Relations with Intamin

Earlier in the season I read that CP and Intamin were in bad relations because of all the problems on TTD. In one of this article it says Intamin picked all of the repair cost on the ride. CP lost some money because it was down for a month but their relations with Intamin don't sound over. What do you think?

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Keep Arms Down, Head Back, and Hold On!! :)
Reliable Top Thrill Dragster coming 2004 ;)

I think who cares. Cedar Point will continue to buy ride from whoever does it the cheapest. After the problems with Twister and Dragster, you wouldn't think that to be the case, but who knows.

The company has made wise decisions to put in B&M's at Knott's (2004) and Dorney (2005).

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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

.....and nobody builds them cheaper than Intamin. hudla hudla

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Dan Haverlock
Magnum: 2440
TTD Rollbacks 4
TTD Complete Laps 73
"get a job man!"

Jeff, I for one care very much. I love Intamin rides and think they make the best overall coasters. I am not a huge fan of loops, yet have no difficulty re riding the few Intamin loopers I have experienced. B&M makes a quality ride, but IMO they are too controlled and over engineered (which is great for reliability, but not so good for that out of control feeling).

So I for one am very interested on the Intamin CP relationship cause I would love to see more of their masterpieces at the point (ie, a 10 plus looper). Given Knotts and Dorney are getting B&Ms, it seems likely CP will get one as well - probably a floorless or flyer, and to be honest, been there done that (bigger doesnt mean better).

Tom

Controlled? Have you been on Raptor in the last two years?

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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

Intamin coasters stay smooth for a very long time. I've ridden quite a few B&M coasters that had unpleasant rough spots. Both types can feel out of control, though, if they're built to be that way.

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Millennium Force is MY baby.
Where would we be without CP?:)

I think people judge B&M rides as being more controlled because of the size of the vehicles. You feel more open and vulnerable in an Intamin ride because of the two across seating, especially compared to the middle of a row of a B&M ride.

If CP ever builds a new sit down looper, I'd like to see an Intamin ride, they have done some interesting elements that you don't find on B&M rides. Plus, the two across seating is a big advantage in my opinion.

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I'd rather be in my boat with a drink on the rocks,
than in the drink with a boat on the rocks.
*** This post was edited by Pete 12/15/2003 4:31:46 PM ***

I agree, because if you sit in the middle of a B&M, and not the front seat, you can hardly see anything. Intamin rides usually have "stadium seating".

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Millennium Force is MY baby.
Where would we be without CP?:)

Exactly! If you are in the middle of the train and in the middle seats, you loose too much interms of visuals, sense of speed, and wind. The exposed stadium seating of Intamin are the best IMO (hands down). I too would prefer another Intamin at CP, but given the purchases at Knotts and Dorney, it seems unlikely since more than a few companies seem to offer 3 coaster deals. I also think the Intamin rides are more visualy striking and unique (WT,MF, and TTD) all jump out at you when you pull into the parking lot..

Tom

Quite honestly, you don't see very much straight in front of you on Dragster either due to the huge headrests. I do prefer two across seating. Intamin's rides can be just as good or better than B&M's WHEN THEY WORK. But unfortunately, they don't work a lot of time! :)

Yea, Intamin might build them cheaper, but the park has to take into account how much money they lose when a ride like Dragster is down for 1/3 of the season or more. Initial building cost shouldn't be the only factor.

-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew
2003 Magnum Crew

The only companies that could be capable of making coaster that launch and as tall as Dragster would be S&S and Intamin. Dragster is what I would call ahead of its time and the technology is there but there may be a few glitches. CP still made quite a bit of money off TTD. People didn't stop coming because the ride was closed and the attendence shows, it had a 3% raise. In 2001 (year after MF) the attendence drop. Now 2004 (year after TTD) the attendence may go up due to the ride running reliably. If CP wants a coaster and Intamin build it for cheap CP will still pick them. B&M are the popular in the industry with the floorless and flyers. That's why Cedar Fair is working with them. When Intamin comes out with a new product CP will most likly look into it. CP add on to make the money. Money is what it's all about to a major park. The way CP gets money is building a ride people will come from all around to ride.

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Two best speils before launching:
Keep Arms Down, Head Back, and Hold On!!
Clear, Launching in 3...2...1 :)

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MF310 said:
Intamin coasters stay smooth for a very long time. I've ridden quite a few B&M coasters that had unpleasant rough spots.

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That's nonsense. In the case of B&M and Intamin the manufacturer has nothing to do with how rough the ride is. It all depends on how well it's maintained. Hulk is only a couple of years old and the springs are so loose that the trains shift all over the place. Kumba is one of the oldest B&M's and it's still smooth as glass.

It's up to the parks to keep up the rides, not the engineers.

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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

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Jeff said:

It's up to the parks to keep up the rides, not the engineers.

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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

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I agree with that.

After going to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure I could tell that. Riding Superman, the ride just felt run down. The ride squeaked, and rattled, and just looked dirty and in somewhat disrepair. Although granted it's a bit older then Wicked Twister, but the difference was pretty big.

Same thing with Batman. I liked the ride, but I really noticed some wicked vibration on the ride. Enough to give me a splitting headaque. However Raptor is still as smooth as ever, and it's quite a few years older.

B&M has the repuatation of being the reliable company only because they mainly build their tried and true designs. Intamin keeps trying new ideas, which will have kinks to work out. Had B&M built Dragster there probably would have been just as many problems.

Batman at SFWoA has to be the worst kept B&M anywhere. Being a floorless where you can see the wheels, you can actually see the vibration of the guide wheels, some of which aren't even what I'd call round.

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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

But on that subject, anyone who has ridden Iron Dragon has probably also seen the guide wheels - most of which, don't touch the track, freespin when the trains stopped or bounce back and forth. Every ride has it's problems.

On the subject of B&M's...They are usually well run, but after there 10th year, they begin experiencing major problems, no matter how well the park keeps them up. It just happens.

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MANTIS ROCKS 2002 & 2003

I hate to be a hater.. but seriously man.. how could you possibly know or prove that after 10 years or so B&M's start experiencing major problems. Hey it could be true, but you don't know. Besides, who cares anyway. It isn't like a park will rip one out after 10 years.. they'll fix it.

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

I hope your not hating me...It's just my experience, nothing more, nothing less.

Next year will be 10 years for Raptor. Well see how well it goes (which I don't think it will be unusually bad). I'm just stating my opinion.

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2004 - ???
2003 - Mantis 3rd in charge
2002 - Mantis
2001 - Soak City Foods Supervisor

Just as you said, Raptor will be 10 years old next year, and it's running the best (and fastest) its ever run. Last year Mantis was only 7 years old and I could notice some creaking sounds going through the ride. Now this may be attributed to the train styles, but it seems that the older Raptor is fairing better than Mantis.

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Everything that has a beginning has an end.

The Matrix Revolutions

To contest that...

...It may make a small impact, but it is still noticeable. Mantis runs in many more varied weather conditions (wind, rain, etc). Taken over several years, and it should be expected that Mantis has more running time therefore has more wear & tear.

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2004 - ???
2003 - Mantis 3rd in charge
2002 - Mantis
2001 - Soak City Foods Supervisor

And Raptor doesn't run in the rain and wind? And it's been around 2 years longer, seems to run more trains (3) and more trains overall... what are you talking about? Raptor was only closed for wind maybe 2 days this year, if that, and I never saw it stop for just rain. Sky Ride would go down and I'd look at Raptor, still goin even in heavy rain.

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'04 Who knows
'03 WT crew/ATL Sky Ride
'02 WT crew