No Screaming Allowed on the `Screamer' (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/04/06/national/a130626D82.DTL&feed=rss.news) -- SFGate/AP, 2007-04-06
A suburban amusement park has gotten so many complaints from neighbors about bloodcurdling screams that it has instituted a no-shrieking rule for its scary new thrill ride, the Scandia Screamer, a gigantic, windmill-like contraption that sends people plunging 16 stories to Earth at nearly 60 mph.

Riders who let out a screech — or just about any other noise — are pulled off and sent to the back of the line.

"After the first complaint, our rule was no profanity," said Steve Baddley, general manager at the Scandia Family Fun Center. "Then neighbors said it wasn't just that — it was the crazy, excessive screaming. Then they said it was really all of it, the loud laughing, everything. Eventually, we said, `Bag it, that's it — no noise.'"

I have a hard time buying this. How do they differentiate between a "I'm having fun" scream and a genuine "I am scared to death" scream? Does this apply to children too (I'm thinking mostly the kind of scenario where parents push an obviously scared child onto a ride)? This is bologna.

This sounds completely insane.
You live by a theme park. What did you expect?!

Hmmm... I wonder where this place is? I tried looking them up in google, and here is what I found...
http://www.scandiafun.com/

I guess they'll have to 'bag' the tagline. :)

Ok, one more followup. Check out the name of the ride. :)

http://www.scandiasports.com/attractions.html#scandia_screamer

i saw a news report on CNN - it's real. No screaming at all. If they can't get someone to stop they actually boot them from the ride completely.

It's a case of the homes were there next to the park with little interaction - until this new ride went in... so big and so close to the homes it's causing problems that did not exist before...

I agree that it should be buyer beware for residents - but i have seen it before where homeowners after the fact come in and win cases against local facilities (theme parks, golf courses, etc.) even though it defies some common logic.

This sounds completely insane.
You live by a theme park. What did you expect?!
Thing is, this is not a theme park that is being talked about. It started out as a small family fun place with putt-putt golf and the like. The owner expanded over the years and included the screamer as one of the upgrades.

Sounds like to me that the village/town/city that he lives in did not think this all the way through when they approved the permit to build and operate the attraction. I mean, with a name like "Screamer" you dont think there is going to be some noise pollution?

To be honest, Im going to side with the homeowners on this one but place blame on the town officials for the lack of foresight as to how it would impact the area. I mean, I would complain too if my normally quiet neighborhood is now filled with screams from a ride a few hundred feet away.

Whadda they do? Post a sign, "Do not ride if you are expecting, have back or heart problems, or scream in response to this thrill ride." How does one know if they are going to scream on a ride? I'm not a screamer by nature, but I did let out a "whoo-hoo" on EE the first time I rode it! How do they qualify a scream rather than laughter/excitement/happy sounds? Seems like a mess for all involved....

Yeah, this definately isn't an amusement park as most of us would think of an amusement park. Other than this one ride, they have mini golf, batting cages, and an arcade.

But it's also right along side one of the busiest stretches of I-80 in Sacramento, and the highway alone is pretty noisy.

I think the no screaming rule is absolute idiocy, but I do think that more thought should have gone into this before they put the ride in.

I feel kind of bad for the park, how long before people just don't want to ride a thrill ride that they can't make any noise on?

Does the phrase, "active noise reduction" mean anything to anybody here?

^ I believe you are referring to the type of noise reduction using phase cancellation? It's often used in noise protection for hunters, etc. Not sure how it would be applied in this situation though.

There have been "free air" systems of this sort demonstrated.

I was, however, being half-facetious. But only half.

Nah, a "free air" version of the ANR wouldn't work in this situation. It is most effective for reducing constant steady types of noises, like aircraft noise. The noise your experiencing right now has to be very similar to the noise that was there five seconds ago. In the scenario of this ride, the screaming would be far too variable for any type of free air active noise reduction.

[/takes off nerd hat]