DeLorean Rider

Indeed; it happened 2 times that year. One of which was on Pride night with guests on it.

I understand that, in fact I believe I mentioned it. Like I said "blocks" are not determined by lights on the control panel, they are controlled by the PLC logic. Lights on the control panel are just that; lights. They simply indicate which proximity sensors on the ride are closed. Yes those same sensors determine whether a block in the logic is occupied but that still doesn't mean you'll ever see lights 2 and 3 on at the same time. Sure we use the word "block" but by any technical standard, a "block" is a zone that can be occupied by one train only at ANY time. I've certainly spent my fair share of time behind The Beast control panel; both by myself, and training others to be there...

You've got an extra block in there as far as the computer is concerned and as far as stopping is concerned you have 2 extra. You have "Top of Lift 1 to brake shed" then "Brake shed to bottom of lift 2." If you're saying "Top of Lift 1 to brake shed" is a block then I'm assuming you're saying the ride would have the potential to stop in the brake shed. That being the case, there is no where to stop between the end of the brake shed and the beginning of lift 2. In addition, though the computer recoginzes the bottom of lift 2 to the middle of lift 2 as a sensor zone and the middle of lift 2 to the top another sensor zone, they are NOT 2 separate zones. Your legitimate block zones (WITH the brake shed being a potential stopping zone are) 1 The end of the station through and including lift one 2 the top of lift one through and including the brake shed 3 the end of the brake shed through and including lift 2 4 The top of lift 4 through and including the safety brakes 5 The end of the safety brakes through and including the ready brakes 6 The End of the ready brakes through and including the station. Now in today's world where the brake shed is just a trim brake, you can eliminate block 2; leaving you with 5 full block zones. 1 The end of the station through and including lift one 2 the top of lift one through and including lift 2 3 The top of lift 4 through and including the safety brakes 4 The end of the safety brakes through and including the ready brakes 5 The End of the ready brakes through and including the station. (Before I get crap; yes, on The Beast the control panel recognizes the first half of lift 2 as a different zone (shown only by the lamp indicators) than the second half. The only reason for this is that the first lamp lights when the train has crested the first lift; however that means that the light will stay on until the train crests lift 2 so you really have no way (via lights) to tell when the train is no longer cruising through the woods and is on lift 2. To fix this, there is another light installed to show when the train is just under halfway up lift 2. (there is also a lamp that blinks briefly when a train is passing through the brake shed). Though all these lamps are on the control panel it does NOT mean that the lower half of lift 2 is a different block from the upper half; NO as always you cannot have more than one train on a lift at a time. (However I will add that here at Space Mountain we can have 3 trains on one lift) Also there is no way The Beast was ever meant to have 6-7 trains. The mere thought is ridiculous. No Hell any competent person (let alone engineer) can see that even 4 is ridiculous. Sure we could do 4; but the different blocks are so unevenly sized that you would have trains setting up all the time! Lift one already has to slow down to wait for a train to leave lift 2. What is the point?! Same with Vortex; same with SOB, etc. The only reason why Firehawk is an exception is due to the 2 stations and the unbelievably long load time. Here at Disney, operations is always asking for more trains on space mountain (even though they already have 13 per side). THE BOTTOM LINE IS: UNLESS YOU ARE STARVING LOAD, ADDING TRAINS WILL NOT INCREASE RIDER THROUGHPUT!!! This is the golden rule. Unless when you're dispatching trains there is no train waiting to enter load, adding extra trains will not increase capacity; it will only increase the amount of time riders sit dormant on a ride.

Says who? I will neither confirm nor deny a plan for extensive monorail expansion... The airport thing... no. For one Disney isn't going to build off Disney Property; plus we're talking something like 20 miles from the middle of property to the airport. Before MCO was built, there were extensive plans for it to be built just off Disney property near I-4 and 192 but plans changed.

Still not nearly as cool as the inside of the Rock n' Roller Coaster building. Also they load and unload in the same place and only run 2 trains at a time. We typically run either 4 or 5 depending on the time of year. When an A-team is running Rock n' Roller coaster they can break 1900 guests per hour.

Wow, that a tough element to consider in the construction of anything. I highly doubt the skyride will ever operate again. For one thing it was just an "out and back" skyride. Back in 2002 or 03 (whenever their last season was) I rode it and it was in pretty rough shape. Likely more trouble than it's worth.

