Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[3Mutts]

Staying in the park right now and having a good time. Really like the new Gemini Midway and the new Slingshot looks fun. However I have one big complaint and that's the damn seat belts in Wicked Twister. They made so only teenage girls can ride the damn ride! I wouldn't consider myself fat (maybe a little husky) but I couldn't even fit in the test seat! How can they expect to get decent ridership when they deny average sized people! Seriously, if you are over 125lbs I would stay clear of Wicked Twister.

 

Edit: just so you know I can ride every other ride in the park with plenty of slack on the belt. But I cant ride this stupid thing because of this issue that didn't exist a couple years ago.

[coasterbill]

Staying in the park right now and having a good time. Really like the new Gemini Midway and the new Slingshot looks fun. However I have one big complaint and that's the damn seat belts in Wicked Twister. They made so only teenage girls can ride the damn ride! I wouldn't consider myself fat (maybe a little husky) but I couldn't even fit in the test seat! How can they expect to get decent ridership when they deny average sized people! Seriously, if you are over 125lbs I would stay clear of Wicked Twister.

 

Edit: just so you know I can ride every other ride in the park with plenty of slack on the belt. But I cant ride this stupid thing because of this issue that didn't exist a couple years ago.

 

You're totally right, I'm 6,4 190 pounds and thin as a rail. I'd probably blow away in a swift wind... still Wicked Twister is kind of tight. The restraints on that ride are really stupid, especially when other impulse coasters in the chain have so much more room.

[coasterkyle]

The size of the seatbelts are mandated by Intamin. And yes while the other impulses in the chain are less restrictive they are slightly smaller, slower, and don't have a twisted back spike, thus causing different forces on the body in different directions then Wicked Twister. The ride is the parks most restrictive coaster when it comes to size of a person.

[GigaG]

The size of the seatbelts are mandated by Intamin. And yes while the other impulses in the chain are less restrictive they are slightly smaller, slower, and don't have a twisted back spike, thus causing different forces on the body in different directions then Wicked Twister. The ride is the parks most restrictive coaster when it comes to size of a person.

 

Considering that the ride had larger seatbelts in the past, Intamin has no reason to decrease the size of the belts. Those restraints with longer belts have worked on WT in the past. With longer belts, they have been proven to hold people nearly inverted (V2) and with different sides and all different seatbelts, they work on completely inverting coasters (Volcano.) To say that these restraints magically need shorter belts is not logical in my opinion. WHY?

[saweetdude05]

The seats towards the back of the train seem like they are much more accommodating. In the very last row, the buckle seems like it's in the highest possible location, giving the most room.

[3Mutts]

^ I also find it amazing that Volcano which launches at the same speed has a belt in the middle. I seriously believe this is Ohio dumb ass lawyers or Cedar Fairs insurance making them do this and not Intamin.

[Geauga Dog]

When I rode Wicked Towster a few weeks ago I could not get the belt buckled on my own and I sat in the second to last row. The ride op had to come by to help by having me push down on the top of the restraint as she buckled it.

 

Speaking of belts I had tried the test seat at Millennium Force and I'm just "this close" to buckling the belt yet at Dragster I was able to buckle the belt on the test seat with little problem. I ended up being able to ride Dragster for the first time in years. Maybe my next visit will be the charm for MF.

[fraroc]

^ I also find it amazing that Volcano which launches at the same speed has a belt in the middle. I seriously believe this is Ohio dumb A$$ lawyers or Cedar Fairs insurance making them do this and not Intamin.

 

I agree with you. I really do believe it is something to do with Cedar Fair because CP is the flagship park. The B&M's don't have big-boy seats even though they do at every other park. If you are just SLIGHTLY overweight, you probably won't be able to ride TTD, Millennium Force, and Wicked Twister. Hell, the only fat-friendly ride over there is probably Maverick.

 

And it can't be a coincidence that if you search Cedar Point in complaint sites, you'll get a lot of "CEDAR POINT DISCRIMINATES AGAINST PLUS SIZED PEOPLE" complaints. I have yet to see any about Busch, Kings Dominion or Dorney.

