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asamccormick

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Everything posted by asamccormick

  1. Banshee is down to a two train opperation (May 19th 2:50). This morning all three trains were running, however, the ride remained stacked for most of the morning. Would be neat to learn why they removed the train .
  2. Interested to know what is happening with Drop Tower. I found it interesting that the park has said it will be down for a few weeks, but the employees (granted, they may know as much as myself) were saying that "Drop Tower finally dropped" and then laughed and said it would be closed for a long time. I hope the parts they are receiving make it in soon. Action Zone was looking pretty dead when Invertigo and Drop Tower were both closed. I feel that as compared to Six Flags St. Louis, Kings Island really does keep the ride open and operational as much as they absolutely can. Six Flags always played the "wind" card when their ride was down- I haven't seen KI use that one in recent times.
  3. I visited for the first time this season on Sunday. I think the entire Action Zone looks awesome this year. The ride was thrilling, and it really just looks awesome. I was very impressed with the dispatch times for the most part. I think that the crew is still attempting to find their way with the ride, which is totally acceptable and understandable. I feel like without having a mid-course brake, knowing when to send a ride could be more challenging. I was wondering, if anyone knew, can they dispatch a ride to the hill with a train still running the course? And can the hill slow itself until it knows the track is clear? Just a question- I feel like it could, because waiting for the train to clear the course before dispatching causes stacking. One thing that I found myself really annoyed with was the handling of the fast pass lane. The employees were directing the fast pass lane to the back two rows every single time. I'm sure I am not the only one who would say you should experience the ride in different rows. I rode the ride ten times, and all but one I was forced to sit in the back row. That being said, I did really enjoy the ride- it was a wonderful addition. There was an incident on Sunday where apparently someone took their seat belt off, or something along those lines. The ride was stopped on the lift for about twenty minutes, and after some down time the ride cycled empty for several runs. It reopened shortly after, but having to tell the GP that your new roller coaster is down isn't too ideal. I noticed that after the park closed, even into about 8:45, they continued to cycle the ride empty. I'm sure it was nothing, but interesting to see nonetheless. I can't wait to go back.
  4. I posted these comments on Theme Park Review, and I figure I'd just repost my words instead of retyping them all... Here is what I'm really responding to... http://www.kshb.com/dpp/news/local_news/planned-worlds-of-fun-attraction-has-checkered-past First I feel that Worlds of Fun could have been much, much more effective when talking about the rides relocation, and the reasoning for the ride's troubled past. Would I have mentioned that CalOSHA wouldn't approve the ride? No. Would I have highlighted the extensive effort behind Cedar Fair's work to make sure they're safe? Absolutely. I feel that even if the park would have been given 30 seconds to speak of how the evacuation procedures were reviewed and changed it would have made them look 4000% better. They could have highlighted how new platforms were designed, and how the "bug" in the computers (at least appears) to have been fixed. I would have highlighted that no park this season has had issues with the ride stalling out. I feel that the name change is a great idea, as it one day will get that one ride away from any judgement based solely on the ride's named. In my opinion, I don't think sharing similar names on any ride is an effective plan anywhere. If each park had a different, unique name for the ride then the name with the troubled ride wouldn't get around too easy. Take that statement for what it's worth, if it even made sense. A part of me honestly wonders what is wrong with CalOSHA. (Please don't let that be taken the wrong way- I fully understand the importance of keeping us, the riders, safe.) If no other state-led organization has kept the ride shuttered, then why is Knott's ride still being kept closed? Did the park not thoroughly prove that they handled this to the best of their abilities? If the new evac platforms aren't safe and effective, why hasn't Ohio (who has two WindSeekers) or any other state stepped in to close the rides? In my opinion, the rides are safe and CalOSHA needs to reevaluate what they think defines a safe ride. I think that moving the ride was the only option left for Knott's and Cedar Fair. As long as the park doesn't have any problems with the ride, then I feel that it will be well-received by the patrons of Worlds of Fun.
