Giant Drop?

[woohoodude11]

^^If I'm not mistaken, the drop doesn't have a manual control for that. I honestly wouldn't trust some of the minimum wage earning kids I see workin at the park with anything requiring pushing more than one green button lol. Thats not a hit on Ride Ops overall, there's quite a few that do a damn good job at it.

[TwistedSTEEL666]

^^If I'm not mistaken, the drop doesn't have a manual control for that. I honestly wouldn't trust some of the minimum wage earning kids I see workin at the park with anything requiring pushing more than one green button lol. Thats not a hit on Ride Ops overall, there's quite a few that do a damn good job at it.

Then reprogram the ride's computer for a random drop sequence. Set it to manual, and all it takes is one press of the green button (for each time the cars reach the top of the tower) and the computer will take over dropping each car in a random sequence that's different each time the button is pressed.

Can that be done?

[NightRider785]

It can be re-programmed to however they want it, or however it can get approved that is. They don't even push a button to drop them I believe. The whole sequence is in the program. When they all dropped at once you could count the exact time every time before it dropped.
I'm going tomorrow, I'll check if it does still do the partial drop before the main drop...I'm pretty sure that might have been some sort of lock, or safety lock disengaging before the main latch let the car go. Hopefully someone knows for sure because I am quite curious about that one.

[FParker185]

There is no way to do any kind of pre drop. If they are dropping the cars one by one and you are on one of the latter one's dropped, each time a car is dropped the tower sways and rocks a bit, that may be what is being described.

And yes, all that the operator is involved in is hitting the 2 green buttons to start the cycle, the computer takes over from that point, however it is a matter of some very simple programming to change the drop sequence. I'd be willing to bet it can be changed in probably less than an hour.

[NightRider785]

There is no way to do any kind of pre drop. If they are dropping the cars one by one and you are on one of the latter one's dropped, each time a car is dropped the tower sways and rocks a bit, that may be what is being described.

And yes, all that the operator is involved in is hitting the 2 green buttons to start the cycle, the computer takes over from that point, however it is a matter of some very simple programming to change the drop sequence. I'd be willing to bet it can be changed in probably less than an hour.

Negative. It would go up, stop at the top. Upon all cars stopping you could count to 2, then the cars would drop a couple of inches, as I said, like a lock disengaging to allow them to drop. Anyways, count to 5 from the 2 second point and they would all drop, at the same time.

[Luxornv]

^^If I'm not mistaken, the drop doesn't have a manual control for that. I honestly wouldn't trust some of the minimum wage earning kids I see workin at the park with anything requiring pushing more than one green button lol. Thats not a hit on Ride Ops overall, there's quite a few that do a damn good job at it.

Ok, even if they could control it, what harm could they do to you? There's not a whole lot to that ride; you'd only get injured if the cable breaks or there's some other structural failure of a part.

[FParker185]

I am quite familiar with the Giant Drop ride system, there is no lock to disengage and no way to do a pre drop. The hook is retracted by a device at the top and the car drops, the catch car is not much more than a simple hook.

[NightRider785]

So what is/was the slight drop a few seconds before the main drop? I get what youre saying about the hook and that being the only thing to release the cars, but I assure you that they dropped a couple inches before the main drop occured. I used to count to 2 in my head when I rode with a first timer and scared them into thinking that slight drop was gonna be the big plunge, haha fun times
I'm quite curious, and maybe if I get lucky enough to run into a mechanic tomorrow while I'm there (always have my fingers crossed on that one) I will ask them and possibly get an answer from them and clear all this up.

[Ace]

^Its your imagination. I also am quite familiar with the giant drop and you are either attatched or not attatched to the car. That being said the predrop you describe may be the car getting into place at the top of the tower. Your body would be used to ascending the tower therefor stopping may feel like a pre-drop maybe...

[NightRider785]

^Sorry but I know what I'm talking about. It did that for sure. It does not do that anymore, I confirmed that Thursday, huge difference with it not doing that little click after 2 seconds. I will look further into this.

[Goku1910]

Giant drop just not pre-drop. That is all. Thank you.

[NightRider785]

Never said it does a "pre-drop". It might have been any number of things, but that is how it used to run.

[tillenterprises]

The last time I went to SF St Louis, it seemed that their Superman tower was dropping cars in random order. That was FUN! Sitting up there at the top, and hearing the other cars dropping, and bracing yourself, wondering if you're next, was great! I wish that they would do that on Giant Drop. It would make every ride unpredictable and different.

