CP 5-14 day of breakdowns

i was kinda dissapointed with this trip to CP. Overall quality of the park was not up to par yet.

The day started with season pass picture takeing, that was a 2 hour wait. Then off to wicked twister, no line, so then we deiced to hit TTD. we 'thought' we saw it run, but no one cared to tell us they just cycled it a few times with people to film a comerical, we wait just over 2 hours, it cycles about 3 times for the commerical and then we get out of line. We decided to do magnum next, but its down and its Q is from the station all the way out into the midway. So next up is gemini. 2 train op gave us a 30 min wait for gemini. We then headed to raptor(wanted to change clothes back at the car) i must give a nod to the raptor ops, they were the only competent ops the whole day, who had a pleasent attitude and had the fastest moveing line! Raptors MCBR is turned off, no trims at all, it is very intense, and probbly one of the best rides in the park now!

Finally after raptor it was about 4pm, we head over to MF, but it seems to be either down or just running VERY slow so we decided to wait out TTD instead, it seemed to be able to run about 5 times without breaking down, we finally got on at 8.30, 41\2 hour wait, i have NO idea how CP is going to operate this thing during the weekends without 7 or 8 hour lines!

The problem with dragster seemed to be a computer glitch. The computer cannont determine the location of the train it gets 'lost' when its trying to travel the blocks. Because they are running an odd number of trains the computer is getting confused. Many times the train will sit in the 2nd to last set of retractable brakes, and then the comp will drop down every set of breaks and lift them up quickly 1 by 1, it seems to be trying to 'un stuck' the train to get it trip a proxy so that the computer can determine where the train is. This is what caused the frequent 'break downs' every 20 min or so, i hope they get this working by memorial day weekend. Ooh yea for anyone who cares iorn dragon broke down and they actually had to remove the people from both lifts.

Overall the day wasent so great, dident get many rides in, and most of the ops seemed to be having a bad day, plus the fact that we waited over 6 hours for dragster, it is amazing, but 6 hours is excessive, and CP needs to do something about all the people jumping on railings, line jumping, smokeing, public urination...Possibly some crowd control inside the 'pit' of dragster, or else they may find riots this summer.

WOW! It is hard to imagine having a mediocre day at Cedar Point let alone a terrible one. It seems to me that the lines for Dragster are going to be ridiculous no matter when you go. Public urination??? You cannot be serious...

------------------
Democrats talk about getting things done. Republicans GET things done.

The dude infront of me pissed in a bottle because he dident want to give up his line spot, thats another thing, they should really have ops 'roaming' the freeway entrance telling people they can get a pass to go to the bathroom, or offering guets who dont have any people with them to hold their spot in line.

Yea, for some reason this day just dident do it for me, it seemed like 'nobody cared'

Sorry man. I certainly hope they get some things worked out on the rides before I go in June. I have been waiting too long for this trip for it to be shot to hell like what happened to you today.

------------------
Democrats talk about getting things done. Republicans GET things done.
*** This post was edited by Jaisen15 5/15/2003 12:25:22 AM ***

I stopped in for an hour (3:30-4:30) and I managed two Raptor rides, 3 corkscrew rides, and one ride on Iron Dragon, WildCat, and Blue Streak. I saw the TTD queue was huge, and since I only had an hour I didn't wait. It was nice to see all five trains running. What ever happened to the sixth?

------------------
CBClub member #30 and #364 (renewal)

They have had roaming ops doing exactly what you said, even confronting smokers and line jumpers both times I was there. Must have just been a collective bad day dude, cause all the problems you mentioned need fixing were being attended to when I've been there this year.

------------------
"You know we got a good thing goin and I don't wanna see it end" --Reel Big Fish
-- Brett

Hope this changes.....I'm flying out of St. Louis today at 3pm and hitting CP Friday and Saturday. Was it just delays or was it pretty crowded for a mediocre weather Wednesday on the 14th? Hoping for less computer glitches and decent weather for my first CP trip in 3 years and probably for the next 3.

Dale

---

joe. said:
It was nice to see all five trains running. What ever happened to the sixth?

---

The yellow train is taking a short "vacation" after pre-season testing issues. It's supposed to make a return in a few weeks.

