2006: Year in Review

Feel free to comment and include your own "Year in Review."

Trips: 39
Distance from the Park: 50.0 miles.

Park Operations
• Top Thrill Dragster definitely had its best year ever! It ran quite smoothly throughout the year, and while there were always some downtime, that was mostly to be expected.
• Glad to see the auto-spiels go away… for the most part. It has really helped to bring some life back into the stations, and heighten the guest experiences.
• Crews were great this year! There seemed to be a little bit a higher morale, which somewhat surprised me, but I’m not complaining.
• Something needs to be done about on-ride photography. I’ve stressed it before, and I’ll do it again: Something needs to be done.
• Glad to see, as usual, the park doing what it can to keep ride up and running, or get them up and running as soon as possible. On multiple occasions I saw rides open just before, or even at closing, when they had been closed all day.
• Skyhawk certainly had more downtime than I expected. Hopefully they’ll be able to take care of those few “glitches” and it’ll be running well in 2007; even if it is only with 1-2 full swings. It did, however, help to bring some much-needed life to that corner of Frontiertown.

General
• I was very disappointed to see the majority of park entrances not honoring the Joe Cool and Resort Guest ERT program, but rather letting everyone in, and not checking for the proper credentials.
• It was nice seeing Mr. Hildebrandt around the park so much this summer, even more than last year. It really helps to show his pride in the park.
• I was sorely disappointed with “Hot Summer Lights.” The park seemed to pick up on the problems towards the end of the season, and even correct some of them, but it still lacked some real punch. Bursts of fire just don’t make up for lasers in my book. Hopefully they’ll make some big changes for next year.
• While initially I was upset about the shorten hours during the summer, it really didn’t seem to make all that much of a difference to me. I just hope they don’t cut them back anymore.
• I was pleased that the park showed some interaction with season pass holders by bringing back several nights of ERT on Top Thrill Dragster. I would love to see a few more of these throughout the season.
• I loved the idea of showing football (and baseball) games on the Hot Summer Lights screen. I hope to see similar events in the future.
• HalloWeekends seemed to be lacking, somewhat, this year. Fear Faire was a great addition, but the event as a whole seemed somewhat, “running off schedule,” so to speak.
• Twenty-five cent cotton candy… Nice idea (even though I don’t like cotton candy…), but what happened to all the little midway carts after about the first four weeks of operation?
• Lighting is again falling by the way-side. I can certainly understand why, but it’s such a major aspect of the night experience of the park. It was saddening to me to see only a portion of Top Thrill Dragster’s lights light its tower, those around the games area falling into disrepair, and even the simple light used to light up the midway be left burnt out for months.

New for 2007
• Maverick should prove to be an excellent addition to the park and well set in the Frontiertown theme. I can’t wait to ride it in May!
• I’m very disappointed with ’07 season passes all the way around. Essentially, there has been a price hike of $5 for the early purchase, and then you have the pay even more to get any additional parks. More than anything though, I’m upset about the parking pass situation. Not being able to get my pass on my ID in 2007 will likely result in a good drop in trips for me, when I’d have to pay for parking because I didn’t have my vehicle.
• The restrooms near Magnum, Gemini, and the Jitney Arcade are all showing their age, and at least one of them really needs to be done for next year; hopefully even two of them.
• I would like to see some improvements in merchandise in 2007. 2003 and 2004 brought out some great merchandise, but it's fallen back to “same-old, same-old” in some cases.
• I was thinking… Why not take out the two queue sets nearest the ramp (in regards to Millennium) that are never used (The one’s next to the “gum wall.”), and put in a few nice trees? :)

*** Edited 11/1/2006 6:34:35 AM UTC by DBCP***

Those queues were in use today. Not sure why, since they never had more than one and half sets of queues open, but they were, nevertheless.

I think your analysis was very well thought out and articulated. I'll have to mull it over, but I think I mostly agree with the points you bring up.

I only went once this year.

I used to live in Cincinnati Ohio, but now live in Atlanta Ga. So 400 plus miles

I went during Halloweekends October 20th.. Was just there. It was very crowded, but alot of fun and worht the trip.

