Gazza

That is a pretty cool idea, i must admit that i have wondered what it would be like to chuck an exersise ball in with dodgems to see what happens, its nice to see someone try it.

Of course, you could put it another way, the small lockers at SE cost $1 per hour and the photo centre ones cost the equavalent of $1 per hour ($7/day), yet the ones at SE are very tiny, so you are paying the same but getting less. Whatever way you look at it, the SE ones are worse value.

So why cant people just check the height themselves?

Yay, boourns. Thats they way it should be, they are pretty obvious improvments, even Richo pointed out what could be done in his review. Thanks for that. Also, LiveandLetlive, a little tip, make MW EMPLOYEE your signature so you dont have to type it on every post. Also, just one other little point about the lockers: the all day lockers near the photo centre cost $7 all day or $1 per hour if you used them for the full duration of the parks operation, however the large lockers at SE (which are the same size as the photo centre ones) cost $2 per hour, so in effect you are paying double for the same thing, and here they are saying they are providing them at minmal cost when they are really charging double.

Stop me if im wrong, but dont rides have a height meter out the front? Couldnt people just go and stand by it, and if they are not tall enough then they would simply not join the queue. Anyone who is stupid enough to join the line without checking properly deserves to waste 45 minutes. Also, obviously if they have not taken the time to check their height then the would have also not read the safety rules (since they are both on the same sign) All they need to do is have the height meter in a really prominent place like right by the queue rails at the very entrance so there is no excuse for complaining that you arent tall enough. Prehaps they could even go the extra mile by having an infa red beam detector which you walk through and it tells you if you are tall enough. But basically if its signed well enough there is no need for staff.

-Because its a bit of a rip off -Because there are a very limited number avalaible -Because we didnt need them in the past so why start now -Because we like to have our stuff with us and not have to go back to a car, locker etc -Because if you are a season pass holder it starts adding up for each visit -Because there should be free item storage on all rides (like DW, SW) and at those places you dont need a locker

I think its just the way the launch is set up, Accelerators can have their speed modified (like those tests on Xcel where they put it at 160km/h). The distance it finishes away from the launch has nothing to do with it because it would slow down only minimaly on the last straight bit. Also it cant go too fast because the radius is tight so the Gs can get too high if it goes too fast. IMO it should just 'cruise' over the top, just so you get enough time to admire the view but dont feel like you are going at a boring pace and not getting a big shock of negative Gs. IMO its still a good tophat though. Maybe the reason could be to keep it at 100km/h in line with the rides advertising, maybe 110kph doesnt sound like such a clean number so they dont want to run it any faster.

So when were these shots taken? But i love the shot of the Scenic Railway station, i never realised it looked so good, has it been redone recently?

I agree Rich, they wont do it on the basis of a theory that some may cheat the system,surely they could trial it for a week or so and watch the effects (since with electronic lockers you can monitor the habits of users) Also, liveandletlive, feel free to pass it on to them if you want. And also, the 3 paralel lines is how it looks already and people dont merge into one. In peak times if they all filled then people would queue along the leftmost one, do a u turn at the end and go back towards the main entrance then do another u turn and go past the wall with the posters on it, before doing a left turn along the back wall past the big MRT sign which would lead in to the main zig zag part that slopes up to the station doors. Also, the company that makes the lockers is http://www.lockersystems.com/index.html if anyone cares, but its not really their problem is it? The only way out i can reall see is for MW to buy out the lockers outright from Compusafe, but i dont know wether contractual obligations will restrict this. Prehaps the cost could be subsidised by advertsing both on the doors and inside the lockers?