------------------
James Draeger
-in search of a new signature

One of several not so positive trip reports for CP while almost all WoA reports so far have been very positive. What's going on? It's like we are in some alternate universe..

dale: the weather was awesome, it was sunny, i wore a t shirt the whole day, and a hoodie after 5 so it was really a nice day. the park was DEAD. I mean corckscrew was running with 1 - 2 riders per train, iorn dragon was running empty. Raptors line was only 5 min. but some ride teams could not keep it together, i was really dissa pointed the ride ops on wicked twister were not being 'fun' it was just '3..2..1..launch' every time.

Another reason TTD cycles so slow is the ops, i cant blame them directly but thoes retarded intamin seat belts people cant figure out, so it takes quite some time to check each train and in addition to stapleing you, they have to PULL on your seat belt, i mean they yank it, costing time. My friend who is an engineer could barly figure his seat belt, and noted ditchpath times would be much faster if they had a more simple latch.

Just one last thing, i woke up with mesquitoe bites all over me... on areas of my body where i was COVERED the whole day(legs and chest) what gives?!

Hmmmmm, sounds like you had quite a different day than we did. Rode MF 20 minute wait and a Freeway stamp. Mantis, 25 minutes because one train had to be hosed down and dried. One Mean Streak ride no wait. CCMR, no wait. Magnum 15 minute wait. 3 hour wait for TTD (because of a 2 hour break down.) WT, 20 minute wait. Raptor 5 minute wait, DT no wait. Blue Streak no wait. PT 10 minutes to be shot up. All the ride ops were doing a good job on all the rides we rode. We had a great day!

BTW, there were signs out front that said the Top Thrill Dragster may open later in the day.
*** This post was edited by loriu 5/15/2003 9:14:54 PM ***
*** This post was edited by loriu 5/15/2003 11:47:00 PM ***

TTD crew sucks if you ask me. Part of it is not their fault which is understandable. The seat belt thing and waiting for the hydraulics but I also noticed that if they need to unlock one of the trains in the station, they have to unlock both. MF crew also sucks. For what should've been a 10 minute wait was 20 minutes. The Raptor and Magnum crews are great though. Kudos to them and their efforts. CP employee's are not as good as everyone seems to rave. Some are very good and some are very bad. But hey that happens everywhere.

TTD was made to run with six trains- 2 in the brake position, 2 in the pre launch position (station) and 2 in the launch position. When they only run 5 trains, they have to wait for the sixth train position to launch without a train then reset and reload- also, if the 2nd train for some reason takes too long to move into launch, the computer shoots without it and then they have to take the trains on and off the track to rearrange them back into order since they for some reason cant just move the train up and reshoot.(this happened the day i went)

------------------
AHHHHHHHH!

I went on Wednesday as well (I will have a full trip report up shortly), and noticed some of the same problems. I too got caught in a TTD breakdown, which turned what would have been a 1 hr. 15 min. wait, into a 3 hr. wait. But I got to ride in the front which at least salvaged some of the situation for me. At the time I got off the ride, it was 3:00, and I had only rode TTD, MF 2 times, and PT up once, and down once. I too thought this would go down as one of worst trips to CP I'd made. However, before I left at just after 8:00, I was able to ride: Raptor, WT, Mantis, Wildcat, Blue Streak, Iron Dragon, Magnum, Gemini, Mine Ride, Mean Streak, DT, halfway around on the train, a number of flats, and 2 final times on the MF to close out the day. So in the end, I actually thought it was one of the better trips I've made. I do have to agree though that they need to do something about the frequency of breakdowns on the TTD, as I noticed a number of other times of inaction throughout the day after I had gotten off. Just thought I'd throw in my two cents from the day. Take care all.

---

LTLWcbYbe said:
TTD crew sucks if you ask me. Part of it is not their fault which is understandable. The seat belt thing and waiting for the hydraulics but I also noticed that if they need to unlock one of the trains in the station, they have to unlock both. MF crew also sucks. For what should've been a 10 minute wait was 20 minutes. The Raptor and Magnum crews are great though. Kudos to them and their efforts. CP employee's are not as good as everyone seems to rave. Some are very good and some are very bad. But hey that happens everywhere.

