Ice Breaker (SWO)

[Tbad556]

Something must have happened with a guest between 42 and 54 inches.

That would be my guess as well. Nothing speeds up a safety change like an incident. The Dr. Doom restraint change several years back comes to mind. Wouldn't shock me if the comfort collars were to blame here.

 

[Alicia]

Look at the kid near the back from this video, and he’s not the only one. Their faces were behind the comfort collar, not above it.

 

[Tobias]

Look at the kid near the back from this video, and he’s not the only one. Their faces were behind the comfort collar, not above it.

View attachment 15920

That screenshot really paints a clearer picture on what could be the issue, I also saw a couple tweets here and there mention they saw kids' heads getting smacked around by them.

There's quite an irony here with an extra (and completely superficial) restraint being the reason for why a ride can't have a lower height requirement.

 

[Alicia]

 

[UniversalRBLX]

You would think that during the testing phase (once approved by legal/manufacturer) they would put a child on the ride to check whether or not its actually "family-friendly/safe" before marketing it as such.

You'd also have to wonder the thought process behind justifying that its safe for Ice Breaker to lower the requirement to be less than what the other Premier attractions with the exact same restraint require.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

You would think that during the testing phase (once approved by legal/manufacturer) they would put a child on the ride to check whether or not its actually "family-friendly/safe" before marketing it as such.

You'd also have to wonder the thought process behind justifying that its safe for Ice Breaker to lower the requirement to be less than what the other Premier attractions with the exact same restraint require.

It reminds me of Volcano Bay, ProSlide sold a bill of goods that didn't pan out. Premier was probably like "sure the restraints work for kids at 48 inches" and SeaWorld trusted them. Doesn't excuse the fact they didn't do some testing the two years it was SBNO.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

It reminds me of Volcano Bay, ProSlide sold a bill of goods that didn't pan out. Premier was probably like "sure the restraints work for kids at 48 inches" and SeaWorld trusted them. Doesn't excuse the fact they didn't do some testing the two years it was SBNO.

If this finished construction a few week ago and then they discovered the issue, sure it happens. But after sitting for 2 years WITH the trains, its inexcusable.

Heck, they already had skyrocket trains in Tampa they could have tested height with. (Probably not get the kids to actually ride Tigris, but at least figure out if they felt comfortable.)

 

[shiekra38]

Poll: Are Premier's SkyRocketII vehicles the worst coaster vehicles to get in and out of in the theme park industry?

A) Yes
B) See A

But seriously, I'm not sure of how differently shaped the people in Baltimore is, or what's going on in that state, but I feel like I need a good 5 minutes to get in and out of these vehicles

Granted, most of that time is spent trying to unbuckle the comfort collars

 

[SkiBum]

Poll: Are Premier's SkyRocketII vehicles the worst coaster vehicles to get in and out of in the theme park industry?

A) Yes
B) See A

But seriously, I'm not sure of how differently shaped the people in Baltimore is, or what's going on in that state, but I feel like I need a good 5 minutes to get in and out of these vehicles

Granted, most of that time is spent trying to unbuckle the comfort collars

While acknowledging that I'm not exactly graceful, Velocicoaster was awkward to get into. I felt like I had to contort a little to get to my seat (opposite side) and I am not exceedingly tall (182.88 CM just to have fun with people who have to google this). However, I will happily state that Premier coasters are notoriously bad for the restraints being uncomfortable. Flight of Fear had the infamous earkilling OTSR's for years. Even now, the step down into the coaster is massive while trying not to tear an ACL. I have to step on the seat for a comfortable transition.

 

[shiekra38]

While acknowledging that I'm not exactly graceful, Velocicoaster was awkward to get into. I felt like I had to contort a little to get to my seat (opposite side) and I am not exceedingly tall (182.88 CM just to have fun with people who have to google this). However, I will happily state that Premier coasters are notoriously bad for the restraints being uncomfortable. Flight of Fear had the infamous earkilling OTSR's for years. Even now, the step down into the coaster is massive while trying not to tear an ACL. I have to step on the seat for a comfortable transition.

Which is weird because Mummy is rather simple to get into

And then...the SkyRockets came

 

[Freak]

So I gather that the issue with the height requirement jump was the kids being too short for the comfort collar?

I understand there's a lot of red tape and procedures here, but it's almost as if the "comfort collars" are literally useless safety theater that are causing more doing more bad than good.

 

[GAcoaster]

This explains the height change-- the injury happened in passholder previews:

12-year-old boy hurt on new SeaWorld roller coaster, report shows

A 12-year-old boy was injured on Ice Breaker, SeaWorld’s newest roller coaster, during passholder previews before the ride’s official opening in February, an injury report released by t…

www.orlandosentinel.com

 

[LikeMike]

Is this still 54” height requirement? If so, do we expect that ever to revert back to 48”?

 

[SailwiththeTide]

Is this still 54” height requirement? If so, do we expect that ever to revert back to 48”?

Most the premier rides seem like the are all 54"

 

[GAcoaster]

Unless they get a new train design, no.

 

[anihilnation]

Finally did this yesterday, rather meh. I was in row 3, so close to the front which did not help, last row I could see being better. It's ok as a filler ride. Also, yeah, getting in and out of this ride ... and I am very skinny and I found it awkward.

 

[shiekra38]

Finally did this yesterday, rather meh. I was in row 3, so close to the front which did not help, last row I could see being better. It's ok as a filler ride. Also, yeah, getting in and out of this ride ... and I am very skinny and I found it awkward.

The SkyRocket trains are legitimately the worst designed from a load/unload perspective

 

[Speed]

Finally did this yesterday, rather meh. I was in row 3, so close to the front which did not help, last row I could see being better. It's ok as a filler ride. Also, yeah, getting in and out of this ride ... and I am very skinny and I found it awkward.

My thoughts exactly after riding last Sunday, didn't help that they were only running 1 train on a weekend but I really shouldn't have expected both

 

[Magic-Man]

 

[Tobias]

So, a quick rundown of what's going on with Ice Breaker!

- As mentioned before, the original idea was for IB to have a 48" height requirement (This is what SW wanted), and Premier modified the trains/shin guards to secure smaller riders.

- Passholder previews arrive, and those modifications weren't enough because kids got tossed around more than expected and got smacked by those ever-pointless comfort collars, resulting in minor injuries and the height requirement getting raised to 54".

- Since then, Premier has been working with SW for a solution. What's been settled on is a seat belt along with the regular lap bar, and removing the comfort collars to avoid any more smacking around by them.

- With the solution in place, the height requirement is now permanently 48".

Finally, this has a rippling effect. Comfort Collars are now no longer mandatory on Premier Trains as the secondary restraint. Parks are now able to opt for a seatbelt instead, and because of that, SFMM is now getting a third train for Full Throttle since they didn't want to when Premier was having CC's mandatory for any new train.

So the main takeaway of all this, Comfort Collars sucked. Always have, always will. Now parks have the option of getting rid of them completely, so good riddance.