Found this a few minutes ago: A post on the Knott's Network fansite Facebook page shows what appears to be a new evacuation system:

What do you guys think? Does this look like it will work?

Maybe. Will it be faster than the other method? Who knows...

I'm confused on how exactly that would work for evacuation. I guess we will be seeing this on all the WindSeekers. Maybe, once again, ours will not be open at the beginning of the season.

I'm concerned about how they will evacuate. It looks like they will be removing people from their seat 300' above the ground into an evac vehicle most probably hastily assembled on site.

Maybe we should look into the rides we buy better.

Buying a new ride?

Just say - Show me the ridefax

I'm concerned about how they will evacuate. It looks like they will be removing people from their seat 300' above the ground into an evac vehicle most probably hastily assembled on site.

yea that worries me as well. Unless we have people who are actively trained on extreme hight evacuation.....

Maybe just a maintence level? yeah no idea...

I'm concerned about how they will evacuate. It looks like they will be removing people from their seat 300' above the ground into an evac vehicle most probably hastily assembled on site.

I think it raises under the seats so they're in the "cage".

I'm a little bit confused by that evacuation system.....Will it be on the ride permenantly or just assembled onto the ride when needed?

According to Screamscape, only when needed. All of the parks with WindSeekers will have these.

Source

I'm not a huge fan of this evac platform. I wonder how long it'll take to assemble and make each trip up and down.

Thinking of my restraint coming off and slipping into this evac platform 300 feet in the air doesn't sit well with me.

How are the restraints going to unlock when the gondola is not in loading/unloading position? Will people, stunned to see they are stuck 300' in the air, willingly leave their seat unrestrained?

I would imagine that there would be some sort of harness involved.

How are the restraints going to unlock when the gondola is not in loading/unloading position? Will people, stunned to see they are stuck 300' in the air, willingly leave their seat unrestrained?

Every ride, has a manual release for restraints.

I would imagine that there would be some sort of harness involved.

I would think so as well.

Anynone else experiencing the tingling sensation associated with heights from reading this thread?

I can't wait until the park opens!!

I'm concerned about how they will evacuate. It looks like they will be removing people from their seat 300' above the ground into an evac vehicle most probably hastily assembled on site.

I think it raises under the seats so they're in the "cage".

I believe you're right- it seems as if they'll be surrounded by the cage when they release their harness.

I have never been on this ride, and after seeing the two by two evac system, I think I'll keep onto my record.

I'm not a huge fan of this evac platform. I wonder how long it'll take to assemble and make each trip up and down.

Thinking of my restraint coming off and slipping into this evac platform 300 feet in the air doesn't sit well with me.

Would have to be faster than the current evac system...that said, if that is the best that they can come up with to help with the problem, it shows a total lack of planning from the ride manufacturer from the beginning.

I predict a very, very short lifecycle for these prototypes. Perhaps building one to start with would have been a better idea.

Shame, really.

My question is where will it be stored?

Possibly Action theater

My question is where will it be stored?

Maybe in the area between the tower and the seats?

Stupid, stupid, stupid. I dont under stand why they just can't use the motors to raise or lower it. Something that even a manufactor to thrill rides should have planned for. I really hope the parks aren't paying for this.

My question is where will it be stored?

Maybe in the area between the tower and the seats?

If people saw that cage before riding, I think more than a few would choose to stay off.

No way this does not seem that awesome . The rides on the other hand need to be fixed by the manufacture. Just me or does it seem, Cedar Fair goes after rides that are not established, to that degree, this evac is crazy scary quick assembly.

Some of you guys are acting like the new Evac, system was just made using old stuff they had laying around. I'm sure it's perfectly safe. The only thing I'm wondering about is, if this evacuation system runs on the gondola's "track", then how will it be able to move up and down, but the gondola won't. Wouldn't it be running on the same cables/ power system?

I was wondering the same thing. I assume it has it own drive/power source.

My concern is the whole process seems half @$$ed. It seems odd to picture them getting that thing out, assembling it, and sending it up and down the tower while riders are stranded. Then there's questions of how long do they wait until they decide to get it out?

I'm concerned about how they will evacuate. It looks like they will be removing people from their seat 300' above the ground into an evac vehicle most probably hastily assembled on site.

I think it raises under the seats so they're in the "cage".

Indeed:

It also looks to have some kind of drive system on it:

This is from the Knott's Network FB page. This quote most probably explains how the evacuation vehicle will move up and down the tower.

From what it looks like and watching them for a few weeks is it looks like they added a bypass lift that will allow the, to bring the ride down when there's a problem. Now I don't know but I see new stuff on the top and they added extra cables and different pulleys.

I also found this Youtube video of maintenance raising, lowering, and "bouncing" the vehicle.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. I dont under stand why they just can't use the motors to raise or lower it.

Ummm... What if the motor is the problem with the ride? Or there's a prolonged power outage? Or something is wrong with one of the cables? Using the motor to raise & lower the gondola wouldn't be a possibility in those scenarios.

Or maybe I'm confused as to what you meant...

I had heard at one point that there was a crane that would assist in evacuating riders if they had been stranded like they would have been at Knott's Berry Farm. Along with that, I see in my mind the pictures of the evacuation from the Sky Ride at KI and see that type of "rescue." However, I had heard that the crane that was to be used to evacuate was located near Akron! About a 3-3.5 hr drive to get it to KI before it could be used to evacuate. Whether or not that all is true, is a different story. But I believe this is the worst case scenario now for evacuation of the riders.

I had a friend say that it seemed like the parks are just accepting this, this backup system to evacuate riders.I replied with the following:

It's perceived that they're accepting this. What we don't see is what's going on between Cedar Fair and Mondial. Cedar Fair may be disputing the contracts. Cedar Fair may be telling Mondial, you fix the issues we'veencountered, you provide a way for the riders to be evacuated if need be
or we sue. Or something like that.

I do find it funny that many are going off and saying Mondial is idiotic for this system and what not. But again, we've only seen this little tid bit of information. What no one has shared here is a photo from Knott's Network showing a motor that was going to be installed. What could that be for? It could be for this system and it could also be for a backup motor to bring the gondola's down. What we've seen is on the outside of the towers, we're not seeing what changes they've made (if any) on the inside.

I believe with the ultimate shut down of the rides this past season, sent a strong message to both Mondial and the consumers. To Mondial - we need this fixed or we won't operate your ride, it'll be perceived as Mondial rides aren't reliable throughout the industry if they're having these problems that need fixed, and until these problems are fixed the rides will remain closed. To the consumers - we will not open this ride until we know it is absolutely safe and if a problem should arise, we can evacuate you safely.

I was wondering the same thing. I assume it has it own drive/power source.

My concern is the whole process seems half @$$ed. It seems odd to picture them getting that thing out, assembling it, and sending it up and down the tower while riders are stranded. Then there's questions of how long do they wait until they decide to get it out?

From pictures that Knott's Network has posted, I'm assuming that it will have it's own drive/power source. I'm pretty sure they have to determine that there is absolutely no way for the Gondola to come down with the riders on it in a safe and quick fashion. I'd assume that the maintenance workers would have to run a diagnostic test on the ride's computer system to see if they can override the e-stop. If not, they'd have to determine if they can manually lower the gondola. If not, then they'd bring this system out.

^ That contraption they built must have some kind of power source too unless its running on batteries. IDK just doesn't seem like a good way to get riders down to me. I would like some kind of battery operated winch of some sorts could be used to lower all riders down at once.

This whole thing seems overcomplicated and over-engineered. What about this ride makes it so much more problematic compared to its Funtime counterparts?