John Peck

We go to the zoo perhaps once a week in the summer months as it has a good waterpark. The only rides remaining from the Wyandot lake days are the Carousel (which was relocated into a new pavilion deep in the zoo portion) the sea dragon and the scrambler, The bumper cars (cars only), an Elephant ride, the small lazy river that goes around and through the coaster and tilt a whirl. And the Tilt a Whirl came from Geauga Lake in 2000. I don't know what they did to the scrambler, but it runs at about 2/3 of the speed it should and bumps along as it does. Sometimes you get a ride op that will let you snap the flyers (which I'm really good at), other times they freak out, e-stop it or threaten to call security on you. (yes, that happened)

I would love to see a Coney Mall makeover in 2016 like what Kings Dominion did to their Grove with a wild and mild Flat ride (like a top spin and a tea cups ride) and then in 2017, a significant addition to the waterpark with maybe a major restaurant refurbishment. Then in 2018, a large new coaster. I would like to see them hold onto Vortex as long as possible. It is a bit rough, but it's a capacity monster.

^ I would think it would be, especially if the observation tower and Windseeker have one.

Raven and Legend. I'd be okay with Voyage, as long as the layout stayed exactly the same. (but someone mentioned the different wheels and track would create too much friction and it would not make it back to the station) Most wood coasters I don't want to see touched, but there are a few, like The Boss which was just too rough for me. The two adult ones at Canada's Wonderland were both terrible on my last trip, but those are simple fixes.

C20 and C21 would mean "Column 20" and "Column 21" if this is a B&M, which I have a feeling it will be.

Here is another great video of Larson Flying Scooters snapping. Some riders are also turning them 180º and 360º. You DO NOT want to turn them 360º, there is some industry law that says that's a no-no. (but it would be so FUN!)

Here is a great snapping video and documentary. I am in here as well. If you want an autograph, send me $10.

Yes, Splash Dance is out. The Planet Snoopy Theater is also gone in favor of a petting zoo. Thrill Seekers store and the 80's store are both gone in favor of the new Starbucks. No construction or markings in the park today. Don says "snapping" WILL be allowed on the Flyers. Wish Cedar point allowed that (if you try to snap, they shut down the ride.) And also, Shake Rattle and Roll is returning with a new foundation, new paint, LED lights and a whole new rebuilt mechanical system after having a main bearing failure earlier this summer. Other than those, tons of renovations and upgrades all over the place, including updating and replacing the stones in the picnic grove. On your left will be the Space buggies, then the Flyers on your right

Are we talking "scrapping" as in tearing out and destroying, or are we just talking removing and selling? I think any coaster that has a decreasing ridership (due to whatever reason)/or a highly increasing cost would be way up on the list. A couple major "scrapped" that come to mind first are: Mean Streak (could be reworked by RMC) The Boss (again, could be reworked by RMC) Gwazi (unless it's already closed, I don't follow BGT all that much) I think most of the older Arrows are pretty safe still, except for maybe Cedar Points Corkscrew, and that might happen if Rougarou is very popular and ridership declines significantly

I'd say by mid-2003 there were definite changes to the ride cycle. Normally, the line was so long or it was down I would only get a couple of rides a season. With Cedar Fair, they rarely ever take out rides unless they have serious mechanical issues or extremely low ridership/very old, so for them to pull out two decade-old Paramount rides within the first few years of owning the park really says something.

Thanks, everyone. Yes, definitely some Oompa Loompa action going on, as It was overcast for a good part of that day, so since I didn't have time to go back and re-shoot things when the skies cleared, I used some filters to make things "Pop". I'd say I shot close to 200 pictures that day, half with filters, half without. And by the way, these are just camera-setting filters, and nothing has been brought into Photoshop. Overcast, no filter.

Here are some photos from our visit on October 5th as well as a few from Niagara Falls. Love the Chariots! Mama, Mama I am Having Nightmares..... Quite fitting for the season! I loved this simple design Adios Skyrider! Swirly! Geauga Lake (then Six Flags Ohio) had one of these

I only tried at Backlot Grill (and asked if it was the same throughout the park and they said yes), so I didn't bother trying anyplace else. I had drinks in the car anyway, so it's not like I was parched the whole day, just a bit annoyed (I didn't want to drag the wife from place to place) And as for the rumor about "Taking the park back", I just found it strange to hear from a park employee on the clock rather than seeing it on a message board, but even I could tell that Cedar Fair are in it for the long haul, that was obvious, even to the untrained eye. Oh, and two more observations: The Carousel was lovely, I really liked the Chariots and Flight Deck was shaky and squeaky, and I don''t mind SLC's.

