I'm surprised Dominator is running, I thought B&M was always the most strict when it came to cold weather operations.
Winterfest
- Thread starter jornor
- Start date
B&M typically states in the ride's manual that minimum recommended operating temperature is 40 degrees, but it's up to the operator's discretion to determine when it is unsafe to operate the ride in the cold.
Six Flags traditionally will run their B&Ms until the rides start throwing warning lights for cycling too slowly.
No Boo Blasters or Americana definitely bums me out, but no Eiffel Tower really gets me. I’ve dreamed of seeing KD lit up with Christmas lights from above for years, and now the closest approximation to that breathtaking view will be a few seconds on the Dominator lift hill. Surely the light strands hanging from the tower can’t be THAT obstructive, right?
FoF and Boo Blasters aren’t heated.
Im betting they will put the show controllers up there, if its a light show like the rendering shows they are using pixels which will require quite a few contollers networked together. In theory the led pixel lights for the show would draw way less electricity than what the lights to light up the towere would so they could just use existing wiring up there for this. By keeping everything up there down on the ground it will look much neater a installation.
Well now the park is just trying to make a crappy event. Harumph
This is a fair point, but even if it's true, there are two levels at the top of the Eiffel Tower, so one could be open for observation while the other houses the controls and electronics.
Yes it could, but also consider if its open there will need to be adequate lighting on the observation level for guests to safely walk around which could ruin the effect they are going for with a 300 foot "Christmas Tree". Another issue I can see is the weather, we were stuck up there for about 40 minutes earlier this season. Take in to account cold temps and how windy it always is at that height and those combined can make for dangerous windchills. Imagine if there was a issue and people were stuck and had to walk down, they could be in a dangerous situation of hypothermia.
I am not buying that Grizzly is closed for fear of valleying. They have run it in significantly low temperatures on preview days/nights before with no issues. But one thing did occur to me and that is maybe it's closed because now that they finished Rebel Yells retract maybe they are going to going back to working on Grizzly again. At least me and my back hope that the reason.
As for the Eiffel Tower it's possible that they are not using it for fear of what happens if there is a power outage. An evacuation down those stairs in cold temperatures is likely to be hazardous even slight moisture in the air could make them a very hazardous situation and be a significant issue. Heck that could even be a significant issue on the metal deck even if there were no issues. I was really looking forward to the view and am disappointed and hope that maybe they will decide to revisit the decision in years to come and at least make it available some of the time.
As for the Eiffel Tower it's possible that they are not using it for fear of what happens if there is a power outage. An evacuation down those stairs in cold temperatures is likely to be hazardous even slight moisture in the air could make them a very hazardous situation and be a significant issue. Heck that could even be a significant issue on the metal deck even if there were no issues. I was really looking forward to the view and am disappointed and hope that maybe they will decide to revisit the decision in years to come and at least make it available some of the time.
For what it is worth, and I know I am only speaking for myself, being up on the Eiffel Tower in the winter sounds awful. It is likely to be freezing before the wind chill, which will be worse the higher up you go.
Also, I wonder what effect turning the lights on for guests would have on the holiday lights? And if people would be able to reach/break the decorations.
Also, I wonder what effect turning the lights on for guests would have on the holiday lights? And if people would be able to reach/break the decorations.
Actually I don't, unless you're talking about enthusiasts calling it way slow as soon as the end gets a little less painful. It does lose a lot of speed over its course normally, but that seems like worrying about a supercharged hot rod not being able to drive the speed limit.
Great Adventure runs Nitro which is famous for valleying early and late in the normal season. What they do is use faster wheels. In fact if it does warm up or they leave some of those on to open the next year you get an insane ride!
I'm hoping KD's limited ride choice is for the first year.
Timbers has been known to valley in the cold. It took a lot of tweaking for RMC to figure out the right combination of lift speed and wheels to keep Timbers from throwing overspeed or underspeed warnings. I'm sure the park doesn't want to go through all of that again for WinterFest.
My guess is that the off season maintenance schedule also plays part in the decision for which rides open/close. Grizzly and Racer 75 Rebel Yell are on the same maintenance team and this would allow them to work on Grizzly while Racer 75 Rebel Yell runs. Then once Winterfest closes, they will be able to work on Rebel Yell.
As far as Eiffel Tower, as others have said the controls will most likely be up, not to mention all of the cords and wires to hold all of the said lights. Yes you could just keep all that to a single platform, but if they were to ever need to transfer guests to a different platform to utilize a different elevator, this would pose ADA issues and safety issues with all the electrical on the opposite platform. This is just speculation and at the end of the day, I'm not entirely sure why these reasons were made.
I'm particular fine with the amount of Snoopy rides open. Again for maintenance reason, Boo Blasters is not the most reliable ride and adding more run time to it's life will just push the ride out the door a lot faster. Also my assumption is not all of Snoopy will be open and will be blocked off once you reach Flying Ace Balloon Race. I feel like doing this will also give the event growing time. I'm not a budget person, but I'm sure the infrastructure work to do all this is a nightmare and this will give them opportunity to expand the event in the future as well.
Hopefully once operations and maintenance figures out the timelines of doing everything as far as Haunt strike and Winterfest setup, more will be added once they learn what they can and can't handle.
As far as Eiffel Tower, as others have said the controls will most likely be up, not to mention all of the cords and wires to hold all of the said lights. Yes you could just keep all that to a single platform, but if they were to ever need to transfer guests to a different platform to utilize a different elevator, this would pose ADA issues and safety issues with all the electrical on the opposite platform. This is just speculation and at the end of the day, I'm not entirely sure why these reasons were made.
I'm particular fine with the amount of Snoopy rides open. Again for maintenance reason, Boo Blasters is not the most reliable ride and adding more run time to it's life will just push the ride out the door a lot faster. Also my assumption is not all of Snoopy will be open and will be blocked off once you reach Flying Ace Balloon Race. I feel like doing this will also give the event growing time. I'm not a budget person, but I'm sure the infrastructure work to do all this is a nightmare and this will give them opportunity to expand the event in the future as well.
Hopefully once operations and maintenance figures out the timelines of doing everything as far as Haunt strike and Winterfest setup, more will be added once they learn what they can and can't handle.
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I can't wait to see Santa Snoopy. I hope my FunPix membership will work with everything.
According to the 2018 calendar they are open December 31st as well. 4pm to 1am, most likely a New Years celebration.
Twisted Timbers HAS to be open for WinterFest. There’s no way they’re only gonna have one ride in that area open!
I guess there is a price to having no trim brakes and max. length on Timbers. Still, in a few years the same thing will probably seem routine.
Rebel Yell really is a smart choice if they leave both sides available. Up to 4 trains without the commitment. And of course Dominator is a people eater.
Rebel Yell really is a smart choice if they leave both sides available. Up to 4 trains without the commitment. And of course Dominator is a people eater.
I was told by head of Human Resources himself that TT will be open for WinterFest.
You'd think a Ferris wheel would be a good place to see the Christmas lights from.
Could be worse. I heard CGA won't open their skyride for Winterfest. Inexcusable when SFDK is year round.