Posted
[Ed. note: The following is an unedited press release. -J]
Cedar Point announced today that the opening of Maverick, the park’s 17th roller coaster, will be delayed until early June to make modifications to the coaster’s steel track.
The Media Preview of Maverick scheduled for Thursday, May 10 has been cancelled. The ride will not be in operation on Opening Day.
The decision to delay the opening of Maverick was based on pre-opening tests and consultation with IntaRide, the manufacturer of the ride. Based on these discussions, it has been determined that three sections of steel track following the launch tunnel should be replaced.
“We apologize to all of our guests for this inconvenience,” said John Hildebrandt, vice president and general manager of Cedar Point. “This decision was made in the interest of improving the guest experience on the ride and to eliminate excessive stress on the trains.”
The modification process is already underway and the park hopes to open the ride by early June.
It will open a little late, NOT A RARITY for a new rollercoaster.
In the end, the ride will be better (well, hopefully) and more reliable. Are we all lawyers now? Look at the EXTREME FIASCO that was Magnum XL-200 back in '89. Anyone remember that? All those broken noses, hurt backs, and for holy hoohaas sake, no underwheels!
Intamin is a great coaster firm, and I think build the best steel coasters around. Yeah, B&M's are more reliable, but they are all basically the same (I think Great Bear is the best and most unique beemer I've been on).
So anyway, has GCI started the design for CPs compact, dueling, 6-train woodie with 4 tunnels on each side, station fly bys and thrus?
B&M's Rides are great and more reliable
It seems that Intamin's rides have less reliable than B&Ms but the same because of Intamins ride design.
Give me a break. Volcano had to run an entire season with half the seats missing before they could get it working right. Kingda Ka had a major breakdown resulting in severe track damage that shut the ride down for an extended amount of time. Several impulse coasters had to have additional supports added. Superman at SFDL and Superman at SFNE have BOTH had riders fall out of the train. The brakes failed on Superman at SFNE. The lift chain on SFA's Superman has broke several times. Stealth had a major breakdown shortly after it opened. Oh, and then there's those minor incidents on Perilous Plunge and Hydro where people were ejected and KILLED.
But yeah, I'm sure all of that is Cedar Point's fault for pushing Intamin too far. (rolls eyes)
- Aaron K
(edit - changed SFA to SFDL - thanks Intamin Fan!)
*** This post was edited by ColumbusCoaster 5/9/2007 9:55:07 PM ***
*** This post was edited by Twistercoasterman 5/9/2007 11:23:51 PM ***
IntaRide however is located in the USA and I am pretty sure that they manufacture the track there as well. There must be a reason after all that they call it Intaride so prominently.*** This post was edited by tricktrack 5/9/2007 11:46:53 AM ***
super7* said:
The blame lies slightly with Cedar Fair also..............they want everything to be sensationalistic and prototype at Cedar Point. Bigger, faster, etc. instead of building moderate rides with successful technology.
From dictionary.com:
pro·to·type noun, verb -typed, -typ·ing.
–noun 1. the original or model on which something is based or formed.
Let's see...
Raptor - not the first B&M invert, so not a prototype
Mantis - not the first B&M stand-up, so not a prototype
Power Tower - not the first S&S multi-tower, so not a prototype
Millennium Force - first "giga" but essentially just a bigger hyper; not the first Intamin hyper, so not a prototype
Wicked Twister - not the first Intamin impulse, so not a prototype
Top Thrill Dragster - not the first Intamin rocket, so not a prototype
maXair - not the first Huss giant frisbee, so not a prototype
SkyHawk - not the first S&S Screamin' Swing, so not a prototype
So please, point out all of the prototypes they have built. Bigger and faster versions of existing rides are NOT prototypes. And with the exception of Dragster, all of those rides were built using successful technology. The only thing remotely prototypical is MF's cable lift, but that hardly makes the whole ride a prototype.
And what exactly does any of that have to with Maverick? You claim CF wants "everything to be sensationalistic and prototype at Cedar Point...instead of building moderate rides" yet completely ignore that (1.) Maverick is easily the most "moderate" coaster they have built in a long time, and (2.) it's in no way a prototype (see: California Screamin' - both have a launch and a simulated lift using LSMs).
super7* said:
Intamin is at fault for poor design and simply for their willingness to take on these prototype projects.
