BURTONxBLUNT wrote:Monday I rode Batman and to me it seemed rougher and was Making a weird sound throughout the ride? is it true or was it just me?
I have no intention of riding Batman anytime soon. My head hurts almost as bad as it used to on Wolf. And I kept my head against the headrest the entire time. It is a fun ride but too intense for me right now.
BURTONxBLUNT wrote:Monday I rode Batman and to me it seemed rougher and was Making a weird sound throughout the ride? is it true or was it just me?
I have no intention of riding Batman anytime soon. My head hurts almost as bad as it used to on Wolf. And I kept my head against the headrest the entire time. It is a fun ride but too intense for me right now.
We started to notice Batman getting rough last year. We're pretty much through with it ourselves.
All rides have a shelf life. We saw what Wolf's was. I know we all have this tremendous love for Batman. Just like Wolf, it might take some time. But that line for Batman (forward) has gotten shorter and shorter over time.
By all means, not yet and definitely not soon. And not sayin'. Just sayin'.
^The line is a lot longer than Iron Wolf was. I would go on Iron Wolf on a packed day when Fiddler's Fling was all around the backside of the line, and Iron Wolf was only 10 minutes. Iron Wolf had less capacity (7 rows), and they loaded / unloaded that ride much slower than they do Batman. I liked Iron Wolf, but Iron Wolf is not close to Batman's line length. During Fright Fest, Batman is in the "outside the park" portion of the line. Yes, Demon is supposedly kid friendly, but I think after Cajun, that really should be the next coaster to go, but again the park has an open spot for a Euro Fighter type of coaster already with Iron Wolf being gone. The park doesn't need to get rid of another coaster to get one.
And I like Demon. I wish the park would keep Demon for 50 more years, but the fact of the matter is, is that coaster gets less riders than a lot of other coasters do. Now, it's different because we are in packed / crowded time to go to the park, so I'm sure that Batman & Demon are going to have a lot of lines open no matter what (Unless it's extreme temperatures like this week when everyone is in the waterpark or just didn't come to the park), but come May, June, end of August, and September, Demon won't have much of a line.
I went on one of the 95 degree days, and Batman the Ride had about a 20 minute line. A big negative to that day though was that they had really, really poor air conditioning on the inside of it. One of the blowers was on (I didn't feel the other one on), but it was really, really low, and it was hot in there. Is the air-conditioning broke, or is it too low? I don't know, but it also smelled really bad in there which is going to deter people away. You can't have air conditioning on really, really low on really hot day, and expect people to come back to the park. They are going to realize, it's not worth coming to Great America on a hot day anymore. Also, the other time when it wasn't 95 degrees, but maybe 85 degrees, for the other Batman - Dark Knight, they didn't have the air conditioning on at all, and it was hot in there. They just had the doors open. So, a 20 minute line dealing with the heat / smell in Batman the Ride line is really quite good all things considering.
"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"
Ilovthevu' wrote:^The line is a lot longer than Iron Wolf was ... Yes, Demon is supposedly kid friendly, but I think after Cajun, that really should be the next coaster to go, but again the park has an open spot for a Euro Fighter type of coaster already with Iron Wolf being gone.
Easy, easy -- not saying Batman's line is as short as Wolfie's was (I sometimes think measuring the relativity of statements is a skill that's lacking on the whole on these forums). Just saying it's shorter than it used to be, even four years ago, and is one of the shorter coaster lines in the park now.
I'm with you that Demon should probably be the next to go. But without a gimmick like going backwards, I think Batman is going to start earning more and more of a reputation for being rough and less and less of a line as a result. And, without a line, a coaster is just dead space in a park. And dead space calls for something else. It's as if we're talking about Wolf, circa 2003 or so.
I will say this, though: Given the popularity of the ride, it's ACE status and its place in park and Six Flags lore, I wouldn't rule out a refurb, or even a complete reinstallation, of Batman if it gets too substandard. There's a lot of possibilities.
I know this is sort of not along the lines of what everyone else is talking about currently, but toady I noticed that they took the Raging Bull yellow car of track. They were testing and testing and then maintenance came and all I saw after was the teal and red cars. So yah, to sum it up, Yellow Car is off track, so it's not at normal operation. Also the lines were amazing in the afternoon, I got 2 walk on's' for Viper and 10 minute waits for both Superman & Raging Bull!
Just want to show a comparison between East River Crawler before, and now. These aren't my videos, but I want to show everyone. The difference is that the middle of the ride is not spinning. The top ball / circle is spinning, but not the vertical piece below the circle / ball.
"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"
Ilovthevu' wrote:Just want to show a comparison between East River Crawler before, and now. These aren't my videos, but I want to show everyone. The difference is that the middle of the ride is not spinning. The top ball / circle is spinning, but not the vertical piece below the circle / ball.
Took me a second, but I see what you're saying.
Makes you wonder. Perhaps that's why the ride needed the complete rehab: I could see how, if the particular rotor(s) that control that part of the ride fail, the whole ride basically fails. A retrofit, though, that just takes out that functionality of the ride might have been what saved it, though.
Not sure what to think of this and would be interested in knowing more.
Ilovthevu' wrote:Just want to show a comparison between East River Crawler before, and now. These aren't my videos, but I want to show everyone. The difference is that the middle of the ride is not spinning. The top ball / circle is spinning, but not the vertical piece below the circle / ball.
The motor that allows that piece to spin broke. It was one of the main reasons they took it apart to rehab was to fix that motor, and soon after they reassembled it, it broke again. I think at this point they are just going to give up.
scottm13 wrote:The motor that allows that piece to spin broke. It was one of the main reasons they took it apart to rehab was to fix that motor, and soon after they reassembled it, it broke again. I think at this point they are just going to give up.
Getting old sucks, both for humans and for rides.
If this is the case ... then I think you might let Crawler do its thing for a few more years, just to make the lengthy rehab worth it, then maybe consider another option for that space at some point. Haven't ridden it yet since the refurb, but it doesn't look like as interesting of a ride without that added element. It's sort of a less-interesting version of Triple Play like this.
While that does take away from the oscillating effect of ERC, at least it's up and operating.
Unfortunately, all the Marriott Originals are approaching 40 years of age.....and even the best TLC and maintenance staff can not always supersede the fact the rides are just flat out old. Extensive rehabs are wonderful and show dedication but at some point...that cost exceeds the amount it would be to scrap it and buy something new.
Fixing your car is no different. At some point, the maintenance cost to upkeep an older car is draining your wallet more than it would be to buy something else.
UWW-10 wrote:Unfortunately, all the Marriott Originals are approaching 40 years of age.....and even the best TLC and maintenance staff can not always supersede the fact the rides are just flat out old. Extensive rehabs are wonderful and show dedication but at some point...that cost exceeds the amount it would be to scrap it and buy something new.
... yup.
Much like your classic car example, though, as the rides age and start to falter, you hope they at least recognize one or two that are particularly beloved and try to maintain them for, well, forever. Much like how everyone owning a classic car is impractical, but seeing one or two at a car show is still pretty cool. My votes? Whizzer and Triple Play. And, obviously, the carousel.
I think the problem is that, parks are just not buying Octopus rides anymore. Six Flags had a problem with a Sartori version of an Octopus that went from Six Flags Great Adventure to Six Flags America, and than that's it. Besides it not being open when I was at the park for a few days, someone did fall out of it though for STANDING UP while riding with only minor injuries. That's why they added seatbelts to ours. That ride is now gone. That park stunk anyway though. They couldn't get Two-Face open when I was there, they didn't have their Flying Bobs ride open (which is not that difficult to keep running), this Octopus, the Giant Drop ride, their Skull Mountain water ride, and probably another ride. Cedar Fair is keeping their ancient Octopus rides also by Eyerly. As FParker said before, Gerstauluer has a version that is very, very similar to what we have. Six Flags should buy that version. They had one at Six Flags New Orleans, but than that park closed down. Someone did die on that version, but that's only because a person was standing in the ride area while the ride was going which is not to blame the actual ride for that accident at all.
"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"
Wieland Schwarzkopf has sold a slew of Monster III rides in recent years through Gerstlauer. None in the US though for the most part. Hopefully they get East River Crawler back to full operation, the ride would be rather pointless without the counter rotation of the head.
Favorite Wood Coasters: The Voyage, Ravine Flyer II, Thunderhead, Balder Favorite Steel: Steel Vengeance, Expedition GeForce, Olympia Looping Parks visited: 222, Coasters Ridden: Steel: 822, Wood: 178, Total: 1000
^ It felt short to be, but I actually had a really good ride on it earlier this month. It felt to me like the car itself spun a lot more and a lot faster then it did before the rehab.
