ajfelice

^A part near the base of the ride went bad in 2018 causing significant downtime.

^Spider has had exactly one full day of downtime between 2022 and 2023. While not the most efficient ride in the world, it regularly ranks dead last among the "major" rides in terms of ridership. If staffing gets tight, the least popular attractions are trimmed first, but in recent seasons this has been less of an issue. Mechanically, the parts that experience the most normal wear are not OEM and can be replaced fairly easily.

^More than likely some high-stress sections have met their limit on what can continue to be repaired. Not all track work is about smoothness. Late in August Boomerang was down with a crew working on the top of the loop from a lift which is a telltale sign there are issues with the track.

It could be one of several things. A way to smooth a lot of track length and also limit amount of materials is replacing the top two layers of wood. This method works great for areas that are higher impact and need more regular attention. It's also great for addressing multiple trouble areas at once which can make a rough ride go to smooth in a short amount of time. However, older layers of wood below the new layers can unexpectedly turn into a rotting disaster as the early stages of rot are often hard to detect visually. If unlucky, a lot of newer wood may need to be prematurely ripped up to replace rotting lower layers, so essentially back to square one earlier than expected. Alternatively, re-tracking can be done by replacing all 8 layers at once which is great for having fresh wood that is all the same age in that section. There is also less risk of lower layers rotting sooner than fresh top layers. Typically, the end result lasts a much longer time compared to only replacing the top two layers. The drawback is the requirement of far more materials and ability to re-track longer stretches or multiple areas of track on the same budget as replacing only to the top two layers. Lastly, not all retracking is in direct response to roughness experienced by a rider. There could be serious issues that need addressed, but they haven't yet impacted the ride experience. I've seen this firsthand, and it's a huge bummer when it causes downtime as the coaster seems to be running as smooth as ever.

The purchase is the mobile home park only which is in the ballpark of 12-15 acres of land. There are no immediate plans for the property, but the opportunity to purchase was presented and the price was right. It will stay as a mobile home park for the time being. Things of note when it comes to far off future land use: The parking situation needs improvement. This is a shared thought across management. You can combine the acreage of the west parking lot and its overflows and still have significant land to spare to increase parking further within the acquired land. Parking across Peninsula Drive on Saturdays in July and August is not ideal at all. Water World isn't likely to expand too far outside its current boundaries. For future attractions anywhere in the park is anyone's guess. Personally hoping for some upgrades to the amusement park section.

Call me stunned if a 2024 attraction or any future attraction is "announced" in the coming weeks. Seriously.

To clarify the statement below.... The following attractions have all missed their "Scheduled Opening" 1986: Water World 1996: Thunder River 2004: Steel Dragon 2008: Ravine Flyer II (excluding delays in construction approval) 2015: Wave Pool 2016: Kidz Slide and Spray Zone 2017: Battle of Lake Erie

We aren't breaking any records, but hopefully the setting really makes this attraction stand out. Definitely a skyline-altering addition for Water World. Vertical construction of fiberglass will likely not be very visible until late-winter, so we will have to wait to see in-person how tight this thing is crammed in.

There are no current plans for the old Inn at Presque Isle sign. It does not meet current zoning codes, so it can only be used as is with little modification. It's beginning to deteriorate quickly as some pieces of the trim around the sign face have fallen off, but who knows if that will sway any plans for its future. In my opinion it's an obtuse eyesore, and should be removed in favor of something that fits the landscape nicer. The current codes do not allow for a sign as tall as the current one, but anything on that mostly barren corner will stand out and look nicer than the current structure.

Glad to hear you enjoyed your visit on that pretty miserable Sunday. Scrambler's no single rider policy is in line with an updated safety bulletin recommendation from Eli Bridge. Music Express is an electrical issue we are working with Bertazzon to get to the bottom of, and Vortex was having issues with the damp track affecting ride speed and whatnot. Things are coming together around the park, and staffing is dramatically improved so far. As for this..... The statement applies to over 95% of full-time and seasonal employees, so you are not alone feeling that way.

$5 reduction in starting pay? Cedar Fair must be getting lean and efficient, primed for acquisition. That's a bit of a bummer for someone looking for a pretty awesome summer job seeing what they paid last year. I get not wanting to reduce an experienced employee's wage, but $5/hr is bit of a gap for most front-line positions who mostly perform similar tasks within their departments regardless of number of seasons employed.

^Nothing wrong with either train (aside from being PTCs), but there is not a chance there will be two trains in operation with the staff shortage. Running one train frees up one or two Team Members who can open one or two other rides. It really sad watching the ridership of RFII dip is it can't get any boost from 2-train operation.

^2.1 has been a rougher seat for as long as I can remember. The good news is a large stretch of track from the 90 degree bank into the valley and back up the hillside is being replaced this fall along with some touch ups in other areas. Hopefully someday the PTCs are replaced. Regarding the authorities, a dog has been left in a car TWICE by the same owner in the past week. The Gift House is low on merchandise due in part to very high in-park spending at rates never seen before coupled with combating supply chain issues that have plagued multiple industries this year.

