May 12, 201411 yr comment_183021 The thing I hate about it is that it wasn't down for technical/operational reasons. It was down for marketing purposes, rather than the point of marketing.. to make people enjoy their day, have no worries or irritations and then come back again. I hate the whole full price paid bollocks in any argument, it literally makes any argument or reasoning you have seem stupid and the people who listen to complaints/act on these then ignore you. Everyone should be treated the same in this aspect, whether you're an annual pass holder or a day guest paying whatever rate to enter. Don't act like the higher paying deserve better or try and use it to fulfil an argument cos it doesn't work.
May 12, 201411 yr comment_183027 The thing I hate about it is that it wasn't down for technical/operational reasons. It was down for marketing purposes, rather than the point of marketing.. to make people enjoy their day, have no worries or irritations and then come back again. I hate the whole full price paid bollocks in any argument, it literally makes any argument or reasoning you have seem stupid and the people who listen to complaints/act on these then ignore you. Everyone should be treated the same in this aspect, whether you're an annual pass holder or a day guest paying whatever rate to enter. Don't act like the higher paying deserve better or try and use it to fulfil an argument cos it doesn't work. I think that you may have misunderstood my argument. What I'm trying to say is that everyone should be treated the same. Some people would have got in for free and others paying full price but none the less the ride is still closed because of some want to be celebrities want to record on it. As a consequence of this some people will be going away with a less of an experience to what a ticket for the same price on another day would hold. Yes you can say that there is many other rides on offer but if you were going and looking forward to stealth then you have been denied access to it because of some stupid TV show.
May 12, 201411 yr comment_183034 I wasn't arguing with you, Project LC. I am completely on your side here and agree totally. I'm arguing with the people who are blinded by thinking this is completely acceptable to do this kind of thing. Reminds me of when I rode the swarm with a 2hr queue and had to wait as they loaded 12 people via the exit for 4 goes (and left other rows empty) for a stupid PR shoot. Two hour queue. They used this exact same excuse when we spoke to them about it (basically.. our park we do whatever we want and don't care for our reputation).
May 13, 201411 yr comment_183109 the way I see it is that if a ride is going to be filmed, do it in the right way, make sure that there is a banner on the website so that anyone going will see this, and make sure that at the park entrance at LEAST has a sign stating that Stealth will be closed for part of the day so that full paying customers are aware! I don't agree with this and don't think it's acceptable to put a TV show over customers. well, I guess it's still merlin, and they still prefer free advertising and money to the overall experience…(I know that thats what it's like for everything, but come on! they could put a lot more effort into what they do!)
May 14, 201411 yr comment_183126 Not really, as for the guests on the day it's a bit of a burden too them, considering how important guest satisfaction is to a park, one would assume that they should try and ensure that any media related events take part before or after the park is open... Any feedback that the park gets (be it on here where they read it or through social media or official channels) should be paid attention to, so it's not that trivial really... Even if they have it in the T&Cs, it can paint a poor image of the park to the average visitor...
May 19, 201411 yr comment_183577 Out of curiosity: does Stealth suffer with the hot weather? It seemed to be taking longer to 'recharge', almost like it had to cool down between launches yesterday.
May 19, 201411 yr comment_183578 Not heard of this before due to hot weather - I remember hearing something like this at fright nights a few years back there was something a bit wrong causing it to take longer to "re-charge" between launches but seeing as that was at Fright Nights I doubt that was related to weather.
May 19, 201411 yr comment_183585 It doesn't like the cold (I am led to believe), so it probably works better in the heat. Are you sure it's not just poor dispatch times?
May 19, 201411 yr comment_183593 Stealth operates fine in the cold, I've been there at -2 degrees in the snow and it was working fine (admittedly nothing else was). The heat it can struggle with as the hydraulic fluid is less dense but it very rarely gets that hot. Kingda ka and TTD will operate in temperatures way above 23 degrees. Most likely the problem with slow loading was new staff which are being trained for summer and therefore may have been running on manual mode. The problem with stealth last year around June was that one of the injectors on one of the cylinders was faulty so the ride couldn't recharge in time.
May 19, 201411 yr comment_183597 Stealth operates fine in the cold, I've been there at -2 degrees in the snow and it was working fine (admittedly nothing else was). The heat it can struggle with as the hydraulic fluid is less dense but it very rarely gets that hot. Kingda ka and TTD will operate in temperatures way above 23 degrees. Most likely the problem with slow loading was new staff which are being trained for summer and therefore may have been running on manual mode. The problem with stealth last year around June was that one of the injectors on one of the cylinders was faulty so the ride couldn't recharge in time. Whilst I am not directly saying what you have said is invalid I am going to clear a couple of things up. Stealth in the cold can be somewhat of a nightmare to run in, not only are you running with a risk of numerous roll backs, you have the oil temperature to contend with. The cold tends to send the oil temperature sky-rocketing slowing launches down to a minimum 120 second interval and eventually shutting the ride down completely. Summer Time for Stealth is also a nightmare to run in due to the fact the ride speeds up as it gets warmer, the warmer it is the faster it goes. The ride has numerous amounts of shut-downs in hot weather due to over speeding. As well as this the ride tends to 'fail-launch' a fair amount of times throughout the day. Another lovely shut-down you have to endure is the 'Brakes Not In Up Position', which is due to the expansion of metal in hot weather. Stealth cannot launch in 'manual' mode, it is physically impossible. All you can do in manual is move the trains from loading to offloading and offloading to waiting ( as well as offloading to maintenance).
