windseeker is open

This sounds like a major failure on the part of Cedar Fair and Mondial. It's one thing to build a ride and not anticipate the effect of higher winds. It's altogether a different mistake when you name said ride "wind-SEEKER". Maybe wind-avoider or something similar would have been more appropriate.

I've questioned this from the very beginning when the ride was announced. A 300+ foot swing along side the lake. The name only compounds the error. If a simple, not-too-intelligent guy like me can predict this, why didn't the manufacturer or the company purchasing SEVERAL of these rides?

Hopefully they develop a way to make the ride safe in high winds.

They have......they don't run it. :)

"Windseeker is currently closed due to wind" does seem like a bit of an oxymoron. :)

If a machine has already served its function, shouldn't it get a well-deserved break?

I can only imagine how often a 400+ ft starflyer would have been down. Also, has WS had a lot of downtime since it opened? I haven't heard any stories about it being down.

TTD 120mph said:
They have guidelines in place to not let bumping happen.

Correction: they have guidelines in place to minimize the chances of bumping happening. Big difference, and I share Chief's sentiments that this is a problem just waiting to turn into an event.

To my understanding, it's very unlikely for it to happen with a fully loaded gondola. And, even then, they won't run it in high winds. Of course anything can happen but with weight and weather being a main factor, it seems they have it well enough down (sefety wise) till they can come up with a permanent fix. I'm personally not worried but I know I can't speak for everyone. And if you're scared or unsure of riding it, you obviously dont have to.

Why couldn't the "arms" be fixed like on a Dumbo attraction? Wouldn't that eliminate any concerns about bumping and even allow it to run in more than a light breeze? I'd need an engineer to weigh in here but it seems like that would pretty much solve the problem.

It doesn't even come close to bumping anymore. Saturday was very windy and it still ran and did not come close to bumping.

I rode twice, once in the day and one after dark, and I found myself really dizzy on the day ride. However, the night ride was great. It isn't thrilling by any means, but is very relaxing. The seats are a bit uncomfortable, though.

Chief: The arms could be fixed so they only pivot about one axis allowing them to move outward radially but not tangentially. The problem with this is that you then have to carry that tangential load (that is now stopping you from swinging in that direction) down through the swing arm to the carriage. With the length of the arms, that results in a large moment load at the pivot and along the arm itself. Those loads will also have to be reacted by the carriage truss. All of that can be designed for, but you are adding significant weight to the various assemblies to limit that motion.

That's why dampers were necessary - to limit the movement of the arms in fore/aft directions while adding minimal stress to the arm-carriage joints.

Perhaps they misunderestimated the amount of damping that was needed, and a more permanent, safer fix is on the way in the form of better dampers.

OMG! Skyride is closed! LOL

Well considering it's been blowing about 25 with gusts to 35 I'm not surprised! Had a couple of small storms blow through this evening.

MORE WINDSEEKER NEWS!

I was at the park today and windseeker stalled about 60 feet in the air and the full gondola of rides were stuck on the ride for a short time. After that the ride did not reopen for the rest of the day, however TTD did close around 7 p.m. due to high winds and an impending storm but Windseeker closed around 3 p.m. well before any signs of the storm. I waited to plan my 2nd CP trip until Windsseker was open since it wasn't complete on my 1st but still I still haven't gotten a chance to ride! Sad thing is a few riders did actually ride but as Windseeker didn't open with the park and opened well after 11 a.m. I couldn't pass up catching a few rides on Maverick just to wait in line over an hour for an unopen attraction!

I went out this evening hoping to catch my first Windseeker ride and found the area abandoned. I heard later about the stranded riders earlier in the day.

Seems like a lot of stuff was down/broken well in advance of the storm moving in. Ultimately I only ended up riding Gemini (because even Magnum was down when I walked by) and dumping some money at the arcade.

Sounds like Sunday of opening weekend all over again. I never saw so many rides closed due to wind.

Anyone know if Windseeker is down for weather or mechanical reasons? I've been watching it all day and no movement or anybody in line, for that matter. I plan on driving down for the day tomorrow and finally ride it because it wasn't ready my first trip. Any heads up would be great. I'm sure I'll be going either way but this info would help me decide a plan of attack.

vwhoward said:
Anyone know if Windseeker is down for weather or mechanical reasons? I've been watching it all day and no movement or anybody in line, for that matter. I plan on driving down for the day tomorrow and finally ride it because it wasn't ready my first trip. Any heads up would be great. I'm sure I'll be going either way but this info would help me decide a plan of attack.

When I was at the park yesterday Windseeker was down due to technical problems not the wind. Windseeker closed around 3 p.m. after riders were evacuated from the stalled gondola. The storm didn't roll through CP until hours later, TTD was first to close due to high winds and it closed around 6:30ish.

Windseeker was down all day due to high winds but dragster and everything else was open with no problems with weather

Sky Ride was not open.