DCR bad efficiency

[Zac Beckwith]

Hi guys, i’m new here so don’t be too harsh 😉,

 

I attended movie world a couple weeks ago and DCR was running 2 trains, sounds good right? The issue that i found was that they were running one car, while the other was loading. They waited for the other to return before waiting another minutes and then sending it just to repeat the process. you either sat in the station for 3 minutes waiting for the other train to finish it’s cycle, or you were waiting 2-3 minutes in the sun waiting for the operators to get the train out of the station.

 

Is this normal operations for the ride? or is this something that the operators are doing wrong?

 

Cheers

[themagician]

When I visited in early December the queue for backwards riding was about a dozen people long and it took almost an hour to get through, with two trains

[red dragin]

The loaded train should be ready to go, when the second returns.

There is no mid course brake run, so the loaded train can't depart the station until the second train is into the brakes. 

There should be minimal time in the sun, but depends on the crew and direction from management. Faster turn around's mean more wear and power consumption. The chain drive motor must use some serious power. 

[Rexillium]

2 hours ago, Zac Beckwith said:

Is this normal operations for the ride? or is this something that the operators are doing wrong?

I'm not sure if you mean the second car has already hit the brake run and they wait 2-3mins in the sun before it goes into station or if its total 2-3 mins between trains switched into station? because a train waiting in the sun for 2-3mins ain't normal operations from when I've been there but it should take around 2 and a half mins for one train to run through when they have two trains running. Aprox 1min and 50 seconds to go from station to end of brake run, with about 15 second wait after to go into station if the other train takes off straight away than you have to wait for everybody to get off and new people to get on but that should take less than the 2mins for the other train to make it back.

As stated in the post above there is no mid break section and the chain lift does not act as section break session mostly because they don't like to turn it off midway lift hill unless its the last ride of the day, so you only have the station and the brake run as section breaks between the two actual trains, meaning that one train requires to be at the end of the brake run before the other one is allowed to climb the lift hill.

Edited March 2, 2020 by Rexillium
spelling errors

[westical]

Your inconsistent spelling of brake breaks my brain. 

[Zac Beckwith]

1 hour ago, red dragin said:

The loaded train should be ready to go, when the second returns.

There is no mid course brake run, so the loaded train can't depart the station until the second train is into the brakes. 

There should be minimal time in the sun, but depends on the crew and direction from management. Faster turn around's mean more wear and power consumption. The chain drive motor must use some serious power. 

That is what i though should be happening, although when i was there the loading operations were taking way longer than expected. The train hit the break run at the end and that’s where it was held up for a good 1-2 minutes. They also weren’t opening the gates to let the people on the train for at least 30 seconds after everyone had offloaded, the train was just sitting there as the operators twiddled their thumbs.

[Mc coaster]

The last time I went to MW the dispatches were quite pathetic for DCR I timed how long it took from when the train hit the brake till it reentered the station and it took 4 and a half minutes. Including the ride time it took about 6 mins to dispatch and this wasn’t once off it was consistently taking that long. Maybe I just caught them on a bad day but from what I experienced it was very slow.

[Zac Beckwith]

13 minutes ago, westical said:

Your inconsistent spelling of brake breaks my brain. 

damn sorry mate i’m on my phone and i’m not proof reading lmao

Just now, Mc coaster said:

The last time I went to MW the dispatches were quite pathetic for DCR I timed how long it took from when the train hit the brake till it reentered the station and it took 4 and a half minutes. Including the ride time it took about 6 mins to dispatch and this wasn’t once off it was consistently taking that long. Maybe I just caught them on a bad day but from what I experienced it was very slow.

this is exactly what was happening to me lol

3 hours ago, Zac Beckwith said:

Hi guys, i’m new here so don’t be too harsh 😉,

 

I attended movie world a couple weeks ago and DCR was running 2 trains, sounds good right? The issue that i found was that they were running one car, while the other was loading. They waited for the other to return before waiting another minutes and then sending it just to repeat the process. you either sat in the station for 3 minutes waiting for the other train to finish it’s cycle, or you were waiting 2-3 minutes in the sun waiting for the operators to get the train out of the station.

 

Is this normal operations for the ride? or is this something that the operators are doing wrong?

 

Cheers

sorry for the bad spelling btw i’m just trying to type really fast on my phone and i’m not proof reading lol

[red dragin]

The above (I think) also requires a grouper, and two staff on loading. As well as someone in the control room. 

