Is there any love left for Disaster Transport?

I used to LOVE this ride, just had some quirky thing about it. I WANTED to still keep loving it even as it went downhill as far as maintenance went but it has been harder and harder to do so over the past few seasons. I will still be sad to see it go honestly. Is there anyone upset that it is leaving? I am more along the lines of good riddance now but it did not have to be this way. I just hope that many items from the ride and qeue are saved for future use throughout the park or even Halloweekends. I would love to see the laser gun in the main qeue room used in a Halloweekend attraction or on the midway with the sound effects blasting next year or the scene of the robot arms fixinig the car in the repair bay for old times sake.

clevelander said:
I am more along the lines of good riddance now but it did not have to be this way.

Would you rather they didn't tell anyone they were removing it until after the season? At least this way you can get your last ride in and say goodbye to an old friend

No I think think they handled this great and are being very respectful vs the entire GL issue. I hope that there will be detailed photos of the demolition and many items saved or even auctioned off.

I was meaning that the state of the ride should never have gotten this bad as far as neglect from the previous years of management.

Disaster Transport was my favorite ride when I was 9. I hated coasters then, and I wouldn't even ride Blue Streak or Iron Dragon. The only roller coasters I would ride were Cedar Creek Mine Ride and Disaster Transport (and Woodstock Express.) It has a special place in my heart and I'm going to miss it, even if I don't ride it as often as I did then.

Any love left? That implies that there once was love for DT.

And, no.

I only hate to see it go for two reasons:

1. It has a 46" height restriction, as opposed to almost every other ride at CP being 48"+

2. It is the only dark ride.

You don't realize how important #1 is until you go to other parks (often with variants of the same ride) that have lower height restrictions.

I've only experienced DT as an indoor coaster, and the theming when I first went on it around 7 or 8 years ago was much better than it is now. So by my understanding since I wasn't alive when it was Avalanche Run, is that it used to be a fun, unique (but boring) coaster along the beach. Then a big metal box was put over it, a great view of the beach was lost, but the theming made the ride pretty decent. And recently the theming has sucked. So I guess my point is that if Cedar Point really wanted a Space Mountain-like coaster, they should have expected to put effort into maintaining its effects and theming, or they should have left it how it was, not enclosed. Now I'm wishing for a GREAT indoor coaster, since I only liked DT for that reason. Not that it was great, but that it was inside. I liked not being able to see all the turns and drops coming, so next I want a more intense indoor coaster. Sorry for rambling on about this but it's just my opinion about this whole thing.

I rode Avalanche run the year it came out. I was only 8 or 9 years old so although it was a relatively big ride for me, I still found it kinda boring.

I had the pleasure of waiting super long lines for this ride TWICE, once when it opened as Avalanche Run, then a second time as DT. I can't remember which line was longer, but they were both easily 2.5 hrs. This is back when DT had a much longer que area, along with a mission briefing and other theming that was removed in the years that followed.

If I had to choose, I'd say DT is definitely better than AR was, but the whole experience just seems like a missed opportunity to me. The ride layout is decent enough, that with the right effects and theming, it could have been a pretty cool ride. Sadly, it never got to that point.

clevelander said:
I was meaning that the state of the ride should never have gotten this bad as far as neglect from the previous years of management.

Totally agree. It was a fun family ride with cool theming but once they let it go it fell off fast

Yup. I still love DT. Where else can you go nearby and experience such a quirky but fun ride. My mom is 88 now and rode it a few years ago, as well as The Beast at KI. Anyway, I am very sad to see it go as well as the SS. I know moving it would never happen but I consider it a loss. Yes, it was in a bad place and all. But if you think about it, Top Thrill Dragster is in a very stupid spot. So is MF. Good rides but bad placement. MF ruined the Frontier Trail. TTD ruined what was left of the boat ride. Cedar Point has never asked me where to put their rides.

I liked the ride. I always made sure to ride every visit to CP. The air conditioning was always a big thing we liked when it was hot out...

I liked the ride mainly because it was the most bizarre coaster I have probably ridden. The cheesy theme with the bobsled coaster combination always made me want to ride at least 1 time each trip.

I'm sad to see it go, but not as sad as I was watching it deteriorate all these years. It's original years with it's effects and story line made for a really unique experience. Children (re: short kids under 48") today love the ride sans theming, which makes it all the more a painful loss. With the condition it's in I'm content to see it go, but sad just the same.

CPboy77 said:
I liked the ride. I always made sure to ride every visit to CP. The air conditioning was always a big thing we liked when it was hot out...

I agree! However, we rode it for the last time on our visit last week. The queue was nicely air conditioned. Then you get on the ride. It was like a blast furnace in there. I believe it was hotter inside that greenhouse than it was outside, and it was 98 degrees last Tuesday

While I'm sad to see it go, I'm also pretty excited at the same time. Even nowadays, DT was something that my friends and I still ride every time we go. If it wasn't enclosed, I probably wouldn't give a crap, but because it was a dark ride with a theme, that made it special, and it gave me a different experience than any other coaster at CP.

The theming plus the dark ride attribute, plus the fact I grew up with this ride makes me sad to see it go. However, the excitement for a brand new coaster and the idea of being able to watch it being built (either online or actually at the park) makes me feel a lot better about DT's removal.

Some love. It will be weird not to see that iconic 12E.

There were the 2-hour lines baking in the sun for AR. Also the lines indoors for the DT mission briefing, the tour posters, the day-glo crew jumpsuits, and best of all D.A.V.E. at the control center. He stuttered "Dispatch Master Transport" into Disaster Transport and interacted with the videos of the pilots dealing with space pirates, defense satellites, and getting lost.

I STILL yell out, "Oh no, I'm losing control!" after the appropriate brake run.

Guess I'm more sad for the stuff that has been gone for years than what's left of DT. To ride in a trough, I'll just hop on Flying Turns at Knoebels since it...still isn't ready, huh? Sigh.

Looking fwd to 2013.

By the time that Flying Turns even opens it wil be closed for refurbishment. I remember that robot in the control room as a kid and it scared me lol.

I've pretty much last hope that flying turns will ever be open.

I've always appreciated Disaster Transport, even during its later forlorn, decrepit years. In this age of cookie cutter roller coasters being passed around parks like a pair of hand-me-down overalls, it is (and will soon be 'was') a unique experience. Get this: how many indoor bobsled coasters themed--even badly--to space travel has this planet ever sported?

Even though he wasn't speaking of amusement parks, Phil Connors's words sum it up best: "anything different is good."