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I would not call 1200 pph good capacity. No wonder the wait is always so long. Magnum, according to the park, can handle about 2000 pph, which in reality probably translates into 1700-1800. That is at least 500 more people per hour than Millennium Force.

Now if the ride wasn't as popular, 1200 pph would be nice capacity, but with it being a ride with lines routinely over an hour long, I think the capacity stinks.

People probably know that I am not a huge fan of the MilF!, so I expect to get flamed. But one the the reasons I don't like it as much as other coasters is the relatively poor capacity. I would expect better capacity from the #2 rated coaster in the world, and I would expect much better from Cedar Point!

-Sam

What does capacity have to do with liking the ride? I mean, as you're going down that 300-foot drop are you thinking, "Boy, the capacity on this ride sure sucks?"

And if you're waiting an hour in line you're riding at the wrong time.

Some audited numbers from the past...

Gemini: 3,440 PPH (6 trains, so not this year!)
Magnum: 1,800 PPH
Raptor: 1,600 PPH
Corkscrew: 1,440 PPH
Blue Streak: 1,440 PPH
Disaster Transport: 1,200 PPH
Millennium Force: 1,200 PPH
Dragster: 875 PPH (5/23/2004)

That said, there are a couple of notable changes this season:

Gemini: 771 PPH (4 trains, stacking)
Magnum: 1,800 PPH
Raptor: 1,600 PPH
Corkscrew: 1,440 PPH
Blue Streak: 1,440 PPH
Disaster Transport: 1,200 PPH
Millennium Force: 896 PPH (5/23/2004)
Dragster: 1.080 PPH (7/18/2004)

Notice that the big changes are for Gemini, Millennium Force, and Dragster. Gemini was the big surprise. With six trains that thing can move 3,600 PPH, but this season with only four trains they are not sending the trains on time. Quite often they actually allow trains to stack, so instead of the 2,400 PPH you'd expect with four train operation, they've fallen well below 1,000 PPH. Absolutely astonishing. Millennium Force has suffered greatly, and the big change here is the consistency of dispatch interval. Those trains used to go out at about a 90-105 second interval, and it was pretty consistent, depending on how fast the ride was running. The day I timed it, the interval varied from 103 seconds to 218 seconds, with an average of 144 seconds (over the course of 10 dispatches).

Dragster, when it is running, runs at a pretty consistent interval. Before the infamous cable shredding incident, that ride's interval was 74 seconds. The delay seemed to be directly related to the misbehavior of a single brake cylinder at the end of the launch track, which was delaying the system reset (I blame that one cylinder because everything would stop until that brake dropped, and as soon as it bottomed, the launch cable would rewind). Last time I was there, the reset delay was gone, and the ride was consistently launching at a 60-second interval. What a difference 14 seconds makes, eh?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

At least the capacity on one of Cedar Point's roller coasters improved. I have faith in that they'll eventually clear up these problems.

What capacity has to do with liking the ride is that I don't like waiting in line longer than I have to. I don't ride Millennium Force much because I don't think the ride is worth the wait much of the time. I would rather do a mini marathon on Magnum, see a show, or ride another coaster, than wait an hour to ride an over-rated coaster.

While I like MF's high speeds, and I think it is a great ride at night, I seriously think it is over-rated. Unlike Magnum, which has almost non-stop action, and is re-rideable, MF gets boring after a while.

Anyway, back on topic. I seriously do think of capacity when I ride coasters, though I usually think about it when waiting in line. But knowing myself, I might have thought about the poor capacity while going down the drop;). I guess I am a little crazy.

-Sam

First of all, long time, no post, sorry about that!

Back on topic, I went on my annual trip to Cedar Point this past monday, I think the 26th and I went with my good friend, and she is a healthy girl. She had some issues with the test seat, but could get the seat belt fastened. The girl by the test seat was rude with her and not very helpful. So we went to ride. She got the belt fastened but needed the one inch. So two of the girls in the station, both wonderful and I give them all the credit in the world, helped her get the one inch because my friend told them about what happened with the test seat and they were determined. So they eventually got the one inch, but this took up a lot of time, lets say 90 seconds. And I am sure that something like this happens multipul times a day, where people need help getting that one inch. So all in all, that might be a major part in what is slowing down the capacity.

P.S. - Had a blast that day, all the workers were awesome aside from the one girl. And a special thanks to Angelina, the girl working the ring toss by the Gemini. She made my day. So I deemed her "Angelina the angel from Croatia!"

Avalanche Sam,

How could you say that MF is an over rated ride. Where else in the United States can you ride a 310 foot roller coaster? You can't!! MF is an amazing ride. Magnum gets boring after awhile. It's just up, down, up, down. That's it and when the trims kick in it get's even worse. If anything Magnum is over rated.

What trims? ;)

Anyway, sorry for getting this off topic. I just think that for rides at Cedar Point, capacity is a major issue. When you have huge crowds, you want to deal with them efficiently. I don't think that is the case with Millennium Force.

I know first hand how seat issues, including the difficulty guests of exceptional size, can slow down capacity on Intamin rides. But when the capacity is not that great to begin with (relatively speaking, as 1200 pph would be great at a smaller park), it really slows down operation, and makes for more waiting.

There is a reason the two rides I try to ride with Freeway are Millennium Force and Mantis. Mantis takes forever to load, and MF just has poor (for Cedar Point) capacity to begin with. That, and having "MANT FORCE" on your hands is cool! "Half Man, Half Ant, All Force!"

-Sam

Haha, glad to see I'm not the only one who gets a kick out of having "mant force" on my hands. :)

Avalanche said:

While I like MF's high speeds, and I think it is a great ride at night, I seriously think it is over-rated. Unlike Magnum, which has almost non-stop action, and is re-rideable, MF gets boring after a while.

Yes, it is a great ride at night, but it's not "over-rated". And when you said that "unlike magnum, which has almost non-stop action," the last time I checked you we're still going 60+ into the break run, isn't that non-stop action? Doesn't Magnum have like 3 or 4 sets of breaks throughout the ride? Also, I think Millennium is "re-rideable", the last 7 times I've been to the park, I've got 24 rides in, while also riding TTD (1), WT (7), Gemini (15), DT (4), Raptor (13), Mantis (9), Magnum (15), MS(5), and the rest of the coasters about 3 or 4 times each. Now I think MF is re-rideable.

MF is definantly re-rideable. Take a trip to PKI and ride Son of Beast-now that'l really show you the meaning of re-rideable.