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Rides not up to the job

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wakey1512

Roller Poster
The smilers recent failure has prompted me to think what rides have been a complete flop since opening and are clearly not up to the job

1. Smiler
Recent accident, bolts coming loose, wheels falling off, all in the space of 2 years
2. Jubilee Odyssey
One of the most (if not THE most) expensive coaster in the world - plagued with reliability issues at opening, frequently stalls, cannot operate in high winds and is that intense can wear out a brand new train in 4 months.
3. Furius baco
Unfortunately victim of a hydraulic launch cable snap and also had bits of train fall off mid course. Dog rough and not up to the job at all.
4. Hero at flamingo land
Another over investment also notorious in a very short amount of time. Also just recently had a bit fall off it and hit someone. Dog rough and a one way ticket to instant castration.

Can anyone think of any rides that aren't up to the job, and if so, which ones and if any of the above seem unreasonable.
 
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ignace

Mega Poster
De Vliegende Hollander - Efteling is one that comes to my mind immediately... One year delay, can't operate normally when cold (this was the target) and regular breakdowns.
 
Pokemaniac

Pokemaniac

Mountain monkey
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
What about that fun little thing at Walibi Belgium? Vertigo, I believe its name was? Pretty much in a constant state of breakdown from the day it opened, was torn down after less than a year, and the park hasn't invested in a single new, big coaster since.

You've also got that one in Australia - Orphan Rocker. Built in 1988, never opened, rumoured to have thrown out water dummies during its tests, reportedly being worked on as of 2004.

Also, wow, didn't know Jubilee Odyssey cost that much. £28,000,000 (2002) appears to be more than Steel Dragon 2000's $50,000,000 (2000), or at least roughly the same. And the latter is a much, much larger coaster.
 
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ignace

Mega Poster
[quote="Pokemaniac"Pretty much in a constant state of breakdown from the day it opened, was torn down after less than a year, and the park hasn't invested in a single new, big coaster since.
[/quote]

They didn't even bother to open a new, small ride since. Since the Egyptian Shooter in 2004 actually.
 
GuyWithAStick

GuyWithAStick

Captain Basic
All of the GIBs Six Flags installed back in 2001 come to mind. They are all closed(or relocated), but they were mechanical nightmares. They were down 75% of the time.
 
W

wakey1512

Roller Poster
Pokemaniac said:
What about that fun little thing at Walibi Belgium? Vertigo, I believe its name was? Pretty much in a constant state of breakdown from the day it opened, was torn down after less than a year, and the park hasn't invested in a single new, big coaster since.

You've also got that one in Australia - Orphan Rocker. Built in 1988, never opened, rumoured to have thrown out water dummies during its tests, reportedly being worked on as of 2004.

Also, wow, didn't know Jubilee Odyssey cost that much. £28,000,000 (2002) appears to be more than Steel Dragon 2000's $50,000,000 (2000), or at least roughly the same. And the latter is a much, much larger coaster.
Click to expand...

Shocked me too when I learnt that stat! It's probably had the highest.maintenence costs of all time too :shock:
 
Hyde

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
Vertigo at Cedar Point. Some might say it was a pushover.
 
mouse

mouse

Giga Poster
Ring Racer, had a very delayed opening and when it did open in 2013 it closed after a few days due to all sorts of technical issues. Been SBNO since, a huge failure.
 
GuyWithAStick

GuyWithAStick

Captain Basic
^4 days*

I also remembered that Windjammer Surf Racers(or whatever it was called) at Knott's was quite the mechanical nightmare.
 
Scott88

Scott88

Hyper Poster
2. Jubilee Odyssey
One of the most (if not THE most) expensive coaster in the world - plagued with reliability issues at opening, frequently stalls, cannot operate in high winds and is that intense can wear out a brand new train in 4 months.
3. Furius baco
Unfortunately victim of a hydraulic launch cable snap and also had bits of train fall off mid course. Dog rough and not up to the job at all.
Click to expand...

Rubbish.

Odyssey's poor operation is purely down to the incompetence of the park rather than the ride itself, I was shocked how badly run Fantasy Island actually is. It's in the wrong location for its height and layout, the ride cannot be blamed for the weather, whoever decided to install it in its current location knowing what the weather is like there is just daft. Last year we had an ERT on Odyssey through Club PBE, it went from them saying it had no chance of opening, to testing once (in high winds) and being open for the rest of the day, it didn't once come close to a roll back however when Odyssey opened the rest of the coasters at the park closed interestingly.

