TTR returns with a vengeance!

By now this is probably well known, but I just *had to* get that headline on the site. :)

It seems that when Steel Vengeance opened on Sunday with only one train, the knowledge that it would be operating at extremely low capacity (something like 360 PPH) did not deter thousands of people from descending on the ride at the opening bell.

Let's see...a single file queue can accommodate approximately 2,400 PPH. That means in 90 minutes enough people can enter the queue to keep the ride running all day without breakdowns (3600 people in a 10-hour day, 10a-8p). I talked with one person who got into the queue at 9:30am and rode the ride by 3:00pm. I can't imagine waiting that long to ride *anything*.

The park opted to pull out the timed tickets they came up with for the Season Pass Preview to try and limit how many people could attempt to ride, and to keep the waits down to something merely unreasonable. I can't say that I blame them, under the circumstances, but it seems nothing was communicated to anyone who wasn't present at the ride. I wasn't expecting to ride on Sunday, so I wasn't disappointed to find that I couldn't even get into the queue, (I was happy that I finally found a place to get a Coke, though...) but had the park been busy, the very same issues we saw with the Millennium Force ticket program showed themselves. In fact, it seems there was something of a 'black market' for the ride tickets, which I thought interesting as the people who were collecting the tickets didn't seem to have the time to go back and use them.

The way the ticketing was implemented suggested to me that it might well have been a last second idea to make sure that the ride would be able to shut down for the night sometime this week. Assuming the mechanical issues get sorted out and the ride gets back up to two trains soon, I doubt that this scourge will beset the new ride for long..

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Sounds like they missed an golden opportunity to breakout the Freeway Stamps here!

With one train it seems like a no win situation. Closing the ride almost seems like it would be less of headache. (Edit note- Sat night when they did reopen, there were probably more people upset that it was now working but they couldn't get on than got to actually ride) After the incident though. the positive PR of saying it's open right away might outweigh that.

Yes, hopefully they will get the issues fixed and it can go back to two train operation soon. Will the they operate it with all three trains, or has the third train not been state certified; (as of now)?

I hope I am as understanding as you if the ride is down or running 1 train when I go.

Well, the good news is you are in 100% control of your own emotions.

I assume @cartwright is not a “Freudian?”

I was there on Sunday. Must have gotten in line a little before the person you talked to because we got off Steel Vengeance a little after 2 pm. Was totally worth the wait, though I wouldn't wait that long again (its possible that makes sense -- LOL). Last half of the wait was actually fun because we started talking/laughing/joking with the people in the line around us. Was something of a bonding experience. Everyone riding the ride for the first time, trying to make the best of the situation and being something of survivors as a lot of people bailed out of the line during the 4.5 hour journey. At some point it became a quest, a quest for fun. :)