2016 announcement time

Hey everyone, I don't think it is too soon to start up 2016 chat with the promised August announcement coming up quickly. I am going against the Dive Coaster groove and am going to say that the land clearing will be for a huge B&M giga or hopefully higher coaster. The clearing could be for the start and end of an awesome coaster spanning the edge of the park over blue streak and out to the lot and back. I am cool with a Dive Coaster as well since I have never been one before and they are now getting longer and longer with more elements. There really doesn't seem to be the hype of years past and I think the park is doing that on purpose to just drop a bomb and stun everyone. Hopefully that's the case!

You're a little late, Clevelander, the chat and hype over the "new for 2016 coaster" has been going on all summer. And in more than one thread.

About 4 threads

Yes I know mish moshed here and there in different spots. Jeff you can delete this if you want but I thought we could start a central thread since I really didn't see one.

I think the topics about the fence and the dive coaster track are pretty much all about 2016. And speaking of dive coaster tracks, all signs of the new addition point towards the dive coaster. And why would they add another giga coaster when they already have a world class giga coaster. If a giga coaster is going anywhere then it's going to be at a Cedar Fair park that doesn't already have one such as Kings Island.

Many would disagree but I think Kings Island should be the next park to get the giga treatment. I especially think this should happen after visiting Carowinds yesterday. They wouldn't need to out do Millie or Fury. It would fit their lineup perfectly and they have plenty of space for it.

I also believe a Dive coaster will be next for CP, there is no need for another giga coaster, it would take away too much from MF. A 200 + tall dive coaster with new elements and a few new records works just fine with the current CP lineup. I also visited Carowinds last week for 2 days and KD for 1 day, Carowinds new entrance has a very similar look to CP's front gate, ticketbooths and everything, plus a new giga coaster that goes over and under the walkway, id bet that this will be a new feature at all the parks, especially after visiting KD with the old Paramount feel it still has.

It's not impossible to add another giga coaster. Do you think the general public will just pass it by because the park already had one for the past 15 years?

How was your experience at Kings Dominion regarding the ride ops? I found them to be ridiculously slow and inefficient. I thought most of them were incredibly rude as well, but there were the ocasional exceptions. It was very obvious that many of them didn't want to be there. There was nobody at the park though so I got to do everything I wanted to and more.

^^ no not at all obviously but yes it would take away some from Millie, especially when the technology for said new giga is better.

CoasterCam, I didnt experience any rude ride ops but the one thing I did notice was the lack of height checking at some 48' coasters, and seen many kids who were shorter than my 4 ft tall daughter getting on said coasters with no check. That kinda irks me a little bit, also happened at Carowinds on some rides like Thunder Road and Vortex. One ride op told me about 5 people have been fired this season for failing to do proper height checks at Fury 325.

DRE420 said:

^^ no not at all obviously but yes it would take away some from Millie, especially when the technology for said new giga is better.

What would it take away from Millie? Lines? Is that a bad thing? After riding Fury I would not complain one bit if a 330-350ft tall B&M giga ever showed up on the peninsula. The rides while similar in height offer such different experiences I don't see how it could be a bad thing. The GP which makes up 99% of the parks business wouldn't care either. Heck, even a 250ft B&M hyper offers such a different ride from Magnum they could easily co-exist in the same park.

I would much rather prefer a different type of coaster all together than having two similar of the same lift hills and speeds. Even if each ride offers a different ride experience, similarities exist. Would you like to have Kingda Ka at CP too? Its a different ride experience to Dragster as it has a airtime hill.
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I don't fully disagree with your premise of not having 2 Giga coasters, and there's only a 0.5% chance that happens in the next 5 years, but really Dre? Have you actually been on Fury 325? While it is true that it is lumped in the same broad category as Millennium, it is a completely different experience as it has an emphasis more on airtime with Millennium's being more just pure speed, and it is built by a completely different company 15 years apart with new technology now available. The ride experience of those are far more separated than Dragster and Kingda Ka, which were built 2 years apart by the same company with the other in mind and feature exactly ONE differing element, whereas MF and Fury share hardly any elements besides both being Gigas.

