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Seth Kubersky

"High in the Sky Seuss Trolley" begins previews at Islands of Adventure

JHM guest columnist Seth Kubersky makes an early morning visit to Universal Orlando. Where he's among the first guests to experience a radically revamped version of that theme park's infamous "Sylvester McMonkey McBean's Very Unusual Driving Machines" attraction
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Comments

 

Epcotrob said:

Sound like my daughter might like it. I need to go to IOA anyway, the coasters are a callin my name. Nice story and nice pictures too. Thanks.
June 18, 2006 9:44 PM
 

AlexK said:

More trains on the track don't necessary mean increased capacity. It has to go along with faster dispatches.
June 18, 2006 11:20 PM
 

bhb007 said:

Capacity is KEY as the author notes...  people will say "CUTE!" if the wait is only a couple minutes... people will say "WHY?" if the wait is longer than 20.  Monsters Inc. at DCA produced the latter effect in my for the same reason.  The whole fun of C-Tickets is that they charm without the wait of an E-Ticket.  IOA can and should fix the capacity issue pronto...
June 19, 2006 1:05 AM
 

“High in the Sky Seuss Trolley” begins previews at Islands of … - Gutters said:

June 19, 2006 3:38 AM
 

RogerRmjet said:

We, too, were wondering about that empty track that just seemed to go nowhere. We followed it trying to find the actual ride and heard from one of the employees that it was for a ride under construction. Looking forward to going back this year so that we can now ride it. Sounds like slowing it down would greatly help. Maybe in the next few months they'll get it all worked out.
June 19, 2006 8:23 AM
 

Tolkoto said:

I've always wondered if those tracks above Seuss Landing were actually intended to be a ride. Well, I'm a big fan of the TTA, so I'm looking forward to trying this out next month.
June 19, 2006 9:30 AM
 

doceagle said:

To elaborate on what AlexK said above, lengthening the track and adding more trains DOESN'T add capacity.  It extends the experience but doesn't improve throughput.

Hourly Capacity = Passengers Per Train  X  Dispatches per Hour  X  Number of Tracks

You can create a 20-mile track with a 2-hour ride time, but if you're still loading, for example, 20 people per train at 90-second intervals on two tracks, your capacity would remain 1,600.
June 19, 2006 9:55 AM
 

DerekJ said:

For those who don't remember, SMcMcBVUDM was originally supposed to be a trip in "private" Seuss-car mobiles, on the overhead tracks, sort of Autopia meets Tomorrowland Transit Authority--
And although you can see the safety concerns, and would've scared the heck out of an Astro Orbiter-phobe like me  :)  , have to admit, I'd always been a little curious...
The Trolley idea is safer, but, well, just isn't the same, somehow.
(And I still nominate SMcMMcB as the best Seuss character name in all of his books.)
June 19, 2006 10:13 AM
 

greenyskp said:

I thought one of the biggest concerns was evacuting people, should the ride break down.

From what it looks like, they would still need a cherry picker to get people out of there, should it break down.

We went to IOA the year it opened. And there was a sign up from day 1 announcing the SMcMcBVUDM ride. And we waited. And waited.

Just like the flying unicorn... i just dont think IOA execs are really thinking about the needs of this park. Im glad those barren tracks finally have something on them. Wheres the new coaster though?
June 19, 2006 11:53 AM
 

peglegpaul said:

Theres a new coaster going in ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE?
Im always hungry for info on new rides and attractions.
Disney, Universal... its all the same to me.
Im there every year, and I love to see the new stuff
June 19, 2006 4:08 PM
 

skubersky said:

Just to clarify my comment on ride speed/capacity:

As AlexK and doceagle said, you can't simply add trains to increase capacity, if your dispatches per hour are maxed out.  Let's say 90 seconds is how long it takes to load the guests and dispatch the train.  (Right now it's more like 2 minutes, but I'm sure will improve as the staff gets experienced).  At the current ride speed (about 3 minutes), one train is half-way along the track as the other train is departing.

If you were to half the speed of the cars, while doubling the number of trains, you would double the length of the ride experience while keeping capacity the same.  (That assumes you have enough track to maintain minimum safe distance between cars.)  

Of course, it would be silly for Universal to spend the money on more custom-made trains if it wouldn't increase capacity.  You can only increase capacity if you cut your dispatch time, and have enough trains to be able to continuously dispatch.  Currently, if they were to improve their dispatch time from 90 seconds (something I'm sure they'll be able to do with practice), it would actually not improve hourly capacity, because there would be no available train to take advantage of the increased capacity.  However, having a third train per track, combined with a slightly slower ride speed and modest dispatch time improvements, could boost capacity and give a better show at a fraction of the overall project cost.

To be honest, the current capacity numbers, in theory, aren't bad at all.  1600 is a very respectable THRC for a C-Ticket.  I'm curious to see what the queue looks like once the team is up to speed.

Seth
June 19, 2006 7:16 PM
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