Windseeker Status

[COASTER FREAK 11]

^No, I haven't been on that. Elissa had to really try hard to get me on blue fall in Japan and I was freaking out. I will most likely never ride Lex.

[Koasterking48]

^ I am the same way with certain drop towers. Have you done the rides at the Stratosphere in Vegas?

[COASTER FREAK 11]

I did High Roller, though I was really nervous getting into the train. But I wasn't afraid once on it, only had a fear of tripping and falling to my death, haha. And I have not done any other rides up there.

[Koasterking48]

I had shortness of breath on the X-Scream, but was fine on Insanity and Big Shot. I was "lucky" enough to ride in the front seat at night, and I may have said HOLY SH*T more than 20 times. Especially at the part where it hangs straight out on the end of the track, and then drops.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Koasterking48

[Coaster Curt]

If these rides were just prototypes like Robb said, how come Cedar Fair went ahead and spent $20+ million to get all of them installed?

 

True the ride does nothing for me but they are huge people eaters, plus it is a great view up top.

 

Despite each cycle taking a large number of passengers (64), my understanding is the average cycle time (unload, load & ride cycle) is about 6 minutes. So your actual throughput on WindSeeker is only around 640 people per hour.

 

I'm surprised it's still down as I was told a large contributing factor to the Knott's issue was human/operator error. I wonder if more issues have been found since hearing this back around Haunt.

 

I was thinking more that it seems like a fairly high number of rides per hour for a flat ride, then realized I have no idea how many people are able to ride most flat rides in an hour. What does MaXair do in an hour?

[Koasterking48]

^ 1000. Yet I feel like the loading for this and Delirium is very slow.

[Randomman295]

Despite each cycle taking a large number of passengers (64), my understanding is the average cycle time (unload, load & ride cycle) is about 6 minutes. So your actual throughput on WindSeeker is only around 640 people per hour.

...That's acutally a little bit pathetic. I expected a bit more from a ride people were calling "a people eater".

[KA107]

Last time I was at Knotts, they had "water dummy"s in the windseeker. Maybe someone that lives near the park can tell if they are doing night testing.

I've rode it, and it's not very high on the thrill factor. Texas Chute Out was much more impressive.

Isn't that what Knott's is about now? Mid-thrills the whole family can enjoy?

Pony Express, Sierra Sidewinder, Jaguar!, Boomerang, Screamin' Swing, Silver Bullet, the new Coast Rider, etc.

Seems like every instalation since Xcelerator has been designed to be fun, but not that over the top extreme.

Even Surfrider seemed like it was created to be that way.

Knott's sued TOGO and lost, but TOGO went out of business because of it.

I am hoping Knott's can pull this one out before this ride goes the way of Surfrider, and VertiGO.

[Aceattack52]

The last 3 days (4/5/2013-4/7/2013), the WindSeeker at Carownds was also ceasing to function. At times, they would raise the carriage and let it sit at the top for an hour or so, then allow it to come back down. They never had it rotate.

[Lareson]

Don't worry folks, hopefully these will be open by the end of the month. The one at Knott's is probably going to be the first one to open up, then Carowinds and Kings Dominion, with Kings Island, Cedar Point, Canada's Wonderland hopefully opening along with the parks. I know they've been getting the one at Cedar Point ready to go for opening day, but unsure if it will open by then. There's quite a bit they have to go through before it opens back up to guests, mainly state inspections, then the employee training. I'm assuming they're doing the maintenance training for the evac platform at this point.

 

Letting these $6mil rides go to waste would be very, very bad for Cedar Fair. With 6 of them across the chain, that's $36mil spent on these. Those that are thinking these are going to get taken out because of a small fault, nope, these 301ft towers will be staying in those park's skylines for a long time. It's not like anyone was physically injured or property was damaged. It was just a small fault that caused the ride to be "locked" at the top of the tower for an extended amount of time. You can say the media inflated the incident more than what it actually was.

 

I really do like the Windseekers, dangling up that high in the air, spinning at a nice pace, being able to get a nice view of the surrounding area. They're a nice break from riding coasters and high thrill rides.

[CpBluestreakCp]

I'm hoping they all reopen by the time Cedar Point opens for the season. I as well enjoy Windseekers; great views and a nice little break from coasters and other thrill rides.

