Frontier Lift

The left over building in Frontier Town houses restrooms on the lower level. I wonder if they use the upper level for anything - such as storage?

It was a great ride in its day. The section over animation island was a quiet retreat from the noisy midway. You could hear the birds and insects while enjoying the dense growth of trees below.

I worked the FT station a few times. One position was called the catcher. The cars would come in to the station so fast along those rails that you literally had to put you body in front of them and push to slow them down. They rotated positions on the ride often, as you can imagine.

Is that the building that is off to your right as you come down the exit from CCMR with the bathrooms? If so, I had no idea that was part of the frontier lift and I have been going in that building for years. I guess you learn something new everyday. I'll have to take a closer look at the building when I come during Halloweekends.

^Yes it is. And yes we do. :)

The muffleheads in June while riding the Frontier Lift were absolutely horrendous. You couldn't escape them.

I did like the "quiet" of the ride and it was a nice respite from walking to the back of the park. I would like to see some other type of conveyance to the back besides the train.

Put the lift back. You already have one station in place. Put the other one next to Iron Dragon and put the food stand in the lower level. You'd have to intertwine the cables with Mantis and Iron Dragon, but that would be fun! :)

I'm sure there's some new advancement in cable rides that would allow them to weave between existing rides. Sounds like a fun planning project to me! They can put that in with the new flume. :)

Michigan's Adventure Freak said:
I have Internet Explorer 7

I'm sorry.

Tim - It would also have to interact with Millennium. Take a look at this and tell me that you would still be able to fit it. I think there is just too much in the way.


[WARNING - this is Ben's massive aerial shot of the park. It is 11.5 MB and I would highly recommend downloading it rather than opening the link and viewing it.]

Ok - it would seem Ben has taken down the image. Ben, mind putting it back up?
*** Edited 8/23/2007 3:23:37 PM UTC by JuggaLotus***

Millennium is the easy coaster to get over. It's pretty low on the island. So, I wouldn't be worried about that. Weaving it through the mess that is Iron Dragon and Mantis would be quite hard. I would have worked ID and Mantis around the lift when they were being designed.

Actually, after looking at Live Local, I would run the lift over Frontier Trail. That would be awesome gliding through the trees and it's relatively silent - until MF whizzes by. You could start it at the food stand next to Iron Dragon, parallel the train tracks for a bit, turn out onto the island and then back into the old station. Or, better yet, just continue straight and put a new station where UR Dead is now. You'd have to work around Maverick a little, but I think you could get some great views from that route.

Going over millie island would be fine if not for the giant airtime hill.

The giant airtime hill isn't in line of the current lift building though. At least not from the aerial I'm looking at. It looks like you'd go over the pretzel. The airtime hill goes over the water if I'm not mistaken.

Looking at it a bit closer, it looks like it would cross right at the bottom of the air-time hill. It could be doable with towers on either side MF. But then there is still the issue of Mantis and ID.

Wouldn't there be a concern of riders dropping items on the tracks at all or no?

(yes, I know that people can drop things on the midway, but dropping objects into the path of a moving rollercoaster train is not the same thing)

To prevent that, they could very easily install screens below the gondolas' path.

The old lift went over Mine Ride. Granted Mine Ride doesn't travel at 93 mph, but still. If they wanted to, they could even put up enclosed cars. It wouldn't be nearly as much fun, but that's an option.

But if you enclose the frontier lift cabins, where's the pot smoke supposed to go?

It would seem they'd be much better off installing a lift from TTD's midway to the station in FT. You'd have to go over TTD's launch and brake run, and snake over the low zones on the island, but beyond that, they'd be home free.

EDITED to add: LMAO ^ :)
*** Edited 8/23/2007 7:01:49 PM UTC by djDaemon***

^ I thought about that too as I was looking at it. You could add another floor to the gift shop there and use the second floor as the station for the buckets. I think that would be awesome. You'd get to go over like four coasters on the way to Frontier Town.

Another tid bit, the old Frontier Lift cabins are now on the Sky Ride. I worked the Lift in 1981. Wore a pair of tennis shoes out catching the cabins entering the station.

halltd: "Actually, after looking at Live Local, I would run the lift over Frontier Trail."

When I'm on Live Local, I can never see a satellite image. Can any one please tell me where to find it?

Click here for the 'bird's eye view'.

djDaemon said:
Click here for the 'bird's eye view'.

Apparently only if you're using Microsoft software. Does nothing with Safari.

Anyway, I have to say anything involving a turn is a non-starter. To have a turn on a gondola (as we call this sort of ride when at a ski area - why they've been called "buckets" as a generic term at amusement parks is a mystery) involves a double station as the carrier has to come off the rope, go through the turn on station rails, and then reattach to the rope (sometimes an entirely different rope, sometimes the same rope). While one turn might be doable (the old WDW sky ride had a turn), multiple turns is pretty much out of the question as they greatly increase capital cost, maintnenace issues, and ride time.

Now that said, on modern gondolas, the whole station process is largely automated as the cabins move through the stations on a slow chain - manually moving cabins through stations is largely a thing of the past so one employee just to oversee the turn station is all you'd really need. Even the loading and unloading stations have the cabins continuously moving (door opening and closing is also automated so no need for an attendant to lock and unlock the door). But even though we manage to board on the move while carrying skis and stuff at a ski area, I'd have a hard time imagining an amusement park allowing on the move boarding.