Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[JJLehto]

I only rode Corkscrew once in 2014 to get the credit and I didn't think it was that bad. I've certainly had much worse rides on other Arrows

 

I feel the same way. Corkscrew is bad, but it's not THAT bad. I usually ride it once per visit.

Not that it's so bad, other arrows were deff worse, just ya know it isn't that good, not enough for me to ride it again. I just don't bother.

[DorneyKid14]

There's an image circulating of metal detectors outside the front gate area. I'm not sharing it because I'm not exactly sure who took it or if it was authorized but it seems like a mundane enough issue that we can bring it up. This is definitely not a surprise but they're going to need to find a really efficient way to do it, especially at the resort gate for early entry.

 

From my understanding, the company is doing metal detectors at the main entrance off all parks.

[Steely Dan]

I only rode Corkscrew once in 2014 to get the credit and I didn't think it was that bad. I've certainly had much worse rides on other Arrows

 

I feel the same way. Corkscrew is bad, but it's not THAT bad. I usually ride it once per visit.

Not that it's so bad, other arrows were deff worse, just ya know it isn't that good, not enough for me to ride it again. I just don't bother.

Right, it's no longer a high-octane thrill ride by today's standards like it was when it opened 4 decades ago, but it's not an objectively bad ride (it's just really short), and it still fills a niche in the CP line-up. And the iconic corkscrews over the midway are beautiful and provide perhaps the best coaster/midway interaction moment in the entire park. Those kinds of design touches help make amusement parks a little bit more fun for everyone, both riders and spectators alike. I'd hate to lose that.

 

And Corkscrew's biggest problem, just like all other old arrow/vekoma multi-loopers, are those damn rigid horse collar OTSR's that seem specifically engineered to induce headaches. If the train change on blue hawk/ninja is as dramatic as people here have reported, then I think such trains could transform a lot of these older arrow rides into perfectly serviceable medium thrill coasters for all of the park-going 6 - 10 year-olds who might feel ready to stand up to the challenge of their very first upside-down coaster. A great amusement park like CP needs to be WAY more than just all extreme thrills all of the time.

[JT325]

Re-track Corkscrew? Replace the track? Haven't Vekoma and Arrow rides had new track put in with the same or worse results? They can mess with the track all they want. Those structures/track vibrate, no way around it. No good flexion or joints to move. Some suggest the new(er) Vekoma vest restraints. Have you tried those? They're even worse. You don't headbang, but instead are held down AND back by that tightening vest and are shaken to death. Uck!

 

Taer Corkscrew down! But wait! I LOVE Corkscrew - well for a ride or two - that's all I can take. Rip it out, and build a brand-new version (with a figure-8 or something else at the end) by MACK! That would give us the best aspects of Corkscrew: the Corks over the midway (with red lights!!!), and a ride the kids love. MACK can built it with a 42" height requirement.

 

Heck, if MACK does it, everyone would love it. Same height, same inversions, same sequence of elements (plus a longer ending), but with super-comfortable trains.

Ahhh... the comfort. They can even make half the train those new spinning MACK cars. Or backwards

[coasterbill]

I really don't think people understand how little room Corkscrew actually takes up. There's no reason to remove it, it's not in the way of anything and the entire lift hill, first drop, second hill and most of the brake run are over an active maintenance area but because people can drive through the gaps in the supports it's not invasive at all. In addition, the corkscrews are over the midway and the few elements that aren't either over an active maintenance area or an active midway are mostly bordering the edge of the park so closely that the space it's taking up is the equivalent of the width of the track itself (so essentially nothing).

 

See... look. That's why Corkscrew is still running. There's nothing to be gained by removing it. If they wanted to build a new coaster there are plenty of other places they could put it and plenty of other rides they could remove that take up way more space than Corkscrew does. Corkscrew is an unbelievably efficient use of space.

[JT325]

^I agree with your points, but in the next few years I have a feeling Corkscrew will... as they say "reach the end of it's service life." So, they can put a new Corkscrew in. By MACK, of course. It would be a people eater, more people would like it, and it would reduce lines on Maverick, RMC Mean Schnitzel and High Heel Dragqueen.

 

PS - they could even use the same footings. If they wanted. Like Busch Gardens did with BBW/Verbolten. But we know CP likes brand new things.

[bluestreak]

Does anybody know if there is a pass holder preview night this year? If so, when is it? Can't seem to find anything about it.

 

There isn't one this year.

 

There's an image circulating of metal detectors outside the front gate area. I'm not sharing it because I'm not exactly sure who took it or if it was authorized but it seems like a mundane enough issue that we can bring it up. This is definitely not a surprise but they're going to need to find a really efficient way to do it, especially at the resort gate for early entry.

 

Although it'll be annoying for entry, I'm happy that they are doing this considering the world we live in. Waiting 10 extra minutes to get into the park is a small price to pay to feel a little safer.

[DirkFunk]

Given how much of a s#itshow their metal detector operations have been in the past, my expectations are exceedingly low.

[JT325]

Given how much of a s#itshow their metal detector operations have been in the past, my expectations are exceedingly low.

 

Have you been to Six Flags?

