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"3 foot 3 inches will have to do, I guess. "
Last week I spent the day at Cedar Point and noticed many of the things that were changed since last fall. When I got home and checked PointBuzz and rec.roller-coaster, I discovered that something else had changed, almost without my notice. Apparently the operations over on Millennium Force had changed more than I thought. You will recall that I got the lap bar rammed into my crotch last week as a part of the post-SFNE paranoia. The reports I was reading were of a completely different nature. People being turned away from Millennium Force in droves, in spite of many previous visits. What? This calls for some research.
As I approached Sandusky, I noticed that the OH-4 bridge over OH-2 has re-opened, a couple of weeks ahead of schedule. It looks like there is a culvert replacement coming, though that won't completely close the road...they have traffic signals set up on both sides of the culvert. Also, orange barrels are in bloom along the bridge over the railroad yard just North of OH-113, so it looks like there will soon be some destruction there.
I was a little later getting to the park this week, partly because I stopped off in Sandusky looking for a 6' pocket tape measure. I didn't find one, but I suddenly remembered I had seen one last year in one of the shops at Cedar Point. I would need one today. So rather than continuing to search the big-box stores, I proceeded to the park, parking in the usual space, and starting with the usual ride. It was running, as you can imagine, very well, as usual. I began a tour of the park, this time stopping in at each gift shop and checking out the bins of cheap souvenir junk. Thay have some really, really odd items in those shops, some of which I haven't a clue as to the purpose, others clearly designed to annoy the heck out of fellow travelers on the trip home. The keyring-sized pop-guns are kind of cure, and every bit as noisy as the big ones. The keyring-sized measuring tapes, on the other hand, proved to be elusive.
When I got to Gemini, the line extended all the way around the maze behind the station. That line hasn't been that long this early in the day in a long time. It cleared quickly, as the crew had just awakened the red trains, albeit a little later than usual. And, they were still stacking trains, though not nearly as badly as last week. While waiting, I noticed that Gemini's lift motors are now equipped with VFDs [Footnote 1]. When did THAT happen? It probably happened a couple of seasons ago, but this is the first time I remember noticing it thanks to the long line. The line moved quickly, since all four trains were now carrying riders. Gemini did what Gemini does, and I really do think they should retrofit the trains with upstop wheels as on Magnum, although that would eliminate the screeching and banging noises Gemini is known for. 8-)
I proceeded on back into Frontiertown and finally found the tape measure I was looking for. Appropriately enough, it has a Millennium Force logo. It's only 39.35 inches long, not the 72 inches I was hoping for, but it would do.
At Millennium Force, the queue was surprisingly full, and the line didn't seem to be moving. I opted not to ride, but I did try the test seat. As expected, I fit easily. Then I took some measurements. From the seat back to the front edge of the seat is 14 inches, and the seat is 19 inches wide. Perhaps more critically for my research, there is a cutout in the front of the seat to allow clearance for the lap bar. The back of that cutout is 12 inches from the center of the seatback. More important, all the way across the seat at the 12" mark is a ridge which defines the highest point on the seat. That is, the seat bottom runs slightly uphill from the seat back, out 12". Then it rolls over, and runs downhill the next 2" to the front edge of the seat. In other words, the seat bottom is effectively only 12" deep. Finally, perhaps the most critical measurement is the seat belt. The belt is atached to a pair of brackets attached to the seat frame, so instead of measuring the full length of the belt, I measured it between the points where the belt intersects the seat frame. Looks to be around 26" including the length of the buckle. It also appeared that the last four inches or so of the belt might have been stretched a little. The attendant at the entrance was telling people to fasten the belt on the test seat and then pull 2"-3" of dead strap off the end to compensate for any variation between the test seat and the ride. Now wait a minute...what is the point of a test seat if it doesn't match the seat on the ride?
The question would have to wait. I wasn't going to wait in that line to find out, particularly after the incredibly unpleasant experience I had on Millennium Force a week ago. Instead, I opted for a ride on the train.
