Gemini Queue?

Does Gemini ever use any queue? I assume it did when it first opened. Whats the longest anyone has ever seen it?

This year I waited around 25 minutes.

The entire queue for both entrances was opened with the line going out onto the midway during part of the last Halloweekend Saturday this year.

It wasn't quite that long when I rode it, the line took about 20 minutes.

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...and enjoy the rest of your day at Cedar Point, The Am-aaaa-zement park!

The year it opened I refused to wait an hour and a half to ride it.
For many years, the line usually used the whole queue and extended onto the midway along the fence, but not terribly far...that was about a 20-minute wait (at 3,400 PPH with six trains running and a minimum station dwell because there were no seat belts).

In recent years, CP has taken to yanking two trains off of the ride just as Bonus Weekends start...then with HalloWeekends they draw a huge crowd...and to make matters worse, then one side of the ride breaks down so they are stuck with two train operation. It did happen this season, and the result was about a 45-minute wait to ride Gemini.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I waited for 30 minutes on that last Saturday of Halloweekends. It was packed!

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MF Count: 11

I will not ride if only one side is open. It just isn't nearly as fun!

Once, I saw they only had the blue side open, only two trains running, and only half of the train open on each train, which basically is one train operation.

I saw this from the ground, and the line stretched out ot the entrance. Needless to say, I did not ride!

Just a related question...

Is Gemini the highest capacity coaster in the world? (assuming all 6 trains are running?) If not, it has to be near the top.

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Only 2290½ miles from Cedar Po!nt

I think a couple of the Oktoberfest coasters in Germany have a higher throughput, but Gemini may have the highest for a permanent coaster.

Dave?

I don't know for certain. I've heard that Gemini may have been the highest capacity, but that Dueling Dragons at IOA either matches it or beats it slightly. I've personally clocked Gemini at 3,400 PPH, which is absolutely amazing. Ron Toomer himself told me that in 1979, they actually had the thing running at 4,000 PPH, but 4,000 PPH would require a dispatch interval of 54 seconds; with three sets of trains and a ride time of 2:42, that means a dwell time of 0 seconds. So I don't think 4,000 PPH is possible unless the ride time was shorter in 1979 than it is today... :)

(I have clocked Gemini ride times as fast as 2:31 and as slow as 3:04, so maybe it is possible. Oh, and the average ride time is 2:42, not 2:40 as the script says. :) )

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

This brings the question of whether DD is 1 ride or 2. =)

Ok Dave, I have to say this. How did the wind play into those timings? :)

From experience, I would have to say never walk past Gemini when running half trains, especially when the lights above the operators are on, no matter what the line is like.

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Scott W. Short
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

That would be the "Trim Brake Open" light, right?

Is the ride faster, even though it is only a half train?