Once again, Intamin did NOT design the ride, Stengel did. Ingenieur Büro Stengel GmbH and Intamin are two separate companies. Stengel does the design and calculations, Intamin builds it. Coaster has a major mechanical malfunction - blame Intamin. Coaster needs to be modified before it ever opens because the forces are too great - blame Stengel.
- Aaron K
And where is this sudden desire to blame Stengel coming from? Stengel designs a lot of Intamin rides but he also designs a lot of B&M and Gerstlauer rides as well, and none of them have the problems that Intamin rides have. Furthermore, this Intamin ride is being sold to Cedar Point through IntaRide, therefore they are responsible for how things turn out, regardless of whether or not they are directly responsible. That's the burden of being a broker of any kind- you make a lot of money without getting your hands very dirty, but you also assume the blame if something goes wrong.
Think of it this way- if the stereo in your new car breaks, you don't go to Harman Kardon, Bose or Mark Levinson to pay for the repair, you go to the company that made the car by going to the dealer that sold you the car. Perhaps Lexus didn't make the stereo but they are responsible for it working right because it was installed in one of their cars.
Cedar Point does want everything to be sensationalistic- how else can you explain their constant quest to build the tallest, the fastest, etc.? Maverick doesn't make any strides to be the "-est" anything but Maverick is clearly the exception to the rule.
Exactly. So what does them building "-est" coasters in the past have anything to do with the problems of Maverick? They decide to build a regular old coaster that will not break any records, and when there is a major problem with it, we've got people trying to blame it on their past history of pushing the envelope. That makes no sense at all. If they were building a Scrambler this year and had major problems with it, would you bring up their history of pushing the envelope and say "That's what they get for always trying to build the tallest, the fastest, etc." Makes about as much sense when talking about Maverick.
And where is this sudden desire to blame Stengel coming from? Stengel designs a lot of Intamin rides but he also designs a lot of B&M and Gerstlauer rides as well, and none of them have the problems that Intamin rides have.
I really don't have a desire to blame anyone, I just think Intamin is getting bashed in this one particular instance when it might not be warranted. We're not talking about a structural or mechanical failure, we're talking about a design flaw or miscalculation, and I think that falls on the designer, not the manufacturer. Make no mistake, I'm well aware of all the problems Intamin's have had in the past (see my response to Coaster Lover) but those have all been mechanical, structural, or restraint design and would definitely make them responsible. I'm just trying to give them the benefit of the doubt in this case.
Think of it this way- if the stereo in your new car breaks, you don't go to Harman Kardon, Bose or Mark Levinson to pay for the repair, you go to the company that made the car by going to the dealer that sold you the car. Perhaps Lexus didn't make the stereo but they are responsible for it working right because it was installed in one of their cars.
Do you think the dealer or Lexus is going to spend a lot of time trying to fix a stereo that does not work? I'm talking there is something wrong with the stereo, not with the installation. I'm pretty sure they would just swap it out with a new one and send the faulty one back to Harmon Kardon, Bose, etc. for credit or a replacement. Just because the customer doesn't deal directly with the manufacturer doesn't mean it isn't their responsibilty. Same applies in Maverick's case. CP may go to Intamin first, but if the heartline needs to be modified or removed, Intamin probably has to go back to Stengel for the new design.
- Aaron K
Do I think that a Lexus dealer is going to spend a lot of time trying to fix a stereo that doesn't work? Are you serious? Do you honestly think someone that dropped 50 large on a Lexus is going to say to the dealer, "It's okay that the stereo doesn't work, I know you gave it your best shot so I'll just drive in silence." Hell, people that buy cars costing 1/5th as much are going to put up a huge fight over anything about their new car not working properly. And no one is going to go to the dealer and ask the service technician for Bose's toll-free number- they're going to expect the dealer to get the problem solved, and chances are they're not going to care how it's done, as long as it's done. Customers don't want to deal with a myriad of companies when trying to get a problem resolved- they pay someone to do it for them, and expect that everything will work out in the end. It's why people go to Ford and buy a Mustang rather than building their own muscle cars.
Now the chainlift thing, that is correct. It broke two chainlifts, and Jeff was on S:ROS at SFA the first time it happened.
