TTD time to go?

I think it's time for CP to tear down and replace TTD. This is the most unreliable ride I've ever seen. Every time I've been there this year this ride is down for mechanical issues. Got in line three times yesterday and mid way through waiting the dreaded "riders on the platform dragster is down due to mechanical issues" the. You see the maintenance team arriving with their tool back pack.

Does anyone know if Kingda Ka have this problem?

Kind of gettting old that it's every day and more often than not.

Agreed. Could open up nice waterside area for more attractions.

Yea. Love the ride but....with the macabre wait time coupled with the remote chance that it will not break down while waiting....you may have a point.

I rode it several times yesterday.
It was a strange day weather-wise, with varying temps, rain clouds, a sprinkle here and there, lightning present at night, and finally a cold rain about 10:30.
Are you sure the down time was mechanical?

TTD has had it share of problems, particularly early on. Maybe I'm just the lucky one, but I think it's fairly reliable these days, and I almost always get on it when I want to. I seem to remember an extended period early this season when it was closed, but after that it's run every time I've visited.
Calling for it's removal seems a little harsh.

I've been to the park 7 times this year. It's been down a majority of those visits. I've gotten two rides on it. Broke down twice while waiting at opening for it.

I do think it's a great ride though so I've got mixed feelings.

Nothing sucks worse than getting close after waiting in a long line to have the ride go down. (Unless it's bailing from the station to see that it starts back up once you're outside.)

But I'm the one who says nope when I see a long line for anything, particularly TTD, anyway. If I'm not armed with FL+ anything more than 1/2 hour wait is a pass. I visit often enough that strategic planning around crowds is possible.

The problem with these rides is more to do with the control systems, for the most part rather than straight mechanical issues (although the hydraulic system on all of these don't like hi temps, which is why I questioned the initial installations lack of air conditioning of the power houses). What most people encounter when it goes down is that the control system senses that "something" isn't right and failsafes. It can't be simply over ridden, the control technicians have to determine what caused the trip and then what to do from there.

Meh, yes it goes down a lot but seems to open back up shortly. We have not had any trouble getting at least one ride each visit this year. Windseeker on the other hand is my nemesis. Not one ride this year including at KI. We see them running and then by the time we get there it they shut down. Just dumb luck I suppose.

I doubt CP will trash such a popular ride.

If you think 45 minutes is short you're crazy! That makes what was once a 15 minute wait at least a minimum

Cargo Shorts said:

Meh, yes it goes down a lot but seems to open back up shortly.

Not in my experience.

I don't think it's going anywhere. It really wouldn't surprise me to see wicked twister go bye bye though.

Staaber said:

Every time I've been there this year this ride is down for mechanical issues.

Clearly the ride is unreliable. Tear it down!!!!

That being said...

RCMAC said:

I rode it several times yesterday.
It was a strange day weather-wise...

Often when a ride goes down for weather (even weather you can't see) Maintenance will still show up. In my experience they will be on hand for when the ride goes back up in case there are problems after the weather clears, show up to work on items they can only do when the ride is closed, or simply to hangout while the weather passes. I'm sure in Staabers case it was actually down for a mechanical issue but it isn't always a broken part or something that warrants it being removed. As Dutchman pointed out it is likely the computer most of the time.

You mean:

TAER IT DOWN!!11

The ride is marketing gold for the park, whether or not it's down.

I would say its issues, while fairly severe, are nowhere near as much as a flop as Shoot the Rapids. TTD is has decent capacity when it works (unlike Shoot the Rapids) and has decent appeal (unlike Shoot the Rapids, which sometimes seemed to keep you too dry to be a summer soaker and got you too wet to be a log flume type "ride any time" ride.) Dragster is the parks "oh hell no" extreme ride to the GP (along with perhaps Power Tower's drop side), and it's almost a rite of passage. It has quite the lore among the GP, I'd say, as the most extreme thing around.

Let me tell you this - Knoebels built a small wooden bobsled, couldn't get it working for 6 years, and now it works fine. If the park wants something to keep on going, they will do it. TTD is a landmark and the first strata coaster, and people love the ride. It's a maintenance nightmare, but it's well-loved.

This year is the most reliable I've seen it ever. There was that patch in June or July it went down for like 2 weeks, but other than that, I've only seen one really bad day. (CoasterMania! Because of the rollbacks)

^I wouldn't say that. It's had several long patches of downtime this year.

Dragster has been down today. Saw mechanics working on some of the break fins. There are just so many moving pieces on Dragster, it will always have periods of downtime. The park knows the cost per rider for every ride. If that cost ever gets to be above what they feel is realistic, the topic of removal gets serious. I would not doubt for a minute that Dragster is the most expensive coaster to operate and maintain at the park and probably the highest cost per rider.

I wonder if they'd consider upgrading it to LSMs if Intamin could produce an LSM system with the necessary acceleration to get it to 120mph in that space. I imagine progress is being made in that area - Red Force at PortAventura's Ferrari Land isn't too far off.

They are never getting rid of the ride. It's a gold mine for marketing. Second tallest full circuit coaster ever. Once the tallest and fastest coaster. It is a skyline marquee for the point, it is one of first and last things you see and remember when visiting the park. When you do ride it, it is excellent and stupid smooth for that speed. This is a complex ride and to achieve that kind of speed at that height takes a lot. Although a LSM or magnetic launch sounds great,it would require a much longer launch track and I mean a lot longer to reach speeds to accomplish that height. Also, as far as I know, all hydraulic launch systems installed by Intimin are very high maintenance and go down a lot. IMHO, it is what it is for reliability, I feel lucky when I get a ride on a short line and it never sucks when you are on it.