Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[knaiwear]

50-100 cycles could be done in a couple of hours.

[williamj2543]

Well now there is no reason to leave frontierland with the looks of that thing.

Don't worry. Millennium Force still exists.

and GateKeeper!

I swear I can hear the Maverick fanboys screaming from miles away.

Except, they're all in Frontierland, because that's where Maverick is.

Can confirm. Sleeping under the launch shed right now.

[cake-is-life]

50-100 cycles could be done in a couple of hours.

 

Combine that with staffing levels still not where they should be as people finish school, training, etc and it takes time.

 

Someone missed half my point.

[DirkFunk]

Not trying to pick a fight, but it's usually a lot more complicated than it seems to get rides commissioned and ready for the season. I'm not sure what the minimum cycles if for CP, but I'm guessing in the range of 50-100 for each unit/ride. Combine that with staffing levels still not where they should be as people finish school, training, etc and it takes time. Not blaming you for skipping opening weekend, though.

 

Their job is to run a theme park. That means they get their rides certified and attract employees to work for them. If I fail at the tasks or objectives of my job/project, I lose my funding and job. They can just make excuses. To be even more pointed: they don't consider this a failure in spite of providing me, the customer, a subpar experience for the same money. If I don't seem empathetic, there are reasons.

[bluestreak]

Just wanted to share this photo from walking out of the park on Saturday.

[WOFanatic]

Not trying to pick a fight, but it's usually a lot more complicated than it seems to get rides commissioned and ready for the season. I'm not sure what the minimum cycles if for CP, but I'm guessing in the range of 50-100 for each unit/ride. Combine that with staffing levels still not where they should be as people finish school, training, etc and it takes time. Not blaming you for skipping opening weekend, though.

 

Their job is to run a theme park. That means they get their rides certified and attract employees to work for them. If I fail at the tasks or objectives of my job/project, I lose my funding and job. They can just make excuses. To be even more pointed: they don't consider this a failure in spite of providing me, the customer, a subpar experience for the same money. If I don't seem empathetic, there are reasons.

There is no excuse for not having your rides ready for Opening Day, period. For a family of four to visit the park, it's going to run them around $280, not including tax, Fast Lane, etc. That coupled with the fact that they have a near six-month off-season, and the fact that you make more money than pretty much any other seasonal park in the U.S., and you get zero empathy from me. I know this isn't strictly a CP problem, and CP's case is more mild than other parks in the chain, but I'm just getting sick of parks not having their rides open on time. I can kinda understand if it's a new ride, but that's it.

[Ohiocoasterman]

Not trying to pick a fight, but it's usually a lot more complicated than it seems to get rides commissioned and ready for the season. I'm not sure what the minimum cycles if for CP, but I'm guessing in the range of 50-100 for each unit/ride. Combine that with staffing levels still not where they should be as people finish school, training, etc and it takes time. Not blaming you for skipping opening weekend, though.

 

Their job is to run a theme park. That means they get their rides certified and attract employees to work for them. If I fail at the tasks or objectives of my job/project, I lose my funding and job. They can just make excuses. To be even more pointed: they don't consider this a failure in spite of providing me, the customer, a subpar experience for the same money. If I don't seem empathetic, there are reasons.

There is no excuse for not having your rides ready for Opening Day, period. For a family of four to visit the park, it's going to run them around $280, not including tax, Fast Lane, etc. That coupled with the fact that they have a near six-month off-season, and the fact that you make more money than pretty much any other seasonal park in the U.S., and you get zero empathy from me. I know this isn't strictly a CP problem, and CP's case is more mild than other parks in the chain, but I'm just getting sick of parks not having their rides open on time. I can kinda understand if it's a new ride, but that's it.

It was a preview weekend. Not everything was expected to be open. They did try hard though and they can't control the weather. Their official opening day is May 13th.

[williamj2543]

A preview weekend is far different than a real opening day. Preview weekends are often people who live close by, and they require a Season's Pass (or platinum). They aren't the average guest, and when ever I go to the season pass preview nights at my home park, many rides are often closed, which sucks, but is at the benefit of me being able to experience the park early.

[coasterbill]

Their official opening day is May 13th.

 

Oh

 

[fbvideonew]

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[knaiwear]

This was NOT a season pass only "preview event". This is a sign of the continued inability for CP to get their shit together in time for opening day - they now subtly renamed it to a "preview", while charging full price, without really publicizing it as a limited event.

[RaceBoarder]

Perfect example of a park getting a pass on something that would have enthusiasts lined up with torches and pitchforks if it happened elsewhere

[BigBad]

I can't side with the park on this. They had a job to do and failed, but the theme park gods punished them for it. FUN was down yesterday.

 

(FUN is the stock listing for Cedar Fair.)

 

Great Adventure had the major attractions up on opening day. Zumanjaro was down because of wind, and Joker was down because that seems to be its MO, but they managed to avoid this problem.

