Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[haydn12]

The FastLane wait time for SV depends on the worker at the merge point.  We found it was usually 15-20 minutes on the 3 days we rode it back in early June.

[AmyUD06]

15-20 minutes is only possible, in my experience from last year (I haven't been this year yet) if all of the following are met:

-FL-Merge-Person lets FL people through right away so it doesn't back up.
-Locker-spieler is on their game.
-Locker area doesn't get backed up.
-Post-locker metal detector persons are on their game.
-Grouper at the top of the stairs is pulling equally from both stairwells.
-Actual operations don't get held up for any reason.

I don't budget any less than an hour for SV, even with FL, unless the line is so short that you can breeze right past the locker area.  Your experience is atypical, unless they've gone back to one stairwell being for FL and one being for non.

[gardyloo!]

I'll just budget for it and see on the spot how the lines are. My group has planned two days (monday 22nd & tuesday 23rd of August). We got early entry so we wanna hit Millenium first (wanna get on one of the first trains cause I've heard the line for the front takes an extra 45 min or something?), then hit maverick at opening. Not sure of that's a good strategy?

 

On 7/22/2022 at 4:30 AM, TopThrill182 said:

The left metal detector path is shorter than the right one (physically).

noted! thanks

 

On 7/22/2022 at 9:11 PM, AmyUD06 said:

unless the line is so short that you can breeze right past the locker area.

Would it be advisable to just stuff all our stuff in a locker before getting in line so we don't have to go through the metal detectors a 2nd time?

[AmyUD06]

58 minutes ago, gardyloo! said:

I'll just budget for it and see on the spot how the lines are. My group has planned two days (monday 22nd & tuesday 23rd of August). We got early entry so we wanna hit Millenium first (wanna get on one of the first trains cause I've heard the line for the front takes an extra 45 min or something?), then hit maverick at opening. Not sure of that's a good strategy?

Your strategy seems sound.  I'd recommend grabbing a quick ride on Iron Dragon on the way to Millie, since it's not on FL but is on Early Entry.

The front row of Millie does not take an extra 45 minutes.  Maybe an extra 15 at the most.
 

58 minutes ago, gardyloo! said:

Would it be advisable to just stuff all our stuff in a locker before getting in line so we don't have to go through the metal detectors a 2nd time?

I do.  I don't even mess with the stupid locker system in the queue anymore.  Yeah, it's not free, but its worth it to avoid the hassle IMHO.

[AmyUD06]

6 PM on a Tuesday.

Edit: And the FL+ line for Maverick at 7 pm (Edit edit-this only took 8 minutes to get through):

[prozach626]

It's so weird that in all of my experiences Maverick is either the longest FL+ line in the park, or walk-on FL+. It's the Diamondback of Cedar Point.

[AmyUD06]

Sorry if this has been posted already, but all of Dragster's trains are gone from the storage track.

[_s3_]

I believe (and I might be wrong) that Dragster's trains haven't been on transfer/storage all season.

[coasternut]

^^ You can kiss that baby goodbye!

[AmyUD06]

2 hours ago, _s3_ said:

I believe (and I might be wrong) that Dragster's trains haven't been on transfer/storage all season.

Oops... Well it was news to me haha. 

2 hours ago, coasternut said:

^^ You can kiss that baby goodbye!

Now that I've seen it in person this year, more and more I think you're right. There is all kinds of gunk built up on the hydraulics of the launch brakes like they're not taking care of the ride at all. 

 

[_s3_]

That gunk is just grease which is normally part of any hydraulic system. As it sits it "clouds" instead of appearing more viscous or not at all.

The trains not being on the transfer track isn't an indication of anything as there is no need to have the trains exposed to the elements sitting stationary for no reason. Better to have them off and in longer term storage where there is more control over the environments and elements, let alone if there is anything additional being done to them.

If the ride is going to be modified in any way (like with the wild rumors of changing it to a different type of launch), then the trains are likely needing modifications done to them anyways.

[prozach626]

Agreed. The trains off of the track means nothing, as it definitely makes complete sense. They have already announced the closure for the season, so it wouldn't make sense to leave them there.

Whatever they do, I hope it pisses a lot of people off. Can you say, "World largest super loop coaster?" Bring it.

[grsupercity]

a swing launch with lsm's would be interesting. Have the train enter a transfer track where it enters the launch area. LSM's do a slow launch forward, a faster launch backwards up a spike and then up the final speed forwards! 