No they wouldnt because do that there are two locker sizes, there are those really little $1 ones and there are the $2 ones. The little ones can only fit a few personal things like phone, sunnies, wallet, keys etc, not a whole bag of stuff. These are things you have on your person all day and not things you would keep in a locker or else why would you take them to a park. Usually those with bags are people with a group (eg a family) where one person in the group would hold everything) IMO the rides target audience is teens etc and us teens (esp males but im not being sexist) tend to travel light since it is no fun lugging a bag around and so they would use the smaller ones. But a couple of questions for those who have been overseas or frequent international coaster sites. How do smart lockers such as the ones at IOA work, and do they have a problem with free riders using them as an all day locker? Also, how do they approach item storage on 2 station coasters (TTD springs to mind as its station set up is similar)? Also, they arent necesarily charging $1 to ride, but this is what is happening in effect because not everyone has a non riding friend. Heck, the whole reason you vist an amusement park is to ride stuff, not everyone is a sook who sits out and watches. What about those who are alone, what about those where everyone in the group wants to ride together? Not having free for one hour is like some city carparks not having free for the first hour on the basis that some would return to their car every hour and drive in and out. But also, taken from the smate carte website: http://www.smartecarte.com/lockers/lockersletthemenjoy.html

Well, i wonder if the lockers could be set for a really small value (10c) or be designed to give up a $1 coin so its more like a deposit (kind of like the trollys at Aldi) Also, just one other little idea that popped into my head (but it would be expensive) would be to make the big long straight section of queue from the entrace look like a stationary travelator.

Its more the principle that matters, it should be free. Well, the plot certainly has thickened if that is true, i mean, why would MW sell its soul like that . But back to the topic of theming improvements, here is a rough sketch of how i reckon the queue area should be, i sort of drew in in Sims style with walls ommited if they blocked the view. Also, i am aware that i drew in too few switchbacks on the sloping part of the queue but as i said it was a quick sketch. But i reckon T Bone would be the one to ask about subway theming, hes the train buff around these parts.

Try to just make yourself sound a bit GP and DONT put anything in there about other suggestions for the ride like some 2 page concept for how the theming could be improved because they wouldnt take you seriously if you did that. Just stick to the lockers.

Yeah, but you cant have people being "stung" by a coin, if someone did get hit they would kick up poo about it, no matter how superfical the injury. I but i guess people are being "stung" in a whole different way. But basically, whenever you go to MW just kick up a stink about it, maybe fill out some comment forms about it. In this case it really is a fair criticisim and would cost nothing to implement (except they would stop earning money from it, except for people who use it for too long)

I think they would need to make the unlocking fee relative to the time you run over the limit, say about $2 for 1/2 hr over the limit and then $7 for more than that. You need a decent unlocking fee to deter people from treating it as an all day locker. But you have hit the nail on the head there spotty, its really just a charge to ride the ride.

Couldnt they solve the problem of people being smacked by rafts as people try and get it up the stairs by having a conveyor belt for them instead (like on mammoth)?

I think they need to just be smarter about the staffing. Have only one person on the lockers and nobody inspecting at the front of the queue. Instead have this done as a secondary duty by the ops in the station, they would only check if there is a problem. Also, have only one person working the unload station since they dont do much anyway. Then just have the required numbers of ops in the loading station and the control room. Also, when i asked why they didnt have a pass through item storage system i was told that they decided against it because it would slow thing too much. Its a bit ludicrous that now they are choosing to limit the rides efficency by running one train. IMO, the only times one train should be used is on non holiday weekdays or if its so quiet LW is running one train. But i think a solution could be to have an exit in the loading station (that would come out on the path between superman and chinatown )so they can flush load rather than loading, rolling foward and unloading (which wastes time). The problem with this is riders would exit away from the shop which could limits its sales. But on another note, what is this bull about WWF having 2 hr waits, i joined the line when the entire queue house was pretty full and i waited about 20 mins, even if there were twice the crowds and the lines were out of the building into the wild west area the wait would not reach two hours. Ive told you once, ive told you a million times, dont exaggerate.

