Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[Astat]

They've been testing this thing for what, 2 weeks now? And they JUST decided to tell people "Oh yeah by the way, someone at Intamin pulled a NASA Mars Climate Orbiter on the calculations for the heartline roll, so the ride won't open on time and when it does it might not have an element we've been advertising it as having for the past 7 months. LOLZ SORRY GUYZ."

 

it comes off as very unprofessional for Cedar Point to wait until 4 freaking days before the park opens to let us in on the SLIGHT problem that their big new attraction is going to be at LEAST a month late.

[TheArchfiend]

They've been testing this thing for what, 2 weeks now? And they JUST decided to tell people "Oh yeah by the way, someone at Intamin pulled a NASA Mars Climate Orbiter on the calculations for the heartline roll, so the ride won't open on time and when it does it might not have an element we've been advertising it as having for the past 7 months. LOLZ SORRY GUYZ."

 

it comes off as very unprofessional for Cedar Point to wait until 4 freaking days before the park opens to let us in on the SLIGHT problem that their big new attraction is going to be at LEAST a month late.

 

Well I'm sure their goal was to piss everyone off by dropping this information last minute.

 

Please, no one here knows what exactly caused this set back. All I do know is that both the park and Intamin would like this ride to be fully operational.

[FlyingScooter]

^^Perhaps the testing was going okay for a while and then went KACHUNK!

For all we know, it could be that simple.

 

Granted, 4 days isn't much notice, but it's still better than not announcing it until opening day

[ginzo]

They've been testing this thing for what, 2 weeks now? And they JUST decided to tell people "Oh yeah by the way, someone at Intamin pulled a NASA Mars Climate Orbiter on the calculations for the heartline roll, so the ride won't open on time and when it does it might not have an element we've been advertising it as having for the past 7 months. LOLZ SORRY GUYZ."

 

it comes off as very unprofessional for Cedar Point to wait until 4 freaking days before the park opens to let us in on the SLIGHT problem that their big new attraction is going to be at LEAST a month late.

 

I tend to believe that CP thought they could get the ride ready on time. Why would they intentionally deceive? This is their reputation on the line.

 

I mean we don't know exactly what they found, or what their exact testing protocol is. Maybe it's something subtle that they noticed at the last minute. Very few people here have any true expertise in designing, building, and testing roller coasters.

 

ginz "these conspiracy theories are all crap" o

[robbalvey]

The best thing about all this is that all 21 pages of this nonsense will totally be forgotten about and forgiven in a matter of months.

 

Remember all the bitching and moaning in TTD's opening year?

 

Yeah.....

[Astat]

I'm not calling conspiracy at all, I'm just saying if it's something that's going to require entire sections of track to be redesigned, it's something that could have and SHOULD have been caught a lot earlier than 4 days before the park opened.

 

They're making it sound like a major design flaw, and with all the technology there is these days, I think it's pretty sad that a major design flaw went undetected for this long.

[FlyingScooter]

The best thing about all this is that all 21 pages of this nonsense will totally be forgotten about and forgiven in a matter of months.

 

Remember all the bitching and moaning in TTD's opening year?

 

Yeah.....

 

True enough. First year, second year, even last year whenever there was a drizzle.

[jarmor]

The only advance type of coaster I can say B&M made was the flying coaster.

 

Vekoma did it first anyways with the Flying Dutchman coaster.

 

Great observation Capt. O but the point was company specific coasters...The only advanced coaster that B&M made as a company in their line of coasters was their version of the flying coaster.

So I guess the invert or the stand up wasn't an advance in technology for them either?

 

Hell, they started the invert craze!

 

--Robb

 

Nah there we my ideas that I gave to them...they came up w/ the flyer so thats why I consider it the only. Besides didnt togo start the stand-up coaster or was it arrow...B&M basically perfected the stand up mechanisim.

 

Jarvis "does not memorize coaster history..."Morant

[robbalvey]

I'm not calling conspiracy at all, I'm just saying if it's something that's going to require entire sections of track to be redesigned, it's something that could have and SHOULD have been caught a lot earlier than 4 days before the park opened.

Yeah, well...it doesn't always happen like that sorry. It's really tough to plan for delays. Trust me, I'm a project manager on some $20 million+ entertainment projects. I'm glad you seem to think that all problems should be solved 4 days before a project is due to be completed, but that's just not realistic.

 

I speak from my own professional experience, not from an opinion.

 

--Robb

[ginzo]

I'm not calling conspiracy at all, I'm just saying if it's something that's going to require entire sections of track to be redesigned, it's something that could have and SHOULD have been caught a lot earlier than 4 days before the park opened.

