Oddly, master blaster continues to have the same net and hoop layout. I wondered about it years ago when I first rode that ride.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=master+blaster+schlitte...
While I didn't ride it this time (the wait is generally really long), I think I was more aware of the fact that there are a lot of dangerous areas in the park. A couple years ago when my kids were younger, I saw first hand how just a bit of running on wet concrete can result in some serious road rash. The park is very responsive to these kinds of injuries, but they must be very common.
This time I came away with the idea that these parks are built around 70's era don't protect the kids from the daily bumps bruises of life mindset. If there were actual regulation, I suspect there would be a _LOT_ of changes forced on by the safty crazies.
For starters, many of the rides should probably require helmets. I myself cracked my head (twice) against concrete tube chutes after having fliped off tubes in fairly minor drops (just a few feet).
Maintenance isn't really top notch either, years ago I remember sitting at a picnic table on a windy day and a fairly large limb broke off a nearby tree and missed a woman and her baby by inches.
This probably won't keep me from going again next year. The place is a blast, and if you do manage to injure yourself, there is literally a hospital across the street. It does make me more respectful of the attractions though, something I don't think most people going there really understand. Water + speed + hard objects will result it some injuries. Hopefully like many other activities (riding a bike/skate board, jumping off cliffs, climbing trees, etc) the user learns where their limits are and if they exceed them, the injuries aren't life threatening.
You can't use a ball in the park.
I don't really understand this. Surely a tennis ball can't cause a person to drown. I suppose you could intentionally throw it hard enough at a persons head to cause serious injury, especially a small child. It just seems unlikely that would be occur accidentally.
The red strike-through circles indicating activity not allowed on signs as you approach the pool and park area tell a short story. Of sterile boredom. Okay, I'm overreacting.
And, sadly, yet people still die in waterpark accidents here.[1]
1. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-25/four-people-dead-ride-...