^The crews may be there, but in this current situation they will always be there. All day, everyday, save for maybe one day off a week so CP isn't completely abusing anyone. A shift at CP also doesn't start just a moment before the park opens to a few minutes after closing time either. I'm sure the employees they do have working for them are being worked to the absolute maximum just to keep as many attractions open as possible. Open-close shifts are probably the norm for the summer when in the past they were only a thing in the bookends of the season when dealing with college schedules and international worker arrival/departure.

^Not going to spill any descriptive details, but both would have replaced existing flat rides. Speculate all you want.

^Safe move by Idlewild in my opinion. Easier to sort things out based on how much sh*t the fan will spit come opening day. I'm working in a similar situation where we are not selling single-day tickets or committing to a specific operating calendar until we see how the world is doing in a few months. None of the recent restrictions in Pennsylvania would prevent a park from operating by order of the state, but it is simply next to impossible to formally predict anything. If I were to personally attempt to predict anything for 2021, I see things getting a little better, but better only in comparison to an unmitigated disaster that was 2020.

Smaller individually/family owned parks tend to communicate with each other frequently, and the general consensus is that things are very bad. Something along the lines of "If we knew it was going to be this bad, we would never have opened" has been said several times. Not going to speculate which parks could close forever, but I expect a ripple effect of slowed expansion for a few years.

I must say, not sure anyone outside of Hersheypark (or maybe them included) would have guessed they would jump ahead to be the first park to open in Pennsylvania. What started as hot spots in Philadelphia/Eastern PA and somewhat in Pittsburgh, has now receded with the heavier restrictions closer to Philly and apparently Erie (I guess we have a new outbreak around here?).

To potentially add fuel to the speculation fire because I'm bored, a couple Saturdays ago I passed a truck on I-90 west near Ashtabula, Ohio with six PTC 2-bench frames and coaster parts along with a couple antique cars strapped to its bed. Could only be coming from a limited number of places in that area/direction. I know for a fact it wasn't from one nearby park. Wonder where they could be headed?

We had a fun lake effect snow squall come through Waldameer this morning.

^Correct. Showtime Theater and the ugly Water Wars game have been retired to make room for Whirlwind.

First of all, us millennials are getting older so we are entitled to less finger pointing for the staffing woes of Cedar Point and other parks. All unfounded hate should be directed towards Generation Z who are making up more and more of the seasonal theme park workforce. Any google search concerning the summer/seasonal employment trends of teens and young college students points to a troubling statistic. Summer employment has been declining for several decades, and the main issue is not laziness but competition with other activities. Summer classes, fall athletics starting sooner and sooner, paid and unpaid internships being the "only" path to a successful career just to name a few reasons. Along with CP's location doing them no favors for keeping the massive park staffed, having greater trouble attracting enough staff in the summer means even less holdovers from the summer to get them through shoulder seasons. The worst part is the fall shoulder season is just killing them with insane attendance. CP is far from alone with staffing troubles, they just have a bigger magnifying glass on them and they are trying to keep together a much larger than average operation in a smaller job market.

Scored some deeply discounted tickets, so I was also at the supposed to be slower Friday of September 20. For one, at the resort entrance under Magnum, they gave no effs about who was early entry and who wasn't, so that was a great bonus considering we were running a bit early. Steel Vengeance posted at an hour with an actual wait of an hour and 15 minutes was our longest wait. Not a huge deal considering its newness and the person I was with had never rode before. After that, we never waited more than 30 minutes. Not what was originally anticipated, but considering the warmth and the supposed inflated attendance with the Gold Passes, it was fine. Gave a few extra chances to enjoy October beers in the queues. My only head-scratching observation is this Steel Vengeance loose article policy. I get it there was an incident, I get it the phone ban in the queue fired people up, and I get it that the nature of the ride will eat more pocket items than the average coaster. However, there are four ride hosts dedicated between two metal detectors and stamping. I wonder if the desired results of this procedure are enough to justify this investment of labor and resources. Of course, this is slightly better than the phone ban in the queue, but even that didn't require the resources the current procedure needs. But hey, if CP thinks this is their best solution, have at it I guess. CP and Universal can bond over their metal detectors.

For anyone worried about some potholes, the big one between the two tunnels on that straightaway after the bridge will be fixed this fall. Perhaps as we speak, because the trucks from Texas were arriving as the park was winding down Monday night. Several other areas that have not received major improvements since opening will also be addressed. As a reference to the scale of this fall refurbishment, we had to rearrange some employee parking to accommodate the massive lumber delivery.

Yes, we are installing a SBF spinning coaster. The location will be made known after Labor Day, and it is not behind Spider. We will not be removing any rides to accommodate it, but we will be doing some re-configuring of an area.