[coasterbill]

Why is everyone talking about major changes to the launch when the launch had nothing to do with the accident?

[thepoint4life23]

This is the first i have heard of a launch change. seems like it would cost to much for no real return on investment  The only thing I heard that made a little sense was a rework of the line. 

[haydn12]

All the ride needs is something erected to block debris from hitting people in the queue.  

[FeelTheFORCE]

The trains weren't there in May either.  As others have said, there's no need to bring them out only to just put them back in storage without running it all year.  Or they're in the process of being taken to the great Breakers Express field in the sky.

[Pedrinho]

17 hours ago, haydn12 said:

All the ride needs is something erected to block debris from hitting people in the queue.  

Some CFO and their assistants will tell you that it also needs to be way more reliable and way cheaper in operations for being further a part of the Cedar Fair coaster lineup. Especially in times when power sources are getting more and more expensive and said ride is - outside of the coaster geek community - constantly making negative news in terms of accidents and downtime.

Don't get me wrong, I'm terribly in love with TTD. But I see why there is a big chance I will never ride it again, even if it's going to be open again some day.

[coasterbill]

See, I feel like the ride is totally reopening with as-few changes as possible. I feel like they’ll change almost nothing and just check the flag plates more often /  change some small thing about how they’re affixed and just let everyone think that they spent a year and a half working around the clock on a bunch of major changes.

[prozach626]

9 hours ago, Pedrinho said:

said ride is - outside of the coaster geek community - constantly making negative news in terms of accidents and downtime.

Every normal person I know who visited the park always talks about "That one roller coaster that launches you over 100 mph and has a 400 foot drop." Top Thrill is a one trick pony that people love. It's crazy to ride, and crazy to watch. It's a highly visible icon of the park. One recent major story doesn't mean it's "constantly" in the news. You may pay attention to every story, but the majority of people don't care.

I long to be, "That one coaster" guy again. "That one coaster" guy the park caters to. I promise, "That one coaster" guy usually doesn't know about the negative press, or the accident. "That one coaster" guy also doesn't give a shit. "That one coaster" guy has a family and knows the odds of anyone getting hurt are slim-to-none, and that risk is outweighed by the reward of giving his family a kickass trip with "That one coaster" stories for years to come.

[FaithPlus1]

I heard they are modifying it to extend over Lake Erie, adding a world record breaking lift hill, a record 37 inversions and a record breaking drop track. 

Can't wait to ride Steel Dragsters Revenge when it opens

[MartinU]

On 7/30/2022 at 6:29 AM, Pedrinho said:

Some CFO and their assistants will tell you that it also needs to be way more reliable and way cheaper in operations for being further a part of the Cedar Fair coaster lineup. Especially in times when power sources are getting more and more expensive...

 

I've wondered how much does it cost to dispatch a train. I'm not counting the man power, hourly wage, but the electrical and mechanical cost every time they dispatch a train on TTD or Maverick, or the late great WT? Anyone have an answer?

This is just a curiosity thing.  

[Pedrinho]

16 hours ago, MartinU said:

I've wondered how much does it cost to dispatch a train. I'm not counting the man power, hourly wage, but the electrical and mechanical cost every time they dispatch a train on TTD or Maverick, or the late great WT? Anyone have an answer?

This is just a curiosity thing.  

I don't know if there are official numbers, but here's an interesting article about the launch. Maybe someone can elaborate!

https://www.powermotiontech.com/hydraulics/accumulators/article/21883506/want-thrills-go-with-hydraulics

[AmyUD06]

Just a quick TR from my trip to Cedar Point this past Tuesday and Wednesday...

I got to the park after checking in to my hotel at a little before 6:00, and the place was absolutely slammed (scroll back a couple of posts for the pictures of the queues I posted).  My night one rides were (all times are with FL+):

-Raptor, 7-minute wait for back row right wing.
-Millie, 34 minute wait for front row.
-Maverick, 8 minute wait for back row.
-Steel Vengeance, 25 minutes from entering the queue to getting my phone from the in-queue locker for back row.  In my video note, I think I say it best: "Such an incredible ride, but such a stupid, stupid system."

The new Farmhouse restaurant's patio provides a very nice cut through to Maverick's Fast Lane entrance.

The show at the end of the day at Celebration Plaza is like most CP shows...lots of song and dance (but live instruments, which was nice), and fireworks shot off right there.  They even have some bandstands set up to watch it, which was nice. That last bit kinda surprised me.  The screens are also super high-res.

