TTD---is it worth the headache?

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thecoasterguy said:

The first year that Batman at SFGAm came out, the ride suffered significant downtime on a daily basis. The general public accepted that because it was a new ride and nothing in the world was like it. TTD is in the same boat as that ride was. Now, it doesn't break down as often but still has off days.

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You have a very different memory than most people. I visited the new Batman on more than one occasion and never once saw it down. More importantly I remember talking to dozens of friends who also visited, as well as lots of discussion on the newsgroups and remember very little, if any, talk of significant downtime.

To compare TTD to BTR is pretty ridiculous. Batman ran remarkably well for such an innovative ride, so much so that the GM in New Jersey wanted one immediately. It also impressed Kinzel quite a bit.

Maybe it's moot now, but people who like to say "CP has had two years" to get TTD working must stop and remember that a "year" for CP is really only 6 months long--7 if you count testing in April. Therefore, TTD has been in operation for 9-10 months at most.

after doing my 1st, and certainly not last, trip to CP last month, TTD is worth it! what a cool ride. and in the 2 days we were there, it only shut down for a couple of hours due to high winds and an incoming storm. it was running again later in the day. when we went to ride it the 2nd day, it "broke down" when we were 2 rides from getting on. but within 10 minutes, it was running again.

Hey Sean,

Hope that doesnt mean you arent gonna come back to SFGAm anytime soon! lol I guess it was just bad timing for you, as it is open daily now. I can almost guarantee you if you were here tomorrow youd get on it! :-)

Back to the question,

Hell yeah TTD is worth it! I also have to agree on it being up a LOT more this year than last year. I have gone to the park two times and have got on it 5 times. Only 1 hour-long downtime happened while waiting once. Last year, i waited 5 hours one night, was handed an freeway pass cause it wasnt going to open that night, then came back the next day and used the pass and waited an hour for the front row for a total wait of 6 hours. GO RIDE IT! :)

-Andrew

I know it is worth it for us enthusiasts. I am talking about this from a park perspective. I'm just not sure the headache will be worth it for the park long term. It is the complaints and disgruntled patrons that could make it not worth the effort from a business standpoint. Of course, most people that actually get to ride this thing love it. The park will have to weigh the good and the bad. I just do not know how many complaints they are getting. I don’t know how many people leave the causeway disappointed about this particular ride. These are all worries the park has to factor into their decision making process that do not mean a hill of beans to us as enthusiasts. Nobody likes to see any ride dismantled in the enthusiast community, let alone the tallest and fastest!

When I wrote the post I was not aware that this ride had 90% uptime. If this is indeed true, then the park probably has very little complaints from guests. Based upon a few friends and family reports, I was under the impression that this ride was still hit or miss when I wrote the post. I was also under the impression that it was basically impossible to get through line without at least one lengthy downtime. It appears that this is not the case, so all should be well.

P.S. I wonder what the parks consider to be acceptable for downtime? For example is 90% uptime good/bad/average?

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Jeff said:
Xcelerator's motor does 8,700 hp, Dragster's does 10,000.

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I had no idea that they were that close! Shows what I know. ;)

Surprised me too. Jasper said at the construction tour that winter that the Xcelerator motor in theory would've been adequate, but they wanted to be sure.

Jeff: The complaints this year all have to do with Millennium Force. ;)

Cedar Point prides itself on having 96% uptime across the park, and that includes weather and closes for protein spills and AUR's. Apparently Dragster pushed them down to 95% and last year and they were really disappointed. When they bought Geauga Lake, they were horrified to find that park had 60% last year.

Seems about right (95-96%)! That is amazing that they could average that. Sad to say that 60% does not surprise me at all for Six Flags.

Jeffrey: The last time my hubby and I were at CP they actually had 5 trains running. You also mentioned in one of your previous posts that as enthusiasts you can't believe that CP are marketing to us. I'm not so sure that's the case actually. A true enthusiast (which I am not) would know all the difficulties TTD (or any coaster) is having at any particular time. You know as well as I how some of them pitch a FIT at the park when their premiere ride isn't running when THEY expected it to.

Addressing the "normal" GP, I finally heard one of CPs radio commercials and could NOT believe that they are saying something like "take the double dog dare and ride MF and TTD!!" WTH? On a typical crowded Saturday and with any probs on either ride, you may spend 1/2 of your day just waiting on those 2 rides. As some mentioned here it kind of bothers me that CP is still "pushing" TTD.

I know we had ALOT of friends and out of town family of ours in the park on May 30th, and they all had a BLAST! :) None wanted to wait on TTD but that didn't take away from the fun they did have. They didn't complain at all and loved CP :)

Again, I am probably not the right person to talk here since CP is way more to me than MF, TTD or even Raptor.

Jo
2000 Raptor Crew
2002 Raptor Crew
2003 Raptor Crew

I must say i give TTD two thumbs up! I would give it more thumbs if i had them. It is by far one of the most exciting rides i have ever had. I was at Cp on June 4-6 it was up and running all day on the 4th, i managed to catch it first thing on the 5th being a resort guest. I had waited in line for a freeway pass, got one and at which time around 6ish that night it had ran into some probs and was closed for the rest of the night and half of the 6th. They were replacing some cable on the launch side. All in all i wouldn't complain about that ride at all. Yes, it was a little disappointing when it was down, but hey those things happen. There are so many other great coasters there.....go ride one of them ;)

I have been to the park 9 times this year, only once has it been closed the entire day. They run 5 trains consistantly

Easy to answer....Just to get that adrenalin rush ....the wait is definately worth it. No other ride had given me that intense of a feeling. Next time we will brave it out and wait extra time just for the front.

Why does it bother people that CP still chooses to push TTD? It was said after last season and the problems with it, that 2004 would be a heavy marketing year for TTD again. Also, CP didn't build any new coasters, so why not advertise TTD?After all, it's only the tallest and fastest coaster on the earth.