I just went to PKD yesterday 8/13/01 and o was it fun! Since it was a Mon. there were no lines, just to keep that in mind. Now to my topic, I was in line for Rebel Yell and saw a group of people staring at the XLC. I was wondering why everyone was doing it and then I saw the funniest thing. The XLC had it's car STUCK on the way up, so think about it, 8 people are stuck in a 90 degree angle about 170 feet up. The reason, there are these safety breaks and if you have seen them there are about 5 of them. They open and close and I guess they just didn't open all the way. Well PKD finally go them down and rewarded the stuck people with a.....COKE. Well I asked when XLC would be open and she said it would be closed for the whole day. Well when I was on the shockwave I finally saw it running and I ran as fast as I could all the way over there. Well I waited for about an hour and I was 6 rides away from the front seat when the unthinkable happened, yep you guessed it. Because I was in the station I didn't see it get stuck so I was so dissapointed but I did hear "OH MY GOD", "*GASP*", and other expressions so I looked out and there they were stuck. The front was almost over the top but not quite. The operators were chuckling and called this team of like 10 people who all ran to the up and down part and did something to the brakes and then the car fell backwards and a guy seemed to enjoy the way back. The Pkd people started to explain everything and they kept talking and talking and then some guy came out and said that everyone in the line gets free tickets for any day in 2001 b/c it was closing down for the day. I was so happy b/c I just got one free ticket yesterday on this ride and I was about to get another one. So he passed them out as we went out and I put the ticket in my pocket. Well on to discussion we all know Volcano had some problems on its 1st year but were they as harsh as the XLC ones? XLC breaks down every hour and they seem to never keep it open for a whole day, However Volcano breaks down once every 2 days and the line moves very fast. Well if XLC survives this year it has to be better mantained in 2002. Who remembers some funny break downs on the Volcano?
PS I rode Volcano 5 times in a row b/c the line kept getting shorter until 10pm, as little as 3 mins for a seat!
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1)Millennium Force
2)Batwing
3)S:ROS
4)Volcano
5)Alpengeist
*** This post was edited by coasterfreak05 on 8/14/2001. ***
Sweet! I am going tomorrow. I will always ride Hypersonic next year, all I care about is short lines!!
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My favorite Coaster is named after Poop, and I actually like Boomerangs! What is wrong with me?
H:XLC has had a wide range of problems. I have seen it get stuck going up as you mentioned above. But the thing to remember is that it is the first of a kind, and problems are to be expected. Granted it is having a lot of problems but I am sure with each one, S&S and the PKD maintenance crew learns something new and will take that knowledge and use it to improve H:XLC and its future followers. Look at it this way: Even though it can be aggravating, H:XLC is a great concept and a great ride. I am actually quite glad to have had a chance to be a part of the experience which is H:XLC.
*** This post was edited by Lorrie on 8/14/2001. ***
I have seen it get stuck on the way up like you said and I have also seen it run all day so, I guess it depends on the type of day it is having.
Dang turbo, deep breath, less sugar, more testosterone. Try and trim a little fat off your posts in the future. Good post but just try an relax when you type.
I'm not sure what to make of this, something VERY similar to your passage appeared in First Drop, however, rollbacks happen quite often so the similarities to the ECC article might be a coincidence...
Hymmmm... Makes me wonder why people think Cedar Point would bother with one of these right now.
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I'd like a tall CCI out and back, and a grande nonfat Latte to go please!
I'm headed there this weekend (if it doesn't rain that is) and that thing better not break down when I'm there. especially while I'm on it.
Batwing:
It probably will be down while you are there. If it is open, grab the opportunity right away. It seems to have quite a bit of down time almost every day. But, when it is operating it is great.
Just wait next to the line even if they tell you it might not open, you'll probally be on in an hour, as long as a car goes over the top every once in a while. Both times, when they told us limited people will go up, you'll get to ride in small loads, it's easy on the ride right now, but the ops were running full cars? Why tell me something twice and then something different happen, it shows they don't even know what to tell you. No explanation, except they let small groups of people up in the station to make it easier for the mechanics to get to the ride(?). If you've seen the setup, they can bypass the entire line to get to the actual ride, or any part they'd need to work on, it looks anyways. It's funny, they've probaly told all kinds the things to people, all of us that's been through there have got to of been told something else.
A big mouse next year will draw some of the attention to and from other rides, as a ride like that sounds like it will be the first "wilder" coaster for lots of families, giving the other rides slight breathing room, or not. XLC might start working right, but seeing as how it's ran a certain way all season, if it's a matter of a fix, it would have to be something in store for next year. The last two rides being launched this way? They better test that mouse out real good.
