larrygator

Gold Pass is about $120, Platinum Pass is about $220. Doesn't make sense to buy two Gold Pass for two parks. By what metric are they not cheap. What other park chain allows unlimited visits to all park for that low a price? What other individual park allows unlimited visits to one park for a lower price? Where can you buy a cheaper pass? If you can't buy a cheaper season pass somewhere else, than the Six Flags passes are cheap!

Sorry. I'm late to the game in commenting on this. I completely agree with this except the multiple of 4-5 times. However, SFA can't operate in a vacuum without SF Corporate. I agree because I see what Cedar Fair did. 10 years ago - A $100 pass from any Cedar Fair park used to allow you entry into any CF park. Cedar Fair bit the bullet and took a lot of pushback and criticism from the enthusiast community a few years ago when they started selling their platinum pass. They kept the individual park season passes priced at around $100 (about 2.5 to 3 times a discounted admission ticket). The Platinum Pass became a $100 surcharge. The enthusiast community lost their sh!t because they were being wronged. Oh the outrage, many said they would never visit CF parks again. The present - Most people realize that paying an additional $100 for a CF Platinum Pass practically pays for itself in one visit to a 2nd park, since parking is free. Enthusiasts that spent over $200 for the Platinum Pass start trying to visit more CF parks. When they make these additional side trips they realize they want to maximize their day and they potentially buy a Fast Pass (or add a multi-day stay at Cedar Point). The $200 they spent months ago is a distant memory, so they only consider the price of the Fast Lane into today's trip spending. As more money is spent in the off-season on next year's season passes, the corporation's earning extend into the quarters that used to extremely unprofitable. This provides more shareholders with money and more money for parks to improve. FYI is you bought 50 shares of Cedar Fair in 2009 for a total of $500, they would be valued at $3,500 today and you would also be getting dividend checks in the amount of $180 this year, almost enough to buy a Platinum Pass. Even though SF and shown similar corporate stock price growth to CF since 2010, CF has almost twice the earnings per share as SF due to their pricing structure. Since 2010 Cedar Fair had to dig themselves out of a huge debt hole, while Chapter 11 restructuring saved Six Flags.

I was bummed I got the latter experience last year. I was looking forward to the odd experience. I got the former experience and was completely underwhelmed (and confused).

I still have a "One Day World Passport" ticket from 1985, that I will redeem someday.

It sounds to me like a re-theme versus a new coaster. Maybe a new overlay can help riders make sense of this coaster.

I expect better from you. It was almost impossible to miss, although if you went when The Zipper was still there I could understand since they were diagonal from each other and you would have been distracted.

The problem with the coaster was: High maintenance Low capacity Uncomfortable to ride Not thrilling Other than that is was great!

I always take US301. The Mapquest time is generally very accurate, You can count on making it in less than 2.5 hours. The I-95 is always subject to huge traffic delays says the 90 minutes trip could increase to over 3 hours and include lots of aggravation.

