Superbatboy Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 I watched the Rougarou cam for about 30-45 mins earlier and the ride was down almost the whole time, they finally started sending empty trains then water dummies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dippindotsguy8 Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Funny thing is, if this was a six flags park people would be jumping all over them. Good point my friend... Being on top of things the vast majority of the time buys you some grace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirkFunk Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Cedar Point has been such a mess for so many years that we usually skip opening weekend. We made an exception this year with the Friday night preview; nah, it is still Cedar Point as far as opening days go. Had a good time, don't get me wrong, but we left before 1PM today knowing the weather was likely to turn and most of the rides would still be down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Geek Mojo Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Really looking forward to riding Rougarou. Also, riding Maverick now with the new restraints. But since Cedar Point is rumored to get a new B&M next year, I think I'm going to wait until next year to visit since it's a ten hour drive for me. And definitely not visiting on opening weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanthonyam Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 I heard King's Island had all of their rides open the first day. What's up CP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Password121 Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 Dragster and Maverick are very temperamental rides that break down very frequently mid-summer. I don't think it should be huge surprise they had issues opening day--just unfortunate they had issues at the same time. Wicked Twister, from my experience, is a little more reliable, but this sounds like a rare occurrence. Kings Island didnt have Invertigo running opening day, or the following couple weeks. They also don't have a 120 mph launch coaster or a difficult multi launcher like Maverick. Not really a comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirkFunk Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 I heard King's Island had all of their rides open the first day. What's up CP? It has been like this for awhile now. Not sure what the deal is - not enough maintenance staff, not enough ops, not starting training soon enough? I understand Millennium Force hadn't even gotten certified by the state of Ohio for operation until 11AM today. Honestly, I would suggest not even bothering until June or so (which is what we did last year). The only reason I'd go is under conditions like ours - you can get a super cheap and not terrible Sandusky hotel room and you really just want to be inside the gates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MagnumFreak25 Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 I heard King's Island had all of their rides open the first day. What's up CP? It has been like this for awhile now. Not sure what the deal is - not enough maintenance staff, not enough ops, not starting training soon enough? I understand Millennium Force hadn't even gotten certified by the state of Ohio for operation until 11AM today. Honestly, I would suggest not even bothering until June or so (which is what we did last year). The only reason I'd go is under conditions like ours - you can get a super cheap and not terrible Sandusky hotel room and you really just want to be inside the gates. Well they have a lot less time to prepare, it was still barely above freezing a week ago. Plus it was raining most of the day anyway so not all there fault. Wicked Twister seems like it might have something to do with the Possessed breakdown, maybe some kinda failure was found and its being fixed. TTD is just being TTD but Maverick doesn't break down all that often. Probably ran out of time for testing the new restraints and everything. Or it did just breakdown, you never know. Mean Streak being down makes me think they didn't have enough staff to finish testing in time though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanthonyam Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 I also noticed how all the hotels jack up the rates in that area starting in June! It's insane. I assume this area of Ohio is a ghost town off season when the park closes. All the Cedar Point property hotels are very expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firewalk13 Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 So a few more notes from opening day, I left about 6pm due to rain. Gemini was one train all day (Red), Wicked Twister did have 2 cars off the track, and a piece of track was sitting on a pallet, no work was being done to it that I could see. WIndseeker and Slingshot both had guys working on them every time I walked by. Magnum was not running, Mean Streak was testing throughout the day, and Skyhawk was only running one side. It was hot & humid, not the best day ridewise, but I'll be back soon. Enjoyed Rougarou but its operations could be better and will likely improve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirkFunk Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Well they have a lot less time to prepare, it was still barely above freezing a week ago. Plus it was raining most of the day anyway so not all there fault. Wicked Twister seems like it might have something to do with the Possessed breakdown, maybe some kinda failure was found and its being fixed. TTD is just being TTD but Maverick doesn't break down all that often. Probably ran out of time for testing the new restraints and everything. Or it did just breakdown, you never know. Mean Streak being down makes me think they didn't have enough staff to finish testing in time though. Their daytime temps hit highs in the 40s and above all of April. The lowest high for last week was 