Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

Rougarou and Vortex are quite a bit more than that.

 

 

Mantis cost 12M, the conversion to Rougarou was 2-3M from some reports.

 

It was significantly more than that. I'm not gonna discuss the details of it, but it was a larger investment than people make it out to be. It's enough money that I don't consider 2015 as an "off-year" at CP in terms of investment totals.

Right...Your comment is b/c you said it cost more. All reports are wrong b/c you said so.

^You don't have to believe me if you don't want to. But I only spent most of 2015 at that ride, spending months with the manufacturer representative and programmers, as well as a few of the decision-makers in corporate. When you work in a park, there's really only so much information you're allowed to share with others. Some of it's a grey area, this being one of those times. I don't work there anymore so I really don't have anything to lose, but I also respect those I worked with who gave me the opportunities to learn as much as I did in my time there, especially last year, and I don't need to share every detail about the park if I don't want to. I enjoy being able to answer some questions or provide insight on things some people may not know on here, but I don't see the need to take 4,517 pictures, alert the media and provide a press release, and phone numbers and email addresses of every source.

^You don't have to believe me if you don't want to. But I only spent most of 2015 at that ride, spending months with the manufacturer representative and programmers, as well as a few of the decision-makers in corporate. When you work in a park, there's really only so much information you're allowed to share with others. Some of it's a grey area, this being one of those times. I don't work there anymore so I really don't have anything to lose, but I also respect those I worked with who gave me the opportunities to learn as much as I did in my time there, especially last year, and I don't need to share every detail about the park if I don't want to. I enjoy being able to answer some questions or provide insight on things some people may not know on here, but I don't see the need to take 4,517 pictures, alert the media and provide a press release, and phone numbers and email addresses of every source.

Don't waste your time with eugene. It's not worth the effort.

^You don't have to believe me if you don't want to. But I only spent most of 2015 at that ride, spending months with the manufacturer representative and programmers, as well as a few of the decision-makers in corporate. When you work in a park, there's really only so much information you're allowed to share with others. Some of it's a grey area, this being one of those times. I don't work there anymore so I really don't have anything to lose, but I also respect those I worked with who gave me the opportunities to learn as much as I did in my time there, especially last year, and I don't need to share every detail about the park if I don't want to. I enjoy being able to answer some questions or provide insight on things some people may not know on here, but I don't see the need to take 4,517 pictures, alert the media and provide a press release, and phone numbers and email addresses of every source.

LOL..Nobody asked for anything of the ridiculous things you mentioned. So like i said before it is b/c you said so. No I don't believe you over reports. Also, reports on other conversions costs. You were at most a college kid who the hire to run a ride for the summer and they would never tell a minion what the cost was, you're self described inflated importance is laughable.

If you say so, sir!

^You don't have to believe me if you don't want to. But I only spent most of 2015 at that ride, spending months with the manufacturer representative and programmers, as well as a few of the decision-makers in corporate. When you work in a park, there's really only so much information you're allowed to share with others. Some of it's a grey area, this being one of those times. I don't work there anymore so I really don't have anything to lose, but I also respect those I worked with who gave me the opportunities to learn as much as I did in my time there, especially last year, and I don't need to share every detail about the park if I don't want to. I enjoy being able to answer some questions or provide insight on things some people may not know on here, but I don't see the need to take 4,517 pictures, alert the media and provide a press release, and phone numbers and email addresses of every source.

 

 

LOL..Nobody asked for anything of the ridiculous things you mentioned. So like i said before it is b/c you said so. No I don't believe you over reports. Also, reports on other conversions costs. You were at most a college kid who the hire to run a ride for the summer and they would never tell a minion what the cost was, you're self described inflated importance is laughable.

Schoop (Or is it BBD this week?), can you drop the act?

Maybe the steel I-Box would only be used for the transfer track and not the whole ride and we could see some topper track installed. If you are wondering what made the speculation, here is a video of Goliath (SFGAm) coming out of transfer. You can see some I-Box track there instead of the topper track you see on the rest of the ride.

