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P. 2037: Siren’s Curse tilt coaster announced for 2025!

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The 2012 attraction, I'm hoping would be a new GCI Coaster where the Cedar Point Cyclone used to be. Though, that's probably not going to happen. Though if Cedar Point wants another family ride, they can put in a Family Drop Coaster like Th13teen in Alton Towers.

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If Cedar Point gets the dinosaur attraction I will be very upset, it feels as if Cedar Point is falling behind in the amusement park industry. Many new parks are adding brand new attractions and we haven't gotten a new unique thrill ride since Maverick. We received a starlight experience, a challenge park ride, a kids area, a mechanical nightmare of a flume ride and a cloned Windseeker. They need something new and innovative again before they really start falling off track.

 

I love it when the phrase "mechanical nightmare" gets used. Sometimes it seems like people just like to say that without really knowing all the details of the specific ride. To what end EXACTLY is STR a "mechanical nightmare"?

 

And I also have to say, boo-hoo too bad, no new coaster since Maverick. Somehow I just don't feel bad at all for you since my home park hasn't gotten one for over 10 years and they keep removing good coasters!

 

And besides ALL of that, since it is still way early and anything said for new attractions as of now really is just rumors as there is no official announcement yet, I would hold onto my getting upset about it until this has been confirmed.

 

I mean really, it's only June.

Edited by Tmcdllr
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^Ha.

 

No, but I will say it's not a ride, and it's educational. And hopefully this one doesn't catch on fire, or it might melt the middle portion of MF.

 

Edit: And a long-time attraction at the park will have to be retired as a result of this new addition to the park (at least for the time being).

 

Dinosaurs Alive, on MF Island (Probably using the same paths as Terror Island) and retiring Paddlewheel so they can leave the bridge? I REALLY hope not!

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I HIGHLY doubt that the new attraction for 2012 is a coaster. If you think about it, there's a lot of prep work for building coasters. I mean, for Dragster they already had a good amount of the tower built before the end of the 2002 season. So realisticly, there's about a 90% chance we won't be seeing a new coaster next year even though I'm still hoping for it.

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^It really depends on how large the coaster is. A complex, tall ride like Dragster requires a lot more prep work than a traditional, shorter coaster. I also don't think 2012 will bring a coaster, but it is possible that it could be next year's addition if there is a major ride being built at all.

 

As for the comments about Cedar Point falling behind in the amusement industry I believe it is quite the opposite. It seems to be beefing up its non-coaster lineup and creating a family destination more than it has in decades. The park seems to be operating better than it has been in years from what I've seen in my two visits so far this season and overall it just feels like a different crowd is visiting with a lot of people staying at Breakers and families coming in from the marina. I'm enjoying the way the park has been improving. As much as I love coasters, thrill rides are just as fun when done correctly and having major thrill rides being built between higher quality coasters is what I feel makes for the best park experience.

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I HIGHLY doubt that the new attraction for 2012 is a coaster. If you think about it, there's a lot of prep work for building coasters. I mean, for Dragster they already had a good amount of the tower built before the end of the 2002 season. So realisticly, there's about a 90% chance we won't be seeing a new coaster next year even though I'm still hoping for it.

 

Actually prep work is something Cedar Point has started earlier on some project but on others they didn't even start till late fall. So it is hard to rule out anything based on that.

 

- Millennium Force construction didn't start till Labor Day and it was completed at testing by early March

- Mantis they didn't start to drain the lagoon to break ground until after the season was over (mid-Sept)

- Wicked Twister didn't break ground until mid-Oct

 

If construction hasn't started by November I would say then I would count out a coaster but until the fall it is hard to tell.

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I HIGHLY doubt that the new attraction for 2012 is a coaster. If you think about it, there's a lot of prep work for building coasters. I mean, for Dragster they already had a good amount of the tower built before the end of the 2002 season. So realisticly, there's about a 90% chance we won't be seeing a new coaster next year even though I'm still hoping for it.

 

Unfortunately, I agree. However, I do sense a coaster in 2013.

