Regarding Dragster's Current Capacity

I was at the park on Thursday and Friday and rode TTD twice. Hands down most extreme ride ever. Anyway, I noticed how slow the capacity was for this ride and assumed it was the ride op's just getting used to its procedure. When waiting for the front seat, however, I noticed that the ride ops would be done strapping everyone in and have the train cleared for a few minutes before the trains actually left the station. Sometimes it was 5 minutes after the last launch before the next two trains pulled up into the launch area. Yet, when the next pair would be ready, the first train would launch and the next one would easily be able to launch 30-40 seconds afterwards without any problems. So with my observations, both the ride ops and the launch are ready to handle a quicker capacity. I cannot understand what is causing the delay in getting these trains out of the station.

Any thoughts?

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Ryan McCanimal
Webmaster of Thrillgallery.com
"eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"

I t's a NEW ride. Give it time. Remember MF & WT during their first season?

MrScott

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"If we go any faster, she'll blow apart for sure!"

Oh God, those 4 hour lines.

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Feel the Beat

Well, MF wasn't too bad its opening year... other than Opening Day, the line never really got to be more than 2.5 hours. And, if you look past all the breakdowns it had, WT wasn't bad last year... in fact it got to the point where they would often not even use FreeWay because there was no need. Still, especially with a new ride of this magnitude, it will take time.

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Dragster "Top Thrills": 2
World's first strata-coaster!

Everybody is learning when a new ride opens - from operations to mainteance. You have to start in a constant learning phase until you can build up to a more comfortable capacity - including the training of all employees to handle all situations. CP knows how to do this well.

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CP Employee 81-88
CP Freak forever

I was just at the park this morning.. I waited 4 hours for the thing to open as that is all I wanted to ride. once opened i talked with the ride host.. he said the gold train will be back tomorrow. and capacity should be up to par then.. they are launching trains faster than last weekend ... He was unsure why the tires were removed. and the reason why TTD has been opening late. is because Intamin is still there and they work on it from early early morning till around 1 everyday.. he says that should end by this weekend.. it seems that memorial day weekend is when the regular capacity starts... yeahhhh.... still worth any wait in my book... 5x's and counting.

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TTD=4. MF=77. Raptor 100+ Magnum. 250+ lost count.

As of 5/20 they had the opperation down pretty good. Other than a rain shower that shut down the ride, it was churning people through no problem for almost the whole day. The ride ops have improved greatly over the past few days.

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AKA...Somewhatchewy, Joseph the White.
-Random Little Preppy Girl "OH MY GOD! I love your hair...it's fun!"
-Me "Umm....Thanks...."
-Ben "LMAO! YOUR HAIR IS FUN!"
-Me "Shut Up."

Are we talking about our Dragster?? :) Sounds good to me.

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That's Ridiculous™

Well the gold train is definitely not back yet, but the capacity was rather good tonight. I got in line at 7.30 and only waited 2 hours for the front. Despite a 15-20 minute breakdown when I was in the station, they were launching with pretty good frequency. I think we'll see the capactity hitting 1500 pretty soon, if it wasn't at that tonight.

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CP 2K3: 4

I guess on Monday the capacity was about 500pp/h! (thats was a worker said at the magnum gate a little before 9:30) Hopefully it gets better soon.

I went on tues and wed(had to leave early wed) and I got on twice. One time it said it was a 3 hour wait, the other said it was a 2 hour wait. I am not sure of the actual time considering I have a broken foot, so I had to come back to the exit 3/2 hours later no matter what (I rode other rides during that period :) I'm actually kinda glad I broke it ;) )

I've spent a lot of time in Dragster lines, LOL! (during both operation and testing). The best time I've recorded (out of hundreds) is 0:52 launch-to-launch (during testing w/ weights, no riders.)

That would put current maximum capacity at roughly 1100/hr.

Typical times while in operation have ranged from 1:10 to 3:00+ (1:10 = approx 820/hr, 3:00 = approx 320/hr.)

I'm not sure they could hit 1,500 even under "optimal" conditions. Can the programming/motors be tweaked to bring the "sled" back faster? (...not at 120 mph, but a little faster than the 10 it seems to return at....) That seems to be one of the major bottlenecks to me.

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Hey, I heard a rumor that Millenium Force is sinking...

My original point was that the sled does in fact come back in time, its just that 3-5 minute span between pairs of trains that got me wondering what was going on.

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Ryan McCanimal
Webmaster of Thrillgallery.com
"eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"

Watch what the ride is doing these days...

Train #1 moves from Load #1 to the launch position and stops.

Train #2 moves from Load #2 to the staging position and stops.

Train #3 moves from Unload #1 to Load #1 and stops.

Train #4 moves from Unload #2 to Load #2 and stops.

Train #5 moves from Safety Brake #1 to Unload #1 and stops.

Abruptly, the pace picks up considerably:
Train #1 launches.
Launch sled returns to the launch position
Train #1 clears the PONR.

Train #2 moves to the launch position
Launch sled resets
Train #1 advances to Safety Brake #1 and stops
Train #2 launches
Launch sled returns to the launch position
Train #2 clears the PONR
Launch sled resets
Train #2 advances to Safety Brake #2 and stops

At this point things become really slow again:
Train #3 moves up to the launch position and stops.

Train #4 moves up to the staging position and stops.

Train #5 moves up to Load #1 and stops

Train #1 moves up to Unload #1 and stops

Train #2 moves up to Unload #2 and stops

Then the pace picks up again for the launch of trains #3 and #4.

Without breaking it all down again, it appears to me that the big problem is that the trains are all moving individually through the station. And while I have seen the launch sled launch and completely reset in as short as 31 seconds, I keep seeing the launch sled go out to the end of the launch and sit there. My suspicion is that the ride is presently being operated manually, meaning that the operators have to manually move all the trains into position. Similar to the early days of Millennium Force when the trains didn't move together through the stations, which tended to delay dispatches and make 3-train operation nearly impossible.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Jeff da Beat:
Four hours lines... haha..ha.. It ALWAYS says four hours and anyone who's been on it knows that it's never four hours unless it breaks down. It's usually two hours, sometimes two hours and a half, three hours max if you want front row.
You welcome :)

That is no longer an issue Dave.. ;)

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June 11th, 2001 - Gemini 100
VertiGo Rides - 82
Technical Services 2002-2003
Fright Zone Screamster 2002-2003

I don't understand how the capicity is 1,500 riders an hour while MF is 2,000. When MF takes 2 1/2 minutes each time for a train to get all the way around while TTD is like 20 seconds.

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TTD Launches: 0 :(
MF Plunges: 7
Wicked Twists: 5
Magnum Bullets: 21

If it tastes bad, it's good for you.

Where do you see 2,000 pph on MF? It is advertised as 1,600 pph but reaches closer to 1,400.

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Eric Morrison (Coast)
Drag Races: 6
Point Hype
http://www.pointhype.com

To hit the 1,400 they'd like to hit, you'd need to launch every 38 seconds. Provided the sled and motor can reset that quickly, that should be a piece of cake.

People Who Know(TM) assure me that trains moving simultaneously in pairs isn't that far away, if they aren't doing it already.

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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP - Sillynonsense.com
"Pray that your country undergoes recovery!" - KMFDM

If I am reading LaRock's comments correctly, it sounds like they may have given control to the computer since my last visit...pity I won't be back up there for a couple of weeks to see for myself...!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
At CP on 5/1, 4, 11, 16, 17, and 18. Time to go elsewhere for a little while. :)

Dave, perhaps you are taking a detour through SRM on your way back to CP? Would be nice to finally meet you. :)
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www.tripowered.com ~ The truth hurts