InvadR

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RE: Project 2017: InvadR

horsesboy said:
Invadr is down at the moment.  The bear train went to dispatch and rolled forward maybe 2 feet so that its front was lined up with the edge of the platform before brakingband locking.  Maintenance has been on seen for about 15 to 20 minutes and have not been able to clear it so far.  They shut it down and gave everyone in line quick passes to come back.  All and all a big thumbs up to the staff for how they handled it.

Update they free the train and are now cycling through test runs with empty trains.  It has probably been down for 45 minutes or so, so far.
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What's interesting is I've been talking with a friend who came to visit the other day and complained that "Invadr seems to be down more than any other coaster." To me, I think Invadr has actually been pretty good for brand new and many of the issues that the ride is having are minor little issues that can be taken care of quickly by staff on sight.

Of course he disagreed and said that it was a black eye for the park that they didn't do enough testing if it's still having issues.
 
RE: Project 2017: InvadR

A lot of downtime for a new coaster for a few months is regular, right?

Does anyone think InvadR will be open for Christmas Town?
 
RE: Project 2017: InvadR

warfelg said:
horsesboy said:
Invadr is down at the moment.  The bear train went to dispatch and rolled forward maybe 2 feet so that its front was lined up with the edge of the platform before brakingband locking.  Maintenance has been on seen for about 15 to 20 minutes and have not been able to clear it so far.  They shut it down and gave everyone in line quick passes to come back.  All and all a big thumbs up to the staff for how they handled it.

Update they free the train and are now cycling through test runs with empty trains.  It has probably been down for 45 minutes or so, so far.
Click to expand...

What's interesting is I've been talking with a friend who came to visit the other day and complained that "Invadr seems to be down more than any other coaster."  To me, I think Invadr has actually been pretty good for brand new and many of the issues that the ride is having are minor little issues that can be taken care of quickly by staff on sight.

Of course he disagreed and said that it was a black eye for the park that they didn't do enough testing if it's still having issues.
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It seems to have a better up record than Verbolten or Tempesto did when they opened.
 
RE: Project 2017: InvadR

I can't give any reason about Tempesto having down times when it opened, but at least Verbolten is a very technically complex coaster with tons of sensors. If everything is not perfect, the system halts. Also makes troubleshooting when it was new more difficult since there are more points of failure.
 
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RE: Project 2017: InvadR

warfelg said:
What's interesting is I've been talking with a friend who came to visit the other day and complained that "Invadr seems to be down more than any other coaster."  To me, I think Invadr has actually been pretty good for brand new and many of the issues that the ride is having are minor little issues that can be taken care of quickly by staff on sight.

Of course he disagreed and said that it was a black eye for the park that they didn't do enough testing if it's still having issues.
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At least a train did not derail while testing and not show up for the party...  (I'm looking at you Yellow)

Seriously, how would you even create a predictive metric for "acceptable down time for first year"  As I have said before the best predictor of future performance is past performance.  When talking about a custom coaster, what past performance?   Hell even in the case of the pasta flat, where the coaster was anything but unique, the station and trains were different so you could not be predictive.

This just seems like an arbitrary and ultimately fruitless metric.

RollyCoaster said:
InvadR only has 2 trains, right? I've still (Unfortunately) gotten the chance to ride it, and heard from multiple people about their being a 3rd train?
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As far as the # of trains goes,  I can honestly say I spent as much time as anyone, not affiliated with the park, the last week of testing watching Invadr.  (the only advantage to unemployment, free time??)  I never saw any sign of a third train, or anywhere to put it.  

Now having said all that, if you do the math, there are, somewhere, many many Gwazi train cars milling about, no doubt up to no good.  So I suppose in theory there could be a 3rd or 4th train.

That does pose an interesting question.  What would be on the front, bear, dragon, something else???  (perhaps a Maple Leaf or a hockey stick!)

I will say that the statue is not half the man it once was.  But that is a topic for another day.
 
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RE: Project 2017: InvadR

One other point is that it takes the maintenance people longer to fix stuff at first as some of the issues will be first time issues.  They seemed generally perplexed about how why it rolled forward and rebraked yesterday.  If you have to fingure out problem and the solution from scratch its going to take longer to fix then if you know wherr to start from.  This will lead to longer down time when it goes down.