 

Anyways, I went to Cedar Point for the first time on the 28th and 29th, and might I just say this... it was epic! Top Thrill Dragster is my new favorite coaster! The others were nice too, and the only one I was "meh..." with was Disaster Transport (yes, I didn't say Mean Streak).

 

So my rides for the first day were:

 

Raptor

Mantis

Millennium Force

Dodgem

Wicked Twister

Flying Ace's Balloon Race

Maverick

Mean Streak

Magnum XL-200

Top Thrill Dragster

 

2nd Day:

 

Skyride

Iron Dragon

WindSeeker (I really liked this)

Gemini

Corkscrew

Blue Streak

Disaster Transport

Troika

Maverick

Millennium Force

Top Thrill Dragster

Skyride

 

Rides I wanted to ride, but could not because I was in a hurry:

 

MaxAir

Power Tower

Skyhawk

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I love it when the phrase "mechanical nightmare" gets used. Sometimes it seems like people just like to say that without really knowing all the details of the specific ride. To what end EXACTLY is STR a "mechanical nightmare"?

 

Shoot The Rapids is, at its heart, a log flume. A log flume in which the boats want to sink themselves and which opened months late and still has issues running consistently compared to other, older, less advanced rides in its class. I don't know if it is necessarily a "mechanical nightmare" in the same way that, I dunno, Spellbreaker or The Bat or something that failed and got removed very quickly was, but you certainly can't call it an unquestioned success or state that it was just Intamin pushing the limits with a wild prototype.

 

I should note too that on top of having an embarassingly late opening and having the rather chronic "boats not emptying as fast as they should" issue that will probably plague it until it ends up replaced, Shoot The Rapids has another problem - it isn't even that good a ride within its class. There are multiple trailered log flumes travelling Europe that are better than it in every respect in spite of all the millions put into its development and construction. Bad is unforgivable.

Edited by DirkFunk
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(6/27/11) I have a quick update regarding that iffy looking Windseeker video we’ve all been watching for the last week (see below). According to eye witnesses who were at the park on the night it opened, the video clip in question was the first ride cycle with riders just before the ride was opened to the public. As you can see in the clip, there were very few riders on that actual run, and those who did ride were all employees (ride ops, engineers, and members of management). I’ve also heard from several sources that it was quite windy on that day as well, so the excessive wind did play a factor in the excess movement of the pods.

The basic explanation is that when you have a mixture of loaded and empty pods, mixed with high winds, you’ll start to get some excessive extra sway movements on the pods as the ride begins it’s decent and starts to slow down. I believe the raw physics of it is that the cars with the extra mass in them will not slow down as fast as the empty cars, so you get that extra sway. The ride ops do have a goal to try and fill every pod in each ride cycle to try and prevent this from happening.

As for those who have doubted just how close the pods actually are getting, or who have been thinking that the video is some kind of optical illusion, I have a rider report from that very same night from a reader who watched the first ride go up in the video, and rode it themselves about 25 minutes later. Here is the complete report that I was sent.

“I watched the embedded video of Windseeker that was posted on your blog today and as a first hand witness you have every right to be a little worried about the operation of Windseeker. I just happened to be in that area of the park on Tues night when it opened. The first cabin went up at 8:11 and I was on the cabin that went up at 8:38, so maybe the 5th one up all night. My mother and I were riding in car #32 and there was a single rider in car #31. Everything on the way up was fine as well as during the rotations at the top but on the way down the tower while the cars were still rotating, I noticed car #31 swaying dangerously close to our car. Well, I'm not much on heights so I closed my eyes for the rest of the descent when no more that 10 seconds later car #31 crashed into my left kneecap. If I had my eyes open I could have stuck my foot out and prevented the collision, but I didn't see it coming and it slammed right into my knee. It is still badly bruised and swollen 6 days later and painful to touch. I don't think it was fractured or anything and certainly not broken, but it was definantly an experience that I could have lived without.”

 

Here's the original post:

(6/20/11) Remember all those stories about delays, modifications and unexpected difficulties with the Windseeker rides? Well a reader came across this great video of new Cedar Point ride in action shot from the ground, looking fairly straight up at it. All seems well for the first 60 seconds, but if you look closely at the whirling cars going around, you’ll notice a few very odd things start to take place.

Some of the pods begin to sway forwards and backwards as they spin, getting closer and closer to coming into contact with another pod. Keep watching… by about the 80-90 second mark, you’ll see several different pods start to sway like this, out of sync with the rest of the ride. In fact at the 1:41 mark, in the upper right corner, you can see a rider stick out his foot and appear to make contact with the pod in front of them, and again in the same section of the screen at 1:47. In fact, by this point if you pause the video at just about any point, you’ll see some almost frightening spacing issues with the pods as the ride lowers itself back towards the ground and begins to slow down. You can even hear voices in the crowd below commenting that, “They’re bumping!”

I don’t know about the rest of you, but this video worries me a bit. Of course, I’ve also seen several videos of the ride at Canada’s Wonderland in action and I haven’t noticed this bad of a swaying problem there, but this seems to be one of the major issues that had delayed the opening of the ride in the first place. Of course you can also hear the wind howling, so perhaps they were ready to shut down for high winds just after this video was shot. It’s hard to say taken out of context without having been there.

 

Discuss.

 

Is that Harry Potter music I hear to the Windseeker The Windy World of Harry Potter anyone? So this is what flying on a broom playing Quidditch is supposed to feel like

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However, it's completely worth the time spent on it, and it's a fantastic addition to the park. Would you rather have Maverick and Shoot the Rapids, or White Water Landing and no Maverick at all? Seriously. The park has a top-ten Intamin and a brand-spanking-new class of log flume. Stop complaining.

 

I think it's odd that Cedar Point wouldn't put in a new coaster for 2012. I think after the Millennium - Wicked Twister - Dragster run, then a four-year break before Maverick, it feels like they're really starting to slow down. The thing is that the small improvements and the non-coasters (Skyhawk, STR, Windseeker) don't stand out as additions to people like the coasters do. I really do hope 2013 treats them well, and gets them out of this coaster-drought they're in at the moment.

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The fact that Maverick is there and replaced a log flume that was removed a few years prior to STR's construction is irrelevant to Shoot The Rapids being a mediocre log ride and/or it not working as it should. Does it fill a need? I suppose it does, but that doesn't mean it is fantastic or runs like it should.

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I honestly was 90% sure that CP was getting a new coaster in 2012, especially after Magic Mountain took the record from them. Adding a Dinosaurs Alive type attraction is not a very good decision at all. I'm still adding on to that last bit of hope that we'll be getting something new along with Dinosaurs Alive...but...

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^^I think Shoot the Rapids is a fantastic ride. It filled the void that Cedar Point had after it removed White Water Landing. It has some fantastic theming, especially compared to the majority of log flumes. You get great views from Millennium Island that you couldn't have gotten before. The drops are good. The splashes are good. All the water jets are good. The station is wonderful. And the whole ride just looks and rides great. I think it was a fantastic choice by everyone involved.

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We're going to have to agree to disagree then. I think its theming might be slightly better than, I dunno, the log flume at the Columbus Zoo (to use a comparison near to it), but not by any great margin. That's a markedly mediocre, unremarkable ride. When I then think about comparing it to Hersheypark's or Ontario Place's or Alton Towers' or Dorney Park's or the ones at Great Adventure and so on, I don't think its as good as any of those. It is a solidly midpack ride for what it is that also happens to want to sink itself and that opened half a season late.

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I love it when the phrase "mechanical nightmare" gets used. Sometimes it seems like people just like to say that without really knowing all the details of the specific ride. To what end EXACTLY is STR a "mechanical nightmare"?

 

Shoot The Rapids is, at its heart, a log flume. A log flume in which the boats want to sink themselves and which opened months late and still has issues running consistently compared to other, older, less advanced rides in its class. I don't know if it is necessarily a "mechanical nightmare" in the same way that, I dunno, Spellbreaker or The Bat or something that failed and got removed very quickly was, but you certainly can't call it an unquestioned success or state that it was just Intamin pushing the limits with a wild prototype.

 

I should note too that on top of having an embarassingly late opening and having the rather chronic "boats not emptying as fast as they should" issue that will probably plague it until it ends up replaced, Shoot The Rapids has another problem - it isn't even that good a ride within its class. There are multiple trailered log flumes travelling Europe that are better than it in every respect in spite of all the millions put into its development and construction. Bad is unforgivable.

 

I see, thanks for the info.

 

XYZ, I just noticed your signature pic, beautiful shot of that coaster!

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^Ha.

 

No, but I will say it's not a ride, and it's educational. And hopefully this one doesn't catch on fire, or it might melt the middle portion of MF.

 

Edit: And a long-time attraction at the park will have to be retired as a result of this new addition to the park (at least for the time being).

 

Dinosaurs Alive, on MF Island (Probably using the same paths as Terror Island) and retiring Paddlewheel so they can leave the bridge? I REALLY hope not!

This is unfortunately correct. Terror Island will also be retired for the time being. That is, unless something changes.

 

HOWEVER! Apparently Kings Island is making a FORTUNE off of the Dinosaur exhibit, which is why Cedar Fair is so interested in installing them in more parks. Seems as if we'll have to wait until at least 2013 for a new coaster at Cedar Point.

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^ I'm sorry but I don't think the dino exhbit would cancel any plans. Any new ride would have been on the drawing boards for a few years- therefore I don't see them making a decision for new ride within the last few weeks based on the results of the exhbit at KI.

 

I'd be surprised as Terror Island was always well received.

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^There were never any "plans" for a coaster next year, just rumors... And say, for example, they wanted that boardwalk GCI. So they can tell GCI "Hey, not sure if this is a 2012 or 2013 addition, but let's get it ready to go!" And I'm sure GCI is going to do that for them. So they could either add a coaster next year, or push the contract back a year and do something else instead, but not cancel any other plans altogether, because it's most likely much too late to do that without repercussions.

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Would it be necessarily profitable to have 2 kinds of the same "attraction" operating in the same state? I would think CP would be smart enough to want to make something totally different in order to draw the people that have already been to KI to see theirs. I myself would not be interested in seeing the same thing if it were available in another park that close by.....

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Would it be necessarily profitable to have 2 kinds of the same "attraction" operating in the same state? I would think CP would be smart enough to want to make something totally different in order to draw the people that have already been to KI to see theirs. I myself would not be interested in seeing the same thing if it were available in another park that close by.....

 

Umm, WindSeeker?

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^Ha.

 

No, but I will say it's not a ride, and it's educational. And hopefully this one doesn't catch on fire, or it might melt the middle portion of MF.

 

Edit: And a long-time attraction at the park will have to be retired as a result of this new addition to the park (at least for the time being).

 

Dinosaurs Alive, on MF Island (Probably using the same paths as Terror Island) and retiring Paddlewheel so they can leave the bridge? I REALLY hope not!

This is unfortunately correct. Terror Island will also be retired for the time being. That is, unless something changes.

 

HOWEVER! Apparently Kings Island is making a FORTUNE off of the Dinosaur exhibit, which is why Cedar Fair is so interested in installing them in more parks. Seems as if we'll have to wait until at least 2013 for a new coaster at Cedar Point.

 

I just have a question about all this.

 

How do I (we) know whether any of what you are saying is true or just wild speculation....or even BS?

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^There were never any "plans" for a coaster next year, just rumors... And say, for example, they wanted that boardwalk GCI. So they can tell GCI "Hey, not sure if this is a 2012 or 2013 addition, but let's get it ready to go!" And I'm sure GCI is going to do that for them. So they could either add a coaster next year, or push the contract back a year and do something else instead, but not cancel any other plans altogether, because it's most likely much too late to do that without repercussions.

 

 

I highly doubt that. Additions are planned years in advance (usually 3+), you can't just tell a company like GCI to "play it by ear," and to "have it ready" because CP *might* build a new coaster "sometime within the next couple years."

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I didn't say they could play it by ear. I said that if it came down to it, I'm sure that they could push the ride back a year, but it would already be engineered and ready for a 2012 opening. Remember that time that CGA's GCI got completely canned? Stuff happens. The point of my post was to say that, once Cedar Fair has paid GCI for the engineering work, it's up to them to install the ride, and that's at their discretion.

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