DejaVu2001 wrote:Demon broke down around 12:00 and ended up being evacuated. The train stayed here for 2 hours before they were able to get it back to the brake run ... After they got black train through the ride, they sent red train. This is as far as it got, and it stayed here the rest of the day. I would expect Demon to be closed for at least a day or two.
Not good. From where the yellow train came to a halt, it's not looking like it valleyed -- it's looking like it stopped for some reason. I'm no roller coaster mechanical expert, but to me, if a train stops, then another train stops as well in a similar-esque spot, to me, that says track, especially knowing some of Demon's history. And you wonder how much they can continue to Frankenstein Demon's track. Any loose parts of ShockWave still hangin' around? Can we see if we can ship any remnants of GASM up here and paint 'em black real quick?
During the summer, Demon's not all that popular. It's starting to look like somewhat of a maintenance mess, too. I won't say it's out, but I think it's fair to say it's staggering around the canvas at the moment.
That aside, even I, who defended the park at the start of the season, have to now basically concede this year has been a disappointing one on the park's part when it comes to ride maintenance. It's not looking like they fully thought out the ramifications of igNight for the train and other rides. They were late in getting a lot of things ready. The list of rides that have had pretty significant issues is starting to become longer. I can think of significant downtime or evacuation-worthy incidents this year for Demon, X-Flight, Superman, Condor and Orbit, not to mention East River Crawler, which probably won't see riders until at least half the season is done, and limited functionality for Skull Island in the waterpark.
You hope it's just the perfect storm of a lot of other things having gone wrong in a year when a lot was planned, namely a bad winter, the new entrance gate, the perils of turning Batman around and the difficulty inherent to basically ripping apart Hometown Square for the new show. Perhaps the park, in its own way, bit off way more than it could chew and had some things happen that would have even tested the park if all the other plans hadn't been going on. But $#*@! happens and planning for contingencies is something the park has to do ... and hasn't seemed to be up to the task of doing this year.
I still like the ideas and path they're taking, but I think their execution this year has been off. Here's to a better 2014, I guess.
^ Demon's yellow train never got stuck anywhere. It was Black train at the top of the lift, then red train at the bottom of the lift.
As for the continuing maintenance issues with rehabs and trains not being ready, I think the park has been "playing with fire" for a few years now. Coaster trains have been down to the very last minute the last few years leading up to this year, and Superman hasn't ran 2 trains opening day since 2007. I just hope this year was bad enough that management will actually realize there is a problem. I can't believe it's July already and Whizzer still doesn't have 3 trains, or even any sign of the 3rd train.
PfightingPolish wrote:Not good. From where the yellow train came to a halt, it's not looking like it valleyed -- it's looking like it stopped for some reason. I'm no roller coaster mechanical expert, but to me, if a train stops, then another train stops as well in a similar-esque spot, to me, that says track, especially knowing some of Demon's history.
I don't get it. Both instances happened on the chain lift. Isn't this a very common malfunction for roller coasters, the chain lift going out? How is Demon getting stuck on the lift different from Superman (or anything else) getting stuck on the lift? Not saying there CAN'T be larger problems, but nothing anyone posted seemed to indicate anything significantly different from a "standard" malfunction.
Nice update. It looks like demon causing a lot of trouble this year. Im guessing if it cause more problems it next on the chopping block. I wouldnt mind them replacing it with a Maverick type launch coaster complete with a splash water feature lol I hope they get all tree trains working by the end of the week.
I really think that the breakdown is not as bad of a problem that people are making it out to be. Yes, it did this same thing sometime in June where they had to evacuate the train, and the train just stayed up there for awhile. It didn't open till the next day. It can be something as simple as them buying a new motor for the chainlift for Demon, but they aren't willing yet to spend the money on it, or it takes time for them to get a new motor.
If a coaster was the next to go at the park, I would probably choose Demon, American Eagle, or Ragin Cajun. Demon gets lines, but a lot of time, Demon has some of the lowest lines at the park for a coaster. Though, Demon doesn't have a lot of space for another coaster, and they would have to probably get rid of the Rock Wall, and Orbit to have more space. They also limited the space by having X-Flight close to it. American Eagle again gets some lines, but for 2 coasters and that much space, I think something better could go there. Ragin Cajun is very slow, and it's line is so short even though the line might be 30 minutes. Plus, people say that the ride is not very reliable, plus the park has another mouse of Dark Knight.
Going back to that video shoot / photo shoot when the park was doing Viper, do you think maybe they would say ride Ragin Cajun the last time during Fright Fest because they had Halloween people riding it? Someone was saying that they use coasters for other coasters such as Kingda Ka on Deja Vu (Goliath) --I think part of the reason they did that for Deja Vu was because the harnesses sort of block a lot of the people whereas Kingda Ka (which is also green) doesn't block as much. I do believe them, but really what other coaster looks like Ragin Cajun? The only thing close to a circular car that I can think of is a teacup ride, that looks different than Ragin Cajun with the track. What I think is kind of shady is that the park didn't even tell people ahead of time that they were going to have a video shoot on Ragin Cajun. They said about Viper & Ignight, but than they sort of snuck in Ragin Cajun. Seems fishy to me. And look, no one is really talking about Ragin Cajun leaving, or much about it.