[agerikson]

I was actually able to ride Wicked Twister during Coastermania which was a nice surprise. I am fine on every coaster I've ridden for awhile (with a stapling needed here or there by a ride op) but Wicked Twister's reputation (and the amount of things to do for a first time CP visitor) kept me away. I even tried the test seat the night before and it wasn't even close! However I decided to say screw it and go ahead when the ride was a walk on since a walk of shame would be less shameful without an audience! However, that extra buckle on the seat turned out to be all I needed and it was just enough. However, being 6'5" and somewhat "built" in the torso made the belt totally taut. No joke that Twister is unforgiving. Volcano at Kings Dominion and V2 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom don't give me any difficulty.

 

I wish CP would at least modify the test seat to have it match the ride seats if not modify the train itself to be more forgiving like other similar Intamin inverts.

[Jodon]

I'm heading to the Point the last Saturday of July with my brother. Anyone know of a decent/cheap place to stay Friday night? Looking for something close or just to the west of Sandusky as we are driving from a quick visit to Great America during the day on Friday.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[agerikson]

I'm heading to the Point the last Saturday of July with my brother. Anyone know of a decent/cheap place to stay Friday night? Looking for something close or just to the west of Sandusky as we are driving from a quick visit to Great America during the day on Friday.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

I stayed at the Motel 6 Sandusky-Milan with my girlfriend before Coastermania for under $50. The room was nice and up to date. The location was very convenient too as it was only 10-15 minutes away from Cedar Point plus it was right off the Ohio Turnpike.

[coasterfreak101]

^Similarly, we stayed at the Super 8 right next door a few weeks back, and while it wasn't the greatest place in the world, it was good enough for the $60/night we spent.

[GigaG]

Has anybody noticed Banshee's super-fast dispatches? They literally use twice the amount of ride ops than what seemed to be needed (8 as opposed to 4, if I saw things correctly), each assigned to one row. Here's the sequence-

 

-Ride stops

-Restraints unlock, riders exit

-Ride ops go through rows unbuckling vacant seats from previous ride

-As this occurs, gates open

-Riders sit down and pull down their restraints

-Ride ops quickly check seats

-Ride ops will take flip-flops and throw them onto the ground to the right of the train on the exit side (not kidding)

--Side note - As all of this is happening, the station's speakers will occasionally count down the time until next dispatch should happen (or maybe can happen assuming that the ride should dispatch when it can, I don't know)

-Restraints check, CLEAR times 8 or so, visual scan (KI does those... looks like SF spread it... or maybe they've always done it) DISPATCH

 

This system is amazingly efficient. It may seem dangerous for the ride ops due to the fact that you only have 4 op "stations" and 8 ops, but keep in mind every op has to push a button for dispatch (I think, not totally sure), and no responsible ride op would press that button when their partner was not ready.) If this system works, maybe they could employ a few more workers to staff Diamondback in the same way.

[rcjp]

-Ride ops will take flip-flops and throw them onto the ground to the right of the train on the exit side (not kidding)

haha! This brings back some good memories from my first Portaventura visit when the ride ops on Furius Baco would do the same as if they didn't give a crap, which was rather fun.

[coasterbill]

If this system works, maybe they could employ a few more workers to staff Diamondback in the same way.

 

All Diamondback needs to operate efficiently is one less employee... the grouper, that way all rows will actually fill.

[GigaG]

That post was SUPPOSED to go to the KI thread...

[CPFan1234]

What are everyones thoughts on Ouimet?

 

Is it just me or do we hear/see less of him than we did Kinzel?

 

I feel like there are less interviews with him and less occurrences at the park with him. I thought of this because I just saw Tony post a pic of him at the park. I thought, wow that's a first.

 

It seemed Kinzel was always at CP (yes, well he did live there, but still).

 

Thoughts?

[thrillseeker4552]

^It doesn't bother me that Ouimet is a little more "hidden" than Kinzel. Ouimet is doing wonders for the Cedar Fair chain, so I'm happy!

[Invertalon]

That is true... I saw Kinzel all the time at the park. I have only seen Ouimet at events.

 

Regardless, he is doing a far better job in almost all aspects... So I can care less. Not like I care to see any CEO anyway to make my day complete... Although I will admit, Gary Kelly from Southwest Airlines was pretty sweet at the Halloween Party we got to attend at the HQ, really nice guy and the party was epic.