 

I know they had been testing Cedar Point's as well. Before the webcams went down, you could see it going up and down the tower just as people are reporting about the ones at other parks in the chain.

[Jerome]

Although Cedar Fair decided to close all their windseekers. It was Cal-osha who closed Knott's windseeker. Even though they now have an evacuation system tested. They still need cal-osha to sign off on it.

[boughtontroy]

I LOVE WINDSEEKER. SO MUCH. I wish that KD's Windseeker will be open around next month.

[necoastergp]

I wish I got to ride CP's Windseeker more than once and at night, the view was awesome. I just couldn't resist another ride on Maverick.

[Aceattack52]

The Windseekr at Carowinds wasn't working last weekend. They were raising and lowering it and there was a maintenance guy sitting in the booth for most of the afternoon.

[Canobie Coaster]

I rode Kings Dominion's Windseeker last summer and really enjoyed it. I rode it at night and the views of the park with the lights on were astounding. Plus the height was quite the thrill. When I rode the Sky Screamer at Great Adventure and Flight at Martin's Fantasy Island, I didn't really enjoy them too much. The added height made a huge difference in my opinion, so hopefully Mondial can help these attractions run smoothly.

 

Though I have to ask- after what happened do you think another park will install a Windseeker?

[JonnyRCT3]

^

Probably a park with lots of Intamins.

[Coaster Curt]

If I am not mistaken the price for the first 4 Windseekers was 5 million and the last 2 were something like 6 million, still they will be around.

 

I am not a huge fan of Windseeker and this year visiting Kings Island and Cedar Point, I will not be riding Windseeker just because I have no interest in getting stuck at the top for a couple hours.

[Aceattack52]

^ How many times has it gotten stuck at the top? The only one I know of is the one at Carowinds.

[Coaster Curt]

^ How many times has it gotten stuck at the top? The only one I know of is the one at Carowinds.

 

 

There have been a few times, I think the one at Cedar Point has gotten stuck a couple, needless to say I am not even taking the slightest chance of getting stuck on top when visiting this year.

[Myself]

Though I have to ask- after what happened do you think another park will install a Windseeker?

 

I think it's safe to say Dorney Park *was* going to eventually get one, thanks to the redesigned area by Stinger, which includes a concrete circle that is the exact size of a Windseeker footprint, as well as space for a queue and an ops booth. I guess it depends on whether Cedar Fair decides the rides are worth enough after the trouble they've had to purchase any new ones.

 

I also remember hearing rumblings about Valleyfair and Worlds of Fun each possibly getting their own Windseeker before the problems started arising.

 

It's a shame, really. I enjoyed the CP ride, and when I was at KD on Sunday I did hear a lot of guests saying they wished it were open.

[Dinnwitted]

Though I have to ask- after what happened do you think another park will install a Windseeker?

 

I think it's safe to say Dorney Park *was* going to eventually get one, thanks to the redesigned area by Stinger, which includes a concrete circle that is the exact size of a Windseeker footprint, as well as space for a queue and an ops booth. I guess it depends on whether Cedar Fair decides the rides are worth enough after the trouble they've had to purchase any new ones.

 

I also remember hearing rumblings about Valleyfair and Worlds of Fun each possibly getting their own Windseeker before the problems started arising.

 

It's a shame, really. I enjoyed the CP ride, and when I was at KD on Sunday I did hear a lot of guests saying they wished it were open.

Wouldn't it be more logical for CGA to get one?

[BisonRugbyGuy]

If they did add one to Valleyfair, it would have to be shorter as they have a 275 ft. height limit on their rides.

[Myself]

I believe Dorney Park has a height ceiling below 300 feet as well...granted, the area that appears to be prepped for a Windseeker is in one of the lower areas of the park, but it would still need to be shortened.

 

Cedar Fair actually did have to shorten VF's Power Tower (pre-construction, of course) because it was originally proposed at 300 feet, so I imagine that they wouldn't have too much of a problem with having to shorten the Windseekers should they decide to add any more.

[Koasterking48]

Sub-300 ft Windseekers are totally possible. There was one that was originally part of the proposed Fun Spot expansion, but was cut in the long run. I definitely see Dorney being the next candidate if the Windseekers get up and running well.