Coaster Seating

Interesting, I wonder why they wouldn't put it on the track?

Probably because they never intended to use it.

Correct. Has nothing to do with "mechanical", it just wasn't worth it to put it on. Heck, I think as of a few weeks ago they weren't sure if the ride would even be open still.

And I doubt it would have made a difference. With COVID ops, a 3rd train is just sitting there. Same reason they stopped using it when the ride was Mantis.

My theory would be that the amount of capacity that is increased by having a 3rd train is not greater than the loss of time it takes to wipe down an additional train every hour.

Ok very good points I hadn't thought about, so my question now is. Why bring it out of the Amazement Shop yard? Why not keep it in storage for the season? Unless they were swapping them out when one on the track needed maintenance? Although I'm not sure how involved that procedure is?

The lack of a 3rd train hurt Mystic and Diamondback a lot this year when the crowds got bigger in August. KI does NOT cycle each train empty after the spray down, unlike CP (they dry it as they spray it) so their ops could have benefited from having all trains available. Orion was flying on 3 trains on all of our visits.

Drying as you spray is counterproductive, disinfectants need to dry on the surface in order to work. Who ever gave that order might be called on the carpet for that.

Interesting you mention that Dutch. Cedar Point was doing that opening day this year, then a couple weeks later into the season they did the spray and cycle method for most of the big coasters, Millennium normally had one train that was hand dried as it was the one coming in sprayed from unload but it had been sitting for a while.

I wonder why all the parks didn't switch to the much superior spray and cycle method, technically more effective and I also think it thoroughly improved operations.

The disinfectant doesn't always have to dry on the surface but it does need to sit there for a period of time to truly kill what it's intended too. I rode a few trains that could have used a dry down after they cycled empty. The way some trains were sprayed wasn't very effective as far as covering the points that people would actually be touching but honestly if you're using hand sanitizer before and after you ride it doesn't matter much.

I'll add that they shouldn't have used 3 trains on Gatekeeper at all this year. Every time I've been this year the 3rd train has double-stacked, waiting for the one in station to be dispatched and then full unload/load for the next one. Every time, and I've been 12 times this year. I understand that ops are slower to due to COVID but then why cycle all 3? All that does is result in a longer wait to unload and, as someone else mentioned above, an extra train to clean.

On Raptor and Valravn it happens often but not every time so I can see keeping 3 on them but Gatekeeper I just don't get it.

My guess is it was already out of the shop and headed back to the transfer track before they even knew the season would be drastically changed.

I observed the same stacking at GateKeeper. Ops much slower than in a normal year, I think mostly due to the staggering of dismissal of each row and the way the station is setup. Orion kept up the ops by doing standard dismissal of all passengers at once to its center set exit ramp. It was the only coaster at either park where i didn't see the staggering in effect.

TwistedCircuits said:

Why bring it out of the Amazement Shop yard?

Most likely because at the time they didn't know just what this season would be. But also because of space, time, and "it was on the schedule to happen".

Scott Cameron said:

All that does is result in a longer wait to unload and, as someone else mentioned above, an extra train to clean.

More problematically, it results in guests being in closer proximity to one another for longer periods of time than necessary.

Let's say that things are normal next year with the season. Would Cedar Point allow rougarou to have the third train?

I would think so as that would just be regular ops. I know they ran three in previous seasons.

I can't think of any reason not to put the third train back on beyond an expected reduction in capacity / attendance due to COVID. So, yes, I would expect all three trains running once things get back to normal.