The Great Metal Detector Debate

[shiekra38]

I think the bigger issue here is the Rockit has, once again, caused campus-wide headaches for everyone...

 

[MillenniumDragons]

Maybe Universal should sue B&M and Maurer Shone for making those rides too twisty. Or, as OrlandoGuy stated, they could put bins for guests to place loose items before boarding the rides. It's easier to cross the station to place your iPhone 6 and authentic ninja star in a bin than to go through the hassle of metal detectors. Hopefully it's not permanent.

 

[craigt]

As if by design, an iPhone struck a guest from above this week. These are a necessary evil.

Would a metal detector even pick up an iPhone? Certainly it would be as good to useless against any phone which is all plastic.....unless the sensitivity is dialled up to max. But then its going to go off for every metal filling, belt buckle and piercing. Hmm don't see it being successful. Plus the action seems completely disproportionate to the risk.


The most dangerous thing I've seen on a UO Coaster actually was by the employees themselves.
Back in Spring 2013, queuing for Dragon Challenge, the line was very short maybe almost a walk on but I was waiting for the front row. Two queue attendance, obviously bored were throwing a partially filled coke bottle back and for to each other across the queues lines.......one eventually did a bad throw and the bottle landed on the head of a guest who happened to be walking through.

Quite shocking really, they even continued after said guest had departed.

 

[fryoj]

I doubt this is being done to help an existing lawsuit as it would have the opposite effect. Lawyers are always looking for changes companies make in reaction to a lawsuit. Its the same as admitting guilt in court. "Oh my client got hit and then you made these changes? So you admit that my client was only injured because you were negligent and didn't make these changes soon enough." Or some crap like that. I'd say it's more likely their insurance company, or whoever internally handles that if they are self insured, probably decided this was necessary, and they have to go through it until they come up with a better solution. Once it was put on paper internally, they were stuck having to do it.

 

[Mad Dog]

Bins AT the ride stations for storing personal belongings would go a longggg way in reducing liability and the need for extreme safety measures. People don't bring their pocket knives and cell phones on rides because they want them to fall out and hit people, they do it because the lockers are a hassle and (with cell phones) it's tough waiting in line with nothing to do. If Universal had bins at the exit of each roller coaster (think Busch Gardens/SeaWorld and Six Flags) then you solve this problem. It's how every other park does it and gets away with not having metal detectors at each ride entrance. I know this idea is tough to execute on Dragons and to some extent Rockit but it's better than the metal detector solution which is just embarassingly shoddy.

You make some good points. This would be a good compromise between having absolutely no safeguards and the over the top reaction of metal detectors on individual rides. Entrance metal detectors should be enough of a safeguard against most dangerous weapon like instruments. But keep in mind, you can have all the physical safeguards available, but it generally won't stop someone whose intent is to hurt people. Terrorists, escape plots in prisons, and the like are generally stopped by intelligence gathering and informers, not security measures. Security measures are vastly overrated as methods to stop events from happening. That said, this is a theme park, not the Pentagon or a prison or a police state. These everywhere metal detectors are of the same mindset that the harassing of park photographers was a couple of years ago. It's overkill by an overzealous internal park security apparatus. Orlando Guy's recommendations have so much more common sense and they aren't intrusive to the guests who make this all possible by spending their money. I'm generally a very pro Universal person, but definitely not on their handling of these issues and the water bottle travesty.

 

[maxairmike]

The BIG problem with station bins is that they absolutely kill efficiency. You can pretty much kiss Hulk's great hourly numbers goodbye if you put bins in the station, which is the only coaster where they would actually work. Rockit would have to go to a stationary station design for them to work, and they just won't work at Dragons with the separate load/unload stations.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

The BIG problem with station bins is that they absolutely kill efficiency. You can pretty much kiss Hulk's great hourly numbers goodbye if you put bins in the station, which is the only coaster where they would actually work. Rockit would have to go to a stationary station design for them to work, and they just won't work at Dragons with the separate load/unload stations.

I thought about that, but there has to be a compromise. TMs that collect the items, bins that rotate from one station to the next, etc. Yeah it would lower throughput a little bit but, quite honestly, so would having thousands of people walking through metal detectors.

 

[maxairmike]

The inefficiency is much worse at the station with bins as opposed to at the line entrance with metal detectors. You see something similar at Disney with the FP+ touch points. The FP+ entrance line looks ridiculous, but as soon as you're past the touch points there's barely anyone in front of you. An early inefficiency allows the opportunity for the crowd and crew to catch up. That same level of inefficiency at the station means it is completely lost, and there's no chance to catch up with it. Counts may go down with the metal detectors if the line doesn't catch up, but at least you're not slowing down the actual ride operation. That is the one, single, ever so slight silver lining to their use. They don't actually hold up the ride operation itself.

Also, you will never see TMs collect items as a standard procedure, only as a secondary measure to make sure nothing obvious is overlooked. It introduces a level of liability that is better avoided.

 

[martymcflyy85]

I don't think its that big of a deal, really. But I'm sure some wristband makers are salivating over the opportunity this presents.

 

[Teebin]

The inefficiency is much worse at the station with bins as opposed to at the line entrance with metal detectors. You see something similar at Disney with the FP+ touch points. The FP+ entrance line looks ridiculous, but as soon as you're past the touch points there's barely anyone in front of you. An early inefficiency allows the opportunity for the crowd and crew to catch up. That same level of inefficiency at the station means it is completely lost, and there's no chance to catch up with it. Counts may go down with the metal detectors if the line doesn't catch up, but at least you're not slowing down the actual ride operation. That is the one, single, ever so slight silver lining to their use. They don't actually hold up the ride operation itself.

