I would guess if they wanted to pay for rush service they could have the motor back in a couple days. The firm I work for uses large industrial motors, even bigger than the one on B:TR. When we have one go out, it goes to the local shop on a flatbed truck and most times is back in 2 days.
Sadly there is little reason to believe that SF will go the extra mile to get the ride up and running ASAP. The needs of guests isnt a major concern for the company.
^ I think you're completely wrong on this point. I know for a fact from talking with full time staff members that Great America takes pride in its coaster product and I am sure it a priority. At the same time the ride being a priority may mean that they order and make the correct motor which would mean that the ride will not open immediately. I don't know about anybody else, but I would rather have B:TR in the long run than have it for a few weeks for fright fest and have it break again in 4 years.
Remember, there's nothing but air beneath the chair.
It's kind of a "big deal" to have it closed considering its had issues with the lift motor constantly since 2005. It's not worth "rushing" to get it open if they need a part but in my mind, technically then it hasn't actually been fixed since 2005 if are still continually having problems with the motor blowing out.
All together, they have probably spent near the same amount of money it would have taken to completely buy a brand new then to fix whatever they thought would get it to function again. I understand when you fix most broken things the first time, you think it'll be fine, but when it goes out again and again, I would hope you'd start thinking in a different direction.
The staff at SFGAm takes an incredible amount of pride in their coaster product, however pride and the annual budget don't always go hand in hand. If SFGAm could afford to spend the $$ and have Batman fixed in time for Fright Fest, I'm sure they would do it in a heartbeat. But the money has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere just isn't there. It comes down to what is best in the end for the park, spending 10x more than is necessary to to get the ride running asap vs. having one coaster out of 12 down for a total of like 20 days of park operation, especially when staffing that is already at a premium this time of year and the handful of crew from Batman could be put to use elsewhere for slightly more efficient operations.
Favorite Wood Coasters: The Voyage, Ravine Flyer II, Thunderhead, Balder Favorite Steel: Voltron Nevera, Steel Vengeance, Expedition GeForce, Olympia Looping Parks visited: 239, Coasters Ridden: Steel: 937, Wood: 179, Total: 1116
When you have one of your premier rides not working, you spend the money to get it fixed ASAP!!! You move money from other rides that arent as popular to get this one fixed!! And there is no reason a company as big as SF that operates many BTR in the chain doesnt have enough spare parts on hand, even complete motors to have them shipped and get the ride operating,
I remeber years ago at Cedar Point, I think it was TTD. but it could have been another ride, and when a chain lift broke they immediately had another one flown it to get the ride working as soon as possible. The only excuse is a lack of will, and no concern for the parks guests. With this ride being down it will cause most of the other coasters to have longer lines, but just watch and see if they operate RB for example with 3 trains at all times to pick up the slack, or operate AE(both sides) and IW from 10;00am on to pick up the slack. My guess none of the above will be done, but longer lines helps them sell more skip the line scam bots.
SFGAm07 wrote:Well if they cant fix the motor or find one theres most likely no way they can get a new one made by the end of the season combined with the fact that theyd be buying with money they dont have (add this to the endless maintenence projects they have over the offseason)... Or remember when the center hub SFOTs Troika was damaged when it was being transported? What Six Flags could do is idle SFOTs Batman and transport the lift motor to Gurnee. REVENGE FOR TRIPLE PLAY.
Why does it have to be Batman? Why not Demon, Whizzer, Iron Wolf or Dark Knight? At least it is not Raging Bull/Superman/V2. Those are my top 3. I wonder if anyone will have any trip reports from this weekend. Especially since season pass holders have a free ticket today and tomorrow and next weekend. Sadly, I probably won't go till next month. My first fright fest and Batman will probably be still down. Don't they spend the majority of their time in mid-September when the park is closed decorating for Fright Fest?