Wicked Twister

Put them ontop of the car your sitting in. If you can reach the car infront of you and rest them there, I'm impressed.

All rows are within the wheels, notice the axles containing the wheels are between the cars and behind car 6

Yeah, that is a pretty long reach. I couldn't reach there - I'm 5'2"...

Back to Twister - can anybody confirm modifications to the restraints?

coasterJay said:
Not a huge fan of WT, but I do ride it when the line is not too long, which is almost all the time. I was a bigger fan of that other impulse that used to reside east of CP with the straight hold spike.

I went to Dorney Park in June and rode Possessed multiple times. Needless to say, I forgot how amazing it was to be launched that fast up the back tower twice, opposed to WT's dull backseat half twist on 'Swing 2'. I sure did miss my S:UE/Steel Venom.

Didn't Wicked Twister have to be neutered because of structural stress?

I'm not positive, but I thought there was tweaking done during its first season, but after that it has pretty much been the same ride program. Wicked Twister experts out there might be able to shed more light on that.

It's been the same ride program since it got neutered in 2002. I've been told there were 2 reasons why it's ride cycle has been watered down, and track stress on the back tower is one of those reasons.

Another example of Intamin quality, stuff like that should be worked out in the design phase so the final product can run as intended. Just another example of the customer (CP) not getting everything they paid for from Intamin. It is still a fun ride, but the original program that ran on the ride's opening day was really good.

I wish I was there for it :(

I wonder what the park can do to return WT back to its original operation.

They could have Intamin rebuild it using their new double spine track (like the track for Skyrush, Intimidator 305, Formula Rossa, and that new impulse that's in China). Other than that, not much else. The idea of the box track being "self supporting" on a vertical ride was a pretty sound idea in theory, but in reality it didn't really pan out. Now it just seems absurd that WT used to be without the extra yellow supports. I believe one of the hydraulic launch Intamins had to receive extra support on the top hat due to the box track not being as strong as they thought.

As a side note, Intamin really seems to be obsessive over track styles now after these few fiasco with the box track. The big coasters all use that enormous double spine track, while some of their smaller coasters are using a crazy mix of the twin track (with no spine), triangle track (what Maverick is made of), and box track. Cheetah Hunt uses all three. They also use a weird mix of supports. Some are using the round supports (like MF and Maverick) while others are using an I-beam type support (Skyrush). I don't really know what's going on with Intamin, but they don't seem to have a clear direction. I know using the spineless track on low to the ground elements is cheaper, but sometimes simplicity pays off (e.g. B&M)

Pete said:
Another example of Intamin quality, stuff like that should be worked out in the design phase so the final product can run as intended. Just another example of the customer (CP) not getting everything they paid for from Intamin. It is still a fun ride, but the original program that ran on the ride's opening day was really good.

Intamin gave CP many coasters that, although they had teething issues, became their headline coasters. MF is very popular and CP will always push it as #1. TTD's reliability is no longer completely terrible, and the ride is quite literally the centerpiece. Maverick, after the heartline roll issue was fixed, became one of the best rides at Cedar Point and always has a line of guests eager to ride it. The GP really doesn't care about Wicked Twister's neutering, however sad it may be. Shoot the Rapids was a massive flop - 2010 was probably Intamin's low point. I highly doubt that Intamin will continue to get worse in the regard of reliability. Whenever Cedar Fair decides to get more Intamin attractions, I imagine that Intamin will have stepped their reliability game up significantly.

I know the Intamin coasters are really fun rides, but quality and fun are two different things. TTD was extremely unreliable when it first opened. I wonder if Intamin improved it's reliability or if CP maintenance had a large role in the improvements. I'd bet money on the latter. B&M coasters are just as much fun and you can pretty much buy one and expect it to work exactly as intended. All the issues with Intamin products are costly both in maintenance and in guest frustration over the ride being down. Reason enough to avoid Intamin products.

Can anyone describe how the ride cycle was prior to the modifications that were made to "dial down" the cycle? Because when I observe WT now, it appears it still reaches darn near close to the top of both spikes.

The first launch was still as it is today, but the second launch going backwards was stronger and sent the train to the top of the tower. The rest of the cycle was as it is today. So, instead of nearing the top two times, it was three.