50. Sorry, I don't buy weather as being a serious reason as to why they couldn't get their rides up and running this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaMarkSta Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 I rode Millennium today at 10 AM, don't think the certification thing has any truth to it. Millennium was planned to be on the line up for pass holder night but didn't open for whatever reason like a lot of other rides. Millennium was supposed to open for early entry but I think part of it is the new crews learning their jobs. Even Rougarou didn't open till 9:10 today, but yeah give it a week or so and they'll be much better. Opening weekend usually weeds out the slacker employees anyway haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajfelice Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Opening Day is always a treat for almost any park. Some go well, most have their series of bumps. Maintenance likely had to work against the lengthy winter in addition to a probably already very tight schedule that certain rides were not quite ready. Nothing new here. If you haven't spent much time living near a Great Lake, it should be known that a winter on the lake shore versus a few hours inland in southern Ohio is literally two different climates, so the Kings Island comparison lacks merit in my opinion. There are many tasks that are significantly delayed or simply can't be done when temperatures are stuck near freezing. You can't fire up a coaster on a cold day when it hasn't operated since Fall without first warming the train and lubricating the hell out of it. You can't set the taller or larger flats with cranes or JLG lifts when the winds are pounding the peninsula. So in the end, weather weeks before Opening Day can set the pace for what is and isn't available on Opening Day. As for operations such as one side Gemini, staffing rides in May can be hit or miss. In my park of work, I literally opened today with a the smallest skeleton crew possible due to things such as colleges ending, graduations, proms, sports commitments from high-school kids, etc. Cedar Point is far from immune from this problem as well. As for ride downtime like CP dealt with, our signature ride went down for over an hour due to a rare mechanical issue. Cedar Point isn't slacking or disorganized, but likely up against the wall with the usual Opening Day headaches. Ever since I started working in the industry, I have learned to keep Opening Day expectations in check, because the fact of the matter is that there are many variables that are likely to take away from the "perfect day." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrider Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 I don't buy the weather excuse. The weather has not been that bad this year. We were told by a worker that maverick did not have it's PA system in the station yet, so that's why it did not open. Wicked twister was in pieces, tiki twirl never opened, mean streak never gave a ride today, gemini was 1 train, Skyhawks was only running 1 side, antique cars was down half the day, every store and food stand opened late if it even opened, a lot of the cash registers did not work, and workers were clueless about the dinning plan . And then throw in the typical opening day problems, and you have a failed opening day. After the rain, the park cleared out, but a lot of the rides never reopened. I have been to the past 15 or so opening days and this year was the worst. It was more than the typical opening day bugs. I can also go on about the issues we had at hotel breakers, but we will save that for another time. Trip report coming soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewRnR Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Now granted this was several years ago but seems to still apply today but what I heard from some trusted sources at the park is the budget for ride testing has been slashed drastically. Rides used to start cycling in early April and test for weeks. There always was a charity mini-golf tournament a week before the park opened and I remember always seeing every major ride testing non-step. From what I heard is the pre-opening was slashed big time in the mid-2000s and the park has suffered since. A large amount of seasonal employees used to process in at beginning of April. But really... there is a difference between mechanical issues and rides literally still sitting in pieces. I used to go every opening day and besides an usual downtime here and there things were always open and ready. Then literally it was night and day when a new CFO showed up and things haven't been the same despite that CFO leaving. I'm a huge CP fanboy but I refuse to make the trip up there from Florida until a few weeks into the season - I've been burned too many times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluestreak Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Rougarou is great, but did anybody that rode Millennium today notice that the yellow train was nowhere to be seen? Is Millennium going to permanent 2 train operation, or is the yellow train still in the workshop? Hopefully it's not the latter because that would make already long lines even longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mossed Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Rougarou is great, but did anybody that rode Millennium today notice that the yellow train was nowhere to be seen? Is Millennium going to permanent 2 train operation, or is the yellow train still in the workshop? Hopefully it's not the latter because that would make already long lines even longer. That doesn't sound like something Cedar Point would do to one of it's premium attractions. I feel like all the extra renovations to Hotel Breakers really put a strain on the park getting everything ready by opening day. On the plus side, the hotel looks tremendous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drummermattk Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Does Rougarou