Disaster Transport

Wow, that ride makes no sense at all. I love the chain lift how they use the same type of lights used on ferris wheels. The themeing looks really wierd too. It didn't resemble anything to me.

I didn't buy the 3d glasses, so that may have made a difference, but I don't think it would have. Are they worth the dollar?

Does anyone know if they even make any effort to keep the themeing up on that ride, or do they just leave it there and let everything inside rot?

What is the ride's storyline supposed to be? I know it is something to do with space.

And... last of all. I personally think the ride is too fast for any type of themeing. The bobsled trough track doesn't help with the viewing of the themeing.

I think CP should tear down the piece of junk and put in a B&M flying coaster...tallest and fastest of its kind of course (CP's gotta break a record with all their rides :P).

You have to admit, CP's themeing is terrible. The skeleton town on the train ride is about as good as it gets: decent. *** Edited 5/23/2004 10:19:50 PM UTC by rathofdoom*** *** Edited 5/23/2004 10:20:39 PM UTC by rathofdoom***

The story line behind Disaster Transport has absolutley nothing to do with space. It's supposed to be some trip to Alaska that goes wrong, almost disastrous, hense the name Disaster Transport. Even though I hate when people bash this ride cuz it's one of the most fun rides at CP, I have to admit the theming is terrible. There was only one part that actually made sense with the story line, and that was the last turn where there's big glaciers and snowy peaks in the background. I always find myself asking "...and what does this have to do with Alaska....." when I'm riding it, but all in all I think it's a good ride, and that's all that counts really! ;)

Yea, the ride is pretty neat. A little clanky at parts.

The queue area looks very space-like. I think it would be better if they made all of the themeing ice capped mountains.

Don't buy the glasses unless you plan to stare at the wall alot while you're in line. lol. The ride makes absolutely no sense at all, but regardless, it's good fun.

Lets hope they have some of the theming back this year... Doubtful though.

They should just get rid of all the theming and just leave it a plain dark coaster with no lights at all.

I have been going to Cedar Point since 1988, which means I rode original Avalanche Run, and was at the park before Magnum. The first year Disastor Transport was open, the theming in the ride, and queue was incredible, there was nothing boring about the queue line, I used to wait over 2 hours to ride Disastor Transport, but loved watching all the theming in the queue line. I really wish they hadn't destroyed the theming, I want Cedar Point to reinvest in the theming and bring back original Disastor Transport.

That is a great idea! I used to love watching the robot in the second room. That was so cool. It used to move around and talk to the guests waiting to ride the ride. I think that they were trying to make a change to the coaster w/o knocking it down because of their sweet 16 coaster count. I think that it is important to have that number 16. If they were to knock it down and build another coaster in its place they would still have 16 coasters. Besides, that is not nearly enough room for another coaster. They would have to build onto the beach again. I miss the original theming!!! MIke

There is plenty of room on the DT site for "another coaster." After all, DT is a coaster right? A wooden twister would be perfect for the lakeside location. Of course, the odds of that happening are about as good as hitting the Powerball jackpot, but I can hope. :)

I have never been on Disaster Transport, and am not sure I will fit, as I understand the cars are cramped? I definitely want to try, however. I am curious about the technical aspects of the ride. How does the coaster stay in place? Is there no "track", with the wheels locked in place, such as on the Force, or a wooden coaster like the Blue Streak? Do the trains run free in the trough? I am still very much a newbie when it comes to coasters, so I am trying to learn as much as I can about the mechanical operations, which helps allay some of the fears.

The original theming and video story that played in the first robot control room was funny and well done. What was it's downfall however were the incredibly bad acoustics in the room. You could hardly understand what was being said, and if you couldn't understand, the whole point of the theming was lost. *** Edited 5/24/2004 1:26:21 PM UTC by Pete***

Tank,
Get a copy of RollerCoasterTycoon 2. It has a coaster builder in it which will allow you to build whatever coaster you want. Select the bobsled type and try working with it to build a coaster.

That helps with the visualization of how a bobsled coaster works, but basically you had it above. There is no track, just the trough. Thankfully through physics and good engineering, its not necessary as they "predicted" the path the trains would take. The only unfortunate thing is that you can't get good airtime like you can on Magnum with bunny hills. Since there is nothing but gravity and centripetal force holding you to the track, you can't have the sudden drops that allow for great airtime. This problem has been the cause of many bobsled accidents in my parks.