Going back to Volcano the Blast Coaster, in the 'you think Cedar Point is having problems department,' VtBC didn't open up until August! It opened up with only half the seats and the park admitted (someone correct if I'm wrong) that they didn't have enough power the first year to properly launch it and Flight of Fear. This is obviously why that guy from several months ago mentioned he (or someone he knew) was installing a dedicated power line for Steel Venom from Geauga Lake. Volcano has been running like a champ though ever since.
If anyone would like to file a protest or picket outside of the North American headquarters, they are located in Glen Burnie, MD, about 1/2-hour from SFA. If you've ever been upset about all the crap that has happened with the Premier coasters (like last year), another fifteen minutes or so and you're at their headquarters. And if ever hated Gerstlauer or S&S, from SFA, it would take you about thirty-minutes (maybe a little bit more) to get to their North American distributor. I'm just kidding of course.
If there is a problem with the ride that prevents it from opening when the park expected (and likely advertised), there is blame to be placed and as the ride's manufacturer/broker, Intamin/IntaRide are the ones to blame. They messed up. There's no way around that.
You questioned earlier why the desire to blame Stengel but you certainly seem hell-bent on blaming Intamin.
What exactly did Intamin mess up? Working with CP? Working with Stengel? Building the ride per Stengel's specs? I think what you are failing to grasp is I'm trying to discuss who's originally responsible for the problem, NOT who CP will go to in order to get the problem fixed. Of course CP will go to Intamin, that's who they bought the ride from! CP probably doesn't care if it's Intamin's or Stengel's fault they just want the ride fixed. But see, I do not work for CP, this is not a CP-owned website, and I actually DO have in an interest in who is ultimately responsible for what happened.
Do I think that a Lexus dealer is going to spend a lot of time trying to fix a stereo that doesn't work? Are you serious? Do you honestly think someone that dropped 50 large on a Lexus is going to say to the dealer, "It's okay that the stereo doesn't work, I know you gave it your best shot so I'll just drive in silence."
Wow, could you have possibly mis-interpreted what I said any more??? Go back and read my post again. I did and cannot for the life of me figure out how you came up with your response. What I said was the dealer was not going to spend a lot of time trying to fix a stereo that was mechanically defective, they would simply remove the bad one, install a new one, and the customer would be on their way. Then the dealer would send the defective one back to the manufacturer for a replacement or a credit. Not once did I say or even remotely imply that the dealer would not help the customer.
You seem to only be focusing on the customer's perspective -- CP going to Intamin to get a problem fixed, car customer going to the dealer to get a problem fixed. No one is arguing that's what happens. But that's never the whole story. In the car analogy, once the car dealer has replaced the defective stereo and the customer is happy, the story doesn't just end there. It might for the customer, but the dealer will still go back to the stereo manufacturer to get compensated. In the case of Maverick, I'm looking at it as an interested third party with no stake in what happens, while you seem to be adopting the view of CP.
ColumbusCoaster, I have to make a correction on something you said earlier. No one has ever fallen out of SFA's Superman. That was Darien Lake's version, which is before any seatbelts where added.
Oops, you're absolutely right, thanks for pointing that out. I went back and edited my previous post.
- Aaron K
There is a price for pushing the envelope...
Raptor - not the first B&M invert, so not a prototype
Mantis - not the first B&M stand-up, so not a prototype
Power Tower - not the first S&S multi-tower, so not a prototype
Millennium Force - first "giga" but essentially just a bigger hyper; not the first Intamin hyper, so not a prototype
Wicked Twister - not the first Intamin impulse, so not a prototype
Top Thrill Dragster - not the first Intamin rocket, so not a prototype
maXair - not the first Huss giant frisbee, so not a prototype
SkyHawk - not the first S&S Screamin' Swing, so not a prototype"
I disagree with the above statement. In a biography of the history of Arrow, Karl Bacon [in reference to Magnum] said that adding ten feet to a coaster doesn't double your problem, it makes it exponential. Clearly 1989 was a different year than 2000 and beyond, but I still wouldn't take away the "prototype" label from Millennium or Dragster. Both are absolute engineering feats and just the shear height makes them a prototype as they were surely copied by their successors.
I would encourage you guys to get the whole truth before pointing the finger. I realize it's frustrating, trust me.. it is for me to. I'm making my first trip to CP ever on Monday and was really looking forward to riding Maverick. Life goes on. I don't think we have the whole truth yet, so make your judgments as things unfold.
Thanks for reading,
Ryan
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