Disaster Transport Story?
Does anybody know why AR was changed into DT...was it to "increase" the number of people who rode?
thanks!
mikey
thanks!
mikey
It was to salvage a mistake..hehe
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http://www.msu.edu/~armbrus9/cp.html
mf laps = 100! No More No Less!!
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http://www.msu.edu/~armbrus9/cp.html
mf laps = 100! No More No Less!!
*GRINS at CPgoneDisney* Nope, just the black lights. But then again, those interesting streaky stains on the floor show up as blue, so I guess we're close. We could stand in the corner with flashlights too... :)
CP has never given a really official reason for why Avalanche Run was enclosed, but some of the ideas floating out there are: because of sand/debris damage interfering with the trough (very likely), because of downtime associated with rain (somewhat likely but odd because there are ventilator shafts above the trough anyway), and because they knew they couldn't compete with having built Magnum the year before (maybe a secondary consideration). So who knows.
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PO!NT OF VIEW - A Different Look at Roller Coasters
http://www.crosswinds.net/~justmayntz/thrills/
CP has never given a really official reason for why Avalanche Run was enclosed, but some of the ideas floating out there are: because of sand/debris damage interfering with the trough (very likely), because of downtime associated with rain (somewhat likely but odd because there are ventilator shafts above the trough anyway), and because they knew they couldn't compete with having built Magnum the year before (maybe a secondary consideration). So who knows.
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PO!NT OF VIEW - A Different Look at Roller Coasters
http://www.crosswinds.net/~justmayntz/thrills/
I thought I had heard that AR was enclosed because you really couldn't see anything from inside the trough anyways...so they wanted to give you something to look at while riding. Unfortuntaely, in the process they blocked the view of the lake from inside the park! CrystalKat's observations seem to make more sense though.
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CP Schroeder
CP Resorts Reservations '00, '01
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CP Schroeder
CP Resorts Reservations '00, '01
Disaster Transport's problems really where honest mistakes. They seem to be up there with Ticket to Ride and The Millennium Force support problems.
Pre construction- I suppose the first of these
problems occurred before the ride was even built. Cedar Point wanted Intamin to design special high capacity vehicles for the ride. The new cars may have been what hurt the ride. The ride was never designed for these type of trains They could never negotiate turns as well as the originals.
1984 construction-The second problem occurred when Intamin accidentally sent the old style trains to the park. I think this caused Avalanche Run to open late.
1987(?)- A couple seasons later it was realized that the ride was not designed to be placed on the eastern shore of the peninsula. The solid trough kept collecting debris and water. Possibly the standing water was not always the cause of rain.
1990- After construction "fog machines" were installed and in doing so, ventilation was also installed
1990 Opening-The fourth problem, (notice how they are snow balling) or should I say mistake soon followed shortly after the ride was covered and rethemed as Disaster Transport. There was actually very little cost cutting when the covering was actually being built. In fact, it proved a big hit with park guests. Air conditioned queues are still scarce.
Sometime in June (17 I think) one of the rides props fell on the ride track and was struck by a one of the rides vehicles. No one was injured and the accident only made it to one locale paper but it did raise some safety questions about the ride.
Supposedly ITEC Industries (company that was in charge of the rides props) was blamed for not installing the fallen props safety cable during Disaster Transports construction.
1991-The following year several cost cutting tools were taken effect on several of the parks facilities. Disaster Transport, Magnum XL-200 and Wildcat roller coasters were probably the most expensive rides to maintain and in being so were the most affected by this decision. It would seem that all special effects on these rides were noticeably reduced.
1995-Another speed bump in Disaster Transport history is the welding of the que line in the third room. This was probably the cause of fire safety regulations but I haven't got around to checking that theory yet.
1998-In 1998 (?) the second room was closed for Halloweekends and remains closed. All props in that room are still intact.
Another problem, in my opinion is that many people don't know it's a coaster. When it opened as Disaster Transport most people didn't know it was a coaster. This has caused little popularity for the ride
Pre construction- I suppose the first of these
problems occurred before the ride was even built. Cedar Point wanted Intamin to design special high capacity vehicles for the ride. The new cars may have been what hurt the ride. The ride was never designed for these type of trains They could never negotiate turns as well as the originals.