Dragster and Millennium took 2 hours each. Everything else was normal wait. it was still worth. The park was open till Midnight. But they were still letting peopl into Magnum and Dragster line till 12:15 am. I waited just 15 minutes for dragster at that time of night. What other park would allow this. AWESOME!

The park changed over night into a spectacular halloween event. The lines for most of these attractions were less wait than your local haunted house. The energy of everyone made even better.

Skyhawk only had one side running and the other side was partial dismantled. Took 1 hour 15 minutes. Too Long.. but first time on..

The new Midway with Maxair was a site to see.. Very Nice

Cannot wait to go back next year for Maverick

Marc

I forgot to add that Top Thrill Dragster did not go down one time during the day on Saturday October 20ish. We were in line and it just kept shooting trains. I was expecting it to go a least once or twice. It never did.. Go CP

Nice idea. Heres mine.

Trips: 8

Park operations: A-
-Disappointing to see an hour cut off most nights in the summer. It didn't affect me but I'm sure many families would have liked the extra hour
-Opening many attractions at 11 was also another move I don't think was very good. CP should spend the money to have the entire park open at 10.
-Top Thrill Dragster certainly did run great this year. Was only down for two days I think. Great improvement.
-Skyhawk certainly did have much more downtime than I would have thought. Wasn't the one arm down for close to a month? Hopefully it will be running well again in '07.
-Raptor seemed to have wonderful operations all year. The crews seemed to make it run faster than ever.
-Mantis seemed to have a great crew all year, but there is still room for improvement.
-Grouping in the station was much more evident on Magnum which was nice. MF and TTD also seemed to have a fair amount of grouping. Great move CP.
-Millennium Force seemed to have a slower crew than normal as lines seemed to take much longer with no more people in them.

Rides: A
-Skyhawk was a great new ride and probably my favorite flat anywhere.
-All other flats were nice this year also.
-Some Intamins seemed to be hit or miss this year. I would have unbelieveable rides on them one week and then only mediocre rides on them the next. Much of it had to do with speed- MF and TTD would seem faster or slower on any given trip. Still great rides though.
-Raptor was better this year than ever. Absolutely amazing ride. The zero-g-roll seemed better this year too. Whole ride semed faster and smoother than before.
-Mantis however seems to get worse and worse. It gets more painful every year. Add some padding on the restraints! It needs it. If they don't I'm not sure I'll be riding it next year. It would be a nice ride if you didn't have to worry about injuries every change of direction. I think some padding on the restraints would do this ride a lot of good.
-Gemini seemed to be hit or miss this year in terms of ride comfort. Sometimes it would be smooth others jerky.
-Magnum seemed smoother and faster this year. Great ride- I enjoyed every ride this year wheras I'd have some bad ones in other years.
-Mean Streak is a great ride with the trims off. With them on though its getting somewhat boring. I still don't think its that rough though.
-Corkscrew is a mess. I'm all for having rides be safe, but these seatbelts cause 45 minute lines on empty days. Why they still run 3 trains I don't know. Surely there is a solution to this.

Other areas of the park: A-
-Stores and merchandise seemed much better in terms of selection this year although lines seemed to take somewhat longer.
-Most areas of the park seemed very spruced up this year (cosmetically) specifically Frontier Town.
-Other areas however like the Gemini midway are looking a bit out dated.
-MF and TTD specifically desperately need a paint job.
-TTD was disappointing this year. It ran well but its like they didn't maintain it. The line looks dirty and run-down. Lighting on the tower and the christmas tree lights was poor. Covers fell off the christmas tree lights dear knows how long ago yet they were never replaced. Hopefully this will be corrected for next year.
-Other lighting seemed poor as well. MF's lighting didn't seem as good as previous years, and Power Tower's lighting had many problems.
-Employees seemed friendlier than previous years.
-The entrance seemed spruced up quite a bit.
-Halloweekends was incredible but a little more money could be spent on things like gravestones throughout the park and making them look a little less cheap.
-All Halloweekends attractions great except for Pharoah's Secret (that needs to be scrapped).

2007:
-Looks like it will be a great season.
-Maverick will be an incredible ride.
-Hopefully they will plant a lot of trees around the ride to make it Frontier Townish.
-Hopefully the park will do a bit more sprucing up around the park and maybe give a paint job to MF.
-Hopefully the park will think about staying open later during the summer, and not cutting anymore weeks off the operating season.
-Based on the amount of people at the cold Halloweekends this year I think they could actually stay open through Thanksgiving.
-Really missed having a log ride this year. They need something to cool you off on a hot day but not drench you.
-Overall it was a great season, and even after visiting many other parks throughout the country Cedar Point still reigns supreme.

