The reason I think why the Superman line is longer no matter where the line starts is the fact that the seats are farther apart than other rides (for the employees to get to), it breaks down somewhat, and they have to check two things for all the passengers (the thing for feet, and the harnesses).
On let's say Batman, it's easier to do the seatbelt, and put down the harness around the same time. For Superman, a worker has to work on the legs (unless the legs are fine already), and than the harness.
Don't forget that sometimes it runs single trains either because of staff, or one is just broken. How many other rides do that at our park? It's not all the time, but I have seen it. I hardly see it on other rides.
It always bothered me though why they don't send a train earlier than they do if the train has been all checked. As soon as it passed a certain point, why couldn't you send another one? It's basically 2 minutes to get from the station to the station.
"I've been staring at the world, waiting. All the trouble and all the pain we're facing. Too much light to be livin' in the dark. Why waste time? We only got one life. Together we can be the CHANGE. So go and let your heart burn bright"
Don't forget that sometimes it runs single trains either because of staff, or one is just broken. How many other rides do that at our park? It's not all the time, but I have seen it. I hardly see it on other rides.
SUF runs 1 train more frequently than other coasters because the electronics inside the trains are extremely complicated compared to all other coasters, and if something needs to be fixed, it takes not only a long time to fix the problem but also a long time to find the problem. This is also the reason you see the same seats bypassed seats on SUF for long periods of time, they take a long time to fix and the park doesnt have enough maintenence staff to stay on top of it and do the maintenence when the park is closed (keep in mind they have plenty of other rides to do maintenence on every morning also). I dont think the ride frequently runs 1 train, however it did earlier in the season when there was a mixup with the construction of The Dark Knight coaster so a lot of the attention of SUFs maintenence guys went to that.
The reason I think why the Superman line is longer no matter where the line starts is the fact that the seats are farther apart than other rides (for the employees to get to), it breaks down somewhat, and they have to check two things for all the passengers (the thing for feet, and the harnesses).
Most of what takes longer about SUF is the bypassed seats, which causes slower load times and a lot more empty seats. The operator announces what seats are not available but...well its GP and they dont understand so a row that has 3 seats available 4 people will walk through the gate. Then when they realize they cant ride together 2 will go since 1 doesnt want to go alone, then you have 2 empty seats on a row with 4 available seats on the next train. Plus SUF has more complicated restraints which if they are between clicks they wont register as properly locked and after the entire train is loaded, they have to go back and be rechecked. Then that whole loose item policy thing...
It always bothered me though why they don't send a train earlier than they do if the train has been all checked. As soon as it passed a certain point, why couldn't you send another one? It's basically 2 minutes to get from the station to the station.
Depends on the ride, there are some rides where you can send the ride way before the other train comes near the station...for example Demon can send a train when the other train reaches brake 1 (the straight part after the tunnel), but when I was the lead there I wouldnt let the crew send a train until the other train was in the 2nd corkscrew because if you send a train that early your just going to stack every other train (and I know other leads that were the same way). Same goes for Raging Bull with 2 trains, you are allowed to send a train when the other train is in the brake run however I wouldnt do it until it was in the final frenzy because theres just a greater chance of stacking. Granted both rides dispatch intervals change when they are running 3 trains.
Last edited by BP317 on October 9th, 2008, 4:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The worst I've seen the line is like 10 feet before you go under the rocks under the lift. However, 5 rows of switchbacks were being used by the station.
Maybe A Great Day Is Just What You Need This Year '09 Demon rides-50 '09 SFGAm Visits-21
I have gotten lucky on SUF this summer with going right away and the line not being more than 30 minutes (first time) and only about 15-20 (second time). The 2nd it did break right before the people in front went but I got to the station itself really fast. The lines give you a better view than most of the other rides. Cool views, better layout and you see the whole ride before going on it.