Millennium Force Improvements?

It seems like Arrow Dynamics' coasters hold paint really well. Iron Dragon and Magnum both went 17 years w/o paint. Millennium & Top Thrill Dragster really started to fade after 5 years. Does anyone know why this is?

I would say that would be from the quality of the paint used by the manufacturer.

Many paints these days are water-based I believe versus oil based in the past, due to environmental reasons. May be a big reason why there is such a difference in durability... If it is not oil/water, it is probably something for sure environmental that has changed the composition of the paint.

Any progress on the lifthill or still at the same spot?

Theres a good chance that more of it has been painted since April 2nd.;)

Hopefully the whole first hill is painted by time May 14 comes around. It turns out that I was able to retrieve my 2010 pictures so I won't have to retake some of last year's pictures. I can focus solely on 2011.

You need a external hard drive there Shawn. :)

That's what she said...

^^^I will say that one was slightly a fail

I also will say, the wear could be worse depending on what the ride's go through. Think TTD goes through tremendous stress every bloody day and who knows how many cycles. Iron Dragon...well :P...I guess the only way to find out about the paint is to ask...Maybe when I get up there this summer I will ask

Iron Dragon sends more trains per hour than Dragster does. So to say that it goes through less cycles I think is not correct.

Dragster definitely goes through a lot of wear and tear, but considering the speed of the ride, the capacity is pretty low and the dispatch interval is considerably long, meaning they dispatch much slower. But I think the system is more likely to show effects of "wear" than the track its self. It is an Intamin after all. And Iron Dragon can set up, so they definitely would want to dispatch asap!

This nasty April weather this year must be a real pain in the butt for the painters trying to finish a project. There have not been too many days nice enough to paint I would imagine.

That's nothing a few hundred feet of visqueen can't help. :D

For those of you currently at the point, how far did they get painted?

^Update come Sunday mate...I plan to take a nice drive & site see before training on Monday. I'll try to report if I get the time to. From what everyone says, the internet is pretty lame. I'll prolly just end up tethering from my Evo all summer haha

^ Same with me. I'm just gonna tether from either my sidekick or hd2

I was just there on Thursday and the MF paint is just like it was a few weeks ago, at least what I can see from the Marina. Part of the lift hill and the final turn and brake run is painted.

Well like I said, updates tomorrow...I'll even try to see if my friend can tag along & record a video of a drive around & whatnot...if I can I'll stop with the DSLR and get some good shots with the new lens :)

Is it just me, or does it seem like Millennium Force is starting to become bumpy in some spots? I noticed it when I rode the Red Train on my last visit last Saturday. I don't know it it was due to a bad wheel or if it's just the layout starting to get bumpy? Anyone else notice this while riding Millennium Force? Please respond!

Maybe a little, mostly after the first turn on the island. However, I only noticed that after I had ridden it for the fifth time one day a few weeks ago. By then I was in need of some Tylenol anyway and that's probably why it was more noticeable.