Cyclone- beginning of the end?

[XxMrYoshixX]

DW has treated this coaster like crap since they got it. Now because of their bad maintenance the coaster is rusty, old and rough with seemingly poor throughput. And DW dump the leftover paint from the Ocean Parade refurb in the queue. And Cyclone was the only ride in Ocean Parade not to get TLC during the refurb last year. 

 

The same thing happened to poor old Thunderbolt. And DW will be stupid enough to try and redevelop the attraction when it's in terrible shape.

 

imo it's the beginning of the end for Cyclone. Expect it to be gone within the next 18 months.

[ScienticianLady]

I remember how rough and uncomfortable The Thunderbolt was towards the end. I refused to ride it due to the guaranteed headache that would follow. I haven't been on The Cyclone since it opened. It is a shame. They seem to maintain other rides - why is this one left untouched? It is a roller coaster thing?

[joz]

I don't think they'll get rid of Cyclone, because once you get rid of it there's no way you'll be able to reuse the same land for an equally big ride.  Just because they haven't done anything to it yet doesn't mean they won't in the fullness of time. 

[Gary86]

I took these photos of the Cyclone "theming" yesterday.

This computer looks broken but still has some sort of letter on it (note the Dreamworld logo)

Someone had fun with left over paint ....

The top of the giant turbine is full of broken streamers and bird poop.

I found the ride to be very rough yesterday and it normally just puts me to sleep! The trains look dodgy, the station is poorly designed (the exit should be on the opposite side of the station so you don't have to keep crossing over the train to get your stuff, ten cross back over to exit.) There is still life left in Cyclone but it is in need of a major over hall.

If I was in charge I would relocate Red Line near Motorcoaster and remove the Red Line attraction from Ocean Parade and remove the entire queue building. Build a brand new queue building like Tower of Terror with an exit on the opposite side of the station then the entry of the ride which will lead to the gift shop (that's how they get you). New train, new paintjob. Maybe theme it to a Seaside Pier.

[Theme Park Girl]

Mmm I dunno. I mean I know Cyclone is getting rough and all (was actually thinking this last time I rode on it recently) but it's still nowhere near as rough as Thunderbolt was in it's final years. I think it's mainly just the theming getting neglected, and the way it has been designed has led it a big job to restore/renovate. It's not exactly your average queue line lol. 

How old is it now, given it's a second hand coaster? 

The only thing that bugs me is that they still haven't made it clear to visitors that they can use the stairwell as a shortcut up to the station. Seems a lot of tourists still get suckered into taking the long route ???

[Gary86]

The Cyclone originally opened back in 1995 at Luna Park Sydney so it is 20 years old. It's been at Dreamworld for 14 years Boxing Day this year (opened 26/12/01).

Edited May 30, 2015 by Gary86
spelling

[themagician]

If I was in charge I would relocate Red Line near Motorcoaster and remove the Red Line attraction from Ocean Parade and remove the entire queue building. Build a brand new queue building like Tower of Terror with an exit on the opposite side of the station then the entry of the ride which will lead to the gift shop (that's how they get you). New train, new paintjob. Maybe theme it to a Seaside Pier.

​Yes. I completely agree with this. And even if they didn't move Red Line, they could make these changes (But best case scenario was if they did move it). If the ride does get an upgrade, they should defiantly make the entrance i lot move noticeable, rather than it being tucked away in the corner.

[Rabbit2014]

This ride can be improved with fixing of the line up areas and theming, new trains would give it a new life also replace the lift hill chain system. It would be a waste to remove it as the area would not be used again for dreamworld as its  an area which runs through out the white water world. Let's hope for an upgrade 

[AUSTHEMEPARKS]

Cyclone is a very rough ride and it looks like no one cares about this coaster??? It doesn't have a bad layout. The queue line needs some work.

[liz.wis]

I thought it was quite good when it first opened at DW.  I went on it for the first time again last year, and it was definitely rough.  No, not as bad as the last year of Thunderbolt, but noticeably different to how it was.

[Jobe]

Yeah I agree liz.wis. I do not get where this stupid idea that Cyclone's removal is imminent. There is absolutely no basis nor solid evidence to point towards this. I have a soft spot for Cyclone that dates back to its time at LPS. Sure , its not the biggest or the fastest coaster going, but in my mind it offers a solid experience and is of a unique design. It certainly has got rougher over the years especially from new when it had silky smooth operations at LPS. ( Incidently the ride was FAR more efficient at LPS with excellent loading times that Dreamworld really should look into. Also the queue line made sense. )

We also have to remember that while the coaster is now 20 years old, for 6 years of its life it hardly ever operated. 

All that's needed with this ride is to fix the operations, and destroy that godawful queue line and build something more accessible.

The ride is so interwoven with Whitewater World's tower and footprint that it really is not going anywhere for quite a while.

I would appreciate it Yoshi if you would stop disseminating fact from your own idle speculation. I believe that you have been called out for this before on these forums.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Testify!

Amen Brother!!!

[Xexon]

The rollercoaster is fine like it is, it just needs a new train! BADLY!

How much would a new train cost? 1 to 2 million? Seems like a small price to pay for the improvement it would make. Also, block brakes wouldn't hurt. I doubt dreamworld would ever run two trains but. I've never seen MDMC run two trains, even though they can run two and they own two. 

[ScienticianLady]

I'm still learning - so is it just wear and tear on the train that makes the ride go from smooth to rough over time? The wheels? Other components? Could the just replace the wheels? 

