Disaster Transport... Lights On?

Take 2011 new ride budget, and make it 2011 lighting/theme repair budget.

:)

See, I thought during the offseason leading up to 2008 and the offseason leading up to 2009 would be used for all improvements of the park!!! Now I haven't seen improvements yet!

-Giant Wheel: all of the light strands are still not lit up
-Disaster Transport: the theming of course
-Maverick: waterbombs, strobe lights, clanking noise in tunnel, and the WOOSH sound you could hear from the queue when a train would launch out of the tunnel
-Millennium Force: I can finally say that I was there last Sunday and all of the lift hill lights were working, but not as bright as I remember them! (not to sound picky)
-Power Tower: Sad to see those lights do not work anymore!
-TTD: This is the best themed ride at the park IMO but how long will it take before all of that theming wear down?
-Gemini: I have been to the park 5 times this year and I have only seen both trains go once! They also need to synchronize the rides better so they can go up the lift hill at the same time
Skyhawk: Even this ride's lights have dimmed down

It's little things like these that make the ride experience better! It's sad to say that Cedar Point has let it go! When the water bombs actually do work on Maverick, you wouldn't believe the reactions people give!

Did they do away with DT's lights because it may cause epilepsy? I'm not trying to be funny, that is actually a serious question.

^
-Giant Wheel: it would be impossible to get all the bulbs to light up. On average 5-7 bulbs burn out a week.

-Disaster Transport: The theming has been out of the ride for a while. For anybody who thinks they are going to put theming back into DT, just keep dreaming because it is never going to happen.

-Maverick: I thought the strobe lights were taken out due to the risk of health/safety concerns. Why would they even need all those effects in the tunnel? They already have a few lights on in there and the rider is only in the tunnel for 10 seconds.

-Power Tower still has the white ones on the top of the tower. If anyone wants lights, go to Starlight Experience. That is probably where the budget is now.

-Top Thrill Dragster has already had most of its theming canned. The MPH board & the decorations on the train; there isn't really anything else to get rid of. The other theming is not only to enhance the ride, it also helps the rider know when they are going to be launched.

-Gemini: I have to differ with that statement because the only reasons why they do not run both sides is: Maintenance issues, low crowd days/evenings, and Gemini usually stops running both sides for the first & last 2 hours of operation on most days.

-I do agree with the water bomb. It was a great touch to the park. Something that would be cool to see is having someone put a quarter in in one of two slots. One to make the water bomb go off, plus one that adds colored light to the water to have it go along with Starlight Experience.

^Do you know how cool the flashing lights were at the end of Mavericks tunnel? On night rides they added so much to the ride.

coolkid2345, I really am not here to start an argument but I don't agree with some of the things you said...

Do you know how many ferris wheels out there have all of their lights operating on the ride? A LOT! Cedar Point is a well known park across the nation, so you would think they would do all they can to make the appearance of the park impeccable.

As for Maverick, I think Your mom is to fat to ride TTD hit itdead on!

What theming (besides the tires and spoilers on the trains) has TTD got rid of? That is still the only ride that has it's theming like I have previously said

With Gemini, I went a couple weeks ago and the park was packed. Not only was it packed, but Gemini's queue was spilling into the midway (even though I don't think all of the switchbacks were filled). They still didn't have the blue train running! If you are going to build a racing coaster, then make sure, well, IT RACES! Maintenance issues quite frankly is a poor excuse.

I mean like I said before, Cedar Point is known nationwide, so you would think everything would be working up to par!

Anybody else gonna be mad with me when the effects on StR doesn't work next year? Or maybe by the end of this year. ;)

I rode DT yesterday and Alaska was lit up! :)

I also do miss the sound effects especially the "Im losing control!" :)
I just luv the crew this season!

Jo
Lifetime Raptor flights: 2030 :)

GLFan6290

Cedar Point has a budget and they can not have everything. Just because it is a well known park doesn't mean they have to have everything up and running. I don't think you get at all that Cedar Point has a budget. They have two options: Have all the rides up with not all the effects working, or they can shut down a quarter of the park to make the other 3/4 full effect. What one is the better choice, the first one.

-Maybe almost all ferris wheels have all their lights on, But how many have over 1000 lights on it?

-The flashing lights on Maverick might look cool, but it is one other thing to worry about + it has a cost.

-Top Thrill Dragster used to have the MPH board what told the speed + they only sometimes have the music in the station. Besides, Disaster Transport does still have more theming than TTD.

-Gemini might have had a maintenance problem. They would have opened the other side but they might have been low on staffing or there was a maintenance issue.