Trimper's Ride has decided to close its old and decaying funhouse, one of the last remaining in the US. Nine years ago the funhouse was reduced by about 50% in size. No new ride has been announced at this time. http://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/local/maryland/2018/02/19/trimpers-losing-lamp-but-maintaining-magic/342558002/ Also, Trimper's is in the process of selling Chick-Fil-A on property. They have been working with local leaders as food trucks are not allowed. In the end, food will be prepared and cooked off-site and delivered by a local Chick-Fil-A and sold out of a trailer. http://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/local/maryland/2018/02/01/trimpers-rides-chick-fil-ocean-city-boardwalk/1078600001/ Trimper's: Losing the lamp, but maintaining the magic HAYLEY O'BRIEN, DELMARVA NOW CORRESPONDENT Published 7:00 a.m. ET Feb. 19, 2018 | Updated 4:50 p.m. ET Feb. 19, 2018 As one of the oldest operating amusement parks in the world, Trimper’s Rides walks a tightrope between progress and tradition in Ocean City. Having opened over 100 years ago in 1893, generations of families have been going to Trimper’s and making memories. Balancing the park’s need to continue to grow while maintaining their classic rides is, “a constant battle,” operations manager Brooks Trimper said. One such battle was recently fought: retiring the five-ticket fun house, Aladdin’s Lamp. For over 30 years, the large genie wearing his orange striped hat has been watching over children laughing and squealing while falling through trap doors and running across shaking bridges. “Unfortunately, the time we live in, you have to make a decision there,” Trimper said. Although the fun house was still enticing guests for magic carpet rides, ultimately, the expensive maintenance costs led Trimper’s board, made up of six shareholders — all family members — to remove the ride, Trimper said. “Living in the ocean air, it’s bones are starting to wear,” Trimper said. “The exterior is becoming aged.” The mystery ride had already once been altered to open more space on the Boardwalk. Nine years ago, the funhouse downsized to 60 percent of its former size to make room for other attractions. “This is just a continuation of that attempt to better utilize the space we have,” Trimper said. No new rides are lined up to fill the now empty space of Aladdin’s Lamp. Instead, the park’s current attractions will be shuffled around, Trimper said. Some of those current attractions at the park have been operating since the late 1960s while others have been added in the past few years, blending the old and new. “That’s what makes memories, that’s what makes families,” Maryland Sen. Jim Mathias said. “Gives your family memories to share your whole life.” Mathias is a veteran of the Boardwalk amusement park scene, having grown up with his father’s amusement arcade and visiting Trimper’s Rides for 45 years. “Long before the flumes and all the stuff they have today, they had the little boat rides,” Mathias said. “When you were a child, they’d put you in a little boat and you’d go around and around and around." Keeping with tradition, the little water boats are still available for kids to ride today, however, the Trimper family is always looking to add new exciting attractions such as the 60-foot thrill ride, Endeavor, installed last year, Trimper said. “I see Trimper’s continue to grow, continue to invest but really those cornerstone standard rides are critically important,” Mathias said Maintaining those cornerstone rides such as Aladdin’s Lamp and the Big Merry-Go-Round, one of the oldest working carousels in the United States, is how Trimper’s continues to be considered a summer time-honored tradition for families. Often, one will see a grandmother bringing her granddaughter to ride the carousel because that is what she did as a kid, Trimper said. “Children grow up, they bring their children back, so generationally, it makes generational memories and it brings joy and (Aladdin's Lamp) was one of the rides that did that,” Mathias said. However, locals are not the only people visiting the boardwalk every year and Trimper’s Rides is not the only amusement park in the area. “We’re still competing for those tourism dollars,” Trimper said. “Kids no longer just want to go in a circle over and over and over again.” Herein lies the balancing act: holding on to the classics while making room for new thrills. “The thrill rides have become more and more dynamic but whether it’s Aladdin's or a tea cup ride or the little boats, to children through adults it’s all in context of where you are,” Mathias said. Although Aladdin’s Lamp will no longer be in operation, Trimper’s other classic rides remain and Mathias is excited to start bringing his first grandson to ride the water boats and share memories, he said. Aladdin’s Lamp will remain in storage until the Trimper’s family decide on their next steps for it will be. Trimper's proposal to sell Chick-Fil-A on Ocean City Boardwalk clears first hurdle Susan Parker, slparker@delmarvanow.com Published 10:01 a.m. ET Feb. 1, 2018 | Updated 1:19 p.m. ET Feb. 1, 2018 A proposed partnership between Trimper's Rides and Amusements and the West Ocean City Chick-Fil-A franchise has cleared its first hurdle. Approval from the Ocean City Planning & Zoning Commission came during a January meeting, following a spirited discussion of the pros and cons of allowing a food trailer to the south Boardwalk property in a resort that doesn't allow food trucks to operate. In a letter to Frank Hall, zoning administrator, Chris Trimper offered what he described as a "Chick-Fil-A outpost" — a trailer that would be backed into what is now the duck pond stall in the carousel building on the Boardwalk. "There would be no cooking on the property, all prep work done at the restaurant kitchen," wrote Trimper, "and delivered to sales counter." The trailer belongs to Chick-Fil-A, and franchise owner Hunter S. Caudill said the partnership is an experiment to see how well his products would be received on the Boardwalk. While subject to change, Caudill said the outpost will provide much of the same menu as a standalone site, including the signature chicken sandwiches. "The Trimpers and I had the joint idea of running an alternative distribution point on their property," said Caudill. "We will continue to honor the Chick-Fil-A tradition of remaining closed on Sundays." Very little of the trailer itself would be visible to customers, Trimper added. Customers would only see the service window and part of the interior of the trailer. "The menu would be smaller than what is sold at the restaurant," Trimper said. Because Ocean City does not allow food trucks, commission members discussed potential ramifications, including concerns that giving this proposal a green light might open the door to food truck operators — something they hope to avoid. Commission member Palmer Gillis, however, pointed out a truck and a trailer are not the same thing. "While you wouldn't necessarily want a food truck to operate without comparable support of the kind required for restaurants — restrooms, sanitary facilities — and without paying taxes the way a normal establishment would," Gillis said. "But the Trimper proposal is different because it would be located on a site with restrooms, on property that already offers other mobile food stands. There's no cooking on-site, and Trimper's pays all the taxes any brick-and-mortar company would pay."

I always look forward to your statistics comparisons. The only misleading info is with the year built, since many of the crappy Chinese coasters don't have accurate opening dates in rcdb.

Even following the construction from afar I can tell you, it is not going to open early. Especially a month early.

