^^Believe or not, a lot of parks are getting state approvals and work done on a ride just before and during its opening day. I've opened a ride where the state was signing off on the ride as the park was opening! HaHa
S&S towers have a maintenance mode that the mechanics can use to ride the passenger cart to the top of the tower.
This serves 2 purposes:
1: Inspect the tower on the way up/down
2: Easier and less time consuming than climbing the access ladder to the top.
Maintenance will stand on top of the passenger cart that I circled in red and attach their fall protection harness to the cart.
I also, agree with Elissa. Not sure why Premier, Vekoma OR Intamin alone couldn't pull this off. They all already have the ability to do all of the elements this attraction is slated to have.
^^You can expect to pay $130-150/night for a room with 2-Double beds. AAA offers discounts as well.
Edit: There's also a Comfort Inn @ $89/night. I have a buddy that stayed there and had no complaints.
^Correct. The operators have to advance the train into the station from the transfer. If the person at Panel is not paying attention (which is usually the case when you have 7 operators standing in there doing nothing ) then the 2nd train will stop even if its designated station is empty.
^Understood however, It's up to the park/corporate management to decide if it is an "issue" or not. As far as I'm concerned, riders getting up out of their seats on a ride is ALWAYS a safety issue.
Waterfall was turned off in 2002 I believe. Jack Falfas wanted it turned off because they were having too many issues with riders standing and moving around the raft to avoid getting soaked by the waterfall.