Tell Us: Would You Ride Dorney Park's Stinger?
Would you feel safe on Dorney Park's Stinger roller coaster knowing riders have now gotten stuck on it twice?
Riders were stuck 138 feet off the ground for 90 minutes Wednesday on Dorney Park's new Stinger coaster.
A rescue was averted when the park got the coaster moving again.
The Stinger, an inverted coaster that flips riders six times, is new to Dorney Park this season.
Dorney got the ride from Great America Park in California, where 24 riders got stuck on the ride (then known as Invertigo) for hours in 2009 because of a mechanical failure, according to a published report. No one was injured.
Would you feel safe riding the Stinger? Vote in our poll and tell us in the comment section below.
No one was injured in Wednesday's incident at Dorney, but medical personnel were called to evaluate the riders as a precaution.
The coaster got stuck "on the lift tail" (as riders were being lifted up the track, about 138 feet high), not during any flips or turns, said Dorney spokeswoman Carrie Basta.
She said everyone was able to get off the coaster when the park got it moving again and the ride was returned to the station.
The cause of the malfunction is being investigated. But Basta said what happened was "not even in the same ballpark" as what had happened at Great America park.
"These coasters are machines," she said, "and just like your car, an unexpected thing is going to happen once in awhile."
On the Stinger, riders sit face-to-face as they go along 1,014 feet of overhead track, forward and backward, at speeds up to 55 mph.
When the new ride was first announced for Dorney, park officials said it had undergone an overhaul, including ungraded control systems and newly installed mechanical and drive systems.
Scott Snyder
7:32 am on Friday, June 8, 2012
Sure, I'll go on it. No one was hurt. The safety mechanisms performed as they were supposed to. It's too bad that it took them an hour and a half to get down, but they got a good story out of it.
Ben Miller
11:21 am on Friday, June 8, 2012
How about 5 hours in 98 degree heat, 80 feet in the air? That's what happened at its last home, Great America, when it was known as Invertigo.
Brian
8:33 am on Friday, June 8, 2012
If you research this ride, it was purchased from Dorney Park's parent company Cedar Point. They had dismantled the ride and placed it in storage because it constantly broke down and people got stuck. It's not a surprise that this is happening, it always has. I will avoid this ride the next time I go to Dorney
Ann Wlazelek
9:00 am on Friday, June 8, 2012
Thanks for bringing us this information. Dorney's spokesperson was quoted saying this was the first time this happened (in SWT perhaps?). Not exactly the whole truth.
Tim Killimaji
11:07 am on Friday, June 8, 2012
90 minutes is a lifetime when you are stuck 13 stories in the air, 138 feet!!! What would have happened if a thunderstorm had rolled into the area, 90 minutes is unacceptable for a multi-million dollar operation and for that alone Dorney park should be ashamed, was the local fire departments even called? Cetronia has that aerial fire truck....
DG7144
5:53 pm on Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Yes, all the appropriate authorities were called, including law enforcement and EMS. We had a cherry picker on stand by if we reached a certain time threshold. These things happen, and the Dorney staff was absolutely brilliant in not only acting on the issue but compensating for it as well. Don't judge if you weren't there.
Ben Miller
6:22 pm on Tuesday, June 12, 2012
DG7144, I'm starting to think you work for Dorney and were not a rider. How else can you explain the fact that you keep defending the ride and the park that built it, after it was shut down two years in a row at its previous home for safety violations? How can you defend the park who's last two "NEW" roller coasters were actually rides that experienced serious malfunctions at their past park and moved to Dorney because of the bad press? Most people don't know about the crash that destroyed most of the cars and mechanics of what is now Possessed, back when it was called Steel Venom at Geauga Lake.
It happened during a morning warm-up run, thank God, and nobody was killed. As the cars shot out of the station, one of the LIMs (magnetic motors that push the cars) moved out of alignment and when they came back down, they hit it at 70 mph caused a horrific crash. I've seen pictures of the aftermath and the ride was a tangled mess.
Rather then get rid of a roller coaster that crashed, they repainted it and moved it to Dorney Park, just like they did with Stinger. Stinger has been opened a month and gotten stuck four times, exactly what happened in California at its last home, ever since it was first installed in 1998. That's why it was closed most of 2008 and 2009. Obviously there is a problem with it, but too much money has been spent to paint, move and promote it, so they will keep it open.