"I've been staring at the world, waiting. All the trouble and all the pain we're facing. Too much light to be livin' in the dark. Why waste time? We only got one life. Together we can be the CHANGE. So go and let your heart burn bright"
rb1 wrote:Nice update. It looks like demon causing a lot of trouble this year. Im guessing if it cause more problems it next on the chopping block. I wouldnt mind them replacing it with a Maverick type launch coaster complete with a splash water feature lol I hope they get all tree trains working by the end of the week.
Haha "Son of Demon" Maverick style would be cool. Theme it like it is now, but add a few more effects.
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Candy: What you lookin' at? Otis B. Driftwood: I'm lookin' at you, mama. Candy: Yeah, you see something you like? Otis B. Driftwood: Maybe. I set my standards pretty low, so I'm never disappointed.
rb1 wrote:Nice update. It looks like demon causing a lot of trouble this year. Im guessing if it cause more problems it next on the chopping block. I wouldnt mind them replacing it with a Maverick type launch coaster complete with a splash water feature lol I hope they get all tree trains working by the end of the week.
Haha "Son of Demon" Maverick style would be cool. Theme it like it is now, but add a few more effects.
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Son of Demon sounds like something a 12-year old would come up with. I say keep the Demon theme and that's it....All I need is the name and a modernized theme song, etc. "Modernizing" Demon with a new coaster would be a PR's dream.
"I've been told that some part of every wish will be heard but lately I lost sight of the truth in those words."
Candy: What you lookin' at? Otis B. Driftwood: I'm lookin' at you, mama. Candy: Yeah, you see something you like? Otis B. Driftwood: Maybe. I set my standards pretty low, so I'm never disappointed.
Great to see ERC finally back open. It's been a long 20 months. Hopefully this very extended rehab will mean it's there for the long haul though.
I was being sarcastic in both posts.
Candy: What you lookin' at? Otis B. Driftwood: I'm lookin' at you, mama. Candy: Yeah, you see something you like? Otis B. Driftwood: Maybe. I set my standards pretty low, so I'm never disappointed.
I too believe the Demon theme and name are too good to just throw away. I'd love to see a new coaster in the woods in IW former spot (preferably launched) with a name/theme of Revenge of the Demon or something along those lines. The Beast at KI is so iconic for its theming and incorporating the woods into the ride and I can see SFGAm easily doing the same. Other than Whizzer and BTR a little bit, we are lacking in coasters that use terrain to their advantage. I'd like to see them use that for their 2014 or 2015 project.
Does anyone have any clue when they'll run Dark Knight at full capacity? The only time i've seen it at full capacity in the last two years was opening day 2013. Then the next week it was back to reduced capacity-8 trains. Unless SFGAmWorld's ride status is incorrect, because rcdb.com says it only runs 8 trains.
Consecutive Trips Riding X Flight: 92 SFGAm Lifetime Trips: 104
^ It has been running 8 cars all season. The ride status wasn't set right away because nothing was known about Dark Knight. Dark Knight normally operates 9 cars, but can run 10 cars. It has only run 10 cars during Fright Fest of 2008.
DejaVu2001 wrote:^ It has been running 8 cars all season. The ride status wasn't set right away because nothing was known about Dark Knight. Dark Knight normally operates 9 cars, but can run 10 cars. It has only run 10 cars during Fright Fest of 2008.
10 Cars causes trouble....it takes one idiot with a bag to make that ride stop for a good 20 minutes.
"I've been told that some part of every wish will be heard but lately I lost sight of the truth in those words."
DejaVu2001 wrote:^ It has been running 8 cars all season. The ride status wasn't set right away because nothing was known about Dark Knight. Dark Knight normally operates 9 cars, but can run 10 cars. It has only run 10 cars during Fright Fest of 2008.
One of the Dark Knight's cars are currently being worked on in the shop. So hopefully when they finish working on it, we can see the other train back in operation.
Late to the party on my own self-analysis from upthread, but I didn't recognize Demon was stuck on the lift hill. I somehow thought from the context that it had stuck mid-ride on an incline somehow, which was why I was thinking something more catastrophic.
Y'all are right. An issue on the lift hill isn't nearly the crisis that I was thinking it was. OK, don't put any nails in Demon's coffin yet. But still ... you can't help but think the clock is ticking.
Meanwhile, what's all this ballyhoo about taking out Ragin' Cajun? OK, I get that the ride has its faults, primarily that it's a capacity nightmare that forms a 30-minute line with what would be a 5-10 minute line for Raging Bull. But I'll stand up for the Cajun as a ride itself. The spins are fun. The dips are fun. I hate the line because I like the ride and I'd really rather have Cajun than The Dark Knight.
Whether or not it WILL happen is beyond any of our control, but if I had to vote for a ride I'D WANT to take out (Drop, Orbit, TDK) or think the park WILL take out, there's a bunch of ones I'd slot ahead of Cajun. Two cents.
