2012 Improvements, Additions, and Changes. Leaks and Announcements

Shipoopi!

I am very excited by all of the new changes in atmosphere that are coming for the 2012 season but there is one question that I haven't seen asked yet: Is the Starlight Spectacular on the Frontier Trail still a part of the park's night time offerings? I, for one, loved that sector of the park (moreso in its debut 2009 season when everything worked) and am hoping that it will continue so that there will be one LONG stretch of park from Snake River Falls to the Front Gate that is lit up.

Asked and answered: Yes, the Frontier Trail stuff stays.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

It would be nice if, along with all the wonderful new displays going in toward the front of the park, if they could tweak Starlite and get it back up to snuff.

The bad thing about Starlite is it would be pretty labor-intensive to fix the Christmas lights that have been burnt out. Again, another reason why LEDs are the way to go.

Starlight is all LED. Most of the problems the last few years with Starlight were first trees were removed due to Ash Bore and then last year due to lightning we lost almost all of the dimmer packs. It took almost all the season to get everything back up and running. There was probably only a week or two where everything worked before Halloweekends!

I think there is still a lot of potential with Starlight and I hope that they continue to keep it going for the next few years.

Well with that said I really hope it is expanded to bring out its former glory.

If they can get Cedar Point's Starlight Experience to even half the level of quality and showmanship of the Knott's Berry Farm and Worlds of Fun versions we might really have something special. Those parks really ran with the idea while Cedar Point seemed content to let theirs stay the same despite the improvements made elsewhere.

I was really impressed with the Starlight Experience when I saw it in 2009, but going through it last year was almost depressing.

Vince982 said:
I was really impressed with the Starlight Experience when I saw it in 2009, but going through it last year was almost depressing.

I thought it looked great last year but I have nothing to compare it to.

^. Dave, funny you mentioned the original light package. I was trying to recall if it was neon. I believe it was. I in fact found some old View Masters that appear that it was neon. In fact here is a video of the lights in action from 1973. Enjoy....about 11:00 in, but the entire video is worth the watch. Nice capture of the original Western Cruise is included. I did find this site which is a clone of Giant Wheel. Looks as the original light package was 27,000 incandecent bulbs. CP GW looks to have had a similar setup. http://greatadventurehistory.com/GiantWheel.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKPkZSgiUe4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I loved the first year of Starlight Experience, but every year since then, the show has kind of deteriorated.

Cedar Point's Giant Wheel was always incandescent lit, all 32, 608 bulbs in the original configuration in the sequenced flower petal pattern.

Yeah Starlight at CP was the trial, they have figured out better ways to do things in later parks. Though I am pretty sure that CP still has the largest version of Starlight. I have only seen King's Island version in person so don't know about that for sure.

There are plenty of ideas out there to improve Starlight that would not be all that expensive or labor intensive. But, especially with the new show, I don't know how much will end up being done, or how little.

Video about Starlight...

http://pointbuzz.com/c/starlightexperience.aspx

I can't wait to see what form the Luminosity show takes on.

If the show started at say 10PM, lasted 40 minutes, and then turned into a dance party after, then I guess they effectively extended the stay. But, why aren't the park hours extended an hour? Maybe this show is going to "ignite the night" earlier than the past CP summer shows?

Also, it sounds like this show is the perfect vessel to sell some overpriced alcohol and drinks in nearby stands, but security would have to be seriously amped up.

I think Luminosity will be great but it does seem like It'll attract more than the area can hold and get a little crazy.

Do you all think it would be a good idea to add Multi-Colored LED spotlights (similar to Windseeker) to the Skyride towers?

I believe that is part of the plan. Not just to the Skyride towers, but also to the buildings along the main midway. We were shown a rendering of what the Snoopy Boutique would look like with a combination of conventional cabochon-type lighting and LED floodlights. Also, I think there may be new light towers going up on the main midway comparable to the ones along the games midway (with theatrical-style lights and pattern projectors).

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

What are the chances WildCat receives some new paint with Luminosity? It seems they wanna bring the area around it up to date and Iron Dragon was painted not too long ago so it would be nice to see WildCat get repainted.