Ben Miller
11:20 am on Friday, June 8, 2012
What happened at Dorney has happened to that ride MANY times before. The media was told about the 2009 event, where the firefighters had to rescue people after 5 hours stuck up to 80 ft in the air, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. When it was known at Invertigo at Great America, it broke down within the first year. It trapped riders for the first time requiring rescue in 2000 and many more times after that. It was actually shut down in 2008 due to the continual breakdowns and then reopened in 2009 THEN, it broke down again at the beginning of the season and trapped people, but kept open. In August of that year, it trapped people for up to 5 hours in 98 degree heat, 80 ft up
My point is that this ride has broken down many times and needs to be removed. Dorney promised the media it had been “upgraded” so this would not happen when it was moved and it’s not been open a full month before it gets stuck the first time. The fact is, the track itself is flawed and there is no way to upgrade that. At the very least, Dorney should have built an escape platform and ladder or elevator like everyone else who is still running one of these notorious Invertigo-styled roller coasters.
Ben Miller
11:21 am on Friday, June 8, 2012
2000- http://coasterbuzz.com/Forums/Topic/invertigo-gets-stuck-at-pga
2008- http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=629024
2009 (June and August)- http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Two-People-Injured-In-Amusement-Park-Accident-In-Buena-Park/752425
There are many more, just look them up. Only four of this style ride was made and all four of them have had the same problem, which is why the design was changed. Two of them are still operating. One of them trapped people for 40 minutes, until the brake unexpectedly released and sent them careening into the station, ripping open the hydraulics and shooting hot hydraulic fluid in people’s faces. 10 went to the hospital.
Mrs. B
11:56 am on Friday, June 8, 2012
This is some scary stuff..... I am a thrill seeker, so is my hubby and my 9 yr old who this year is finally able to ride the coasters at my husband's company picnic at Dorney in September and we all have been looking forward to this ride. I can't imagine the look he will have when I tell him "no" this year.... we encourage our kids to ride the coasters and conquer things they once were afraid of, of course with the right safety in place, and I dont wanna scare him by telling him it could be unsafe..... the other coasters have gotten stuck as well, but not like this. I was stuck on steel force for about 15 minutes on the lift, they almost evacuated us, but then it started up. And ROLLER COASTERS CAN ONLY GET STUCK ON THE LIFTS, they use momentum for the remainder of the rides (with the exception of the lifts) so there is never any reason to be afraid of getting stuck upside down. :-) just to ease the minds of other thrill seekers that may now be not so sure of coasters anymore.....
Dave
9:26 pm on Saturday, June 9, 2012
Not sure where Ben gets his information about only 2 are still operating, but there are 3 operating in THIS are alone (Hershey Park's Sidewinder, Wildwood's Sea Serpent, along with the Stinger). People were stuck on the Sea Serpent when I was a kid and I still went on it again. No one was hurt, safety devices functioned properly. To everyone who doesn't want to ride it again due to this issue, I suspect you also walk everywhere because cars and planes have problems sometimes.
Ben Miller
10:11 pm on Saturday, June 9, 2012
With respect, Dave, you're wrong. There are multiple BOOMERANG roller coasters, but the Invertigo style was a tweak of that design, dubbed an INVERTED BOOMERANG, created by Vekoma. Only four were built-
1.Two Face: The Flip Side at Six Flags America (gone after a serious accident)
2. HangOver at Liseberg (been moved three times and is currently closes)
3. Invertigo at King's Island (still operating)
4. Invertigo at California's Great America (now known as the Stinger at Dorney)
DG7144
5:48 pm on Tuesday, June 12, 2012
The news has made this whole thing into a calamity. I was one of the riders stuck on June 6th, and quite frankly, looking back the whole ordeal was a positive experience. The whole time we were singing (my friends and I are in a chorus group), and we got the kids behinds and some of the attendants to join in. They had a staff member positioned on the rails at each car to address the health, physical and mental of all the riders. Water was passed up for those who needed it. Honestly, the whole thing felt like no more than 15 minutes. The rider functioned properly, the system identified it, and acted appropriately to make we, the riders, were safe. Quite frankly, the next time I go, I'm going to go on it again. There's a risk in every step you take, don't waste your whole life fearing it. Oh, also, we got comp tickets ;).
Ben Miller
6:04 pm on Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Imagine if you had been up there for 5 hours... in 98 degree heat. The last set of people stuck up there were. The problem is not this specific malfunction and yes, it was a malfunction. The problem is that this ride has been trapping people since it was first installed in 1998, due to a design flaw. Vekoma threw away millions of dollars in contracts when they stopped making these and moved on to a new design.
Jeffrey Cheitowskyj
6:51 pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2012
So i went this past sunday, and got stuck on it for about 20 minutes... I will not ride this again...