Maybe Coasters in Cold Weather is a BAD idea...

So, we went down to Enchanted Parks (a Sick Flags park) to attend Holiday with lights...

Timberchicken... er I mean Timberhawk was running... very slow. Matter of fact, the Mantainance guy kept having to check the train between runs. Might have had to do with the cold, perhaps not. But man, it was barely rideable...

Klondike Gold Rusher... STALLED. These two girls hit a mid course break run on the lower level (it's a Zamperla ZigZag) and it didn't look like the brake engaged too hard, but they coasted to a stop. They sort of jerked forward and back, and eventually, the car hit the dip and completed the course... it was funny. I was wondering if I would actually get to see a Real Life E-Stop.

Got me to thinking... if the park is giong to open when it is less than 40 degrees out, and they are going to run their coasters... maybe they should do more than one or two "WARM UP" runs. :-)

-Escher

It just depends on the experience of the park that's running it. Cedar Point has cold weather runs down to a science every since they started extending the season so late. Back when they were using the wheels that were more sensitive to temperature on Millennium Force, they actually put those big gas heaters under the stations and pointed them at the trains! Very toasty station.

Oh, man, I didn't realize EV was open. I'd have stopped there before coming home for the holiday.

I was "fortunate" enough to be at Six Flags America before park opening a few years ago and they were kind enough to let us ride Superman and Batwing before the public. It was 33 degrees outside. Superman: Ride of Steel does *not* like cold whether. We were asked to ride only near the front of the train to make sure it didn't valley. The ride as disappointing, to say the least :)

My experience on Superman at SFA in October was the same, although Peabody and I broke the ride! ;) It just crawled over the bunnies. It really does need warm love.

I wouldn't go to SFEV to ride anything in the winter anyways. I guess the people up here, myself included, really do need a good park, as we fight to ride anything, anytime! LOL!

Deja Vu at SFGAm has heaters for the train that run during Fright Fest. They must be working too, because it seems to run it's best towards the end of the season in the cold.

---

Chernabog said:
Oh, man, I didn't realize EV was open. I'd have stopped there before coming home for the holiday.

---

I'm always *open* for business.....;)

I also like to think that I'm somewhat *open*-minded as well, but not like most people define it. Upon once being accused of being *close*-minded, I replied with this statement of my beliefs....

"I don't want to be so close-minded that nothing gets in, however I don't want to be so open-minded that everything falls out."

Anyways, back on topic, one should never complain about it being to cold for coaster riding. Be thankful for as many operating days as you can get. Besides, freezing temps usually scare away all of the suckers. At SFGAm's Last Blast a year ago, the park was a literal ghost town until noon. I literally did a lap of the park, hitting anything I wanted, until I saw more than a bare handful of people back near the front gate.

Yeah it was a little chilly (so much so that the reflecting pool at the front had a thin sheet of ice in the morning), but just bundle up and you'll be fine. Oh, and long johns are your friend.:)

Later,
EV

Nasai - Toppenish, a small town South East of Yakima. I spent a week there one day in Summer. It was 107 in the shade. :-P

-Escher

At Wild Adventures last January, Cheetah was running great in the cold at night. The temperature was probably right around 40 and the park won't run below that.

---

escher26 said:
I spent a week there one day in Summer.

-Escher

---

Uh... ok? a week ONE day? ;) LOL! Dude, you rule. Besides, you are cheating. You live here!

Anyways, I love coasters, and yes, I will torture myself for the rides. Note last year's September trip to PNE, where I wasn't dressed even kind of proper, and the rains came, and came, and came, etc. The park closed early due to rain (imagine that, up here, no less!), but I remained to the bitter (I mean bitter!) end to ride Coaster over and over again. Just ask Chris.

Note change to sig: No cheating this time. ;)

---

Chernabog said:
We were asked to ride only near the front of the train to make sure it didn't valley.

---

Interesting. Why would this prevent valleying? Seems like putting you in the back would make the highest height of the center of Mass just about the same.

I actually enjoy riding in the cold a bit more than in when it's hot out. Not bitterly cold, and after the ride warms up a little, but a cold breeze really makes me feel like I'm going a lot faster than I am.

Well... one reason why I went was to try and get the other end of a peculiar record. My wife and I have ridden coasters in 100 degree weather before - Desperado - it was 101. We wanted to see if we could ride a coaster in below freezing in the same year. (Actually, within four months) But alas... it was 35 not 32 at the time of our ride... sigh... I guess we can try again next year.

Nasai - I did Coaster Thrill Ride in a similar Rain storm one year... now I have an idea of what it must feel like to be sandblasted. :-) Oh, and I know what obtuse means also, since I am a math teacher, but I will let someone else have a guess... :-D

-Escher

Well, Escher, to get properly sandblasted, you must ride MF or TTD in the rain. We've all heard it before here, but that is the definition of pain, at least on a thrill ride. Granted, I was laughing the whole time, so I must be a bit of a masochist, but after my "93mph-MF-in-the-rain" experience in May, I can assure you there were red dots all about my face and exposed skin. NICE!

Rob needs to get harder words, or change the sig to "ten-cent words of the week"....and he needs to be more careful about what *skin* he exposes to 93mph winds...;)

For us, cold is defined a little different...but you CAN get an open park in the Winter when employees outnumber guests....anytime the temps don't get above 60 is a good bet, especially if there's rain too...:)

Hey now! Most people do NOT know what obtuse means. www.dictionary.com ;)

it frightens me that most people might not know what obtuse means.

Obtuse = Nasai approved! ;)

You'd be much more frightened to see my google toolbar. Honestly, there must be 400+ words on there that I search just to see if I spelled it right, one of them being plumber. :(

That was such an obtuse comment I just made (Though sadly enough, true). ;)

And to whoever asked about how sitting in front makes a difference, I have a theory.

In the front, the train is pulling you over hills at a higher speed then it would if you were in the back. For that reason, I think it is more safe to sit in the front to avoid falling backwards.

Just a theory from a 13 year old failing language arts miserably. :( *** Edited 12/27/2003 5:06:22 AM UTC by Omar***

Andy's etymology of the day:
Plumber is derived from the root plumbum meaning lead (see periodic table) as in lead pipes.

Hmmm...considering that it never gets tooooo cold to ride coasters in MO until January, I guess don't have to worry about it being a "BAD" idea. For the record it was only too cold for the coasters at SDC to run 2 days (that I know of) this year. Granted it was because of the snow fall that we got that week, but right now it is 50*+ here in Mighty MO. It was in the upper 50's yesterday when I went.

-DHo