Water Bombs on Maverick

Past weekend I only seen 2 water bombs working.

^^Yea, what I was told was pretty vague so it was probably just a rumor. There's no doubt that there's a reason for the low volume of mist being pumped out though.

I would love to hear the logic behind reducing the ride's one and only morsel of visual "on-ride" theming. I'm pretty certain that a coaster can safely burst its way through a wall of fog. Or mist. Are we going to close coasters due to foggy weather now?

They have a few fog machines in a warehouse somewhere, yes? I swear I've seen them used at the park.

I think I've given this dead horse enough blows.

McClure was wrong, though. This is exactly the type of theming I expect from Cedar Point.

Pretty sure that the water bombs all work properly, but get clogged up often. It's just not high priority to clean them as soon as they stop working. Kind of hard to do that during operations anyways. So although it might affect guest satisfaction, they aren't sending someone into the lagoon ASAP. They do all run regularly. It just might not be when you're there. The mist in the tunnel was cut for safety reasons. The launch is the mid-course safety break. If a train were stopped there a worker that came down to notify the riders about why they were stopped would have a hard time seeing. Also there is a camera there so the operator can see the train. The fog affect in the tunnel created a safety concern. That's why they cut the fog. They did it right after the ride opened and it obviously isn't worth the unsafe condition or else they'd have turned it back on. I think I'd rather have a safe ride than fog in the tunnel. I don't know what their policy is, but I'd say that safety undermines guest satisfaction all the time.

I do wish the lights still worked though in the launch (the RR tracks & the strobe deal at the end) but ah well, I still enjoy the hell out of the ride.

I'm sure they have a safety-related explanation for not having those kept up over the years as well. What if a worker had to come down there? All those flashing lights and sounds might confuse him, putting riders at risk.

Of course, that worker may be Keyrock, and Unfrozen Caveman Worker...all your mist and flashing lights frightens and confuses him.

Simple solution: put a switch/button to deactivate the thematic lighting and fog while activating overhead work lamps.

But you're missing a key element; that requires dedication towards maintaining special effects (what little you have). Cedar Point has a tradition of shrugging its shoulders and not even including it on a priority list, even if it something cool that makes a ride's overall experience an A+.

Let's take Dragster as an example. I personally love the experience, but...

Let's say on your next trip the engine revving noise is gone, and the Christmas Tree lights stop working, and Cedar Point just said "oh well" and let it go. Forever.

Does that ruin the ride experience? Of course not. And people who never experienced it would never know the difference. But all those aesthetic elements work together with all your other senses to make the ride experience more complete, enjoyable, and overall memorable.

I'll never understand the park's reluctance on these little things on their marquee attractions. All that said, they certainly have kept things up on Dragster (what hasn't flown off the ride anyway), so kudos there. But would it really break the bank to bring back Magnum's tunnel effects? It is kinda-sorta a landmark, right? Maverick is just as much of a priority as Dragster, yes? And Rougarou is your "new" ride.

So much for not beating the horse.

If the engine revving and the Christmas lights didn't work, that would be one hell of a surprise launch for someone who has never been on TTD.

I guess all those other parks that have fog and lights in tunnels are really putting riders and workers in peril. :/

^ that's just it. I mean, doesn't Thunderbird have fog right before the launch? Why not have fog spray in Mavericks tunnel only when it is about to launch, instead of constantly.

I'd like them to put skeletons in that tunnel. HA!

One of the main problems with fog is what we see every year at Halloweekends, with any bit of wind it dissipates fast. Since Cedar Point is out in the middle of the lake there tends to always be a breeze making fog machines pointless unless they are in some sheltered area where the wind isn't blowing as much. Maverick is right on the lake with nothing blocking it from wind so having fog on the ride would be useless, unless of course the fog was in the tunnel. But at that point it is dark with no lighting effects so then again the fog effect becomes useless.

The wind yesterday (Monday) was carrying the water quite a ways Pretty entertaining watching the unsuspecting guests coming from the frontier trail walkway getting a good dose of water spray when the water effects trigger.

Kevin, I don't know what grading system your using. I think Maverick is an A+ without the fog and lighting in the tunnel. It's the only ride I've been on that launches you over the lift hill. Excellent theme throughout the ride. For a ride with a 150 ft first drop it's quite the ride. Definitely one of the best at the park. That's against a 400 ft drop and a 300 ft drop. Definitely an A+ to me at least. I understand that you can always improve, but in my opinion it's not that important. Safety is definitely more important than extra visual effect.

Just for the record here, let's not confuse glycerin-based fog with plain water being pressurized and pumped through atomizing nozzles. That's what they're using over at Rougarou, what they continue to use for Shoot the Rapids and what they used for Mavericks tunnels. You'll only see the glycerin-based fog used for shows/entertainment, Halloweekends or something relating to those things.

Now, from what I heard many years ago, one of the issues was that the humidity, and water vapor condensing in the tunnel, was seen (by the state) to pose a potential malfunctioning risk for the fire alarms found in the tunnel.

I don't know how much of that is true but it sure makes sense since the tunnel is considered an enclosure and is required to follow fire code. It could have also been one of the risks coupled with the visibility issue.