Millenium Force Fiberglass Trains

Literally the only difference I can see between the factory body panels and the new ones is the lack of the Intamin badge. And I really don't see the park rushing to put those back on there.

I'd prefer it if they left that horrible company's name off the trains.

The ride is from them..not like you can pretend it's an Arrow or something :P

Example:
We recently moved back into our home after a lengthy rehab and remodel. It was an extensive project and a "promise" of four to five months turned into nine. The thing we learned was that unexpected things happen, there will be unforeseen problems, supplies and materials get delayed, and the money faucet never shuts off. We had to accept these things and change our plan of attack several times to accommodate changes in construction and finances. It sucked, but in the end we're more than pleased with the results and couldn't be happier.

Now, granted, we're not a business and we don't charge people for tours. (we should) But there's a similarity that goes with any project, commercial or residential. For whatever reason, there's a yellow train out there still waiting to roll, and it did not make deadline. Cedar Point likes this fact probably less than you all do, but in the meantime they are left to accommodate guests in the best way possible and that's all they can do for now.

It's been pointed out here and there that for 2015 the park undertook an unprecidented number of medium to large sized projects, some more impressive than others, some more expensive than others. Certain projects like The Breakers, Lakeside Pavilion, and Rougarou had absolute drop dead dates and others didn't. And let's not forget they also took on a large, expensive demolition project that needed to be done with the area spruced up before guests were inconvenienced or their safety was compromised. It was a lot to take on in one off-season. If I don't miss my guess, there was many a tense meeting revolving around whether a train remodel or repairing the impulse coaster should be at the top of the to-do list as opening day approached.

Remember, we're overly sensitive to these things but the general audience is less so. That MF is operating with two trains is far less damaging than if guests showed up at The Breakers to find their room under construction and no place to park. Wait times don't bring in cash, but hotels, sweet shops, and meeting spaces sure do.

Exactly. I would be surprised if many people in line even realized that a train was missing.

Those who say the park was unprepared, take a step back and look at the huge amount of work that was completed on time.

Exactly. When you think about the sheer number of projects undertaken this past off-season, I'd argue it's probably the most at once in the modern era. Obviously they weren't pulling mechanics from rides to have them hammer walls at Breakers like some people seem to think they did, but regardless, their off-season staff still clearly had to prioritize. People would be complaining even harder if Rougarou wasn't ready or if the sites of Bon Aire, the cars, or the theater were still a big mud pit.

Pete said:

Exactly. I would be surprised if many people in line even realized that a train was missing.

Those who say the park was unprepared, take a step back and look at the huge amount of work that was completed on time.

I suspect those on Sunday noticed that there was only 1 train running.

Pete said:

Those who say the park was unprepared, take a step back and look at the huge amount of work that was completed on time.

I agree that the amount of work they did was substantial, and in fact I'm more impressed than ever that they're taking on smaller projects throughout the park that have nice impact. It's nice to see such attention paid beyond the season's marquee project.

However, these projects were planned for quite some time, and capacity is part of planning. In that sense, they weren't prepared, because they didn't have the resources to complete everything while still managing the normal park operations stuff. If they don't have the resources to take on this much work, they need to either increase their resources, or reduce their ambitions.

RCMAC said:

Example:
[...]

It's been pointed out here and there that for 2015 the park undertook an unprecidented number of medium to large sized projects, some more impressive than others, some more expensive than others. Certain projects like The Breakers, Lakeside Pavilion, and Rougarou had absolute drop dead dates and others didn't. And let's not forget they also took on a large, expensive demolition project that needed to be done with the area spruced up before guests were inconvenienced or their safety was compromised. It was a lot to take on in one off-season. If I don't miss my guess, there was many a tense meeting revolving around whether a train remodel or repairing the impulse coaster should be at the top of the to-do list as opening day approached.

Remember, we're overly sensitive to these things but the general audience is less so. That MF is operating with two trains is far less damaging than if guests showed up at The Breakers to find their room under construction and no place to park. Wait times don't bring in cash, but hotels, sweet shops, and meeting spaces sure do.

