Lots of Cedar Point news on this week's "In the Loop" podcast

So Matt, what you are saying is that when I'm changing lanes while driving on the highway I don't need to verbally say "scan" to make sure I'm clear before I do it? I should be paying attention the whole time?

Impossible!

I'm at MI Adventure right now and they very clearly are still saying "ready. All clear." I prefer this over what is happening at Carowinds and KI. Seems to be more engaging for the riders. Hopefully CF abandons the new theatrics.

I went to Valley Fair a few weeks ago and the controls ride ops did the following:

* (received high clear) "Clear"

* "Scanning" *sweep arm and sometimes head horizontally*

* "All clear"

As a former ride op I started to crack up after I witnessed this a few times. The best is when their "scanning" includes parts of the landscape that have nothing to do with the ride. "Yep, that tree's still there. Check."

I've always found it strange that the Cedar Fair parks have seemed to have inconsistent ride operation procedures for many years. I definitely believe that just because you run a chain of parks spread across the country, you shouldn't make EVERYTHING consistent. A lot of it should depend on the local market. However, to me something like ride operations seems like a no brainier for something that should be consistent So, it seems that was the intent of IROC this year (Ignoring the effectiveness of program for the moment.) But based on what I'm reading here, it's STILL inconsistent around the chain. I can only shrug my shoulders.

XS NightClub said:

Out of curiosity what is the optimum interval for Magnum?

Right now the webcam is on the lift hill and I have timed it at average of 1:32 over 6 cycles.

It was seemed really bad in May, however I did not time it at all.

During my years, the manual said 75 seconds, however, the lift did not run fast enough to accommodate that so in reality, it was 80 seconds. Our interval point was to send the train when the previous one was cresting the second hill. The ride would not let us dispatch much sooner even if we tried. :) I think it actually was like 5 seconds from the time the train dropped off the lift or something like that since there isn't a proximity switch out on the second hill. I am not sure if the lift operated a bit faster at one point in the early days of the ride and a 75 second interval was actually possible. Recording a 2,000 hour was only achievable if you started an hour with an empty platform and ended it with a full platform. Most hours were around 1,600 which with an 80 second interval is very close to the max of 1,620. After safety, hitting every interval and filling as many seats per train were our next focuses. I haven't seen them attempt to pair up riders or call for singles at Magnum in years now (since they made them stand on dots).

In 2014, the ride received a completely new control system. It actually more resembles a B&M than the old system. When I timed the lift/interval last year, it seemed even a bit slower than when I was there - around 85 seconds. The lift is also variable speed now meaning it engages slower and speeds up and then I think speeds up again when the previous train clears the safety brakes outside of the third tunnel. I am not sure if you can even get a consistent time, but I think it is most likely around 85 seconds.

I used to clock Magnum at 75 seconds so at least on some days it was certainly possible to do it. Obviously Matt has better knowledge about this than I do, but 75 seconds is a fairly standard interval for a pre-2000 Cedar Point coaster. I suspect that this is not an accident; I recall noticing that if you consider the gate-to-gate times of Cedar Point's coasters, a surprising plurality of them have a running time of 2:42-- Mine Ride, Gemini, Disaster Transport,...Magnum is a few seconds longer, and Raptor and GateKeeper are pretty close. Now that's 2:42 from the time the train leaves until it stops again in the station. That means a schedule that looks something like this:
0:00 - Train 1 leaves
1:15 - Train 3 leaves
2:30 - Train 2 leaves
3:45 - Train 1 leaves
Knowing that the ride time is 2:42, we can get some more information here...

2:30 - Train 2 leaves
2:42 - Train 1 arrives
3:45 - Train 1 leaves

That means we have a station 'dwell time' of 63 seconds. That is, Cedar Point has figured out how to unload, reload, and fully inspect and clear a 6-car coaster train in 63 seconds. More likely, slightly less than that. With that information we can figure out the whole schedule:

0:00 - Train 1 leaves
0:12 -Train 3 arrives
1:15 - Train 3 leaves
1:27 - Train 2 arrives
2:30 -Train 2 leaves
2:42 - Train 1 arrives
3:45 -Train 1 leaves
The most incredible thing about that schedule, so far as I am concerned, is the 12-second headway. Most modern controls can't park a train in 12 seconds, let alone move one out and another in. Magnum's old system took about 20 seconds to bring a train in from the transfer table; the new system is closer to 40.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Seems like rides park faster when they are new and then as there are wear issues with tires, brakes, etc, trains start slipping around so they slow the parking down. MF and Raptor are two examples of rides that used to park quite quickly, but have been slowed down a ton. I remember going to CP for the first time in 1998 and watching Raptor park and the whole track above the platform would move back and forth quite noticeably when the train parked.

Magnum's new station parking and ready brake parking are kind of maddening to the people that know how it used to work. I think it's doing better this year than last at least in the station, but I still don't get why they are trimming the train moving at 2 mph coming from the readies. The goal should be to get that block clear ASAP so the train behind it doesn't set up in the safety brakes and cause bloody noses and whiplash. :)

Remember how horrible Mine Ride was when they put the new control system on that? I haven't ridden it in years. Is it still that bad?

Rode Magnum 3 times this weekend. The first two time we sailed through the emergency breaks as the previous train was already entering the stations.

Third time the emergency breaks kicked in because the train ahead of us was still parked. Horrible experience. Lots of shocked riders when the train came to a sudden halt.

That's pretty much exactly what happened to me at the beginning of the month. Three consecutive rides during a walk-on period, last one slammed into the e-brakes hard and painfully enough for us to say "Okay, no more Magnum for today" even though we could have easily kept reriding.

There's gotta be a happy medium. I think the Magnum emergency brakes are the most painful ride stoppage in the park by far, even more than how Raptor can be sometimes.

Hmmm...I'm guessing you haven't been stacked on Gemini, then...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.