rcjp Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 ^Yeah, I honestly don't think that the heartlining thing would be much of an issue as some say. I think the opposite (going from a sitting coaster to a standup) would, but not really this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invertalon Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 The heart line is NOT an issue what so ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesman Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Does any one know if sky hawk is back up and running? I know that one side is back up but not sure if the the other one where the cable snapped is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samuel Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Does any one know if sky hawk is back up and running? I know that one side is back up but not sure if the the other one where the cable snapped is. It's still only the right side that's operating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyRCT3 Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 The heart line is NOT an issue what so ever. I agree. A slightly higher build on top of the chassis would easily do the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega_Coaster_77 Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Wouldn't it be cool if cedar point decided to put in an S&S polar coaster? They could have the first coaster over 200, 300, 400, and 500 feet, it would solve their tight land problem, add another coaster, add more shops and restaurants, and also, since they just got rid of their observation tower, the polar coaster has an observation tower on the top. I am still almost positive on the whole mantis conversion, and it looks like it will improve the ride a lot, but I would really like to see this at the park next year, even if it's unlikely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GigaG Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Wouldn't it be cool if cedar point decided to put in an S&S polar coaster? They could have the first coaster over 200, 300, 400, and 500 feet, it would solve their tight land problem, add another coaster, add more shops and restaurants, and also, since they just got rid of their observation tower, the polar coaster has an observation tower on the top. I am still almost positive on the whole mantis conversion, and it looks like it will improve the ride a lot, but I would really like to see this at the park next year, even if it's unlikely. I think CP would want to see how the concept goes first. The one in Florida for 2016 is over 500 feet, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcjp Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 ^Isn't it around 570? Probably the next tallest one would go over 600. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarheel1231 Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Wasn't the dropped one in Vegas over 600 feet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPSFMMCW Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 the one that was suppose to go on top of the tropicana? Yeah I think so. Too bad too, I wanted to see that one happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfilkins Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Really quick TR... I went on Sunday, and it was a a warm, sunny day...General observations: -The overall feel of the park wasn't as "nice" as in the past. Maybe it was just the sun getting to me, but I found the lack of shade over many parts of the lines rather absurd, and a few spots where the cooling fans had been removed made me scratch my head. And it looked like just about every coaster could use some fresh paint...everything just looked faded and worn. - Ride ops were definitely not on their game. Other than Maverick, most of the folks working seemed bored and uninterested. Gatekeeper and Millennium Force were both consistently stacking the trains throughout the day. - What happened to the DJs playing music in the queues for Raptor and MF? I recall there being live DJs there last year, and it made the waits slightly more enjoyabe (or at least suck slightly less). - Guests seem to get worse and worse each year that I go I've never seen guests so inconsiderate of others, and thinking that the rules don't apply to them before. This may have contributed to my earlier point, as I watched numerous folks on Gatekeeper seem to think that the ops weren't talking to them about putting hats in the bins, phones away, etc. Seriously, people... Ride observations: -Millennium Force is getting rough (or I'm just getting old). Rode twice, and both rides (one red train, one yellow train) felt like the wheels were square (maybe octagonal, at best) instead of round. But it was definitely not the smooth experience I recall from visits on previous years. -Magnum is still a lot of fun. Maybe I cut it some slack knowing it's an Arrow, but I sat in the front row, and had a really enjoyable ride. I'm a decent sized guy (5'8" 180lbs), and didn't have any of the thigh abuse other people mentioned. -Top Thrill is still a great kick in the pants. Finally snagged a front row ride, which I thought was a whole different experience than anywhere else in the train. - I still like Raptor, but that horrible transition into the brakes always ruins the rest of the experience for me. And I think that it consistently had the longest