I agree that having all three trains may not have been as much of a priority as having the Breakers ready. However, I'm going to disagree with your comment about wait times not bringing in cash as I think they can have a significant impact on in-park spending.

This is just one example, but on Saturday we got in to the park at 9 (learned our lesson from preview night and went around to the entrance by Magnum instead) and had planned to only stay until about noon since we needed to get back home and it was a 2 1/2 hour drive. We had planned to ride a few rides and then play some games and stop by some souvenir shops before leaving the park. After spending all morning trekking from one end of the park to the other in search of operating rides, and after having spent almost 2 hours trying to get on MF (which we did thankfully), we ran out of time. We actually left later than we had planned.

I spent exactly $0 while I was standing in line and I didn't see anyone else spend money while they were waiting in line either. On the way out of the park we did let my oldest daughter play the game where they try to guess your weight because I felt bad that she wasn't able to play the other games. Fortunately I think the person running the game was being nice because she was way off on my daughter's weight (and maybe they do that on purpose for the younger kids?) She was happy that she got to pick out a stuffed animal and I was happy for her. So the park did make a little money from us there...but not nearly as much had there not been so many issues.

Now, I am not complaining about our trip. We had a good time overall and we'll be back in a few weeks. Every visit is different and every guest has different spending habits though and I think Cedar Point is generally interested in capturing as much revenue from guests as possible. That is why capacity and efficiency are critical elements to their operation. People typically don't spend money when they are in line unless they're buying snacks out of the vending machines.

I saw an Intamin tag on the chassis. Did the old "Intamin Giga Coaster" tag also appear on the body? I don't remember.

http://pointbuzz.com/Photo/Photo/1183?albumID=346

Somewhat of a new guy here, was at the park today and saw a bright silver / white train on Maverick that I dont believe ive seen before. Is it just me or did they possibly change some of the bodies on Maverick (in addition to the restraints) as seen on Millennium Force?

You're absolutely right, jsmith7300, people in line don't spend much money. For the most part, people that plan to come in for 3 hours don't either.
And you're a frequent visitor, so you approach your visit(s) differently than the "once-a-year day" customer. Those folks wait in line and still eat lunch.
It's entirely possible too, that visitors might see excessively long lines and decide to skip some rides and drink beer instead!

I'm not trying to argue or say that Cedar Point has any particular motive, and I agree generally (from reports) that the park seemed to be unusually unprepared. I also know ride mechanics aren't pulled off the job to make sure there's lightbulbs in every hotel room. (or...are they? That hotel opening was pretty darned important...)
My point was that with an inordinate amount of things to do this year it may not be so surprising they got in the weeds a bit. And who really knows why we don't have a yellow fiberglass train yet, but it ain't ready.

Shades said:

I suspect those on Sunday noticed that there was only 1 train running.

I suspect that most on Sunday weren't paying any attention to how many trains were running, not being coaster enthusiasts.

You bring up good points as well RCMAC. I appreciate the civility in your reply by the way.

Um... You had to edit that...
:-)

djDaemon said:

I agree that the amount of work they did was substantial, and in fact I'm more impressed than ever that they're taking on smaller projects throughout the park that have nice impact. It's nice to see such attention paid beyond the season's marquee project.
.

The attention to small details and minor projects this off season has amazed me.
Sure, they may not have been exactly ready for opening day, but I'm sure they will get into the typical Cedar point grove in a few weeks.

DRE420 said:
Somewhat of a new guy here, was at the park today and saw a bright silver / white train on Maverick that I dont believe ive seen before. Is it just me or did they possibly change some of the bodies on Maverick (in addition to the restraints) as seen on Millennium Force?

Was it Bart? He's the silver train.

Shades said:

I suspect those on Sunday noticed that there was only 1 train running.

noggin said:

I suspect that most on Sunday weren't paying any attention to how many trains were running, not being coaster enthusiasts.

But they probably noticed that the line wasn't moving much. :)

This train was a brighter color than bart, it just looked new to me, it caught my attention walking by it today.