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It's Coming!

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:12:07 +0100

A series of teaser trailers are being released to promote something rather special that we at Ride Guide are doing over the Winter.

Keep an eye on these and see if you can guess what it is all about on our Forum

Merlin to sue The London Bridge Experience...

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:05:55 +0100

A dispute which is probably going to last for quite sometime has broken out between "The London Dungeons" and "The London Bridge Experience". The owner of TLD, Merlin Entertainment's is accusing The London Bridge Experience of copying there concept and ideas thus causing consumers to become confused as to which one is which.

Sources:
BBC News
Haunted Attractions UK

You can follow and discuss this story on our forum here.

Thorpe Park Teaser

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:02:47 +0100

Thorpe park have released a new video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZOLSdKDJ2c

Discuss on our forum here!

Ride-Guide Competition

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 10:51:24 +0100

The Ride-Guide Treasure Hunt Competition.

The Ride-Guide have forgotten where we buried our teasured roller coaster and we need your help to find it. So, grab your metal detectors and solve the cryptic clues to make progress across Britain's theme parks until you finally reach the final puzzle.

The winner will be in for a sur-PRIZE!

The hunt will begin on Saturday 16th August, simply register to the forum and join in the fun.

I want to sail to the Ride-Guide desert island.

Rainbow Ride collapses at Liseberg

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:55:52 +0100

The Rainbow Ride, a Huss flat, has collapsed at Liseberg Theme Park in Gothemburg, Sweden.The ride was full at the time with 36 riders onboard.

18 riders were ferried to hospital by the attending twenty ambulances and a helicopter. Two riders were said to be in a serious, but stable condition and the remaining riders were treated for minor injuries according to police.

The 40 tonne ride, also known as a side-Flying Carpet, was installed at the park in 1983, is a spinning arm with a seating compartment on one end.

The cause of the accident is not known at this time, although it would appear that a coupling failed, causing the rides leveling support to be lost. A full investigation will start on Wednesday, according to the Park Duty Manager, Peter Andersson.

pictures from Swedish television

Source

Discuss this story on our forum

Four Injured in Danish Park

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:55:45 +0100

COPENHAGEN (AFP) � Four people were injured late Friday in a roller-coaster accident at the Tivoli fairground in Aarhus, eastern Denmark, a police spokesman said Saturday.

"Four people have been injured in an accident in Tivoli. They have been transported to the hospital where they are at the moment," Aarhus police spokesman Americ Chadha told AFP.

Asked about their condition, he replied: "I don't know if it's serious or not."

Fairground spokesman Henrik Olesen said the two young men and two young women, aged in their early 20s, "have been injured but not seriously. The exact circumstances are unclear at the moment."

The accident in Denmark's second city happened on a roller-coaster type ride called the Cobra, 400 metres (yards) long and 25 metres (80 feet) high, which reaches speeds of up to 70 kilometres (45 miles) an hour.

The first part of the train broke away from the rest and plunged to the ground, Olesen told AFP.

"There are some investigations and experts are working at the moment on the attraction," he said. "Cobra was designed by an Italian company. Cobra is a new attraction, it's its first season in Tivoli."

Story found by RG member loefet.

Source

Update - 8th July

A statement has been released from Ride Tek, The Ride Designers...

RIDE TEK Engineering, in order to avoid unpleasant misunderstandigs and/or misinterpretations about what happened in Denmark, preferes to specify the following notes:

1 - that we are deeply sorry for what happened to the people that suffered traumas which, thank God, have not been serious
2 - that, leaving out the accident's dynamics, mentioned from all the mass-media, its causes are still completely unknown and will remain so until the execution of material's assesments.
3 - that the piece broken for no obvious reason (considering the official informations, in fact, the piece has broken at the top of the lift without being subjected to any apparent effort) has been object, during the years, of "design review" from international certifications agencies, and is working from about 10 years on others similar attractions
4 - that Ride Tek Engineering is the attraction DESIGNER and not the manufacturer's one; so, who wants to obtain official informations or press releases, should refere to the manufacturer himself or to the Danish Park.

Source

Discuss this story on our Forum

Theme Park Plead Guilty

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:31:10 +0100

A theme park has admitted breaching health and safety laws over the death of a teenage visitor more than four years ago.

Hayley Williams, 16, from Pontypool, Torfaen, died when she fell 100ft from the £1.7m Hydro Ride at Oakwood in Pembrokeshire in April 2004.

Oakwood Leisure admitted a breach of the Health and Safety Act 1974 before magistrates at Haverfordwest.

The court adjourned the case to Swansea Crown Court for sentencing on 8 August.

The prosecution is being brought by the Health and Safety Executive.

Oakwood was charged with failing to ensure the safety of the water ride's passengers after the death in April 2004.

Lagoon

In May, at Haverfordwest Magistrates' Court, lawyers for the company pleaded not guilty to the charge.

In a brief hearing at the same court on Monday the company's legal representatives said it now admitted the single charge.

Sunday school teacher Ms Williams was taken for a treat to the theme park by her parents and had been staying at a nearby caravan park.

The court heard how she and her friends had been on a variety of rides but had left the Hydro ride until the end because they knew they would get wet.

But Ms Williams was thrown from the boat as it began its 50mph almost vertical descent into the lagoon below.

She was flown by helicopter to hospital but never regained consciousness.

A four-day jury inquest into her death at Haverfordwest two years ago recorded a neutral narrative verdict.

Ms Williams' parents spoke of their bitter disappointment at the time that the coroner had specifically ruled out unlawful killing as a verdict.

The Hydro ride was shut down for 11 months after the tragedy.

But it was reopened after new shoulder straps were built into the ride after recommendations from the Health and Safety Executive.
Source

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Boy Decapitated!

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:10:44 +0100

On Saturday 28th June at approximately 2pm a boy was decapitated when entering a restricted area at Six Flags Over Georgia. A Church group of boys had climbed over a fence in a restricted area within the parks well known ride, "Batman The Ride".

Reports say that the 17-yeard-old teenager and another member of the group had left the park for lunch and then re-entered the park through the parks perimeter fence and then into Batman’s restricted area. The boy had tried to grab rider’s feet on a passing train and was then struck by the train. The other group member was not injured, Police say.

You can discuss this story on our forum here!

Sources:
ThrillNetwork.com
Screamscape

Operationally Speaking!

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:00:40 +0100

We have a new section in our forum, "Operationally Speaking", which will be a companion to our "Ask The Experts" topic.

This forum will be interactive, requiring as much member input as possible in order to produce a definative guide to many of the day to day issues which have to be dealt with in order for a Park to operate.

So for an insight to real Park life, join in Here

Join in the Fun!

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:17:40 +0100

The Ride Guide is 1 year old on the 16th June, and we are planning a series of special forum events throughout June to mark the occasion. Whether it is competitions, fun topics and simple mayhem, this is the place to be. But remember, this Forum will disappear at the end of June! The Birthday Thread