Cable shavings hit 4 riders

I was just talking with a friend the other day about the problems with Dragster's cable. Two have worn out in two years? Now it appears to be another cable problem? I see a pattern developing here. Just curious...what about Xcelerator's cable? Has it snapped or frayed? Has it been replaced? Or is this just a Dragster problem? Maybe, as someone else has stated, Dragster is ahead of its' time.

I agree this is a very serious issue, once you would have thought someone would have thought of before.

It seems like the cable could be housed in a little protective thing in order to keep it from fraying and hurting people again.

From previous posts about the launch system back when the ride was being built. I can recall someone mentioning that it was similar to the catapult on an Aircraft Carrier. Now do they have this similar problem launching several ton jets into the air? And if they don’t what kind of cable are they using. If anyone is experienced on one of these ships or knows in fact that maybe it’s the same type of cable let me know I am curious.

I think that it is ridiculous that people plan have to plan their trips so that they can get a ride on Top Thrill Dragster. (I did it too) They should just make an announcement top close TTD for the rest of the season so that people wont be disapointed when they see that TTD is closed. If they close it down they will have another chance to fix all of these problems and have it running consistently for the 2005 season.

But we will not know what CP is going to do until they make an announcement.

My best of luck to the four riders that were injured!

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raptorgrl said:
...that doesn't make Dragster a lemon.

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Is there a single day that Dragster ran without issue? EVER? By "without issue", I mean it started up on time, ran without downtime throughout the day, and closed with the close of the park. The "issue purists" might even contend you should count rollbacks as "downtime", but let's exclude those for the sake of argument. What's the average amount of time Dragster goes without downtime? 3 hours? 1 hour? Less? Has anyone ever stood in line and NOT witnessed one of those 15-20 minute "mini-problems"? It's not like this is the 2nd week of operation. This is after a year and a half of Putzing (sorry Jeff) with it! C'mon... That's LEMON, with a capital L.

Compare Dragster's stats with any other coaster at Cedar Point. Heck, stack it up it with the worst-of-the-worst (cough -- Six Flags -- cough) and it pales in comparison.

Everyone wants Dragster to work, myself included, but there's little doubt that significant, fundamental design flaws exist that can't be tweaked away. They appear to be present in everything from the design of the cars (bye-bye theming) to the hydraulic system to the launch cable (note I'm omitting the restraint system problems from this Intamin bash). In fact, is there any aspect of the ride that HASN'T been a disaster? If you're management at Cedar Fair, when do you cut your losses? When do you stop dumping more money into this pit? That's money that could be going toward another ride...a "non-Intamin" one that actually works.

Don't get me wrong. I agree that CP is doing everything they can to fix it, again. They're doing everything they can to keep it up once they fix it, again. They're doing the best they can with an unmanageable situation. However, the facts of TTD's "inoperation" are not debatable. The prognosis for TTD seems terminal. Miracles do happen, but I'm not holding my breath here.

I am curious to see how long it takes before Cedar Point posts something on their website. They haven't used the "Top Thrill Dragster Today" site at all this year yet but I would bet it shows up soon.

I hope for the best who were injured yesterday!

I just saw on channel 4 in cleveland that the riders were given passes to skip to the head of the line next time.

I am sorry and I am a HUGE cedar point fan but if this is all they got, Along with there cuts. bruises and the fact that it has probably scared them for life when it comes to riding coasters. come on!

"IF" Infact, that is all they got and how they were treated, then some things have really changed at CP. I hope it is not true. I hope they were treated like accident victims and taken care of and not just handed band aids and line passes. This could be bad for CP if some employess did not do their jobs correctly.

They only got front of the line passes? Wow.

Like I said it could be just what the riders are saying. But the news was interviewing a couple of the riders. They did not seem impressed at how it was handled. If had happened to me, (And I am very low-maintnance) I would have expected to be treated like I was dying even if I were not. This is not just a train bumping another train. They also said that after they got back to the unloading dock, they had to sit there with cuts on their faces for about 20 minutes before they could be let off. That has happened to me several times before. But with the situation you'd think they would have used the electrical jumper to get them out quickly.. who knows though I was not there.

