Appreciation post for [Disaster Transport] Probably one of the most unique coaster that was at [Cedar Point] [Other]

[u/Yugoslavia_1918]

[u/CurbYourNewUrbanism]

I always liked it too. It’s kind of odd how much this ride was made fun of on coaster sites in the 00s. It was one of if not the most hated coasters.
I always thought it was a fun family ride with a refreshing amount of theming for a traditional park.

Yeah, the “story” was nonsensical (“welcome to Alaska”), but that was part of the charm.

[u/AyTrane → u/CurbYourNewUrbanism]

I think that "Alaska" was the name of the space station that we were delivering to.

[u/MrFinch8604 → u/AyTrane]

In the original story, you are traveling to Alaska by going up into space and straight back down, but something goes wrong and you end up “losing control”, and end up making it there after a wild ride. By the early 2000’s, they cut the line in half, which eliminated the part with the backstory, and turned off a lot of the in ride sound effects.

[u/Phantafan → u/CurbYourNewUrbanism]

I can't say anything about the coaster itself, but judging from the pictures alone it looks hideous from the outside.

[u/Qui-GonFlynn]

My only bob sled credit and I wasn't even aware of it at the time.

[u/robo-dragon → u/Qui-GonFlynn]

Same! I used to be terrified of coasters as a kid and this was one of the few rides I enjoyed. The year they removed it was the year I just started to like roller coasters. Figures!

[u/fleedermouse → u/Qui-GonFlynn]

I had no idea that it was a bobsled. I have no idea why either since I knew that it had been avalanche run before I just didn’t connect the dots.

[u/nIcAutOr → u/Qui-GonFlynn]

I’ve done Flying Turns and Reptilian since, but I also had no idea it was a bobsled. I still liked Disaster Transport, though. I’m glad I’m not the only one who didn’t know.

[u/Lumpy_Magazine_1882]

Rode it back in '97 and had no idea what was going on . . .

Welcome to Alaska!

[u/MightyIrish]

Unique, yes, but that area looks so much better without it.

[u/bakerbrokebro → u/MightyIrish]

Where was this in the park?

[u/sheabutter64 → u/bakerbrokebro]

front of the park near wicked twister & where gatekeeper is now

[u/randomtask → u/bakerbrokebro]

Right on the shoreline, with track elements that got really close to the sand. Which was a problem, because initially the coaster was not enclosed.

It was originally built as Avalanche Run, a standard open air Intamin bobsled. But whenever the wind would pick up, it would carry sand in the air and deposit it in the track channel at its low points. RCDB has some photos that make it really clear how susceptible this thing was to being inundated by sand.

It got a reputation for being “dumb” in part because of this vulnerability to the elements, and then again when it was enclosed with a space theme that had unexplained story elements, and yet again when it was discovered that the enclosed ride was still susceptible to leaks and could not run in heavy rain. It was a serious albatross for the park, in its long life it never got to a point where everything about it was properly figured out, it lived and died as a half baked attraction.

[u/Saikar22 → u/randomtask]

The theming being stupid and the relatively lackluster thrills of a bobsled coaster could have been ignored if the darn thing was waterproof and offered a solid ride during Cedar Point's near daily rainstorms. It was in fact the OPPOSITE of waterproof, as water pooled far longer on the sled track and so it would be down for hours even after the rain stopped. I never understood why they didn't just resurface the roof.

[u/bakerbrokebro → u/randomtask]

WOW that’s so close to the shore! Wasn’t able to attend CP in this era so I love the history. I agree that area looks very nice now with the beautiful pavilion and gatekeeper but I selfishly wish it was still Wicked Twister + Gatekeeper and not the pavilion. Thank you for sharing!

[u/AbeVigoda76]

I was always amazed at how much everything looked like Alaska when you stepped off the ride.

[u/flyawaybye]

The original! Sadly, I never got to ride this in its original form (Avalanche Run), but I did ride it as DT during the 90s. #memories

[u/BeezzBeezz → u/flyawaybye]

That was my first coaster!

[u/agauh → u/flyawaybye]

Somehow I have both of these credits.

[u/The_Original_Miser → u/agauh]

Me too! I was luckily able to ride both and enjoyed them both.

[u/Jesse_Inkman]

Dispatch Master Disaster Transport! Actually really liked this ride.

[u/Saikar22]

I rode this the first year it was enclosed, back when it had all the special effects working, when I was very young. That sure didn't make it worth the 2 hour wait.

I guess basically none of the story survived the years since I didn't see it posted here. The gist of it was that you were on a space station and had a scheduled fight on a normal, commercial transport ship to Alaska, for whatever reason. Maybe that was just a good place to land. The queue-line scenery referenced a bunch of other odd cities around the world. The lift hill was you being launched out of the space station, then nearly immediately you get attacked by space pirates so all the twists and turns of the ride was you evading their attacks while various audio clips and flashing lights played. The last few turns had scenes of you approaching Earth, and yes they were some of icy landscapes. So the "Welcome to Alaska!" ending was supposed to be sort of a closure to the whole thing. Despite the attack and crazy landing, you did in fact get where you were hoping to go in one piece.

I guess they tried, man. Even then it was pretty strange.

[u/Maiyku]

She was one of my favorites!

She was part of what I called my “1-2 punch”. I always started my day with a ride on Blue Streak, then immediately went over to Disaster Transport and rode her.

When I left for the day, I did it in reverse, Disaster Transport, then Blue Streak, then home.

Both rides generally had short lines, are a nice quick ride, and because of their “older” status and ride types, were really fun to ride together like that.

Now that she’s gone I don’t have that anymore and replacing the ride with Gatekeeper doesn’t give the same effect for me.