[RobotsEatElectrons]

Ouimet is the CEO of Cedar Fair and not the GM of Cedar Point. For me good leadership allows GOOD people to thrive on their own. They give these same good people the ability to make good or bad decisions based on their greater experience and knowledge of their title or area of expertise (run on sentence). A good leader isn't expected to know detailed knowledge of everything. A leader who does know or at least acts like they know everything is a micro-manager. Micro-Managing may work in specific applications but if you have knowledgeable and capable people you just stifle productivity with micro-management.

 

----

 

Change of topic on the post: My girlfriend and I went to Cedar Point (my home park) yesterday (July 1st) with my co-worker and his wife. Neither have been there since Raptor opened up. They had a blast and certainly enjoyed themselves.

 

I more or less let them, "take the wheel" and decide when and where to go. The only thing I did was initially steer them to the back of the park (Frontier area) at the beginning so we can start from that area and work our way forward. Rides weren't always picked at their, "optimal times" resulting in longer than expected lines at times. I know only going at the best times is such an "enthusiast thing to do" but part of me cried when rides where picked at their peak times. I was tempted to suggest coming later but I didn't want to be controlling. My girlfriend and I will be back. They may not come back until next year or 20-years from now. It was their day.

 

How do you guys (and gals) handle double-dates at your home park? Do you steer or give the wheel to your friend(s)? Any general tips? Later this summer I will be repeating a similar experience as my oldest sister will be taking her family to CP during her visit back to Ohio.

 

I admit CP gives me that "gaming" attitude. In the sense that I have to, "game the system" and optimize my visit. That said, I came in yesterday having the right attitude of, "I am just going to have fun."

[coasterbill]

If it's a park I visit frequently I always go with the flow and let people do whatever they want. If we go to a park I've never been to with a group of people we still do that but get a skip-the-line pass so we'll get on everything anyway.

[Koasterking48]

I admit CP gives me that "gaming" attitude. In the sense that I have to, "game the system" and optimize my visit. That said, I came in yesterday having the right attitude of, "I am just going to have fun."

 

I definitely feel the same way about Cedar Point. I visit yearly, but I always have a game plan coming into the park. Cedar Point just isn't a go-with-the-flow kind of park IMO. If you want to enjoy almost everything it has to offer, you need to know what the optimal times are to get on certain coasters. You also should come before opening and stay until closing just to ensure you get literally everything.

 

However, I also agree that this could take the fun out of the day, but roller coasters are more fun if you wait less.

[woolandmammoth]

I overheard some rumblings about "New Mantis" while walking behind two ride ops today. Everything was said in such a matter of fact way. I understand that most employees know nothing about future additions but ot sounded like they knew what they were talking about. Take it with a grain of salt, but I think a floorless Mantis could be on the way. Perhaps B&M have given the floorless train a revamp similar to the new invert trains. Perhaps these new floorless trains were designed to also be able to replace stand up trains (see heartline issues). Could be a good way to bring some life back into a rather unpopular ride. Could also see other parks with stand-ups doing something similar.

 

 

Besides that I had a wonderful time at the park today. Crowds were fairly light for peak season.

[Philrad71]

^ I have been to the park right before the 4th and it has always been a great time to be there. Actually, we were there last year on the 3rd just for an evening on the way to Michigan and I think we ended up doing most of the major (good) coasters & rides in just a few hours with little to no wait. I think that the 4th weekend is the unofficial CP kick-off to "every day is going to be ridiculously busy until mid to late August" time frame, but days leading into it are light.

 

I did get an E-mail from CP about free veterans admission along with the aerial acrobatics and skydiving, so it could end up getting really crowded there tomorrow and throughout the weekend. Good move by Cedar Fair marketing to try and pull in the big crowds for the holiday weekend with some added "Americana-style" perks.

 

In regards to Mantis, floor-less trains would definitely help, but I wouldn't be that upset if they tore both Iron Dragon and Mantis down and installed an Intamin mega MEGA -lite in that entire area.

[Koasterking48]

Visiting on the 13th next weekend. I'm hoping crowds are reasonable since I don't feel like splurging $80 for FL+. Does anyone know what the weekend after the 4th (specifically Sunday) looks like? I'm looking forward to trying out the Singshot this year since I haven't tried out Kings Island's in a long time.