Universal Enforcing Hulk Rules

[Frogki]

The only reason I wear my glasses on the coasters is because my eye sight is so bad that I really can't see anything when I ride. And as fun as it is to go fast, I don't get terribly thrilled when I don't see more than a few inches in front of my face. Don't get me wrong, I still see stuff but it's all very blurry, more so than it would be with my glasses. I just make sure they stay on tight, it's never been a massive concern but I've never ridden without pushing them back on my face...

 

[MrRoamer]

I generally didn't wear my sunglasses on coasters until just recently. Without them Rock It blinds me with the lift hill most the time and when it is cold Hulk's fog really irritates my contacts pretty bad.

 

[AK-Jake]

My glasses stay on my face for rides, but I like to put them in a hard case inside my zippered short pockets just to be safe. Lance at Screamscape recently commented on the "Hulk Pocket Brigade" enforcing the new rules a few days ago. If they don't get this under control, I see this blowing up in Universal's face. I would be absolutely LIVID at being told by pissy employees that I have to put my stuff in a locker when I have zippered pockets on my shorts. But then going to find out that there's no lockers available because it's busy season? Yeah, Guest Services wouldn't enjoy talking to me...and I'm a VERY easy-going, very easy to get along with individual. I've got family/friends down in Florida who are regular UOR top-tier pass holders and they're also confirming this guest frustration and rude staff as well. I get rules for safety and I have no problem complying with them, however, this is absolutely ridiculous. Zippered (and even snapped) pockets should be exempt from this rule.

Here's the quote from Lance's article (the last sentence or 2 are silly):

"(12/10/14) I can confirm the reports about the new army of staffers awaiting all riders at the entrance to the Incredible Hulk coaster based on what I saw first hand myself this past weekend, as well as reports from other readers from over the past few days. At one point it looked as if there was a squad of eight team members, standing side by side, fully blocking the entrance into the Hulk’s queue. At this point, this was late in the day and it looked like these staffers had been through hell and unfortunately it really had an unfortunately toll on how they were responding to the park guests who just wanted to ride. Any question at all, and they were almost snapping into guests “Put it in a locker!”

I’m sure they were more polite when the day started, but with a new zero tolerance policy for loose articles, and after butting heads with upset guests all day long who don’t understand why after 15 years it has come to this, it made sense why by the end of the day they resembled something more like a line of riot police than normal Universal Orlando employees.

The official line is… no object shall pass. Not keys, not a wallet, and certainly not your cell phone. Pull out a couple of pennies out of your pocket and ask if you need a locker just for them, and you will be told to put them in a locker. Have cargo shorts with pockets that button or snap? Not good enough it seems… “Put it in a locker!” Wait… my pockets have a ZIPPER! Nothing will ever come out of my pocket when it is zipped shut… “No, you still have to put all objects in a locker!”

Yes, unfortunately it has come to this… and this last objection also put one thing clearly into focus for me. I don’t think this is about dropping loose articles anymore. This isn’t about someone who got a high end lawyer because they were hit by a quarter… this is one step away from an official police pat-down… which means to me that someone is being NAUGHTY on purpose again.

Clearly my wallet wouldn’t fall from a zippered pocket… but some troublemaker throwing a fist-full of pennies at the crowd below from the top of the coaster wouldn’t have a problem unzipping his pocket as the coaster dispatched. And this sounds a bit too familiar… like those mysterious events that took place at Dragon Challege a few years ago that caused that great ride to forever stop dueling when riders were being struck by foreign objects in mid-ride… usually right at the dueling vertical loops. My theory at the time was that someone was doing it on purpose and I’m wondering if they’ve been up to their old tricks again, but on Hulk this time.

Unfortunately, according to the reports I’m also hearing, this screening is somewhat ineffectual. A friend who rode choose to ask a question was forced to remove his wallet and keys before he could ride… only to end up riding next to a gentleman who managed to smuggle more personal belongings that you could possibly believe onto the ride anyway within the pockets of his hoodie.