As others have said there are only two trains.  It possible that they have a third stored in back to take a part for spare parts as the test seat had to come from somewhere but there are only two on the tracks.  Also there only are two blocks well three if you count the short maintenance shoot that joins the two blocks so even if they had another whole trainbthey have no place to.put it where it could run.
 
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RE: Project 2017: InvadR

Shane said:
I was in town this weekend for my sisters wedding and was planning to earn the Invadr credit Sunday but circumstances and weather prevented my from going. Hopefully soon.
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Get there as soon as possible! This thing is seriously fun, from the first bolt out of the station (even watching it while in line, I was not prepared for that little "surprise") to the unrelenting twists and turns that follow, this is such an intense ride and so different from the other coasters in the park -- it's a grand, grand addition to BGW. (And congrats to your sister!)
 
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RE: Project 2017: InvadR

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RE: Project 2017: InvadR

I rode InvadR for the first time on Saturday April 15.  I knew the park was gonna be packed before I even decided to go and when I got there the England parking lot was almost full by 10:30 a.m.  I rode the train from Heatherdowns to Caribou station because I wanted my first view of the completed ride from that vantage point, especially crossing under a few of the track sections.  I fell in line as soon as I got off the train and was told a two hour wait but it took slightly over an hour to board.

My initial thoughts on InvadR...

It's a great ride and a welcome addition to the park.  Is it the best GCI I've ever been on?  Not even close, but, it is a lot better than I expected it would be.  The major drawback is that it ends too soon (Reminds me of Raven at Holiday World in this aspect). The pacing is fantastic and this has a lot of elements I look for in a wood coaster and packs quite a punch for such a small ride.  The g-forces on the last turn before the brake run are some of the most intense I've felt on any wood coaster.

Someone asked (I think Fur Dozy?) how the airtime on InvadR compares to White Lightning in Orlando.  SHort answer: It doesn't.  White Lightning was designed and built (standard out and back layout) to be an airtime machine and has far better negative-g moments than InvadR.  But in my opinion, InvadR is a far superior ride because it has a combination of elements I look for in a woodie (lateral and positive g's, direction changes, airtime).

I am looking forward to the night time Passholder ERT.  That section of the park is usually very dark at night so hopefully that will be the case in a few weeks and the park minimizes light emission in New France and Aquitaine.  Night rides on woodies in the pitch black are a whole new level of crazy!  

One final note, and I don't remember this being mentioned, but InvadR's trains don't have any seat belts.  I've been on a bunch of GCI's and this is the first time I've seen this.  I'm not complaining though as lack of seat belts helps increase capacity and dispatch times.  I believe there is a GCI in Europe that doesn't have seat belts but this is definitely not the norm to not have them, so kudos to the park and GCI for opting out on those.
 
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RE: Project 2017: InvadR

Unagi said:
I am looking forward to the night time Passholder ERT.  That section of the park is usually very dark at night so hopefully that will be the case in a few weeks and the park minimizes light emission in New France and Aquitaine.  Night rides on woodies in the pitch black are a whole new level of crazy!  

One final note, and I don't remember this being mentioned, but InvadR's trains don't have any seat belts.  I've been on a bunch of GCI's and this is the first time I've seen this.  I'm not complaining though as lack of seat belts helps increase capacity and dispatch times.  I believe there is a GCI in Europe that doesn't have seat belts but this is definitely not the norm to not have them, so kudos to the park and GCI for opting out on those.
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I to am looking forward to seeing how the ride is at night but I wonder how much added light pollution will filter in from the area around the train station. If I remember correctly that area is fairly well lite up as I am sure that it needs to be given it's the parking and maintenance area for the trains.

As far as the seat belts go I would think that the fact that the park redid the trains and not GCI did might have something to do with that but I could be wrong..
 
RE: Project 2017: InvadR

horsesboy said:
As far as the seat belts go I would think that the fact that the park redid the trains and not GCI did might have something to do with that but I could be wrong..
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GCI has absolute say and control whether or not THEIR trains can or can't have seat belts, regardless of where or whom refurbished the trains.
 
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