Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[DorneyKid14]

From what I've heard, Magnum wasn't open this weekend because......................It's not state certified yet. Classic lol

 

That's why millennium wasn't open on pass holder preview night in 2015.

 

My guess would be because of the water park construction? Couldn't test the ride until a certain part of construction was finished

 

This stuff happens every year. That's why I stopped going to opening weekend. If they can't bother to get the park operating the way it should be, I can't bother to spend money with them.

 

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.

 

All rides are usually 100 cycles, so for coasters its 100 cycles per train. Can maintenance get the coasters tested? They can, and they do, but they are also doing around 100 other things in the park. Can the park hire people and have them come in and test the rides? I bet they do. I'm not trying to defend CP here, since dorney didn't get their Troika open in time. Guessing the last few pages have been talking about how magnum wasn't ready for opening weekend, i am saying that the reason was 99% because of Cedar Point Shores construction. I remember when Dorney was building Trick or Treat during the summer and they had to close Steel Force because of construction going on. So i guarantee that this is why magnum was not ready.

[Ape]

If they sold the weekend as a preview or bonus days type deal with cheaper ticket prices would most of you be okay with them being slow to have rides approved by the state and open?

 

I'm not trying to bring anyone down this is an honest question that I am curious about how you may feel.

[coasterbill]

If they told people going in that some rides wouldn't be ready and sold it as a preview weekend then I wouldn't have any issues with it at all.

[DirkFunk]

If they sold the weekend as a preview or bonus days type deal with cheaper ticket prices would most of you be okay with them being slow to have rides approved by the state and open?

 

I'm not trying to bring anyone down this is an honest question that I am curious about how you may feel.

 

If they decided to stagger it and commit to X number of rides and restaurants being open for opening/preview weekend with that being announced in advance and reduced ticket prices, absolutely. I would have no issues with it whatsoever. I would even be OK if they chose to run those for two or three weeks further out than they currently do.

 

Opening day is opening day. If you go to a Major League Baseball game and your local team only fielded 8 players for the starting lineup stating, "hey, its opening day, what can you expect?" you'd be a little frustrated, right? Same here.

[Samuel]

Is part of the Magnum disappointment due to it being near the coincidentally closed Gemini, which isn't far from the closed RMC Streak, which makes for a pretty barren chunk of the park? If it were instead, say, Wicked Twister and Gemini that were down, would the issue be as noticeable? Still, that's two coasters down and one under glorious construction...for some perspective, in my visits to lots of major parks it's not uncommon to have two coasters down for misc reasons and some major coasters running just one train during the peak of the summer.

 

This is the same park that runs three trains on Corkscrew. I'm going to give Cedar Point the benefit of the doubt when a few rides are down.

[coasterbill]

Is part of the Magnum disappointment due to it being near the coincidentally closed Gemini, which isn't far from the closed RMC Streak, which makes for a pretty barren chunk of the park?

 

No

 

Still, that's two coasters down and one under glorious construction...for some perspective, in my visits to lots of major parks it's not uncommon to have two coasters down and some major coasters running just one train during the peak of the summer..

 

But it is uncommon for the rides to be perfectly capable of operating if not for the fact that they're not certified by the state yet. If Magnum and Gemini were closed all day on opening day for unforeseen mechanical problems or prohibitive weather conditions we wouldn't be having this conversation. Things like that happen, especially on opening weekend. This is an entirely different set of circumstances.

 

PS: This is unrelated but since you brought it up the park doesn't run 3 trains on Corkscrew anymore and they haven't for the last few years. The same goes for Iron Dragon. As I stated earlier though, when they hit their stride their operations are world class but this is a recurring problem early in the season.

[bluestreak]

Us being enthusiasts know this isn't the case but for what it's worth on Saturday they had a message on the video board on the way in saying "due to weather conditions, some rides may not operate today" so from a "general public" point of view, that covers their a$$. Sunday, however, there was no message like that.

[coasterbill]

I saw that and it's laughable.

[Ilovecedarpoint17]

I hear that they are doing something big in Frontier town besides RMC mean streak next yr they r going g to do something big for the anniversary what all u think they will do

[thrillrider]

The weather was fine, and did not impact anything.

[bluestreak]

Oh I know the weather was fine. I'm just pointing out that for at least Saturday, they could use that message to cover their a$$ if need be.

[thrillseeker4552]

We finally booked our vacation for our quad-Cedar Fair trip this summer, and we'll be back at Cedar Point on Aug 2nd and 3rd. Hopefully the weather is nice, but we allowed 4 flexible days between Cedar Point and Kings Island, so hopefully it all works out. I haven't been since 2014, so I'm thrilled to try Rougarou, Valravn, and new Maverick restraints (minor, but such a determining factor for me).

[bgroodog]

In the defense of Magnum and the park, Magnum is smack dab in the middle of a construction zone at the moment. Many of the fences and gates around low-lying areas were likely missing for much of the off season, which made it impossible for the ride to be operated due to Cedar Points very strict lock-out procedures. Take that into consideration before laying fault on the park. Yes, they could notify guests ahead of time, but there are plenty of rides to ride elsewhere... They were running it on Sunday to ready it for inspection, since the state doesn't work on the weekends. It will likely be open next weekend.

[cake-is-life]

For what it's worth, I'm not excusing the park. A park as big as CP SHOULD be on top of training and such. I'm also just saying that if it's a known issue then consider going a different weekend.

[Superbatboy]

I bet if Magnum and Gemini were down on some random weekend during the middle of summer it wouldn't be a big deal. But since it was opening weekend, "oh how dare CP not be perfect right out of the gate".

[mark549]

For what it's worth, I'm not excusing the park. A park as big as CP SHOULD be on top of training and such. I'm also just saying that if it's a known issue then consider going a different weekend.