I'll post a PTR later, but I had a few things I wanted to mention from my first trip in 8 years to Wonderland: • Really Liked Guardian • I thought Wild Beast ran just terrible. Shame, too, since in the past it was decent. • Thought Minebuster really suffers from those 3-bench PTC's, especially on the last helix... they just can't steer • Rode Orbiter twice since Kings Island got rid of Skylab back in 1997 • Windseeker had shorter belts than KI's and CP's, it was tough, but I managed to ride it • The B&M's looked like perfect additions to the park. • COMPLAINT: Ordered food and was not able to get a free cup of water, due to "company policy", which I have always been able to get at CP and KI. I understand that rules are rules, but I'm a stickler on consistency. And the hum-dinger: While purchasing something from a gift shop (note: not a lemon chill guy) the person mentioned that they had never seen a "Platinum Pass" before. We were talking a bit about the park, and this person said: "Take this with a grain of salt, but "we" might be taking the park back from Cedar Fair." I didn't ask who "we" were, or where the rumor came from (I think at one time Paramount only owned a 20% portion of the park, so I thought "we" could be the country or the city of Vaughn) but I said, "well, remember, This is Cedar Fairs most highly attended 'seasonal' park in the chain, and that's why you got Behemoth and Leviathan within a few years of each other." The employee was shocked to hear that and asked "even out of all the US Parks?", and I replied with "yes, except Knotts, which is year-round." So, that was interesting. I must ask the locals, has there been any talk about something like that? I'll attach one picture for ya'll:

Thank you again, I wasn't sure what side of the Mountain they had built that on, sometimes maps are deceiving.

^ Thank you. Which way should we head to go to Guardian? What is the best route?

Hi Everyone. We are headed up to Wonderland on Sunday and we have a Platinum Pass. Are there any early ride times that we can take advantage of? I saw nothing on the website. Also, since they built Behemoth, Leviathan and Guardian since our last visit (2006), which direction would you suggest we travel? I won't be able to ride the B&M's, but the wife can.

As far as the first drop trim, rumor has it that the trim was placed to reduce stress on some of the supports, since some prematurely cracked in its early seasons, but don't quote me on that.

Okay, here it is, what everyone has been waiting for: My thoughts on Rougarou. Mood: I'm quite excited about this. The ride: I must say, Mantis was never one of my favorites due to the forces on the legs, and the slow load times, so this ride should fix both of those problems. So I'm pretty happy that they could take a mediocre-to-the-public ride and make it what I think will be better. This reminds me of the Steel Phantom situation where the park was host to a high-tech steel coaster that people only rode once and moved on from there. It wasn't really popular and was too forceful, so with modifications, Rougarou being less of an extreme makeover, compared to that of Steel Phantom. The name: I like the name and the possible theme that can come from it, perhaps a Verbolten meets Banshee type theme where you enter a forbidden forest and moor. The colors: Not really a fan of the orange because, I'm not a fan of orange. I also like two-tone B&M track, and this eliminates it, but that's just a personal opinion. So, oh well, I'll get over it. The idea: Is great. The park can build a "new" coaster without really building a "new" coaster and saving significant money on that while having a whole new attraction to market. Anyway, glad the park is doing this.

Great report... love the documentation of the ride signage (I do that all the time). Twisted Typhoon is hands-down the best SLC out there, at least in the US, in my opinion), I was surprised of how good it was when I was there in 2004.