Was there much of a crowd? What can happen is they forecast a crowd, but they don't get one. To remove the second train takes too long, so they just persist with the two trains, slowly. 

One day when I was there, Superman was running two trains, and the staff where on the ball. The train heading off to launch was having to slow and wait for the winch to be ready at the "it's superman" stage. 

Edited March 2, 2020 by red dragin

[Zac Beckwith]

Just now, red dragin said:

The above (I think) also requires a grouper, and two staff on loading. As well as someone in the control room. 

Was there much of a crowd? What can happen is they forecast a crowd, but they don't get one. To remove the second train takes too long, so they just persist with the two trains, slowly. 

Not sure what is considered “busy” for MW. but 60 for super man all day consistently and dc was never bellow 60 either.

3 minutes ago, red dragin said:

One day when I was there, Superman was running two trains, and the staff where on the ball. The train heading off to launch was having to slow and wait for the winch to be ready at the "it's superman" stage. 

i’m now beginning to learn how inconsistent MW is with their operations, seems to be pretty hit or miss

 

[Rexillium]

25 minutes ago, Zac Beckwith said:

39 minutes ago, westical said:

Your inconsistent spelling of brake breaks my brain. 

damn sorry mate i’m on my phone and i’m not proof reading lmao

I'm pretty sure he was referring to me I put one of my 'brake' as 'break'...
 

20 minutes ago, Zac Beckwith said:

22 minutes ago, red dragin said:

Was there much of a crowd? What can happen is they forecast a crowd, but they don't get one. To remove the second train takes too long, so they just persist with the two trains, slowly. 

Not sure what is considered “busy” for MW. but 60 for super man all day consistently and dc was never bellow 60 either.

By the sounds of that it they just lack the staff for the day, if both superman and DCR are 60mins +
I'm guessing this is during feb since they've had GL, Batwing & AA were down? Queues would build crazy but it being off peak they don't actually expect many guests so they've likely not scheduled enough staff for the day thinking crowds wouldn't get that big. That's would be my guess but if I'm wrong and this is on school holidays I would be a little surprised.

Edited March 2, 2020 by Rexillium

[Mc coaster]

8 minutes ago, red dragin said:

The above (I think) also requires a grouper, and two staff on loading. As well as someone in the control room. 

Was there much of a crowd? What can happen is they forecast a crowd, but they don't get one. To remove the second train takes too long, so they just persist with the two trains, slowly. 

One day when I was there, Superman was running two trains, and the staff where on the ball. The train heading off to launch was having to slow and wait for the winch to be ready at the "it's superman" stage. 

In the situation I am taking about their was a grouper, control both op and 2 other ops on loading but it still was very slow whereas Superman, Green Lantern and SDSC all had fast moving lines.

[Ryanhop01]

I know theres obvious reasons behind one train operations during the school period, however I find that visiting on weekends is often worse than in the holidays because of the crowds and one train operations. Ended up waiting 50mins for rivals on Saturday with one train... just my opinion that they should run two trains on weekends too, but yes I do understand logistics behind it

[Zac Beckwith]

56 minutes ago, Rexillium said:

I'm guessing this is during feb since they've had GL, Batwing & AA were down? 

Nope this was early Jan, only headliner closed was AA, wasn’t even planned maintenance. Was nuts how busy it was. Didn’t even get a ride on scooby because the line was outside into the courtyard section and there was basically no shade and i’m not waiting over 1 hours for scooby in the sun. Was kinda disappointed because i only get to go once or twice a year. After a hour or two of being in the park i lowered my expectations for my ride count for the day lol

Edited March 2, 2020 by Zac Beckwith
added more

[Rexillium]

I've only gone once at that time of year to MW and it was 50min+ queue all day scooby got as bad as 2 hours but that was between boxing day and new years... never ever again! best time is probably at least a week after schoolies until boxing day. double trains but lowish crowds, after boxing day you have the annual leave of half the country with 1-2 weeks holiday and a truck load of guests at tourist zones e.g. theme parks, I would avoid until at least the 12th of Jan before trying to enjoy a theme park after boxing day.

It is unusual that they would do that in the busiest part of the year but stuff happens e.g. DCR being closed on my first fright nite (the one ride I went for), so yes it can be hit and miss.

