I just happened to visit an amusement facility today just to look. It had been open to the public for a few months now. It had kiddie rides. I just happened by the bumper cars and looked in it was a quiet part of the day so nobody was at the ride at that moment. Now I know by its nature the bumper cars has a little more dirt then others. However this one was just filthy and I saw exposed wireing in one of the cars. I saw a car with what looked to be a bent frame. Now this place has only been around for a few months. I was like thats nice. Now this is an indoor ride so how it got that filthy is beyond me. I would not sit down if I was a guest and I have seen some grungy stuff before I cleaned it at the start of the season. I wondered if they gave a darn. What would you think would you care. I was appying there. I am still looking at PKI as well. I am not sure if they would care about being safe. That is the place I saw today.

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I would've been appalled at that. My question was were they operating it with people?

If they were, I would've reported it to the state.

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Everytime I ride a coaster, it valleys. I've never been on a stalled coaster or had one roll back (except Wicked Twister and what was Superman: Ultimate Escape, which does that by design).

Was this that dragon park thing in Dayton?

Nobody was at it then but I am sure it would run later. Oh yea there was a sign on one of the cars stating that car was out of order. Which I've seen before at other parks I thought of emailing the state inspector. I am not 100 percent sure its not down but there was no sign saying down at the entrance. I may go back at night and take another peak.

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PM me I'm not sure if I should say names here then decide.

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Could you please give the park name?

I won't say the name but if you have been there you will know it by this description. Its a family place for kiddies. It has a Mini Himalaya, A rocket ride you know along the lines of a hellicopter. Then the questionable bumper cars. There is a roller rink and games like skeeball those kind of things. They also have party space. It was weird cause the rest of the place was in good condition. The rides maybe they were used or used real hard. The place has only been there since fall. I had just heard of it and went for curiosity's sake. It is a chain too.

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What, like Boomers? [gags]

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Toasters toasters everywhere, but not a drop to drink...but if we were to take a sip it'd taste like indian ink.

I Never heard of Boomers is that in the UK? It sounds like its bad ha?

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Boomer's is in Florida.
http://coasterimage.com/pictures/boomers/index.htm

Boomers is also a chain like "Jeepers" and "Bonkers" (little indoor parks with a miller coaster and 2 or 3 rides...)

The dirt you saw everywhere is a carbon dust. Just about all bumper cars have the problem; the dust is created by the friction of the wheels and 'stingers'. They literally have to be cleaned daily.

lol, and I can tell you from experience that it isn't a fun thing to do. Those things get dirty as hell. Though cleaning coaster trains may actually be worse since there is greese on them, gotta use some elbow greese on them.

If you want to see unsafe rides, go to Camden Park in West Virginia. Two years back, I visited and nothing felt right. I later was talking to Jeff Hammersley (head of maintenance at Holiday World)...and he mentioned that Big Dipper was missing about 60% of the bolts that hold the track on the wood.

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I do realize the source of the dust cause I have operated bumper cars at two seperate parks. Its was just this was let go and was gross. The cars looked so worn for the park to have been open less then five months. In other words it was worse then it needed to be.

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When you say "exposed wiring", do you mean that you could actually see the wiring inside the plastic sheath? or you could just see the sheath (the red, white, black, etc...coloured plastic on the outside of wires)?

I think that a lot of people would appreciate it if you could tell us the name of the park, so that when people make their vacation plans, they can be aware of the possible need to skip this park.

FYI: For everyone...If you do see an unsafe ride like this, for sure e-mail the inspector for your region, but also make sure that you lodge a formal (ie: Written) complaint with the park about the condition of the ride, and make sure you get a photocopy. Most chain parks only look at the guest feedback, so make sure you get something down on paper.

dzmatt I guess you are right it was the plastic coating I could see. I just thought it was in a place where curiosity would get the better of some kid to mess with wireing. I am no electrician and will no doubt prove it here. The wireing was on the floor of the car out in the open attached to a box say 3 inches in diameter. I would think that it should be tucked up somewheres. I also stated earlier I was not 100% certain this ride was not down. I saw a sign on one car which did not mean much because I have seen three and four cars down at one time on a much larger ride at other parks. I just wondered since this bumper car ride was small and had maybe half a dozen cars to start with and two looking sad. Now I was thinking of putting an app in there. I wondered was this a sign of neglect since we are talking about being in business only about four months here. That is why I leaft the name out. I might go back in a week and take another look.

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Even if it was only the plastic coating, you're exactly right...curiosity could get the better of some kid, and they could start pulling. Or, the coating could fray and short out. Did you end up reporting it?

In all fairness I will go back and take another peek. It might be jumping the gun if say they were aware and working on the ride. I will go at the hour they say they get busy. It was an off part of the day I was there. I did not report it and would have felt wierd telling them since I had asked about jobs.

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Sandy, I don't think reporting a possible unsafe condition of a ride would hinder your chance of getting hired for a position. If anything, it would show that you care about guest safety.

I think this is made up because why would you just sit and watch that, and see people riding that are at risk and if i knew that you knew the ride was unsafe i would not give you the job for not reporting it. also if it is as bad as you say your job security is very low because i would not go somewhere the rides looked like crap so in your best intrest i would not put in that app.

^ Your post started out a bit rude. There was no one on or around this ride at the time of day I was there. I did not see anyone ride it. I did not go back yet. I was giving them the benefit of the doubt. They may know and will hopefully fix what is wrong. I am no inspecter. I just made comment because the facility was so new. I was surprised by how shabby the ride looked.

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Well I went back to follow up my application and too see if this ride was corrected. I am now going to ask a serious question. I need someone a member or guest who may be lurking who is a maintanence person, a ride super or even inspector hanging out on here. I have a question now. I want real advice not opinion stuff. I just thought it of interest when I first wrote. I am now wondering is it my business in the first place. Well here goes. I went back and walked around. The ride was running and had two cars in use at that moment. Now this is a bumper car ride but has no net on top or trolleys. It had a most unusual set up. I did not really notice the first time thru. I am not sure how the power source is run on this one. it was weird. On a side wall were positioned 6 battery chargers.at least it looked like to me. The cables were hanging there. One car was on the side with the cover off its motor. The operator had gone over to a car with a passenger and pulled off its cover. it looked to me he was trying to connect up one of the chargers to that car with passenger and all. I do not know what is the norm on a bumper car ride such as this. I thought hey weirder then the first time. I may be making a mountain out of a molehill here.

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