Disaster Transport
Disaster Transport | |
---|---|
Previously known as Avalanche Run (1985–1989) | |
Enclosed – Bobsled | |
Manufacturer | Intamin |
Model | Swiss Bob |
Track layout | Custom |
Lift/launch system | Chain |
Height | 63 ft (19 m) |
Drop | 50 ft (15 m) |
Length | 1,932 ft (589 m) |
Speed | 40 mph (64 km/h) |
Inversions | 0 |
Duration | 2:32 |
Max vertical angle | 27° |
Capacity | 1,800 riders per hour |
G-force | 2.7 |
Height restriction | 46 in (117 cm) |
Trains | 5 trains with a single car. Riders are arranged 2 across in 5 rows for a total of 10 riders per train. |
Disaster Transport at RCDB |
Disaster Transport (formerly Avalanche Run) was an
History
Disaster Transport was originally known as Avalanche Run and was entirely outdoors. On October 19, 1984, Cedar Point announced that Avalanche Run would be added to the park.
Renovation
On October 22, 1989, Cedar Point announced that Avalanche Run would receive a major refurbishment and be renamed Disaster Transport for the 1990 season.[6] ITEC Productions, Inc. was chosen to renovate the ride, completely enclosing it in a show building. The renovation included the addition of a space-themed queue and ride along with special effect lighting, two robot animatronics, and sound. The special effects and construction cost approximately $4 million.[7] On the outside of the building, "12 E" was written, which had caused numerous rumors as to its meanings. On August 3, 2005, it was revealed that it stood for the 12th ride designed by the ITEC employee, Eric.[8]
Not long after the changes to the ride in 1990, the special effects began to deteriorate due to a lack of upkeep. By the time the ride closed, many of the effects were no longer active or had been covered up.[9] Blacklight reactant paint lined the walls, mostly in the form of handprints or outlines of scenes. These gave a 3-D appearance when the rider wore special glasses purchased at the beginning of the queue.[10]
Closure
After
The ride started demolition on August 6, using about 380 trucks to transport scrap materials. A portion of track, two cars and the main entrance sign were to be donated to the National Roller Coaster Museum.[13] Less than a month later on August 29, the last section of Disaster Transport was demolished. The 12E part of the building was the last section left standing.[14] Cedar Point is still in possession of many of the props used in the ride and often use them for decorations for haunts during their HalloweeKends event. And as of May 2021, Dave, one of the animatronics used in the ride's queue line, is on display in a gift shop adjacent from
Incident
On June 7, 1990 at around 4:30 p.m, three people were injured when a 6 ft-diameter foam asteroid prop weighing between 100-150 pounds overhanging the track fell into the ride trough and was struck by an oncoming bobsled carrying eight passengers. Two of the victims were treated at a local hospital and released and the third was flown to a Michigan hospital to be treated for a neck injury and was later released.[citation needed]
Ride experience
Disaster Transport was a
Theme
After the ride was renovated in 1990, a new space theme was given. The story of the ride was the passengers had been enlisted to deliver cargo from a suborbital factory to a station in Alaska. Large screen projections, simulated lasers, mist, and recordings were added to the ride. In the queue, guests would go through three rooms including Rocket Recovery, Mission Control and Repair Bay.[7] The original entrance to the ride was located next to Troika. During HalloWeekends, the park would change the entrance of Disaster Transport to under the lift hill, leaving the one next to Troika to be used for the Halloween Haunt. For the 2009 season, the entrance was permanently changed to under the lift hill.[17] When the entrance was changed, the Rocket Recovery and Mission Control rooms were closed, leaving the Repair Bay the only room guests walked through.[18][19]
Story
The ride experience was different and much more immersive in its earlier years. The story of the ride was that the riders were Dispatch Master Transport’s first public passengers and they were bound for a receiving station in Alaska. The alleged company had exclusively transported cargo until that time. The riders' shuttle would also be carrying cargo that included a highly volatile fuel nicknamed "Really Big Bang" (RBB-11 for short).
Passengers would enter under the show building through a doorway labeled "Transport Entry". Upon entering, eerie, futuristic electronic music would play. Every few minutes, a pre-recorded voice would come over the speakers and wish the riders a safe journey and remind them of the company motto: "We get you there in 5 minutes or less, or we don't get you there at all." The first room was the Terminal. Black lights lit the room. Travel posters and a diagram of the state-of-the-art space transports the riders would be traveling in were on the side walls. Two airport type loading gates were on the far wall next to two TV monitors which would randomly display videos of the head of the company "The Dispatch Master", travel ads, or random space pilots. Between the two gates was a sort of receptionist desk. An employee sitting at the desk would press a button that would supposedly open the gates so the riders could enter the launch pad. When the button was pressed, smoke would pour out from under the gates. The staff member would explain that wasn't supposed to happen and would instruct the riders to take a detour through the service rooms of the hangar to get to the launch pad.
