Jumbo Jet....what was it like?

I'm hoping some of you "mature" readers can help me out. Alas, I wasn't tall enough to ride the Jumbo Jet before CP tore it down....

What was it like?

Doug *** This post was edited by Doug Rowe on 9/25/2000. ***

My dad worked at CP for a summer in the late 70's. He said the Jumbo Jet was a pain in the rear to test run in the mornings because it would always roll back and the employees would all have to go and push it up the hills. As for the ride, it supposedly was very fast and intense, with a lot of fast, jolting turns.

I was just on a Jumbo Jet at Coney Island a few weeks ago. The lifthill is a spiral and the cars have a motor to power them up it. The layout is similar to a Jet Star with sharply banked turns and a few decient drops. You sit in tandem like a Jet Star as well. I also noticed the cars could be coupled together to make a train instead of running single cars. For its age it's not a bad ride.

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Parks Hit For 2000! PKD, BGW,DP,HP,PKI,HW,SFKK,SFA,GAdv,SFNE,LC,GE,QP,CDP,LP,KG,SFO,WG,GE,KW,IW,WL,

The Jumbo Jet at Cedar Point ran with two car trains.When I worked there in the early 70's they would ask for volunteers to break it in before the park open for the season. You would spend the better part of the day on it while the mechanics tweaked it. It is COLD on the Point in May, especially in the morning. This would cause all kinds of commotion when a train would go half way up the spiral,stall, kick the breakers out and then start rolling back down. Ah, the good old days!

If you're interested, there are some photos here:
http://www.guidetothepoint.com/thepoint/gallery/default.asp?section=historical

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

"Mature" buzzers? WE appreciate the 'kind' words of the youngsters on this site!!!

Jumbo Jet, my favorite ride in the 70's. I grew to 4 feet 11 and 15/16 of an inch for a ride in its last season. I loved it. I rode with my uncle who held onto me for dear life.
You spiralled to the top, then down it came into a hard banked turn, then it basically repeated itself a couple of times. My favorite part was the helix in the middle of the coaster and the helix heading into the brakes. It was the fastest thing at the park and well worth the wait in the 70's.
The problems: A sprinkle would appear from the clouds and close it down for the day. Any moisture and the ride would close. But, overall, just a great ride.

Thanks for the "stroll down amnesia lane".


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There's nothing like a woodie...

Yes, the Jumbo Jet was a great ride. You sat in cars like the Bayern Kurve cars. I was tall enough to ride for each of the years it was there. One of my favorite CP sounds was the sound you would hear as you were getting ready to board the car and one of the other cars would come screaming down the hill.
As has been mentioned before it seems the Jumbo Jet was a Jumbo headache for the maintenance department.
The Jumbo Jet had a different lift up the spiral..magnetic(?). I beleive this system was the root of most of the problems with the ride.
Ah but what a ride....

Gee, I guess I'm the only one here who thought that the Jumbo Jet was boring and I haven't missed it since it was removed.

Jumbo Jet is very intense, and the seatbelts are pretty much non exsisent. Banking turns and lots of skin being pulled on your face. Ride the one at Coney Island, but DO NOT look down at all the spare parts in the grass and weeds, and DO NOT look at the trailers that the staff sleeps in during the season.