|
CEDAR POINT
Sandusky, Ohio (Abbreviation: CP)
Cedar Fair Entertainment
 Park News - (8/20/10) A reader came across an add showing Ocean Motion up for sale at Ital. I had heard this previously, but has not seen the ad until now. From what I’m told, the plan is to still move it to the old Demon Drop location until they can sell it, because they’ve got to make room for StratoSoar.
(7/9/10) A fire broke out in a two-story maintenance building at Cedar Point the other evening, which resulted in the injury of 3 firefighters. Two were suffering from heat exhaustion while the third fell from a ladder while trying to access the second story of the building. The building is located in a back area at the park, so the park remained open to guests other than the closure of three rides nearby the area: Corkscrew, Power Tower and Super Himalaya. No word on what started the fire, but the damage to the building was said to be extensive.
(7/2/10) Not only is the back row of seats on all of the Shoot The Rapids boats roped off, but they’ve put a sticker on them saying “Seat Not Available”, so it looks like they’re not expecting to be able to use them for quite awhile.
So far almost all the reports sent in say that the ride has little to no wait at all for it. I’ve also heard that it sounds like the boats are a little “front heavy” as the water just pours into your lap if you sit in the front row. You’ve been warned. The ride ops are also apparently asking guests to move around quite a bit, as if they are attempting to balance out the boats… or to correct an internal imbalance. Yep, lots of issues with this one…
2010 - Shoot The Rapids - (6/30/10) Good news for Cedar Point fans, as Shoot The Rapids is open after sufferings from a few new ride jitters over the weekend. Many have noticed however that the last row is roped off from use for the time being… so I can only assume there are still some minor issues to be dealt with.
(6/28/10) Good news for Cedar Point fans as Shoot the Rapids has finally opened this past weekend. You can check in at the live webcam feed and they’ve posted a couple of pictures and comments to the OnPoint Blog as well. One odd thing, they note that the height requirement has changed to 46” to ride (with an adult) or 48” to ride on your own. This is up from the previously announced 42” height requirement, to obviously there are going to be quite a few disappointed kiddies out there. Most of your standard flume rides do fall into the 40-42” height requirement range, though it’s worth noting that Holiday’s World’s Pilgrims Plunge (also by Intamin) has a 48” height requirement.
There is also an official video embedded below showing off the opening day fun. If you want to see more of The Point, check out a trip report over at Negative-G.
(6/22/10) According to what we’ve been hearing there is still no estimated opening for Cedar Point’s new Shoot the Rapids attraction which has experienced a series of technical problems and delays that have kept it from opening now since the start of the season. The only update listed on the official website right now is still the “Opening Soon”, though the OnPoint Blog promises an update about this situation soon.
(6/10/10) While the public is still waiting to try out Shoot the Rapids, some park employees were used to test it out so far and you can find videos of that embedded below. While we’re talking about The Point, it’s been “pointed out” to me (get it?) that CoasterImage.com has posted a ton of new Cedar Point Wallpaper for everyone to enjoy this week here and here.
(6/9/10) Dick Kinzel confirmed that a new set of boats are being created for Shoot The Rapids because the original boats, “weren’t engineered right, and didn’t fit the flume”. While we’ve heard about the size problems before, this also seems to confirm quiet rumors about other engineering snafus with the boats that came to light in the last few weeks as well.
The odd thing that also seems to indicate that something unexpected came up is that Kinzel is quoted as saying, “We're really sorry it didn't get open on time, but these are prototypes, and we're not going to open anything until it meets all of our safety requirements and also comfort levels for our guests.” The key word there for me is prototype… as these really shouldn’t be prototype boats. I could be mistaken, but it was my understanding that these would be the same style 10-passenger boats introduced last year at Holiday World on Pilgrim’s Plunge, and not a new prototype creation. In any case, while no exact timeline has been announced as to when the ride will open, it is hoped to be ready in the next few weeks and is not expected to miss the entire season.
(6/5/10) Cedar Point has confirmed that Shoot the Rapids will not open this weekend either. According to Screamscape sources, the latest rumors spell more doom and gloom for the ride. If the stories are true, more issues have come up that could keep it closed for even longer than expected. More as we find out. While you wait in frustration, you can see some pictures of the ride testing posted to Theme Park Review.
