X-Flight Hitting it's Best Numbers Now

Now that Cedar Fair is in control of this ride, you guys think that X-Flight will start using 2-trains all the time? And how about the trains reclining on the lift? Do you think they can get it working? I see a lot of potential capacity wise in this rides future...

You know what I was thinking about... Vekoma could be (hypothetically) the best coaster company out there and all their rides have just been poorly maintained by SF and that's why everyone hates them. Maybe CF will be able to get that stuff to work. And... on the same page, maybe we'll see some PTCs on Villain and RWB.

Speaking of RWB, does anyone know if the other half of the ride got retracked? Because the half that did was amazing. It was easily the smoothest wooden coaster I have ever been on.

Sure it'll be smooth but I'm afraid it'll be boring like the second half. I heard that they were supposed to get it finished this year but word on the street is that the crane is just now getting over there. Apparently there is a large pile of lumber and they are going to be started finishing up the first half this year. I'm going tomorrow to get some pictures and scope everything out, I'll let you know.

Everything from the top of the lift forward will be retracked. The lift and turn to the station will be completed next winter. Or atleast that was the plan. And just because CF will be running the ride doesn't mean all will be fixed. The ride is severely flawed because many of the aspects of how it operates were just not thought out well. Motors on each car? What the hell is that?! Remember PGA's troubles with Stealth?
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Jes
JesLive.Com
Six Flags Worlds Of Adventure Ride-Ops Crew 2002-2003!
Cedar Point Raptor Crew 2004! (Find me, and win a prize!)

Geez Zero-G , i'm sorry dude. I was just thinking positive and hoping that something could be done about the rides low capactiy.

Hmmm, I didn't intend at all for that to sound like a flame. Sorry if it came to you like that. I hope something can be done, but realistically I can say from working on the ride, the first step would be to redesign the crappy trains.

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Jes
JesLive.Com
Six Flags Worlds Of Adventure Ride-Ops Crew 2002-2003!
Cedar Point Raptor Crew 2004! (Find me, and win a prize!)

...for instance, put a matching set of indicator LEDs on the left-hand side so that operators in the left-hand station can see what they are doing. It wouldn't hurt to also shift the railings in the stations so that the gates actually line up with the train rows (clearly, someone overlooked the train's direction of travel when installing the gates...). Those are trivial things, but it is the attention to such trivial details that made Cedar Point a capacity monster.

It's worth noting that prior to 2000, Geauga Lake was also pretty good at moving bodies. I remember riding Raging Wolf Bobs...it was only running one train, unfortunately. But the station dwell time...that is, time from when the train stops until it leaves again...was 24 seconds, which is better than most Cedar Point coasters can do.

Pity, I doubt we will ever get to see the Arrow Dance on the Double Loop again... :(

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Aarow dance on double loop? What's that?

All I remember from that ride is almost blacking out b/c my headache from all the other trimless rides had bounced my head so hard (not to mention I rode RWB... OUCH!)

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'04 Twister ATL
'03 Twister/Sky Ride (Spent month@Disaster too)

/me does the Arrow Dance:

-thump- step,hop -thump- step, hop -thump- step, hop -thump

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- John
I Snap Flyers

Is that what the train did once or something?

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'04 Twister ATL
'03 Twister/Sky Ride (Spent month@Disaster too)

The dance is done on the Arrow trains that have only manual foot pedals for the restraint locks. The running up and down the platform unlocking them while stepping and hopping between them is lovingly referred to as the Arrow Dance.

See: Corkscrew adn CCMR @ CP

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- John
I Snap Flyers
*** This post was edited by Michael Darling 3/14/2004 12:13:36 AM ***

haha. Gotcha. I forgot about that. Also forgot about the other employee (well now former employee ... got better things to do now than CP, I digress) that went with me and had room for another body in his harness b/c they cared so little that they didn't even tell him to put it down. Needless to say he put it down before getting to the hill, but damn... said it before and saying it again... won't miss the unsafe conditions at SF!

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'04 Twister ATL
'03 Twister/Sky Ride (Spent month@Disaster too)

Why won't we get to see that on the Double Loop anymore?

The ride is still manual. But Cedar Fair might be one to try and change it. Not that Six Flags didn't try... they just messed up pretty good with ASTM compliancy.

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Jes
JesLive.Com
Six Flags Worlds Of Adventure Ride-Ops Crew 2002-2003!
Cedar Point Raptor Crew 2004! (Find me, and win a prize!)

After watching the Corkscrew crew work last year, it showed me that it was still possible to operate a ride like that with some very speedy intervals. Their trains are in the station for under 30 seconds. I'm pretty sure running two trains on Double Loop, even with the manual pedals won't be a problem wince they run three on Corkscrew which is probably a shorter ride.

-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew
2003 Magnum Crew
2004 Magnum ATL

But Corkscrew can stack all three trains outside of the station. I don't remember, how long is Double Loop's brake run?

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- John
I Snap Flyers

Double Loop only has two trains, right? Or am I wrong? I was just saying running two should not be any problem at all after seeing what they manage to do with Corkscrew.

-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew
2003 Magnum Crew
2004 Magnum ATL

Double Loop has two trains, and it's barely long enough to use them both. It can stack the second train on the transfer table, but Geauga usually didn't. Again, before 2000, Geauga Lake did things with Cedar Point efficiency. That's why they never had boarding gates.

And I'm probably wrong about the Arrow Dance, which, by the way, you WON'T see on the Mine Ride because the mechanism doesn't allow for it. On Corkscrew and Double Loop, the operator can kick the pedal and it unlocks the car, kick it again to lock the car. On Mine Ride, the car only stays unlocked while the op's foot is on the pedal.

What IS gone from Double Loop was the precursor to the Arrow Dance, where the operator would stand at the uptrack end of the station and kick the pedals as the train came in. Six Flags put an end to that. That was the dance that started with, "STOMP!.STOMP!..STOMP!...STOMP!....STOMP!.....STOMP!"

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I'm sorry, Rideman. You're right about CCMR. It's a modified Arrow Dance, let's call it. ;)

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- John
I Snap Flyers