quality of their coasters

[@dustind4099]

I just now found your channel, and I am really enjoying it. I’m glad someone is doing this. The media does such a poor job reporting on these and it scares so many people. Yea it’s unfortunate that accidents happen but many factors happen that nobody knows. I’m an engineer myself and seeing someone take the time to explain the mechanical aspects of these large machines is awesome. Well done and keep it up.

[@elehcarykztorban0360]

I went to Cedar Fair almost every year for like 8 years during this time, I even went in 2012 and 2013 and i don’t even remember this ride!

[@tylermannor4290]

I don't blame you, it was awful.

[@katwilliams2950]

I saw the title of this video and I'd never heard of it either. All of the other problem coasters I absolutely love. SN:I'm very shocked intimidator is considered a flop. I love that ride

[@garygsp3]

After living in Ohio most of my life and going pretty much yearly. We moved away in 2010. Was back to visit the year Gatekeeper opened, and ride all the rides we could. Having grown up in the park I would have loved to have ridden a new one. I don't recall ever even seeing it. I don't know where they put it but it had to have been poorly placed back in what once was Frontier Town.

[@tylermannor4290]

@@garygsp3 It was placed in a really awkward location, you kinda had to look for it to find it. It was in between Millennium Force and Snake River Falls

[@tabby5228]

It was a little out of the way. Hidden by trees and plants and down a small incline in the back corner of the park in the frontier section.

[@VibeVixen02]

Not sure why a company that had consistent issues on regular coasters had the opportunity to create a water ride 😐

[@johnnyplays2843]

It wasn’t safety issues before. I think cedar point did a great job

[@draheim90]

I don’t do a lot of research on coasters but when you mentioned that Dragster has a ton of issues I was like “ah, yep.” Used to go to CP 1-2x a year and it seemed like it was routinely shut down for long periods (sometimes the whole day), would struggle to make it up the hill, and once waited in line for over an hour for it to be shut down for 45 min when I was next in line. Maverick and MF are great though and I don’t remember many issues with those.

[@eddiek6390]

Dragster will not open 2022 due to the piece of the ride flying off and injuring a guest in 2021. Dragster, Maverick's and MF's problems are all operational. They are costly to run and maintain, and the ride capacity that was promised on all three rides were not delivered. I think @ElToroRyan has a video on all three.

[@erikawilliams9558]

Millennium seems to be the most reliable of the 3 (it's down less often) but maverick is down a LOT and dragster is worse. Since it's closed all 2022, i wouldn't be surprised if they got rid of dragster

[@diablocell]

Yep. Been to cedar point several times and dragster had problems every time. I still rode the hell out of it though!

[@ryryherendeen]

I worked at Cedar point in spring/summer of 2013. I rode this with a friend the same week the accident happened. I probably would have thought I was going to die if I was on it that day at that time being under water. Very scary. Praise God that everyone on the ride was ok and no life was taken! 🙏🙌

[@SugarWater14]

I remember hearing about this when I went to Cedar Point as a kid. They’re very meticulous about safety.

[@DCupcake58]

And Top Thrill Dragster is shut down due to a recent accident where apparently a piece flew off and struck a waiting rider.

[@sausagelynx]

Who else is watching these cause they miss the days of roller coasters? Hope everyone is staying safe

[@mormerill]

I don't even like going on rollercoasters but I've been binge watching vids like this lately 🤷‍♂️

[@0.0-v2z9u]

I never expected dio to be here XD

[@g_way]

yoooo we jojo-ing 🤝

[@aaronswords404]

I highly recommend Florida! Parks are open. I visited Universal Orlando recently. Incredible Hulk coaster and Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure both really good.

