Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[thrillrider]

^^^Hmmm....

I thought that vortex at canadas wonderland was. At least it seemed longer.

 

I just looked it up, and sure enough...iron dragon is the longest. It beats out ninja at magic mountain by 100 feet, and vortex by 500 feet.

[MarkLaDuke]

Hello everyone.

 

I was fortunate enough to get to go to CP last year on a Saturday for Halloweenends. It was PACKED, like 3 hours waits for the big3, but I was luckily enough to get one of the 2 VIP groups that day so I got to do everything in no time at all. It was deff my favorite theme park day of all time. Anyways...

 

I do wanna go back. However, I have a large group that wants to go (we are from florida) and not everyone wants to do the VIP thing. So, we were thinking about staying 2-3 days. We wanted to go by late august. Is there a time, month/day of the week, that is least busy? I just hate lines. Im assuming wednesdays, but is there a month that it isnt quite as packed as the others? thanks all.

[Maverickrocks]

MarkLaDuke, if you went anytime from Aug.30 on into the days before Labor Day weekend, the park will probably be deserted because kids are back in school. If thats too late, a weekday or Sunday from the 22 on should be okay as well.

 

Everyday from July into Mid-August is going to have decent crowds, but if you have to go at that time, Sun., Thurs. and Weds. or any day where rain is predicted (except Sat), will have the shortest lines.

[MarkLaDuke]

so, if i go on like a tues,wed,thurs in mid-late august, how long of a wait time would I be lookin at for TTD, MF, & Mav?

[triggernel]

I went on a Thurs. (5 pm to close) and Fri. (all day) mid-August last year, and managed to ride the Big Three 3 times each, plus all the other rides, as well as a few flats. Most rides had less than a 15 minute wait, with the Big Three never making us wait more than 45 minutes. The DJ's in the ques help to keep the lines exciting, and keep you from getting too bored.

 

Good Luck, hope you have a fun trip!

[cprocks22]

so, if i go on like a tues,wed,thurs in mid-late august, how long of a wait time would I be lookin at for TTD, MF, & Mav?

 

Like Maverickrocks said, anytime during the last week in August you will be able to do all of them many many times over three days, MANY times.

[coasterdude2011]

Has anyone ridden Mantis lately? For the past week (I've gone three times ) they have been running it without the trim brake on the first drop and I personally LOVE the ride now, does anyone know why this is?

[CPmaverick]

^It's been doing that all season since it valleyed opening weekend. Strangely enough it seems to be running about the same as with the trim on .

 

Also, I too love Mantis.

[coasterdude2011]

I find it more intense honestly haha, but I don't understand why they don't take the MCBR off if it stalled after that break instead of the first?

[CPmaverick]

^That was my first thought exactly. Maybe Cedar Fair is finally stopping their trim brake habit (or not ).

[Skycoastin Steve]

^That was my first thought exactly. Maybe Cedar Fair is finally stopping their trim brake habit (or not ).

For the 13509238th time, the manufacturer puts trims on their rides, not Dr. Evil and his minions at corporate headquarters.

[jmicha]

^Mantis opened without trims and they were installed per Cedar Point's requests to (from what I've heard, don't quote me on this) lengthen the ride time as they were having trouble with stacking. This is also the reason Mantis never runs three trains, or even has three trains fully assembled for that matter. They weren't there to begin with and although I know what you were trying to say, the trims on Mantis don't apply.

 

It is a better ride when they are off though. It's far more intense and offers a really fast ride that is mostly lost when the trim are on. I just wish the MCBR slowed the train a little smoother, that's always been the part of the ride that I've found uncomfortable.

[Skycoastin Steve]

That trim probably shortens the ride by what, 2 or 3 seconds at most? How would that help stacking?