[FParker185]

Yeah, I was on the very first public ride ever on Giant Drop back in May of 1997 and have ridden it many many times every year since. I have never experienced any sort of pre-drop, and the ride can not drop off the catch car unless it's at the very top of the tower at the end of the track lined up with the mechanism. It only works in one position, if the car is so much as an inch away from the top of the tower, the cars are not able to be released. The click you hear a little less than a second before the cars drop is the mechanism starting to engage the catch car to release the hook.

[Ace]

^Thats exactly right, the ride will error if it drops from any other position. There is no pre-drop.

[NightRider785]

Be ignorant on it if you want. For reasons that will remain unsaid, I know what I speak of. Haha simple enough.

[Goku1910]

^You be trollin' lol

[Galvan]

NightRider,

I think its time to just admit defeat here my friend.

Just go enjoy Giant Drop.


I think what he/she might be referring to is the series of clicks just prior to being dropped. But other then that there's no pre-drop.

[Necropolis]

I originally spoke of the matter on June 4th in my post on this exact thread. Me and my 3 friends all felt a small jerk down. Is that for the ride to adjust itself before going down? We were waiting at the top and felt a small jerk like a small 2 inch jerk and originally thought that was the start of the drop but then 5 seconds later the car finally dropped.

[Luxornv]

I originally spoke of the matter on June 4th in my post on this exact thread. Me and my 3 friends all felt a small jerk down. Is that for the ride to adjust itself before going down? We were waiting at the top and felt a small jerk like a small 2 inch jerk and originally thought that was the start of the drop but then 5 seconds later the car finally dropped.

I just rode this today and paid more attention to it than usual because of this debate. The small jerk you felt was the car actually stopping once you get to the top of the tower. It's the same concept when you are in your car ans stopping at a stoplight. As the car approaches the top of the tower, it slows down, and eventually travels at a very slow and constant speed. When you're traveling at constant speed, you will not feel any forces due to movement. Also, when you're that high up, you've lost your frame of reference, so again, you think you have stopped. Once the car gets to the actual top, the car must stop, and that's a point of infinite acceleration which causes the jerk you feel. There is no pre-drop, and the clicking you hear are the mechanisms that release the car from the catch car.

[Jerrykoala2112]

The last time I went to SF St Louis, it seemed that their Superman tower was dropping cars in random order. That was FUN! Sitting up there at the top, and hearing the other cars dropping, and bracing yourself, wondering if you're next, was great! I wish that they would do that on Giant Drop. It would make every ride unpredictable and different.

They actually did this for the first time last Fright Fest at SFGAm and it was great! I made sure to pay attention to which cart would drop last, and sit in that one. Just listening to the other carts dropping and hearing the screaming and bracing for your drop made the ride much, much better! Giant Drop is still great even if they don't do that, though!

[NightRider785]

I've got plenty of people backing me up on what I said, sadly none of them are as into the park as me, and they are not on here... But anyways. I can't go back in time and prove I am right, so I'll let it rest on the fact that I am, and FParker seemed like he was getting close to what I was talking about, so yeah.

[Luxornv]

I've got plenty of people backing me up on what I said, sadly none of them are as into the park as me, and they are not on here... But anyways. I can't go back in time and prove I am right, so I'll let it rest on the fact that I am, and FParker seemed like he was getting close to what I was talking about, so yeah.

Give it up on the pre-drop. There isn't one. The pre-drop that you feel is actually the car stopping at the very top of the ride. As I said in my previous post, you are moving very slowly at that point and lose your frame of reference since there's nothing else stationary relative to the ground around you. This makes you think you stopped moving before you actually do stop. If you don't believe me, ride on an end seat. As you're ascending, look behind you at the tower. You will notice the movement of the car at that point. Notice that it will never stop until you feel that "drop." The "drop" is actually the jerk from the car stopping since your acceleration is changing infinitely at that point. You may have plenty of people backing you up, but I have physics and calculus backing me up, and they always will.

If you want more of an explanation, IM me and and I'll call you on skype. This is a lot easier to explain by voice.

[Goku1910]

physics always win.

[Necropolis]

Alrighty...anyways...whats the likelihood giant drop will do that cool thing they did for frightfest last year, this year again?? YOu know Ive never seen lines of people in that first set of queues on the left ever. They should just put like a drink stall there or something lmao