So does that mean Magnum was a lemon in 1990? If I recall correctly, it spent a good portion of its second season closed because they needed to make changes to the ride.

As for the similarity between this and a steam catapult, there isn't much besides the shuttle. Steam catapults (to the best of my knowledge, and what I've figured out) use one big piston that is pressurized using steam from the ships boilers. There are no cables involved mostly because it would be very costly (and could leave a ship vulnerable to attack) if a cable snapped and they were unable to launch planes.

http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_fullstory.asp?id=20729

Doesn't seem so bad does it?

As I've said before, there are MANY other rides that had delayed openings, problems for the first few seasons, and some that just had no relyability, TTD isn't the first, nor the last.

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H2oXtremes said:[/i}
P.S. I hope the injured will not blame CP for there Injuries and delay a new coaster in the near future from being built. In other words I hope they recover 100% and are not greedy.

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It really isn't a fact of being greedy. If you went to a park to enjoy a day of fun and excitement would you want metal shards in your body? I mean it would be a little stupid to sue the park but maybe at least they could demand I don't know, season passes, merchandise, so and and so forth. I definately don't think TTD is going to be dismantled anytimes soon so don't worry.*** Edited 7/13/2004 4:39:38 PM UTC by magnumrocks*** *** Edited 7/13/2004 4:39:56 PM UTC by magnumrocks***

If only it was a simple to take it out as hitting the little trash can in roller coaster tycoon, but it isn't. I think we may see it classified as a standing but not operating real soon until they can basically rebuild the inside with new parts. I don't really see CF taking it out completely. Way too costly and messy.

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TTD is sinking too! said:
[When do you stop dumping more money into this pit? quote]

I would expect that after the money is spent on the ride that Intamin is paying for the repairs on the R&D problems that have been fixed. If not who would buy another ride made by them. I know it is not a car or anything like it, but why make the customer pay for hindsight type of repairs? *** Edited 7/13/2004 4:45:50 PM UTC by Don Krasley***

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ShiveringTim said:
What are the odds that Xcelerator or Storm Runner won't open today either??

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FWIW, Storm Runner IS running today. I haven't had a chance to talk to anyone at the park, but I had the occasion to drive through Hershey a couple of hours ago and saw it running with people on the trains.

Well, this accident could have been much more serious. As for the lawsuites, you can probably bet that there is going to be some soon. I saw the news at noon and the family that was interviewed seemd very upset. They actually showed a thin piece of metal that hit one of the victims as well (ouch). Anyways, will there be lawsuites? Probably! Will TTD be dismantled any time soon? Not a chance! Accidents happen and sometimes things you CANNOT control just happen.

You wouldn't be saying that if you were one of the people hurt. You'd be asking questions about why it happened, who's responsible, and what could have been done to prevent it.

Of course I would like answers if that happened to me!!! All I'm saying is that bad luck happens Mr. Darling (I know I wouldn't be saying those things if that happened to me)! I wish for the best for those who got hurt in the accident.

Bad luck is the ride being closed when you go. It IS NOT riding the thing and being hit by flying shrapnel because something isn't working right. Are you suggesting that if people get these injuries once in a while it is ok because it was just their bad luck?

What if somebody took one of those pieces in the eye? Gee, bummer dude. That is some bad luck.

This ride is problem. It is a problem for Cedar Point and it is a problem for Intamin. Up to this point the only hurt people got from the ride is sore feet from waiting in line forever and broken hearts when they find out it won't open at all. Now we have some injuries (and they were lucky no one was injured when the dragster wheel came off the train). I have been defending the park and it's actions for some time now but I can't help but to think that they may be reaching a point here where they will have to decide whether or not to keep the thing open. That sounds alarmist and I hate saying it but good grief.