1984 construction-The second problem occurred when Intamin accidentally sent the old style trains to the park. I think this caused Avalanche Run to open late.
1987(?)- A couple seasons later it was realized that the ride was not designed to be placed on the eastern shore of the peninsula. The solid trough kept collecting debris and water. Possibly the standing water was not always the cause of rain.
1990- After construction "fog machines" were installed and in doing so, ventilation was also installed
1990 Opening-The fourth problem, (notice how they are snow balling) or should I say mistake soon followed shortly after the ride was covered and rethemed as Disaster Transport. There was actually very little cost cutting when the covering was actually being built. In fact, it proved a big hit with park guests. Air conditioned queues are still scarce.
Sometime in June (17 I think) one of the rides props fell on the ride track and was struck by a one of the rides vehicles. No one was injured and the accident only made it to one locale paper but it did raise some safety questions about the ride.
Supposedly ITEC Industries (company that was in charge of the rides props) was blamed for not installing the fallen props safety cable during Disaster Transports construction.
1991-The following year several cost cutting tools were taken effect on several of the parks facilities. Disaster Transport, Magnum XL-200 and Wildcat roller coasters were probably the most expensive rides to maintain and in being so were the most affected by this decision. It would seem that all special effects on these rides were noticeably reduced.
1995-Another speed bump in Disaster Transport history is the welding of the que line in the third room. This was probably the cause of fire safety regulations but I haven't got around to checking that theory yet.
1998-In 1998 (?) the second room was closed for Halloweekends and remains closed. All props in that room are still intact.
Another problem, in my opinion is that many people don't know it's a coaster. When it opened as Disaster Transport most people didn't know it was a coaster. This has caused little popularity for the ride
So in a way the special effects are not all working because of the incident with the falling prop? I think it would be cool if Cedar Point redid all of the themeing and relaunched the ride to get it out to the public.
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"Space Pirates? And a trip to Alaska??? Put together in one ride?????? Genious I tell you, pure GENIOUS!"
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"Space Pirates? And a trip to Alaska??? Put together in one ride?????? Genious I tell you, pure GENIOUS!"
Magnum is Sinking isn't the detour sign before the station part of Halloweekends? Because I never rememeber seeing it up until they left the Halloweekends display up.
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"Space Pirates? And a trip to Alaska??? Put together in one ride?????? Genious I tell you, pure GENIOUS!"
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"Space Pirates? And a trip to Alaska??? Put together in one ride?????? Genious I tell you, pure GENIOUS!"
While I am NO CP expert and I don't play one on TV...I do have to jump in and correct mistakes when I can...The "prop falling" DID NOT happen the first year of Disaster Transport...Also, the "hold up" was not due to the cars but the ride itself was being shipped from overseas...
In my most humble opinion:
CP introduced Avalanche Run in 1985 with GREAT FANFARE...CP thought they had a home run before the ride was even opened. For some of the Older posters/readers on this site...AR was "suppose" to remind riders of "The Flying Turns" at Euclid Beach (a now defunct Amusement Park on the eastside of Cleveland).
Well to say the least, AR was far from an "exciting" ride...
The change over to D.Transport was done with some involvement of a former Disney desginer...This was the largest single ride "theming event" CP had undertaken...On paper it is an outstanding concept but as soon as it launch the problems have mounted...
But, as we now see DT is more like it's first name than anything else.
What will happen to DT? Only time will tell. (unless you run into the Lemon Chill Guy and then you'll know!)
In my most humble opinion:
CP introduced Avalanche Run in 1985 with GREAT FANFARE...CP thought they had a home run before the ride was even opened. For some of the Older posters/readers on this site...AR was "suppose" to remind riders of "The Flying Turns" at Euclid Beach (a now defunct Amusement Park on the eastside of Cleveland).
Well to say the least, AR was far from an "exciting" ride...
The change over to D.Transport was done with some involvement of a former Disney desginer...This was the largest single ride "theming event" CP had undertaken...On paper it is an outstanding concept but as soon as it launch the problems have mounted...
But, as we now see DT is more like it's first name than anything else.
