X difficulties

Arrow hasn't had any updates on their website to confirm any new modifacations to 4D.

------------------
Judgement, Superiority (ego), intolerance, and Hostility.........Makes CB the "Jenny Jones for "Coaster Trekkies" LOL

---

MeanStreakMan said:
Top Thrill Dragster is a prototype. Xcelerator launches at 75-80, and TTD uses a different launching system, and the Hydralics are very different because of the number of pumps, and this ride is very technology enchanced, thats why they are having problems with it. Plus they didnt have enough time to fully test the ride anyway. Xcelerator and TTD might look the same, but the hydralics are very different in the two.

---

Great attempt at lying. Top Thrill Dragster's hydraulic set-up is exactly the same as Xcelerator's. The only differences are that everything involved in catapulting the trains is slightly enlarged to compensate with the greater speed. The hoses, the chambers, etc.

---

Soggy said:
As the station is built, yes it is necessary to rotate the seats back to reclining when moving from unload to load stations. I think it would be possible (at least in the future) dsign a station where the train is able to go from one to the other without rotation. Or the double station, side by side might make things faster as well.

---

I've been of the opinion for some time that a moving floor like Batman: The Ride would be great for X. It seems to be far more reliable and MUCH faster than the seat rotations. Have the section directly under the seats able to drop while the concrete around it doesn't.

The other thing I've just realized is that they check restraints twice on the ride, and restraint checking takes much longer than normal because the ride-ops have to walk in and out of each row to check them. They check the restraints/help people, then when finished with that, they rotate the seats, and do the entire process over again. With a moving floor, they could do the restraint check/test once, drop the floor, and send the ride out.

However, they would also have to change the track through the station to ones with slightly lower rotation rails and change the sections right around the station to lower the rotation rails on the way in to keep the seats straight up instead of slightly reclined. I can imagine that would be rather expensive in addition to modifying the station floor.

Yech.

Krax we know you hate everything to do with CP, but its been said over and over that there's more to TTD's hydraulics than jsut a supersize of Xcelerator's. If that's the source of the problem or not, remains to be seen, but there are differences.

As far as the lowering floor goes, it'd have to be something like a floorless I'd think than an Invert floor, as the 3rd and 4th rails would prohibit a floor from dropping straight down. If the floors moved out, then dropped and allowed the trains to pass, I could see how a moving floor system would work, but a stationary dropping floor would seem like it would get in the way of the chassis and rails on the 3rd and 4th rails.

------------------
"As soon as you design something that's idiot-proof, the world will go and design a better idiot."
--Brett

Pitt,

They have the techmology to make each side a separate lowering floor...it doesn't need to be one continuous floor...

------------------
--George H
---Currency tracking experiment... http://www.wheresgeorge.com (Referring to The "George" on the $1 bill - Not Me)

What do you mean by a "separate lowering floor"? That just sounds like the floorless floor (wow that sounds weird) system to me - am I missing something?

------------------
"As soon as you design something that's idiot-proof, the world will go and design a better idiot."
--Brett

...like B:TR's but only under each "wing" so the two sides would each have a separate lowering (dropping) floor...

------------------
--George H
---Currency tracking experiment... http://www.wheresgeorge.com (Referring to The "George" on the $1 bill - Not Me)

I'm not totally sure I know which floor you're talking about - I'm assuming its just like Raptor's (I've only been on one B:TR at MM) and that just seems to me like it would interfere with the flipping rails. Well, either way you put it, its an issue I think should definitely be addressed before the next 4-D is (if ever) put in.

------------------
"As soon as you design something that's idiot-proof, the world will go and design a better idiot."
--Brett

Put teflon on the station floor...and let the guests' feet slide along. ;)

------------------
"But where's the feeelth?" - Uncle Vainstein

Redman is basically saying the same thing I attempted to say. Just like B:TR's floor (and I assume Raptor's as well), but two of them, one on either side of the rails, directly under the seats themselves. The seat guide rails wouldn't get in the way any more than the normal guide rails would. Essentially, there's the trough in the middle where the rails are, just like now. Then, on each side of that trough, a moving floor like B:TR directly under the seats. Then, beyond that (where the yellow line showing where it's safe to stand when the train is moving so you don't get clobbered by the seats), keep the concrete floor that's there now.

That would seem to be a reasonable solution to me. Well, reasonable without taking the costs of making it into consideration.

janfrederick: I'd rather Jell-O, myself. Mmmmm....Jell-O.

So exactly what days is the ride down as of today?

Ah ok, after much brain farting, I get what you guys are talking about - yes that would probably do wonders for it. But, the system is probably something that B&M has a patent on, otherwise I'd think we'd have seen it (since it seems to be very reliable) on the Intamin Impulses.

------------------
"As soon as you design something that's idiot-proof, the world will go and design a better idiot."
--Brett

---

Craig the Coaster Freak said:
Clearly, computers can not predict some of the troubles that this ride has had, but haven't roller coasters always been like that?

---

Yup. Since the earliest days the industry has been trial and error, ever since a train flew off the track and Miller made the upstop wheels.

------------------
Please visit the small parks. We don't know what's happening behind the scenes
Woodencoaster.com

You could install SLC style floors (that slide forward as they drop) except have them slide to the side as they drop instead of forward or backwards. This would avoid the X rails as the floor goes bye bye.

------------------
Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It's not a Toomer" - Arnold Schwartzenkoph
"Those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know." -Jeff