 

They're making it sound like a major design flaw, and with all the technology there is these days, I think it's pretty sad that a major design flaw went undetected for this long.

 

Yeah, I dunno. It's easy to play armchair critic when you're not directly involved in the project. From my point of view, Cedar Point did everything right. They hired a top end firm to build the ride, and they started construction very early. Their official press release is VERY vague. So, we don't really know what the screw up was, or how bad it was.

 

On a mildly related note, John Fetterman of Knoebels posted on RRC that they save a lot of money by building their coasters slowly. They don't have to rebuild sections as much, and they don't have to pay extra to have materials shipped promptly. Maybe Cedar Point should have started even earlier.

[cgodsey]

^^^If you want to use that argument, then B&M "perfected" every coaster design out there, Standup, Flying, inverted, etc. They took crappy ideas and made them 1000% better by innovating the B&M way.

 

And for those that say B&M rides are forceless haven't ridden Tatsu, Sheikra, Kumba, or any Batman clone.

 

As far as Intamin goes, this doesn't shock me one bit. Unfortunately, this is becoming typical with their installations.

[jimths08]

As far as pushing the envelope for B&M goes, does anybody remember if anything happened with Sheikra? I mean, combining hyper with verticle, adding inversions to verticle, and a splash section. That sounds like pushing it to me. I mean, sure that has been done before in small ways (accellorator tophats=verticle and often +200ft, stormrunner has done verticle+inversions, and there are rides with splash sections.)BUT has anyone ever put the three together before? Also, new train design etc....

 

Just trying to add a new perspective in to destract all the bashers

 

How can adding inversions and a pipe to a train considered "pushing the envelope"?? A "hyper" is basically a term. Please explain to me what new technology sheikra used that say...any basic B&M sit down coaster hasn't used? Wider track...not even, taller lift hill...just mean more track had to be used, adding a loop...still im not seeing the major advancement in that. The only advance type of coaster I can say B&M made was the flying coaster.

 

How is it NOT an advancement.

 

In our physics class we just finished building cardboard boats. I had prior experience and it showed up in our boat. The other students boats were lacking in quality. They had less experience.

 

Even with simple projects such as placing cardboard slabs together, you learn the tricks about what works and what doesn't. Whether or not SheiKra had any knew equipment is not a factor. The idea of placing proven elements together is a technological achievement.

 

If you say that a coaster such as SheiKra isn't a technological improvement, then you must also say that the telephone wasn't one. Mixing a phonograph and telegraph made the telephone. Bell used tried and proven methods to create a new one.

 

Taller, faster, more intense coasters are more complicated and have more variables that can fail. You people cannot sit here and say that a coaster such as John Iver's coaster is just as complex as SheiKra.

 

Anyways, with the less mechanical coasters, the early issues are nearly all program related. It is extremely hard to make a program that will work perfectly the first time it's used. Those of you who have been on the Tony Hawk coasters know what I mean. It's a nightmare to control eight moving cars at the same time. I realize that Maverick didn't have a problem with programing, but it's the same concept.

 

I think many of you are forgetting that Cedar Fair and Cedar Point are a business. They are not there to entertain you, they are there to make money. They just have to be better than the rest of the parks to keep you coming back. The quality of the park is merely competition. I believe that Cedar Point knew that there would be a possible problem with Maverick. If they tell you that from the beginning though, then you're less likely to book a room, and spend money on them. For the most part, in this forum and the general public, those who find out about Mavericks delay will still go to the park this weekend. Had you all known a month or more in advance that the coaster wouldn't be open, some wouldn't have planned a trip. Just remember that the parks are there to make money.

 

Honestly, if the park had said "Maverick will open June 24th" from the beginning, none of you would be complaining right now. You would all be excited about the 24th weekend and you would never know the difference.

[dandaman]

"Top Thrill Dragster is currently closed, once again, Top Thrill Dragster is currently closed. We apologize for any inconvenience and suggest that you try out one of the 65 other rides and attractions here at Cedar Point."

 

Great. Now I've got whatever Aqua "Jungle Song" thing from your video stuck in my head.

 

The more I read, the more I suddenly want to go to Cedar Point BEFORE Maverick opens. At least some people are realizing that, if people cancel left and right, the other sixty-(seven? eight?) rides open will basically welcome you with open arms.

[Coaster Sim. Fan]

While I do in a way fell bade for every one that planed trips for the rids oping and now it wont be open its really not the end of the world. Even with maverick closed I would stile love the chance to get the CP.