Hopefully that answers your question. (and hopefully I got it right, anyone correct me if I'm wrong)

John

Kind of a side note, has anybody else noticed the somewhat eerie looking doll in the disco-ball room? I first noticed it last year and it was pretty wierd, and I thought of it again after noticing it was still there this year.

I like the ride because it freaks me out when I am not in control, and when I can't predict the track ahead of me, it makes it alot more fun. It isn't big on sensations, but it's fun and not to intense for the younger relatives that I go to cedar point with.

But the 3-4 Glasses weren't that great on the ride, i think it was only good for the queu line.

I bought the $1 glasses just to check out what was actually 3-D, and nothing was. The glasses just amplify lights into a callidoscope-type image.

I would have enjoyed my dollar more by tying it to a rock, trowing it into a pond, and watching it sink. -But, I did give the glasses to two young kids who got a big kick out of a stranger giving them something for free. Their reaction was also worth the $1.

I'm just curious, but could someone try and explain in detail some of the themeing the ride used to have. It seems like the ride was once pretty cool.

I just came up with an Idea that would make the chain lift much better. They should surround the entire tunnel with those ferris wheel lights instead of just the two lines on the side. Then they should get a bunch of foggers. I think the effect with the fog and the lighting would be pretty cool.

I wasn't really focused on the themeing on the ride much. I was too interested in looking at the shape of the track and how it looked.

Hopefully I will return to CP this season and take a better look at the ride.

Here is an overview of the original theming. As you entered DT the hallway looked like a hallway at an airport, with travel posters showing the effects of global warming, that is why Alaska is a popular location. One funny poster was a poster of Orlando, showing Walt Disney World. It was captioned "Come see the magic", which was crossed out and changed to "The Magic is Gone", an effect of global warming.

At the end of the hallway was the main waiting area of the terminal, with airlock gates to the different spacecraft. As fate would have it, the gates were jammed, so travelers on that day were routed through some of the administrative areas including the control room and the maintenance hanger.

The first room was the control room. It featured a master robot in charge of everything. A video displayed the human controllers and the occasional spacecraft pilot. The pilots reported various problems and the semi-inept human controllers bungled things up. The entire plot was unfolded however to the riders waiting. In addition to passengers your rocket would contain a shipment of highly volatile fuel bound for Alaska. Every employee of the company seemed like they were inept, and accidents and lost ships were a common occurrence. The entire video segment was sort of like a TV sitcom.

The next room, which the present queue line goes through, was the maintenance hanger. It featured "Dave", another robot. He moaned about the lack of good help and the lax maintenance. There were actually two real industrial robots working on a Disaster Transport car. The entire maintenance hanger was designed to give riders the impression that they were jeopardizing their lives by trusting the rockets. The name of the transport company was actually "Dispatch Master Transport". A malfunctioning robot had trouble saying that, and after some stuttering it came out as "Welcome to Dis(stutter) Dis(stutter) Dispa(stutter) Disaster Transport!" The slogan of Dispatch Master Transport was "We'll get you there in five minutes, or we won't get you there at all!"

Going up the steps, they had a video of your flight attendants giving you boarding instructions. This was also done in a tongue in check humorous way.

A few of the in ride effects were different. There was an exploding asteroid and some space pirates.

Disaster Transport...zzzzzzzzz

Wow, the ride seemed pretty cool. So, there were more queue rooms before?

I assume those rooms are for halloweekends stuff now?

It's a shame they got rid of the stuff. It sounds like it was actually a pretty cool ride.

I remember back in 90/91 waiting upwards of an hour for that ride. Mostly because it was air-conditioned, which was a big plus in the middle of a day.
As a ride it's still one of my favorites. It's not the tallest or the fastest, but its still enjoyable. The theming was hundred's of times better than it is now. And I swear, and maybe someone can back me up on this, but on the "Athens" travel poster there was a naked chick in the pool. I swear to God there was, but since they have removed the poster, there's no way to go back and check.

The last thing about the current state. They would be better off to make the entire queue black-lit. It is annoying in its current state and would be much better as a black-light and leave what little theming is left (the conveyor).

Anyway, its only a matter of time before something happens with this ride, I just hope thats its a return to its former glory (or a move to Michigan Adventure)

John