lines in the park - 2 hours for most of the day. - Gatekeeper - I found this surprisingly rough last year, riding in the middle and back. This year I rode in the front row on both sides, and it was a much smoother ride. I agree that it may not be as "intense" as some of the other coasters, but not every coaster has to be engineered at the limits of what the human body can handle. I think the twist at the top of the drop is a great start, and the overall rhythm of the coaster is enjoyable. - Maverick was being moody, being down a few times over the course of the day. But when it was running, it was definitely running. This is probably one of the most intense coasters I've ever ridden, and I can appreciate it in that way, but I'm not able to ride it more than a couple of times without needing a recovery period. I think this one was designed to push the limits a bit, and I think it would have benefited from a bit more design time, as I find the brake at the top of the hill in the second half (post-launch) to be a bit of a buzzkill, and is indicative that someone didn't do their homework (as originally evidenced by the removal of the barrel roll element between the rocks). - Blue Streak is great, if you like classic woodies. Having been a ride op on The Racer at Kings Island, I do have an appreciation for a good wooden coaster, but I can't say I necessarily enjoy them. In summary, I think CP needs to review the overall guest experience, as I feel it's degraded over the past few years. I won't bore everyone with a tirade against the FastLane system, but I do feel that implementing it may have helped the park bring in quite a bit of extra $, but at the expense of customer satisfaction. Guests who don't get it are penalized for not getting it, and some of the guests who do get it have an entitled attitude that the other rules don't apply. I'd love to see CP work to develop (or at least catch up with) innovative ways to improve the experience for everyone - displays showing wait times for the rides, more shade, fastpass for everyone (a la disney), etc. Or maybe I'm just getting old and grumpy...but as my children are approaching an age where they'll be able to enjoy CP, I just hope that there's an experience there for them to enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImNotOneOfYou Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 It's so fun just watching the rides go on the live webcam. I'll be there in 3 days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImNotOneOfYou Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 It looks like Top Thrill Dragster shut down from weather or something, people are walking out of the queue line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Dragster is really the only ride where the rain policy makes sense. Having rain pound you in the face at 120 MPH would not be an awful experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImNotOneOfYou Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Hopefully it doesnt rain when I go there in 3 days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 The weather looks great later this week. You should be fine. If it does rain for a brief period you should be able to ride Mantis. Gatekeeper, Wicked Twister and Millennium Force frequently run in the rain too but it's pretty random as they just make it up by the minute. Looking at the forecast you have nothing to worry about though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Really quick TR... I went on Sunday, and it was a a warm, sunny day...General observations: -The overall feel of the park wasn't as "nice" as in the past. Maybe it was just the sun getting to me, but I found the lack of shade over many parts of the lines rather absurd, and a few spots where the cooling fans had been removed made me scratch my head. And it looked like just about every coaster could use some fresh paint...everything just looked faded and worn. - Ride ops were definitely not on their game. Other than Maverick, most of the folks working seemed bored and uninterested. Gatekeeper and Millennium Force were both consistently stacking the trains throughout the day. - What happened to the DJs playing music in the queues for Raptor and MF? I recall there being live DJs there last year, and it made the waits slightly more enjoyabe (or at least suck slightly less). - Guests seem to get worse and worse each year that I go I've never seen guests so inconsiderate of others, and thinking that the rules don't apply to them before. This may have contributed to my earlier point, as I watched numerous folks on Gatekeeper seem to think that the ops weren't talking to them about putting hats in the bins, phones away, etc. Seriously, people... Ride observations: -Millennium Force is getting rough (or I'm just getting old). Rode twice, and both rides (one red train, one yellow train) felt like the wheels were square (maybe octagonal, at best) instead of round. But it was definitely not the smooth experience I recall from visits on previous years. -Magnum is still a lot of fun. Maybe I cut it some slack knowing it's an Arrow, but I sat in the front row, and had a really enjoyable ride. I'm a decent sized guy (5'8" 180lbs), and didn't have any of the thigh abuse other people mentioned. -Top Thrill is still a great kick in the pants. Finally snagged a front row ride, which I thought was a whole different experience