What will happen to DT? Only time will tell. (unless you run into the Lemon Chill Guy and then you'll know!)
I should have said my dates where a little shakey sorry about that.
-Anyway, no the detour signs are part of the ride. You are supposed to be taking a detour threw the entire Dispatch Master Transport. See above for more information.
-I was referring to the support that people where hitting there hands on.
-In other news, I don't consider myself a Cedar Point expert either. I really don't know much about the park other than Disaster Transport.
However, I try to give accurate information whenever possible.
Thanks Old Timer Tim for correcting my mistake. It's nice to see someone else cares about this great ride.
*** This post was edited by Magnum is sinking! on 5/1/2001. ***
-Anyway, no the detour signs are part of the ride. You are supposed to be taking a detour threw the entire Dispatch Master Transport. See above for more information.
-I was referring to the support that people where hitting there hands on.
-In other news, I don't consider myself a Cedar Point expert either. I really don't know much about the park other than Disaster Transport.
However, I try to give accurate information whenever possible.
Thanks Old Timer Tim for correcting my mistake. It's nice to see someone else cares about this great ride.
*** This post was edited by Magnum is sinking! on 5/1/2001. ***
Magnum is Sinking! I totally agree with what you're saying in general: the problems with Disaster have been one thing after another, meanwhile the first problem doesn't get fixed, so they add on top of one another. To add my views...
You're really right when you say that a lot of people don't know it's a coaster. When I worked the ride in '97, a lot of people (mind you, 7 years after it was opened as Disaster) were still asking if it was a coaster. Of course, CP gets many new guests each year, so that's not their fault. It isn't billed as a coaster throughout the park: very little/no merchandising, etc.
One comment about the welded queues in the third room (all the rooms, acutally): it wasn't for a fire hazard/safety violation -- CP would have known that long before -- but because of the decrease in popularity (the longer queues were rarely used anyway) and because there are no cameras in those rooms so the ride ops can't control that line. There just isn't the staffing to keep someone in the room all the time to watch the line, so welding the queues was the solution.
Yes, the detour sign has always been part of the theming -- albeit, never too well explained. I thought that part of the original theme was that all the "real" pilots/crew were on strike so the robots were doing it, and not too well. I'm not sure if that was an intended storyline, but it seemed to fit.
As always, Disaster Transport will always be my baby. :)
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PO!NT OF VIEW - A Different Look at Roller Coasters
http://www.crosswinds.net/~justmayntz/thrills/
You're really right when you say that a lot of people don't know it's a coaster. When I worked the ride in '97, a lot of people (mind you, 7 years after it was opened as Disaster) were still asking if it was a coaster. Of course, CP gets many new guests each year, so that's not their fault. It isn't billed as a coaster throughout the park: very little/no merchandising, etc.
One comment about the welded queues in the third room (all the rooms, acutally): it wasn't for a fire hazard/safety violation -- CP would have known that long before -- but because of the decrease in popularity (the longer queues were rarely used anyway) and because there are no cameras in those rooms so the ride ops can't control that line. There just isn't the staffing to keep someone in the room all the time to watch the line, so welding the queues was the solution.
Yes, the detour sign has always been part of the theming -- albeit, never too well explained. I thought that part of the original theme was that all the "real" pilots/crew were on strike so the robots were doing it, and not too well. I'm not sure if that was an intended storyline, but it seemed to fit.
As always, Disaster Transport will always be my baby. :)
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PO!NT OF VIEW - A Different Look at Roller Coasters
http://www.crosswinds.net/~justmayntz/thrills/
People hitting their hands on the support really wasn't a problem at all.
1. Most people pull their hands down when it ever looks close.
2. For those that are tall enough, usually don't do it for logical reasons.
3. Nothing bad was ever reported about it--attempt at a park lawsuit, etc.
1. Most people pull their hands down when it ever looks close.
2. For those that are tall enough, usually don't do it for logical reasons.
3. Nothing bad was ever reported about it--attempt at a park lawsuit, etc.
"AR downtime due to rain"
they sure fixed that! LOL First indoor coaster that I've heard of to shut down during heavy rain! :)
-jerry-
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http://www.magnummania.com
jerry@magnummania.com
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