Interesting Experiences

[Lotl_90]

Hmmm... Slowing down mid launch is understandable as that would be a common Drive Trip. However having it suddenly accelerate again... thats not so normal And since when has the Tower NOT been Ebraking lately!

Having it suddenly accelerate again.. sounds like they were having issues with the launch motors. And Dan, Tower has had fewer genuine e-brakes lately than It usually does, dunno what youre seeing. Although funny experiences... It did hit another Ibis the other day at the end of the tunnel. Lets just say thank god for the windshield.

[Spotty]

ANOTHER bird? If that keeps happening they are going to have to have a special code for that too! I do remember the Wild World incident... lets just say after the 1st show, they stopped the tower running when they were sending the Peregrine Falcon off the tower!

[little lefty legend]

according to my dad who has ridden it countless times over the years, right back to when it opened, this was the first time it has lost acceleration about half way up the horizontal and then gotten power back again and accelerated more i was rather surprised we didnt end up in the bog hahaha... they should just make that permanently part of the ride now.... and figure out a quicker way to get it out of there the way things are going

[Bussy]

I have never been stuck on a ride, but having been an operator for nearly 5 years I have had plenty of experience with them. I e-stopped most rides at Wonderland. The worst one I ever had was the cable snap while operating Demon, I can still recall the sound and movement vividly when I think about it. I have even had someone stuck on the Speed Slide, the girl freaked out and I had to walk down next to her while she pushed herself down. Probably the funniest was when I took a free ride on the helicopter only to have a 61 Charlie call come over the radio, it was a little hard to explain why it took me so long to respond to the call but I got away with it. Bussy

[Gazza]

^I never realised you were operating SP when a cable snapped. Now just on that, do the cars have a secondary braking system that can lock them up on the tower? I'm sort of interested because the Kentucky Kingdom incident, and more recently a cable snap on Hurakan Condor at PortAventura, reportedly at Kentucky Kingdom the operator had to manually hit the e-stop, whereas on Hurakan Condor a cable tension monitor picked up on it straight away and did it automatically....pictures of Hurakan show it stopped halfway up the tower, but if a cable has snapped then surely some other means would be holding it in place? Was Space Probe ever refitted with tension monitors? Its sort of odd how so many people have sworn off freefall towers, even though it seems as if several cable snaps have happened at a few parks....I guess one girl just got really unlucky.

Edited July 2, 2008 by Gazza

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

The worst one I ever had was the cable snap while operating Demon

^I never realised you were operating SP when a cable snapped.

I think that answers your question Gazza.

Now just on that, do the cars have a secondary braking system that can lock them up on the tower? Was Space Probe ever refitted with tension monitors?

Now, I'm no technician, but thinking of the way the ride mechanism on probe works, you have the fixed magnetic brakes at the bottom, designed to slow, and the cable winch to haul the cabin up. It would be an astronomical expense to fit any other sort of supplemental braking system to any sort of freefall. It is probably easier and cheaper just to fit guards to the cabins so there is no injury as a result of the cable snap. If the cable snapped while the car was halfway up on probe, I would expect that the cabin would just come back down, with catchcar attached. The danger here is that if it were too low when it snapped, the eddy currents generated by the magnets may not arrest the car falling, but again without being an engineer or the like, the more technically minded could correct that or not. I cannot see how a freefaller would stop halfway up the tower if the cable had snapped. To me it just seems unlikely, given that the cable is the only thing that makes the cabin go "UP", that if the cable snapped, it would most likely go "down". Some sort of ratchet device like a chain dog? one that disengages at the top and doesn't re-engage until it hit the bottom?

[Gazza]

I think that answers your question Gazza.

That was a statement, not a question. Anyway, re the second point, I was thinking more along the lines of a pinch brake that might be mounted on the car, and would grip the rail, I'm no expert, hence me asking.

The danger here is that if it were too low when it snapped, the eddy currents generated by the magnets may not arrest the car falling, but again without being an engineer or the like, the more technically minded could correct that or not.

The braking force of magnetic brakes is directly proportional to velocity...the faster it comes in, the more force applied. If it was falling from a lower height it wouldn't be going as fast, hence the braking force would be lower....but of course it is going slower so it would have plenty more time to decelerate in the braking section. The real concern is the added weight of the catchcar falling into the brakes attached to the passenger car, the added weight is more force against what the brakes can oppose with (They wont apply more force for a heavier car) Edited July 2, 2008 by Gazza

[T-bone]

I was always under the understanding that with the Drop Towers, that each cabin has 2 cables pulling it up, incase one does snap. What I would like to know is if the Giant Drop was ever fitted with the Tension monitors?

[revolutionx]

Im just wondering, has Giant Drop ever had any event like a cable snapping, or staying at the top or something similar?

[Bussy]

^I never realised you were operating SP when a cable snapped.

Either did I that's why I said I was operating the Demon when it's cable snapped. Space Probe had 2 cables on each catch wagon. When the cable snapped on it the operator hit the e-stop and shut down the ride with the cabins around the top of the roof of the launch building. I would dare say that a single cable and winch would be sufficient to pull up a cabin by itself but I'm not 100% sure on that. As for the Demon cable snap it was very lucky that the train only had about 10 people on it, if it had many more it would have stopped in the boomerang, as it nearly did anyway. Bussy

[saberon]

Im just wondering, has Giant Drop ever had any event like a cable snapping, or staying at the top or something similar?

I don't think it's ever had any serious problems.

