Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[coastermaniac]

Magnum has beautiful, magnificent, glorious airtime. And it murders your thighs. But it's the best murdering around if you ask me.

 

100% agreed.

[osm]

Magnum's pretty shaky throughout the first half, but it's not too rough to enjoy at any point. And the second half...OMG airtime, oh airtime.

[coastermaniac]

Let me break down Magnum a bit. Going out of the station is slow and the small little hill and 90 degree turn is a bit rough because they are both quick movements back to back. The lift hill is just a hill so there's no roughness there. Going down the first drop is smooth as well as the bottom of the hill going into the second. The top of the second hill is surprising smooth; it catches the train well and it's not a small crest. The bottom of the second hill is just a tiny bit shaky going into the tunnel but nothing too bad. The top of the third hill can be quite brutal especially if you're not expecting it because it's too short of a hill for the speed that the train is going. The bottom of that hill are the trim brakes and those are a bit rough because they are slightly angled to the left, making them uncomfortable. Then comes the pretzel turn which isn't all that bad; it's rough in a few spots but nothing major to complain about. The bottom of the turn/hill coming out of the pretzel turn can catch you off guard if you're not paying attention and that be kind of painful. The first two hills after the pretzel turn (the tunnel and the next hill) are quite smooth and cause no pain. The 'bunny' hills after that (between the second hill after the tunnel and the brake run right after the next tunnel) is why it's crucial of where you sit in the train. After riding Magnum countless times, I've learned that sitting in the first row of the fourth car is the best mainly for this part of the ride. Sitting in the front or the back is certainly fun; however for this part of the ride, it's not so fun. In the middle of train, there is the least amount of jerking and riding it rodeo-style. Sitting in the front/back, I could never put my hands up for all of the bunny hills. Sitting in the middle, however, I can easily put my hands up with the least amount of pain for the whole time. Then comes the brake run after the tunnel. That's usually not too bad...as long as the train in front of you is already in the station by the time your train hits the brake run. If it's currently sitting at the block brakes still, your in for a sudden stop that most people don't expect and it can be very painful. That's why I always brace myself for it so in case we have to stop, I'm ready. Next is the little 'joy' ride from the brake run to the block brakes right before the station. It isn't too much of a sudden stop there but it is kind of sudden. Another stop it wouldn't hurt to be 'ready' for. I'm not sure why they stop the train so far back there; it's always the same too. The last car is always literally not on the brakes and it's obvious that the train can be farther up on the brakes and still be fine (anyone else make that observation?). Coming back into the station can have a sudden, hurtful stop but it depends on the operator who is handling the brakes in the station.

 

I've been a Magnum fan for the longest time and have ridden it sooo many times so that's how I interpret the ride.

[DiSab]

It's not rough, but it'll leave you with bruises on your thighs if you sit in the right seats. I don't like it, but somehow riding it is enjoyable just because of the crazy airtime laced with pain on the return run.

 

Does this make us sadists or masochists???

 

Sadomasochists. And the best kind of sadomasochists.

[Skycoastin Steve]

^^Dude. Paragraphs.

[coastermaniac]

^^Dude. Paragraphs.

 

Sorry about that; I probably should have split it up a bit. haha

[Philrad71]

^ The botched sale of Cedar Fair to Apollo and subsequent shareholder revolt?

 

I agree that the botched sale was interesting and having to pay out 6.5 million was a big "oops...wtf did we just do?" moment. But did he make that decision by himself, or was it a board of directors decision in which he was involved & had multiple so-called "financial experts" heavily advising him?

 

I personally think it's cool that Dick worked his way up from a concessions manager in 1972 to president of CF. He was obviously doing something right and throughout years of experience, worked his way to the top. Maybe once he got there, he realized it was just too much political BS?

 

I'll definitely give him props even if people say he's behind the times for improper marketing schemes, failure to over-commercialize the parks/coasters/shows, failure to keep up with line reservation systems used in other parks..and of course, the always popular garbage cans! That WAS his decision, right?

 

My guess is that his dream may have been to keep the parks more traditional, but with the size of CF now (and other corporate chains), we all know that just wasn't going to happen. I think the realization hit with the botched sale and he (and CF) probably both knew it was time for him to sail off into the sunset.