A lot of faulty analogies recently from people, ugh. Of course this is my opinion, and I am known to be partially insane ;)

I'm more concerned about Magnum than Millennium. The ride is pushing 30, and although it still has many years left in it, year after year it is being outdone by newer B&M hypers and gigas with the latest technology. Lets face it, if Cedar Point wants to keep up with the moto they've been selling for the last 5 decades, and keep up with the rest of the coaster world, an airtime beast B&M hyper/giga will replace eventually replace Magnum, and I give it another decade.

If that comparison holds though, isn't every other steel coaster smaller than Millennium due for impending removal? As iconic of a ride as Magnum that has a tiny footprint in the park itself, I don't see how ten years is anywhere close to its remaining lifespan. While new technology is cool, I (and the vast majority of park guests) still manage to appreciate the quality of a ride like Gemini which is older, smaller, and has a larger footprint in the park. In terms of thrill level, Magnum may have been surpassed years ago, but the park is not likely to abandon it because of it simply being "surpassed" by greater technology.

I didn't necessarily say every coaster smaller than Millennium will be replaced, but more so, older. Lets face reality; EVERYTHING in this world has a lifespan, you and I both do, as does Magnum, as does Millennium, as does Fury 325. Coasters come and go, and the last few years is a perfect example of that: we lost Wildcat, and are gaining a Dive Coaster in its place (sort of). We lost Disaster Transport, and gained GateKeeper. I didn't say that Magnum is not a functional coaster, because it is, at this moment. I still absolutely love the ride, but eventually, it WILL be replaced. Not because of it's footprint, which I agree is small, but because its demise will come. Just like every iconic coaster before it. Will it be next to go? No. I can think of six coasters at Cedar Point that will likely have their numbers retired before it. Mean Streak will probably get an RMC treatment, and who knows, Blue Streak and Gemini could too. CCMR will probably be gone within the next decade, and same goes for Corkscrew and Iron Dragon.

Here's a thought though, because Magnum's footprint is small, and the layout so simple, it's structure can always be used to install a B&M track, assuming Magnum's track becomes worn and trains obsolete. It would be interesting to see if B&M would ever pull an RMC or Morgan (If anyone recalls Phantom's Revenge) and remodel/re-track an existing non-B&M coaster.

Why would CCMR, Corkscrew and Iron Dragon "probably" be gone in the next decade? They're all rides that attract a decent ridership.

I don't disagree with you that anything in the park will eventually be gone -- after all, we don't go to the park and ride the Cyclone, Figure Eight Roller Toboggan or Leap Frog Railway -- but that seems like a very limited timeline.

Well, I've heard from lots of people that CCMR and Iron Dragon are maintenance nightmares. And Corkscrew's removal is just a rumor that I've heard mentioned before. I'll rephrase that comment though; they could be the most likely coasters to be replaced, assuming Cedar Point will be replacing roller coasters to build new ones.

I just think your 10 year estimate is a little off. I'm sure the day will come when every ride is removed for future expansion. And if you estimate 10 years for Magnum, but that 6 coasters will be removed before it... it seems further off that a coaster is going to be removed pretty much every other season. DT and Wildcat were both trash heaps in their final years, and Ouimet came and he took out the trash like he needed. The coaster lineup as it is now can still be added to periodically without removing a coaster every other season. The park essentially went without removing a coaster all the way from Jumbo Jet in 1978 to DT and Wildcat both in 2012 (unless i'm missing something) and they certainly don't need to remove these coasters to create space. The idea that Magnum's track will "wear out" is hard for me to grasp too. The urethane wheels aren't wearing out solid steel rails, and if corrosion is wearing the track out, the supports and structure are going to be equally corroded. It would likely cost more money to renovate Magnum supports than just tear them down and start over. And if Magnum is obsolete why bother using its old layout? Rides aren't just removed because they're not "thrilling" anymore, rather its usually a combination of maintenance costs/reliability (DT) or safety (Wildcat) and the lack of ridership that could generally be associated to both of those rides in their last few seasons.