I miss Disaster Transport, even if she couldn’t run in the rain despite being an indoor coaster. Lol. Loved all her quirks.

[u/spgreenwood → u/Maiyku]

https://youtu.be/cWEdlLwvKOM?is=oD3S9bd_fXkPGx8O

[u/MidcourseDiscourse]

It’s actually ridiculous how much faster the ride felt because of the dark. Never rode the original, but based on the similar rides and stats, Disaster Transport felt like it was flying!

[u/EricGuy412]

It was bizarre in the best way. I miss old, weird Cedar Point that had stuff like this, the Pirate Ride, Bear Country, etc.

[u/cordialcatenary → u/EricGuy412]

I took my first Cedar Point trip this year and was surprised by the lack of basically any indoor dark rides or indoor coasters. I then came upon the history of Disaster Transport! I bet the line got insane when it rained and was basically the only thing open.

[u/EricGuy412 → u/cordialcatenary]

Amazingly enough, it couldn't run in heavy rain as noted elsewhere in here! 🤣

[u/fleedermouse → u/EricGuy412]

Punching bag forest let’s go!

[u/burjja → u/EricGuy412]

It's disappointing that they seem determined to remove everything that isn't a coaster or restaurant. Sometimes you need a break and you just want to go on the Space Spiral or play with the remote controlled boats they had in the water under Iron Dragon.

[u/DisasterTransport]

Welcome to Alaska!

[u/realplastic]

Sorry for the weird photos, it's from so long ago:

from teasing its replacement

[u/PotentialAcadia460]

I used to really enjoy bobsled coasters, and I suppose in retrospect I appreciate just how *weird* this ride was. But the area looks so, so much better without that ugly, slipshod building blocking the view of the beach.

People rightfully shit on it for being an indoor coaster that had to close in the rain because they put vents *right over* the enclosed track. There were some people who defended it for misguided reasons, because it was a "family coaster"' (because it was one of the few rides that had a 46" height requirement; never mind that if Six Flags or any other company ran the park, the height requirement of that ride and several others would have been lower to begin with) and because "it was air conditioned" (false: only the LINE was air-conditioned, and you could absolutely feel the temperature difference once the actual ride started in that hot, hot building).

I remember they used to sell 3D glasses in the queue, which was a joke because at the time I first rode it, if you were to pay for those glasses, it was mainly to see the hand-prints in the first room at that time look *vaguely* three-dimensional; eventually, they used part of the queue as a haunt, and for the last few years, you entered the ride further into the queue, perhaps even in the room where they were "making" the bobsled vehicle.

So while I miss on some level the weird rides like this that will likely never be built again, I can't really say the park is worse off without DT. Frankly, I'm amazed it lasted as long as it did.

[u/GauntletVSLC]

I remember reading about this in the Guinness Book of World Records as a kid. I was very bummed that it was removed before I got to visit Cedar Point my first time.

[u/ShermanSherbert]

Shout out to it being air conditioned on those crazy hot days. Or at least felt wayyyy cooler inside.

[u/MrRaven95]

Sadly never got the chance to ride this ride in either of its forms, but given how fun Flying Turns at Knoebels was I'm going to assume this ride was pretty fun, too.

[u/burjja → u/MrRaven95]

My first time at Cedar Point was in 91. I made it to the 2010s without knowing it was previously Avalanche Run. One of those things that reminds me that when I was a kid, the Internet didn't exist. And then I feel old for a bit.

[u/jsilv0]

I guess I'm on the minority because I never really cared for this ride

[u/Saikar22 → u/jsilv0]

I promise that you are not in the minority. During the few times it was running you could almost walk onto this thing.

[u/jsilv0 → u/Saikar22]

I'm old enough to remember when this ride had waits because before Wickid Twister it was the only coaster in this area of the park

[u/fleedermouse → u/Saikar22]

By the last few years they needed to refurb the theming or scrap it and they opted for the latter.

[u/fleedermouse → u/jsilv0]

It was excellently promoted at least regionally as were most of the rides in that era. The theming was pretty cool for me as a preteen. It easily competed with Disney in my 11 year old mind and honestly was a good ride and plussed by being in the dark. It would be a great move for the pointe to build a spiritual successor maybe something like Arthur with space theming for a solid indoor family friendly dark ride/coaster experience.

[u/Cabana]

Didn't they offer 3d glasses on this for a while? I remember them in the 2000s.

[u/MrFinch8604 → u/Cabana]

They did, because the Halloweekends maze that used the queue was 3D and after a while they kind of just left it up year round

[u/Soler25]

I wish I was old enough to have ridden it as an outdoor AND and enclosed bobsled. I think that would be a pretty interesting dual credit to have!

[u/jakoobie6]

Was the best place to get a break from the summer heat, bonus that the ride was fun too

[u/multificionado]

Was it? I felt it was only appreciated because it was an indoor ride with air-conditioning.

[u/burjja → u/multificionado]

I don't think many were praising the core ride. The uniqueness was the themeing. In retrospect, it's kind of amazing they had a ride more akin to Disney than to the other coasters in the park.

This is kind of lame, but as a teen in the 90s, we all loved the use of black lights in there. It was the era of cosmic bowling, it was a different time. lol

[u/Regular-Telephone529]

My college roommate thought that Disaster Transport was a storage shed until CP announced that it was closed for Gatekeeper

[u/tittlediddle]

I think about her so much...

[u/Feisty-Permission651]

Welcome to Alaska!

[u/hanaemementomori]

At first I thought this was the Outer Limits coaster at Kings Dominion.

[u/Big-Carpenter7921]

I was lucky enough to go there the year before it closed