This is year in the future, but what do you think of a hyperloop between Cleveland and Cedar Point? http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2018/02/noaca_signs_agreement_with_hyp.html NOACA signs agreement with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies to explore Cleveland-Chicago routes Updated Feb 15, 9:33 AM; Posted Feb 15, 9:00 AM By Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer CLEVELAND, Ohio - Hyperloop Transportation Technologies announced it has signed agreements with the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency and the Illinois Department of Transportation to study several high-speed routes that would zoom between Cleveland and Chicago in as little as 28 minutes. First envisioned by inventor and business magnate Elon Musk, Hyperloop is a technology that could speed passengers or cargo in specially designed capsules or "pods" through a steel tube maintained at a partial vacuum. NOACA Director Grace Gallucci, speaking by phone from Washington, D.C. Wednesday afternoon, said: "It's really exciting to be collaborating with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies and IDOT to make better, faster and more efficient transportation between Chicago and Cleveland a reality." The NOACA board voted in December to authorize Gallucci to identify sources for up to $600,000 to pay for its share of the feasibility analysis. Gallucci said Wednesday she's "still working with other local partners to share that cost." Some $100,000 of NOACA's contribution to the analysis would be in-kind, she said. Based in Playa Vista, California, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, also known by the initials HTT, is exploring Hyperloop routes in competition with Los Angeles-based Hyperloop One, which recently picked a Chicago-Columbus-Pittsburgh link as one of 10 around the globe that it wants to explore. Competition Hyperloop One said Tuesday it would make a "major announcement" about its next steps in creating a route it calls "Midwest Connect," that would not include Cleveland. An independent engineering firm will conduct the feasibility analysis on the Cleveland-Chicago route for NOACA starting as early as March, Gallucci said. The agency, which plans and coordinates transportation spending in Northeast Ohio, will soon release a request for proposals to choose the engineering firm, she said. The work could take six to 12 months, and will examine potential routes for a Hyperloop line along with the cost, ridership, and possible station locations, she said. Public rights-of-way along I-80, I-90 and the Amtrak rail line will be explored. "One of the things we want to do is go to Cedar Point," Gallucci said. Cedar Point in 7-10 minutes She estimated that a Hyperloop trip from Cleveland to the lakeside amusement park in Sandusky, which attracted 3.6 million visitors in 2016, would take 7 to 10 minutes. HTT said it has formed a regional consortium around the Cleveland-Chicago project that includes "a multitude of other prominent organizations." Additional details will be announced at an event scheduled for Feb. 26 in Cleveland at the Great Lakes Science Center, the company said. "Regulations are the ultimate barrier for Hyperloop implementation, and we are excited to build the first real public-private partnership to bring Hyperloop travel to the US," Dirk Ahlborn, CEO of HTT, said in the company's announcement. "With this agreement, we welcome innovative and industry-leading partners in both government and industry to our movement," the announcement quoted Ahlborn as saying. Drawn to NEO The company said that it was drawn to Northeast Ohio and the industrial Great Lakes region because of its deep capacities in manufacturing. "We came here because places like Cleveland, Chicago and Pittsburgh have the manufacturing, the raw materials and the talented, hard working people in order to make it happen," Andrea La Mendola, HTT's chief global operations officer, said in the announcement. "We can source everything from this area," he said. "This is a place where you make big things." Founded in 2013, HTT is a global firm with more than 800 employees in 52 multidisciplinary teams, with 40 corporate and university partners, it said. The firm has offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, UAE; Bratislava, Slovakia; Toulouse, France; and Barcelona, Spain. It has signed agreements in Slovakia, Abu Dhabi, the Czech Republic, France, Indonesia, Korea and the U.S., the announcement said.

Eurosat (about 3,000 ft) and The Rock and Roller Coasters (about 3,400 ft) are not listed on rcdb as indoor. Space Fantasy and Dinosaur Mountain (both about 2,000 ft) are not included as indoor on rcdb. I have learned that rcdb indoor listing are not very inclusive. EDIT: I did not realize rcdb had different listings for enclosed versus indoor coasters.

It is an odd stat to throw out, but makes me think the coaster will be less than 3,000 feet. Mindbender is the longest, and the new Gerstlauer at American Dream's new Nick park will be over 3,200ft by the time this is built. All the Space Mountains are longer than 3,000 feet, but none are listed as indoors on rcdb.com. If the coaster is going to be longer than Space Mountain I think I would have been stated.