[ejpdtd]

Does the lif thill count as a block on DCR? I only ever go on midweek quiet days where they pretty much just run one train so haven't experienced the DCR op's at full capacity. 

I also ran into that bloke going for the 1000 DCR rides the other day, surely he is somewhere on this forum?

And on my latest trip, I noticed all rides didn't open until 15 to half-past 10 instead of the advertised 10am opening, is this normal these days? Just cost-cutting the time for start-up ops? 

Edited March 2, 2020 by ejpdtd

[Levithian]

Do you seriously think 15 mins is going to save them a bunch of money? 

The couple of rides you actually noticed probably had delayed openings for a reason. Operations staff have checks and runs to do once maintenance are done, so maybe there were hold ups that impacted the whole morning. 

[Zac Beckwith]

5 hours ago, Levithian said:

Do you seriously think 15 mins is going to save them a bunch of money? 

The couple of rides you actually noticed probably had delayed openings for a reason. Operations staff have checks and runs to do once maintenance are done, so maybe there were hold ups that impacted the whole morning. 

The park always does this, every day the park gates open at 10, and every ride starts at 10:30, maybe this is to stop people from running as soon as they enter the park

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

26 minutes ago, Zac Beckwith said:

The park always does this, every day the park gates open at 10, and every ride starts at 10:30, maybe this is to stop people from running as soon as they enter the park

Just half an hour off for each

Park opens at 9:30am and rides start operating at 10am 

Edited March 2, 2020 by Adventures With JWorld

[Rexillium]

10 hours ago, ejpdtd said:

Does the lif thill count as a block on DCR? I only ever go on midweek quiet days where they pretty much just run one train so haven't experienced the DCR op's at full capacity.

As I said above they don't use the lift hill as a section, the only time I've ever seen them stop the train on the lift hill is either when the chain lift has had electrical issues and it randomly stops mid hill (not seen it happen since the year it launched but no saying it hasn't happened since) or the last ride of the day when they've got two trains, they cut the power to the lift hill for like 30 seconds dunno why but maybe some shut down check.

[ejpdtd]

7 hours ago, Levithian said:

Do you seriously think 15 mins is going to save them a bunch of money? 

The couple of rides you actually noticed probably had delayed openings for a reason. Operations staff have checks and runs to do once maintenance are done, so maybe there were hold ups that impacted the whole morning. 

It wasn't just one ride, all of them were not operating until at least 10.15, I started at WWF and walked all the way back to DCR checking each one to see if it was operating. I'm not implying that the park is purposely halting the first rides, more like maybe they're starting the ride operators a bit later than usual and they don't have enough time to complete their startup - although the fact that all the rides were delayed doesn't really suggest this.

Granted this is the first time I've been to the park at opening in a while, but everyone was held at sections until 'Rope Drop' at 10am, but no rides started running until 10.15 or so, even though advertised as 9.30 gates and 10am rides operating. So I am curious if it has been a recurring theme recently.

Edited March 2, 2020 by ejpdtd

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

35 minutes ago, Rexillium said:

last ride of the day when they've got two trains, they cut the power to the lift hill for like 30 seconds dunno why

Perhaps they stop the train on the lift so that they can park the other train into the maintenance bay, which requires switching etc. Having the first train out of station would prevent 'ooopses' happening if the second train was released from the brake run and the track switch was in the wrong position. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but taking additional precautions is how you prevent injury and collisions.

10 hours ago, ejpdtd said:

I noticed all rides didn't open until 15 to half-past 10 instead of the advertised 10am opening,

All rides? you witnessed every single ride in the park, some spaced quite some distance apart, open at precisely 10:15?

If we didn't know already, the inquest findings revealed that a ride can't open if the opening check signoff sheet is missing a signature. Perhaps the ride or two you were near were missing that? I'd rather rides open late, with a thorough maintenance signoff, than be opened on time without it.

[ejpdtd]

1 hour ago, AlexB said:

All rides? you witnessed every single ride in the park, some spaced quite some distance apart, open at precisely 10:15?

If we didn't know already, the inquest findings revealed that a ride can't open if the opening check signoff sheet is missing a signature. Perhaps the ride or two you were near were missing that? I'd rather rides open late, with a thorough maintenance signoff, than be opened on time without it.