 

it's railroad track there now. confirmed by Tony Clark.

I absolutely love how there clearly are railroad tracks in the foreground to compare to.

Never change, Tony.

Hey, new here and a long time lurker. I was at a local bar tonight in Sandusky and met with one of the (very drunk) construction staff. They told me that mean streak is getting a new metal track and will be opened by 2018.

Where is the 18M for New Texas Giant from? Everything I have ever read says it cost 10M to RMC back in 2011

Just saw this, it was a typo, obviously it was around 10M. I've edited the post, but the sum up of prices was still correct so it makes a lot of sense.

^Youre welcome!

 

I've been thinking of possible themes and stuff and I thought of one that makes some good sense I wanna hear what you all think....so since it seems the track could mimick "railroad" tracks based on the color and given the theme of that area of the park I say Iron Streak would be a great name themed to a "Wild West" train. Makes a lot of sense and they could have a cool story behind how the railroad train went out of control or something.

It's actually funny that you say that because their was a twitter post that could kind of hint to that. Somebody asked Cedar Point to explain the I-box track located on sight and Tony Clark replied "Yes. Those are railroad tracks." You never know you could be right.

Oh wow just saw that....It just makes perfect sense to me. They even have like the park train right there. So they could theme it that the railroad had like a run away crazy train depart from the station or something.

Everyone commenting on that twitter post seems to be the kind of enthusiast that you can tell is an enthusiast and therefore the bad kind.

Everyone commenting on that twitter post seems to be the kind of enthusiast that you can tell is an enthusiast and therefore the bad kind.

Everyone commenting on that twitter post seems to be the kind of enthusiast that you can tell is an enthusiast and therefore the bad kind.

That's what I was thinking too.

I love Tony's response, though, as well as the fact that no one in the comments seems to notice the foreground.

Lol. I just want the announcement. That's all I care about at this point. I don't care about 2017 or 2018. I just want an announcement.... and renderings lol.

Trust me this is worth your time reading......

So just had a great long 17hr day at Cedar Point and it started early at 8 in the morning going up on the transfer platform of Raptor, Valravn and going behind the scenes on Dragster and Sky Ride! We learned a lot of very interesting facts that I'd like to put out there to help diminish some coaster fallacies. We were given a very mechanical geared tour so everything is pretty accurate, led by their Manager of Maintenance. Thank you CP and our TPEG group for a great tour!

So the nylon/polyurethane wheel debate on what the purpose is goes on long enough. Here are the facts. The white colored wheels on any rollercoaster are nylon. These make the train go faster since the material is a harder, however one can argue that the jerk of a nylon wheel is a bit rougher than the much softer polyurethane...meaning nylon wheels can give a rougher ride depending on the coaster. If you see yellow wheels then you're seeing all polyurethane. These are softer and help the train safely go through the course since even the slightest speed change can alter how the forces react on the riders. If you think polyurethane wheels are a tad smoother you nailed it! Valravn uses strictly polyurethane wheels and other B&M's in the park such as Raptor, Rougarou, and Gatekeeper all use a combination of nylon and polyurethane to help it speed up but not too much...creating a balanced speed.

As you can see below Dragster's power room is absolutely massive. This is only one half of it as there is an identical room on the other side of the track. Fun fact it uses about 3x more electricity than your house does in an entire month just sitting idle without launching a car on any given day if turned on. So you can only imagine. I think I remembered hearing Maverick uses about 3/8 the electricity that Dragster does but don't quote me on that. Dragster's cable needs to be replaced about every 1/2 year to every 3/4 year so at least once maybe twice a full year it is replaced. The cable costs about $30,000 dollars to replace with all expenses. The cable team starts when the park closes and usually has it up and running the next day. The ride has over 600 sensors making it the most prone to down-time. Notice it's not because there is a problem with it, it is just a very complicated system where one of those sensor trips can cause a delay. The speed of the launch is actually calculated electronically. A sensor at the top of the tower is paired up with one at the first set of brakes. The time between the two is averaged to be 7s so if the timing is lower than 7s by any margin the next train will launch a little faster. If it is over 7s by any margin the train will slow down. So if the train ahead of you creeps over, you will likely fly over, and vice Versa if the one before you flys over you will go slow over (better rollback chance).