[jmicha]

It's actually quite a bit more than that from what I have seen. And even if it is only an extra 10 seconds, that's 10 seconds more time to load the train and dispatch. And again, that's only what I've heard. I've never seen any other reason presented for the installation of that trim since it wasn't original to the ride, and its installation coincides with some other modifications made to the ride, all of which lengthen the amount of time it takes for a train to get back to the station. The trim on the drop, the MCBR slows the train a little more than when it opened, the removal of one of the trains from operation (gets rid of possible stacking in both sections of the final brake run) and the amount the first part of the final brake run slows the train. It creeps from the first part of the brake run to the second part and overall from what I've seen/heard, the cycle from leaving the station to stopping outside the station is quite a bit longer which helps greatly with keeping the flow of trains out of the station consistent. I wasn't trying to argue, just presenting what I've heard and seen since the trims weren't original to the ride.

[MagiMountainMan]

^lmao No way that little trim break saves that much time and keeps trains from stacking. Just my humble opinion.

[jmicha]

^If you have No Limits, just as an experiment, load the (craptastic) recreation of Mantis and place a trim halfway down the drop that slows the train, oh, 5mph. See what happens. You'd be surprised how much it can do. Most of the time saved comes from the loop and dive loop since it travels so much slower over the tops of each of those elements. Trust me, it's more than just a couple of seconds.

[coasterdude2011]

Also the trains come back into the station perfectly, one leaves and one train is on the break run ready to come in.

[CPmaverick]

^That was my first thought exactly. Maybe Cedar Fair is finally stopping their trim brake habit (or not ).

For the 13509238th time, the manufacturer puts trims on their rides, not Dr. Evil and his minions at corporate headquarters.

As stated above, I know for a fact that CP put that trim in, not B&M

Me see no trim (from RCDB)

[KDCOASTERFAN]

I find it more intense honestly haha, but I don't understand why they don't take the MCBR off if it stalled after that break instead of the first?

 

The MCBR functions as a block so it can't just be turned off.

[Pingu1651]

^ Are you sure? I think it's just a trim because I'm not sure a train could make it past the MCBR with no velocity and not valley.

 

Also, Mantis is my new favorite ride for wait time. It dropped behind Magnum after I walked on Mantis 5 times in a row.

[CPmaverick]

^ Are you sure? I think it's just a trim because I'm not sure a train could make it past the MCBR with no velocity and not valley.

It's a block. They do block tests every morning.

[Skycoastin Steve]

^That was my first thought exactly. Maybe Cedar Fair is finally stopping their trim brake habit (or not ).

For the 13509238th time, the manufacturer puts trims on their rides, not Dr. Evil and his minions at corporate headquarters.

As stated above, I know for a fact that CP put that trim in, not B&M

B&M could have very easily seen that the speed and/or forces from the ride was creating unnecessary stress on the trains/structure and asked CP to slow it down. We all know what kind of control freaks B&M is with their rides. I sure as hell know that they weren't put in to improve dispatch times, that's just a load of malarkey.

 

Better question, if this coaster was made by Intamin, how many people would be trashing Intamin for making a ride that was "poorly engineered" because it needed a trim on the first drop? Love the double standard. LOVE it.

[jmicha]

^Well considering the 'double standard' you are mentioning is based on my comment, it's pretty ridiculous considering I've never trashed Intamin ever (or any other manufacturer for that matter). Plus once the ride is turned over to the park, which it was well before the trims were put on, B&M has absolutely no control over what happens to their rides. And again, the dispatch thing was just something I heard, nothing I can prove, like I said, since I'm not a part of the park. But the ride does take a noticeable bit longer to fully run its cycle from station to final brake run than it did in its original state.

[BigDipper 80]

The evil plot for the trim brakes of the world to take over the TPR forums is working!!! Mwhahahaha!

[AnEscapeArtist]

No expert here, just my 2 cents. The trims might not have been installed when the ride first opened, but that doesn't determine who decided to put them in. Ride mechanics can adjust them based on how the coaster is running, and that can change over the course of its age. Some rides, like Tatsu, have trims that haven't been used but are installed, in case they decide the ride is running too fast through certain points and should be slowed down as the ride ages.

 

There's a variety of reasons for lots of modifications to lots of coasters, and it can be hard to pinpoint the exact reason. It can be something like track wear and tear, train maintenance, or speed modification to maintain consistent cycle times. Maybe the trains not cycling as fast as it used to (a valley is good proof) because its 15 years old, so the trims aren't necessary.