Fire In the Hole Question

mhguy77 · June 21, 2010, 07:44:05 PM

Hey Cooper, since you have inside knowledge, do they have the room to lengthen the ride?
I would think that is they did this they could add another car to the cycle.
Also, of all the dark spots in the ride are there any areas that are large enough for show scenes that could be added?

Could they add more " content"?

Last question, how can I get a backstage tour of the ride like the coaster club did?

Copper · June 21, 2010, 10:06:00 PM

Could they lengthen the ride? I personally would like to concentrate on fixing up the scenes we have. I think the improvements are great, but there is so much more we can do with the scenes we have. There are a few things that our maintenance guys are currently working on that we could see materialize this season. Also, the burning bridge needs fixed and the shooting Baldknobber on Main Street needs to move again, these are high budget items that will take some time and I would like to see come to fruition. Sure they can add more content and I think that will happen throughout the current ride. I really don't see SDC dropping the millions it would take to add to the ride. We will have to be satisfied with the current length of the ride.

Do we need another car? No, we currently run three trains most days and four on busy days. Four trains get a lot of people through the ride. We can run five trains, but we don't have a lot of time to load and sometimes I feel like we shove people on and push people out the door when we run four. I want the guests to have a good experience all around, yes I don't want them to wait forever to ride, but I also don't want them too feel rushed out the door.

If we do a Coaster Christmas this year you should join in, they get to ride through with the lights on and you get to see the old building lit up.

PastorDon · June 21, 2010, 10:42:23 PM

We rode FITH today and two things stand out that both seem like a pretty cheap fix. First I'd like to see the ride go a little slower so you could actually see the scenes before they whiz by. The other major problem is light leaks. Any little crack the let's sunlight in destroys the illusion of being outdoors at night. Oh, and one other change I would make. There has to be a way to make the oncoming train more realistic without spending a whole lot of money. The old rotating light fixture just doesn't do it for me.

By the way, this doesn't concern FITH but I thought I should mention it. While riding on the outside seat of WF today I had my hands in the air and the outside hand was brushed by one of the bushes along the track. I figured they probably keep them pretty closely trimmed so was kind of shocked by that!

History Buff · June 21, 2010, 10:54:13 PM

^You should probably mention that on park if you go back.

A fog machine at the train light should make up for the effect there - pretty easy fix.

A little wait adds to anticipation. I never complain about a reasonable wait time, and FitH always provides just the right amount of time for me to review the ride for my six-year-old who is still scared every time.

I would still like to get a Fans ride on FitH - both in the light and in total darkness.

mhguy77 · June 22, 2010, 05:30:34 PM

I agree wholeheartedly about the light leaking cheapens it.
I think a little ducktape might work.
What do the citizens of FITH say about this issue?

rubedugans · June 22, 2010, 05:53:03 PM

I saw no fog last month at the last drop in FITH

pintrader · June 22, 2010, 10:58:34 PM

I myself, have never seen sunlight shine thru on FITH, but I have saw cracks with what looked like maybe a maintenance area light shining thru. Maybe that's what were talking about here. Back when FITH first opened up, the train light did have a lot better effect. Steam would come up from both sides of the train light like a real locomotive letting off steam, sound and all. Not sure when they dropped this effect but it was a long time ago.

Hatfield McCoy · June 22, 2010, 11:40:23 PM

Quote from: pintrader on June 22, 2010, 10:58:34 PM
I myself, have never seen sunlight shine thru on FITH, but I have saw cracks with what looked like maybe a maintenance area light shining thru. Maybe that's what were talking about here. Back when FITH first opened up, the train light did have a lot better effect. Steam would come up from both sides of the train light like a real locomotive letting off steam, sound and all. Not sure when they dropped this effect but it was a long time ago.

It is definitely sunlight leaking in through the roof in a few places. I noticed it on the last trip a few weeks ago, and thought to myself, "I'd climb up there with some 'fix it' spray foam".

Also a question for Copper. Why is moving the scenes around so expensive? I always thought it would be a matter of grabbing a stuffed dummy and placing it somewhere else after closing time. My son and I rode a few weeks back and the old ride looked great by the way.

Copper · June 23, 2010, 12:32:52 AM

Moving scenes isn't necessarily expensive, but fixing the moving parts of the ride can be expensive and time consuming. When we are in seven day a week operation it's hard to get in and work. Each day trains have to be fixed, cleaned and inspected. Our maintenance guys get caught up doing these "must do" jobs and fixing scenes is no longer a priority, they have to keep the ride operating. It's not as easy as someone going in and fixing and moving things around either. Where are these new things going to come from? And whose budget is the money coming from? I would love to be given a check book and told to have fun! But it's a business and things are not that black and white.

I think the train having steam is a great idea, if it did have steam at one time it must have been some time ago. There is absolutely no evidence left behind that there was a steam machine of sorts.

The light you see shining through is back of the house lights. It used to be worse; these are things that are slowly getting fixed.

Also, the trains can't go any slower. This would kill our capacity and that is why you ride it again and again, so you can see new things each time you ride.

marolinesdad · June 23, 2010, 01:10:16 PM

Hey Copper... Has the barrel been fixed?

Copper · June 24, 2010, 11:00:46 PM

It's fixed!

History Buff · June 24, 2010, 11:04:01 PM

OK, am I just missing something? When a cannon is lit, some soldier shouts, "Fire in the Hole!" to warn the others of the impending explosion. Is that last drop supposed to be an explosion? If so or if not, where did the ride get its name? Or is it a firefighting term, as well?

Junior · June 25, 2010, 08:57:46 AM

Hmm..I thought fire in the hole was a term used in mining when dynamite was dropped into a blast hole and lit. History Buff or Rube Dugans...can ya do some research for us?

rubedugans · June 25, 2010, 10:33:11 AM

It is a term that in history class, we use for several purposes.

Most notably is the call to ignite a charge for detonation. This is both a command to the igniter/detonator and a warning to those around.

When discharging a firearm such as a cannon or an early "fire"arm, a torchman would light the wick or ignite the small hole packed with gunpowder that led to the main powder charge. This caused the main charge to explode, propelling the projectile to the enemy, Hence the term/ warning call went out to beware of the fire in the hole (a charge is about to explode) . Over time when firearms became more technologically advanced, the phrase was shortened to "Fire".

I know nothing about the terminology as it is used for Arson purposes. Does this help?

History Buff · June 25, 2010, 11:13:13 AM

I was thinking explosions were used, in rare cases, for suffocating fires. I just wondered if that is the intention in the ride. I just seemed like a strange name for the ride. I wonder what alternatives were discussed at the inception of the ride.

Any ideas for what the alternative names might have been? Blazing Fury perhaps.