We went to Hersheypark last Saturday (the 6th), and I want to say it was one of the WORST theme park experiences I have had in recent memory. There was no fault to the park, the park did fine except that I don't really like how they block off seats for the fast pass, but they did make an attempt to fill them. Our problems were a bit uncontrollable: It was HOT and the waterpark had closed for the season, so the ride lines were outrageous, (poor planning, as I would assume they would be lighter after Labor Day). My wife wasn't feeling her best, so she couldn't move fast, and I did not want to push her and make her worse, so she skipped a few rides. To make matters worse, there was a storm in the area and whereas the park didn't get hit, all the high rides closed... for about 2 hours. Oh, and in a hurry to get into the park, i forgot where we parked, so I spent about 20 minutes looking in the wrong lot for the car... in the hot sun.... so, yes, an overall bad day with poor planning. So in the end, we wound up skipping a few rides that I wanted to get one (Fahrenheit, the kiddie coaster, the kissing tower, condor, Star jets and the Wildcat—though the first two I have never been on) We don't have passes, but since my wife is a travel agent, we got tickets half-price, so even at $69.00 for both, we still dropped at lot and didn't do much. We also left at 7:00 since we had a 3 hour drive back to a hotel which was an hour of Kennywood. So for future planning, I have 3 questions: There is a path that runs along the creek to see Skyrush's track and such. It looks like it starts near the front gate, but does it actually connect with Skyrush? That might have saved us time, if we took it, if it exists. My other question How lenient is the park on letting adults ride the kiddie coaster? The brochure mentioned only with a kid, and I didn't want to drag the wife around to it. I also see they still have the night before preview (where you get in 3 hours before the park closes and you get admission for the next day), so with this, do you have to par for parking twice? Any help is appreciated to make our next trip better. JP

You know, I would suggest that the park add a bonus weekend or two in September sooner than later. I was at kennywood the past two years this past weekend and I couldn't believe of how busy it was. But then again, i don't own a park, so don't take my word as gospel.

Let's talk about Wildcat really quick: Wildcat WAS indeed set to open for 2012. The ride was inspected and ready to go, they had just spent several thousands of dollars to install a new handicapped elevator and the ride, let's not forget, was on the 2012 maps. Employees were being trained on it, too. Something happened before opening day, which forced it into retirement. Either a fatal structural or operational issue, that's why it was scrapped. They knew no one would buy it.

My Final Thoughts on a 2015 new ride for the Point/Improvements: • Drop Tower off of Dragster -or- Spinning/Inverting Thrill Ride • Retheme of Mantis with or without a Sit-down conversion • Finished refurbishment of the Breakers hotel (confirmed) • Rethemed restaurant/perhaps a new chain • Other new food options • Refurbished Picnic Pavilions • More other aesthetic improvements

My wife, Carrie and I visited the park on Sunday Aug 24, 2014 and last year on Sunday Aug 11, 2013, so I thought I would show the progress the park has made as it tries to hold on. In the comparison shots, the photos on your left are from 2013 and the ones on the right are this year. The park offered a $5 ride EVERYTHING pass yesterday, so many started turning out later in the day. We had a long ride home, so we stayed until about 5. Blue Streak ran full-loads while we were there, and I took 3 rides on her. If I uploaded this right, The first photos should be the comparison, and the others will be single shots from yesterday. Enjoy! 2013/2014 Welcome to Conneaut lake! 13/14 Old Ferris Wheel Footers 13/14 Tilt was operational again 13/14 13/14 This ran great! 13/14 Blue Streak! 13/14 Music Express torn apart (it wasn't running in 13 either) 13/14 Winnie Witches Cauldrons! 13/14 Trabant! 13/14 13/14 This building was originally a fun house, then the building was used for the "Ultimate Trip, an Indoor Scrambler) The roof soon caved in and the building was in bad shape, so they finally cleaned up the debris. 13/14 Behind the previous building stated above 13/14 The Ballroom was torched a few years ago. 13/14 Pretty! 13/14 Inside the hotel with wifey! 13/14 I love this hotel. They say it's Haunted. 13/14 This was torched last year and cleaned up soon after. 13/14 This was torched last year and cleaned up soon after. 13/14 Chance Toboggan (note the missing scenery) 13/14 Super Round up has been like this for a while 13/14 more clean up 13/14 13/14 Blue Streaks NAD silver train. 13/14 Bug! 13/14 13/14 13/14 13/14 Carousel 13/14 ballroom site 13/14 front midway 13/14 See the new garden? 13/14 Still Green 13/14 Flyers 13/14 13/14 Older building and Trabant sign 13/14 Kiddieland Entrance Now single pics from this year... Carousel Carousel Wife on the flyers and Paratrooper Cleaning it up Patio seating Lake boat ride Devils Den Devils Den Car Corkscrew???? Kiddie wheel on a trailer. Not sure if this was ever the parks. Note the leaves. Funhouse mirrors near the restrooms Stay behind this line to ride the ferris wheel These fences were part of the toboggan Blue Streak! Train and Blue Streak track.