have any night theming? Like lights up everywhere and maybe a wearwolf howl at the top of the lift or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymouscactus Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 I'm still amazed how smoothly opening day went at Canada's Wonderland went after reading all these reports from other parks. Not only did they open a week earlier but they are farther up north in the cold, windseeker was the only ride closed for the day I can recall, and every coaster was running at max capacity with all their trains. The only snafu I can recall is Guardian opened 2 hours late. I didn't see a single ride go down for difficulties during the time i was there. They have set a new standard in my eyes, then again I beleive they also have a park buyout the day before and the week before but I could be wrong. Maybe more parks need preview days to work out the kinks. Get in cheap with expectations that not everything is going to be perfect, and everyone learns the ropes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRice92 Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Rougarou is great, but did anybody that rode Millennium today notice that the yellow train was nowhere to be seen? Is Millennium going to permanent 2 train operation, or is the yellow train still in the workshop? Hopefully it's not the latter because that would make already long lines even longer. Millennium Force's 3rd train just isn't ready yet, it will be back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MagnumFreak25 Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 I don't buy the weather excuse. The weather has not been that bad this year. Umm... What rock were you living under? This year was one worst winters We've had up here in a long time. It didn't even get much more than 40 till the last week or two. Simply, they couldn't start ride testing till recently or do some of the maintenance needed. Add the new Hotel Breakers and all the other stuff being built they just didn't have time. Really, I think people are over reacting a bit. Dragsters always down anyway, Wicked Twister seems to be a bigger problem and not the parks fault, Mavericks the only surprise and probably the most disappointing and who cares if mean streak is open anyway. Hopefully they just didn't have enough staff for Skyhawk because it could still be something bigger. Tiki Twirl was announced halfway through winter, is it really a surprise that they didn't finish? No one's complaining about the fact that SF never opens their new rides opening day. Think about it though, they have more rides than any other park to get open on time, with less time to do it than most of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewRnR Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 ^ The people redoing the hotel wouldn't be the same people as the one getting the rides ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaMarkSta Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Does Rougarou have any night theming? Like lights up everywhere and maybe a wearwolf howl at the top of the lift or something? Sadly Rougarou does not have any noticeable different night effects. The only effects are at the bottom of the first drop with fog and sound. The second half of the ride I expected something but there wasn't anything. So to me difference between a night ride and a day ride wasn't a big difference as that fog at the bottom of the drop was also on during the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirkFunk Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 (edited) Umm... What rock were you living under? This year was one worst winters We've had up here in a long time. It didn't even get much more than 40 till the last week or two. I know that the weather on the peninsula can differ a little from the city, but, look, this is the April weather info from Port Clinton: http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KPCW/2015/4/10/MonthlyCalendar.html?req_city=Sandusky&req_state=OH&req_statename=&reqdb.zip=44870&reqdb.magic=1&reqdb.wmo=99999 This is not an outrageously cold and brutal April. April was actually mild. Was it probably very cold in February or March? I would definitely say so, having seen the place then. But not that much happens outside during those months. It shouldn't take them a whole month to move a portable ride intended for tear down and rebuild in a matter of hours on the road as was the case on Tiki Twirl. I think the much more likely scenario is that they cut some budgets here and there for people at some point. I know that...uhhh...a very close friend, let's say that....they processed in on April 28th to start at CP when working there a decade ago. Want to hear something even crazier? The park opened with most every ride operating that year on May 4th. The water rides were up and going within a week. They know this with certainty; they worked them. I know that Breakers isn't finished yet (which is OK, there was no promise the whole thing would be done yet and it does look a million times better), but the guys working on rides didn't have anything to do with Breakers. No one is asking ops from Skyride to install a fire pit. No one's complaining about the fact that SF never opens their new rides opening day. Everyone complains about Six Flags doing that. And usually the response is "It is Six Flags, you know they suck, you shouldn't have expectations" and threads move on from there. I really would like Cedar Fair to be a little better than this because I know they can be. Edited May 10, 2015 by DirkFunk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willh51 Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Enjoying the Web cam this morning. I see Maverick running. The Rougarou crew was doing well until a train stopped on the MCBR. AAAAAND 15 minutes later she's free. Barely made it back to the station, but no valley! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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