Latest Word on Wicked Twister Capacity?

Before Wicked Twister opened to the public, there were countless debates as to how successful Cedar Point would be in reaching and maintaining a good capacity (800-1000 per hour) for this ride. Any CP employees here that can give us an idea of how well they are doing in this regard?

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signature withheld for no apparent reason

when iw as there yesterday i timed the ride. i do not know how long the cycle is it is shorter now because it only goes up 3\4 of the way. but the dispact times were 1-2 min very effiecent!

I was at CP wednesday, and although I did not time the ride to figure out capacity, I can tell you that the crew was being VERY efficient, even with 4 seats closed off. The line kept moving the whole time we were there, there wasn't even time to enjoy the little cooling fans. I like those :)

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how long is the wait for wicked twister on a regular weekdaY?

I'd say anywhere between 25 minutes to an hour, no more, no less. The crew did a really good job when I visited.

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I was at CP yesterday and the WT crew was flying.

Better then that.. the third time I rode Raptor yesterday (about 9:45) the crew was probably had less then 1 minute dispatch times. There was a ride op for every row or two rows. As we sat, a ride op said, "sorry about the rush". He then pushed my OTSR down, (before I could even get to it, and it was definately not stapled..) Anyway, he pushed the OTSR down, did the seatbelt, tested, then moved on.... Before I knew it, we were moving.

Great Job guys!

Raptor's crew is just stellar this year. I've gotten in the queue when every queue was full and it was still only an hour wait.

Wicked Twister's crew is really efficient, even though they have to recheck the harnesses every once in a while. I think the toned down ride has added to its capacity as well because it takes less time because the trains don't go up the towers as high. Personally, I would wait 5 minutes longer for full twistage on the back spikes though.

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LocoBazooka--Sevendust, Nonpoint, Stereo Vent, Mushroomhead
Korn Tour (With no name)--Korn, Puddle of Mudd, Deadsy

Raptor's crew this year is perhaps the best crew I've ever seen! :)

Unfortunately, WT was down when I was there.

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- Peabody

oh my. every park owner in the world should go to cedar point and see raptors team in action. they dont stack trains with three on the track. and for long periods of time. all other parks stack two train rides. even rides longer then raptor.(montu)
they need to have an employee apriciation day. where all the park guests gather around and give the park a standing ovation.
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1.Fire Dragon 2.Ice Dragon 3.Raptor 4.Batman Knight Flight 5.Kraken

There is a key word that you'll hear tossed around at the Point that unfortunately not that many parks try to achieve. That word is INTERVAL! All coasters have a dispatch interval that they try to hit on each and every dispatch. On Magnum, their three train dispatch point is when the previous train crests the top of the second hill and that is about 1:18 or 1:20 dispatch to dispatch usually. On Raptor, their interval is a bit shorter at about 1:10 or so. Millennium Force, because of the way its blocks are set up, has a longer interval and it was about 1:37 last year. Gemini has the shortest three train interval in the park. Generally when you hear "ready ready" at CP, it means that they are about to miss interval and want to get the train out very quickly. "Ready" generally means don't load anyone else, get everyone checked because its going to be time to get this thing out of here within a few seconds.

One thing that is interesting to note is that a two train interval should not mean waiting for the previous train to come all the way back and stop before sending the next one. Magnum's two train dispatch point is when the previous train reaches the Soak City curve. This is the point that they have determined that they can hit consistently in order to maximize capacity.

I believe even Wicked Twister, with only one train, still operates with an interval that they try to hit consistently. Last time I was in the park, I heard the op announcing "20 seconds...10 seconds...ready ready, etc."

As for employee appreciation days at CP, they do have some events for that purpose such as a picnic during the afternoon about once a month. During their breaks, employees can go get free lunch and it wasn't uncommon for some of the top dogs (Dan Keller, Bill Spehn, and others) to be over there chatting and helping out with serving food. There's also Calypso Bash and Big Bash which are parties that occur after the park is closed at night where free food, drinks, and other stuff are given out. Lastly, once per week, there is a ride night where one of the major rides opens up for an hour or two late at night for all the employees to enjoy. Of course, the people who work that ride have to staff it, but it is usually really fun because they dress up and have themes and stuff like that.

I've really missed working at CP this summer. I'd love to return next year, but unfortunately, I have to get through college at some point! :)

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-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew

There are too many clears at KBF to have any efficiency on Xcelerator. "Clear 1, clear 2, clear 3, clear 4 (literally 4 or 5 ride attendent clears), clear, acknowledge, dispatch. riders, please sit well back in your seats with your hands holding onto the grab bar at all times. enjoy your ride on the Xcelerator" just takes too long to do.

On ghostrider, some of the ride ops will say over the intercom, train in b block, train on block brake, train in C block, train in helix, train in helix just to make sure trains never stack, and let me tell you this new system has really sped up the ride attendents. The train is now empty for a minute sometimes these days; just a month ago, the ride was stacked for a minute. This system works great, and I never saw a train stopped on the brake run until the ride broke down for a little while. Big improvement. Also, opening the gates right when the train stops helps by a few seconds, maybe 10. Securing an empty seat next to you also speeds things up by about 10 seconds.

Final word is 1000's almost a pipe dream with the cool down period, but they're reguarly hitting 800+ (when it's up) which is still pretty dang good.

Raptor has had some crazy numbers as well . :)

*** This post was edited by Joe E. on 8/18/2002. ***

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Speedy said:

Securing an empty seat next to you also speeds things up by about 10 seconds.

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Speedy, I always try to "lock down" the empty seats next to me...it really does help, esp. on the notoriously slow stand-ups....the Wave Swingers are another ride where it helps a lot.....good advice!

bill, saying if they really wanted us to spend less time in lines, all parks would employ "groupers" to FILL the trains, and there'd be fewer empty seats to begin with....;)