El Toro_Ryan

2010 was the last year they ran all 4 trains.

(Yes my name is Ryan) From what I've seen, Ka almost always launches two trains in between Zumanjaro cycles. Ka stacks its trains out on the launch area while Zumanjaro is going and then once Ka is clear, it usually launches two trains with the third train in the station already loaded and ready to be dispatched. Idk, you guys may have hit the park on a bad day but I've always seen two trains in between Zumanjaro cycles. I'm not sure why the park doesn't utilize an unload station but I'm guessing that has to do with staffing. The park typically has 4 people checking restraints and a height checker as well so if an unload station were to be used, two of the restraint checkers would probably be moved to the unload platform. If staffed properly, an unload station would probably be a huge benefit but I don't think it would make a difference with Zumanjaro delaying Ka's operations. I think Ka could also use a rolling block system as well to allow the train on the load platform and the train on the 2nd platform to advance simultaneously but I doubt that would ever be implemented. I think it would make a huge difference though.

For those of you who haven't seen this, I would give this a read. There's a lot of cool facts about the upcoming season including holiday in the park and the park's financial situation. And for those of you curious about how the park maintains El Toro's track, it turns out the park actually removes track segments over the offseason to do so. http://www.coastercrazy.com/forums/winter-adventure-2015-at-six-flags-great-adventure-t34908.html

I believe GADV is the last park or one of the last ones to get rid of the neon uniforms. I have no idea why but I'll see if I can find out.

Absolutely. Cedar Point's policy is excellent. They wait about 10 minutes on just about every major ride, even rides like Iron Dragon get a grace period. Cedar Point also has the benefit so many workers living in dorms. Easier to keep the employees if they don't have to commute. Yeah, GADV only gives housing to its international workers. In other news somewhat related to workers, the neon yellow uniforms are supposed to be replaced by all new blue uniforms this year so be on the lookout.

No Problem. The park hours for the year are up. https://www.sixflags.com/greatadventure/plan-your-visit/park-operating-schedule

The proposed Six Flags park in Dubai was rumored to feature a Plug N Play back when it was first announced. I don't know if the park is still being built or not, but it was supposed to feature a clone of El Toro or a nearly identical version. You can see the ride in the lower right corner. Image from parkthoughts.com

I doubt SF has any plans to build more Plug N Plays because they are very expensive. GADV never released an official price tag for Toro but the maintenance guys at the ride have told me it was about 28 million which is ALOT. Especially for a wooden coaster.

Do my eyes deceive me or is that a train sitting in the station?

Thunderhawk fosho!

Kingda Ka, Top Thrill Dragster, and Batman and Robin the Chiller when it was still up and operating.

I'm betting that the original design of the ride had always incorporated this section of straight track in order to squeeze in the necessary block. Rides with two lift hills have used this design element for years (Iron Dragon at CP for example) and I doubt a designer like Alan Schilke would have forgotten to add in the extra block. It's probably just like the concept art for Goliath where the steel lift hill structure was planned from the beginning but wasn't included in the concept art on purpose.

I'm definitely not complaining that it hits the brakes too fast, just saying that I find it rather surprising as the ride is so long (I would expect it to lose more energy throughout the course) Millennium Force is the same way. That thing is still hauling ass at the end of the course which is similar in length to Fury 325's.

Nitro is actually one of the worse rides to run in the cold because of its size but it can be run thanks to the two wheel types it has. This goes for basically every other ride at the park as well. El Toro is just the odd ball since it only has the one wheel type that is good for warm weather. I'm sure the park could get it to run though, either with wheel heaters in the station or maintenance doing that manually in the morning before the park opens. Once Toro warms up a little, its fine.

The ride looks gorgeous!! This is definitely the new ride I'm looking most forward too this year.

Does anyone know if the original plan for YOLO coaster was to run more than two trains? I remember seeing two trains on the track at the same time in the concept art. Also I think Premier screwed up the holding brake location as well. I always thought it was ridiculous the train waiting in the brake run is around a turn and then has to wait for the train being dispatched to clear the loop before it can advance. It's a total waste of time and capacity.

I completely agree with you. I've wasted loads of time attempting to cross a train at El Toro simply because the operator was focused on the rest of the station and could not see my cross signal. In order to cross, we would practically have to yell to the operator to get his or her attention. While the cross signals do promote safety, they definitely are not necessary. Like you said, all attendants must be in their safety zones before a train can be dispatched and with the visual scan we use at Six Flags parks, it's highly unlikely a train will ever be dispatched with an attendant outside their safety zone. Several rides have dispatch buttons that each and every attendant must press in order for a train to dispatch. At GADV, I know both Nitro and Bizarro utilize this system. However, most rides just have a second panel that one attendant must use in coordination with the operator in order to dispatch a train. But even with this system, it's highly unlikely a train would ever dispatched with an attendant outside their zone.

