Rollbacks

There are people that bragged about Kingda Ka not having as many roll backs as Top Thrill Dragster, but my question is, is that anything to brag about. Think about it, I almost always hear people saying "I wish I had a rollback" or "yes! I got a rollback!" Does Cedar Point let Dragster have rollbacks? We know that the ride is strong enough to get it over, and that it has more horsepower then it uses, so do they run it like they do in order to keep rollbacks a possibility? I know I'd love to have a rollback.

I don't think Cedar Point would purposly run rollbacks, unless for testing pruposes. Also, you have to note Kingda Ka, launches faster, in a shorter amount of time. Which shows it is more powerfull. Wasn't Dragster a prototype? And wasn't Dragster's prototype Xcelerator at Knott's. So in a way Dragster was a learning experience for height and speed, and Xcelerator was to test the mechanical side of hydralicly launch roller coasters.
*** Edited 6/24/2005 7:37:37 PM UTC by Keith 2005***

Actually, according to SFGAdv, KK's motor is less powerful. It is only a 7400 HP motor whereas CP's is 10,000.

KK's stats can be found [url="http://www.sixflags.com/parks/greatadventure/pdf/kingdaka-factsheet.pdf] on this fact sheet

I can't seem to find anything listing the power of TTD's motor. If I come up with it I'll edit it, but I do remember it being capable of more power than KK. They just don't use all the available power.

I finally got a rollback the first Monday of the season. We made TTD our last ride, so it was about 8P, and the ride ops said they hadn't had one all day. I have noticed the ride seems much more reliable this year, with not as much downtime and fewer rollbacks. Most of the times I've visited so far it's run pretty steady all day. As mentioned in a different thread somewhere the lines seems shorter, too.

We thought a great idea would be for C.P. to have tshirts available to sell just to the people on the rollback trains. "I rolled back on Top Thrill Dragster" or something like that would make a unique keepsake just for those that actually got one.

The rollback itself, incidentally, was surprising, terrifying, and thrilling. We were in the second seat and made it slightly over the top, then got pulled backwards. One of the guys in our group was nervous anyway- he's not much of a coaster rider and talked all day about the horrible possibility of a rollback happening. The look on his face when we finally stopped was priceless.

The other great thing about the rollback is that I'll always have 1/2 a ride to my credit!

I have been lucky to have "one a year" minus this year (knock on wood!!). Getting a rollback to me is a whole different feeling. It has its own thrill factor and I love it! In a way it is wierd cause you are going backwards really fast and the thrill is so intense, that you are disappointed when the train slows in the brakes (and it is funny when people in the grandstands are cheering you!).

I think they prefer to not have it rolling back often. If you ever get a chance to see one happen, you'll discover how long it takes the train to get back to the launch pad to be sent again...It wastes alot of time.

The delay is quite irritating. If the train in Launch 1 rolls back you will wait much longer, than if the train in Launch 2 rolls back. On Thursday, the green train was in Launch 2 and rolled back, and it was only a 5 minute delay or so...

Not only that, it's hard on the equipment.

MrScott

(Regarding TTD's motor) Wouldn’t Dragster need a more powerful motor since it has a shorter launch track length? I just thought of this because, if you think about it, Dragster would need more horsepower for it to get the trains to 120 mph with its short launch track whereas KK's launch track is much longer allowing more time for the motor to get the trains to 128 mph.
Keep in mind that when I say "short" I don’t mean it literally, it's still a long launch.

The only thing I can’t figure out is how much (exact) horsepower both TTD and KK use. We do know that Dragsters can generate 10,000 while KK's can generate 7,400. But do they really generate that exact amount during launch?

The motor is total overkill. Monty Jasper said in a construction tour a few years ago that the motor on Xcelerator would have been adequate.

The on ride photo station can show you pictures of your roll back. The last few seats of the train tend to get cut-off from the available pictures. Unfortunately, park policy prohibits the employees from selling roll-back pictures. At least that's what the photo employee told us. I'm not sure why it would matter.

KK's launch is longer because it's extended right up to the ascent, whereas TTD has a section of straight track right after the launch, so it loses some speed; this is probably why TTD has more rollbacks.

Rollback photo's tend to be rather boring if you ask me. By the time the train reaches the camera going backwards its not going very fast and most people are just looking around at each other in the photos in disbelief that they got a rollback.

I was on a rollback, and I don't remember anything about photos. Is that only when you have to get off? We were able to launch again after 20 minutes or so.