I was just asking if this was a common occurrence, yes on a trip from WWF to DCR you do see that WWF is not cycling, Doomsday has guests waiting without cycling or batching, SDSC exit door is still closed, Superman wasn’t launching and DCR wasn’t sending trains. And obviously AA, Batwing and GL were down for maintenance etc. So yeah, most of the rides, sans the kids area which I didn’t look at, weren’t operating until at least 10.15.
 

And obviously we all want the rides to be running with proper signoff, but if they are frequently not opening in time, maybe the park should be starting checks earlier or update their signage to reflect staggered openings... hence the question if it was a regular occurrence? 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

21 minutes ago, ejpdtd said:

you do see that WWF is not cycling,

Was the water running on the drop? Honestly - other than for startup checks, they aren't going to be cycling boats for fun. it costs money and causes unnecessary wear. Was the queue line open? Usually west will have staff outside the queuehouse if they aren't open yet.

21 minutes ago, ejpdtd said:

Doomsday has guests waiting without cycling or batching,

So, the queue was open? were there enough guests for a cycle? had a cycle just finished while you were standing outside West for the length of time it would take a boat to cycle and come down the final drop for you to actually see it?

Seriously...

 

Despatch times aren't the fastest, as a matter of fact their operations are pretty fucking pathetic, and by your description, it sounds like queues were open (except maybe Scooby, but the exit shop can be closed even if the ride is open), but you didn't specifically witness a cycle at each ride. This doesn't mean "OMG EVERY RIDE WAS CLOSED".

Now, if i've misunderstood, and you spoke to staff at each ride who told you it couldn't open yet, or would open soon, or attempted to join a queue only to find a chain, barrier, roller door or similar, then I apologise. Otherwise, it sounds like a large number of assumptions, and perhaps a couple of tardy ride operators.

Edited March 3, 2020 by AlexB

[ejpdtd]

3 minutes ago, AlexB said:

Was the water running on the drop? Honestly - other than for startup checks, they aren't going to be cycling boats for fun. it costs money and causes unnecessary wear. Was the queue line open? Usually west will have staff outside the queuehouse if they aren't open yet.

So, the queue was open? were there enough guests for a cycle? had a cycle just finished while you were standing outside West for the length of time it would take a boat to cycle and come down the final drop for you to actually see it?

Seriously...

 

Despatch times aren't the fastest, as a matter of fact their operations are pretty fucking pathetic, and by your description, it sounds like queues were open (except maybe Scooby, but the exit shop can be closed even if the ride is open), but you didn't specifically witness a cycle at each ride. This doesn't mean "OMG EVERY RIDE WAS CLOSED".

Now, if i've misunderstood, and you spoke to staff at each ride who told you it couldn't open yet, or would open soon, or attempted to join a queue only to find a chain, barrier, roller door or similar, then I apologise. Otherwise, it sounds like a large number of assumptions, and perhaps a couple of tardy ride operators.

Bruh, I shouldn’t be having to defend myself for a simple question hey, this is some toxic responses and I’m not retarded. Queues were open yes... rides were not taking guests... in my opinion at least if signage says rides open at 10am, I would assume that means guest can generally ride at 10? As I said previously I haven’t been to a rope drop at our parks in a long time, so who knows.

-Yes I joined the queue for WWF at probably 5 past 10 after a leisurely stroll and trip to toilet after rope drop. There was about 10 guests in line with empty boats stacked up in load, I heard one of the guests complaining to the Op because they were only going to be at the park for an hour before going to WNW, I bailed because I myself was only really there for an hour or so max and just wanted to ride something. 

-Walked down to Doomsday with no intention of riding but could see guests waiting with no one on ride or signs of anyone being on the ride, fairly sure the shop was still closed here too.

-SDSC shop exit was closed so didn’t bother entering that queue because it clearly wasn’t running guests without an exit, this is maybe 10 past now. 

-Walk leisurely down main street eyeing DCR lift hill and Supes to see any trains cresting overtop - nothing.

-Then I go sit in the Superman courtyard and wait for the first cycle which was as I said about 10.15.

-Then I walk over DCR and jump in queue there, and got talking to that bloke who’s trying ride DCR 1000 time’s. Rode DCR and then went home. 
 

Did I talk to every ride op individually and ask what was going on, no? But there’s a ‘friendly’ forum that exists that sometimes has some insight into the parks because it’s users frequent them a lot. I wonder if that forum can tell me if the delayed openings have been frequent as of late out of curiosity...