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Roller Coaster of Love

I heard a few weeks ago that someone died while rehearsing for an Indiana Jones event at Disneyworld. The stuntman fell onto a stage. And I believe Disneyworld has had a few other deaths recently, but I can't recall what they are at the moment.

And I'm guessing people on this site that hate police officers, will post telling me that it's more dangerous being a Disney character at the Magic Kingdom, then partroling the freeways as a cop. But I digress.

The more interesting story was up in Santa Clara last month. A rollercoaster called "Invertigo" got stuck. I guess calling the thing "invertigo" sure wasn't false advertising!

Now, if it was a theme park up in Northern California that had a rollercoaster get stuck and children needing to be rescued...I would've guessed it was at Neverland Ranch. But with Michael Jackson being gone...

It was at a place called Great America.

There were 24 people that needed to be rescued after five hours of being stuck almost 80 feet up.

They had a lift chain that malfunctioned, and firefighters used cherry pickers and ladders to rescue the folks.

It's funny, because my first thought was that you go onto rollercoasters to get scared. And, nothing would scare you more than the thing malfunctioning.

I remember as the story played on the news, wondering what kind of settlement the park would be making with these people as they were being safely placed back on terra firma.

I thought the park would be smart and offer each of the 24 people a thousand bucks and free lifetime passes, quickly getting them to sign a form stating they wouldn't sue.

And best to get the people while they're still shaken up by the whole experience and haven't talked to a lawyer.

But the newscaster said (with a straight face) each person was given a free pair of tickets to visit the park again.

Now that, right there, would've made me immediately head over to an attorney.

(On a side note: If you're looking for a well-made teen comedy, check out Adventureland, out now on DVD).

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I heard a few weeks ago that someone died while rehearsing for an Indiana Jones event at Disneyworld. The stuntman fell onto a stage. And I believe Disneyworld has had a few other deaths recently, but I can't recall what they are at the moment.

And I'm guessing people on this site that hate police officers, will post telling me that it's more dangerous being a Disney character at the Magic Kingdom, then partroling the freeways as a cop. But I digress.

The more interesting story was up in Santa Clara last month. A rollercoaster called "Invertigo" got stuck. I guess calling the thing "invertigo" sure wasn't false advertising!

Now, if it was a theme park up in Northern California that had a rollercoaster get stuck and children needing to be rescued...I would've guessed it was at Neverland Ranch. But with Michael Jackson being gone...

It was at a place called Great America.

There were 24 people that needed to be rescued after five hours of being stuck almost 80 feet up.

They had a lift chain that malfunctioned, and firefighters used cherry pickers and ladders to rescue the folks.

It's funny, because my first thought was that you go onto rollercoasters to get scared. And, nothing would scare you more than the thing malfunctioning.

I remember as the story played on the news, wondering what kind of settlement the park would be making with these people as they were being safely placed back on terra firma.

I thought the park would be smart and offer each of the 24 people a thousand bucks and free lifetime passes, quickly getting them to sign a form stating they wouldn't sue.

And best to get the people while they're still shaken up by the whole experience and haven't talked to a lawyer.

But the newscaster said (with a straight face) each person was given a free pair of tickets to visit the park again.

Now that, right there, would've made me immediately head over to an attorney.

(On a side note: If you're looking for a well-made teen comedy, check out Adventureland, out now on DVD).

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