DJeXeL

^^^I understand what you're saying but Paramount parks made a 3 coaster deal with Vekoma for the Flying Dutchmens but after all of the mechanical/electrical issues with Stealth decided to opt out of purchasing the remaining 2 thus how SF got Batwing @ SFA and X-Flight @ SFWoA. CF purchases: Xcelerator @ KBF- 2002 Dragster @ CP - 2003 Renegade @ VF - 2007 Prowler @ WoF - 2009 Silver Bullet @ KBF - 2004 Patriot @ WoF - 2006 Steel Force @ DP - 1997 Mamba @ Wof - 1998 Behemoth @ CW - 2008 Diamondback @ KI - 2009 Intimidator @ Carowinds - 2010 Windseekers? 4 in 2011 and 2 more purchased in 2012. Does this info mean all these rides were "package deals??" Might not be, but definitely seems to me that if you commit to more than 1 at a time, the manufacturer is more likely to give a better price.

^Please explain said "correct" way to ride Vortex........ Last time I checked, Vortex was still a piece of sh*t.

Wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea considering they removed a water attraction for FT.

Could very well be true.

Viper did inherit Shockwave's trains for spare parts. To my knowledge Viper has always had 4 trains. Orange, Red, Yellow and Brown.

^^To the enthusiast community maybe not but SB and Patriot are a hit with the GP. ^I agree as they aren't going to be in anyone's "top 10" lists however they are a hell of a lot of fun.

Hopefully it'll be more successful that Six Flags Roller Coaster Cuts.......

I'm usually one of the first people to bash the park whenever I get a chance however in this instance I'll have to defend them on the 1 train ops on FT. It's hard to "stock" parts for a ride when 1 - It's new and 2 - You don't know what particular parts will wear quickly. Spare wheels? Yes Restraint assembly components? Yes Extra LSMs? Yes. Some random part that shouldn't have failed so early in its life cycle? No Also something to keep in mind is that maybe SFMM was proactive and did purchase extra parts but said parts are back ordered from Premier and/or their supplier. I worked @ KBF as a lead in the Ride Operations department and when Pony Express was being built, I was talking to a Zamperla engineer and was asking about their Roto-Shake (Hammerhead) rides and all the downtime issues as Knott's had repeated motor and gearbox failures with theirs. His response was "Yea, it is unfortunate when those things happen but sometimes components that are not expected to fail do, and when we have them in stock we can ship 1 to a park without hassle but sometimes it has to be manufactured by a company that manufactures parts for different industries and not just the amusement industry. If their manufacturing schedule doesn't allot time for that particular part to be made for another 2 months then that's 2 months of downtime for the attraction awaiting said part." We all know that SFMM will have 1 train ops on FT 10 months out of the year but in this particular scenario I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Amazing photos!! Thanks for sharing.

^Good point. Also makes me wonder about Mindbender at SFOG as well.

If the markers are too obvious then it's clearly a joke. All we need now is a marker that says "Aquatrax."

That could be the park's new motto. Took the words right out of my mouth.

^^Can you imagine SF and Moser working together.............it would NEVER open.

Absolutely.

If you consider this a "covering," then yes. Sir Clinksalot

^^My apologies. Didn't mean to be a jerk but it irks me when people think that a park operator will stop buying from a manufacturer because they have a few issues. Park operators will buy from whatever vendor that has the product they are looking and at the right price.

That's cause they were too busy handing out beatings. I've worked at KBF and currently work for the DLR and whenever graffiti is reported, Security takes it VERY seriously. In the instances where the guests were actually caught red handed they were ejected from the park and arrested. Sad that SFDK doesn't take it that seriously......

^^Stupidity at its finest.

Wow! That's horrid. People have no respect.

And of course, you work for Intamin or Cedar Fair Corporate so you know first hand that their relationship with Intamin "soured."

Love the way the hotel looks like it's pieced together as Legos. Nice touch.

^^That is great that an external investigation is being done. What will be interesting is if the findings vary.

^Couldn't agree more. Made me cringe to read that.

This report that Robb shared on the TPR FB has an eyewitness stating " when the train came back, the seat restraint was down." I rode NTAG in the summer of '12 and I stapled myself to the seat. The operator tightened my restraint but I gave it that extra push myself. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved. In my 8 1/2 years of being a ride operator I've witnessed my fair share of "incidents" but never anything fatal. This accident stresses the pertinent role that operators play in the safety of the guests riding their attractions.

If it's the lift cable then it shouldn't be down longer than another week or so. There's other RUMORS that it's a gear box problem which could mean a custom part is needed which ultimately could very well keep it closed for the remainder of the season. Either way, it's a bad situation but the park did the right thing and posted it on their website.