[mickey_079]

My experiences, ok nearly every water ride (flume or rapids ride) breaking down more than once when I was on it at parks in the states. Splash mountain - 6 times in one cycle, ripsaw falls - once on the first lift hill, 2nd at the top of the final drop, Log Jammer - on first hill, Perilous Plunge - half way up lift hill, Popeye and blutos Blige Rat Barges, - Bluto's boat wash (lift hill) where one of the fountains were on me Jurassic Park River Adventure - was after the hill, couldn't get the boats out of the station and that's all I think. Oh one more break down was X-Scream at stratosphere stopping pointing over the edge.

[Lotl_90]

Im just wondering, has Giant Drop ever had any event like a cable snapping, or staying at the top or something similar?

Every now and then the operating system has a spac attack and shuts down mid cycle, leaving people stranded half way up the tower. The most common thing I know of that happens to Drop is the operator hitting the E-stop button, both deliberately and accidentally, which requires a supervisor and engineering to come and correct.

[DonjaiInLA]

More experiences of mine; Good old X, and the adventures of the non rotating side carriage. Evacuated from Canada ^{(Section of Epcot)} for reasons still unknown... I forgot about that, i still wonder why. While watching The Snow White show at Disneyland we saw what appeared to be a light fall from the rigging and fall behind the tree facade, on which we heard "For the safety of our cast and your safety this show will be back within minutes", this lasted sometime, before my family gave up and we left along with half the arena. As we were leaving a medical cart left the behind areas and darted across the forecourt and into another behind area assisted by security cast clearing a path. I presume one of the seven dwarfs was knocked down to size (Pun intended). Over at DCA all the lifts accidentally entered the twilight zone for real, apparently power failure had locked all lifts in emergency break positions above the stations. Lamest breakdown ever

[BNErider]

Being stuck on the chairlift at Wonderland for ages due to high winds. I was only a kid at the time but I still remember it clearly.

[Gazza]

Good old X, and the adventures of the non rotating side carriage.

How could it be that a row of seats wasn't rotating on X?

[saberon]

How could it be that a row of seats wasn't rotating on X?

Only thing I could think of... Maybe the shaft connecting the carriage to the bogee truck (angle rail) was broken. That would stop rotation.... who knows?

[Gazza]

But would you even attempt to run the coaster if a major mechanical component was broken. That just sounds highly irresponsible.

Edited July 4, 2008 by Gazza

[saberon]

But would you even attempt to run the coaster if a major mechanical component was broken. That just sounds highly irresponsible.

I agree!, but replacing a specialised steel cable with one not recommended by the manufacturer on a drop ride.. it sounds highly irresponsible... yet it happens.

[Gazza]

You're missing the point though, if an axle is broken then the ride wouldn't function properly and guests would be in immediate danger. Think about it, for half the ride guests would have their heads pointing towards the ground if the seats were stuck in position, subjecting them to harmful G forces.

but replacing a specialised steel cable with one not recommended by the manufacturer on a drop ride.. it sounds highly irresponsible... yet it happens.

A cable is a cable, and any of the correct grade will do the job. Intamin don't make cables. Im assuming you are referring to the SFKK incident, but in that case it was up to the park to check the cable, but unfortunately it failed. The incident had nothing to do with the 'brand' of cable that they used. There is a big difference between a highly visible problem like a row of seats not flipping on a coaster where seats are supposed to flip, and a fatigued cable that was working fine with no apparent problems up until the incident. Sorry, but I just don't believe that people have been on X, and have had it that the seats didn't flip on their ride. I've searched around to see if there are any other reports of this happening, and surprise surprise, there aren't. Edited July 4, 2008 by Gazza

[DonjaiInLA]

but I just don't believe that people have been on X, and have had it that the seats didn't flip on their ride

Naww I Feel so loved : p I will clarify, it was rotating but not as quickly as the others, it was also making a high pitched whizzing (Just imagine it as well as you can) and I would put it down to the ride wasn't safe for operation, as why the ride was down for the rest of the day. As to how it was broken, speak no evil, hear no evil. I apologize for not being specific on the details, but at the time I didn't think this was a rare occurance...

[revolutionx]

I don't think it's ever had any serious problems.

Okay, I was hoping for some big exciting breakdown or something!

[zacula]

In November 07 I was at Sea-World and myself and some friends had been on all of the rides we wanted to except for the Bermuda Triangle because it was closed. A few hours later we walked past and saw that the Bermuda Triangle was open, and that the line was absolutely MASSIVE. We decided to line up for it. So after lining up for ages we finally got to get on the boat and I secured a spot for myself and the front centre. I was pretty excited because I had only been on the Bermuda Triangle when I was much younger and didn't remember anything from it. Anyway, I was actually really enjoying the ride and we reached the point when your boat goes backwards through the flooding room and then a door closes in front of you. And nothing happened. We waited and waited for something to happen and then an automated message was projected about techincal difficulties, staying in your boat, etc. It just kept getting hotter and hotter, and it felt like it was getting harder to breathe. It became unbearably hot and stuffy in this secluded section of the ride and it was extremely uncomfortable. It took a staff member 20 minutes to come and we had to climb out of the boat and walk through some shallow water to an emergency exit door. There was a line painted on the pathway that directed us where to go, so we followed it and it spat us out near the 3D cinema. Not much of an interesting experience but its the only contribution I can make.

[Gazza]

Another one to add to the list..got E stopped on Batwing. We had lifted off and it was doing the countdown, when it got to zero we were just lowered gently to the ground, turns out the person sitting next to me had forgotten to take his glasses off, and the op noticed at the last sec. Has to rank up there as one of the most boring events, you just have to sit around for a good 5 minutes while the pressure in the cylinders drops before the ops can safely enter the area to relock your restraints and try again.

[cadboy]

Okay, I was hoping for some big exciting breakdown or something!

Along time ago I remember someone telling me that they were stuck at the top of Giant Drop for 2-3 hours. I think it was a huge exageration or lie. Could someone tell me if this ever happened or not. Thanks