Plagued With The Most Problems? Windjammer Surf Ra
Knott's Windjammer Surf Racers is infamous for being the painful and low thrilling Togo coaster that has been through hell literally... Ever since this dual track looping coaster opened in March of 1997 it has probably had the heaviest load of problems and dilemmas from every category. Take a look at the problematic milestones of Windjammer. RIP
• Orinally planned to be named Riptide Racer. Then changed to Windjammer Surf Racers
• The ride closed a week after opening to smoothen out certain track sections of both the yellow and red side. That same week, the trains were re-fitted with new restraints because of faulty harnesses
• The "Spiral Cone" mechanism located in the center of the helix finale never worked because of mechanical problems. It was to emitt artificial smoke at the same time a spiraling wind effect took place, creating a man made tornado surrounding the helix
• Wheels were constantly being replaced, as it was considered a factor in the ride's rough movements
• In the lawsuit, the park reported wrinkles in the mainframes of the ride's numerous cars
• Lawsuit also stated complaints about reported misaligned track sections for both yellow and red tracks throughout the circuit
• The ride only raced 25% of the time when it was open from March 1997 to March 2000
• One reason why one side was closed as the other one ran (or both sides closed) was because of few occurences when trains stalled on the circuit. This happens in wind speeds as low as 3-5 MPH, where the light 2 car trains are slowed down too much by the wind.
• The yellow track was permanentely closed in mid-1999 and left the red track running by itself, causing queue line wait times to sky rocket
• The park was forced to re-name the ride to Jammer in late spring/early summer of 1999 when a corporation sporting the same name filed charges against the park
• The charge was dropped later that year and the ride took back its old name, Windjammer Surf Racers
• The park filed a lawsuit against (manufacturer) Togo International of Japan after the official closing of the ride in March of 2000. The lawsuit took an incredibly long time, as the firm's U.S. based sub-firm went bankrupt
• In the process of selling the ride, there were more than a handful of buyers that pulled out of the deal. At the end, it was decided for the ride to be removed the "dirty" and "painful" way.
• Park management released information stating the expenditures of $2 million in total for maintenenace and rehabilitation on Windjammer alone
• Park claimed the ride was contantly "tearing itself apart"
• In total, the ride only operated for 3 years, and existed for only a little over four years...it is currently being removed, half the ride has been torn out. Probably the shortest life span for a new ride...
*** This post was edited by kRaXLeRidAh on 8/1/2001. ***
• Orinally planned to be named Riptide Racer. Then changed to Windjammer Surf Racers
• The ride closed a week after opening to smoothen out certain track sections of both the yellow and red side. That same week, the trains were re-fitted with new restraints because of faulty harnesses
• The "Spiral Cone" mechanism located in the center of the helix finale never worked because of mechanical problems. It was to emitt artificial smoke at the same time a spiraling wind effect took place, creating a man made tornado surrounding the helix
• Wheels were constantly being replaced, as it was considered a factor in the ride's rough movements
• In the lawsuit, the park reported wrinkles in the mainframes of the ride's numerous cars
• Lawsuit also stated complaints about reported misaligned track sections for both yellow and red tracks throughout the circuit
• The ride only raced 25% of the time when it was open from March 1997 to March 2000
• One reason why one side was closed as the other one ran (or both sides closed) was because of few occurences when trains stalled on the circuit. This happens in wind speeds as low as 3-5 MPH, where the light 2 car trains are slowed down too much by the wind.
• The yellow track was permanentely closed in mid-1999 and left the red track running by itself, causing queue line wait times to sky rocket
• The park was forced to re-name the ride to Jammer in late spring/early summer of 1999 when a corporation sporting the same name filed charges against the park
• The charge was dropped later that year and the ride took back its old name, Windjammer Surf Racers
• The park filed a lawsuit against (manufacturer) Togo International of Japan after the official closing of the ride in March of 2000. The lawsuit took an incredibly long time, as the firm's U.S. based sub-firm went bankrupt
• In the process of selling the ride, there were more than a handful of buyers that pulled out of the deal. At the end, it was decided for the ride to be removed the "dirty" and "painful" way.
• Park management released information stating the expenditures of $2 million in total for maintenenace and rehabilitation on Windjammer alone
• Park claimed the ride was contantly "tearing itself apart"
• In total, the ride only operated for 3 years, and existed for only a little over four years...it is currently being removed, half the ride has been torn out. Probably the shortest life span for a new ride...
*** This post was edited by kRaXLeRidAh on 8/1/2001. ***
Wow. What a miserable failure. I knew people weren't fond of the ride, but that's a pretty amazing history.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"From the global village... in the age of communication!"
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"From the global village... in the age of communication!"
Are the manufactures liable for a ride that is as bad as that one?
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You are the Weakest Link, Goodbye.
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You are the Weakest Link, Goodbye.
kRaXLeRidAh: You forgot one...
· It is just plain UGLY!
-Soggy: Who is absolutely drooling in anticipation for the official announcement of Windjammer's replacement. [BTW, KBF is my homepark]
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"X" marks the spot in 2001!
· It is just plain UGLY!
-Soggy: Who is absolutely drooling in anticipation for the official announcement of Windjammer's replacement. [BTW, KBF is my homepark]
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"X" marks the spot in 2001!
I had the pleasure (pain) of riding Windjammer in Feb. of 1998, and being a tall guy (6'4, with an afro, 6'7), I was so grateful getting off the ride, because:
it was slow
the harness always moved a little going into the loop (scary)
My head bashed despite having good control and keeping it against the head rest
the ride seemed to take up too much usuable space
Just my two cents worth...an incredible concept, if it were done by intamin or B&M, may have been more successful. I often wondered what it could have been, had the ride been enclosed.
it was slow
the harness always moved a little going into the loop (scary)
My head bashed despite having good control and keeping it against the head rest
the ride seemed to take up too much usuable space
Just my two cents worth...an incredible concept, if it were done by intamin or B&M, may have been more successful. I often wondered what it could have been, had the ride been enclosed.
Is TOGO still in biz? Do they have a site?
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Rollercoasters are the secret of life!
http://www.woodencoaster.com
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Rollercoasters are the secret of life!
http://www.woodencoaster.com
Yeah they have a site here is the link, www.painfulride-if-done-by-us.com J/K note: Not a real link
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My Milk Money, And My Milk.
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My Milk Money, And My Milk.
It used to be www.togorides.com , but they scrapped the web-site when their business began to die out...
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