Walking into the next room, named the Control Room, guests would see an orange mission control robot named Dave working up on a platform in the left corner of the room at a desk labeled "Dispatch Control". Dave would be taking and receiving calls from workers and space shuttles (according to him, one had crashed outside of
Walking down another hallway, guests could see a 3-D mural of a warehouse full of crates behind a large window. Turning left at the end of the hall, guests would enter the Repair Bay which would later become the only area of the queue where riders would enter. This room contained a robotic foreman animatronic named Franc, supervising the repair of a rocket by robotic arms. Franc would bark orders at the arms but the arms would ignore him, much to Franc's frustration. Also within the room were suspended conveyor baskets carrying spare rocket parts, a forklift, and a laser scanner on the far wall that would flash "REJECT" after scanning the parts on the conveyor. A small room outside the Repair Bay had the company's logo subtly broken to reveal the ride's true name.
Guests would climb a short stairway and enter the launch area. The ride vehicles would move from behind a curtain without passengers. The ride would begin after ten or less riders were loaded onto a rocket. The rocket would move out onto a
The ride's showbuilding contained numerous props and scenes to make the riders feel as if they were under attack while flying through outer space. The riders would speed by other rockets similar to theirs, explosions, meteors, debris, video projections and a satellite that would fire lasers at the passengers. Halfway through the ride, the on-board computer would shout, "I'm losing control, I'm losing control!" before an Alaskan landscape came into view. Here, the computer would scream, "Look out! We're gonna crash!" The rocket then banked right and entered the final brake run. White lights would strobe accompanied by a gust of wind to simulate the rocket crashing into snow. Riders would enter the unloading station where they were greeted by an employee that yelled, "WELCOME TO ALASKA!" The riders would disembark their vehicle and exit on the left side of the platform where a sign read, "Thank you for flying with Dispatch Master Transport!".
Building
The building was also used as a storage facility for the park. During HalloWeekends, much of the original queue area was used to house a haunt attraction. It was first used in 1997 for the haunt, Cedar Point Cemetery. In 2000, it was transformed into the Egyptian themed, Pharaoh's Secret haunted house. In 2009, it was transformed into Happy Jack's Toy Factory, a haunted toy factory.[20][21]
The ride, though indoors, would close in any type of rain. Because of leaks in the structure, water pooled in the trough, warranting a shutdown. Typically, the ride would remain shut down after a period of rain as the crew would have to cycle several trains through the circuit in order for it to dry. Although the ride was enclosed, the storage track remained outdoors with a large door that opened when the storage track was needed.[22]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Cedar Point. "Avalanche Run Fact Sheet" (PDF). PointBuzz. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- ^ "Dispatch Master Transport Logo". Coaster-net. Archived from the original on September 20, 2010. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- ^ a b Marden, Duane. "Disaster Transport (Cedar Point)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
- ^ "New ride brings winter fun to summer". News Herald. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "PointBuzz Timeline". PointBuzz. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
- ^ Douglas, Bruce A. (October 22, 1989). "Midwest Theme Parks Building for the '90s". The Star Press. Travel Editor. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Cedar Point. "Disaster Transport Fact Sheet" (PDF). PointBuzz. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- ^ Adams, Tyler; Tony Clark (August 3, 2005). "12 E Revealed!". Cedar Point. Archived from the original on June 16, 2009. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- ^ "Disaster Transport". The Point Online. Archived from the original on February 14, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- ^ "Cedar Point virtual tour". Tour the Point. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- ^ "Disaster Transport: Cedar Point's Unforgettable Disney Knock-off Coaster Catastrophe". 20 September 2016. Archived from the original on 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
- ^ Gimbel, Cristy (July 13, 2012). "Cedar Point makes special announcement". WTOL. Archived from the original on April 20, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
- ^ a b "Fans say goodbye to Disaster Transport". WKYC. July 30, 2012. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
- ^ "Disaster Transport reduced to rubble". WKYC. August 29, 2012. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
- ^ a b Marden, Duane. "Disaster Transport (Cedar Point)". Roller Coaster DataBase.
- ^ "Disaster Transport POV". YouTube. July 18, 2012. Archived from the original on August 18, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- ^ thpomer (September 8, 2007). "Disaster Transport Entrance". Flickr. Archived from the original on November 3, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- ^ "Disaster Transport old queue". YouTube. July 21, 2007. Retrieved July 30, 2012.[dead YouTube link]
- ^ "Disaster Transport new queue". YouTube. November 3, 2009. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
- ^ "Disaster Transport's final ride". WKYC. July 30, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
- ^ "Happy Jack's Toy Factory with lights on". YouTube. November 2, 2009. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- ^ "Disaster Transport storage track". PointBuzz. Archived from the original on November 27, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
External links
- Official POV of Disaster Transport
- Disaster Transport at The Point Online
- Disaster Transport Archived 2013-08-05 at the Wayback Machine at Point Buzz