Concerning weather related ride/coaster closures
-----------------
Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like bananas.
-----------------
Anyone for any orgy in the snoopy bounce?
It depends upon the characteristics of each ride. Most importantly how well it stops in the rain. Also,getting caught out on the other end of the ride circuit when it really begins to pour can result in a painful experience. That is something that management tries to avoid. We haven't even begun to talk about the possiblity of electrocution. Though remote, it has happened.
Generally speaking if it isn't lightning then there's some kind of breaking issue. I've been on Cedar Point's Power Tower in the strongest of downpours. At the same time, pretty much anything that uses kicker wheels to move a train around is going to be down for the count because they don't work when they're wet.
-----------------
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"
a) Friction drives do not work well when wet. This means virtually all European coasters will have problems in the rain.
b) Optical block sensors sometimes don't work properly in the rain. Frequently used on older coasters.
c) Skid brakes don't work well in the rain.
d) Passengers don't like rain.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Heck, if rain closed rides in Florida's theme parks every time, no one would go to any of the parks during the summer! :)
When I was at BGT last fall, a late-afternoon thunderstorm started threatening the park. The first ride to close was the Skyride. It closed a good hour before the first rains started to fall. I think it was a half hour later before we noticed that the Kumba was shut down, and as we made our way toward the exit, the Montu was already closed as well. But I've also seen those same rides stay open when it was just a brief rain or sun-shower, because those are quite frequent here in Florida.
Rideman, your knowledge always freaks me out, but you are right!
Brian, were you there to ride Superman :UF, or did you just hear about it?
----------------
Ethyl ~ tripowered for maximum pleasure
*** This post was edited by nasai on 4/16/2002. ***
I'll ride in the rain, it makes woodies better..... Lightning, however, is a frequent problem here in the "Lightning Capital of the World" (dubbed by the Weather Channel). Rides always close for that, and it's a GOOD thing...
Oh, and Brian, read my extende response to the TR!
-----------------
Any resemblance between this post and humor is purely coincidental. No robots were harmed in the filming of this episode...The sarcasm filter default has been left ON for your enjoyment.
*** This post was edited by rollergator on 4/16/2002. ***
Rob! Where have you been man?? ;) You didn't check out my TR from Sunday?? Shame on you! :)
Oh and Bill, yeah I did. Thanks for not tearing me a new one. I'm generally a huge fan of Mr. Blackhead's coasters, especially the shuttles (*sniffle* Viper *sniffle*), but I dunno. It just wants on it's game I guess. I dunno.
Supposedly, Viper's still in storage in the employee parking lot I heard from an ACEr there.
-----------------
Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like bananas.
-------------
The word "definitely" is definitely the most misspelled word on the buzz.
At SFGAm the weather policies vary from cosater to coaster. General policies are as follows.
All the Coasters are High Profile Rides, as well as Sky Trek Tower and Giant Drop and will go down if lightning is within 2 miles (10 seconds from flash to thunder) Most will operate with 2 or 3 trains in light rain. Eagle has a wind requirement.
-----------------
Your village called. They're missing their idiot.
I will second (or "third") the lightning factor.
Last year while at Hersheypark, we were in Comet hollow and noticed that Great Bear, Comet, sooperdooperlooper and Skyview (skyride) had stopped running. We asked an employee at the entrance to the looper and he said "we close down all ariel rides when radar detects lightning in a certain radius" (he did not state the radius, or else I just don't remember). At that time it was not raining (though it had been raining on and off during the day).
This past weekend at Springtime in the Park, they kept all coasters that were scheduled to be open running during the rain... though they only ran one train (not sure if it was because of the light crowds or for safety factor... wet breaks etc).
Brian, reading said TR as we speak.....:)
............I have been around..............
---------------
Let's Rock ~ maximum pleasure? You betcha!
NoClueWhy said:
i work at dorney...our weather procedures are: close all coasters when lightning is within 2 miles....the wild mouse and the laser with close inn just rain because the breaks do not work properly when they get wet....the other coaster can be closed in just rain at the operators discression...if we think the rain may hurt riders we will shut the ride down...we ussally close off the front seat of the talon in any moderite rain-----------------
Anyone for any orgy in the snoopy bounce?
At Lagoon, In Rain, we do not close our coasters unless they are traveling through the system too fast. We have two almost Identical Rides as above, Fire Dragon, a Schwarzkopf Double Looping with Extra Trackway curve, and our Wild Mouse, the First Maurer & Soehne Wild Mouse in the USA, #0014.
Fire Dragon has no problem Braking in the Rain, in fact, the only issues we have with Dragon in the Rain is the Push Motors lose some Traction.
Wild Mouse at Lagoon used to have a "Wet" and "Dry" setting for the Trim Brakes on the Operator Control Panel, until 2000, when the Manufacturer Installed a new Automatic Trim Brake System, which Changed Trim Brake 1's Home Position to Open. Wild Mouse now Changes from "Wet" to "Dry" Automatically. Does Dorney's Wild Mouse have a similar Trim Brake System? If the rain is very heavy, and the Ride "Blows," we do Close it.
-----------------
Salt Lake City, Utah. Host City of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games - Light The Fire Within!
Lagoon Park...A New Prototype Coaster for 2003?
I have seen SFA close down SROS in a deluge. This may be due to the drive tires going into the station. Or it may have been the incompatibility between riders eyes and faces with large rain rain drops.
At the sam time Roar was Roaring. In a blinding downpour we got two incredible rides. The first one was in the front row and gave a whole new meaning to the term "wet ride". The second was in the last row and featured air time that in one or two spots exceeded even Phoenix.
After that we had to give our faces a rest.
NoClueWhy said:
i work at dorney...our weather procedures are: close all coasters when lightning is within 2 miles....the wild mouse and the laser with close inn just rain because the breaks do not work properly when they get wet....the other coaster can be closed in just rain at the operators discression...if we think the rain may hurt riders we will shut the ride down...we ussally close off the front seat of the talon in any moderite rain-----------------
Anyone for any orgy in the snoopy bounce?
Just 2 miles?? That seems awfully close.
Lightning has been known to strike miles in front of the main part of a storm. It's infrequent, but it's not undocumented.
But, hey, what do I know? :)
-----------------
~~~ M ~~~
In life you start the same as when you're done. If you lose, you're just where you've begun. If you win, remember what I said, don't quit while you're ahead. Who cares?
I was told once by a ride op at Worlds of Fun, that if they visibly see lighting, that they stop the coasters and large rides until they haven't seen any lightning for 30 min. Don't know if it's true or not, just what I was told.
-------------
Current favorite coasters:
Wooden: 1) Beast 2) Raven 3) Son of Beast 4) The Boss 5) Timber Wolf
Steel: 1) Raging Bull 2) Millennium Force 3) V2 4) Wild Thing 5) Mr. Freeze
Visit: http://www.dynamicgroove.com
You must be logged in to post
