Cedar Point, Wicked Twister and Capacity Issue
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I spun a bottle on the map to tell us which way to go....
...I'm with you there, DWeaver...nice yummy soft-serv
Dippin' Dots would only make the line seem longer...(ducking the incoming barrage..)
And leave it to CP to have enough ops...Deja Vu (SFoG)had two the day I was there, and one was CONSTANTLY busy trying to keep the Lo-Q and the "regular" guests from getting mixed in together...
bill, noting that DV also had a lovely phalanx-style seating arrangement that nicely complicated the whole loada/unload process...(but DID give a better view, IMO)...
*** This post was edited by rollergator on 3/8/2002. ***
Haven't a lot of other large parks added shuttles lately? Have any of them consitently run with 3 to 4 hour lines? I'm telling you guys, even if WT does have awful capacity (which is completely theoretical at the moment anyways) lines tend to level off at about 2 hours. That's just how it works. I'm having a hard time believing that a small bunch of enthusiasts knows more about coasters than the people that have lead CP to be the roller coaster capitol of the world.
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If the shoe fits, find another one.
Absimilliard: I totally disagree with most of what you said. To hit 1,000 pph, you're looking at an interval of 115 seconds. Take away the actual ride time and that leaves you with 55 seconds to do the business.
Assuming any kind of cooling period (given the duty cycle of the LIM's, and the fact that they're covered, not in the SoCal sun, unlike the Screamin' ride, I doubt cooling is an issue), I'm sure 55 seconds is plenty of time.
That's 55 seconds to get people on and off the ride. Watching S:UE, I timed that transaction to 32 seconds, which included various nonsense with shoes and carry-in objects (which you know Cedar Point isn't going to allow). It then took another minute for a very leisurely crew of two to check them all.
With a real crew, even with a slow moving S:UE guest shuffle, that leaves 23 seconds for each crew member to check 5 or 6 restraints.
Piece of cake. They'll hit it.
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"
not a single person answered my original question on whether or not they think Cedar Point will use some sort of ticketing system to alleviate some of the waiting that will occur for this ride.
WAIT !! one person did. my fault
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"Looks like you've been missing quite a bit of work lately"
"Well, I wouldn't say I've been MISSING it, Bob."
*** This post was edited by jdancisin on 3/8/2002. ***
Jeff, to hit a 1000, you need a dispatch every 1 minute and 55 seconds. Take away the 40 seconds ride, time to get everyone out the loading platform, allow the others on the train, lower the harness, buckle the seatbelts, check all harnesses, get every op at his "clear" button, then, the launch can finally go. Now, add a slow guest (there's one per 2 cycles by average) and you'll not get your 1 minute 55 seconds dispatch.
We are not talking a harness only sitdown looper. Like you said before with Iron Dragon, you only need to pull the harness. On an Inverted, you need to push, then check the seatbelts, which slows down thing a little. Also, I'm thinking assigned seating will be in order on it, as its going to avoid 26-28 guests trains, which is important if you want to hit a 1000 guests per hour. Also, I hope CP ordered a moving floor for the station...
While Wicked Twister will most certainly have longer lines and understandably lower rider volume, there are enough other great rides at Cedar Point to help diffuse park guests. And I agree with what Mamoosh and others have said, there ARE some good things to standing in line - if we all hated it so much we wouldn't be going to parks at all.
Whenever I've gone to Six Flags WOA (which has a similar impulse coaster), I've sometimes waited 45 minutes for Superman:UE. While this is a long time (granted, for MF it would be nothing), there was a certain amount of fun to standing there watching the SHEER TERROR on the faces of those unsuspecting riders who don't know what they're in for (a similar look can be found on first time riders of many S&S tower rides). This can be really fun, and is quite effective at burning those all-vital potential coaster-riding minutes that we spend in a line.
And, if there is a line, so what? At least we know Cedar Point has added another winner to their growing list.
So that's my opinion, for what it's worth.