I am not going all out don't have much time but I was happy with most of the park except,

Magnums station, It seemed slow this year.

Millennium Force station, I dont know if it was just the dates ( 13th, 14th) but they would let the station stack sometimes and that is something that bothers me.

Shortened hours

The better

The ride crews seemed more friendly and were having a good time.

Top Thrill Dragster was awesome. when the trains went to the staging area the first train was launched immediatly. Great job Top Thrill Dragster Crew of 2006.

The funniest thing that happened this year is at the entrance of Top Thrill there was a Motorola Razor on the trash can and the atendent said,

" make sure all cell phones and other objecs are secure because they will break if they fall and if you don't believe me take a look at the 200 dollar phone in three pieces over there"

I'm extremely sad that the season is over.

I always get depressed when the amusement park season ends. It feels like all the summer memories are dying. It's a very sad feeling.

This summer brought my second trip to the Point and my first multi-day trip. It was the time of my life.

I'm gonna miss it.

You can say that again. It really does feel like summer memories are dying! Thats a good way to put it. Hopefully 194 days will pass quickly.

I agree with the lighting. I have been wanting to take some night pictures of Millennium Force for a while now, and was finally able to bring a capible camera with me. I was very disappointed to discover that most of the colored lights on the lift hill had faded, and the second 300' support seemed to have its light out completely.

Agreed! It used to be so vibrant but this year you had to look to see the colors.

Trips: 3

Distance: 367 Miles

Operations: B+

Overall, I did not notice too much change. Being a previous season pass holder, and having only three trips, my days ran fairly smoothly, however...

Food Services needs some serious work. The food selection, number one. Midway Market..what happened after its first season? Cedar Point needs something like that besides pizza and burger places like Coasters and the other place by Ocean Motion. I understand its an amusement park, but give me a break. I shouldn't have to leave the park to enjoy a nice sit down dinner, even if it is a buffet, a decent one. Also, many of the employees either A, didn't know their job too well, B, didn't know efficency, or C, didn't care.

Ride Ops, Nice job this year. You guys did well, however, TTD still needs work as does Skyhawk, but I'll give it time.

Park Appearance:

Whatever happened to trees? I see more and more concrete with the addition of new rides, yet more and more landscaping is lost. Maverick had better improve in this area...if the artist's rendering is correct, then next year, that landscaping should be there.

Restrooms, I agree with the above. Some are in serious need of updating.

Employee morale was up

Merchandising...Cedar Point is unique in so many ways...let's carry that more into merch with Maverick..

Hot Summer Lights? What was so hot about it? Besides the fire...Cedar Point, give me a break. I've seen better shows elsewhere. You've got the money, so use it.

Overall, not bad. Cedar Point has many areas to improve upon, and I think, with time, they will do that...especially with prices to season pass holders..
*** Edited 10/31/2006 4:17:51 AM UTC by mk522***

It's such a satisfying sight to finally see some good reviews about Dragster.:)

Oh and I pretty much agree with everything you said Doug.
Trips:13
Distance from the Park: 107 miles

*** Edited 10/31/2006 4:28:16 AM UTC by TTD 120mph***

We spend 23 days at CP including 4 multi-night stays at the resorts. Overall a great year.

Skyhawk was a good addition which brought life back to Frontier Town. It's downtime was disapointing, so was the time only running one arm.

TTD had it's best year

MF had more downtime than ever. There was that period in June it was down for a number of days. Plus, I'd say about 3/4 of the days we got into the park and hour early it broke down during that hour.

The ride operators did seem to be more friendly and fun.

The music was good. My son and I really like 25 or 6 to 4 , Love Shack and Hawaii 5-0.

The waits at the food stands seemed to be longer. We usually went to Midway Market once a day to fill up so we didn't need to go to the stands to much. You can't beat the Midway Market. Famous Daves is good too.

Hot Summer lights was just OK.

Halloweekends were fun. Fear Faire was a good addition.

