Thom25

OK, i'll throw in my $.02 since I work for Dunkin' Donuts which was just purchased by a venture capital firm (Baine Capital). Anyway, the buyout will bring a significant amount of revenue to the owners of CF, allowing Mr. Kinzel to "sell" all his units, and recoup a very nice profit (hopefully). The management team is going to stay in place so operations should not suffer. Once complete, the buyout will have consist of VCs, who will want to secure their projected ROI. I have said on another board, I think this will be the beginning of the end of Geauga Lake. Rides started to leave this year, and I predict more will be moved next year, when the buy-out is finalized. Maybe one more year of ride removals, and a "new" Geauga Lake will emerge, probably a large family oriented water park. I believe the VC firm will be the perfect partner to develop the remaining GL property. We now GL is unprofitable, so by significantly reducing the park eliminates the need for significant new rides throughout the chain, while bringing in additional revenue from any sale or redevelopment of the GL property. Both would go a long way to help reduce CF's existing debt! The above is pure speculation on my part, and I suspect additional changes would occur throughout the chain to get it back on track. I also speculated on another board that given the timing of the Paramount deal, Mr. Kinzel's contract extention, GL ride removals, and Bear Stearns involvement in both deals, the buyout could have been part of the plan from day one. It will be fun to follow. But knowing first hand how VC's work, they are purely money motivated, which I don't think boads well for GL. Conversely, keeping the existing management team in place, ensures the "core" business of the "new" Cedar Fair will be maintatin. Many public companies like ARAMARK have gone private to return to the public sector a few years later more focused and profitable.

Wierd is a polite word in my opinion. It looks downright dull, and probably a large kiddie ride. The turns are very tight with little banking on the helix further leads me to speculate the speed won't be very high. It will be interesting to see what the "facts" are.

Nice to see you saved the best for last - your twilight pics were awesome. Wish there was more witty comments tbh. Cedar Point at night and/or twilight is my favorite time at the park. Cool and beautiful with all the lights! Thanks for sharing. After all six parts I can not wait to go back to the point, hopefully this month, definitly for Halloweekends! Do you like photobucket more than flickr?

I think Magnum has been running great these last years. On my last three trips I found it to be as good as when it first opened - with the exception of special effects - arg. Why do they install the special effect and then let them die - I used to love all the smoke and lights (RIP). Oh well, imo, CP continues to have the strongest line-up of coasters on the planet. Of course MS being the exception since I for one like the occassional (and I do mean occassional) rides on DT. LOL

I gotta say very cool TR so far - your dry humor rocks - and your mom took one kick ass shot (congrats). Now if I can only get to CP on a day like you had with little to no waiting - jelous here - lol! Regarding MF, I kinda agree, but have found on my treks to CP that it isn't very consistant. I've had plenty of runs on MF with almost no air after the first drop of course - while last month we had GREAT "floater" air on all our multiple MF rides (go figure). Now if you ever make it to my home park SFNE, that's a coaster to be proud of even if the park blows. RoS has significantly more ejector air than Maverick on it's best day. Both rides rock imo (don't get me wrong). My top 3 are RoS, Maverick, and MF.

I have to concur. Having just returned from CP, your trip report was dead on, perfect, funny, compelling, and one of the best I have ever read. Great Job! I could not agree more about the "hunching and leaning forward" on Maverick for a smoother ride. With that said, if you use this technique on the last seat, it really delivers - especially at night. I also agree the only low point of the TR was the "line jumper" section. Good try, but it fell short with me at least. Thank god CP will never get a flyer, and totally bummed that no Intamin wood is in their future. Any idea why? I think a dark ride would be a great addition to the park, while a B&M floorless seems expensive and not really needed. No clue why they would even consider it (go figure). I still smile over your Iron Dragon monorail comment - and think Mean Streak falls into a similar catagory. God does that ride sux. I could not wait to get off of it and hope they fix cause because it is certainly one of the most beautiful coasters out there. Especially at dusk/night. Thanks again for all the work putting the TR together. Your hard work and humor really shined!

Maverick at 10:30 PM last night in the back row - AMAZING!!

