Iron Dragon Question!

Please don't give them any bright ideas.... ;)

Well, it is true, that ride is very unpopular, and that could very easily get away with two trains. :) They wouldn't have to use as much electricity to run the extra train up the hills and through the brakes.

The ride isn't that unpopular. Around Halloweekends and other times where the park is really crowded, I've seen wait times go to 45 minutes on ID and Corkscrew. (Then again, I haven't been to the park since '07)

That can still happen a few times during the year on those busy days. But then again, everything gets a long line on those days including the 4x4's in Kiddy Kingdom.

The 4x4's always have a long line. But, then again, most of the kiddy rides seem to have 20 minute unload/load times. :)

That's because the vast majority of the parents accompanying the tykes on those rides don't understand that there is no Magic Key required to unlock their seat belts when the ride's over.

Yes there is...

It's called a car key. I always have my car keys ready when my daughter is riding the kiddy rides, otherwise it takes forever for the ride op to unload her.

That's my point. Any blunt rod-shaped object of the appropriate hardness and diameter will unlock the belts. But most parents haven't figured that out.

I don't really miss those rides, now that my daughter's outgrown them. I miss the age she was then, but not the rides....

There have bein a few problems with ID in the numerous years it has bein alive, and i agree they need to beef up the scenery around the ride.
I remember when they first put the thing in, and i sure did not wait 2 hours or so in line for it either and i rode the ID in it,s first year too.But I know that the blocks and the lift hill play a big part in the timing so it dose not fun into each other, cause we have bein stopped for a second or two on the lift and then it started again, just like the CCMR that dose the same thing.
And as for the scenery, they should build some sort of tunnels and obstacles around the ride so it looks like you are gonna hit them, kid of like BBW.But there is so much you could do with that ride it is unreal.

Those buckles are so pathetic. Any kid could open the buckle up with a buckle, a pencil, or a straw. It is really stupid that they put them on Woodstock Express. If cedar point really wanted too, they could be like Disney and use the type of buckle on star tours or Twilight Zone. Even Corkscrew Hill at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I like those types because they lock during the ride and unlock when the ride is over. It would be useful on some of the popular kid rides such as Jr. Gemini or Woodstock Express.

I agree that those would be nice, but very expensive at the same time. I don't see them instaling them onto a 30 year old kiddy ride anytime soon.

Oh, I hate those dumb seat belts. I've found that the aglet of a shoestring works the best in that little hole to unlock the seatbelt.

But, as for the Iron Dragon, I believe that people need to clean up the act over there. Number one, the scenery is horriable. Add something more than old trees, a mist in the lagoon, and the view of the much taller Mantis and TTD. Second, the ride has so much downtime! It seems like everytime I go to the Point, and I pass the Iron Dragon, at least once during the day, people are surrounding the employee at the start of the line, asking a bunch of stupid questions, such as, "Why won't you let us on the ride," and "why can't we ride this ride?" The line is always short when I'm there, though. But I don't go on busy days, like on Whirlpool Day or the Fourth Of July.

People arguing about Iron Dragon. Wow. Nothing better to do I guess! :)

Ironic, ain't it? I mean..."nothing better to do" is usually the impetus for me to ride it.

Iron Dragon sets itself up similar to Magnum if the train on the ready brakes (transfer area) isn't cleared by the time the next train gets to the end of its block. Here's what happens.

Train #1 is in the station loading.
Train #2 stops behind it in the ready brakes (transfer area).
Train #3 goes through the first part of the course, clears the block at the bottom of the second lift and starts the second climb up.

Because there are no clear blocks ahead train #3 must stop right before it crest the second lift.

Now in order to get lift started back up, the ride operators must clear train #1 out of the station, pull train #2 into the station, and...

*This is the important part*

A ride operator must go down the station platform stairs, walk (quickly) across the bridge, go through a small trial through the trees, and turn a key at the same time the ride operator in controls starts the lift.

Now, what goes wrong here is obvious. It's a slow walker or the ride operators are just distracted. This means train #1 had time to clear the first lift before the second lift was restarted.

It's very simple and is far from a malfunction. I'm not sure about the trains bumping. Maybe you were confused by the rather hard stop the train makes when it gets to the brakes at the bottom. It creates quite a jerk of the whole lift structure.

This is equivalent of Magnum stopping in the safety brakes after the last tunnel and the next train stops at the top of the lift.

The Iron Dragon is a good Coaster for Young and Older people that can't take the Taller and Faster Coaster. I ride it to see the Line of the Mantis and the MF on the 1st Hill. Then on the 2nd Hill I will see the TTD, Corkscrew, Wildcat, and the Power Tower Lines too. I like doing that so I don't have to walk all the way back to see the wait of the TTD.

Yeah, running reconnaissance to scope out the line for Corkscrew is critical.

Break Trims said:
Yeah, running reconnaissance to scope out the line for Corkscrew is critical.

Funny comment......ID is one of the few rides that have a mass appeal. It's like pizza, everyone likes it, just how much?

Hey don't knock The Iron Dragon, It is the first coaster i got my little brother to ride in the first seat on!!! so he could see what it is like,personally i'm a front seat rider on all rides, but my little bother won't do that on all he likes the middle cause he get's a little scared, but hey he was a trooper on maverick and rode the front seat and he loved it!
Now i have to get him to ride the rest of them in the front seat all will be good especially like the Raptor and Millennium Force Like i like to do,but our goal is to go on TTD hopefully it is not broke down when i go this year like it was in the past years,I guess i just pick the wrong days!!!

Some fly-by scenery would add to the experience and enhance the perception of speed. It would be nice to fabricate a few simple displays on the island between the first and second lifts. What might you associate with dragons?

Stone walls/castle

Ruins

A ballista or similar weapon

Nerds rolling odd-shaped dice

Caves

Heap of treasure guarded by a dragon