I can believe that. Park hours, restaurant menus, and attendance data based on previous years is one thing but up to the minute wait times... not so much... My office is connected to the department that collects that data and actually adjust the time clocks. Updating an iPhone app is something they do NOT do, lol. With the cops, I know "Trapster" is a pretty popular app.

I want to know who's submitting the data to the app for the current wait times for attractions because I can assure you it's not Disney.

Space mountain trackwise I think is more organized than FOF. A and B side only cross onto each other's sides once in the very beginning; then they essentially go back and forth and work their way to the ground. If you're inside it looks like a mess just because the support structure is so much different than a current run of the mill steel coaster. Riding Space with the lights on is pretty interesting because you see how close you are to said supports; and by close I mean you can touch all of them. During this past rehab we installed about a dozen "deflector shields" on each side so that instead of hitting an edge you just slide your hands along a painted sheet. I have tons of photos of space with the lights on. I wonder where those are... Now Rock'n Roller Coaster... That place looks pretty cool with the lights on. The "HOLLYWOOD" sign in their is at like a 60 or 70 degree angle but you never realize it on the ride.

I don't believe we'll see guests riding up front until the fleet is upgraded. I have certainly ridden up front may times. It's a little weird seeing the beam in front of you; just because you're not used to it. There's a lot to being a monorail pilot. The system has "floating block zones" if you will. It's pretty cool the way that the monorails keep track of their spacing.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/03/disney-monorail-trains-to-feature-tron-legacy-art/ Yesterday I drove by the Monorail shop and the far right bay (the paint shop) had the Coral monorail sticking out that had the first car halfway covered. Looks pretty awesome.

I think a good family park has a fun halloween event rather than a gory halloween event. Who could I be talking about?? I dont know but I do know that they bring in hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

It's actually quite easy. Havn't you ever tried to push a car in neutral? It's not too much different. At The Beast trains have to be pushed on to an off of the track every morning and night. There are kicker wheel's in some places but there are still times when two people will have to push a train. It's not that bad.

Wow, I'm certain it will catch on...

You always have to have some sort of mechanical brake to completely stop the train. Modern magnetic brakes cannot hold a train; they are only affective while the train is in motion. This is why the LIM's cannot be used to stop a train. It would be possible to use them to slow down but this is not done as in a worse case scenerio, the reason why a train rolls back is because of a loss of power to the LIM's rendering them useless. Still, who know's what the future holds in terms of LIM technology. I'm sure they laughed at the guy who first thought they could use aluminum LIM fin's with electromagnetic motors but hey; now look at every LIM launched coaster; aluminum fins.

Not really sure if I'll even go to the park this year. I'll be in florida until the end of august anyway.

(emphasis added) a. Charging has been tested at Disneyland Paris, I seem to recall. b. Management changes, philosophies change, times change. c. Virtually nothing is forever. And that includes a free Fastpass system. d. I seriously believe that Fastpass at Disney will NOT always be free. In fact, I think it far more likely that at some point, perhaps next year, perhaps 10 years from now, but at some point, Fastpass will not be free. Indeed, for public relations purposes, the replacement-not free-system may be renamed. I see the free Fastpass system ending. The only question in my mind is when. Charging was tested and as you'll notice it was decided against. We'll see. I was in a meeting regarding fastpass and fastpass machines about 3 months ago. We'll see... Sorry; I just can not let this go unchallenged. Goodyellowkorn182 please understand this is not meant to single you out as I use you post to dispel comparisons but I always try to make sure members on here and those who read here that an Orlando vacation is more affordable than many think. Yes it does cost some money as every vacation does but many times I read unfair caparisons and worry that some may shy away from a great vacation after reading so many extreme comparisons. First lets make sure the readers understand that Disney World has four parks and offers those who wish to visit 2-4 parks in the same day a park hopper option which runs $55.83 (including tax) for those who use the Magic Your Way tickets that option is the same price if you buy a one day ticket or a ten day ticket. So if you bought the option with a 10 day ticket it would only cost you an average of $5.83 per day. I think it would be foolish for anyone to buy the Park Hopper option for a one or two day pass. Yet many try to use that example to show how expensive Disney is and Universal tries to use that analogy too, which I think hurts them but that is for another topic. A one day ticket to one of Disney World runs for $79 but with tax it costs $84.14Busch Gardens runs the same price but they are currently running a special that adults can buy a one day ticket for the Childs price of $64.95 then with $4.55 tax it comes to $69.50. So using the example above here is the figure I came up with Busch Gardens $69.50 admission (on special) + $14.95 (or up to $24.95 depending on the season) for Quick Queue = $84.95 depending on the day or season Disney $84.14 (year round) admission + $0 (year round) for Fast Pass Comparison depending on the year but we will use Busch parks sale price $84.95 For Busch Gardens for both admission and Quick Queue (Special Price) $84.14 for Disney and Fast Pass (year round) So Disney comes out a $0.81 cheaper than Busch Gardens does with their year round price versus Busch Garden special price. As I have said before and will say as many times as I need to; when you add it all up the Central Florida parks all cost about the same. Thank you so much Avatar. As Terpy said, however, that may not be true- I remember a recent rumor that Disney guests staying at the "nicer" hotels on property may get priority access to the FastPass system soon. This is not true.

