It is. It's mostly because of the park trying to reduce wear and tear on their jack of all trades coaster.I thought that was the standard they've been using across all coasters for at least a few years now?
Major shoutout to the Bolt ride ops today… only 3 trains and 1 station operations but they’re dispatching so fast that trains are having to hold on the block outside the station (the one where the train from station B usually holds).
Thought… the train holding isn’t being released until the train before it is launched out of the show building. With both stations I’ve seen that the second train hit the launch while the first train is still on the drop track. Do the trains hold more blocks apart since it’s one station operations?
Sounds like they've programmed it to hold differently for different amounts of trains. When I worked at the ride, it didn't matter how many trains were running. If we dispatched a train before the train before it dropped, it would continue to launch 1 and hold the first train on the drop. Not super surprising as VB is turning 10 this year and I'm sure they've tinkered with the program at some points along the wayI was just making an observation that in the past when they’ve been running both stations, the second train holds outside the station until the first train clears the brake run in the building. When this happens, the first train drops while the second train is being launched into the building. In today’s experience, the train held outside the station until the previous train cleared the second launch towards the bridge. Wasn’t sure if anyone else has noticed this difference between one station and two station operations.
Exactly. It’s launch-turning drop- Helix-Block brake-drop-drop track. The block brake is where you hear the sound effect that’s a preview of which program the drop track will have.If I understand @c.timber17's question correctly, keep in mind there's a block brake right before the drop track too so it should be fine from a safety perspective if not the actual experience.
So if the ride were to be stopped, would the second launch technically not launch, or would it still launch?In the manual it says Launch 1 is a block section by itself but Launch 2 is part of the Brake 5 block (covered bridge).
Although Hagrid’s has a similar setup in which you go into the last launch after a short coast off of the drop track and after that comes the final brake run, and that launch counts as a block (at least according to ElToro Ryan). Maybe that’s because it’s Intamin and has a small drive tire set at the start of each launch.Historically when there were power issues before they upgraded the grid, they would sometimes hold trains on launch 2.
However, if I were to guess, they were able to do that with tire drives as the actual LSMs aren't designed to fully stop and hold a train. Therefore once a train has cleared the drop track segment the next true control point would be the top of the drop/broken bridge.
I'll never forget being there for opening day in 2012 for this ride. Truly special, and full of details. Now it just looks uncared for in a way that makes it seem as if Busch couldn't afford the ride in the first place. There's a difference between making something look "taken" by mother nature, and letting it become derelict. Look at Nemesis at Alton Towers. Theme is well-done to appear being absorbed by forces of nature, not being in a state of disrepair...Verbolten's queue is in desperate need of a refurb. All of the Televisions are broken, 2 of the ones in the office had something with tv static covering the screens, all of the fake vines throughout the queue are gone/broken, and the car out front is covered in rust, the mirrors have broken off of it, and the big vine broke. All this being said, the 10th anniversary is this year, I was really hoping we could see a refurb, but the ride is open until at-least February 27th.
The only way they will do the absolutely needed upgrades *cough cough fix the damn theming on and off the ride* is if guests are complaining that the ride looks like it’s falling apart, *cough cough the bridge cough cough* which still won’t be fixed as long as they don’t care about the theming, apparently.I'll never forget being there for opening day in 2012 for this ride. Truly special, and full of details. Now it just looks uncared for in a way that makes it seem as if Busch couldn't afford the ride in the first place. There's a difference between making something look "taken" by mother nature, and letting it become derelict. Look at Nemesis at Alton Towers. Theme is well-done to appear being absorbed by forces of nature, not being in a state of disrepair...
I worry it will be 5-10 years before any serious thought is given to this ride, now that the focus is on Pantheon, DarKoaster, and whatever else is on the priority list for SEAS...
The only way they will do the absolutely needed upgrades *cough cough fix the damn theming on and off the ride* is if guests are complaining that the ride looks like it’s falling apart, *cough cough the bridge cough cough* which still won’t be fixed as long as they don’t care about the theming, apparently.
As for currently broken effects, aka the bridge, probably won’t be fixed until Verbolten goes down for annual maintenance.
I wouldn’t be surprised, but Verbolten is one of the most popular rides in the park, despite its broken (90% of the time) theming. What theming effects do work, most guests don’t pay attention to anyways. Also, a lot of people look at the entrance, and also see the drop onto the Rhine and are like, Cool let’s do that!Complaining is equally likely to result in the ride getting torn down for a replacement.
While I do see what you mean, I find it unlikely that they would tear down the ride that cost 50 million to build, when it would be cheaper to fix the effects.