 

Does anyone think Walt Disney or Milt Hershey would have been able to succeed in todays America's corporate greed driven system? It's very unfortunate, but the days of amusement business owner = community/country hero are long gone, save for a very minor few small amusement park owners (Knoebels family and Holiday World/Koch come to mind).

 

Dick wasn't ever handed the keys to a huge money-making amusement industry the way some CEO's seem to be these days - he worked his way to the top & deserved it even if some of his (and of course, the board of directors) decisions weren't the greatest.

 

As we know, these days some CEO's get appointed after a few years because they have an economics/financial/business management degree from an ivy-league school, run the company into the ground, and then jump ship with their multi-million dollar golden parachute at age 50.

 

This could have turned out a LOT worse, people!!!

 

Okay. feel free to flame...and no, I'm not related to Kinzel!

[swiver]

Let me break down Magnum a bit.....

Let me verify a couple of the statements that you've made in this novel. The train is stopped so early in the final set of brakes for a reason. The train needs enough momentum to carry it from those brakes back into the station in a short amount of time. You remember when you talked about how the train sometimes stopped really hard in the brakes out of the last tunnel? A lot of the time that's because the train actually HAS been bumped up in the final brake run. The train is moving too slow going back into the station, and it sets up (hard stops, whatever you want to call it). Essentially, the train being that couple feet back in the final brake run helps the interval time out A LOT. Also...the operator has no control over how the train is braking in the station. Don't know where you found that bit of information from, but the only coaster at Cedar Point that has manual station brakes is Gemini.

 

And by the way, your review of the third hill made me pretty ticked. The third hill on Magnum XL-200 is by far the greatest experience of all time on any roller coaster ever. It is 5 seconds of pure floater/ejector airtime (depending on where you are sitting) and it's unlike any other hill on any other ride. As for the hills at the end, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Those hills are AWESOME.

Triangular bunny hills FTW!

[ABW]

Good riddance to kinzel, I hope his retirement is short and he gets eaten by a wild pig.

 

I will make the following points in regards to Geauga Lake as an employee from 1998 to 2007. During the six flags WOA era the place was freaking packed on a regular basis to the point of it being hard to get to work on time due to having to walk through crowds. The halloween haunt was on par with CP's with 2 hr waits for houses, Yet all the the GL haunt themeing was shipped to CP after 05 and is still in use. If 6 flags wasn't idiots they've have kept this place or sold to busch who reportedly made an offer.

 

CF upon taking over from day one they started removing very popular attractions in a destructive manner starting with the animals, live shows, then X-flight, bell aire, Mr. Hydes, Steel Venom replacing all of this with empty fields and fenced off park areas, full of rubble and letting the 4 year old water park rot in plain view all this along with pissing off the local labor unions who then declined to have their annual huge picnics at the park. No effort was made at all to keep the place viable by management.

You know what, you're right. I bet if they sold it to Busch instead, it would just be an AMAZING park! It could just do SO MUCH in beautiful Western Ohio! They could bring in SO much more people than the market that CP and KI has! [/sarcasm]

 

P.S. Learn to capitalize proper nouns if you want to make it look like you even remotely know what you're talking about.

[coastermaniac]

^ Cedar Point thread...not a Geauga Lake thread...

[coasterlover420]

Quick search...

 

http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=56619&hilit=geauga+lake

[ABW]

Let me break down Magnum a bit.....

Let me verify a couple of the statements that you've made in this novel. The train is stopped so early in the final set of brakes for a reason. The train needs enough momentum to carry it from those brakes back into the station in a short amount of time. You remember when you talked about how the train sometimes stopped really hard in the brakes out of the last tunnel? A lot of the time that's because the train actually HAS been bumped up in the final brake run. The train is moving too slow going back into the station, and it sets up (hard stops, whatever you want to call it). Essentially, the train being that couple feet back in the final brake run helps the interval time out A LOT. Also...the operator has no control over how the train is braking in the station. Don't know where you found that bit of information from, but the only coaster at Cedar Point that has manual station brakes is Gemini.

 

And by the way, your review of the third hill made me pretty ticked. The third hill on Magnum XL-200 is by far the greatest experience of all time on any roller coaster ever. It is 5 seconds of pure floater/ejector airtime (depending on where you are sitting) and it's unlike any other hill on any other ride. As for the hills at the end, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Those hills are AWESOME.