Having just returned from two awesome days at the Point, I have to chime in. I could not disagree more that MF is aging poorly. My four rides over the last two days were the best and most consistent I've ever experienced. EVERY hill produced great floater air all four days! The temps were in the low 80s and the trains just flew through the course. I did notice a few bumps this year that I didn't rememer in years past, but to say it's aging poorly is the exact opposite of my opinion. Minimal off-season maintanace could easily fix the few bumps I expereinced. Regarding Maverick, like everyone else has said - WOW! Given the extreme changes in direction and laterals the ride produces, I would be more concerned on how Maverick ages (it really throws you around). The only thing I did not enjoy about the ride is the trim brake at the top of the hill after the launch. I completely understand why it needs to be there - but would prefer a slower launch with no trim - it negatively impacts the rides flawless pacing imo, and is the only negative with the ride. You would think the first half would be more intense than the last half, but that was not my experience (especially at night). It's a great addition to CP's lineup of exceptional and unique rides!

WOW - Great Video - Thank you. I wish they had more POV and on-ride scenes - this is the first proffessional video I've seen and obviously didn't shake as much. From the one reverse POV shot, it appeared much smoother than I thought. Is it?

WOW - thanks for the video - I had not idea the ride was that extensive - looks like one kickin ride! A ride like this would be perfect for Canobie Lake (and closer to me than Utah - arg).

You are absolutely right - sorry about that. Next time I'll take my time and really research a topic before posting.

Trevor, my ONLY comparison to TTD was in terms of the ride time - both are VERY short. And you are absolutely correct, until I ride it, I can't make any judgements on the ride experience, and I won't/haven't. I can't wait to see one here in the US, cause I won't be traveling to PA for this one.

^ Yup, you're probably right. It is interesting to see the track arrived in February, and the footer are now being poured in June?

Thanks for the pictures and update. Very interesting. I do have a couple of questions after doing some research. In the pics, it looks like the ride is already verticle (left side of pic), but the track pictured looks like S&S, while I found these pictures of the track: http://ozcoaster.net/content/view/51/27/ Has the park made an official announcement yet?

I agree Robb, horrible video quality, but ya know, something is better than nothing (ie Maverick). I can not believe how short the ride is in terms of duration. The entire video is 90 seconds - 40 seconds are taken up with the "pre-show" and the train is in the brake run 10 seconds before the tape ends. The actual ride itself appears to be about 40 seconds? I know TTD is shorter, but at least that goes up 420 feet - I'm going to hold off judgement until see some trip reports. I suspect/hope the second wingwalker will be better/longer ride experience.

GREAT video - Thank you!!! I can't wait for this ride to open - it looks great.

I'm with ya rides, the heartline certainly was a signature element given the recent announcement of "water cannons". It will be interesting to watch what happens. Hopefully we'll find out.

The funcoast video and site are now back up. Unfortunately, it's the same video that's on the Sandusky Register's web site. Don't get me wrong, it's a great video (thank you Jason), I just thought this one would be different. I think it's on youtube as well. http://www.sanduskyregister.com/articles/2007/05/27/front/292613.txt

Cedar Point never ceases to amaze me with their customer service skills. Given Maverick's delay in opening is only 2 weeks, they certainly did not have to provide such a lucrative give-away. This is why CP is my favorite vacation destination.

Well I've got to contribute as well: 1) RoS at SFNE - perfection 2) El Toro - insane ejector air like RoS 3) MF - Great drop - better some days than others 4) Dragster - it's all about the launch 5) Nitro - best B&M imo - great floater air 6) Magnum - last year it was the smoothest it's been in years - nice 7) Volcano - don't know why I like this one so much, but I do 8) Raptor 9) Hulk 10) Boulder Dash

WOW, this ride looks like a winner for sure. Thank you for the pictures! We need a few more of these in the States. I couldn't disagree more with Rob's definition of ejector air and ET, and suspect this one will deliver the goods as well. Imo, the back of ET is insane!

To me, it seems like blaming the car dealership for a flaw in the car itself. (sorry, for the life of me I can't figure out how to quote within a post) Interesting allalogy RollerC, but more accurately it would be like buying and paying for a car with air conditioning, and then not having it once the car is recieved. What would the dealer do if you don't get it (A/C or 3rd inversion)? Imo, they would either give you the cost of the item, or try to install it in the vehicle.

I think we're all shocked at this development. ATM, Krax is right on the money. Who knows, maybe we'll see another new coaster at CP sooner rather than later.

Ginzo, with all due respect, if the ride does not meet the original specifications then that is a breach of contract. It may be less expensive for Intamin to "cut a deal" with CP ($$$$) avoiding a costly lawsuit.

I think we'll see a neutered Maverick open very soon, and hope the return to Maverick's original design with a modified hearline next year. (At Intamin's cost of course). You bring up an excellent point that there is a ton of room to elongate the heartline. But suspect inorder to do that - major design modifications and totally new footers would need to be installed throughout that area of the ride. They would never be able to do that and open this year. Tom