[@mastercarrot4382]

I found this channel randomly in my recommended a few days ago, and I'm glad I did. I'm kinda jealous that everyone is like yeah, I've been to cedar point, these coasters are cool, yet the only theme park I've been to (countless times at least) is Alton towers because its only an hour or 2 away. been to like Drayton Manor and flamingo land, but that was over 5 years ago and I've only been there once. I miss Alton Towers now

[@maxclips3152]

I went on the intimidator and I passed out for a good 5 seconds I didn't believe people could see stars before then, but I loved it lol

[@maxclips3152]

Part of it is that it was the last ride my sister and I had gone on that day and part of it was it was HOT in the middle of summer and I was definetly dehydrated

[@mick3y2302]

the same thing happened to me on gatekeeper because it had so many loops lol! my family hadn't eaten lunch yet and it was hot as well when i went

[@fletchy40]

Still nothing compared to the horror incident at Dreamworld Australia Rapids in 2016

[@asmrbizz]

what happened??

[@floreamus]

@@asmrbizz 4 people died. basically ground up by the conveyors under when the raft flipped

[@RosieJonesRules]

People got crushed (yes, crushed) by gears of the ride mechanisms when a raft flipped and got stuck

[@sinkwaterrat]

Ngl it made me a bit scared of the River rapids ride at Disneyland’s California adventure

[@William-Morey-Baker]

@@sinkwaterrat i know people freak out about humans being bad at risk assessment and how we often fear the wrong things, but I totally understand your reaction... They might be safer than the car ride to the amusement park, but that doesn't really reduce my anxiety abouy the rides being poorly designed or inadequately maintained...

[@zander_cuzzo]

Finally! A new what really happened. I’ve been checking ur channel every day to see if it came out ever since I saw the preview. Stay safe Edit: wait did they actually use roller coaster tycoon 2 screams in the add lol

[@CoasterCollege]

2010 was wild man, lol.

[@vect0r858]

I think the ad and RCT both used the same cheap stock audio, not that one took it from the other.

[@ext93]

Can someone explain to me what intensity means? For example at 3:00 he says Intimidator 305 was too intense for some riders. What exactly was too intense about it? Were people getting hurt or what?

[@vjhow]

just a scary and shaky ride

[@andielynn5927]

The forces conducted the g forces I Reckon

[@blitzn00dle50]

Many riders found the excessive vertical G-force uncomfortable, and the first turn was also known to make people black out (temporarily lose consciousness due to blood being drained from the brain)

[@sk8razer]

​@@andielynn5927What?? _respectfully_

[@Coolsomeone234]

So RMC Shoot The Rapids 2022?

[@bedbuge_]

PFFFFT-

[@notmychairnotmyproblem]

This is absolutely my favorite video series of yours

[@badgerstatecoasters7725]

It's too bad this was the final straw for Cedar Fair's and Intamin's history. Hopefully they might work together again

[@rmc_fan]

Intamin’s new single rail hot racer model is speculated to bring back companies like sea world and cedar fair to hopefully work with them again. The hot racer, while extreme, is Intamin’s new generation coaster with several improvements and an lsm/lim launch making it already more reliable then the accelerator coasters.

[@badgerstatecoasters7725]

@@rmc_fan I hope a Cedar Fair park gets a Hot Racer soon. Also Go Irish

[@rmc_fan]

@@badgerstatecoasters7725 go Irish!

[@twistedgwazi5727]

@@rmc_fan SeaWorld never stopped working with Intamin? They just installed Pantheon at BGW which is a huge Intamin.

[@rmc_fan]

@@twistedgwazi5727 You’re right how on earth did I not even think of pantheon.

[@jasminmiranda4264]

These are my favorite videos to watch, I love all your content but the what really happened ones are my favorites, they help some of my friends not be afraid of coasters once they hear how the issue was fixed. Keep making amazing content! :)

[@manicplanet5223]

I didn’t ever ride shoot the rapids, but I live near cedar point and I ride most of the rides I even watched my brother ride it. This is just scary knowing my own brother rode it and this could’ve happened

[@rublie1426]

Thanks for this episode! I've been waiting for more of "What really happened?", but I guess thats its not possible to make more episodes if there are no accidents to discuss. Looking forward to the next detailed analysis!

[@Johnathan04]

I find it kind of ironic how this accident happened the same day as the accident on New Texas Giant. Especially since these accidents both severed ties between a manufacturer and an actual park/ cooperation (six flags with gerstlauer and cedar fair with Intamin.)