  5. I could not agree more. Gatekeeper is one of my favorite rollerocoasters but I have never been in so much pain in my life. I'm praying these trains come pre-retrofitted with the updated restraints that keep the vest from continuing to push down harder and harder with each turn you make. After riding Gatekeeper 5 times in one day, my shoulders and collarbone were KILLING, KILLING, KILLING me.
  6. Which may be very true... However, minus Knott's ride, I think they've all improved considerably. Aside from the company-wide shutdown, KI really has been blessed with halfway decent reliability. (side note on top of another side note, Screamscape reported that Knott's may have to completely remove their WindSeeker ride since CalOSHA won't approve the ride's evacuation procedure, following their spree with the ride getting stuck. Now that's a bad situation to be in!)
  7. Not to mention even the smallest error will normally shut down a ride. Even just an inch off being in the home base could make the ride lock out. Not sure how overly sensitive Delirium is, but I assume that it may be with how often it seems to go down. I've visited plenty of times when the ride has closed at different points throughout the day.
  8. I had the "enjoyable" experience of being stuck on Delirium. We rode the ride and everything seemed like a normal cycle until the ride stopped. It seemed to jolt a little once it was trying to lock itself in place, the platforms didn't come up. As soon as I knew we had waited about three seconds too long, the recording came on stating that the ride was experiencing significant delays as maintenance crews were coming to fix the issue. The ride operator joked and laughed with all of us, even after someone called him out for "pushing the wrong button". (didn't know if it was an E-stop, although i assumed with the jolt). It took maintenance about 15 minutes to come, but in the meantime there were about 10 (I kid you not) managers that came up and were walking around the ride asking how everyone was doing and playing around with them. Once the crews got there they were able to fix the problem within 30 seconds and after we got off they ran a blank run and reopened the ride. It was my first experience with a breakdown at a park.
  9. Visited Cedar Point yesterday and had a chance to ride nearly every ride there... (God Bless Fast Lane+) When Banshee was first announced, I was very skeptical about the ride not having a MCBR. I figured this would lead to stacking on stacking of trains, although I'm happy to say I think my opinion may have changed. I have never in life seen such poor operations on a roller coaster until I saw Raptor and Mantis on Saturday. Both rides had a 2.5 hour wait, and the crew was in no hurry to "push" the trains. Both rides are designed with MCBRs, but they were not being utilized at all, which makes them 100% pointless. I feel as though Cedar Fair reviewed Raptor while designing Banshee in the sense that they knew it was impossible to be able to dispatch another train by the time it hit the MCBR. Granted, both of those rides are a pain to secure and check (unlike Diamondback), so I will give them credit where deserved. So long as the new crew of Banshee can really move the trains once it opens, I will be completely fine with a three-train, no MCBR coaster. P.s.= The Gatekeeper crew was insane on Saturday. Not a single stacked train once, and the ride ops were so motivated to move that they would run to their post area to dispatch after they checked the last restraint. I loved, loved, loved seeing that.
  10. Very confused. Hopefully Don will explain all of the diversions after the ride is announced. It'll be fun to finally put everything together. I'm going on a long stretch and saying this is the most "toyed" with announcement in recent history. Usually Holiday World plays their new rides off really well, but I'm very impressed for a chain park. My head is spinning from all of the diversion.
  11. I agree with the idea to throw off a bunch of fans with fake blueprints, but I personally have my doubts. My love for public relations is endless, but there are certain stunts you wouldn't go through with. The time and the effort, on top of the cost to have someone make a fake round of blueprints, just seems excessive to me. If Don were to release this as a stunt, what would the purpose be? I'm just confused. A giant diversion would be fun, but you would have to expect that the news and media would see it. Why would you want the news to have a false plan presented to them? 90% of the people are going to watch the news and now get excited over something that isn't happening. In this case, the media didn't really report anything that we didn't know, but you would have to be willing to take that bet. I'll say now that I believe these blueprints are real. Too much detail, and adding up for it to be true, If it was a diversion, there would be a giant unanswered question for us to speculate over. As a PR stunt, i would be more inclined to expect a small picture of the blueprint that maybe just showed us a unique feature, not a video that shows every single line drawn of the ride. I think that the blueprints are legit.