Thank you, Ophthodoc. I can't give you all of the numbers, but I know that CP will handle the crowd capacity. As others have said, CP now has so many "big attraction" roller coasters that the volumes should diffuse nicely. I can honestly say that after watching the Magnum crew hit a perfect interval every time, I think CP can train a new crew to be able to do it on a shuttle coaster. Bear in mind that some people will be scared away from the vertical towers(my brother, for one), and that people will still be rushing for Millennium Force. Basically, we have to accept that there will be long lines on WT, but with all of these other factors, I don't think that we will see 3 hr.+ waiting times.
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"This feels like walking into pins and needles. Nice to Know You.
Goodbye."-Incubus
*** This post was edited by Craig the Coaster Freak on 3/8/2002. ***
Absimilliard: It doesn't take that much longer to check an inverted restraint as compared to a sitdown. I've checked an inverted restraint at least a few thousand times, it's not that hard.
Like Jeff said, it's not going to be much of a problem to hit intervals. Of course there's going to be the slow guests, but that can be handled. I'm on the Wicked Twister crew, and I've talked to a few others. We're gonna be working as hard as we can to keep hitting intervals. I'm out to prove an impulse can have decent capacity. Give us a week or two to get into the rythym, and we'll do fine.
Concerning the Ticket to Ride, I don't really favor it. I heard about the headaches it caused on Millennium Force, and I'd hate to see that happen again. Unless it's a better system, I say no thanks.
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"Hey, cool my voice is on the lift!"
2002 Wicked Twister Crew
That's what I like to see... the ride isn't even finished and you've got that kind of attitude on behalf of the crew. Ride pride strikes again, this time in pre-season!
Absimilliard: You just listed everything I did, only I accounted for every second. It can be done. It doesn't matter if it's inverted. The same number of seats are checked on Raptor, an inverter, with fewer ride ops, and they need to go between cars to check the inner seats (which won't be a problem on this ride), all in less time than we're talking about.
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"
Do I want them to use a system? Haaaaail No!
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Sept. 11th 2001, Slayer released God Hates Us All. The song "Disciple" uncannily describes the events of that day, as well as the anthrax letters that followed.
--Slayer: Thrash band, or the next Nostradamus?
Alright my daily two cents:
If coasters did not have lines, it would be lame. I would go to parks and ride the coasters a few dozen times, and it would get LAME. I probably would not visit the park again for a long time as well.
Take this offseason for example. The first time every one of us steps onto a coaster after months of cold nasty off-season, its going to be one of the greatest rides of the summer, no matter what coaster it is.
The problem is while this ride hits capacity, its going to be great. The second somone shows up, and the line is Hour and a half - two hours, we're going to be see'ing tons of threads "WT HAS BAD CAPACITY" Blah blah blah blah blah. If you don't want to wait in line, then don't go. That simple.
ravenguy98 said:
Haven't a lot of other large parks added shuttles lately? Have any of them consitently run with 3 to 4 hour lines? I'm telling you guys, even if WT does have awful capacity (which is completely theoretical at the moment anyways) lines tend to level off at about 2 hours. That's just how it works. I'm having a hard time believing that a small bunch of enthusiasts knows more about coasters than the people that have lead CP to be the roller coaster capitol of the world.
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If the shoe fits, find another one.
Yeah, the normal wait for Face off is between 1-2hrs on just about any day, Meanwhile SOB, VOrtex and Beast are 15-20 minutes.
Chuck, who only rides Face off first thing or during gold pass ert.
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Charles Nungester
167 coasters and hopes to be over 200 by the end of 2002 :)
Until I read the thread that linked to Natalie's post on GTTP, I had no idea the CP ride ops were THAT tight. To keep their crews busting butt they way they've done on every visit I've made, it really shouldn't have been surprising. The only times I've seen crews work like that was SRM and PPP, and we're talking about special events at smaller parks...
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It must be March, the Madness is setting in (taking vacation time to watch NCAAs instead of coasting)!
We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams...
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