[@blueflare3848]

What happened to the other one?

[@Johnathan04]

@@blueflare3848 well the Texas giant has been the first coaster to receive the RMC conversion, but because it was the first; they didn’t have any trains of their own, so they had gerstlauer make the trains, well on July 19th 2013 a woman was thrown off the ride due to a malfunction in the lap bar. This started a whole case where six flags blamed gerstlauer’s trains and Gerstlauer blamed six flags for the incident.

[@AdamSmith-gs2dv]

This would have overshadowed Texas Giant if the people in the boat actually drowned. See the Dreamworld Rapids ride accident to see what can happen with boats that flip near a lift hill. Props to the employees and the guests who went to flip the boat and prevented disaster

[@Sailorsahoyart]

2:10 worst park decision for a ride damn near killed a woman earlier this week and so the ride is closed the rest of the season now

[@Karmy.]

I was wondering why STR was gone so quickly but didn't realize there was an accident on it

[@MsTinkerbelle87]

The commercials you always play are SO nostalgic!

[@elgbuggy44]

As a frequenter of Kings Dominion, the intimidator is one of my favorites! It’s not for the faint hearted, but i love it every time !

[@Mbull4935]

I was one of those that was massively intimidated by it, but then one day I saw it was the only one with an empty line and decided it was time... I got on it 7 times in a row. BEST COASTER EVER! The headache from blacking out so much wasn’t too fun tho. Lol

[@elgbuggy44]

@@Mbull4935 yeah I’ve experienced the blackout about twice from the gs but other than that I’m with you!! Still a great ride , hopefully this year we can ride it again!

[@Mbull4935]

Evelyn McGlone-Graves I was telling my fiancé about it. He hasn’t been on a coaster in decades. He’s terrified of heights. I told him about Kings Dominion and the amazing rides. Showed him POV vids of every roller coaster in the park. You can imagine my absolute shock and pain when I found out they took volcano down. I literally cried as I watched the final launch on video... I was getting him amped up to ride it only to find out it was no longer there. So while kings dominion is not what I remembered, I’m still going with the goal in mind of getting him to finally face his fears.

[@elgbuggy44]

@@Mbull4935 I know!! That was definitely heart breaking!! Although a GREAT addition was twisted timber’s! That replaced the hurler and thank goodness because I rode the hurler the last year it was open during the season before being closed the following two I think , and it gave me hella whiplash. My neck hurt so bad. But twisted timbers is AWESOME- it’s a hybrid coaster (if you haven’t ridden it yet) so it’s half wood and has steel tracks and inverts too! It has that awesome sensation when you get that falling feeling going over a hill while you’re driving - if that makes sense!

[@ext93]

So is blacking out what the guy in this video meant by intimidator being too intense?? I haven't been on a coaster in years but I remember blacking out/losing my vision on Millennium Force years ago

[@KFox210]

I worked on the ride that day. My shift ended about an hour before the boat flipped..but I always remembered how we had plans for anything happening

[@skyes7369]

“Hmmmm, all these rides have big mechanical dramas & cost a shitload to maintain” “Yeah, let’s buy more!” Who is running that circus?

[@FP194]

Don’t quit your day job

[@FanOfVacuums2]

I never got why they installed Shoot the Rapids when they already had a "Shoot-the-Chute" ride literally directly next to it. It was like a longer Snake River Falls with elements of Thunder Canyon.

[@CoasterCollege]

I know I would have just preferred an upgrade to Snake river falls or Thunder Canyon!

[@smartpanda12]

I would really like to see one of these What Really Happeneds on the Verrückt incident at Schlitterbahn Kansas City back in 2016. Especially since that accident revealed how unsafe the entirety of the park was, the fact that ride builders had no engineering qualifications, that the state let them inspect their own rides and so much other shit because that eventually led to the closure after the 2018 season. (It was standing non-operational but it was recently announced the park will be demolished for development of a new sports complex)

[@SageIsBetter13]

Cedar point is the only theme park I have ever been to. If you don’t want to worry about dying, this is where you gotta go. The employees are always so nice and they definitely know how to operate the roller coasters accurately.