[Xexon]

It's a little bit of everything. Over time guest's hands and sweat wears away at the rubber of the harness, the paint chips, the wheels slowly get out of alignment ect.... Think of it like a car, eventually you have to replace so many parts that it's more worthwhile getting a new one than putting all the effort into fixing it up.

 

 

Edited June 7, 2015 by Xexon

[themagician]

What I think they need to do to the ride is: replace the train with a new one, replace the chain/pull system up the lift hill and demolish the station and queue line and construct a new and better one. A fresh coat of paint on the track would be nice as well. 

I would assume that the ride isn't smooth because of the train. The track may have a couple of minor issues, but nothing major, otherwise it would probably need replacing. The seating themselves aren't comfortable, as there is minimal leg room and I find that the harness doesn't fit right or feels quite loose, so it causes you to thrown around a lot more.

[Zanstabar]

I may be wrong here, so correct me if so, but I believe that the track used by Vekoma / Arrow Dynamics is welded together rather than bolted, which give the ride rough transitions between track sections. 

I can't find the resource right now, but I do remember hearing that statement online, then later going to check out Arkham Asylum and seeing the massive welds. A train may help, but it would more likely do something like Arkham where it just stops the impact rather than the roughness itself. 

What I think they need to do to the ride is: replace the train with a new one, replace the chain/pull system up the lift hill and demolish the station and queue line and construct a new and better one. A fresh coat of paint on the track would be nice as well. 

​Blue skying right now, I would love to see them replace most of the ride system. The trains aren't the best, the lift-chain has bi-polar speeds, the theming is a hot mess, and the train can't even park itself under a minute. Some paint, a new queue building and theming, new equipment and new trains would be wonderful...

But here comes the bitter realism... This is Dreamworld. Remember the TOT2 conversion? We got a new train and a new tunnel. The rest was just some laminated text books and tv screens. If we did get a Cyclone refurb, we wouldn't get most of those things. A new train and maybe some new equipment, but the new station and theming would be far-fetched. If anything, they'll try and justify what they do have and pass it off as theming.

Do I think the Cyclone is going to leave us? No. Do I think it needs a hefty rehab? Yes. Do I think Dreamworld will make this the best they can do? Probably not. 

 

[themagician]

In saying that about TOT2, that happened in 2010. Last year they upgraded Wipeout and look what they can do. The ride looks brand new. So there is the possibility of them doing the same sort of thing to Cyclone. The ride is closed for just over a month near the end of the year, so we may see some minor upgrades down then.

[Richard]

I may be wrong here, so correct me if so, but I believe that the track used by Vekoma / Arrow Dynamics is welded together rather than bolted, which give the ride rough transitions between track sections. 

I can't find the resource right now, but I do remember hearing that statement online, then later going to check out Arkham Asylum and seeing the massive welds. A train may help, but it would more likely do something like Arkham where it just stops the impact rather than the roughness itself. 

​Yes and no. Older steel coasters like Cyclone or Arkham Asylum featured welded track. But so did perfectly smooth B&M coasters from these days. The fabrication tolerances were generally good enough though that the track fit together pretty perfectly as designed and the welds could be made seamless.

In Cyclone's case, most of its roughness comes from just the primitive way in which they designed rides. They never got transitions very good, and you can see looking at its track that it's not smoothly designed. The train bounces around not because the welds are rough but because it just doesn't follow a smooth, natural course.

Arkham Asylum is a different beast. The quality of track design is superb -- the SLC was designed by Werner Stengel whose company is behind basically every highly praised B&M or Intamin coaster out there. The Vekoma trains were just never any good and couldn't handle what is a particularly intense but well-designed layout. The KumbaK train does the job better but more in the way that it restrains you so you don't feel it as much. The rough welds you might see on Arkham would be outside of the path of the ride wheels where the welds are ground smooth.

Thunderbolt was an example of a badly designed ride where the track fabrication was so poor that you could very clearly see feel the welds in every piece of track. It wasn't a ride that deteriorated over years, it was a really badly designed coaster with horrible trains and painful restraints for its entire life.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Richard

[rappa]

The other thing to consider too is the older arrow/Vekoma track and bogie design by nature lends itself to roughness. 

The wheels sit between the rails on fixed axels and the only way to reduce friction and allow it to run through the course is to allow play (or small gaps it you will) between the wheels and the track. You can see this in the station where the up stops and likely side guide wheels won't actually be contacting the track. 

As it runs around the course the train 'shuffles' back and forth between the rails due to these gaps. 

Modern track/train design has the wheels on the outside if the track, on independent spring loaded wheel carriers which hug the rails at all times and provide a smoother ride. 

[XxMrYoshixX]

Arkham is a special kind of SLC- the SLCs in the States are really rough…

And also DJRappa Arrow designed their trains differently to most other manufacturers… they focussed on the chest while B&M focused on the heart with their restraints…

 

Edited June 8, 2015 by XxMrYoshixX

[Gazza]

 they focussed on the chest while B&M focused on the heart with their restraints…

I think something got lost in translation there. 

[Jobe]

I think something got lost in translation there. 

​I am bloody sure of it.....

Another thing to consider is that of course Cyclone is a relocated ride. All that dismantling , transporting and then installing on the new Dreamworld site in 2001 would have had some sort of impact on the smoothness of the ride-the passage of time notwithstanding.

[rappa]

I think maybe he was talking about the 'heart like' design if the ride. 

Marrow put the train at the centre of an element where as B&M out the riders chest (or heart). The restraint has nothing to do with it. 

[Gazza]

Yep, B&M heartline their rides, but you wouldn't say Arrow "focus on the chest" would you.

Is there a difference between heart and chest, other than 10cm?