Delay in Launch?

I don't know if this has been going on for a while or since the ride has just recently gone back up. I was at the park yesterday and got two rides on Dragster, and noticed that the christmas tree and launch sounds are now off by about a second. Once the lights hit green, the music goes for the train taking off, then about after a second the train launches. Its funny because I've been on the ride enough times my body knows the timing of the ride, because once the first light turns yellow I put my hands up. I physicaly notice the second delay, because I am used to the train going as soon as it hits green. Anyone notice this?

Dan,

I was there yesterday as well and noticed the same thing. Even while standing in line for MF, I was looking over at TTD and noticed that the timing was off. [After you watch TTD several times, you get a feeling for when the train should be coming up the hill based upon the lights on the TTD tower shutting off.]

Then, once we got over to TTD and watched a launch or two, I saw the same thing that you did. We were able to ride TTD three times yesterday and it was a strange feeling having your arms up for a split second even after the green light had turned on. You could actually have been laxed in putting your hands up and still successfully raised them before the train actually launched.

I didn't ride Dragster yesterday, but I did notice the delay.

On the other hand, I did notice that there is almost NO delay now from the train finishing the launch until the launch sled brakes drop for the return trip. The result is a significant reduction in launch interval...yesterday they were sending trains at about a 60-second interval. If they can get the sled to park faster at the starting line, they can probably cut another 15-20 seconds, and if they do that, they're gonna have to figure out how to make the platforms move faster.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I noticed the delay too last Friday when it first came back up from it's downtime. It's kind of bizarre, I'm hoping they will get that back to normal sometime soon. I imagine they just have bigger fish to fry right now.

I think they're going to need to figure out how to keep all of the hydraulic pumps working first, Dave! The hot rumor was that they weren't using all of them for awhile and it was taking longer to get up to the required pressure to launch.

That may be, Jeff...but what I noticed was that they have eliminated the delay between when the launch sled stops and the sled brakes retract, and they have eliminated the delay between sled brake retraction and sled rewind, and they have the sled rewinding much faster now. All of that has combined to cut about 20 seconds off the system reset time, and I saw no evidence that the hydraulics were having any trouble keeping up. Doesn't mean they weren't, just that I didn't see, for example, any "why are they just sitting there?"-type delays waiting for pressure or anything like that.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Jeff has better inside info than I do... :)

Is it that big of a deal. i mean it is runing fine.well from what i saw it was(clevland cam). maybe after they get it run well then they can work on timeing *** Edited 7/20/2004 4:01:29 PM UTC by thepoint4life23***

It's actually a bit more Realistic I think, just because when a normal car peels out, it sits for a seconds with the tires spinning then gets moving ;). In this case though I feel it still works better with the lights and everything timed right. When I heard saw the lights go and the tire sound and the train didn’t move, I thought it was broken, then WHAM. :)

You guys are saying that the lights are delayed, does that mean the theming is a little delayed too?

Is it a big deal? Uh, yeah, people in line longer than they need to be (or worse, standing still) is a big deal.

But it is working. can we ask for more then that

Yeah, especially if it isn't working correctly.

I havent been to CP this year yet(aug 1-4) but last year got on TTD lots although when the timing was off it seemed like the ride soon went down. It seemed to me like it was because the car was ready but the motor wasnt. Is this the same this year??

I was at CP yesterday and I think if there was a delay in the launch before that they have fixed it. It seems like the train launches really smooth with the lights and it's timed perfectly.

Yes, I was at the park Wednesday and the delay in the launch is no longer there, when I was there Sunday I thought I was imagining things since you'd hear the "themeing" sound effect and then see the train take off like a full second later. Looks like the uptime of the ride has been pretty good since it reopened.

~Rob Willi *** Edited 7/22/2004 9:32:30 PM UTC by HeyIsntThatRob?***

Everything seemed normal on Tuesday, also.

Phew. For a second there I was convinced Cedar Point's attempt at theming was slipping. You can't blame me for thinking such things. ;-)