[@plvt0n1vm]

fun fact: the year this ride was supposed to open, my parents surprised me with a week long vacation in ohio to visit cedar point. it was a dream of mine to go there, and i cried when they told me the morning we were leaving. this ride was supposed to be open when we were going, which was like the first or second week of june, but it didnt open the whole time we visited. honestly, i really didnt care for the water coaster hybrid, they tend to be quite boring, so it really wasnt much of a let down. kind of glad i never got to experience this monstrosity lmao this was just a really poor decision on cedar point's part....also got to ride mantis while it was still 'mantis' and a stand-up. all of this back in 2010. i really need to go back.

[@plvt0n1vm]

@Jonny B that sounds like what i would do the next time i go up there. when we went back in 2010, we stayed at a hotel like 20 minutes away from the park. we had platinum passes at the time because we would frequent carowinds, so we did have the preferred parking that whole week. but not having to travel to and from the park sounds more expensive but totally worth it becuase i love roller coasters, and i'd like to be as close to them as possible.

[@craigjensen6853]

A weeklong vacation to Ohio. Sounds like punishment to me. But yes, at least there's Cedar Point. Pretty much the only thing Ohio has going for it. That, and not being Indiana.

[@danstaifer2028]

This is the video I've been waiting for for a long time. I'm glad you produced it.

[@JPlum4090]

It was on the same day as the accident at six flags over Texas and on the same day black fish was realest

[@thisname1071]

Oh my gosh the Dragster. I remember me and my dad getting on that ride one day while on vacation and it was so scary it was awesome. When I went back a few years later I saw it closed down and I remember being disappointed cause I wanted to ride again

[@alanhyt79]

That would have been a nightmare being trapped in the seat while the boat was upside down in the water. Not a good day for the guests, except for their sheer joy of still being alive. Good job by the Ride Ops and Attendants for being aware of the situation, hitting e-stop (even though it didn't help), and eventually saving the guests. I worked at a Six Flags as a Ride Operator, and we were also well-educated on the importance of keeping your eye on the track and the trains. If that ride had been in some mom and pop park where safety isn't as absolutely vital to the staff, it would have ended tragically for those poor guests. That's why I can feel safe on any ride at a Six Flags and Cedar Point.

[@CoasterCollege]

You're right, this accident highlights the importance of good training!

[@kelli_with_an_I]

Idk why u can’t get enough of these videos.

[@Brosef.]

July 19, 2013 was a sad day for amusement park enthusiasts. The tragic accident on the New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas also occurred on this day.

[@blueflare3848]

What happened there?

[@Brosef.]

@@blueflare3848 a mother, her daughter & son-in-law were riding it and the mom fell out and died

[@blueflare3848]

@@Brosef. How did that happen? Did the restraint come loose somehow?

[@Brosef.]

@@blueflare3848 You can find KZbin videos about it that can explain it better than me, if I remember correctly it was something about her lap bar restraint only clicked one time instead of two or something like that, wasn’t fully locked in and the attendants told her she was good I think.

[@mgloven9533]

"Cedar Point is one of the safest parks on the planet" The maintenance crew once permitted operators to launch a pushbroom on Top Thrill Dragster because they wanted to see what would happen.

[@JakobeOG]

4:00 did they actually use Roller Coaster Tycoon to demo their coaster lol

[@vi0let831]

Lmaooooo

[@SirRebonack]

It looks like the beginning of a TomoNews rollercoaster accident video.

[@ash_aiden]

@@SirRebonack LMAOO

[@dilligaf1009]

I live near Sandusky. The top thrill ride is broken more than it is open it seems.

[@deedee33711]

Holy! I didn’t realize how much I missed “what really happened” until I saw this was posted! Im excited for another winter of excellent videos

[@SupermarketSweep777]

Don't forget Hersheypark is still rather sore at Intimin over Skyrush.