than anywhere else in the train. - I still like Raptor, but that horrible transition into the brakes always ruins the rest of the experience for me. And I think that it consistently had the longest lines in the park - 2 hours for most of the day. - Gatekeeper - I found this surprisingly rough last year, riding in the middle and back. This year I rode in the front row on both sides, and it was a much smoother ride. I agree that it may not be as "intense" as some of the other coasters, but not every coaster has to be engineered at the limits of what the human body can handle. I think the twist at the top of the drop is a great start, and the overall rhythm of the coaster is enjoyable. - Maverick was being moody, being down a few times over the course of the day. But when it was running, it was definitely running. This is probably one of the most intense coasters I've ever ridden, and I can appreciate it in that way, but I'm not able to ride it more than a couple of times without needing a recovery period. I think this one was designed to push the limits a bit, and I think it would have benefited from a bit more design time, as I find the brake at the top of the hill in the second half (post-launch) to be a bit of a buzzkill, and is indicative that someone didn't do their homework (as originally evidenced by the removal of the barrel roll element between the rocks). - Blue Streak is great, if you like classic woodies. Having been a ride op on The Racer at Kings Island, I do have an appreciation for a good wooden coaster, but I can't say I necessarily enjoy them. In summary, I think CP needs to review the overall guest experience, as I feel it's degraded over the past few years. I won't bore everyone with a tirade against the FastLane system, but I do feel that implementing it may have helped the park bring in quite a bit of extra $, but at the expense of customer satisfaction. Guests who don't get it are penalized for not getting it, and some of the guests who do get it have an entitled attitude that the other rules don't apply. I'd love to see CP work to develop (or at least catch up with) innovative ways to improve the experience for everyone - displays showing wait times for the rides, more shade, fastpass for everyone (a la disney), etc. Or maybe I'm just getting old and grumpy...but as my children are approaching an age where they'll be able to enjoy CP, I just hope that there's an experience there for them to enjoy. I guess anyone can have a down day at a theme park, but perhaps the heat and sun may have worn you down like you said. Some comments/ observations on your report: * I agree that there could be more shade zones in the coaster queues, but overall, I don't think that they're too bad. If it's 85 degrees and sunny, it's going to be hot and sticky no matter what shade and fans they have in place. Being that we only get about three months of summer in this area of the states (of which two of it are partly to mostly cloudy), perhaps they figure that isn't a big focus of their investment. * Some coasters could use a fresh coat of paint, but MF, BS, GK and Corkscrew all have nice, new paint jobs on them. The others will most likely be painted one or two at a time in the coming years....they can't do them all at once. You see this at just about every theme park. * I was thinking that the DJ's only do the coaster lines on Friday's, Saturday's and holiday weekends? I could be wrong. * Your MF ride could have been contradictory to what you said about some of the other coasters...which seat(s) did you sit in? I can't ever recall a rough ride on MF...perhaps a little rattly in some areas or slow during the colder times, but definitely not rough. * I did notice more somewhat "poorly behaved" guests (IE: swearing in front of kids, rude, drunken behavior, etc) during our two visits this year, but thought it was simply a fluke. Chalk it up to people's sense of entitlement & general disrespect of other guests around them - you'll probably encounter that at just about any theme or amusement park these days. * RE: Fastlane - how do you feel that it comes at the expense of other guests? Because they didn't shell out the money, it isn't fair that the FL people wait in a shorter line? Were people entering the line through FL taunting the other guests behind them for not having it? * Of note, CP did try the free fast pass system when MF first opened and it didn't work out so well. Could they work to improve something like this? Yes. Will they do it now that they are reeling in $80+ for a FL+? No way. 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GigaG Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 CP Rundown says that CP might be dropping Midway Market from the dining pass on the 15th. This stands in contrast to a supervisor who told me they would keep it a few days ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samuel Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 - Ride ops were definitely not on their game. Other than Maverick, most of the folks working seemed bored and uninterested. Gatekeeper and Millennium Force were both consistently stacking the trains throughout the day. Just to be fair, I thought the crews were awesome on my last visit a few days ago. On Blue Streak, Mantis, Mean Streak, Gatekeeper, Magnum, etc., the ops kept moving quickly, and the crew talking on the PA were lively and keeping everyone