[thrillrider]

Could you imagine the backlash from enthusiasts, if this were a six flags park?

[boldikus]

Wait, wait, wait... all this butthurt because Magnum wasn't running? Do I have that right?

[Superbatboy]

Wait, wait, wait... all this butthurt because Magnum wasn't running? Do I have that right?

Yes.

[coasterbill]

I normally don't go on hearsay, but I was also told from a few sources that I obviously won't name but completely trust that Magnum and Gemini were both closed on Saturday because they weren't yet approved by the state.

 

I have to say, their inability to get it together for opening day is a bit strange. Cedar Point is probably the most efficiently run regional corporate park in America when they hit their stride but they're an absolute train wreck in the Spring and Fall.

 

Obviously a lot of this can be attributed to staffing, but not all of it. It's crazy that if I go to a Six Flags park on opening day (a chain that's not known for efficiency / guest service) I can usually anticipate all major rides being open (mechanical issues aside) but it's almost a guarantee that Cedar Point will have major rides that aren't able to run at all for opening weekend.

 

In 2015, Wicked Twister didn't open until Memorial Day weekend, last year Mean Streak wasn't ready to open until may 19th and this year they had a hyper coaster and a racing coaster sitting around unable to run because they weren't approved by the state. Gemini was approved and opened Sunday, though it was only running one side.

 

I understand that parks are going to have opening day jitters. People that go in with unrealistic expectations and want everything running perfectly on opening day are being completely unrealistic and unfair but people who are upset about this are completely justified. In my opinion, it's perfectly reasonable to go to a park on opening weekend and experience

 

- Rides that are closed for long periods of time for mechanical reasons

- Rides that are closed for weather

- Rides that are closed with messages on their website telling you that they're closed (Six Flags is actually really good about this)

- Closed food locations

- Closed retail locations

- A few minor rides being closed

- Rides closed during a preview event which is marketed as a preview event where the parks generally make you aware that rides may be closed

- Rides opening late / not being ready for early entry because of high winds and low temperatures that required a lot of testing with water dummies once desired operating temperatures were reached (which happened on Saturday, people complaining about this are being ridiculous)

- Slow operations as new staff gets used to their new positions

 

But having a hyper coaster and a huge racing coaster closed because they're not approved by the state with no notification posted about it anywhere until people have already driven to the park, paid to park and reached the front gate is ridiculous, especially now that this is becoming a yearly trend.

 

Perfect example of a park getting a pass on something that would have enthusiasts lined up with torches and pitchforks if it happened elsewhere

 

Very few people are "giving them a pass".

[coaster_bean]

So... I was at Cedar Point for opening weekend and took a photo that may or may not be of any significance to the current Mean Streak project. While in the staging area (Soak City Parking lot) taking photos of RMC Mean Streak, I noticed this car that was shrink wrapped but had the rear of the car exposed. It was next to another object the size of a small car that was shrink wrapped in the same white cover. This white cover was also covering some items next to the area where RMC track was being stored in the parking lot. My first question is has anyone ever seen anything like this at Cedar Point before, maybe during Halloweekends? The license plate says 'The Count' at the top, the "number" says 'I Heart Blood,' and at the bottom it says 'Transylvania.' I thought it was unique because the plate's color is very similar to track that is being installed on RMC Mean Streak. If this car hasn't been seen around Cedar Point does this mean we are possibly seeing a vampire-esque theme for RMC Mean Streak or does this seem like a red herring? I mean, car was perfectly set up to have the plate exposed and was the only shrink wrapped item in the parking lot that was torn or exposed. The Vampire theme could fit as they are undead beings and a vampire could come back from the Mean Streak funeral they had last year. The inversions could be like a vampire bat hanging upside down as well. I know that doesn't really fit the western theme of Frontiertown but I just found this odd. Let me know what you think below.

[bluestreak]

I think it is quite ridiculous that the park couldn't get rides approved and ready for opening day but who knows, maybe there was outside issues that contributed like a part failure or the 2 coasters couldn't test as much as others because of the weather.

I think we all need to relax a bit and just be happy the park is open. It's not like millennium and maverick were the 2 coasters that were down. And it's still a fantastic park minus Gemini and magnum.

The park will have both coasters running next weekend in all likelihood so let's just move on.

[knaiwear]

^^great post. Let's add to the fact that they closed the park early for OSU day Friday, which was fair, given the weather and the fact that about 1.5 rides were operating - but they didn't post any notifications on their website and people were still showing up at the park after it closed! After hours and hours of complaints on social media, word finally started going around that they'd honor the tickets at a later date. That may have been communicated via email, I'm not sure, but they really should have been broadcasting that on all possible channels.