Triangular bunny hills FTW!

Agreed. This complaining of this cracks me up. I've ridden Magnum multiple times. The last thing that you're thinking about is the brake run when the ride finally finishes. You are however, thinking about the ride experience and how great the airtime was. Also, appreciate that Magnum is one of the very few rides out there that doesn't suck towards the end compared to the beginning of the ride. Maybe they should stop riding Magnum if they seriously just can't handle the brakes.

[coastermaniac]

Agreed. This complaining of this cracks me up. I've ridden Magnum multiple times. The last thing that you're thinking about is the brake run when the ride finally finishes. You are however, thinking about the ride experience and how great the airtime was. Also, appreciate that Magnum is one of the very few rides out there that doesn't suck towards the end compared to the beginning of the ride. Maybe they should stop riding Magnum if they seriously just can't handle the brakes.

 

Nowhere in my 'ride breakdown' was I complaining; I absolutely LOVE Magnum, every single bit of it. I just included every piece I could remember.

[T-BONDIcoasterkid]

Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, Maverick, and Magnum all sound like awesome rides! Cannot wait for next september!!!

[harper83087]

^You're in for a treat, it is a great park for sure. I'm hoping to snag a few trips back home next season for some CP fixes .

 

Anything brewing in the rumor mill recently? They getting anything other than Dinosaurs next season?

[coasterlover420]

Sadly not. Hopefully this means they are saving for something even bigger for 2013!

[StarTrekGeek]

^You're in for a treat, it is a great park for sure. I'm hoping to snag a few trips back home next season for some CP fixes .

 

Anything brewing in the rumor mill recently? They getting anything other than Dinosaurs next season?

 

I believe there is a mat racer slide going in Soak City in 2012.

[harper83087]

^That's right, I forgot about those!

 

2013 could be very promising, seeing as Maverick was the last big time thrill installed. I don't mean to spark the whole DT debate again but, a friend who's worked at CP for 4 years now (and has been correct about a few little changes around the park in the past) accidentally let a "DT is gone and to be replaced by a beemer" slip my direction during a moment of drunken weakness . I'm not saying this will happen but it's the most logical thing I can see.

[coasterlover420]

^Well there are a lot of rumors that fly around with employees that are deemed to be 100% true...

[Schotcher]

^ Well with Dippin' Dots filing for bankrupcy....

[coasternut]

They are certainly overdue for a new Coaster. It was May of 2007 for the opening of Maverick. I'm not a big fan of that ride, but at least it was a coaster, unlike "Breaking Wind", Shoot the Rapids, or Dinosaurs! That's why I'm not a big fan of the Point anymore.

[Skycoastin Steve]

^That's right, I forgot about those!

 

2013 could be very promising, seeing as Maverick was the last big time thrill installed. I don't mean to spark the whole DT debate again but, a friend who's worked at CP for 4 years now (and has been correct about a few little changes around the park in the past) accidentally let a "DT is gone and to be replaced by a beemer" slip my direction during a moment of drunken weakness . I'm not saying this will happen but it's the most logical thing I can see.

This rumor has been going around since before I worked there (my first year was 2007). You can replace the B&M in your rumor with a GCI and that's what it was 5 years ago.

[coasterlover420]

Actually the popular ones this year were GCI (so I guess that's holding on...) and B&M dive machine in place of Antique cars.

[ABW]

What rides did you work at/operate the Point? Just wondering what working at Cedar Point is like from a perspective of a coaster enthusiast.

 

They are certainly overdue for a new Coaster. It was May of 2007 for the opening of Maverick. I'm not a big fan of that ride, but at least it was a coaster, unlike "Breaking Wind", Shoot the Rapids, or Dinosaurs! That's why I'm not a big fan of the Point anymore.

How many more of your posts are going to contain the words "Big Dick" or "Breaking Wind" in them and talk about how much you don't like Cedar Point anymore and your experiences at SFMM are much better?

Edited November 16, 2011 by ABW

[deathbydinn]

Well, Soak City is getting ready to install the mat racer, by removing the speed slides.

 

Link

 

Kinda lame that they can only add something for once by removing something else. Oh well, it's nice to see them add a modern slide atleast.

 

Slide repaints look good though.

 

http://www.screamscape.com/html/cp-2012_1.htm