Timesunion.com has reported that Cedar Point has changed the names of two of the haunts after the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) had concerns about the names for their haunted house, "Dr. D. Menteds Asylum for the Criminally Insane" and the show, "The Edge of Madness: Still Crazy" as false stereotypes for people with mental health problems.
CEO of Cedar Fair Dick Kinzel told the Sandusky Register that Cedar Point didn't want to offend anyone. He said that the Haunted House will keep the same asylum theme but will be renamed to "Eternity Infirmary". Also, the show will be renamed to "The Edge of Madness: Six Feet Under." According to Timesunion.com, Terry Russell, NAMI Ohio chapter executive director, says that Cedar Point is moving in the right direction. He said, “NAMI Ohio is extremely thankful to them for doing that and our organization now full supports their Halloween activities” (quoted from Norwalk Reflector). The renamed attractions will open at this year's HalloWeekends, opening on September 16th. This is the 14th year of the event, dating back to 1997. Initially, it wasn’t the best Halloween event around with only a couple of haunted houses and not very many decorations. Now, Cedar Point takes the event to the extreme with a plethora of different mazes, haunted houses, shows, and attractions. It has been confirmed that the attendance level of HalloWeekends goes way beyond the attendance number on the busiest days of the summer. Halloween events are taken very seriously at all Cedar Fair parks with various events for all of their parks, like Knott’s Scary Farm, Valleyscare, and Scarowinds events for Knott’s Berry Farm, Valleyfair, and Carowinds. There are also the Halloween Haunt events at Canada’s Wonderland, California’s Great America, Worlds of Fun, Dorney Park, King’s Dominion, and King’s Island. Each of these events has some of the most popular Halloween events ever.
0 Comments
Cedar Point has announced that they will be introducingDinosaurs Alive! on Adventure Island for the summer of 2012. The new prehistoric attraction will be located on a four-acre wooded island in the lagoons near the back of the park, with dinosaurs spread over a half-mile of walkway. Cedar Point will also be adding a mat-racer slide complex to its Soak City waterpark.
At a cost of $1 million, Dinosaurs Alive! will consist of approximately 50 animatronic dinosaurs, four of which will have interactive controls that allow guests to see how they moved parts of their bodies (arms, tail, eyes, and mouth). Dinosaurs will range from the two-foot tall, eight-foot long Angustinaripterus, to the massive 40-foot tall, 72-foot long Ruyangosaurus. Other dinosaurs include Irratator, Baryonx, the largest carnivorous dinosaur Spinosaurus, and the most famous meat-eater of them all, Tyrannosaurus Rex. John Hildebrandt, VP and GM of Cedar Point, stated in the park’s press release, “Our guests will have the opportunity to visit the Jurassic Age up close and see some of the amazing creatures that called it home. Dinosaurs Alive! will be educational but fun, too.” Entering via a bridge near Camp Snoopy, guests will then traverse the half-mile of walkways surrounded by prehistoric dinosaurs, encountering an excavation site, fossil displays, and paleontological dig along the way, with informative signs and guides throughout to answer additional questions. The cost for the attraction will be the same as its brethren opened this year at Kings Island, $5 per person. With dinosaurs now occupying the lagoon however, the Paddlewheel Excursions boat cruise will finally be retiring from the park on Sept. 5, 2011 (Labor Day), after over 45 years of operation at the park. It seemed last year many thought perhaps they opened the Dinosaurs Alive! exhibit at Kings Island as a testing grounds to see if they wanted to try it at Cedar Point. Looks like either those speculators were right, or its purely coincidence that Cedar Point now has their own version of the exhibit, and while not a terribly popular attraction with repeat visitors and enthusiasts, it seems Dinosaurs Alive! was very well received by families and kids visiting the park. So visitors beware, dinosaurs will now be lurking the grounds of Cedar Point next season. The rumored "Stratosoar" StarFlyer style 2011 addition for Cedar Point has just been confirmed ... and not by Cedar Point. Apparently, the park opted to buy from Mondial, who makes a comparable product to the Fun Times made StarFlyer. Now Fun Times is feeling scorned and is threatening to blow the whole thing up.
