Skyrush closure 2013 | Update page 11

[Intricks]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

Many of those in the know have been saying that Rush wont open til June at earliest. Even then that is still pure speculation on their end. Rush has a lot of issues that need fixed, so the whole STITP opening belief was nothing but a hope.

 

[Hyde]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

Just to summarize, is anyone able to list off exactly what is being inspected/repaired?

 

[rollermonkey]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

No kidding. Locals went nuts taking construction updates, but for rebuilding this (or I-305) we get nothing.

 

[Hyde]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

Alright, as much as I have surmised, the speculated to-do list for Skyrush is:

1. Finding out why all wheel axels failed inspection last season.
2. Further revision of restraints to prevent stapling.
3. Address cramped station layout.

Hersheypark still remains mum on Skyrush. Until they make any statements regarding Skyrush's closing, we'll be left to speculation and rumor.

 

[Intricks]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

The entrance to the lift is beyond tight, hence the slow start til the first 3-4 cars are up it. They had to hammer that piece in place and it is being looked into along with the station redesign.

From what I understand, nothing should be happening to the restraints as a good enough portion of the complaints disappeared with the softer padding.

 

[_koppen]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

I doubt anything happens with the restraints for the upcoming season. There's no real way to prevent the tightening of the bar, and a newly designed restraint shape will most likely take some more time to design & test.

They are probably just focusing on getting the ride running again, and maybe improving the station, if it is possible.

 

[Youngster Joey]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

I'd like to hope they change or adjust the restraints, but I suspect they won't for the reasons mentioned above.

Oh well hope the lift stays as awesome as it is now though.

 

[Hyde]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

I just still find it so perplexing how Intamin can make very good OTSRs, which have already been adapted to single lapbars for their water rides (same over the head style), yet miss the mark completely with Skyrush restraints.

While Intamin is obviously dealing with a totally different animal, such as partially no floor and much higher g-force, it doesn't excuse the fact that these restraints were off.

I rode it with the new lapbars. They were ok, though by the end of the ride I couldn't say I was the most comfortable.

 

[ECG]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

Station redesign is definitely on the table. This was confirmed to me during our Live event last summer. However, since that has been the plan for some time now, I don't believe that is the cause of any delay in opening the ride. In fact I'm not sure that there is an unexpected delay.
The park made plans for the redesign early on in the year & the closing of the coaster for technical issues should only have helped shorten reconstruction time. So any delay is likely due to continued technical issues with the coaster itself & not station redesign. However I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if it has always been the plan to leave SkyRush out of Springtime In The Park & open the ride closer to Memorial Day.

 

[Screaming Coasters]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season:

Then look at the custom installs, the one offs or the special requests
Vekoma-Absolutely fantastic. They supply Disney with a great range of reliable coasters. RnR and EE you would never guess are made by the same company that produce Mind Eraser. It's almost as though they're slapdash in their standard production, but because they need to pay attention to special orders, they get it perfect. However, how many of those installs really push boundaries?

I don't agree with your statement about little boundaries being pushed. Vekoma seem to do a lot of work in terms of the actual guts of a roller coaster. Maybe some of their executions aren't quite there some of the time, but they are brave enough to do it first. They pioneered many things. Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris was the worlds first motorised catapult launch coaster, the flying coaster, Mad Houses, tilt coasters, on-board audio... Besides that, they are damn reliable coasters, bar the obvious Giant Inverted Boomerangs, which again, was another first.

And if B&M were all that great, why did Air's lifting mechanism snap during its first few weeks of operation? Why did Swarm develop hairline cracks within the first 3 months of operation leaving one of the cars out of operation. and then soon after the next one broke too... And why the hell do B&M rides break down every 10 minutes? TO me, that not an innovator. I want a working product and Vekoma provides that.

 

[gavin]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

^I think Phil was referring to Vekoma's Disney coasters pushing boundaries, not the company as a whole.

Air is/was a prototype; it's bound to experience problems. Swarm, while not the first of it's type was a fairly big step up from Raptor, and produced pretty much straight after it. I really don't know where you're getting this "B&M break down every ten minutes" bollocks from. They're notoriously reliable machines. Other than Air, I've never once seen one break down. Ever.

The GIBs are great rides, but about as trustworthy as Gary Glitter babysitting a Vietnamese eight year old.

Tilt Coaster: great concept - sold one and nobody else has gone near.

Flyers: very poor coasters. Yes, they did it first, but B&M, without question, perfected it.

Their prototype 4-across invert (in Singapore) has been little short of disastrous. Yes, it was the first attempt (as was B&M's Air), but it came extremely close to killing someone and, again, nobody has touched the design since.