What? I'm confused, by "the hill" do you mean the lift or the drop? All lifts have stairs. Hell I've Evac-ed people from the lift, turnaround, and mid course break (where you have to actually get a shuttle to bring people back) on SOB. Same every time. Associate-4 guests-Associate; Associate-4 guests-Associate. If you mean the lift, you simply walk down the stairs. If you mean the drop... yea... I'm going to refrain...

No matter how much anyone tries to say that this system will not affect the stand by line, they're incorrect. It's a direct relationship. The longer the line is, the more people are going to use the quick system. More people use the quick system, the longer the line will get. Also with a system like this you cannot have only a couple seats set off to the side. What if a swell of people comes up? Once people pay money for a system like this, they are not going to accept any excuse for why they cannot get on instantly. No one will be okay with "well we can only put 4 people on at a time,"when there are now 25 people who each spent $20 so they could get on now. Believe me, I've been to Universal on the lightest and heaviest days. No one in that line will accept any excuse as to why they cannot get on NOW. Then because of that it just backs up the standby line even more, causing those in the standby line to get upset. (though the general consensus is usually pretty negative toward those in the express lane already) At least at Disney, fastpass only promises a minimal wait and is FREE. Bottom line, free! There is little excuse for bitterness at Disney as the system is available to everyone at no additional charge. Personally, I am opposed to any system that allows you to cut in front of other guests for money. Honestly, how much different is an express system from a sign that says: "Line Jumping is Not a Sporting Event Here at Kings Island, It is Illegal Procedure and is Cause for Dismissal from the Park. Unless you Pay the $25 Charge up at Guest Relations; Then it is Permitted." or just: "Line Jumping is allowed only for those who can afford it." How is a guest suppose to respond when they see someone walk up and get right on while they've been waiting for 45min; ask why that guest was allowed on ahead of them; and are told that the guest was permitted to ride ahead of them with no wait because they paid to do so? I think it makes the park look sleazy. Like they're willing to do anything to make a buck. Even make you wait longer because they sold your seat to a higher bidder. It is for this reason that Fastpass at Disney will always be free. It's considerably more difficult to argue and dislike a system when its available to everyone.

Just our of curiosity, who are "they" "them" and "them"? I'm confused, you're going to "...force them, to make them..."?

Kings Island used to mean everything to me. That has since changed severely to the point I regret purchasing a pass this year. This is why I uprooted and high-tailed it south.

Anyone else remember the old HB Breakfast with the Characters?

Have you seen the price of stainless steel. Nuff said. In addition stainless steel is much more difficult to work with, in terms of its ease of machining, welding, and forming. Not to mention, short of anodizing it, it would not be an easy task to paint it. Don't get me wrong, it is possible to paint stainless steel but it takes a whole lot more work than carbon steel. (however I think an anodized stainless steel coaster would look pretty cool no matter what color) Also the "fog juices" are all glycol based. Glycol does not have corrosive properties towards mild steels, such as what are used on coasters. The most corrosive or rust causing fog is going to be good old water vapor. It happens because the oxygen in the water expedites the oxidation process.

This is also only in guest areas. Back stage there are already hundreds of hand sanitizers for cast members. Ugh, I cannot believe the responses to that article. Temporarily halting the use of biometric scanners? Really, is that the real problem here? What else? How about temporarily halting the usage of lap bars; or hand rails; or door knobs; or just not letting you be around people? Really? The fingerprint scanners are there so that in the event that someone finds your ticket, that they cannot use it. They're trying to help you, not hurt you.

-Working for Walt Disney World in the Magic Kingdom in Design and Engineering. By far the most fantastic working experience I've ever had. -Restoring pinball machines in my free time. So far I've purchased and restored these two: