Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[Yamez]

They would be valid points if not for every ride that Cedar Point builds (opening late or not) ends up like this. It's laughable at best.

 

I'm no expert on ride building, but I would think that the amount of snow and cold weather they had would have an adverse effect on how quickly the concrete dried. I think that alone would push the timing back on everything else by a pretty good margin.

 

And trust me, I'm all for Cedar Point moving away from Intamin. They need more variety.

[thrillrider]

They would be valid points if not for every ride that Cedar Point builds (opening late or not) ends up like this. It's laughable at best.

 

I'm no expert on ride building, but I would think that the amount of snow and cold weather they had would have an adverse effect on how quickly the concrete dried. I think that alone would push the timing back on everything else by a pretty good margin.

 

And trust me, I'm all for Cedar Point moving away from Intamin. They need more variety.

 

Well....

Look back at maverick, Dragster, wicked twister, and now this. All of them have opened late. What do they all have in common?

 

I don't see anybody saying "OMG...OMG...SHOOT THE RAPIDS IS NOT OPENING ON TIME...OMG!!!" So again, I don't think people are freaking out over this.

 

I just see people pointing out that the intimin coasters at the park have all had some kind of problem opening on time. The only ones to blame are intimin. They had a very mild winter this year, so I doubt the weather held them up much if any this year. I don't think people are pointing at cedar point. They are pointing at intimin. All valid points.

 

The coaster collection at cedar point is great, but I do agree that they could use something "different". Like a 4D or a dive coaster. Something that no one else in the area does not have.

[Yamez]

That is a fair statement. The problem I have with that board in particular is they don't recognize the difference between a mistake on the manufacturer's part and a mistake on Cedar Point's part. That then leads to lots of folks angry at the wrong group for the wrong reasons.

 

And I agree with your above point. I'm just chuckling at the start of the outrage yet again. That's all.

[Der Der Dongt]

No other company is even close to having as many rides in the "worlds best rollercoasters top 10" as intamin does.

CP should stick with them because they are the best!

Can't wait for their next ride to be build at the Point!

[AndCamSS]

That is a fair statement. The problem I have with that board in particular is they don't recognize the difference between a mistake on the manufacturer's part and a mistake on Cedar Point's part. That then leads to lots of folks angry at the wrong group for the wrong reasons.

 

And I agree with your above point. I'm just chuckling at the start of the outrage yet again. That's all.

 

...and this doesn't happen here?

[Six Flags Enthuseast]

And trust me, I'm all for Cedar Point moving away from Intamin. They need more variety.

Yes, but look at what Intamin has done for Cedar Point. For the most part, Intamin has made Cedar Point the place it is now. What rides do you think of when you think of Cedar Point? A big chunk of them are probably Intamin.

 

Sure, Cedar Point has to become a bit more varied in order to keep up interest among the enthusiast community. But when you think in the big picture, does the general public care if most of the Point's rides are Intamin? Heck, I'm sure a lot of the general public doesn't even know what Intamin is.

 

Joking aside, the general public (and when you think about, we too) just wants more good rides. And sure, Cedar Point has plenty of awesome rides already. But once again, don't you notice that most of them are Intamins?

 

I completely agree that Cedar Point could use a bit more variety, I'm all for it. But I agree with ^^, Intamin is one of the best companies out there. I don't think they need to back away from Intamin to have variety. Heck, with this ride, instead of another mindblowing Intamin coaster, aren't they already adding a little bit of variety to the place?

[AndCamSS]

I love the guy who said he pretty much fears getting on Intamin rides. Hilarious. I even left a comment on that. If you are afraid of their rides, you must be scared to set foot outside your foam rubber coated home.

[coasterkyle]

Plenty of rides have not opened on time other then the 4 posted above,

Gemini, Sky Rocket, Tatsu, Rip Ride Rocket even the Timberliners for HW....etc.

I understand that those are new Technology, but so is STR, from my understanding this is Intamins first flume ride of this type with lift hills

But why is everyone pointing out Intamin's?

I say just be glad it doesn't pull a Chiller.

[Yamez]

I can't disagree with the above points. It doesn't make me not want more variety though

[Tbcoasterfan]

I'll be there opening day..... whether or not I ride STR will depend on temperature & wind

No it wont. It will depend on if the ride is open, which it wont be...

 

http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/fun/blog/2010/5/10/Shoot_the_Rapids_Update.cfm

 

Well there ya go lol. I had been tipped off a few weeks ago that it would be delayed, but I never said anything until the "official announcement." I'll still be there opening day regardless.

[thrillrider]

I love the guy who said he pretty much fears getting on Intamin rides. Hilarious. I even left a comment on that. If you are afraid of their rides, you must be scared to set foot outside your foam rubber coated home.

 

Where did you read that? Can't seem to find that quote.

[AndCamSS]

I love the guy who said he pretty much fears getting on Intamin rides. Hilarious. I even left a comment on that. If you are afraid of their rides, you must be scared to set foot outside your foam rubber coated home.

 

Where did you read that? Can't seem to find that quote.

 

It was more or less about the people on there thinking in the back of their head if they are safe or not. Of course they are! Some rides though are .01% safer than others!

[cprocks22]

I just want to point out that I dont believe that Point Buzz is a fair audience to judge a reaction from...just saying. Also I'll apologize ahead of time for anyone who happens to be going on the 17th because myself and my physics class will me there for M&S week.

[thrillrider]

Well....

 

Thinking that weather a ride is safe or not in the back of your head is not quite the same as saying that they will never step onto another intimin coaster.

 

I know when I ride a ride that uses cables, I can't help but remember what has happened on xlerator, and dragster. But I still ride them because they are fun, and the odds of something like that happening are slim to none. But you still have the thought in your head none the less.

 

I agree about pointbuzz. Some of those people on there could never grasp the idea that cedar point could ever do anything wrong.

[coasterkyle]

I read that site purely for entertainment. I've noticed TPR has some of the more Sensible Enthusiasts .

[thrillrider]

I agree.

[Skycoastin Steve]

I think we should just blame the evil Intamin cable.

[cprocks22]

I'm sure part of this HAS to be the weather. In Michigan today it was 38 when I left the house this morning...not cool. I can't see many people wanting to get soaked on opening day when the high is gonna be high of mid 60s. Personally, its gotta be fairly warm for me to go on a water ride.

[Skycoastin Steve]

^Nope. It's Intamin. A tornado could have blown through and knocked down the ride and it would have somehow been Intamin's fault.

[Carnage]

I missed Maverick the 1st time I went by a week, and it looks like I'll miss STR by a week as well.

 

But I won't be too upset about this one. I'll ride it some other time. Opening a few weeks late isn't that big of a deal to me. Not like it's delayed half a season like some other rides have been.

[KPfreak519]

I do think they should move away from Intamin, but far more from a variety standpoint than an "Intamin has problems" standpoint....

[robbalvey]

I would just like to point out the insane amount of stupid comments that are made in this post and why it just annoys me so much that people say things without having any clue what-so-ever about what they are posting.

 

Problems with an Intamin?! Never!!!

 

I'm not bitter that the ride isn't going to open, I'm more entertained by the fact that yet another Intamin ride has yet another problem. Don't get me wrong, I love their rides, I just think people put a little too much faith that Intamin rides will run *perfectly*.

Do you even have any idea the volume of Intamin rides that haven't had any problems versus the ones that do? No. Of course you don't because if you did, you would know how insanely stupid your comment is and you wouldn't have posted it to begin with. Because no smart person would say to themselves "Self, I'm going to post something so ridiculous that anyone who reads it is going to know that I'm a complete moron."

 

Yes, for all we know it could be an issue with the pumps, or a building didn't get finished on time, I'm just laughing at all the folks that are freaking out over this.

Have you noticed that so far YOU are the person who is freaking out the most over this? And yes. I am laughing at you.

 

Go visit the pointbuzz forums and read the end of the Shoot the Rapids thread

In the future, I recommend you not read sites like PointBuzz. It will only make you dumber the more read.

 

Maybe they should have used arrow/S&S."

Yes because their track record is rock solid perfect. (Hi Ring Racer, how's it going?)

 

They would be valid points if not for every ride that Cedar Point builds (opening late or not) ends up like this. It's laughable at best.

What are you even talking about??? The only thing laughable is every one of your posts in the last 24 hours!

 

I'm no expert on ride building

Finally you say something intelligent.

 

I would think that the amount of snow and cold weather they had would have an adverse effect on how quickly the concrete dried.

Thank you cement expert boy.

 

I'm all for Cedar Point moving away from Intamin. They need more variety.

Let's see...Intamin has built for Cedar Point:

 

- A giga coaster

- An launched inverted impulse coaster (the only one of it's kind I should note)

- A 95 degree drop + launch coaster (Again, isn't this a totally unique one-of-a-kind?)

- A unique flume attraction (How many others like it have Intamin built?)

 

I might be mistaken, but that seems like quite a variety of ride types to me.

 

Thank you for your lack of insight and adding nothing to the conversation. The only entertainment value I got out of it was the ability to write this response and hoping it also entertained others.

 

I would also like to point out this VERY important piece of information - it is VERY rare these days that a brand new ride, especially one that is a custom built attraction like Shoot the Rapids, is able to open on time with the park. Not that I condone this because I too think that all new attractions SHOULD open with the park season, but, if it's only delayed by a week or two, that's still doing better than a lot of other attrations I've seen miss the mark by weeks, if not months, in the past.

 

--Robb "Please know what you're talking about before you post." Alvey

Edited May 11, 2010 by robbalvey

[pkdcoaster]

Didn't a CF Intamin coaster open on time just last month?

 

I do not see why this is a big deal from the animations this looks like another "soaker" water ride.

Most of the time a warm day in May at CP is in the 60's

I know it is CP but it is just a water ride.

 

JEFF

[Skycoastin Steve]

So according to this article from the Sandusky Register, the boats were too long and needed to be retrofitted to fit the ride better.

 

Link to article

 

Tuesday, May 11, 2010 1:37 AM EDT

 

SANDUSKY

 

Cedar Point is still opening Saturday, but its new Shoot the Rapids attraction won't be along for the ride.

 

Engineering problems with the ride -- the boats the passengers ride in were too long and didn't fit the flume -- forced the park to delay the ride's debut by two weeks.

 

Cedar Point had planned to launch the ride on the park's opening day. The new target date is two weeks later, on May 29, said Dick Kinzel, president, chairman and CEO of Cedar Fair, Cedar Point's parent company.

 

He said he believes May 29 is a firm date.

 

Kinzel and other Cedar Point executives made the decision to delay the ride's launch on Sunday, after a series of weekend meetings. A planned media day to show off the ride to reporters on Friday morning was axed and won't be rescheduled.

 

Delays in launching a new ride at Cedar Point are unusual but are not unprecedented, said Robin Innes, Cedar Point's main spokesman. The last delay was with Maverick in 2007, he said.

 

Cedar Point had planned to launch Maverick on May 12, 2007, but the opening was delayed until May 26. Three sections of track were removed after tests revealed an excessive amount of stress.

 

Shoot the Rapids also has been delayed because of an engineering problem.

 

"Basically, we had trouble with the boats," Kinzel said Monday. "It's more of an engineering problem than a safety problem."

 

"The manufacturer made the flume, and he contracted out the boats," Kinzel said. "When the boats came together, the boats didn't fit the flumes."

 

Kinzel said workers have been busy all week trying to modify the boats, which were too long and didn't go over the top of the hill properly. That can destroy the flume, he said.

 

By Sunday, only two of the boats had been retrofitted. The ride uses four boats.

 

"We can run two or three boats, but that's not what you want to do," he said.

 

The struggle to get the ride to work right cut training time, so executives decided on the delay to give the ride crew time to prepare, Kinzel said.

 

Kinzel said the park has had a long relationship with the manufacturer, Intamin Worldwide of Switzerland, which made Cedar Point's Top Thrill Dragster, Millennium Force and Maverick rides. Cedar Fair will work the problem out with the company, Kinzel said.

 

"We're not going to bring our lawyers into it," Kinzel said.

 

The delay also has postponed the auction that the Firelands Chapter of the American Red Cross is conducting for who gets to be first to try out the water ride. The cutoff for bidding is now 8:30 a.m. May 26, said Ron Rude, executive director of the local Red Cross chapter.

 

"I think it may work to our advantage," Rude said. "We always like to complete things on schedule, but it will give us more time to hopefully gain more bidders."

[AndCamSS]

You have to love the "experts" that post on these forums! lol

 

It's pretty cool they gave a really good explanation of what caused the delay.