---

Since most of the TTD and MF crew are my friends (and co-workers) I am highly offended by that remark. ANY ride crew is only as good as the ride allows them to be. You seem to forget that the park has only been open alittle over 2 weeks, at least be fair in giving the new members of the crews some time to get used to the job. TTD is not without mechanical issues, maybe you don't remember what a nightmare MF was in '00? Same issues. Give TTD time, remembering it IS the FIRST ride of it's kind and takes time to get it running like it's supposed to. So please don't point fingers at any ride crews unless YOU have been a part of the crew and KNOW exactly what the job is, and what the ride requirements are. In retrospect then can the Mantis crew say the guests suck because they can't listen to simple instructions and they cause non-stop stacking?

joe. asked "what ever happened to the 6th train
It is back in Switzerland getting repaired

My daughter and I were at the park on Wednesday as well and had an AWESOME day which you can read all about on GTTP here:
http://guidetothepoint.com/cpplace.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=11926

Me defending the rude remarks here has NOTHING to do with my devotion to CP-truly. I will be the 1st one to blame no intervals on rides (Dorney, SFGrtAdv) on the crews but that was simply NOT the case at CP Wednesday. We had a ball!! :)

Jo
2000/2002 Raptor Crew
Lifetime Raptor flights: 717 :) (goin for 1k in '03!)
Dragster drags: 6 :)
------------------
It's all about getting around the barrels or over the fences, right leads, no faults, fastest time and still looking pretty when done. What's so hard about that? :)

For all those saying that the reason the ride is running so slow is because it was set for 6 trains or it's "losing track"..

You're wrong.. trust me.. not even wrong but totally off base as to the problems. They are being worked out as fast as possible. This is one of the most complex rides ever made, with over 3000 prox and limit switches.. it's gonna take some time.

As Jo said.. a crew is only as good as it's ride will allow it to be. The crew is dealing with a machine like no one has ever seen, and they are doing the best they can. If oyu only knew the hours some of those kids are pulling, adn the season really isn't even underway yet...\

Cut them some slack.. think you can do better.. sign up and work here this summer..

..God I can't believe I agreed with Jo ;)

------------------
June 11th, 2001 - Gemini 100
VertiGo Rides - 82
Technical Services - 2002-2003
Frightzone Screamster - 2002-2003

I actually thought the TTD crew was doing quite well on Wednesday. They had our train and the one in front of us checked and ready before we could even move forward to the launch area.

I think anything negative you read about the park comes from people who fail to realize that Dragster alone does not make the park. I went yesterday, and while Dragster's line was long following the commercial shoot, so what? I didn't wait for anything else in the park. I rode Magnum with three other people on the train! I had a great time and even got a couple of games on the new DDR Extreme in the main arcade!

Those crews certainly don't suck either. They're hitting as close to interval as they can. Rob is right, whatever you think you know about Dragster's problems is probably wrong. I had a chat with People Who Know(TM) yesterday to find there are a number of minor problems they're still working out, that collectively slow things down. They're all being worked out.

For example, did you know that in another week or two they'll be moving the trains in pairs (like Millennium Force)? They've been doing it on MF for years, and their logic programmer will likely have no problem doing it there.

Cut them a little slack... the world's tallest, fastest coaster is going to have long lines under any conditions. Get used to it.

------------------
Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"Pray that your country undergoes recovery!" - KMFDM

As I read all of these comments, feelings of "deja vu" came over me. Seems to me we heard all of these last summer when Xcellarator was having it's teething problems.

I'd like to give the TTD crew a vote of confidence too. I know they're dealing with a lot of little problems with the ride that are really out of their control. Most of the people working that ride are familiar faces. The ATL (Nancy) has worked at Magnum the last two seasons and I think she'll do a fine job. Mike from Magnum '02 is also over there along with someone I recognized from Gemini. The point is that these people probably care about their numbers, know how to run rides at high capacity, and want to get as many people on their ride as possible and are probably just as frustrated as some of the people waiting in line.

They've already taken care of the catch car taking 50 seconds to come back according to Rideman (it takes 31 now), they're taking care of the train movement issues now supposedly. It can only get better with a bit of time. Remember when MF opened? It was a few weeks before they were able to run three trains. Everyone knows that if any park is going to pull off a high capacity ride, it is CP. Look around the park at the other rides pushing through more people in an hour than most parks would in three. They'll get it right - I know it.

-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew
2003 Magnum Crew