In any case, this is the reality for the time being… so be prepared. In the meantime, I wish those in the upper offices making these kinds of calls would step onto the front line for an entire day to confront the guests directly with this new policy just to see how stressful a position it is to be in. There really has to be a better way… even if it means riding with no pants at all. No pants means no pockets after all..."

 

[Teebin]

What a tough call. Lawsuits or pat-downs because of few potential terrorists or murderers. Metal detectors won't work because broken glass, marbles and rocks wouldn't set them off. Hell, an ice cube wouldn't set them off. A teenage class ring could do some damage, must one remove those?

I have the solution: NAKED COASTERS!!! Watch those body parts react to the G's!

 

[UniversalCityFL]

I always find it... amusing that you can't take your cell phone on HULK, but on Tower of Terror you can take your cell phone, shopping bags, hats, sippy cups, and pin lanyard with you in a box being yanked up and down faster than the pull of gravity.

 

[Nick]

I always find it... amusing that you can't take your cell phone on HULK, but on Tower of Terror you can take your cell phone, shopping bags, hats, sippy cups, and pin lanyard with you in a box being yanked up and down faster than the pull of gravity.

Well, it's two different companies. Disney obviously hasn't had any problems that have warranted restricting items on the ride or we'd see a system like that in place already (One example at Disney is when they installed lap bars on Splash Mountain because people wouldn't stay seated)

 

[UK-Trigg]

I have the solution: NAKED COASTERS!!! Watch those body parts react to the G's!

Here you go Teebin

[video=youtube;oocoAGnnIvw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oocoAGnnIvw[/video]

These rules for Hulk are a typical case of if there is one idiot we will treat them all like idiots. This happens so many times in everyday life and it infuriates me, I have the common sense to not carry sharp objects on coaster or throw coins from one, further more I (like many others)buy specific shorts or cargo pants with sturdy zippers specifically for themeparks. Unfortunately a minority of society are not so savvy or are hellbent on causing harm, therefore we are all tarnished with he same brush. Infuriating yes but regrettably this is the society we live in today.

 

[DK745]

So what happens if you have to put your wallet in the locker then end up going over the allotted time and can't pay to open the locker again because they forced you to put in there to begin with?

 

[Cwoolboy]

Lance from Screamscape is reporting that he's heard a rumor that Dragon's Challenge MAY duel again one day. He's the excerpt:

"While Universal staff has been trying to take on the concept of how best to prevent loose objects from guests from flying into the air while on the coasters over at Hulk and the Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket, I’ve received an interesting rumor regarding Dueling Dragons…errr… Dragon Challenge this week. I’m not quite sure if I buy this rumor myself yet, as it sounds slightly far fetched, but they claim that B&M’s official stance on the ride is that it was designed to duel, and by running the two rides separately on a regular basis the park is running it in a way that it was not designed to run… and that is a no-no. By running the attraction in a way that goes against the way it was designed, it could in theory, put Universal in a hard place if something were to go wrong wit it down the line.
While I can understand the logic of this argument, the thing is that when the coaster was still run in “dueling” mode, it would run the individual sides separately as well if the second track did not dispatch in time to meet up on the lift hill before a certain point. And an E-Stop on one side, would not affect the operations of the other side. With that in mind, the argument that it is violating something to run it the way they are now just does not make much sense."

So, what do you guys think? Is the rumor valid? Can anyone confirm/deny this? Also, I'm aware this doesn't really fit here, so if it needs a new thread or should be placed somewhere else feel free to do so. THANKS!

 

[DJ Snow]

What do they do for Express Pass guests? Is an exception made for Express Pass cards after they're shown to the ride attendant?

 

[MrRoamer]

Well, it's two different companies. Disney obviously hasn't had any problems that have warranted restricting items on the ride or we'd see a system like that in place already (One example at Disney is when they installed lap bars on Splash Mountain because people wouldn't stay seated)

I'm not sure this is true, Space Mountain has had at least one issue that caused far more damage to the guest involved. They may have changed the dispatch times to prevent it from happening but I don't know.