(6/1/10) While Shoot the Rapids was not open over the weekend, we did hear reports that it was seen testing successfully with water dummies on Sunday afternoon, as well as a few employees. It seems Tony/Tyler of the Cedar Point Blog were also seen riding, so an opening can’t be too far away.
(5/31/10) Big disappointment from Cedar Point over this past weekend as Shoot the Rapids STILL was not ready to open. According to one reader who was at the park, an employee stationed at the entrance of the ride told them that the state inspectors were not able to make it out in time to sign off on it and wouldn’t make it until Tuesday now due to the extended Holiday weekend. That said… I’ve also heard a rumor that they are still having a problem with the boats possibly getting stuck in a few places around the course as another likely reason the final inspection may have had to been delayed.
(5/12/10) According to this news article the cause of the delayed opening of Shoot the Rapids is actually due to the boats on the Intamin ride being a little “too long” and aren’t going “over the hills properly”. So there you have it…
(5/3/10) Cedar Point has posted some new pictures of the nearly ready to open Shoot The Rapids ride, both dry and with water in place. Guest will also cross the train tracks at one point while entering the queue and exiting the ride.
(9/4/09) As we had expected, Cedar Point announced a new $10.5 million themed flume ride from Intamin as their big 2010 project. The flume ride appears to use the same 10 passenger boats that were put to use on Pilgrims Plunge this past year, and will feature the same overhead lap-bar restraint system. You’ll start off your ride in the Crystal Rock Bottling Company building before you embark down the river where you will encounter feudin’ locals, a moonshine still, and rise and fall down two large drops (85 ft and 49 ft) into “the rapids” below. While I think I would have preferred a little more themeing... maybe some indoor segments built into a large fake mountain to hide the lift hills, this is a much needed ride at The Point that I’m sure will go over well.
 2011 - Windseeker - (8/25/10) Cedar Point surprised me a little bit and ditched the StratoSoar name that they trademarked a few weeks ago, and instead simply named their new Mondial Wind Seeker as “Windseeker”. Identical in size and scope to the other $5 million installations announced on the same day for Kings Island, Kn
ott’s Berry Farm and Canada’s Wonderland, Windseeker is a 301 ft tall spinning tower ride. It has 32 2-Seater gondolas mounted to the ends of long arms that will swing outward up to 45º when it hits top speed at the top.
(8/20/10) FunTime just outed Cedar Point’s big secret… that Stratosoar is indeed the Mondial Wind Seeker version of the the FunTime Star Flyer ride. Why spill the beans? FunTime was apparently in talks with The Point about building a 400 foot tall version of the Star Flyer and was not only upset the park didn’t go with them, but apparently they mad as hell at Mondial for ripping off their ride design, claiming it’s a patent infringement issue that will result in further legal action.
I’m not sure where the deal was going myself, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a company outing a park’s plans just because they chose to purchase a similar ride from a competitor.
(8/19/10) Cedar Point has confirmed that it will make the big announcement on August 24th on their Facebook page for their 2011 expansion plans. So far the most popular rumors still content that Ocean Motion will be replaced by StratoSoar, a new Star Flyer style ride that will change the park’s epic skyline one again with it’s height.
As for Ocean Motion, the latest rumors suggest that it will be moved over to the old Demon Drop location, near the park entrance. While on the subject of older rides, I’ve been told you should get your last rides in on Chaos now… chances are this is the ride’s last season at the park.
Finally, the most unconfirmed rumor still suggests that we may see a new kiddie coaster of some kind added to Planet Snoopy, just so The Point can keep up the coaster count with Magic Mountain who will also add a new kiddie coaster in 2011. We’ll know more soon enough!
(8/17/10) A reader sent us a link to an old Park World article about a new creation Mondial announced in early 2010 called the Wind Seeker. In short, the ride was developed as their own version of the Star Flyer… one that they claim can operate in higher wind conditions as there steel arms holding the twin-seater chairs in place. So could The Point’s new ride really be the first Wind Seeker?
(8/13/10) Cedar Point has informed everyone that they will be dropping hints and clues about their new 2011 attraction on their facebook page in the near future. Keep your eyes open.