Now for next year,

I agree with DBCP those restrooms need renovation. The one next to Magnum is always so wet, you'd think it was next to a water ride. The one next to the Jitney Arcade is the cleanest in the park, however with the Maverick crowds it won't be clean next year.

I actually like the Gemini midway like it is. Though there is some concrete around the park that needs replacing.

There needs to be more variety at the food stands. There are too many dry over priced burgers. The french fry stands are good.

I'd like to see Macaroni's go back to the way it was.

There needs to be a sign by the exit for Blue Streak to direct people to the entrance. I amazed how many people think the exit is the entrance. That is because it looks like the entrance. The sign the have is in a place where people are not looking.

I think letting everybody in the park negates a benefit for Joe Cool and resorts guests. They should stop letting in everybody next year.

Or just stop Joe Cool.

I hadn't rode Blue Streak for two years because I had no idea how to get to it. Finally got to ride it in September though. They need to fix that.

I made two trips this year: opening day-opening Wednesday and the first Halloweekend Saturday and Sunday. They both turned out to be great trips mainly because of good luck with the hit-or-miss weather both times. So, I have NO real complaints about the '06 season. Just great memories mostly. This was only my second season visiting CP, but I'm already so attached to the place that now I can't imagine not coming back at least once a year until I'm finally (God forbid) too old to enjoy it. I do however, relate to some things posted above:

1) The Joe Cool thing....I paid extra for that, but why? This was never needed at any of the entry gates I used this year. As long as you were standing there, you got in. A great perk for some, but not for those of us who shelled out an extra $15 bucks per pass or paid a premium rate to stay at a CP resort property and many people did BOTH.

2) Skyhawk....Come on, even factoring in the "new ride glitches" that are inevitable, did anyone anticipate the problems with this one? Opening day through opening Wednesday, It was open for maybe 10 hours total. Down all day Sunday-Tuesday and ended it's debut season with only one arm. I do like the ride, but...in case no one else has mentioned this, it's too short.

3) Disappearing Cotton Candy Carts....They made such a huge deal about this at the beginning of the season, yet did not follow through. The carts all but vanished after opening Sunday it seemed and by Halloweekends you were forced to get it at one of the few permanent food stalls that sold it, but it wasn't too fresh after being baked down into a hard, crusty wad under a heat lamp.

Truly, though these are just very minor gripes that are nothing compared the high points of the season for me this year. Getting a LHP cabin for the first time and waking up each day to watch TTD test through the living room window was priceless, especially considering how great Dragster ran this year. I managed 13 TTD rides this year. I would have settled for 5. Also, my first Halloweekend trip ever. The weather forecast was bleak, and the trip began by getting stuck on Iron Dragon's second lift in the pouring rain, getting soaked and thinking the whole weekend would be a rain-out bust, but it turned out to be the most amazing trip to date.

It was a perfect season for me. I hope '07 is at least half as good, if not better.

As far as the Joe Cool thing goes, it was enforced at the front gate. Believe me, I put up with some ugly, ugly crowds at those gates, but no one got past without the proper credentials. I'm not sure about the other gates since I never worked them at opening, although I'm pretty sure Marina gate at least had something in place. My guess is, and this is only a guess, that if they weren't checking at Magnum and Beach gates, it's probably because they determined the numbers of non-resort/JCC people coming through those gates was small enough to be negligible. I mean, how many people who aren't resort guests or pass holders/enthusiasts (who most likely have JCC anyway) even know about those two gates? It doesn't make sense to create a bottleneck at the entrance when 99% of the people going though there comply with the policy anyway.

For me, I think the 2006 season was the best the park has had in a long time. Everyone seemed friendlier (for the most part) and the death of the recorded spiels really brought life back to some of the rides. Skyhawk was a decent addition and will get better if they ever increase cycle times like they did with Maxair. The cheap cotton candy was a great idea, even if the midway carts didn't work out so well.

For me personally, working out there every weekend after Labor day (free housing, yay!) was the highlight of the season. Sure it's a low point in the year for being able to ride stuff and enjoy the park, but every year I work there, the people I meet in both Screamsters and Admissions more than make up for it. Spending time with old friends and making new ones every fall is the perfect way to end the season for me. Now I just have to figure out what to do now that I have weekends again.... :)