Got to the park around 8:30pm and parked right at the front entrance. Although the status report said TTD was open, I hadn't seen a train launch yet. Walking under Corkscrew, a train finally launched, but couldn't quite makeit over the top...my first rollback in person! The ride obviously was closed, but a line had formed along the launch fence, and the end of it was past the bleachers. I had nothing better to do and my iPod was full of music so I got in line and waited. And waited. And waited some more.
Finally, they started launghing trains on a consistent basis with people which led to the opening of the ride. Apparently many people had left the queue as I got all the way up to the base of the ramp...nice short wait, right? Two things extended that wait...I got in the front seat line and yet another breakdown.
I was 2 trains away from riding when the ride broke down. A train was waiting to be launched and the ride simply shut down. There were two trains behind it as well. After about 15 minutes of no activity, they backed up two of the trains into the station and emptied them. The train on the launch was backed to the staging block and the lapbars were manually released. Now I was 5 trains away from riding!
30 minutes into the breakdown, three mechanics appeared and started working on the launch track. One of them was using a very long crow-bar looking device, while the other had a smallish sledgehammer. The thrid was just standing there looking at them. Quite the precisous repair process on a 25 million dollar machine. Hehe.
They were satisfied with their banging and prying so a train was prepared for launch. Everyone in the station started clapping in unison, as to cheer the train on. First launch didn't make it...everyone was vocally sad. A mechanic went back out to the launch track and visually inspected something but did not bring his hammer out again. They launched the train again, and even with the riders in the station giving it support, it couldln't quite make it over. Third time's a charm, right? Nope. The train nearly stalled at the top. It hung there seemeingly forever before reversing it's course. Fourth time's a charm? Yup. The train made it convincingly over the top.
Now it was time for riders. First train out of the station with humans launched, and rolled back! Everyone thought another lengthy breakdown was in order, but they quickly relaunched it and this time the train made it...barely. Second, third, and fourth barely made it. Now it was my turn. Would I get a roll-back? Please can I get a roll-back?
Never having ridden the front seat on Dragster before, I didn't quite know what to expect. The launch picture showed that fact quite nicely. The wind, the track, the speed, the everhything was magnified in the front seat. It almost felt out-of-control climbing the tower into the twist. Then gravity took over and the train just barely...I mean barely crawled over the top. The view was amazing.....indescribable since we had a bit of time to look around.
Gravity soon realized we were still up there and pulled us back towards the ground. The woman next to me thought we were going to be decapitated by the support and screamed bloody murder, and I got a great view straight down through the spiral track. Crossing the finish line with authority, the train glided to a gentle stop and we disembarked, screaming and yelling, running to look at our pictures. It was 11:20 and time to go home.
-seth
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--Seth
and also, that's not the shortest trip report ever, this is:
i went to cedar point. it was fun. :)
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It's like a new pair of underwear; at first it's constrictive... but after a while it becomes a part of you. -Garth Algar
*** This post was edited by johnz 7/24/2003 7:29:33 PM ***
I said smallest, not shortest. ;-P
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--Seth
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