BrownStreak

That's been my point ever since Millennium Force opened 10 years ago and people online started chatting about how the "park is full." How many of their rides intersect each other? Snake River crosses the train tracks, Mantis' lift goes over Iron Dragon, and both Millie and STR cross the Paddle Wheel- are there others. Cedar Point is built like a Level 7 (of 20) RCT Park- the rides don't unrealistically float, but they don't intersect either.

And this is what annoys me...that people tend to think that it is always a weight issue. Are the restraints "over-the-shoulder?" I can't do a thing exercise-wise regarding the size of my chest other than getting a new rib cage installed. Yes I have a bit of a gut, but any time I have had issues getting onto a ride it has been my chest/shoulders which have been the issue-the part of me that is for the most part- skin and bones. While I have yet to ever be denied a ride due to my size, I fear that the day is coming! Use some tact and realize that if someone is too big for a ride system- it is not always due to something which they have any control of!

I still think they should add a coaster or other ride called Hoosier Daddy (say it out loud). PS: I wanted to take a quick moment to apologize to anyone from TPR (i.e. Robb or Elyssa) that were affected by Spam when my primary email account got hacked!

I am heading to Indianapolis August 20 - 22 for a competition. As it seems that I will never get to go to Holiday World- they are closed weekends by that time- Indiana Beach on the other hand is open (not their water park). Okay: So Indiana Beach is open 11am - 6pm on Thursday the 19th. Is that enough time for someone who has NEVER been there before? This actually works out sort of good as we are supposed to be in Indy that night between 8 and 10. If we aim at arriving arriving the day before and staying over somewhere- is there anything to do in the evening in the area after the park closes? We are two adult gay males (not together). Should we aim to get there Wednesday early enough to go on some stuff or is Thursday 11-6 enough time? The question burning on my head right now is what to do between 6pm and 11am- other than to sleep for 8 hours- that still leaves 9 hours.

^, ^^, and ^^^: Aren't they VERY low capacity coasters? Is it possible to make one with multi-car trains?

Don't know if Sandusky/CP is having the same weather as here- if they are, sure is a shame STR isn't open to help deal with this oppressive heat!

^As someone who now lives in Cleveland but had previously lived in Buffalo for many years AND had lived On-Point at Cedar Point, I can tell you that Cedar Point has its own weather. Because it is out on the peninsula it often even has different weather than downtown Sandusky just across the bay. It amazes me how different the weather is between Cleveland and Buffalo. In Buffalo the temperature normally only goes up above 90* three or four times a year and as far as I know they still have not had an 3-digit temperature above zero- while down here in Cleveland it gets above 90 constantly. Over in Chicago it was over 90 today. I am often amazed how cities' exact positions on large bodies of water cause drastic temperature changes.

^Read my signature line below

Millie! That's my dog's name...hmm... ^ and ^^ Some of the block breaks have been removed over the years. There is a break at the top of the last helix which is only used during test mode to catch the train if it rolls backwards. When I worked there two summers back we occasionally ran three trains like I said. With the seat-belts, bars that only lock in one position, and large guests that never do what you tell them to do when loading, the ride almost always "set-up." Even if we could get the train out of the station with the 3rd one still out on the course, we couldn't get train 2 into the station fast enough. As a result, on every single run with 3 trains you stopped on the 2nd lift. If the delay was long, you had to fully restart the lift.

^^Sounds like my spiel on CCMR two summers back. "Reaching speeds of...FORTY MILES PER HOUR! That's faster than the speed limit on the Causeway! We'll take you up 45 FEET, not once...but twice!" and so on. As to the number of trains on the track...having more on does not guarantee more riders per hours. CCMR we figured out actually loses riders when the 3rd train is brought on. Its take almost an hour to bring it on/off (combined total) and only gives a theoretical 20 or so more rides per hour- but you have lost over 1,000 just getting it on and off. We pointed this out to management who agreed one minute and told us to add the 3rd train the next minute. Guests perceive a shorter wait when more trains are on the track even though it rarely actually is. Corkscrew is the same way. Yes I know CCMR used to run 5 trains, however back then they didn't have seat belts and the average park guests were not as...large as they are now. BTW- where did the idea of asking the Dippin Dots employees about the upcoming plans for the park come from? At many parks, they can't even give info for rides that the park currently has!

^^I wonder if they'll actually be able to tell if things "look right" considering that with today's special effects, many prop items seen on screen are not actually there when being filmed on the set.

It does, however, seem to have one too many trains on the track as they almost always stack 3 outside the station- the 1st 2 I can see justified (so that when the station clears they can both move in) but beyond those two- the others are an overkill

OMG! Lakewood, Ohio just got a butt load of these exact same garbage cans...without the CP logo of course. I always think they look like a model for a small observation tower or something like that. Lakewood AND Cedar Point have the same garbage cans...details at 11

"A Day's Drive" as in drive there, go to the park, and drive back in the same day. Many people do that in Buffalo for Cedar Point. People are not going to drive there/back more than 3.5 hours so your argument doesn't make much sense. If want to include parks which are "a full day of driving away" you can cover approximately 1/4 of the country from any place. ^^When I was last at Darien Lake in 2005 in late August- there were long lines for S:RoS. All parks have up days and down days. Darien Lake is just not the kind of park that is ever going to record HUGE numbers by National Chain standards. Give it a rest.

