Ok I know the coaster isn't sinking, so everyone can go ahead and make a sigh of relief. Thats not what this is about.

Ok I'm not sure when it was but I went to KI once each in '99, 2000, and 2003 and I swear I remember one of those visits that The Vortex had lap bar restraints similar to FoF's instead of the OTS's. Next visit I remember it was back to the OTSR. I dunno maybe I'm crazy, but did they switch one year?

Nope. It has the same restraints it has always had, except for the little belt being added at the bottom. See this 1987 picture from Roller Coaster Database:

http://www.rcdb.com/ig71.htm?picture=7

I wish Vortex had lap bars.

You might really enjoy Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood, which proves it could be done...but then again that coaster doesn't have loops. As for looping non-OTSR coasters, see the many exemplars under Mr. Anton Schwarzkopf, from Mindbender at Six Flags over Georgia, to Shockwave at Six Flags Over Texas to Sooperdooperlooper at Hersheypark, to even Greezed Lightnin' at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom to mention just a few.

Well Flight of Fear doesn't have OTSR's. If I recall it was change to reduce the "headbanging"

And Paramount Parks was the one to request that change...which the Six Flags coasters of similar nature also later got....especially the most violent of all that type of coaster...Batman and Robin: The Chiller at Great Adventure...which, unfortunately, has since been removed.

FoF was alot rougher with the OTSR restraints. I think its overall a lot less painful with the new restraints. However I don't find The Vortex bad with the OLSR's. I know a lot of people do, but I really don't

Vortex's OTSR's kill me. Mostly hurt my back by pushing down on my shoulders a lot. I also don't have any leg room so I bang my knees up really bad. Next time I ride I am going to try the front seat, hopefully that will have more leg room. So far every time I've ridden it I've gotten bruises on my shoulders and knees.

The front seats of each car have much more leg room. Most of the people I know no longer ride the back seats. I haven't in many, many years...