[bobbysmagic]

http://www.pointbuzz.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=1511

[bobbysmagic]

Turns out there was a mismatch of the ride....
http://sanduskyregister.com/articles/20 ... 174743.txt

[Jarsh]

I wonder how many more times Cedar Fair (especially Cedar Point) will have to get burned by Intamin's "engineering" before they give up and start using other manufacturers again...

[Skycoastin Steve]

^I guess I'm failing to see how they're getting burned on this one. They're correcting something that could have been a maintenance nightmare before the ride even opens, and now it's probably going to open with warmer weather on a much more crowded weekend (Memorial Day) when more people can try it out for the first time.

[Jonathan]

Surprise...

[Jarsh]

^I guess I'm failing to see how they're getting burned on this one. They're correcting something that could have been a maintenance nightmare before the ride even opens, and now it's probably going to open with warmer weather on a much more crowded weekend (Memorial Day) when more people can try it out for the first time.

I was implying that every Intamin coaster that has opened at Cedar Point since Millennium force has had issues preventing it from opening with the park. Every year their new ride is never open for opening day due to some reason or another. Now, this delay isn't because of Intamin, but most people will look at it that way since it's an Intamin ride.

[Skycoastin Steve]

^Ummmm.....? Wicked Twister opened with the park, did it not? Dragster was open on opening day. Granted, it had its well-documented issues during its opening season, but it operated on opening day. The only coaster that was delayed was Maverick, and that was only by two weeks. Even when it was announced that they had to modify the layout, that thing was fixed and ready to go in a HURRY.

There have been MUCH worse delays with coasters than what CP has experienced with only Maverick. Prime example, HRRR didn't open for months after it was supposed to. Sky Rocket at Kennywood isn't going to be ready for another month.

There's a million things that have to come together in the right way for a coaster/amusement ride to open on time. These things don't go together like those handy dandy little Knex models. If a park tries to rush a ride to get it open on time, they end up suffering a whole lot more than if they delay it two measly weeks. And I assure you, there are stipulations in contracts between parks and manufacturers that if a ride isn't open within a specified time range, the park is reimbursed financially in a very nice way. CP isn't suffering one iota from this delay.

[Jarsh]

Post what you will, but I think Intamin's track record with Cedar Point stands as enough proof. I'd be shocked if most everyone in the coaster community didn't side with me on this as well.

Here's my point for you Cedar point fan boys. I'm referring to Cedar Point's track record with Intamin's products regardless of their opening on opening day or not.

-Wicked Twister: I don't know if it opened with the park. But getting it open on time wasn't an easy task. Considering how the testing phase went and the later additions of extra supports I think that speaks for itself.
-Maverick: We all know this story.
-Dragster: We all know this story as well.
-Millennium Force: Shall we talk about the support modification and the ever breaking cable?
-Shoot The Rapids: Delayed due to boat misfabrication. Not Intamin's issue, but we shall see how the season goes.

My point was (and is) Intamin doesn't have a good track record with coasters. Regardless of what park they are in. Cedar Point always catches hell because they are always putting in Intamin coasters.

How many parks that have B&M's have as many problems with those coasters as other parks do with Intamin's creations?

[Skycoastin Steve]

With Millennium Force (and any other ride that has had a cable snap), Intamin DOES NOT MANUFACTURE THE CABLES. Intamin DOES NOT INSPECT THE CABLES. Intamin HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CABLES. Cables snap all the time on machinery. When you put them through enough stress, it's going to happen. It's like if you go too long without replacing a belt on your engine. Sometimes it happens without warning when everything seems to be fine with them.

I'm really not a CP fanboy, just more of a realist who knows that these are machines that will have malfunctions. They go through millions of cycles worldwide on a yearly basis, and maybe 0.1% of those cycles (or even less) result in any kind of negative incident.

And don't act like Intamin is the first coaster company to ever need modifications post-manufacture. Tons of wooden coasters have needed either re-profiles, as well as extra support and/or bracing. A majority of B&Ms have been modified or built with trim brakes. To my knowledge, Wicked Twister, Xcelerator, and Millennium Force are the only Intamins to need modifications to their support structure (although there could be others that were never mentioned). MF's can't be described as anything more than minor, while WT's caused more problems early on (which have been fixed). I'm not sure the history behind Xcelerator's, all I know is they added the crossbeam between the two sides of the top hat.

If you ask Cedar Point, I'd be willing to bet that they've been happy getting some of the top ranked coasters on the planet courtesy of Intamin, otherwise why would they still be doing business with them?

[cwgator]

Well with all that above being said (even tho it's a bit off topic)....I really hpoe the supposed Intamin coaster coming to Busch Gardens Tampa doesn't have any issues like they have had with CF. Hopeully even under new ownership, they will make sure things are taken care of properly in advance (i.e. making sure the trains fit the tracks when they arrive and such).

More on topic...I would as a cutomer rather hve to wait a couple weeks for an openin to make sur he ride is safe/correctly installed, rather than be provided a temporary fix at scheduled opening.

[Jarsh]

And don't act like Intamin is the first coaster company to ever need modifications post-manufacture. Tons of wooden coasters have needed either re-profiles, as well as extra support and/or bracing. A majority of B&Ms have been modified or built with trim brakes.

I was "acting like Intamin is the first coaster company to ever need modifications post-manufacturing" because we were talking about Intamin.

Everyone knows wooden coasters need reprofiles (or touch ups) from time to time, but the ratio of newly built wooden coasters that require modifications to newly built Intamin coasters that require some type of modification is very slim.

And you can't seriously be saying that a B&M with a "built in" trim brake is a modification. Nearly all steel coasters have "built in" trim brakes so by your statement they are all modifications?

[Skycoastin Steve]

And you can't seriously be saying that a B&M with a "built in" trim brake is a modification. Nearly all steel coasters have "built in" trim brakes so by your statement they are all modifications?

I'm going to throw in the logic that someone used when discussing I305. "If it needs a trim brake, then it was just bad engineering to begin with." Funny how they only said that about I305, which is at another park and made by Intamin, but didn't say it about I232, which is B&M and at Carowinds.

My whole point is, modifications and tweaks (whether made prior to opening or years down the road) are a VERY common thing for coasters and amusement rides alike. In this case, they caught it before the ride ever opened, which is actually a much better thing than realizing something was wrong a year later. It's a two week delay that will let it open in warmer weather, which is absolutely nothing.

This isn't the first time a ride will be delayed opening (Intamin or not), and it will certainly not be the last (Intamin or not).

[RiDeWaRrIoR]

Gotta love Intamin..... I wonder how in the world this happend.... kinga funny really

[Jonathan]

I'm going to throw in the logic that someone used when discussing I305. "If it needs a trim brake, then it was just bad engineering to begin with." Funny how they only said that about I305, which is at another park and made by Intamin, but didn't say it about I232, which is B&M and at Carowinds.

I am the one who said that, and I don't think Intimidator at Carowinds needs a trim brake either (which is backed up by the fact that it constantly runs with them turned off).

[Skycoastin Steve]

^That's because the trims grab based on how quickly the train has gone through the course up until that point. They are there for more consistent intervals, and I don't really know if there's any more reasoning behind it. I think maybe they are there to keep the train from overshooting the brakes (I've heard that SFOG had a problem with Goliath doing that when it first opened), but I really don't know.