[@staringcorgi6475]

Screw the lapbars of that ride

[@SugaSwooga]

I was kinda young when this ride had opened, and I was kinda crybaby about rollercoasters, so I hadn't rode it. Never knew this happen lol. I haven't been to Cedar Point in years during the summer season, so I didn't even know it wasn't there anymore until now.

[@Machtyn]

The drop that's shown at 9:50 (and various other places) makes it a beautiful looking roller coaster. Very nice scenery.

[@calflanagan-fenton900]

Would love to see/hear your take on the accident on the River Rapids at Drayton Manor here in the UK.

[@Capybara1997-o1l]

Amazing response by both staff and guests.

[@missychelle33]

Every time you said Intimens I thought of cheese danish 😂😂

[@alexsnightmare]

I went to Cedar Point in June of 2013, so weird that this happened a mere month after I visited. And like you said, I totally remember Gatekeeper - it was one of mine and my dad's favorite rides - but I completely forgot about Shoot the Rapids

[@wattsup6267]

I love your videos and I can’t stop watching them! Maybe you can cover the coaster accident that happened at Knotts Berry Farm back in 2009 on the ride “Xcelerator”?

[@shawnspencer8766]

He can't really, the actual details of why it happened were never released

[@lbb2043]

I love this series, I got so excited when I saw that you posted this!!

[@S.E.C-R]

Is there a history of the Colossus at Magic Mountain in California that you know of? I haven’t been able to find one anywhere...

[@ThisCallumPerson]

the logflume at my local park once had a massive backlog of boats while i was at the park, one rider was too heavy and the rubber lift belts couldn't achieve any friction to pull him up.

[@derfvcderfvc7317]

Why would you put the bigger drop first. Wouldn't you want to build up to a grand finale.

[@mrednblack6]

U silly. All coasters have their biggest drop first. Lol

[@JJ-qd3mh]

@@mrednblack6 you clearly haven’t been on enough log fumes/hybrid coasters, the biggest drop is always at the end. For rollercoasters it’s different though

[@mrednblack6]

@@JJ-qd3mh i live at cp, and even watching vids of other parks, the biggest hill is always first. Im not much of a water rides person, but still

[@JJ-qd3mh]

@@mrednblack6 that’s very odd seeming I’ve been to a dozen of theme parks and been on atleast 15 different water rides/hybrid coasters and they’ve all had one or two small drops then the final big one. I was surprised about the design on this coaster when I first saw it

[@mrednblack6]

@@JJ-qd3mh I dont know if my last post went through, as I dont c it, but I want to say/add: ok, so show me a vid, nay, show me all the 1s u r talking about, and ill blev u.

[@jazzy2990]

When I was younger, Shoot the Rapids was one of my favorite rides at Cedar Point. It doesn't feel like it closed that long ago.

[@MudPuddIeOinks]

I had this thought while watching. How are roller coasters made? What are the facilities like and what kinds of procedures and tests are performed? I don’t know if you have a video about this but I’d love to see one. They’re so big so I wonder what kind of space they use to build and test!

[@lisalynnmarie2448]

One of the best parks I've ever been too! My mother went when she was young, her and our father took us there when we were older, and now my kids go. We have the park memorized lol

[@NubleMarie]

They dead ass used the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean like we wouldn’t notice 😂

[@jamief.8489]

No one is trying to deceive you only make money

[@JVR10893]

I still don’t agree with Cedar Fair ending their working relationship with Intamin. This is the manufacturer that brought the chain Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, Maverick, Volcano: The Blast Coaster, Intimidator 305, and Xcelerator, all rides that while not without problems, were among Cedar Fair’s most acclaimed coasters at this point. The three coasters in Cedar Point that I mentioned specifically have been great successes for the park. To stop working with a company from one incident is a bit harsh.

