H:XLC and BR:Chiller question

Does anyone know the real reasons why Hypersonic XLC and the Batman side of the Chiller were closed when they were? XLC was closed a good part of the 2002 season, but why exactly did they need a train modification? Those first trains in opening season were by far the best on that ride. And why exactly has Batman had so much down time? I've searched around but havent been able to find too much info as to why, so i appreciate any knowledge you guys have. Thanks !

I wish I knew the answer to the Batman question. Paramount seems to have no problems running their FoF coasters on a regular basis.

I have no idea on Hypersonic.

Batman Chiller went down after Robin returned with it's lapbars so that only 1 side would be down at a time. When the Batman train returned after it's modifications were made the LIM's decided to crap out. They sent the LIM's out in the Spring of 2004 after only operating for 1 month and it took until the fall before they returned. It opened for the last month of 2004 during Frightfest.

Then, this season saw the repainting of the entire ride. It's been said that the fiberglass shells were being repainted to match the new dark purple/blue color of the Batman track. However, I'm not so sure I'm buying that since it's now the middle of May and the train is still nowhere to be seen.

It seems that there is a new excuse for the coaster not running each year. I'm puzzled as to why a coaster that's almost a decade old still can't run on a regular basis. Is it the park, or is that coaster really that flawed? Do the Mr. Freeze coasters have this problem?

Both Batman and Robin had lapbars when I rode in 2002.

Hypersonic, from what I understand, had their trains modified to reduce the amount of roll-backs. Their idea was that removing the front seperate nose car, and shortining the train overall, would recude roll backs. It did. The arm thingies were added for safety. Personally, I loved the first season trains, the front seat was smooth (now it's bumpy) and the trains felt open.

You are correct Coaster File. I goofed the years up. Robin returned late 2001 with lapbars. Batman arrived with lapbars in the start of 2002. This is when the problems began (again). The batman side was up and down a lot ever since the lapbar conversion while Robin remained "somewhat" consistent.

I had the 2004 part right though ;) Throughout recent years the Robin side has always been more reliable. Could it be the weight of the train causing problems on the Batman side that weren't a problem for Robin because of the cobra roll?

Mr.Freeze at SFSTL was up and running all day when I went there in April.

I keep telling GAdv to stop buying "slightly blemished" LIMs down at the Bargain Basement...;)

I thought Hypersonic rollbacks were "designed". ;)

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Rob Ascough said:
Is it the park, or is that coaster really that flawed? Do the Mr. Freeze coasters have this problem?

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SFOT's Freeze had some structural problems, so it was closed for a little while a few years ago. And of course we all know it took a full year to get it open initially, but once it finally opened it has been pretty reliable. And keep in mind our Freeze has a lot longer season than Chiller. I don't understand what the problems are in NJ.

I remember hearing about SFOT's Mr. Freeze having structural issues but I haven't heard of that ride running on an irregular basis. It seems that ride has had problems ever since that first "abbreviated" season.

According to a maintenance guy at SFGAdv, Batman's train was still in the winter rehab (as of a few weeks ago, anyway). I guess getting Kingda Ka operating is their first priority.

Considering Chiller has been around for close to a decade, I didn't think that getting it running would take a lot of effort. It's not like they haven't done this before!

Yeah it's pretty ludicrous that the painting of a shell is holding up this ride. Somebody somewhere is dragging ass.

The bidding is ALMOST closed on eBay for that slightly used set of LIMs, 'Tuan.....give 'em time!