Cedar Point's Skyhawk shutdown after less than a day after debut

More sad than if they didn't order the part at all? CP can't control when a mechanical part breaks, they inspect the rides and do what they can but sometimes things just break. I don't think its sad at all, they're doing what they must to keep their ride running.

What's sad is a new ride can't even last a week without a major breakdown.
I don't care if it's the engineering, design or parts. If I were CP, i'd be plenty angry, because regardless of the reason, it makes them look bad. Down time means bad press, and that usually means lower attendance.
Or am I wrong?

I wholeheartedly agree. It's a shame that most people automatically associate downtime with "it's CP's fault". Having worked at the park last year I know that people just can't accept that sometimes rides break due to circumstances beyond our control. People even complain when the weather is bad, but there is not much we can do about that either.

So FLYINGSCOOTER, you're definitely right that CP should be pissed when something breaks and they get the blame. The product that they purchased should definitely operate at CP's standards. I just wish that all those who get angry at the park would realize that it's not always the park's fault, they're doing the best they can.

On a side note, this kind of stuff almost always happens with a brand new ride. MF had its downtime, TTD had downtime (and still does), WT, Maxair, the list goes on. It's just a result of the advances in ride technology, as the rides get more complex so do their safety systems and the ride's sensitivity.

This is why I'm a little surprised that Intamin track has showed up near the park. After all of TTD and WT's issues I was pretty sure we would be seeing something from a different company.

Skyhawk is back in operation today.

And there you have it. As I mentioned in other topics, this ride is mechanically very similar to a drop tower, although I'm guessing it uses a hell of a lot more pressure, given the weight of the swings and the short distance of travel for the pistons compared to a tower. I doubt whatever the problem was will be a chronic problem.

All in all this was a minor bump in the road that people will forget. They should thank their lucky stars they didn't have to deal with something like what Kingda Ka is dealing with now (though they certain know it to a lesser extent with their Intamin break-down machine!)

I can't believe FOX 8 finds this newsworthy. So it broke down...it happens. Even the report about TTD, though it's got a storied past, made it seem like the were having a slow news day.

The shutdowns on TTD did seem very minor though, most of time it was probably down 10-15 minutes max. As for Skyhawk, glad I got to ride it early, even though it's problems seem small.

Maxair was down most of the day though, (I can't remember if it was running early in the day, or not). When we asked about it's state they were hosing it down. That sucked, I hadn't got to ride it yet, so I'll just have wait until our next trip up.

TTD is running its best very early in the season. In 03, 04, and 05 the ride had a few issues very early on. I'm not expecting 100%, but I'm positive it'll be its best season.

Skyhawk is a lot bigger than I thought. I just wish it was open on Monday.

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Floorless Fan said:
I can't believe FOX 8 finds this newsworthy. So it broke down...it happens. Even the report about TTD, though it's got a storied past, made it seem like the were having a slow news day.

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There's a difference if a new ride debuts and has occasional technical diffuculties and breaks down, but returns to operation the same day versus a new ride opening and shuts down the entire opening weekend and into the next week due to a piece of the ride that went bad and had to be ordered in and replaced. ;) That's what FOX 8 found newsworthy.

But like stated above, there's no fault in tie with Cedar Point. It just happened to happen, and sure, it may have been a horrible setback to have a new ride go down to many visitors to the 2006 season, but what can one do?

Just wanted to correct Swoosh: all three Knott's Soak City parks have the proslide tornado now. *** Edited 5/11/2006 2:22:00 PM UTC by Jazma***

Yesterday in the park Skyhawk, Maxair, and Dragster were all running very well in the morning.