excited. I was actually thinking that more parks should take a cue from Cedar Point's ride ops (those Romanians are very nice and know how to zip!). Also, Millennium Force and Gatekeeper do tend to stack (same with Maverick), but heck, this is constant three-train operation you're criticizing. It'd be a miracle for some major parks to put even a second train on the tracks of their coasters (Here's a riddle for you: What train takes four hours to catch on a Saturday in July, is standing-room only, & makes you want revenge?) . If you don't mind my saying, my impression is that you were hot, tired of waiting in lines, and bitter about watching Fast Lane users cruise through, which put a negative tint on your day. I didn't notice any line jumping, general rudeness, or hostilities on my trip, but I know these things can happen. I've had rude encounters and witnessed absolute idiocy at times at many parks, including Cedar Point, and while it stinks, isolated negative experiences are different from an entire place trending downhill. My dad was given the finger on a highway outside of Philly decades ago, and to this day he maintains that it's a terrible city because of that incident. I've seen concerts where the local audience around me has ruined my experience, but this doesn't mean the band or the venue are at fault. I'm sorry your visit sounded a bit rough around the edges. I know Fast Lane has been polarizing, but for me having a one- and a three-year-old in tow, combined with not being at the park too often, I think it's a godsend that it's offered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GigaG Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 MF has only the lift hill as a "buffer block." To not stack requires a train to dispatch onto the fast lift hill, have the next train pull into the loading platform from unloading, all while the third train is in the end of the layout or final mag brakes (else you would be stacking.) If you couldn't get the last train all the way into the unloading station before the first train goes up its lift, you would have the train on the lift stop. This actually happens somewhat on a regular basis - it has become part of the ride for the lift to speed up halfway up because it was going slow to allow the next train to clear the block! But if you dispatch too early, you risk stopping on the lift. Essentially, it appears that MF has a narrow window for no-stacking. Gatekeeper also has a fast lift, but I don't see how it triple-stacks so much - it has an MCBR, making ideal possible between-dispatch times quite low, and double-block final brake, so trains won't set up on the MCBR. If GK had a single-block final brake, it might set up like Magnum does (although Gatekeeper still has a little bit of thrills left post-MCBR, while Magnum does not. Either way, the ride om-nom-noms people. Note that, due to the position of the MCBR compared to the end, it seems like it would be next to impossible to not stack GK at all, but it seems like triple-stacking is avoidable. Of course, if you want an example of quick 3-train ops with no MCBR, you might look at Banshee, but you also must realize that, like GK, Banshee can stack 3 trains, so it doesn't need to set up on the lift like MF would in a similar situation. Does anybody think this makes sense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samuel Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Gatekeeper also has a fast lift, but I don't see how it triple-stacks so much - it has an MCBR, making ideal possible between-dispatch times quite low, and double-block final brake, so trains won't set up on the MCBR. With riders exiting to the back of the station instead of to the side opposite where they got on, a lag occurs when those getting off end up mixing with those getting on. I've seen human traffic jams on that platform regularly, especially among people trying to get to the bins to either retrieve or drop off their stuff. Although Gatekeeper has a larger station, it's a similar situation to the occasional gridlock on Skyrush. "One side for loading, one side for unloading" is just a lot more efficient, but it can't be done with that train design and station setup. I think this has to explain some of the perceived slowness in dispatches and train stacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImNotOneOfYou Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 The Top Thrill Dragster webcam changed to focus on... out of all things... Mean Streak I thought they knew better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timetrial3141592 Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 The Top Thrill Dragster webcam changed to focus on... out of all things... Mean Streak RMC confirmed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatabeast Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 *brace yourself for the rocky mountain rumors* edit: THEY'VE ALREADY STARTED Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfilkins Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Thanks for the feedback I've been visiting CP about once a year for the past ten years, and I try to be careful to make a broad judgement about a park based on a single day's experience. Hopefully next year's visit will yield a much more positive experience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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