May 20, 201411 yr comment_183643 What a brilliant and informative post Diesel, thanks Always good to know more about how my favourite ride behaves!
May 20, 201411 yr comment_183665 When I said it was operating in manual mode I assumed it was obvious that the launch wasn't manual. As for the cold how come stealth was operating last march because it was definitely running with 2 trains with normal intervals. Was something else the cause for that like a ride team were taking a few risks? The heat thing I was unaware of but raises questions in who designed a thing that a British summer can stop its operation. TTD can operate in far hotter conditions, oh well typical British roller coaster being inferior to its american counter parts.
May 20, 201411 yr comment_183669 Ohio's weather isn't that hot/humid, same for New Jersey I'd say, so not sure what the point is you're making, as the weather isn't too dis-similar to the UK (aside from the snow)...
May 20, 201411 yr comment_183670 Ohio's weather isn't that hot/humid, same for New Jersey I'd say, so not sure what the point is you're making, as the weather isn't too dis-similar to the UK (aside from the snow)... Ok then formula rossa. Also the Ohio average summer is about 85 degrees which is roughly 30 degrees Celsius. As that's an average its going to get hotter than that unlike the UK's average of 20 degrees Celsius.
May 20, 201411 yr comment_183671 I think some launch coasters spray water on the launch its self to help cool it down? Could be wrong though!
May 20, 201411 yr comment_183672 I think some launch coasters spray water on the launch its self to help cool it down? Could be wrong though! Yup TTD does and I'm sure some others do as well. You can see it from around 1:00 in this video.
May 20, 201411 yr comment_183673 I think some launch coasters spray water on the launch its self to help cool it down? Could be wrong though! Either water or coolant, a very common feature on vast machinery, I wouldn't even be surprised if Stealth used it as well...
May 20, 201411 yr comment_183677 I think what Marc and Luke are highlighting is that some launch coasters have a consistent spray of some form of coolant onto their launches, another example I can think of is California Screamin' which sprays it's launch between trains. Stealth *might* do it out of operating hours, but I think the point Marc is asking is an inbuilt thing which occurs throughout the day.
May 20, 201411 yr comment_183690 When I said it was operating in manual mode I assumed it was obvious that the launch wasn't manual. As for the cold how come stealth was operating last march because it was definitely running with 2 trains with normal intervals. Was something else the cause for that like a ride team were taking a few risks? The heat thing I was unaware of but raises questions in who designed a thing that a British summer can stop its operation. TTD can operate in far hotter conditions, oh well typical British roller coaster being inferior to its american counter parts. Every roller coaster in the world has a recommended minimum temperature to run at. I believe Stealth's is around 5 degrees C. However this is only a recommendation from the manufacturers and isn't a strict rule. The problems that occur in regards to oil temperature are not a consistent problem, it is more of a regular occurrence that the oil tends to raise above the line. I believe Stealth's average normal Oil temp is around 44 degrees C, and the 120 second interval only begins when the temperature reaches 48 degrees C, with a 52 degree C cut off point whereby the ride will be forced to shut down. Unfortunately it's not a design floor that these problem occur in hot weather, any type of steel, or metal for that matter, expands in hot weather. This is why the brakes getting stuck issue occurs. Unlike other launched coasters around the world, Stealth is not sprayed between launches and relies completely on the lubricant used. Eventually, the lubricant dries out due to the heat meaning the brakes more liable to sticking, as well as this the expansion from the heat causes more friction which also in turn makes them stick with or without lubrication. The brakes sticking is not a massive problem, and I'm sure even though they have extra help in other parks via nozzles, they may still encounter similar problems.
May 21, 201411 yr comment_183714 So may I sound dumb and ask does Rita have similar problems? Because I've always been lucky and don't recall ever seeing Rita shut down
May 21, 201411 yr comment_183719 Both of them seem to suffer from the same problems - to be fair they both are pretty reliable now too though *touch wood*
May 23, 201411 yr comment_183876 Rita has been closing loads recently. Poor thing. But they're crap rides anyway soooo
May 23, 201411 yr comment_183884 Rita has been closing loads recently. Poor thing. But they're crap rides anyway soooo Each to their own!
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