Other small facts...No magnetic brakes can fully stop a train on B&M coasters, the eddy-brakes are always creating an attractive magnetic field going opposite in direction of the train once fully slowed down. So that is why most declined brake runs are in existence so it can keep the train moving without a transportation motor. Sky Ride cable is hand woven together and wielded on the ends to create the most seamless continuously loop. Cedar Fair usually takes 3-5 years to plan out the entire rollercoaster (Valravn was in the works for 5 years). We also got to see them transfer a Valravn train on for morning testing!

If you have any questions or comments about rides I mentioned let me know cause I might be able to answer them. Didn't cover like 1/2 the stuff we got to see. I took some pictures without trying to be rude to the tour guide...and then other from the day!

Good morning sunshine

Heading up the Raptor maintenance stairs!

Aw did someone miss their wake up alarm?

Wheel bogie of Valravn. Pictures don't do it justice. It's as big as my torso

Is it wrong to look up a rollercoaster'a skirt?

Beautiful looking coaster, but to me ends at that.

Empty station means cool photos!

1/2 of the Dragster Hydraulic room

Standing underneath the top hat

So blue. So graceful.

Getting artsy. If you didn't notice it was a beautiful day

Nothing here to see except the slight over cast that set in

Just hanging at the Cedar Point train station

I love this photo. New header? Maybe. Much better coaster than Mantis

90°!!!!

Another beautiful photo

I love restricted areas.

They could build a really nice train out of these tracks!

Hey, new here and a long time lurker. I was at a local bar tonight in Sandusky and met with one of the (very drunk) construction staff. They told me that mean streak is getting a new metal track and will be opened by 2018.

IT'S CONFIRMED!!!... 2018!!!...

Drunk construction worker closet thing we have to a Dippin Dots Guy,... SO IT'S CONFIRMED!!!

. . . I just want an announcement.... and renderings lol.

Oh dear god, no. Please no renderings. . . Then it will be 200 pages of people complaining about the renderings, and how they are no where near what the real ride will be. . .

Hey, new here and a long time lurker. I was at a local bar tonight in Sandusky and met with one of the (very drunk) construction staff. They told me that mean streak is getting a new metal track and will be opened by 2018.

You sure that wasn't Tony in a drunk construction guy costume? The lengths he'll go to, to troll the fans

^^^^ Thanks for the interesting information and great photos - neat stuff!

Hey TyRush,

Glad you got to go behind the scenes at Skyride (and other rides ), it truly is one of the most unique rides at the park. The ride is so old (2nd oldest in the park) that it reminds me of an old car, the engineering behind it is so simple that it is genius. Also crazy how reliable Skyride is considering it is 55 years old, I feel like you could leave the wheel on for days at a time and it could still be perfectly fine to run. It's crazy how the ride hardly ever had any mechanical issues over the season, and if it did it was always a minor issue.

Also, It was always cool watching that massive counterweight move up and down when transferring on/off cabins or going from running 26 cabins to 37 cabins and vice versa. The counterweight is easily the size of an elevator and I wish I could have gotten a chance to go in the counterweight room this season.

Did you get a chance to go in there?

^Hello! Since Skyride is not in operation during Haunt we didn't get to see it functioning but yes the counter weight is very impressive! It is funny how they used actual nuts and bolts to weigh it down also very cool how the wheel must maintain its position in order for the cable tension to fit the "wire loop" so to speak! Seriously learned so much especially all the Dragster information was mostly new.

Considering the fact that we now have track on site, and the color has been chosen..................any start place to take guesses on names? lol

Centurion has not been used yet..........

If the color of that track is any indication....

I'd say RougaRavn..... or if they theme it to Scooby Doo, maybe Valrarou?

Iron Judy