First off, Fun Times is claiming the Mondial's Wind Seeker model is a copyright infringement of their StarFlyer. The basic ride premise is the same. Riders are taken high in the air on individual seats that swing out from a rotating platform. The difference is that the StarFlyer attaches its seats to the central platform with chains, while the Wind Seeker's seats are attached by more rigid arms which allows it to operate in higher winds. So now Fun Times is threatening lawsuit. And while one might see a basis for an attempt at legal action against Mondial, that's not who they are going after. Allegedly, plans had existed for Fun Times to build a 400 ft tall StarFlyer for Cedar Point in 2011. Because of that Fun Times is now planning to sue Cedar Point for reneging on that deal in favor of a copy-write infringing competitor. It remains to be seen if Fun Times will actually follow through on its threat to file a lawsuit against Cedar Point, or if Cedar Point will go through with its plans to "announce" their new 2011 addition at the press conference currently scheduled for Tuesday, August 24. So far, Cedar Point has refrained from commenting on the situation. The second in command, Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jacob “Jack” Falfas, resigned from his position on June 12. Cedar Fair filed a notification with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday confirming this.
Having worked for Cedar Fair for three decades, and appearing to many to be the heir and right hand man of Cedar Fair CEO Dick Kinzel, this has come as a complete surprise to many. Former amusement park executive, now president of International Theme Park Services, Dennis Speigel said "the full story is yet to be told. I haven't talked to him personally, but it seems to have come at an odd time." Falfas could not be reached for comment on his resignation, nor have any additional details been given out by Cedar Fair. Just a few days prior to his resignation, Cedar Fair appointed new members to its board of directors at the request of its largest shareholder, Q Investements. They were also the group that rallied shareholders against the deal being made with the Apollo Management Group—likely the reason they requested new board members. Falfas started with Cedar Fair in the 1970s as an admissions manager, working his way up through the company over the next few decades. It was in 2005 that Falfas returned to Sandusky and was made COO of the company. Cedar Fair has recently been working on plans to refinance its debt on its own through the issuing of “junk” bonds and taking out a loan and line of credit to make the company “more stable.” Kinzel, at 68 years old, is expected to retire in 2012 after his employment contract ends. With his “second hand man” now gone, the fate of the company is up-in-the-air for now. Currently, there is no reliable information available or speculation as to who may be Kinzel's next successor, but keep an eye out, as details will be posted as they become available. After having its debut delayed not once, but twice, Cedar Point's new water attraction, Shoot the Rapids, has been scheduled to open Saturday, June 26th. Cedar Point posted the message, " GREAT news! Shoot the Rapids is scheduled to open THIS SATURDAY, June 26!" on both their Twitter and Facebook pages earlier today to alert their guests of the news.
Shoot the Rapids was originally scheduled to open on Cedar Point's opening day, May 15th. Due to a problem with the boats used for the ride, the opening day was set to be delayed until May 28th. Unfortunately this date had to be delayed as well, but this time guests were not told how long the delay would be. This lead to speculation and an endless watching of the ride by enthusiasts. All of this has come to an end however with the news that Shoot the Rapids will open June 26th. Shoot the Rapids is a water ride built and designed by IntaRide LLC, the same company that brought us Maverick, Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium Force roller coasters and the Thunder Canyon river-rafting ride. Shoot the Rapids features two hills and drops, one standing 85 feet tall and the other standing 45 feet tall. In just three short weeks, Cedar Point’s newest investment, Shoot the Rapids, will open to the public. But not before some generous VIPs get their turn. Cedar Point is auctioning off the first 30 seats with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross, Firelands Chapter.
The bidding starts at 75$ and goes up from there. A credit card number must be provided to prove legitimacy. The top 30 bidders will be awarded a commemorative T-shirt and medallion, free breakfast, free admission to the park as well as first seats on the new ride. Shoot the Rapids will be a “shoot-the-chutes” style ride made by IntaRide LLC, a division of Intamin AG, and cost the park $10.5 million. During the 3 minute ride, guests will experience two drops, both at 45 degree angles. The first plunges riders 85 feet down into the splash pool below while the sends drops 49 feet. But this ride isn’t just about those two drops. Between those two highlights will be some scenery including a waterfall that the 10 passenger boats will pass underneath. And then there’s the finale as the last drop sends riders down into the rapids below guaranteeing a good soaking for all involved. When Shoot the Rapids finally opens up on May 15th, Cedar Point will have added yet another notch to its impressive arsenal of thrills, with this one being able to please the whole family. The 2010 season is definitely looking up for the jewel of the Cedar Fair chain. After 26 years of dropping at Cedar Point the Demon will no longer be dropping in Ohio. Riders will only have a month or so left to take their final rides at the park. Sometime in early 2010 Demon Drop will be heading out west to its new home in sunny Southern California at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park.