 

 

 

First World problems ...

[knaiwear]

Yes, they could notify guests ahead of time, but there are plenty of rides to ride elsewhere...

 

The same could be said for Disney but they still post their known closures.

 

It's just good practice and good customer service in this industry.

[coasterkid21]

I bet if Magnum and Gemini were down on some random weekend during the middle of summer it wouldn't be a big deal. But since it was opening weekend, "oh how dare CP not be perfect right out of the gate".

 

I'd say there's a difference between a mid year ride closure and opening weekend ride closure. If its mid year, its most likely a mechanical issue. That's unavoidable and understandable. This was not the case. This seemed to be them being ill prepared for the weekend. There isn't a good excuse to not have rides state certified yet.

[robbalvey]

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.

Two things...

 

1. If you're traveling a long distance and making your "only visit this year" on opening weekend, honestly, that's sort of dumb and poor planning on your part. And not even for Cedar Point but for ANY seasonal amusement park. And if you're a local with a season pass? Big deal! Just come back again some other time. Space Mountain was closed the other day at Magic Kingdom, did I go online and bitch about it? No, I can go whenever I want. Not a big deal.

 

2. I'm pretty sure that Cedar Point didn't WANT those rides closed and probably were also upset by the closure. And hey, if TWO rides being down is going to be a dealbreaker for your weekend at the park, which has a LOT of other really awesome rides, maybe you should try to find another hobby? Or at least some patience. I mean we went to Dollywood last year and their big new ride wasn't open. We flew half way around the world to Abu Dhabi and Formula Rossa was closed. We missed Taron by a week at Phantasialand. You know how much we bitched in those incidents? NONE. Because we were still at a park having an excellent time and being at Cedar Point with Magnum closed still has to be better than a day at work, right?

 

So stop your complaining...

Edited May 10, 2017 by robbalvey

[coasterkyle]

^

[jynx242]

Robb - I was thinking the same thing myself .

 

Anyone who has ever even looked at this forum should know what to expect on opening weekend for ANY park.

 

Darn people - you are at Cedar Point! The place is HUGE and has TONS of rides. Although I like Magnum quite a bit - when the park has Maverick and Millennium Force in it - I'd be okay with that closure.

 

That being said, I'm really looking forward to some information on the actual layout of the New Bionic Mean Streak. I know some people can tell what is going on by looking at ledgers, bents, etc.... but I'm not one of them. From what I can see though, it looks freaking cool.

[knaiwear]

Anyone who has ever even looked at this forum should know what to expect on opening weekend for ANY park.

 

Most of the discussion in this topic hasn't been about "people who looked at this forum" - it's about the general public who pay full price without being told in advance that rides will be closed, which the best-in-class theme parks are very good about doing. It's about understanding why a park that was once voted "best in the world" (and is still considered so by many) is not following the examples of those best-in-class competitors.

 

And, as discussed in this thread, this type of problem is not endemic across the industry. Most parks have opening weekends without multiple ride closures outside of routine maintenance. CP struggles with this in a way most parks don't. I'm sure there are complex reasons for it, but to say that it's expected at ANY park just isn't true.

[WOFanatic]

I would've been a lot cooler with the Magnum/Gemini situation if they would've put something on their website or Social Media warning guests about the closures. In my opinion, it's just not very classy to keep guests in the dark about it.

 

Sure, it is kinda dumb to show up Opening Weekend and expect everything to be working. But the GP doesn't know that. For some people, Magnum is their favorite ride. It still has some of the best ridership in the park. If the park would've simply put out a Facebook blast saying "Magnum and Gemini won't be running this weekend.", I'm sure most people wouldn't have had a problem with it.

[coasterbill]

I agree with basically everything Robb said (especially the first point), but I don't think all parks are created equal when it comes to their preparedness for opening day either. EVERY PARK has opening day issues and enthusiasts shouldn't go to opening day at any park expecting perfection but Cedar Point for whatever reason seems to have a tougher time getting their rides open on time than most other regional parks. Perhaps it's just because they have more rides to deal with, maybe it's staffing, maybe it's weather, who knows?

 

I guess to be fair if Magnum is operating next weekend then this is a dramatic improvement over the last few years where it's taken them until almost Memorial Day weekend to have all of their coasters ready for the season.

 

So in summary, Robb is 100% right but at the same time I do think this park in particular seems to have a much more difficult time getting all of their rides operational each season than other parks do. Really that just reinforces his point about how enthusiasts should know better and I agree with that, but it still seems crazy to me that they have rides that aren't certified by opening day. I've been to tons of parks where rides were closed on opening day, but in those cases the issues were clearly mechanical with maintenance actively working to get them open. Who knows, maybe this is way more common than I think and I've just been lucky.

[Henry M]

^^ Sure be disappointed with rides not opening, but don't go around moaning. The theme park industry is not exactly reliable, and that is just the fact of the matter really. Make the most of what you have. I mean, some people have to live near rubbish parks or no parks. If I had the chance I would go to CP if half the good rides were closed. It would still have many epic rides open, all of which are on my bucket list. Fair enough (sort of) if you go to a small park with one good ride and it is closed. For example, going to Sweden to go to Kolmarden, only to find Wildfire closed. Or (form my experience) travelling 4 hours on a train to a theme park which is completely closed. If someone is not happy with riding the worlds best strata coaster, the worlds tallest wing coaster, the worlds tallest dive coaster, one of the worlds best hyper coasters, maybe even awesome Maverick and Raptor operating, then complain because two of the other rides are not open. Makes no sense to me at all.

 

To be honest, I would not compeain if I just got to ride Raptor and TTD, or any other two big rides at the park. Maybe I just have low expectations, or maybe other people should lower theirs.