[RaceBoarder]

 

Perfect example of a park getting a pass on something that would have enthusiasts lined up with torches and pitchforks if it happened elsewhere

 

Very few people are "giving them a pass".

 

Here are two examples from just a couple of posts ago:

 

It was a preview weekend. Not everything was expected to be open. They did try hard though and they can't control the weather. Their official opening day is May 13th.

 

 

A preview weekend is far different than a real opening day. Preview weekends are often people who live close by, and they require a Season's Pass (or platinum). They aren't the average guest, and when ever I go to the season pass preview nights at my home park, many rides are often closed, which sucks, but is at the benefit of me being able to experience the park early.

 

The "preview weekend" claim is a total cop out on this. Very few people seem to want to take the hard stance that you and Dirk have taken and are willing to call a spade a spade here...

[coasterbill]

I said "very few" people, not "absolutely zero people". Most people here and elsewhere are in agreement on this from what I've seen, that's my point. Some people disagree but they're in the minority.

 

I think it is quite ridiculous that the park couldn't get rides approved and ready for opening day but who knows, maybe there was outside issues that contributed like a part failure or the 2 coasters couldn't test as much as others because of the weather.

 

Maybe, so post it on the website. They've done it before.

 

I think we all need to relax a bit and just be happy the park is open. It's not like millennium and maverick were the 2 coasters that were down. And it's still a fantastic park minus Gemini and magnum.

 

The park will have both coasters running next weekend in all likelihood so let's just move on.

 

I agree 100% if you have a season pass, however if you bought day tickets for a family trip, paid for parking or paid to stay at a Cedar Point resort then you have every right to be upset when 2 of their coasters (one of which is a 200+ foot, 70 MPH hypercoaster) weren't even approved by the state yet and are perfectly capable of running otherwise. I don't mind mechanical breakdowns, those happen... but this is an entirely different and avoidable scenario. You rarely hear about this happening anywhere other than Cedar Point.

Edited May 9, 2017 by coasterbill

[Ape]

.

[bluestreak]

I said "very few" people, not "absolutely zero people". Most people here and elsewhere are in agreement on this from what I've seen.

 

I think it is quite ridiculous that the park couldn't get rides approved and ready for opening day but who knows, maybe there was outside issues that contributed like a part failure or the 2 coasters couldn't test as much as others because of the weather.

 

Maybe, so post it on the website. They've done it before.

 

I think we all need to relax a bit and just be happy the park is open. It's not like millennium and maverick were the 2 coasters that were down. And it's still a fantastic park minus Gemini and magnum.

 

The park will have both coasters running next weekend in all likelihood so let's just move on.

 

I agree 100% if you have a season pass, however if you bought day tickets for a family trip, paid for parking or paid to stay at a Cedar Point resort then you have every right to be upset when 2 of their coasters (one of which is a 200+ foot, 70 MPH hypercoaster) weren't even approved by the state yet and are perfectly capable of running otherwise. I don't mind mechanical breakdowns, those happen... but this is an entirely different and avoidable scenario. You rarely hear about this happening anywhere other than Cedar Point.

 

I suppose my view is definitely skewed since I have a season pass and visit at least once every weekend. I rest my case.

[DirkFunk]

I think it is quite ridiculous that the park couldn't get rides approved and ready for opening day but who knows, maybe there was outside issues that contributed like a part failure or the 2 coasters couldn't test as much as others because of the weather.

I think we all need to relax a bit and just be happy the park is open. It's not like millennium and maverick were the 2 coasters that were down. And it's still a fantastic park minus Gemini and magnum.

The park will have both coasters running next weekend in all likelihood so let's just move on.

 

I look back at notes and I see the same things over and over. Gemini ran one side for opening day last year and in 2015. This year it wasn't even running. 2015 was particularly hideous; I recall Millennium Force cycling empty seemingly forever because, again, they didn't get their test rides in for the year before the gates opened. MaxAir didn't make the bell in 2016 or 2011. And that's just rides that didn't open at all. Tons open late or with limited trains (sometimes with ride vehicles parked on the ground next to the attraction). I can't openly blame them every year: 2013's weather was middling for example. But then again, they closed every single coaster in the park except Wicked Twister on that Sunday. Even Woodstock's and Jr. Gemini. They actually had to think about whether or not to open Wicked Twister to have something because they were afraid it might valley, though at some point common sense prevailed (derp, it valleys by design) and it did.

 

Do I have a platinum pass? Sure. I still drive about 360 or miles round trip to go there, often pay tolls at least in one direction (if not both), and usually stay overnight when I visit. For me to keep going back for opening when they don't seem to care about having a fully functioning park is kinda a big deal to me. So I wait....

[williamj2543]

Nevermind, I was under the impression that it was seasons pass preview night, not official opening day. So yea, I mean I would never schedule a trip for opening day with a family and plan to drive down, but cedar point has 0 excuse to have rides open for a reason such as that.