WindSeeker Closed

Windseeker has been moving most of the day today. Look like something is going on.

This may have already been brought up, but wouldn't it have made more sense to close the WindSeeker's chain-wide after CP's got torn apart in, I believe, July?

That was a completely different issue.

I'm hoping they can get it up and running by time 2013 comes around. ::Fingers Crossed::

^They will. I would be completely shocked if it wasn't running. Time has passed and no one cares that people were "stranded" on a ride in California for a couple of hours. Thus the only reason Windseeker was closed in the first place, Cedar Fair covering their ass.

Lawyers will remember and they'll want to get it fixed before they open it.

^Nothing was broke.

But something is wrong with the system.

Yes. The e-stop was turning on when it was not supposed to. Most likely, a new system for operation needs to be made.

E-stop turns on when it's not supposed to on many rides. What they need to do for Windseeker is find a way to manually get the gondola in home position in a quick and efficient way so riders aren't stranded for so long. Have you ever watched them manually bring down the gondola from the top? It takes at least 5 minutes to get it down to the platform.

If it only took 5 minutes, it would not be getting the press it's getting. People were stuck for hours. Every park except Kings Island has experienced "the problem" cedar point also had the other issue of the wind knocking something loose. The power cable that runs up and down with the gondola I believe.

I guess my post wasn't clear. I'm saying when they do finally get WS back up and running after an E-stop, it takes 5 minutes to manually get it to the platform. BUT, they need to find a way to manually bring the gondola down without having to reset the ride. That way, they can get guests off of the ride instead of being stranded.

Maybe a back-up motor inside the tower?It can take over and bring the gondola back down. I don't know...

Keep an eye out on this POS. Enough said...

I wonder if the failure involves the appearance of a failure at the top of the tower, and therefore requires that a maintenance man be dispatched to the ride and take a climb to the top of the tower. The time required to climb to the top and back down might be enough to explain much of the delay...

Which, in turn, makes me wonder if a surveillance camera on the upper hoist sheave might be a useful improvement...

(N.B. I don't know anything about the precise nature of the problem)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I would say that there is something to that. Supposedly the record time for a mechanic at Seaworld San Diego to climb to the top of their Skytower (with toolbelt) is about eleven minutes. I would surmise that the average is closer to fifteen to twenty minutes up, and about the same going down. I don't know how the interior of the tower is configured. If it uses ladders instead of stairs they'd have to tie off on each level which will increase the time considerably.

From seeing the tower sections during an off-season tour...there are ladders in the sections, with landings at intervals. I am not certain, but I suspect that there is either a continuous safety system so that the climber doesn't have to keep unclipping and reclipping, or the landings are spaced to allow for free-climbing.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I would think that the ladders are positioned so that there is a platform at the base of each section, and not a straight shot down.

That would make sense, of course, but would be an obvious nuisance from a fall protection standpoint. Another tactic I am aware of is to make the ladder a straight shot, but put trap doors in the landings. So while you're on or above the landing you can't fall through.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

For some reason, the LED lights on the WindSeeker tower are on. They were off all offseason till tonight, or so I think.