No, you think that it didn't make a difference who owned the park, and I know for a fact that the people do care because they pretty much hated six flags the last few years of their operation. Now they're very busy. You have no idea how humorous I find it to be discussing this with a 15 year old. Most of the General Public has no idea who is currently operating the park. Its attendance has ebbed and flowed for many many years- long before you were even born and the park was Darien Lake Fun Country. That park is way out in the sticks and has had issues with falling attendance for years. Many people still call the park "Fun Country" and it hasn't been called that officially since 1983, the year after Viper opened. The same company owned the park from 1995 until it was sold to PARC in 2007, it just changed its name from Premier to Six Flags when it bought the Six Flags chain from Time-Warner. When Premier acquired the Fun Time Parks, Darien Lake had the 5-year old Predator, the 13-year old Viper, the 12-year old Giant Wheel, a dozen of so "flats" and so on. There were longer lines back then for things like the Giant Wheel and Viper because there was not much else there. The company which you are claiming "they" hated added three of the parks major coasters and a few more larger flats in addition to doubling the size of the water park. They nearly doubled the capacity of the full park within four years which was too fast of a growth for such a remote park. Of course they had to slow down expansions- it only made sense. MANY local parks are doing better currently because people are taking vacations locally because they cannot afford long distance vacations. Watch the news once in awhile and stop making generalizations which you cannot back up with facts. Darien Lake is located in an area with a relatively small population and an overabundance of theme parks. Its two primary markets each have their own decent sized parks in addition to the fact that there are others within an easy drive. Buffalo is within a day's drive of Sea Breeze, Marineland, Darien Lake, Wonderland, Cedar Point, Kennywood, Ontario Place, Center Island Park, and Conneaut Lake. Compare that to Chicago with a population more than four times what Buffalo and Rochester combined have- and they really only have one or two parks which are truly within a day's drive. So the park may well be doing better than it has, but it really has little to do with the parent company over the park. The park's staff is still the same year-to-year and there are still members of park management that were working there back when I last worked there in 1996.

Upon looking at the pix of STR and the surrounding area, I have two questions: 1) Why didn't they bridge over, or tunnel under the train tracks? I mean Mantis opened with a crossing and they took it out because it was a pain. 2) Why did they ever get ride of the captain uniforms from Paddle-Wheel?

^The shot of the train going into the tunnel into the quarry wall reminds me of the last scene in Hitchcock's North by Northwest...the best sexual innuendo ever recorded on film

I am wrong?! How about I have a different opinion that you...huh?

There is a saying "Berlin will always be Berlin." I'd like to say that "Darien Lake will always be Darien Lake." The owners of that park have changed many times: Fun Time, Premier, Premier as Six Flags, PARC, etc. yet the heart of the park remains the same. Its had its off capital H layout for some time and rides such as Lasso, Corn Popper, and UFO have been in their exact spots since the early '80's. Its nice to see however that the current parent company is throwing some money its way to help improve its coasters. The local populace could care less who owns the park, they continue making the trek out into the middle of nowhere to experience New York State's largest amusement park...

Wait! Are you saying that they have finally fixed Predator?! It doesn't beat the crap out of you and call you naughty words anymore? Damn, I need a new least favorite wooden coaster now...

^Well I worked on the ride in '98 and it was only running two trains per side back then. As far as the train being back in the block breaks before the next train dispatches: keep in mind that park goers (like Americans in general) are larger on average than they were in the 80's. CCMR at CP opened with five trains and now has issues running three. Larger people often take longer to load. Plus most coasters now also have seat belts to contend with AND for some reason it seems as though many people are carrying around a lot more crap than they used to- which all needs to be stowed before they even get into the train.

saginawhxc In regards to the issue of The American Eagle only running one train on each side...it never runs more than two anymore (someone has to go sit in that little house thing near the helix if they put the 3rd trains back on). But I have never understood who that line seems inside out to me. It would be one thing if one of the trains ran backwards, but with them both going forward it seems that there should be one queue which leads to the space between the two tracks- like on Gemini

OMG! What is Thumper doing to Bambi?! And I'm not even going to touch that sign of "Ferries Welcome" which points at a Rainbow Stop that! People are watching!

Does anyone remember the Mr. Toad ripoff at Crystal Beach? Not Laff in the Dark- there was a car ride that started off inside a building which then burst out the side of the building and ran around outside... Man! With that and Laff in the Dark- that's two ride-thru dark rides plus the phenom Magic Carpet/Palace that were lost Although I heard their Laughing Sal still exists

^ I LOVE that you called it the Yellow Coaster! Everyone called it that back then. Its real name was the Giant. It was the last remaining side-friction train outside of Europe! Too bad it could not have been saved too! I have heard from several people (like my Dad) who just don't like the Comet much without its Lakeshore setting.