As I said above it doesn't matter if it is a well known park; if you want to pay $55.00 to get in, go head. But everyone would be happy if they just kept the price the same and didn't run all the effects.

A lot of other parks have budgets too, but they seem to keep the theming working. If you cant afford to keep it working don't put it in.

^

1: Does it matter? They don't all burn out at once. Why not once a week find the burnt out bulbs and replace them.

2: Four flashing lights aren't hard to replace. Its not the "cost" its the lack of knowing how much simple lights can make a great ride.

Skipping 3

4: Do you know what the un-employment rate is? If they are low on staffing I'm sure its not hard to find people. Gemini rarely has both sides running. I doubt it has maintenance problems all the time...

Okay, do the really need lights in a tunnel what you see for 8 seconds? If you want to see lights, go to Starlight Experience. When they add one more major thing, sometimes they have to take a little money out of other things.

For every time I have been there, they have ran both sides. They might have staffing issues on the ride.

I would like to hear what you have to say on how they can get the theming back while maintaining a conservative non-overspending budget.

TTD still has the MPH thing and it does work. The music in the station still goes, but is pretty messed up. It just like pauses every five seconds.

^ I believe that is because of the ride operators mic. Everytime they talk or it gets bumped it cuts the music out and resets the track.

coolkid: It is not about how long you see them, it is what they add to the ride. Millennium's and Magnum's tunnels arent needed then since we are only in them a few seconds...? Are the flashing lights on Rockin Roller Coaster at Disney needed? Obviously we have different opinions on how (working) theming adds to the experience of being at the park.

^It might add to the ride but is every park guest going to notice? It is a light and it really doesn't take anything away from the ride plus it cuts down on maintenance and electricity costs to not have them running.

^^On Memorial Day weekend, the MPH board did not light up. The last time I saw it would have probably been in 2006 or 2007.

coolkid2345 said:
GLFan6290

Cedar Point has a budget and they can not have everything. Just because it is a well known park doesn't mean they have to have everything up and running. I don't think you get at all that Cedar Point has a budget. They have two options: Have all the rides up with not all the effects working, or they can shut down a quarter of the park to make the other 3/4 full effect. What one is the better choice, the first one.

Hmmm, when I go to Disney(a well known park also), everything is in working order. How's that working out for them? Same thing can be said about busch gardens, sea world. I threw those in so that you woulden't play the "well disney is the exception" argument out there.

And yes, theming does add a lot to a ride.It makes it more exciting. Look at the log ride at knotts for example. Strip away all the theming and mountain, and all you got is a log ride. It's much more exciting to have the mountain and scenery on the ride. Splash mountain would be another great example of theming on a ride. It's like your combining two rides together. A log ride and a dark ride all in one.

Disney is a theme park.
Busch Gardens is a theme park.
Cedar Point is an amusement park.

Really?

Why do they have a frontier town? Or a camp snoopy? Or a planet snoopy?

The park has themed areas. So it IS a theme park.

Cedar Point doesn't advertise themselves as one.
Busch Gardens does.

Busch Gardens is themed all through the park.
Cedar Point is not.

crazy horse, could you please tell me what the theme is of the Wicked Twister area and Blue Streak Midway is?

It does not matter if they do or not. The point is, they have themed areas....so it's a theme park. Weather they say they are or not.

Some of the lights were on in DT when I rode on Wednesday evening. I really miss the sound effects though. They added a LOT to the experience (especially the "losing control" part).

Gemini was only running one side when I rode it Thurs morning, but by the afternoon both sides were running.

I didn't notice if any lights were out on the Giant Wheel.

Maverick's water cannons were working off and on... although the timing seemed off... like they'd go off behind the car. Tunnel was cool even without flashing lights, especially at night when it's dark in there and all you can see is the track straight ahead.

I figure most of the missing theming isn't noticeable to aren't used to the park. I would like it if they took a year to just upgrade/fix theming in the park. It really adds to the rides.

coolkid2345 said:
^It might add to the ride but is every park guest going to notice? It is a light and it really doesn't take anything away from the ride plus it cuts down on maintenance and electricity costs to not have them running.

I am sure most of the GP would notice if they rode it with the lights working and then the next time they are turned off. It doesn't take anything away from the ride? Those four blinding flashing lights at the end of the tunnel added excitement to an already great launch. It made it seem like it was going so much faster. Electricity cost? Really? Do you know how much electricity Wicked Twister uses every launch? And you think they are worried about saving money on how much those lights are in Maverick's tunnel?

They add to the ride. Just like the water bombs. If they "can't afford it" (which they can) they shouldn't have put it in in the first place.