Maxair and Gatekeeper

MDOmnis said:

I think relocating a ride like that is a much more involved and expensive process than moving Tiki Twirl, Troika, or even Giant Wheel. It's not really portable. I'm sure it could be done, but why?

I don't necessarily see them relocating Maxair, but with WT and the aquarium gone, they could tuck Maxair in behind Giant Wheel, relocate the Kiddy Kingdom rides where the aquarium was, which would open up a huge swath of land there. Which might be good for, say, a new location for the stage?

But as you said, relocating a ride like that is no small task, and would presumably be difficult to justify from a cost perspective for a nearly two decades old ride.

MDOmnis said:

It really depends on what's wrong with it. If it's a proprietary part that they weren't able to get (everything is all effed up in the world with supply chains if you hadn't noticed), but will eventually get, then it will re-open. If it's something structural that just can't be fixed or is too costly to be fixed, then it will leave.

Or in the case it is structural and can be replaced but requires too much work to be done during the operating season. If a leg needs replaced, it might look bad to have 5 cranes in the park taking up that small space for a week so operationally it is worth closing and just doing the work in the fall/winter.

Maybe the Sandusky Register can do an expose on what's "really" wrong with Maxair and why the park has not fulfilled its public obligation and released any detailed information on why it still hasn't opened. Tony Clark has gone silent.

MDOmnis said:

It really depends on what's wrong with it. If it's a proprietary part that they weren't able to get (everything is all effed up in the world with supply chains if you hadn't noticed), but will eventually get, then it will re-open. If it's something structural that just can't be fixed or is too costly to be fixed, then it will leave.

MaxAir was testing back on 5/31 or 6/3 when I was there. I just assumed it was down due to the shortage of workers. Maybe something broke during testing. It is strange that it still has not opened to the public this year.

Word is, and obviously take it with a huge grain of salt, that there was a component failure, component was replaced and failed again during testing. And between long lead time and staffing uncertainty, park said to hell with it for the season. And to Chris' point, it may well be that replacing this or any other major component is more trouble than it's worth during the season given there's no "backstage" access to the ride.

I forget who told me this now, because it has been years, but someone from Kings Island indicated that something about the gearing in those giant frisbees is prone to failure, and it's not easy to fix. I don't imagine that Huss keeps a bunch of those parts on hand, either.

Jeff said:

I forget who told me this now, because it has been years, but someone from Kings Island indicated that something about the gearing in those giant frisbees is prone to failure, and it's not easy to fix. I don't imagine that Huss keeps a bunch of those parts on hand, either.

You mean they don't keep large parts like this on a shelf? Much like a spare 10,000 HP motor for Dragster? LOL!!!

You don't need to quote the previous post. It's obvious which one you're responding to.

Four months later here. In today's video blog from Tony Clark, he mentions Maxair should be ready for the 2022 season. They're just waiting for parts from overseas.

That's great news indeed. I'm glad to hear the park is re-investing into that attraction. It's a fantastic flat ride, and I missed it this past season.

Working in an industry where we rely on parts from round the world and having delivery issues I now see why this was an issue all season. Sucks but it is what it is. Hopefully it will be back up in 2022!!!! Best flat ride in the park!

is it his twitter one? the most rescent one i see is his food tasting.