I think the thousands of people willing to stand and queue over 90 minutes for Furius Baco in boiling Spanish heat every summer would throw your theory of it not being up to the job out of the window, it's a nonsense comment to make. I am fully aware I am in the minority when it comes to enjoying Baco, but I still think there's rougher rides out there, there's rougher rides at PortAv (Stampida!). It has a lot of vibrations in the outside seats, especially towards the back of the train, but it's not dog rough IMO.

In all honesty I think it's a tasteless topic to be starting a day after the Smiler incident, but each to their own!
 
TilenB

TilenB

Strata Poster
mouse said:
Ring Racer, had a very delayed opening and when it did open in 2013 it closed after a few days due to all sorts of technical issues. Been SBNO since, a huge failure.
Click to expand...


Nah, it's not the technical issues that have made it SBNO now. The ownership of the circuit has switched hands after 2013 'season' and the new owners didn't deem it would be financially viable to continue with the ride being operational... Still pretty crap, although the coaster doesn't seem to be up to much apart from a forceful launch.

The other contenders would be those gigantic Intamin water rides. Giraffica/Pilgrim's Plunge has closed down after only a few years of operation in which it was more down than running. The second attempt on the model, DiVertical, has been experiencing problems with boats getting stuck/valleyed on course and has thus reportedly been closed ever since last August...
 
cjbrandy

cjbrandy

Hyper Poster
Slammer because its almost always down and Submission because it only used 1 arm and was apparently rubbish to ride.
 
Chris Brown

Chris Brown

Mr CoasterForce 2016
Gwazi was pretty hated and got very rough considering it wasn't a particularly old ride. However I think being in a park with arguably the best coaster collection didn't help its sorry ass.
 
W

wakey1512

Roller Poster
Scott88 said:
2. Jubilee Odyssey
One of the most (if not THE most) expensive coaster in the world - plagued with reliability issues at opening, frequently stalls, cannot operate in high winds and is that intense can wear out a brand new train in 4 months.
3. Furius baco
Unfortunately victim of a hydraulic launch cable snap and also had bits of train fall off mid course. Dog rough and not up to the job at all.
Click to expand...

Rubbish.

Odyssey's poor operation is purely down to the incompetence of the park rather than the ride itself, I was shocked how badly run Fantasy Island actually is. It's in the wrong location for its height and layout, the ride cannot be blamed for the weather, whoever decided to install it in its current location knowing what the weather is like there is just daft. Last year we had an ERT on Odyssey through Club PBE, it went from them saying it had no chance of opening, to testing once (in high winds) and being open for the rest of the day, it didn't once come close to a roll back however when Odyssey opened the rest of the coasters at the park closed interestingly.

I think the thousands of people willing to stand and queue over 90 minutes for Furius Baco in boiling Spanish heat every summer would throw your theory of it not being up to the job out of the window, it's a nonsense comment to make. I am fully aware I am in the minority when it comes to enjoying Baco, but I still think there's rougher rides out there, there's rougher rides at PortAv (Stampida!). It has a lot of vibrations in the outside seats, especially towards the back of the train, but it's not dog rough IMO.

In all honesty I think it's a tasteless topic to be starting a day after the Smiler incident, but each to their own!
Click to expand...

It's not rubbish at all. You are right that the park is run poorly but you'd have to be either incredibly naive or pig ignorant to deny the nature of the ride is a huge contributor to its wear and tear. It DOES run on standard SLC gear and it IS about twice as intense as a regular SLC so it's obviously wearing out fast for a ride built in 2002. The track IS warped in places and it has been dye penned to which I am not at liberty to discuss the results of.

Again your ignorance shows - of course baco isn't up to the job. Pulling a decent queue doesn't make it fit for purpose. You pay to get in the park not to go on the ride. An expensive ride to be a good investment needs to contribute to park image not deteriorate Good example being the smiler as of recent. It pulled good queues but it's not up to the job if 18m doesn't get you reliability safety or a good image.

Tasteless perhaps but we are on an Internet forum which it's very purpose is that of discussion regarding roller coasters.
 
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