I think the best capacity coasters behind B&M mega coasters are probably arrow loopers. The trains are so simple to load and check. Even back when GADV didn't have the best operations in the early 2000's, GASM had pretty decent operations thanks to the simple restraint system. When I went to Busch Gardens in early 2008, the Loch Ness Monster crew would dispatch a train as the train before crested the lift each and every time (And this was on the park's opening day of the season when operations are usually subpar). On the other hand, I always find that wooden roller coasters (especially ones that run two trains) typically have a much lower capacity than that of their steel counterparts. Most wooden coasters run two trains with only 24 passengers per train while steel coasters usually average around 32 or sometimes 36 riders per train. Every GCI coaster for the most part has a theoretical capacity of 850 riders per hour while steel coasters are usually over 1,200. Wooden coasters also tend to have longer ride durations than similarly sized steel coasters further detracting from their potential capacity. Even the few woodies that have MCBRs and run three trains have less capacity than their steel counterparts because again, the amount of riders on average is still only 24 or sometimes 28 riders (Mean Streak). The Beast is the only woodie I can think of off the top of my head that runs three 36 passenger trains but the length of the first lift hill and total ride time detracts from the ride's potential capacity.

The panel only tells us which car, it does not tell us which bar but I wish it did. But usually we can guess who's bar is up the most just by looking at each rider. I know at SFNE, Bizarro's panel tells the operator which car and row a lapbar is in that needs to be rechecked but its system is a few years newer than El Toro's. While Toro could use lights on the back of the seats for the attendants to use, I think simply staffing the ride with 4 people on the train would be of better use. With 4 people on the train, we have no problem hitting 1,200 riders an hour but with only 2 on the train, we usually average 900.

^I couldn't agree more. Intamins have the strangest block set up. I've worked El Toro which also only has 3 blocks for two trains to run on and with that set up, there is a very short window of time where you can dispatch a train and have no stacking occur. The optimal time was to dispatch as a train was pulling into the brake run. If we dispatched any earlier, the train would stop on the lift hill since the train behind it would have to fully pull into the station in order for the block to clear. B&M's have much more wiggle room to prevent stacking thanks to the extra block they typically possess. A train can be dispatched earlier without the risk of it stopping on the lift since the other train on the course does not have to fully pull into the station in order to clear the ride block. While El Toro has two brake sections, only the section right before the station counts as a block. On the other hand, a two train B&M has two blocks on it's brake run. However, B&M's usually have longer ride cycle times when compared to Intamin coasters because of their slower lift hills and longer/slower brake runs. Intamin coasters typically feature lightning fast cable lifts and shorter/faster brake runs where trains quickly roll through the brake run back to the station. B&M's like to creep through their brake runs. It was mentioned earlier in the thread that four across seating is more efficient than two across seating and I would have to disagree. With just two people, checking a whole El Toro train can be done in literally 15 seconds or even less because you can smoothly hold your pace as you walk down the train checking rider's lapbars and seatbelts. However, when I would worked Bizarro the four across seating made it much harder to hold a pace as you checked restraints since you would have to walk out and in of the cars. Even if you really hustled, there would always be a brief pause between checking restraints every two seats. Now theoretically, two train B&M coasters and two train Intamin coasters on average have the same capacity but what gives B&M the boost over Intamin are the restraints. Intamin coasters are much less accommodating for everyone making it harder to hit interval times if a rider happens to not fit. At El Toro, a train was usually not ready to dispatch after checking it. There would always be a few cars we would have to recheck if someone's lapbar was not down far enough. If a rider or two were unable to ride, our dispatch times could be pretty awful. On the other hand, B&Ms are usually ready to dispatch after checking the train.

From what happens at GADV, I would guess it wasn't the cameras not working but the a problem with the photo system or even the photo kiosk just being closed for the day. For Titan, that sounds likes the monitors displaying the first three cars may have not been working. That's just my guess though haha I don't know too much about the ride pictures department.

That train is seriously sleek!! But is it me or is the front bumper on the zero-car strangely dirty already?

I'm guessing the support design used on Manta is sufficent enough to meet the earthquake-proof requirements in Japan then. But this is only a small portion of the ride and other areas may see more rigid support designs.

Some more bad publicity for the park. http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2015/01/14/south-jersey-woman-sues-amusement-park/

The park still uses the old storage shed for basic maintainance and what not. One of the trains from Runaway Mine Train is usually back behind that shed and I believe necessary supplies for the area are also stored in the shed. Regarding the old lift motor house, I'm not too sure what the park uses that for. I'm just going to guess for other maintainance purposes.