Dark rides at Cedar Point

[live2tell75]

I was thinking about how big and cool Cedar Point is. They have a pretty good collection of roller coasters, flats and a few water rides. This got me thinking, has Cedar Point ever had any dark rides? It seems like a big park like Cedar Point would have at least one dark. I'm sure in the past they have had a least one. I guess after visiting Blackpool, which has a good mix of rides and a bunch of darks got me wondering. If they have had one, what was the theme and does anyone remember where it's location in the park was?

[modelmaker]

I don't think so . . . haven't seen them advertized at their website . . .

[niiicolaaah]

There used to be a dark ride at Cedar Point called Pirate Ride. It was removed in 1996. I rode it my first time to the park in 1994. It was in the area over by Blue Streak and Raptor.

 

There's an arcade there now:

Image from www.thepointol.com

 

Image from www.thepointol.com

 

There was a Noah's Ark built in 1925, the San Francisco Earthquake Ride, which was transferred from Freedomland in New York along with the Pirate Ride in 1966, and the Upside Down Funhouse which was at CP from 1966-1981.

[coaster05]

Nicole is 100% correct on pirate ride. Befor that along the midway across from Cedar Downs was a dark ride called earthquake. i rode it once and was very young so I am guessing it was taken out early 80's. Other than those 2 I have no idea.

[live2tell75]

Thanks Nicole for all of the research! When I was there in 2003, I kind of thought that area of the park looked like it might have housed a dark ride at one time, but wasn't sure. Thanks for the info and pics.

[live2tell75]

An earthquake ride, interesting. Thanks Rich for the info. I wonder if the park will ever install a highly themed dark ride or shooting ride in the future.

[bigstevet07]

Disaster Transport is "dark"

Disaster is the perfect name for that ride too.

[niiicolaaah]

^^Well, it might be a possibiliy, if Cedar Point ever stops focusing on trying to outdo everyone else coaster-wise.

 

That's one of the things that prevents me from considering Cedar Point as a favorite park. Sure, it's got good coasters, but very little else worthwhile imo. No dark rides, now no log flume, they have very little that is "unique". I like the derby horses though.

 

::prepares for onslaught of CP fanboys::

[deguy123]

^BLAH BLAH CEDAR POINT IS THE BEST...ARE U CRAZY...J/K

 

I agree though, Cedar Point is a great park but my favorite park all around is Hershey Park.

[bgwfreak]

What type of ride was the Pirate ride?

 

Carowinds used to have one called Black Beard's Revenge where you sat on a bench in the middle of a room and the room spinned around you slowly so that it looked like you were on a ship.

 

It spun all the way around until you saw the skeleton's and treasure in the bottom of the boat. lol

 

I miss that ride. The A/C was awesome!!!

[PhishyBrewer]

Funny story about the Pirate Ride after it closed...

 

One of the head maintenance dudes at the park took a bunch of the scenes from the ride and put them in this paint ball field he owns. It was kind of fun shooting fake rats on a bicycle chain.

 

Wally "Oh Paul!" Weiss

[ECZenith]

Blackpool's sounds like a Vekoma Mad House. (like Houdini here in the states)

 

Pirate Ride was an Arrow electric-tracked dark ride for whoever asked.

[MSLSM]

What about Broadway Trip? While a coaster, it looks like it could have been really close to a dark ride.

 

[jamesdillaman]

If Cedar Point ever does another darkride, It would have to be a larger capacity type, like Pirates at Disney or the like, for them to even consider it. I know that at many parks I go to, the darkride line is one of the longest in the park. This is compounded by the fact that there are almost NO rides at CP aimed towards families. They have coasters for kids, but adults and teens aren't really into them (Jr Gemini and Woodstock Express) and a kids area, but only the kids can ride there. On another note, does anybody know why they took the pirates ride out? It seems odd to just leave the building. How much of the building is intact and how much is used for a different purpose such as storage or something else?

 

-James Dillaman

[CoasterFanatic]

I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but Earthquake was in the building that now houses the Snoopy Boutique. It used to be a Bearenstein Bear play area in between.

 

Earthquake and Pirate Ride were both Arrow Dark Rides.

[steel]

That's one of the things that prevents me from considering Cedar Point as a favorite park. Sure, it's got good coasters, but very little else worthwhile imo. No dark rides, now no log flume, they have very little that is "unique". I like the derby horses though.

 

You hit the nail on the head there.

Let's see, we've got Force, Dragster, Skyhawk, Raptor, Magnum, and maXair.

Then there's Disaster Transport, Iron Dragon, Blue Streak, Wildcat, and Cedar Downs.

 

And, yeah... that's about all there is to do at Cedar Point. Mantis and Mean Streak suck. A lot. Wicked Twister is boring for some reason. Corkscrew was the Dragster of its time, and it hasn't aged well.

 

Can someone explain the Disaster Transport hate to me? All you seem to complain about is the line, but the ride itself isn't half bad. And after all this complaining you still haven't figured out that the line is only long because of the air conditioning? Come on, guys. You have brains. It isn't that hard. Just go in the evening when NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE AIR CONDITIONING ANYMORE. We got several walk-ons during our trip this year.

The only thing I dislike about it is the theming, and only because it's a shadow of its former self. I'd love to see those two robots and all the effects back again, but you don't see me complaining.

[coastermaniac]

Disaster Transport is a good coaster for as short as it may be.

[SharkTums]

They could put in one of the newer generation Sally Dark Rides, or a MIB type system, that has a VERY high throughput.

[DATman]

I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but Earthquake was in the building that now houses the Snoopy Boutique. It used to be a Bearenstein Bear play area in between.quote]

 

I totally forgot that used to be there! I remeber going there when I was little (I loved the Bearenstein Bears).

[DerekRx]

Blackbeard's Revenge at Carowinds was a Magic House (predating Vekomas Mad House), whereas the Pirate ride was a ride on a track (in fact, in that one picture Nicole posted, you can see where the track used to be). The ride building is right across from the entrance to Blue Streak.

 

Broadway Trip could be considered a darkride, as it eventually became Wizard's Cavern at Casino Pier.

 

Maybe someday Cedar Fair will think about adding darkrides to its parks again, but they've got plenty of trees to take out, concrete walkways to add, and more trash cans to strategically position every 10 feet from each other before they even consider such a thing as a "Family Ride"

[coastrfreak2000]

It's odd to think Cedar Point had dark rides...

[Calaway Park]

There aren't any there now because there's too much theming and not enough concrete.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PhishyBrewer]

A little note about the old Pirate Ride area: That's where all the toilet paper for the entire park is stored

[ECZenith]

MSLSM-I've actually ridden "Broadway Trip" when it was set up at Seaside Heights New Jersey, it's gone through several locations and name changes- I rode it as "Wizard's Cavern". It's since been demolished.

 

To make up for it, Casino Pier is making a remake of Wizard's Cavern/Broadway Trip called Pirate's Hideaway.

 

Sorry to go off topic, just really liked that ride...

This ought to be fun!

[FlyingScooter]

CP had the Pirate ride and Earthquake. I liked 'em both and was bummed when they were removed.

 

When i was in high school, we'd smear ketchup on our foreheads right before the end of the Earthquake ride. The ride ops would freak out. Before they got too bad, we'd fess-up to the prank.