  12. Here again, adding another round of my two cents regarding another flyer. I know this debate is slowing down now, but I can't catch up with this thread. (Great to see the amount of activity on the site though!) I have had a chance to ride a B&M flyer, Tatsu at Six Flags Magic Mountain, and all I can say is wow. I definitely, without a doubt, prefer Tatsu to Firehawk. However each of them have their own uniqueness. Tatsu at SFMM is just as much the view as it is the ride if you follow my train of thought. I remember clear as day being astonished at the scenic view that Tatsu offers as you crest the hill. Would tatsu be as exciting as it is at Magic Mountain if it was at Kings Island? Probably not. My favorite part of the ride was the view. Granted, it was my first ride and first experience at the park, so my view is a little biased. I love the B&M aspects of the ride, however i prefer Firehawks' aspects of boarding to an extent. I feel like Firehawk is much more comfortable in the loading aspect, going up the lift hill, and waiting on the break run. I like laying on my back. When I was at Magic Mountain they were not using the second side of the station, which is a critical aspect of the ride with how long it takes to load and unload trains. At that time of the day they were running a two train operation, and the ride did stack on the break run for nearly four or five minutes per run. Laying face down for that long, you sure do start to feel uncomfortable! If, with a large emphasis on IF, we do see another flyer, my only hope is that every day both sides of the loading platform are used and it is at a consistent three train operation. I honestly can see just at Kings Island how important capacity of the rides is, so i doubt this would ever become an issue. Also, not that this has been debated, but I don't want to see an invert with a dual-loading platform. I think that if the staff is properly trained they would have no issues with stacking of the rides. That being said, I have never ridden an invert with a dual loading station, and I don't think that there are very many around? Thursday will be here before we know it!!
  13. Just my two cents as a PR student... In most cases of the press releases I've seen on behalf of a company, they are usually sent to the news stations and media prior to an announcement. (Whether that be 24 hours, three days, etc.) If you've ever noticed, news stations typically have a little mini story or even a full blown article ready as soon as the park is making their announcement. Assuming Don has worked with the same local news teams for many years, he can usually trust them when it comes to "embargoing" an announcement until a certain time. The second that they break the trust, they can sure bet their relations with that company to be broken. Usually top secret documents like that clearly and boldly display the phrase "EMBARGOED UNTIL AUGUST 8TH, 2013 AT 10PM EST." "Embargo : An embargo is put into place when a story is sent to broadcast media, publications, or radio before the story is set to be released. An embargo is an agreement of sorts that allows the press vehicle to get the story in advance but not publish it until a specified time" And on another note, I honestly hope to be presented with a job just like Don has. What a fun, exciting job he must have. (minus emergency situations, of course!) Theme park PR is by far my favorite and future career field! And finally, I would also agree that those blueprints are 100% accurate. I spoke with my father (Construction Superintendent for Duke Energy) and he also agreed that the blueprints are way, way too good to be faked.
  14. Here to add my two cents, take them for what they're worth. I have ridden several B&M inverts and i absolutely love them. I started riding Batman: The Ride at Six Flags St. Louis (considered one of the best in the SF franchise) has always just been the one coaster that does it for me. I've also had a chance to ride Batman at Six Flags Magic Mountain, and I'd also agree that it was an excellent ride as well. Despite inverts possibly passing their peak when it comes to being constructed, I think that KI could have a masterpiece on deck if it is indeed an invert. The thing I like about the invert idea is that a very compact coaster can provide the craziest ride. All Batman rides have a small-ish compact design and the rides are great- even if it only is for a minute
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