[@Northicex]

Unfortunatly this wasn't the only problem Intamin products had a Cedar Fair Park. Xcelerator suffered a cable break in 2009 that injured two riders and took it offline for a while. Intimidator 305 had to have its first banked turn reprofiled due to rider blackouts and the soured reputation with the GP caused the investment to be a full loss. Top Thrill is horribly expensive to run and maintain, their drop towers have gotten stuck at full or near full elevation for long periods of time sometimes attracting negative media attention. All of that combined with very notable flops at other parks like Pilgrim's Plunge at Holiday World and the general expense of maintain their existing fleet of Intamin products leaves them with little interest in adding to that collection. Think of this way, owning an Intamin is like owning an expensive high preformance car, it might be flashy and its likely the most popular car for the public to see but for you the owner it is a constant headach of expensive spare parts needed often, high running costs on insurance and fuel, and you know the only mechanic that can service the darned thing is upcharging you through the nose because the car is one screwup away from scrap metal.

[@JVR10893]

@@Northicex I knew about a lot of these and I definitely glossed over them when making my case, but I still think that they've had enough hits to grant them the good faith to work passed the misses.

[@diegoavventura9385]

Also Divertical (the clone of Speed at Energylandia) is a problematic coaster, it breaks down everyday and it’s completely normal to remain stuck on it. The craziest thing is that it can come te a stop at any point of the ride and not only in the mid brake. One time it got stuck during a curve and people got evacuated by firemen.

[@thesparklycrayons]

It feels like this was built way before 2010.. and lasted longer than 5 years. I’ve ridden all these rides at CP. Shoot the Rapids really was always empty

[@craigjensen6853]

There was another version that they tore down to build the Raptor in 1993. I think it dated back to the Blue Streak era. There was also another log flume called White Water Landing that opened in 1981 and was torn down to build the Maverick but it uses the old station. Michigan Adventure still has theirs, they have cheaper knockoffs of a lot of CP's rides.

[@thesparklycrayons]

@@craigjensen6853 maybe I’m thinking of White Water landing because I do remember when the Maverick was built. That’s one of my favorite rides they’ve built. I’m from Michigan but I’ve never been to Michigan’s adventure 😭

[@ellamarieeway3679]

Ngl, I used to have massive anxiety going up lift hills, but after your breakdown of how lift hills work, it's gone... Still barely trust intamin though

[@twistedgwazi5727]

You should absolutely trust Intamin. Their rides are all just unreliable, they are NOT unsafe.

[@chriskuneman3310]

Good video! As someone who has worked to maintain Intamin rides. I can tell you they are popular, but a pain to work on!

[@jimskywaker4345]

intamin makes what are basically the a10 warthog of coasters. the owners hate them due to matenence but they stay around due to popularity

[@Metaphysician2]

Eh, the AF doesn't hate the Warthog because maintenance, it isn't much worse than any other older plane. The AF hates the Warthog because they never wanted a CAS plane in the first place. They want to do glorious deep interdiction strikes and air superiority, they don't want to provide fire support for tanks. Only reason they kept the Warthog was because Congress threatened to give it to the Army if the AF didn't want it.

[@LizyBee]

Man, Cedar Point was the amusement park I went to growing up! I remember riding Shoot the Rapids with my dad and siblings, I had no idea this happened! I love watching your what really happened videos, they’re so interesting, keep it up!

[@adelaide7478]

Can we aknowledge all the guest who hoped in to help!

[@ckilbarger01]

Good points on Top Thrill Dragster. It's so tetchy that even the slightest bad weather stops it's operation and considering Cedar Point is right next to Lake Erie weather happens. The wind from the lake being a big one that keeps it closed more than open.

[@danawilliams1202]

You'd think with that many problems with that manufacturer, they'd quit using them...

[@patrickvolk7031]

I wish you would have mentioned that Cedar Point had a flume ride at least up until the 80's-90's, known as: Shoot the Rapids. It was awesome as a kid, because it was in Frontierland, and it always seemed to rain for like 20 minutes every time we went. We could ride Shoot the Rapids like 3 times in a row, no waiting. It really got you wet (unlike the log rides, it had boat-shaped cars). I kind of miss all the little things they had between the rides, like in Frontierland you could dip candles, and have like a leatherworker or something making things to buy. The arcade had a lot of machines too (not skee-ball).