 

[natespf]

They are two different companies that handle the same types of problems differently. As you guys know with how little we hear about the incidences that happen at UOR, we hear even less of the details of what happens on Disney property. Aside from that with Space Mountain they could put physical barriers in higher risk areas that would not be noticeable to guests.

 

[anihilnation]

What do they do for Express Pass guests? Is an exception made for Express Pass cards after they're shown to the ride attendant?

They are still scanning express at the entrance, so they are allowed on.

 

[Jon84]

What do they do for Express Pass guests? Is an exception made for Express Pass cards after they're shown to the ride attendant?

We had our APs in Lanyards and we didn't have to take them off for Hulk. However they demanded my wife remove her snood (scarf) even though it was tucked into her jacket..

 

[Kevin38]

Lance from Screamscape is reporting that he's heard a rumor that Dragon's Challenge MAY duel again one day. He's the excerpt:

"While Universal staff has been trying to take on the concept of how best to prevent loose objects from guests from flying into the air while on the coasters over at Hulk and the Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket, I’ve received an interesting rumor regarding Dueling Dragons…errr… Dragon Challenge this week. I’m not quite sure if I buy this rumor myself yet, as it sounds slightly far fetched, but they claim that B&M’s official stance on the ride is that it was designed to duel, and by running the two rides separately on a regular basis the park is running it in a way that it was not designed to run… and that is a no-no. By running the attraction in a way that goes against the way it was designed, it could in theory, put Universal in a hard place if something were to go wrong wit it down the line.
While I can understand the logic of this argument, the thing is that when the coaster was still run in “dueling” mode, it would run the individual sides separately as well if the second track did not dispatch in time to meet up on the lift hill before a certain point. And an E-Stop on one side, would not affect the operations of the other side. With that in mind, the argument that it is violating something to run it the way they are now just does not make much sense."

So, what do you guys think? Is the rumor valid? Can anyone confirm/deny this? Also, I'm aware this doesn't really fit here, so if it needs a new thread or should be placed somewhere else feel free to do so. THANKS!

I wonder if the stress of one side pulling all the time might cause stress that was not designed for.
B/M is covering their themselves if something breaks. When dueling you have the forces pulling on one another .It obviously can do this (been running this way for a while)But it may cause stress on parts from doing it all the time.

The problem is Legal was involved in this decision .So I think if pushed Universal might shut it down and blame B/M for not letting them continue rather than let it duel.

 

[MrRoamer]

I'm confused, how/where are the two tracks sharing any form of load besides the lift (not much force being exerted here)? I'm no engineer but I don't believe that the foundations are shared at all between them either.

I was always under the impression that they were technically two separate coasters and only considered a single package because of the plot of land used and the software that synced the lift chains and release point.

 

[Teebin]

I'm confused, how/where are the two tracks sharing any form of load besides the lift (not much force being exerted here)? I'm no engineer but I don't believe that the foundations are shared at all between them either.

I was always under the impression that they were technically two separate coasters and only considered a single package because of the plot of land used and the software that synced the lift chains and release point.

I believe you are correct. They are two separate coasters with separate supports structures. Sounds like a false rumor/myth to me.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

I believe you are correct. They are two separate coasters with separate supports structures. Sounds like a false rumor/myth to me.

I think that the reasoning behind te rumor is BS, but the possibility of dueling seems plausible if they take the empty pocket policy to Dragons. I dont see why not. If theyre gonna go through all the trouble of harrassing people about their pockets they may as well take advantage of it.

 

[sjago13]

Problem with dragons is that the amount of lockers is pitiful. It's hard to find one when there is no wait and lockers are voluntary. If they wanna enforce it they would have to build more lockers. Or have lockers/cubbies at the trains themselves. It's a waste to tie up a locker with all the people waiting when only the people riding need the stuff stowed. Lines should be built to have a locker turnoff right before the end that the exit then walks by on the other side or something. But regardless my point is that they need to find where to put people's crap for then to make everyone locker stuff for dragons.

 

[anihilnation]

As it is getting busier in the parks, are there any issues with locker availability?