There is nothing special about the Kennywood Whip, but the Kangaroo, that's a must ride! and don't skip the Bayern Kurve (although some think it is too intense)

Attached is a link to the article that Ccron mentioned in addition to the text https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180205/p2a/00m/0na/002000c Oriental Land mulls new Tokyo Disney Resort 'sky' theme park February 5, 2018 (Mainichi Japan) URAYASU, Chiba -- The operator of Tokyo Disney Resort (TDR) is entertaining the idea of creating a third amusement park centered around a "sky" theme, it has emerged. Oriental Land Co., which oversees the famous Disney resort here, is thinking of adding to its existing land- and sea-based theme parks by creating attractions and areas relating to sky and space. With potential names such as "DisneySky" already being put forward, Oriental Land is aiming to start construction in fiscal 2019, before opening the park three years later in fiscal 2022. Disney amusement parks themed on "land" already exist in countries such as the United States, France and China, aside from Japan. However, Japan is the only country in the world to have a sea-based Disney theme park. According to a source close to Oriental Land, the firm "wants to make a 'one of a kind' theme park, similar to Tokyo DisneySea," and is therefore working toward creating the first sky-related Disney resort in the world. The company is considering the introduction of attractions that would provide simulations of flying in a jet plane or through space. In addition, Oriental Land is also thinking of making the park "elderly friendly" by installing moving walkways, and designing the park in such a way that it can be enjoyed without having to walk too far. With TDR attracting roughly 30 million visitors each year, Oriental Land is faced with the challenge of how to ease crowding. With this in mind, there are plans to replace the current paper admission ticket system with an electronic verification system based on smartphones to improve the flow of people in and out of the park. Moreover, Oriental Land is thinking of placing sensors in the park that can analyze the movement of visitors, as well as people's use of attractions, in order to work on crowd dispersal during the busiest times. Currently, the company is looking into the proposal in detail, with the aim of making an announcement about the new park in late April or early May. It is also planning to convert the current parking lot into a multi-story one, and build the new theme park on vacant parts of the Urayasu site.

I can't wait to use the Purell after riding this.

A.J. I'm going to find time this weekend to rank, I need to do it all in one shot. You guys are doing a great job.

Sesame Place has a discount on the Platinum pass (Super Grover Pass) until March 1st. If you order by phone you can have the option to use it upon arrival for a $5.99 service fee, since Sesame Place opens later than other SEAS properties. Caveat: you can not be a resident of Fl,Tx, Va or Ca.. That makes sense, since the parks in those states usually have special rates only for their residents.

I was at the park over xmas week and do not remember seeing this butterfly you speak of. We hung out with Larrygator for 2 days and he's more familiar with the park than I am so maybe he can chime in on if it was there and I simply walked right past it. I don't recall seeing it, but then again it's not something I was looking for at the time. Maybe it was incorporated into the Parade of Many Colors (which I did not watch).

There shouldn't be any confusion. Drones are not allowed to be flown over Cedar Fair properties. If the shot was taken from a drone over CF property the picture should not be posted. If the drone was outside the perimeter of the park, photos are allowed. Camera magnification is getting better all the time and some good pictures can be taken from the perimeter. If the photo and footage is not yours and you are not sure of the drone location, err on the side of caution and don't post it. The TPR community will survive without the photo.

Foolishness, Speculation and Mis-information

I missed this announcement from late last year but Frontier City has joined the ranks of adding a Christmas event. I think the biggest challenge to trend extending to even more parks is staffing. If the park is in a well populated area, the weather is mild enough and staffing is available it seems like a win-win for everybody.

As Tivoli Gardens opens for its 175th season in 2018, a new spinning ride will replace Snureetoppen, (Huss Breakdance). The new ride named Tik Tak, is a Mondial Shake R5). The Shake R5 model is more common on the fair circuit than in amusement parks. The press release is linked and attached below https://www.tivoligardens.com/en/om/presse/pressemeddelelser/2018/snurretoppens+afloeser+i+tivoli Tik Tak, Tivoli's new ride for 2018 is Dutch Tivoli's new ride in its 175-year jubilee year will be named Tik Tak. It has been manufactured by Dutch company Mondial (Shake R5) and replaces the Spinning Top ride (Breakdance, from Huss), which carried almost 14 million visitors during its 29 years in Tivoli. Tik Tak opens on 24 March 2018. From 24 March, visitors to Tivoli can try out a new ride which will entertain both thrill-seekers and families with children. As with all Tivoli rides, Tik Tak's design was created especially for the style-conscious amusement park by Tivoli's in-house design department. The design theme is similar to that of the Star Flyer and Aquila in the area known as the Merry Corner, which is strongly inspired by the idea of a journey of discovery, whether in the stars, in the world of science or in time. When visitors board Tik Tak, they will sit among gears, gadgets and ingenious mechanisms, ready for a journey through space and time. In this time travel ride, our securely seated visitors glide – although some may feel more as if they are thrown – through time. Dizziness is almost guaranteed once the giant clockwork mechanism starts swinging. Visitors are rotated both vertically and horizontally at high speed, while being exposed to forces approaching 4G. The ride has a capacity of up to 750 visitors per hour.

No need to keep Marche du Milles-pattes, kiddie coaster at LaRonde