Wait, so are you tall with the middle of your hair sort of spiked up? I remember this paticular person giving the crowd a lecture that even a 5c piece is dangerous and if you have one you will be sent to the back. And anyway, the only reason the queue rails are there is so the queue uses the space in the most efficent manner, if they werent there guests would probably just line up down one wall and the queue would end up stretching all the way past the lockers. I dont really think its a saftey issue unless they are hurdling, a simple duck under is ok. So, as an employee, are you able to find out why they decided to charge for the lockers on the ride? also are you in a position to give feedback about the ride to managment (Eg, that they should ditch the fee) One last thing, is it fun working on the ride, and also, how much experience do you need to work on it?

I think its called Yunsario Speeding Car or something like that, it is an accelerator at a new park somewhere in China, what you can see is basically the whole layout except for a helix after the loop. Its almost SEs long lost brother, just with a loop instead of an airtime hill, and with the top hat going the other way. I was waiting for someone to mistake it for SE which you could do if you werent observant enough, guess i failed :sarcastic:

Are you the guy who tells people off for duckin under the hand rails?

I wonder why they didnt design the ride to operate as well with one train. If 2 trains are going its well and good because one lot or riders can be unloading as another lot loads, but when the ride is running one train the passengers unload, but then there is a delay as the train rolls foward into the loading area. IMO the ride should have been designed so that during one train operation the ride can be flush loaded rather than using both stations. But its a bit late now because the shop would have needed to be built on the other side so the ride could have been run like this.

Yeah, i sort of guessed that the ride was rushed to opening so much of the energy was put into getting the ride going. A few little things, eg the doors between the stations not working , signs about the locker prices being up on paper in plastic pockets, temporary lighting in the station etc seemed a bit under done . Hopefully they might spruce it up a bit and bring it in line with the rest of the parks standards. Take a look at WWF falls with its plethora of wild west knick knacks and machinery etc or Scooby Doo with its large castle hall and moving suits of amour for examples of how detailed the queue on superman should be.

But a ride like Deja Vu would generate long lines. Id sort of prefer it if they move away from rides where its 'one lot gets on, rides, gets off, repeat' unless the single vehicle holds a lot of people. It should be something with more than one train so the queue moves faster so there is always a train getting loaded. It just gets frustrating on rides like Cyclone, TOT, GD where you have to wait for ages while one lot of people go at a time, or on rides like Eureka and the Log Ride where the cars are so small and intimate the queue crawls along and it is hard to get full loads because not everyone rides in a group of four. WO and the Claw worked well because they take a lot of people in one go and the ride cycle is not excessivley long. Although not at DW, SE and LW should be something they should look at because one lot is loading while the other lot is going, so the queue is continuously moving and thats why Deja Vu could be annoying because it can only run train at a time and nothing can be done while it runs and if DW got their hands on one they would only stuff it up and run it poorly like virtually everything else they own, and you would join the line at 1pm and you would get on at 3pm and it would then break down because its Vekoma.

Obviously its not if you need to do that, and even if you do it still bangs its way around the track, which isnt smooth. Lisalisa A bayern curve is just a helix, really ground breaking stuff so yeah where the onride photo is. I agree, saying the trains travel on the outside of the track is a bit misleading, they do travel on the 'outside' when they go around inversions, but you could equaly say that they are on the 'inside' of the track at points where the track curves at a peak (say at the top of the lift). All coasters tend to travel on the outside of the track anyway if you are refering to being outside the tracks centre of gravity , the only ones that tend to be within it are those togo pipeline coasters and i guess bobsleds are within the track too. Why didnt they go for the obvious wording? riders sit in trains that travel 'beneath' the track. But gee, have a look at what they call 'education' sample activites include drawing the layout of sdsc, drawing a map of how you got to mw, reasoning why your heart rate would be higher after riding lw. They had the chance for some really good physics questions, eg what is the average velocity of LW as it completes the circuit, see how many kids stuff that one up

I spotted this on the MW website in the education section and i just had to laugh. Taken from an activty sheet: