TTD Closed Again??

Jordan Isenberg, Cp is advertising the ride heavily and its doing it's job, getting people to want to ride the ride. When someone comes to the park and the ride is down they are going to be dissapointed.

They probably should have pulled the ads weeks ago, but they continue to run and promote a ride that is barely open.

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eightdotthree said:
They probably should have pulled the ads weeks ago, but they continue to run and promote a ride that is barely open.

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So I am guessing that you have been to CP everyday in 2004 monitoring the reliability of TTD to make that statement "barely open."

Could you please tell us what the uptime % is for 2004 so we all know what you mean by "barely open." Thanks!

It seems to me that to alot of people, "barely open" is anything less than 100%... or open whenever said person is at the park, whichever comes first. ;)

Is it just me or is this thread going around in circles...?

Sorry, I've missed most of this discussion, but I was at the park on Wednesday and noticed that TTD was down. What's wrong with it? It's been running the previous five times I've been this year.

I have mixed feeling about this issue. After all:

-- This is a premier ride, a worthy goal of many thrill-seekers visiting the park.

-- The park has plenty of other rides.

-- However, after experiencing Dragster, the only other thrill at CP worthy of comparison is Millennium Force, which some will argue is better because of its duration, features, etc. Many of the other rides are good, but not that good. No, the Woodstock Express won't fill the void. On the other hand, the Snoopy Bounce might if they let adults in it. (Haaaaa!)

-- Would you want to pay a premium price to see a major league ballgame and see a bunch of journeymen and minor leaguers take the field? Probably not, you'd want to see the stars.

-- But hey, the stars get hurt and/or take days off. My first trip to Wrigley Field three years ago was a game between the Reds and Cubs. What a bummer: Ken Griffey Jr. was on the DL and Sammy Sosa took the day off (and the Reds lost). I did get to see the bleacher folk berate Deion Sanders, who was with the Reds at the time, and that was pretty entertaining, but probably the equivalent of riding the Mine Ride as opposed to TTD.

-- I've read about the comparison to vehicles, and that may be a valid point, but only to a degree. Automakers put new cars on the market all the time and later recall them for defects. It happens and it's a bummer. However, TTD seems to be in a regular state of "recall." Yes, it's a cutting-edge ride, but after a year and a half, should Intamin and CP be getting it in some consistent operating form?

Ultimately, the argument that there are "other things" to do at the park rings hollow. TTD is billed as a premier attraction and should be up to the challenge.

In professional sports, at least you have an idea if some star you were planning to see (and investing cash to see) is on the disabled list. Maybe they could list the status of TTD on the sports agate pages.

Just a thought, but not a serious one, obviously.

It is intresting that you brought up a sports anology with TTD. I am a big Browns fan. I spend over $3000/ year for season tickets for all 10 Browns games for my wife and I. The Browns have an absolutly terrible home record since they have been reincarnated in 1999. Am I an idiot for spending this amount of $$ just to watch the Browns lose 70% of the time-YES. But it is the times that they win that make it worth it. Yet I don't just pay the money to see them win, it is also the atmosphere of 73,200 fans screaming for a team they hope to win, it is the fact that I am on days vacation, and even though it is more fun when they win, I still have a great time even when they lose. Everyone that goes to CP expecting TTD to be operating and walks away disappointed when it does not operate should be upset- it is a great ride. Iam just happy that a establishment like CP, is 2.5 hours away from my house, and has the *alls to build a ride like TTD, if they didn't someone else would. And what park has a better reputation than CP for uptime? CP does not guarantee on the successful operation of any ride, just like they do not give rain checks for crappy weather, it is out of their control. They want TTD to operate. They don't bait people to come in, it is a free will. If you don't want to take the chance, don't go. The whining is getting old.

The true and only litmus test that will determine the affect of TTD being down is at the turnstiles. It is my understanding that while resort bookings are down, gate attendance has been up. That tells me that the average (and majority) park goer is not deterred from going to the park even with Dragster's problems.

How this will play out the rest of the summer remains to be seen but while I do think this is a life or death situation for a small few of you, the vast majority of people either don't lose sleep over this or didn't care to ride Dragster in the first place.

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Jordan Isenberg said:

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Erikjc said:
For some it could put a damper on their one and only weekend at Cedar Point.

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And Dragster is only one of how many coasters at Cedar Point? Why do people deem a trip to Cedar Point a disaster if Dragster doesn't run? What, did Cedar Point suck before Dragster existed?

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I didn't say disaster. But for the people who come but once a year or less, TTD being down does put quite a damper on your trip. Especially when you went last year and it was open for weeks before you went, then it breaks down the night before, it's down the whole time, and the day after you leave, most of the major problems that plagued the 2003 season are fixed!

Just alittle heads up, TTD went down yet again yesterday. My quess it wasn't a 'quick fix' since they were parking trains on the storage track just before 9:30pm (park closed at 11).

EDIT: A quick look at the web cam this morning, the trains remain on the storage track.

*** Edited 7/9/2004 1:11:02 PM UTC by shaggszgn***

(Excuse the 'play-by-play) It's 9:40 and there are only 3 trains on the transfer, going on 2, and a line is accumulating, so my guess is they're going to test soon. I really can't see where that 5th train went though, I guess it would help if I understood how they moved them onto the tracks!

Hey, Cleveland is a nice city... only 50 miles from CP too... maybe you should try a move.

Oh, and the transfer track is right infront of the launch. it slides over when a train is on it, and then the train rolls foreward onto one of the hold tracks right next to the launch. *** Edited 7/9/2004 5:02:22 PM UTC by MrFat699***

By the way, in the new photos of the men in the Hydraulic building with the fork lift, what were they doing/repairing?

I would say that this thread is good enough for me to say the ride is "barely" open. It hasnt run consistantly since the start of the season and it has been down all day or a large portion of the day for weeks now.

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monster said:
But from a business standpoint, I would hope that there was a "liquidated damages" clause in the contract between CP and Intamin. This type of clause states that if a product does not function as contracted, does not meet a specified performance level or meet the contracted reliability, the manufacturer pays the purchaser. In my line of work (industrial gas turbines) it is typically a daily charge.

If CP has this type of clause in their contract, they may very well be making money on the down time. Not that Intamin isn't trying, but they are not fulfilling their contract. This means CP is cashing in on the visitors as well as on a problem ride.

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This struck my curiosity, so I went looking through all the CedarFair annual reports available on the web, figuring that they would be required to report any such income.

NOTE: THE REST OF THIS POST IS PURELY SPECULATION!!!!

In the 2003 annual report there is listed an "Other Income" of $2.727 Million on page 14. No other available annual report financial data includes such an "Other Income". In the 2002 report there is an "Other Expense" on page 10, in the 2001 report there is no listing where it should be (page 11), in the 2000 report [which also includes financial data from 1999 and 1998] there is also no listing where it should be (page 9).

Now granted this could be explained by any number of things, but it is interesting that the first time they report an "Other Income" is in the same year they had their worst ride operational problems.

Did Cedar Fair receive $2,727,000 from Intamin?

Something to think about.

but has it been open any time soon

Not true, eightdotthree. It ran well at the start of the season. There was downtime over the last few weeks, but it's been blown out of proportion. It was running very well tonight. Of course, no one wants to talk about that.

I was at the part from Monday threw Friday and it was running fine Monday and Tuesday morning but then it broke day and was closed the rest of my week. When I was waiting in line for MF some told me that Dragster was completly messed the computers wert talking to the computers. Then on Wed night a group of enginers and police were hauling in a new hydrolic pump to replace a broken one. But that didn't help because on Thur it was still down.

The elusive white whale. Some say it can't be conquered, and others yearn for more. Still some whine and complain about their luck. I have conquered the mighty beast twice last year. Do I want to ride it again? You bet, but I won't whine just because it's down. I find it more of a quest. Life is too boring if everything works 100% all of the time. Could you just image how unbelievably boring that would be? There would be no mystery, no adventure, no highs and lows, and no adrenaline. We would have no more feelings in the pits of our stomachs when we ride these coasters because we would know that it's 100% perfect. I've had a rollback on the white whale and have been stuck on many rides. I even got caught in a thunderstorm on the top of a coaster. The point I'm making is that I enjoy the inconsistencies in rides as well as in life. It is what makes us imperfect human beings that I find the most interesting thing about us. Blame whoever you want to blame, but coasters are just like human beings. Built by human beings, coasters strive to be imperfect, and that is why they are so much fun. Like I said before this is not just to a certain person or group on here but to anyone and everyone including me.

I plan to once again conquer the white whale this year or the next. What will you be doing?

Well Capn' Ahab let me give you this scenario:

You got the boats, the crew and the provisions to go after Moby Dragster. You've paid for your adventure in full (all the crew, gas for the boat, food, etc.). Ahh, but you know what...sorry, no fishing today. You can dip your toes in the water but nobody is allowed on the boat. Did I mention that you paid for the boat? You can hang out on the dock. Oh yeah, the dock is a great place. Lots of stuff to do!!!

Or here's another adventure scenario:

Let's go climb Mt. Dragster-est! Fly to Asia. Pay your sherpa. Got all that cool climbing gear! Very "extreme" and adventurous. Did I mention how much you paid for all the gear, guide, and transportation? All right let's climb that mountain. It's there after all! But wait. Mountain is closed. Mountain is closed? Yeah, but hey, there’s a ton to do in the village. Lots of local color and such! Go climb some of those hills out by the lake. There just as much fun, they just don’t get the press that big one does.

The only people who take the, "oh well, poop happens" stance, you will notice, are the ones who brag at their feats of adventurous conquer (i.e.:TTD 300 times, 50 rollbacks, 20 bazillion MF, stopped counting the others). Just like the people traveling in the other direction of the road construction, looking across the highway and thinking, "what are they all complaining about? The traffic is just fine! Stop whining!".

In the spirit of adventure, and passive enjoyment of the multi-million dollar (is that a low est?) "Strata Corporation’s amusement park, I am sad to say, that I can't camp out on the beach and wait for my chance to enjoy the Mountain Dew like, un-tucked flannel shirt and ripped jeans ,with my tattoos and ear and tongue rings, adventure ride of my life.

I got one shot folks. I'm a balding, too heavy middle-aged guy who, along with others wants to lay down my hard earned money to enjoy the spectacle that has been advertised to me. Got to work mon. thru fri. to afford the trip. Are some of you still living at home with mom and/or dad? I've posted before that it is necessary to plan in advance for the pilgrimage so being spontaneous and going for the "thrill of the journey" and stuff isn't realistic.In three weeks, the journey will begin anew. Will the mountain be there when I’m there to climb it? When I return and unpack my adjectives will there be “biggest” and “fastest”? “Hey, how was your trip this year? How is that big dragrace thingy?”. “Well, ahh (drops head, draws circle with right toe and sways back and forth uncomfortably) it ah, well, wasn’t running again this year…b,but there was all kinds of other stuff to do!”. “Why year after year do you waste your money on that place? You’ve already done all that other stuff.”

What are you guys talking about?

If the other thrills at Cedar Point don't thrill you anymore, than don't go. I have been on Millennium Force countless times and I still get chills up my spine going up that first hill. If Dragster is the only reason you go to Cedar Point, then you should go today because it appears to be running.