After those four rides, I left the park around 9:30, stopped by Thirsty Pony for a tasty adult beverage and some Mac & Cheese Bites, and then was off to bed.

I arrived back at the park for early entry opening and went right to Iron Dragon.  I'm glad this is on Early Entry, being not on FL at all.  My day 2 consisted of:

-Iron Dragon, 1 train wait for front row (Early Entry)
-Millie, 23 minutes for front row (Early Entry)
-Maverick, 12 minutes for front row
-Magnum, 5 minute wait for row 2
-Water park for like 4 hours; did every slide they have except the family tube one, capsule-drops, and mat racer, and probably a dozen laps of both their lazy rivers.  Also a few tasty adult beverages at the swim-up bar.
-Raptor, 1 train wait for a double ride in the back row, left wing.  I have never seen re-rides happen before at CP, but hooray for me!
-Blue Streak, 1 train wait for front row.  Easily the best ride I've had on this in a very long time.  It was absolutely flying with the heat, and even got some brief pops of ejector and floater air.
-Valravn, 1 train wait for front row, left wing.  I noted that it was a little vibrate-y.
-Corkscrew, 1 train wait for front row and then 5-10 minutes sitting on the brake run while they cleaned some sort of spill from the train in the station...I don't think it was vomit...eek.
-Gemini, half-train wait for row 2, red side, and we won!
-Maverick, 9 minute wait for back row.  This was also flying in the heat.
-Train ride north-to-south
-Didn't ride Rougarou because it's a POS and can die in a fire.
-Gatekeeper, 8 minutes back row left wing.
-Sky Ride, 6 minute wait, south-to-north.
-Maverick, 3 minutes for front row.
-Rode the train around a few laps waiting for it to get dark.
-Millie, 21 minutes for back row to close out the night.

Crowds on Wednesday were virtually non-existent; I think the threat of thunderstorms kept people away.

All in all, an awesome day and a half.  My ride counts were quite impressive:
-Maverick x4
-Millie x3
-Raptor x3
-Every other coaster x1 (except Rougarou for obvious reasons, and CCMR which was down every time I was in the area)

There is a new(?) mock-advertisement poster at Steel Vengeance.   It reads:  "We do what we do!  BLASTER! will save you time, energy, stress, money...for over 80 (60?) years."  Not sure if this is new or not, but its the first time I've seen it.

One fun fact I learned on this trip:  Apparently, Cedar Fair is running a park-to-park throughput competition for the summer.  The park with the most efficient operations wins...something.  None of the employees I asked knew what the prize was.  This is why ride ops actually seemed to be hustling these past two days; in my experience CP ops can be a little lackadaisical.

One not-so-fun fact I learned on this trip:  So I have the season drink plan, using the paper cups.  I noticed that every single time I redeemed it, the clerk would ask me if I wanted to buy a plastic Souvenir Cup, and I would always politely say no.  Like, I have the paper cup plan for a reason.  But, after the 20th time, it did start to get annoying.  So when I finally encountered an employee at one of these places that spoke decent English (many, many did not), I asked what was up with that.  It was explained to me that the park has "secret shoppers" going around, making sure that every employee at a place that sells Souvenir Cups, asks the customer if they want to buy one, regardless of what the transaction is.  If the employee does not ask, they and their supervisor are sent home immediately and not paid for the rest of their shift.  Seriously, Cedar Point, how toxic can you be?  These are kids in their late-teens to early-20s, no longer making the $20 an hour you paid them last year, working long hours in the summer heat, and you're going to treat them like this?  Shame, shame on you.  Every time I redeemed my drink plan after that, I'd always say "No, I do not want to buy a Souvenir Cup." with a smile and a wink when I scanned my pass; I got quite a few laughs from the clerks.

So yeah, a good trip rides wise, but kinda depressing with that information about the Souvenir Cups.

[gardyloo!]

7 hours ago, AmyUD06 said:

Apparently, Cedar Fair is running a park-to-park throughput competition for the summer.

Nice hopefully the competition will last until the end of August so the strong operations can be maintained. Crazy to say this, but I heard many stories on the operations being a little sh*tty at cedar point this year.

 

7 hours ago, AmyUD06 said:

Seriously, Cedar Point, how toxic can you be

Also heard that cedar point's management attitude towards employees is abysmal this year and how that partly explains the faulty operations. 

 

7 hours ago, AmyUD06 said:

Such an incredible ride, but such a stupid, stupid system

so annoying indeed (especially for fast lane users...)