Also, you will never see TMs collect items as a standard procedure, only as a secondary measure to make sure nothing obvious is overlooked. It introduces a level of liability that is better avoided.

I agree with this logic, your logic.

 

[maxairmike]

I agree with this logic, your logic.

Well, first hand experience and all that jazz. I don't think I know a single person that liked them or the effect they had on the operation from my time working with them. Of course, we hated the games folks almost as much (if not more) for offering inflated basketballs and handing them the 5ft. bananas and gorillas for prizes to start with.

 

[Lucky Planet]

In all honesty, I think they need more netting to stop this from happening before the metal detectors.

why dont they?

seriously ive always wondered... why dont they put more nets?

 

[Jon84]

This happened to me once and I had to borrow money off of someone waiting for their party at the ride entrance and then pay them back. It was a major hassle.

I had this, the attendant had to open our locker, went to pay him and he said don't worry about it.

The whole Metal Detector thing I am understanding the reasons why, if they are needed long term then I hope that they are installed in a way that streamlines the queuing/checking. I appreciate that it needs to be done for my safety.

For me also, while I do have travel insurance when I visit, getting any medical attention would be costly as I'd have to pay up then claim back later from the insurer. Adding also the over the top doctors my friends saw after they got rear ended on the I4, wanted them to have a MRI scan each (3 people) 'Just to be on the safe side', being medical professionals themselves they declined.

Anywho, I digress, anything that would stop me needing to deal with the health service on holiday is a bonus!

 

[Lucky Planet]

I don't think there is any good to spin out of this. Obviously the idea here is to make the coasters more safe, but I just don't see this really doing that much. There will still be people who slip through with loose objects that aren't metal that have just as much potential to become a harmful projectile.

To be honest, I would rather see them get rid of the coasters than implementing these metal detectors. Hulk and Dragon Challenge are excellent, and it would be especially sad to see the the Dragon Challenge queue go, but they are still just coasters that you can get an equivalent experience with on other coasters at any number of parks around the world. People still get the misconception big-time that these are coaster parks , so perhaps by getting rid of them and replacing them with attractions on the caliber of Spider-Man, Forbidden Journey, Escape from Gringott's, etc., that could help to hone Universal's image in the public eye as parks where you'll have completely immersive unique experiences in the worlds of popular movies.

i keep hearing people talk about plastic objects that might get passed

but honestly what could a guest bring in that was plastic and heavy and big enough to cause harm? i cant think of anything. specially if they already had to use a locker for everything else
an unopened soda bottle? hairbrush? a universal cup? a book? lol
anything that big would be seen, or wouldnt fit in a pocket, i just dont see it, i've never heard of sodas falling from coasters either (or anything like that)

 

[MrRoamer]

i keep hearing people talk about plastic objects that might get passed

but honestly what could a guest bring in that was plastic and heavy and big enough to cause harm? i cant think of anything. specially if they already had to use a locker for everything else
an unopened soda bottle? hairbrush? a universal cup? a book? lol
anything that big would be seen, or wouldnt fit in a pocket, i just dont see it, i've never heard of sodas falling from coasters either (or anything like that)

I was specifically referring to things that could cause problems for the Dragons Dueling again. Pocket change for instance *may* cause a significant issue for that ride in particular.

Other items that could cause problems in general could include cell phones, ceramic objects (knives), souvenir cups, etc.

 

[kimlovesfl]

I don't think you all have any idea how far a ride like Rockit can fling an item out of someone's pocket. I have always wanted to check the tops of the buildings around that ride just to see how many cell phones, hats, etc, are up there.

 

[kingcooger]

I understand the need for the lockers, I really do, and if I could get away with not carrying anything in my pockets at all, I absolutely would. As is, my wife is type one diabetic so we have to bring insulin. The lockers at the front of the park are not convenient as leaving her insulin in them would require us to walk to them before we eat and then walk back to them after she is done. Also, if she needs to check her number while in park that would require another detour. I want there to be a more convenient way to handle all of this, but beyond providing free lockers I cannot see the solution. I realize that the lockers are free for a certain period of time, but if the ride breaks down (like happened to me) you find yourself in trouble. I am not really sure what the solution is to this problem.

 

[MrRoamer]

If the ride breaks down they either adjust the duration of the free locker or you can tell one of the locker attendants and they will open it at no charge. I've had this happen several times and have never once paid for a locker in the roughly thousand times I have used them.

 

[maxairmike]

I don't think you all have any idea how far a ride like Rockit can fling an item out of someone's pocket. I have always wanted to check the tops of the buildings around that ride just to see how many cell phones, hats, etc, are up there.

Considering I watched a cell phone fly into the Magnum station (where I was) from someone on Top Thrill Dragster as it was going up and through that 90* twist, I'm very aware of how far objects can fly from rides.

And yes, before you ask, it did come from Dragster, because it came in really fast, and was on a slight downward trajectory. It actually happens more than you'd expect.

EDIT: I think my favorite incident, though, happened on maXair. Someone wearing loose skate style shoes (think Vans) lost one on an upswing towards Wicked Twister. The shoe continued in almost a perfect parabolic arc and came down inside Troika's ride area (it was stopped for load/unload at the time). Hilarious to watch, and then to watch the person get off missing a shoe and awkwardly go over to Troika to get his missing shoe.

 

[Dodgernole05]

It sucks that the dragon re ride exit is closed. Thats the way I ride for the first time anyway as its a shorter walk to the castle instead of the regular way. I thought I could get around it