[DirkFunk]

Given how much of a s#itshow their metal detector operations have been in the past, my expectations are exceedingly low.

 

Have you been to Six Flags?

 

Yes?

[JT325]

^I was trying to be funny/coy about the Six Flags entrance experience. It's kind of a mob experience, very unorganized and slow too.

 

I've waited in the long line at CP during Halloweekends to get back into the park. It was a long line, but it moved very quickly.

[DirkFunk]

^I was trying to be funny/coy about the Six Flags entrance experience. It's kind of a mob experience, very unorganized and slow too.

 

I've waited in the long line at CP during Halloweekends to get back into the park. It was a long line, but it moved very quickly.

 

A year or so ago I remember going into the park via the resort entrance and waiting 20-30 minutes to get wanded because there were only 2 security guards and a couple of hundred people. It was definitely a thing. Definitely not fun.

 

Business entities don't like to double/triple line items in the budget, and the odds are extremely good that security that would have been doing things like monitoring queue lines and shops or responding to, for example, guests personal effects being stolen, is going to be moved to the gates. Perhaps you won't be shot or stabbed in the park, which basically never happened before anyways and can still happen at this new checkpoint or in the parking lot, where those sorts of events always has occurred over the last 25-30 years in this industry. But I kinda expect to get line jumped a lot more and have operators/entrance personnel (already cut in numbers from a decade ago) to increasingly care less about it.

[SharkTums]

This is our new normal...let's just hope they keep the metal detectors at the front only and not at the rides!

[Henry M]

Has there anywhere been a terror attack on a theme park yet?

[rolercstrluvr]

Has there anywhere been a terror attack on a theme park yet?

 

Not that I know of, but it's better to have the detectors to prevent one in case it happens. May as well make a side unit of TSA if you really want to prevent it from happening.

[DirkFunk]

Has there anywhere been a terror attack on a theme park yet?

 

Not that I know of, but it's better to have the detectors to prevent one in case it happens. May as well make a side unit of TSA if you really want to prevent it from happening.

 

Definitely worked in Brussels and Istanbul's airports. Wait....

[KingRCT3]

Has there anywhere been a terror attack on a theme park yet?

Disneyland Paris was under a threat at a point, and I think Efteling was as well.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Waiting 10 extra minutes to get into the park is a small price to pay to feel a little safer.

And feeling safer is exactly what you're going to get. It won't actually make you any safer. What's going to happen instead is this:

 

Business entities don't like to double/triple line items in the budget, and the odds are extremely good that security that would have been doing things like monitoring queue lines and shops or responding to, for example, guests personal effects being stolen, is going to be moved to the gates. Perhaps you won't be shot or stabbed in the park, which basically never happened before anyways and can still happen at this new checkpoint or in the parking lot, where those sorts of events always has occurred over the last 25-30 years in this industry. But I kinda expect to get line jumped a lot more and have operators/entrance personnel (already cut in numbers from a decade ago) to increasingly care less about it.

 

I'm pretty tired of the charade, never explained other than it's "for security reasons." The idiots will swallow that line every time. The terrorists won, guys, and they continue winning every time we're afraid of our own shadows.

[michaellynn4]

This thread needs a box of kittens, STAT!

 

[prozach626]

The security gates are there so that Cedar Fair can cover their a$$ from a liability standpoint. If someone really wanted to hurt people inside, or immediately outside of the parks, they could.

[DirkFunk]

The security gates are there so that Cedar Fair can cover their a$$ from a liability standpoint. If someone really wanted to hurt people inside, or immediately outside of the parks, they could.

 

Yeah, I'm sure this saves them some money on insurance. Of course there's been shootings and bombings at airports at - where else? - the security line where there's a huge mass of people constricted from running away by barriers and equipment. But the perception is about how a civil suit jury would react, and they're as dumb as the people who think this will be effective.

[Vonni]

This thread needs a box of kittens, STAT!

 

 

 

I couldn't agree more

[DorneyKid14]

^I was trying to be funny/coy about the Six Flags entrance experience. It's kind of a mob experience, very unorganized and slow too.

 

I've waited in the long line at CP during Halloweekends to get back into the park. It was a long line, but it moved very quickly.

 

A year or so ago I remember going into the park via the resort entrance and waiting 20-30 minutes to get wanded because there were only 2 security guards and a couple of hundred people. It was definitely a thing. Definitely not fun.

 

 

With the metal detectors, that wait will more than likely be cut in half now. It will be way more efficient to have people walk through the metal detectors than to have to stand there and wand people.

[JJLehto]

Well, cliché answer but really all ya can do about this is: plan for it. Go earlier, prepare etc

We all know bad doers will always find a way, and the interests of business and feeling safe vs privacy/inconvenience etc etc man what a grim topic for a fun forum. This is one of the rare pockets of the internet (rare they are these days) I can take a mental break.

I can't wait to get back to the point and 2 (3? Rougarou is a new cred I think) new creds including my first dive and wing coaster. Some metal detectors or not!

[MidwestThemeParks]

The metal detectors shouldn't slow things down that much, I would think. Disney World has them in all of their parks and it still doesn't take long to get in (after you deal with transportation, of course )