Fahrenheit Opening Delayed...

... by all of 6 hours.

This morning during an empty test run-- on the day the ride was to open to the public-- one of Fahrenheit's trains valleyed in the Cobra Roll.

To the park's credit, a crane was on the site by noon (not bad for a Saturday on a holiday weekend), the train was pulled through and returned to the station by 3:00. Maintenance began testing soon after that, and a train with people on it was dispatched around 4:15.

With only one minor shutdown of around 10 minutes, the ride ran well for the remainder of the time I was there-- which was till around 7:30. (A TR will follow.)

The issue seemed to a combination of the lack of weight, cool weather, and the fact that the ride needs to be broken in. Even though the ride didn't open when the park did, managing to get it open for at least part of opening day is an impressive task.

I was there, and left around 130pm. They still didn't have it through the cobra roll when we left the park. Have to wait until Monday to ride now.

So what's the verdict? The big question does it give Maverick a run for the money? To be honest I would give anything to have this type of ride at Great America. Can't wait to read the trip report.

I'm going to Hersheypark for the Dave show at the end of June, and call me a chicken, but I don't know if I'll be going on Fahrenheit this year. I don't wanna get stuck hanging upside down for eight hours. LOL I'm gonna keep an eye out and think about it seriously for the next few weeks.

But seriously, how often does this happen? I heard that B&M just had a valleying recently. Does this turn into a safety issue, or is it more of a question of the coaster getting broken in?

Speaking of Maverick, they either removed some of the trims or are launching faster, because it's insane this year.

We skipped a spring event at Hershey this year because they couldn't really give us any assurance about when this ride would open for sure. But if it's open and ready to go, we might just have to make a weekend of it!

Pics of Fahrenheit:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k258/emoppin/Fahrenheitbreakdown2.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k258/emoppin/Fahrenheitbreakdown1.jpg

How long before they put a Boomerang-esque catwalk up there?

I rode it today. It's essentially a slightly bulked up version of a Gerstlauer Eurofighter, with the ride experience it provides being to all intents and purposes the same. That being said it's extremely smooth, well-paced and enjoyable and has a couple of pops of airtime, without even a hint of head banging. Maverick however remains in an entirely different league.

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Jeff said:
How long before they put a Boomerang-esque catwalk up there?

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During the Q and A with Gary Chubb he said that they would be looking into that because it really is the slowest part of the ride and he can foresee this happening again. He also mentioned that they might start doing the test runs in the morning with weighted trains.

I was there Saturday, and managed to get 2 rides on it. The second one was in the front seat at night, just as the fireworks were starting.

All I can say is, AMAZING! And yes, it does give Maverick a run for the money. Although the ride cycle is shorter, it's full of the fun factor! Intamin has shown again that bigger isn't always better.

sorry to repeat my comment from the other fahrenheit topic...but I was there on weds the 21st for the commercial photo shoot (my son is an actor) and i got to ride as an extra around 20 times. we were there from 8 am to around 3pm and the coaster never broke down or stopped (empty or full cars)..it ran very reliably. The pace seemed quite fast throughout so I am surprised it valleyed. It has an excellent pop of airtime near the end (kinda reminded me of the El Toro pop before the ground section)..it kinda sucks you down.. The front seat was absolutely the best & smoothest ride. While i havent ridden maverick yet, i would think this is a total different experience since maverick rides close to the ground with alot of curves & theming. Fahrenheit is a coaster without any real interesting theming or ride placement, just an overall fun ride. I give them points for the lift hill, the general public will like it.

Rode it opening day around 8:00pm, after waiting for around two hours. The queue line was fun with the ride all around you and went by quite fast. Ride ran good intervals and was reliable the whole time.

The ride itself was quite a disappointment (to all of us in my party). We agreed it is nowhere near the level of Maverick in terms of excitement. It did have highlights throughout the ride, which include the very fun lift/drop, and well, the last bunny hop. The pacing was quite slow, with the first elements doing really nothing in terms of excitement.

It was a fairly smooth ride (where I sat I did have quite a bit of vibration, surprisingly) but it was not enough to hurt the ride any. It was a good "family" coaster in my opinion, but it is not all that thrilling.

Good ride for Hershey, but in the end I would not wait more then twenty minutes for it. I prefer the woodies next door to it more with the shorter waits, which I must say, Wildcat with the new trains is incredible! (first time on it since the new trains). :)

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Jeff said:Speaking of Maverick, they either removed some of the trims or are launching faster, because it's insane this year.We skipped a spring event at Hershey this year because they couldn't really give us any assurance about when this ride would open for sure. But if it's open and ready to go, we might just have to make a weekend of it!

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Jeff, Im sure Maverick had issues the same as any coaster has and they took some measures in the offseason to change some things. This is Voyages third year and when I thought it couldn't get any more insane than it was. IT's BEZERK!!!!!!!!!!'

Different tire compounds ect can make subtle to sometimes drastic change.

Chuck

The only trim on Maverick was the one right after the launch right?

Interesting to hear that Farenheit has no head banging, I figured it would be worse than Maverick's due to the wicked inversions.

Yep, and I think they've removed a bunch of those fins. I didn't get a good look in daylight, but feeling almost no grab while on the ride leads me to believe it has been set free.

Just rode Farenheit today. It is smooth and graceful, yet lots of fun and action packed. A great addition to the park.

Where did the comparisons between Maverick and Fahrenheit come from? F-heit cost $14 million, M-rick cost $21 million. That's $7 million difference, or 50% more. F-heit was placed in a limited footprint. For $7 million you better get a longer track with more elements.

The design criteria were different, so obviously the rides are going to be different. So the "it's not Maverick" comments are pretty pointless. It wasn't intended to be Maverick.

BTW, the Maverick POV on the CP website lasts only 1:40 from bottom of lift to the brake run. I'm not sure where the 2:30 ride comes in. At 1:40, it's only 15-20 seconds longer than F-heit, which isn't that large a difference. At least not more than a minute difference, which the advertised ride durations are.

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RatherGoodBear said:
Where did the comparisons between Maverick and Fahrenheit come from?

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Multi-inversion, Intamin-built roller coasters both advertising a steeper-than-vertical drop and both with the same Intamin 'stubby train' running the rails built in back-to-back years?

I don't see it either. ;)

I think the point is that given the similarities, a comparison to Maverick gives an idea of what Fahrenheit delivers.

Make more sense than comparing it to Raptor, right? :)

That's what I was thinking as well. Frankly, it's Maverick's asskickery that compels me to ride this one at Hershey.

^^ Gonch, I can see your point. Just like all wooden coasters with PTC trains are all the same, right? ;)

So the fact the track length is 1700 feet different between the two, and one has 6 inversions to the other's 2, one has a launch while the other doesn't are negligble? Just saying the two people who posted here so far who mentioned riding both Maverick and Fahrenheit pretty much said Fahrenheit was disappointing because it wasn't Maverick.

So if you're expecting asskickery and Mavericity you'll probably be disappointed.