 

I would so go on the mid west trip if my parents would let me

 

Another thing I want to bring up is why is every one pointing fingers like it must of been the manufacture it must of been the park, they didn't tell us early enough.

 

We really dont have enough information at all to decide how is at fault. For all we know this problem could of been fount out only a few days ago and they were working on trying to find a solution but couldn't.

 

What about the rolls on chiller that came out what 8 years after the ride was in operation? How would of though of that. At least with this ride just being built a problem is more expected.

 

One last thing I want to bring up is how do we know that it wasn't testing fine and for all we know the forces were fine but that stress fractures were fount in the track. That could really explain why the track nothing to be replaced and doesn't point at an engineering flaw to say. It could of been that the people in the factory's did something wrong when building the track that caused the problem. Remember there is another ride being delayed this year cause track pices were made incorrectly

 

If it was the track maybe it will now be box track since I think it is supposed to be stronger.

 

This is all speculation like every one else but I just wanted to through it out there.

[Carnage]

if people cancel left and right, the other sixty-(seven? eight?) rides open will basically welcome you with open arms.

 

Well as long as the rest of them don't break down.

 

MF,TTD,and WT all broke down on me last year.

[dandaman]

Well as long as the rest of them don't break down.

 

MF,TTD,and WT all broke down on me last year.

 

And you still had a good time, right?

 

(Though, yeah, worst-case scenario... )

[jimths08]

One last thing I want to bring up is how do we know that it wasn't testing fine and for all we know the forces were fine but that stress fractures were fount in the track. That could really explain why the track nothing to be replaced and doesn't point at an engineering flaw to say. It could of been that the people in the factory's did something wrong when building the track that caused the problem. Remember there is another ride being delayed this year cause track pices were made incorrectly

 

If it was the track maybe it will now be box track since I think it is supposed to be stronger.

 

This is all speculation like every one else but I just wanted to through it out there.

 

The four-spine track is typically used only in higher elevation segments. It's an efficiency idea. On lower elevations, it's cheaper to use more supports and a two or three spine track. With higher elevations, it's cheaper to use less supports. To compensate this less support usage, the four spine is used. The main difference in the two scenarios is the distance between each support connection to the track. Longer gaps use the four spine.

 

EDIT: Hehe, I just found this on the CP blog. It's quite ironic really. I doubt this delay is the surprise they're talking about.

 

"From Tony & Tyler: Oh just you wait - there's one surprise we can't wait to tell you about! "

 

"From Tony & Tyler: Nope! We're hoping to spill the beans by next Wednesday."

 

 

Wednesday being today...

[Carnage]

Well as long as the rest of them don't break down.

 

MF,TTD,and WT all broke down on me last year.

 

And you still had a good time, right?

 

(Though, yeah, worst-case scenario... )

 

Yup, that I did.

 

Though it does really suck when you can see MF and TTD, knowing that you can't ride them. Kind of made worse by the fact that you can see them from anywhere, which constantly reminds you what you're missing.

 

Maverick probably won't bug me nearly as much being down as the other's did.

[Xxhershey818xX]

Well Opening Day should still be good right?

[jimths08]

Of course it will!

[Gnome]

I think many of you are forgetting that Cedar Fair and Cedar Point are a business. They are not there to entertain you, they are there to make money. They just have to be better than the rest of the parks to keep you coming back. The quality of the park is merely competition. I believe that Cedar Point knew that there would be a possible problem with Maverick.

That's a very paradoxical statement. Cedar Fair is here to entertain us as that is the very nature of the business. But as with any business, certain factors have to be taken into consideration, like which capital improvement would be best for the park? If it was all "business" comes first, then CP could have easily plopped in a generic B&M and still bring in the crowds, but obviously they choose not to. Hopefully their choice in doing such will benefit them in the end.

[RollerC]

Everyone, this weekend will be gorgous weather wise...go there and enjoy their other attractions...Maverick will be there next year and the year after.

 

PS: HAs any CP Fanboy commited sucide yet? I was sure i'd see one or two in the news by now.

[RedB]

Everyone, this weekend will be gorgous weather wise...go there and enjoy their other attractions...Maverick will be there next year and the year after.

 

PS: HAs any CP Fanboy commited sucide yet? I was sure i'd see one or two in the news by now.

 

If Dragster didn't do it I don't think this will.

[Garet]

Just the one fan boy suicide so far, think he was a ACER

[RedB]

^ I stand corrected.