(8/11/10) While other Cedar Fair parks were opening their presents to Snoopy over the weekend, chocked full of announcements about Planet Snoopy areas with several new rides coming next year, Cedar Point guests were not so lucky. According to CP’s own blog coverage, the big present was opened and contained... Cookies. Yep... just cookies, so we’re playing the wait game again to find out about Stratosoar.
(8/6/10) The latest rumors about StratoSoar is that the Star Flyer style ride will hold 64 riders at once and stand 300 feet tall. I’ve also heard that the new ride could replace Ocean Motion, the park’s swing ship, located right next to the beach.
(8/5/10) We’ve heard from a few readers that Cedar Point has set up a giant present box addressed to Snoopy near Planet Snoopy with instructions not to open it until August 8th. As predicted, this should be next year’s new attraction announcement. While the Stratosoar rumor is the strongest right now, it’s funny how the coaster rumor keeps popping up. Is it just a fanboy dream or a deliberate attempt at misinformation spearheaded by The Point? Perhaps a little of both… and maybe… just maybe… there could be some truth to it. To help keep their record intact, I have heard a new rumor claiming that the park just mightadd a new kiddie coaster to the Planet Snoopy area as well since SFMM is adding a kiddie coaster next year. Gotta keep that coaster count up you know.
(8/3/10) Thanks to one of our readers for the tip, I’ve confirmed that Cedar Fair has filed Trademark application for the name “Stratosoar” on July 16th. Hmm… sounds like a perfect name for a gigantic Star Flyer style ride, doesn’t it? (Of course, since it was filed by Cedar Fair, it could be for any park in the chain… but The Point makes the most sense right now.
(7/24/10) Cedar Point just kicked the rumor mill into high gear by posting a picture of a survey steak pounded right into the beach with a note that says, “Who’s Hungry?”
(7/15/10) There have been a ton of crazy rumors swirling about just what may be on the way to Cedar Point in 2011. While many of the early rumors suggested that it could be a new coaster from Intamin, the latest batch of rumors suggest that this new Intamin ride may actually not be a coaster at all. If the latest rumors are true, we could be seeing them install a new Intamin version of a Star Flyer style tower ride. Given that this is The Point we can probably count on it being ridiculously huge, perhaps somewhere between Power Tower and Top Thrill Dragster in height.
Of course, this hasn’t stopped the coaster rumors, as rumors of new wooden coaster are still swirling in a revival of the old “boardwalk’ rumors from years ago, talking about placing a new woodie along the beachside of the park near Wicked Twister and Disaster Transport. Point Pixels has posted new pictures of the survey markings which are now close to the Ocean Motion and the Extreme Sports Stadium near Wicked Twister’s rear spike, as well as stakes right in the beach sand too. Now all we really need is someone to mark out where all these are on an overhead photo of the park so we can see just how large an area they’re marking off.
(7/9/10) According to this article the announcement for the 2011 attraction will take place in mid August. Dick Kinzel has hinted that, “It's going to bring back a lot of memories for people that follow Cedar Point”. Makes it sound like a throw-back ride… or a recreation of something popular long ago but lost. While one source tell us that it may actually be a flat ride coming to the park, it was also pointed out that The Point has seen a fair share of wooden coaster come and go over the years… 8 in fact according to RCDB. With our last leak claiming that Cedar Fair was looking more favorable at building new wooden coasters again… could this be a possibility? Certainly the early announcement date also seems to indicate that work on the project may become visible before the end of the season as well. More as we find out.
(7/7/10) The latest rumors about Cedar Point’s next big project claim it will be a coaster from Intamin once again… despite all the various technical problems The Point has had with rides from them. According to another source, this new Intamin creation may be a new prototype creation we haven’t seen anywhere else before. Stay Tuned!
(6/14/10) Point Pixels has posted some new pictures showing off what is assumed to be water and sewer survey markings. Simply a harmless upgrade on the way or a slight tip-off as to where the next big project will be going?
(5/17/10) According to Dick Kinzel, Cedar Fair’s CEO, they’ve already ordered a new ride for 2011 that is aimed at pleasing the thrill seekers. With SF Magic Mountain having upped their coaster count to match Cedar Point with 17 coasters in 2010, I’d guess that they may opt for a new coaster in 2011 just to put them in the lead again, or at least ensure another tie in case SFMM were to add another one in 2011 as well.
|