Only one train was operating (pulled by Myron H., if you care) and I barely missed it. It's a short line, though, so I figured it would be a short wait. It normally takes about ten minutes for the train to go all the way around the circuit. But today was not normal. It took a very long time. I wondered what the delay was. I got a pretty good idea when the crossing gates at the main midway came down as usual as the train approached Mantis:TCFKAB. The gates came down, and everyone waited. And waited. And waited. I don't think I have seen a CP & LE train move this slowly since the year they used the train as a HallowWeekends haunted attraction. Now this makes for an interesting "chicken-or-egg" question: Was the train moving so slowly because it was pulling very nearly a full load? Or was it nearly a full load because the train is moving so slowly? Anyway, I rode all the way around.
I took a walk across the back of the main midway and took a ride on Corkscrew. They changed the shoulder bars on this one a couple of years ago, and I have no idea why. The new bars leave no space between the bar and the outboard side of the car, resulting in no way to get the outboard arm through. It's terribly uncomfortable, and when the train goes into the Corkscrew inversions there is no way to hold on to avoid getting beaten about the neck and head. The experience was a reminder of why I don't ride Corkscrew much anymore.
Down the midway, Dragster was dispatching on a somewhat regular basis, so I decided to get in line. I took some measurements of the test seat (seat depth: 14". Width: 19". Belt: 26".) and entered the queue. Only a few minutes later, I watched the green train go the wrong way down the launch track, then once it reset there was an extended delay. I bailed out. Dragster is a good ride, but I'd rather ride Magnum then stand in line waiting for them to fix Dragster. Naturally, about the time I reached the Magnum platform, a Dragster train sailed over the top of the tower.
I took a ride on Paddlewheel Excursions. It's the same old ride, but there are some new jokes, beginning with the Captain telling us to fasten our orange safety belts (there are none, unless you count the ones hanging from the ceiling for use only if the boat should sink) and continuing through an assortment of old and new material, including an obligatory American Idol reference. I guess that way we know that the act has been updated.
Walking down the Frontier Trail, I overheard someone saying she wanted a caramel covered apple. I had to suggest that at the end of the trail she could stop at the Engine House stand and get a sliced apple covered with hot caramel sauce and topped with frozen custard. She thought that sounded good. It must have been an effective sales pitch, because later in the day, I bought one. Hey, as amusement park fare goes, that's practically 'health food'. I don't know if the person I suggested it to bought one or not, but I thought it sounded good.
Up in the front of the park, the line for Disaster Transport scared me off, so I rode Ocean Motion instead, then looked over and wondered if the Peanuts Playground and the Oceana stadium are not long for this world. I'll bet a clever engineer could fit a pretty good wood coaster into that space.
Speaking of space, Disaster Transport had a long wait, but Space Spiral didn't. Days like this are good ones for riding it, when it isn't oppressively hot in the not-air-conditioned-anymore cabin [Footnote 2].
Blue Streak was a walk-on, so I almost did. But only 'almost'. Just as I was about to board, the ride went down. Both trains were unloaded, and the crew proceeded to attempt a thorough search of the coaster for some rider's prescription spectacles. Never before have I seen Cedar Point suspend ride operation to hunt for a lost item; in fact the only other time I have seen that was at Canada's Wonderland, where they kept shutting down Top Gun and The Fly to go look for lost stuff. I bailed out and rode Raptor instead.
Raptor has developed a deafening shriek, making it much louder than usual and very difficult to hold a conversation anywhere on the main midway. Along with the noise is a constant vibration that feels like the road wheels are ribbed or something. The ride also felt like it was running significantly faster than normal, with a station-to-station time of only two minutes. When I got off, I looked up at the road wheels. It looks like Raptor is running those solid white wheels that are not being used on Millennium Force this year.
Blue Streak was back up, so I rode it. I don't know what those Canadians have done to the ride, but whatever they did, it has really made a difference. It's only a mid-size coaster, but the way it runs almost makes up for the fact that it has a lousy train. I said, ALMOST makes up for the lousy train.
By this time it was getting late, so I finished my day as I often do, with a few rides on Magnum XL-200. Fast, furious, and brakeless due to lightly-loaded trains. Can I really ask for more?
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Footnote 1: Variable Frequency Drive, used to control the speed of an AC motor. Remember, AC motors usually run at 3,600, 1,800, or 1,200 RPM (depending on whether they have 1, 2, or 3 poles) to match the power line frequency. A variable frequency drive is used to provide a variable speed control. [Return to Text]
Footnote 2: As late as the early 1980's, that cabin was air conditioned. I think Cedar Point hopes everyone will forget that. [Return to Text]
--DCAjr
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