State of the Vu's

Hello Everybody! Merry Christmas.... Does anybody know how SFGAM and SFMM's Deja Vu's ran towards the end of the season? I heard reports that said that SFOG's was quite reliable towards the end. When I was there in the middle of the summer it ran all day (opening till closing) with no significant delays and I got 7 rides in. I was very surprised to see this beast (and it is a BEAST when youre going up that first spike!) run and was very glad to get so many rides on it. But.. I hadn't heard whether or not the two other Vu's were doing as well. Have the problems been solved?

EDIT: SFMM not GADV... Whoops! *** Edited 12/25/2003 5:13:39 PM UTC by Jason Wilson***

You mean SFMM, not GAdv. :-)

I rode GreatAm's this year, in September. It was running awesome! I only remember there being a few minor delays. It seems to be slightly smoother than the one at SFMM.

I have yet to ride the one in Georgia but I look forward to it this Spring!

-Tina

What is the real problem with the Vu's? why do they seem to have so many problems?

One word. Prototype. The Vu's are all prototypes. Vekoma went bankrupt, which left the SF parks with nothing but problems with the Vu's. The parks that have these rides seem to have most of the bugs worked out of them now.

I heard about the bankruptcy thing from a games woman. With the way Vu's operating, I'd rather have Sky Whirl back. *** Edited 12/25/2003 7:49:08 PM UTC by X Somebody***

Yea, over Georgia's one worked well till about the last few weekends, when something happened to tower two's motor from what I hear. However, by time word goes all the way from it over to the railroad engine crew, I'm probably hearing a completely different story. However, it should be up by March.

I rode the one in WBMW Madrid (Stunt Fall) about three months ago. Seemed to be running OK, except for the fact that one of the front row seats was out of order.

-R

I rode the Great America one during Fright Fest and it was running flawlessly the entire day I was there. From what I heard it pretty much ran the entire Fright Fest, temperature be damned.

Vekoma went bankrupt? if so, why would certain companies like disney buy their coasters still?

Vekoma didn't go bankrupt. If anything , they filed for bankruptcy protection.

Click here to see Vekoma's site.

Oh yeah that's right..lol. I think I've had a little too much Christmas booze. :)

No more spiked eggnog for you my friend. :)

SFMM Deja Vu wont be open till late march, but we are shooting for Febuary.

While browsing their site, I noticed Vekoma claims to be capable of creating a hydraulicly launched coaster. Maybe we'll some day see Top Thrill SLC.

Oh God.... 120mph SLC (/holds ears)

well, today at Deja Vu at SFMM, it was the first day in almost 4 months that the ride has been even touched. We all think it was mechanics but they were people who were welding some pieces of the track together. To take out the train, mechanics did have to take out some pieces of the track. Looks like Deja is will be opening soon....not!ha. oh, and next year, X will be down for about 3 months as soon as Deja Vu opens. Not for rehab, but for something that all of us X crew member really want...NEW TRAINS!! were getting lighter and more durable trains, but not from Arrow. Not a day passes that someone doesnt get stuck in a restraint. Train 2 is awful:(

Where exactly are they getting these trains for Vu and X if they aren't coming from the rides respective companies. I know that other companies often make trains for other rides but those are both highly technical individualized rides. What company would be willing to deal with either one of them?

EDIT: Won't lighter trains also mean slower speeds through the course.... rollbacks? *** Edited 12/29/2003 8:51:00 PM UTC by Jason Wilson***

Who is going to make the trains for X-aren't they patented?

Vekoma can still manufacture trains for the Vu's.

S&S can manufacture trains for X.

Right? :)

He said in his 2 posts that neither of those two companies will be making the trains for their respective companies. My question is... who will? Knowing how horrible both rides are mechanically, who would step up to the plate and build trains for these monsters?