I was at the park yesterday 7/22 and I have a few things to share. -The waterfall at the end of Roaring Rapids was working. -There is an Iron Wolf exit only sign at exit of Revolution. -There is now an announcement at the entrance of the park saying that you will walk through the metal detector and such and that no weapons are allowed. There are also new signs by the entrance that say that no weapons are allowed. -Also part of the announcement talked about buying a season pass and coming back for Fright Fest which will feature many new attractions for the 2013 season. -We entered off Washington Ave. and they were using 3 lanes to enter the park which meant that they closed off the one lane for exiting and used in for entering. But then again that was about 11:30. -Lines were not that long. The longest line was Superman. -On The Dark Knight towards the end of the ride we stopped for about 10-15 seconds and then the ride continued and we moved again. Any idea why this happened or what it was for and meant? Because I have ridden it many times before and that has never happened. -Eerily, the lights for Iron Wolf's queue line were on and one light was on in the station. I have never seen or noticed that in any of my previous trips to the park this year. -Lastly, Orbit was still down for maintenance. So overall it was a good day good at the park.
Iron Wolf 90-11 wrote:-On The Dark Knight towards the end of the ride we stopped for about 10-15 seconds and then the ride continued and we moved again. Any idea why this happened or what it was for and meant? Because I have ridden it many times before and that has never happened.
Maybe the train in front of you hadn't cleared the next block section so you were stopped by the block brakes
Hopefully the waterfall remains on. I have many friends who have worked for Six Flags over the years, and some who still do. One of them told me it had been previously shut off after a partial collapse of a cave at Six Flags, GA, which was caused by this waterfall. That was all he knew, and hadn't worked at the park in 1.5 years.
As for other water features that are shut off, I'd really love to see them get these running again, like the water bucket on top of Bucaneer Battle!
I would assume the lights for Iron Wolf would be on is so people can see in that area better walking at night. A reason why maybe you didn't see the lights on for Iron Wolf earlier in the year is because the park is now open till 10 pm everyday, and it gets dark at 8:15 pm as of today. If you went on July 1st for instance, the sunset was around 8:29 pm. Basically, my point is that within this month, you have to be in that area or walk by that area within the last hour and a 1/2 to see lights on or not. Let's say you were at the park before when the park closed at 9pm on June 17th. For that particular day, sunset was 8:28pm. So, that's only a half hour before the park closed in which they needed the lights on.
Do they even do that show anymore in front of Iron Wolf? I can almost guarantee they don't do it later at night (past 8pm) which means less lights from that show. People might see it as lights for just the ride - Iron Wolf, but the park probably sees it as lighting up the midway more. I count it as no big deal.
"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"
No one has mentioned this yet, but the park must now let people actually in the first part of the park earlier than they were doing before this year. It was earlier than 10:30 am (not by much), and I was in the park, but I think the people had to have been chained before Orleans Place because it was a huge mob of people. How long ago has this started, and how early are they letting people in Carousel Plaza? Thank goodness they are doing this again.
"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"
Ilovthevu' wrote:No one has mentioned this yet, but the park must now let people actually in the first part of the park earlier than they were doing before this year. It was earlier than 10:30 am (not by much), and I was in the park, but I think the people had to have been chained before Orleans Place because it was a huge mob of people. How long ago has this started, and how early are they letting people in Carousel Plaza? Thank goodness they are doing this again.
Didn't they last year open up the whole park a half hour before opening and just make you go and outside the entrance of the queue at the ride you were heading to? If they did that again, that would be WAYYYYYY more efficient
Consecutive Trips Riding X Flight: 92 SFGAm Lifetime Trips: 104
Ilovthevu' wrote:No one has mentioned this yet, but the park must now let people actually in the first part of the park earlier than they were doing before this year. It was earlier than 10:30 am (not by much), and I was in the park, but I think the people had to have been chained before Orleans Place because it was a huge mob of people. How long ago has this started, and how early are they letting people in Carousel Plaza? Thank goodness they are doing this again.
they started this a week later once viper started going backwards(cant remember exact date but around June 29th) I like the idea but they should let you stop under the train bridges again not the carousel plaza....and stopping people by the carousel plaza never seems to work because everyone scoots foward like 30 ft before security says you can go! Its also a real mad dash to the rides especially superman! Thats why I like them stopping you under the trains bridges because everyone can start to form a line for superman towards the left edge of the park and not have that huge mob of people start sprinting towards superman!
Also the lines were amazing in the afternoon, I got 2 walk on's' for Viper and 10 minute waits for both Superman & Raging Bull! 