Demon Drop which opened in 1983 is a 131 ft. tall tower built by Intiman of Switzerland. When the ride first opened it was one of several of its type (first generation drop tower) in the world. At the present time however, Demon Drop is the last of its kind in the United States and one of only four left in the world. Screamin’ Swing, Knott’s Berry Farm’s up-charge swinging attraction is being removed to make room for Demon Drop. It is currently unknown as to where Screamin’ Swing will go, or if it will even find a home at all. After passengers climb aboard the 4-person-cars the ride begins by moving backwards and ascending to the top of the tower. Once at the top, the car will slowly move forward and plunge 60 ft. down while reaching speeds of 55 mph until a computerized system slowly stops the car. Riders must be 48” inches or taller to ride. Demon Drop is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend 2010. Cedar Point recently announced it's newest addition to it's ride lineup with a water ride called Shoot the Rapids. The water ride will have two drops, one 85 feet tall and the second standing 49 feet. This Intamin water ride will also be 2,100 feet long to make a 3-minute ride. Shoot the Rapids will be a 10.5 million dollar investment, becoming the largest investment in a water ride ever at Cedar Point. The ride will also include a tunnel and rapids. Guests will be able to watch the riders get soaked via walkways next to the ride.
“Shoot the Rapids will instantly become a family favorite,” said John Hildebrandt, vice president and general manager of Cedar Point. “Our guests wanted another option to cool off on warm summer days. We listened, and Shoot the Rapids will deliver the perfect combination of refreshment, thrills and new memories at Cedar Point.” The ride will be built on Millennium Island, where much of Millennium Force's layout lies. It will take advantage of the naturally wooded area and water that surrounds the island. The ride will have ten boats, with ten seats per boat. The ride will use 728,000 gallons of chlorinated, filtered water throughout the ride. It will be themed to moonshine, and will become Cedar Point's third currently operating water ride. The ride will be located near Frontier Town. Shoot the Rapids is scheduled to open on Opening Day in 2010. Three people were injured last Saturday when two trains collided on Magnum XL-200. The collision occurred at a slow speed and the accident was considered a minor one.
Cedar Point officials say the accident occurred at the end of the ride when one of the coaster’s trains rolled into another train which was stopped in the loading station. Three people were injured and taken to the first-aid center. Two of the people were treated and released. However, the third passenger was transported to an area hospital for an asthma condition. Witnesses of the accident have reported that a train made it through one of the final sets of block brakes on the ride and then collided with another train stopped in the loading station. After a brief investigation, the Magnum XL-200 roller coaster reopened on Sunday, the day after the accident. Cedar Point finally puts speculation to rest: 'Maverick' confirmed to be seventeenth coaster9/7/2006 Let's go back to October of last year when Cedar Point announced that one of their three water rides, White Water Landing, would be removed before the 2006 session.
Right after this announcement, rumors began concerning what the park might be doing with the land White Water Landing was previously on. Cedar Point fans new that this location would be perfect for a new addition, especially for there next coaster considering that they haven’t gotten one since Top Thrill Dragster in 2003. Then, in early March, footers begin popping up all around the area White Water Landing used to be located. So it was confirmed that this ride would definitely be some type of ride that makes use of a track. Then in May track started to appear on site confirming that this will be their seventeenth coaster. Right away this track was identified as Intamin AG track, witch mad sense considering there last three coasters Top Thrill Dragster, Wicked Twister, and Millennium Force were also from Intamin AG. But there were still many questions about the ride that remand a mystery. Even in August when supports and track were already going in place this ride was still a very big mystery, in some aspects the more that was built the more puzzling the ride became. After a long wait today Cedar Point finally lifted the cloud of uncertainty around their new 2007 attraction when they announced maverick to the world. After the unveiling its easy to see why it was so hard to figure out what CP was doing because this ride will defiantly be different they any coaster they currently have, and any other coaster in the world in some ways. This ride will break the mold of Cedar Point recent coasters in many ways. First off this coaster will not be breaking any record. Second this coaster will only be 105 ft high, moving away from their super high coasters. Third this ride will be including inversions, for the first time since Mantis in 1996. Fourth this ride will interact with the terrain. Fifth this ride will be highly themed. During Maverick’s 2 minutes and 30 seconds course of 4450ft of track it will future a 105ft LIM launched lift hill, a more then vertical 95 degree drop of 100ft, many highly banked turns, a 400 ft long tunnel which will in case a 70mph mid ride LIM launch, and three inversions Two 360-degree corkscrew rolls and one 360-degree heart line roll. Maverick will have six trains each having three cars and two rows per car equaling 12 riders per train, making for approximately 1200 riders per hour. Each car will have one of six cooler making each one unique. The coolers will be silver, gunmetal, iron, gold, copper, or brass. Despite its size maverick is defiantly going to pack a punch that even extremes thrill seekers will be able to enjoy. |
Archives
November 2022
Categories
All
|