When B&M come up with something new, parks are banging down their doors to get one. When Vekoma comes up with a new idea, not so much.

I actually like Vekoma by the way; I'm just being realistic about the two companies.

 

[Screaming Coasters]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

^ I disagree. B&M's are notorious when it comes to math. When it comes software and the actual running of a ride, I don't think they're that great. Far too over-thought for what is essentially doing the same job as another coaster and it causes down-time. Air's modem on every train is a great example of its serious down time during its first 2 or so years of operation. Swarms restraints has/had problems too due to its complicated tracking... It goes on with them.

Also, the problem with Battlestar is the exact same problem with Swarm. Fatigue in places that was under-predicted.

 

[SaiyanHajime]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

The fact that B&M coasters are more efficient is just plainly evidence that they are anything but over-thought.

They have far, far, far less downtime than any other manufacturer. I'm sorry, but they do. Everyone knows it because everyone has first hand experience of visiting parks and dealing with it.

Vekoma are a great company in a great number of ways, but it does seem like they need Disney's funding and the imagineers brains to make anything truly exceptional. Vekoma are a willing company, who have had to engineer some mind boggling ridiculousness presented by Disney.

B&M's rides are, to be frank, all samey and boring. But parks go to them and spend far more on them because they are exceptionally safe and reliable. The same cannot be said for ANY of the other companies.

There must be a whole variety of different relationships parks have with manufacturers, and different levels of involvement, Disney is so involved I question whether Vekoma have to do anything other than manufacture it. Most parks clearly just buy off the shelf models, or custom versions but which are really not all that complicated other than fitting in a plot of land. I can't help think that SkyRush was a nightmare to work on - because the land available would have been a nightmare, there was a new train concept to work with, and amongst all of that I think they lost sight of some basic common sense. And I'm pretty sure that both park and Intamin are to blame in equal measure.

 

[bmac]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

The only B&M where I've witnessed the downtime issues described is Superman @ Great Adventure, and that was because of footer issues and not the technical issues pointed out. Other than that the only B&M I've been on that has broken down was Green Lantern, everything else has operated basically the entire day without issues at all.

 

[tomahawk]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

I know Worlds of Fun has a very good working relationship with B&M as 2 summers ago due to the heat, Mamba was chewing through wheels at a rate of about 5 per day, which knocked it down to 1 train operation right before a holiday weekend. A phone call was made and that afternoon Walter called and confirmed the order would arrive prior to the weekend for the wheels for both Mamba and Patriot, which was getting low as well. Once that set of wheels came in (I think they were slightly different than what they had been using which was the reason for the call) the wheels hardly went out.

Just an example of how reliable B&M was for one park.

 

[rollermonkey]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

However I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if it has always been the plan to leave SkyRush out of Springtime In The Park & open the ride closer to Labor Day.

Do you mean Memorial Day, Jerry?

And why the hell do B&M rides break down every 10 minutes?

You're bonkers. Air might have had significant downtime issues, but as mentioned, it was the prototype. I have never been in line for any B&M and had a downtime that wasn't from a guest doing something stupid like breaking a light curtain or dropping something on the track. When I worked at 6FGAm, Deja Vu would trouble light 6-10 times an hour. I can't recall a single trouble light the whole season I was at Raging Bull. Bull valleyed once in the preseason due to freezing temps and over aggressive trims. Superman had one major mechanical downtime in the three years I worked at the park, and Batman went down when the lift chain needed to be replaced. Maybe the problem is the maintenance guys at Alton? I know the ones at 6FGAm were normally pretty good.

Anyways. Who's up for a betting pool on Skyrush: correctly predict the reopening date, plus what modifications were made.

 

[ECG]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

Thanks Chris. *fixed :wink:

I think that 99% of us think that Erol is way off in his assessment of B&M as far as reliability, so there's really no need for us to continue to hammer that point home.

I'll stick with my Memorial Day prediction with station modifications for better loading/unloading as well as the wheel assembly correction & no lapbar changes.

 

[rollermonkey]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

The GIBs are great rides, but about as trustworthy as Gary Glitter babysitting a Vietnamese eight year old.

(Spit-take)

Missed this gem last night.

 

[NegativeG]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

I'm just hoping that she's not trimmed. I think Hershey's smart enough not to go that route, but there's still a slight possibility.

 

[Youngster Joey]

Re: Skyrush is closed for this season | 2013 UPDATE

^When we were there for the US Live they said they Weren't going to trim it or add OTSR's So I'd like to believe that.