announcement date 8/18/15

Fortunately, there is a whole universe of potential cool names just waiting to be tapped.

Ensign Smith said:
Fortunately, there is a whole universe of potential cool names just waiting to be tapped.

Take a note from Top Thrill Dragster.. We can call it "Super Scary Monster"

I'd name it Holy Diver. With non-stop Ronnie James Dio playing in the queues.

I totally understand the delay in the announcement but changing the name all together would really be ridiculous.

Ridiculous and difficult. Think how hard the entire marketing department is going to have to work to completely rebrand the roller coaster. It is one thing to dump a name a few months in advanced, but waiting til 4 days until the original announcement date? A new name has to be trademarked unless they use one of their other trademarks. Then they also have to come up with new logo, merchandise, ads, etc. Pretty much scrap everything except the roller coaster design itself and start completely over. Depending on what the new name is and if they were planning on any theming to begin with, they also have to redesign the station and any other stuff they had to go with it. If they actually scrapped the name I think it would be safe to say at least one of these things. 1. We won't get an official announcement until near the end of Halloweekends. 2. They had a backup plan all along and all the Valravn stuff we have seen was one of two final ideas they had for the ride.

Thabto said:

According to this page, they have abandoned the Valravn trademark. Not sure how reliable this page is, but take it with a grain of salt:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Coaster-Studios/1376820432592949?fref=nf

I am taking it with a grain of salt. According to Trademarkia, the trademark Valravn is still live. http://www.trademarkia.com/company-cedar-point-park-llc-4247038-page-1-2

Maybe they didn't completely abandon it, but they just won't be using it now. They might use it on a future attraction instead.

I hope they didn't start making the 2016 sovenier bottles yet?

The comments on that facebook post are gold. Lake Erie Monster is a horrible name, and it shows anyone will believe whatever they read on FB. It's a page with 1.5k likes, they are throwing poop against the wall and hoping it sticks. If they're wrong, no one cares, but if they're right, it boosts their credibility.

I'm hoping that they rename the ride in the same spirit as Mantis was renamed. Stick with the insect theme too!

Banshee --> Mantis

Valravn--> Cricket

Rob

I don't know what to think about a name-change. For sure, I hear the argument for the park not being wanted to be labeled as "insensitive", but that's a little nonsensical. It's a mythological name for a roller coaster that was chosen months ago. Not to mention the millions the park has invested in merchandise, etc...and then what about the coaster itself? (and again, this is assuming the rumors are accurate) I would assume that B & M has made some custom trains (think Gatekeeper) that match the theme of Valravn...are those easily changed as well?

I don't know. Perhaps they are indeed debating this, but this would not be an easy decision to make. Some reporter somewhere would probably be a jack-ass and write an inflammatory story, yes, but I think the public is also smart enough to realize that connecting dots in that fashion is absurd.

If I was in the room, I would certainly agree with the delay, but would vote a very strong "no" with regards to changing the entire name/theme.

In the past I've expressed my dislike for the Coaster Studios youtube page on here. 95% of his videos are pure speculation with no facts presented. I believe in a video over a year ago he said that there was absolutely no way we were getting a B&M flyer or Dive Machine and he predicted we would get a 500 foot tall poler coaster, just to be the first to break 500 feet.

I don't mean to sound insensitive, but the only people that would care about Valravn being Valravn after this incident are those in power at Cedar Point. The majority will forget about this incident, heck.. many probably don't even know about it, and the rest probably won't even know what a Valravn is. Look at other incidents where someone got hit by jumping a fence, how many people actually remember or know about it? How many actively think of it when they visit said coaster? I just don't see the point in changing the name....

If I was in the room I would vote strongly yes for a name change. With today's political correct culture, the media will have a field day with this, especially because the roller coaster will be located pretty much on the doorstep of Raptor.

I'd say a name change is in the works for sure- it's just smart business. The ride is named after a creature that dives and preys on dead bodies. I foresee a name that is less controversial like magnum or Millennium Force. I liked the name, but it's not worth the media storm it will for sure create.

I doubt that much has been spent on merchandise at this point since the ride won't be open for another nine months.

Like I said though, the majority will never make the connection between the two, the only ones who will care are those who actively look for something to be offended by every day. It's ridiculous to pander to them.

The majority will make the connection because the media will feast all over this story. Rougarou's name had to be extensively described so people understood what it was. The same will have to be done with this name because it's another quirky, mythological name whose meaning is directly related to the ride-- I would venture to say the name change is exactly why the announcement was pushed back.

I highly doubt the media day would have a "field day" with it. What do you expect them to say?

"Cedar Point unleashes its new roller coaster for 2016, a dive coaster named 'Valravn' based on the Danish folklore. Valravns are known for eating the hearts of the dead, and perhaps it was placed next to Raptor to eat the body of the guy who just died there. BOYCOTT CEDAR POINT."

Tilt-a-Whirl said:

The majority will make the connection because the media will feast all over this story. Rougarou's name had to be extensively described so people understood what it was. The same will have to be done with this name because it's another quirky, mythological name whose meaning is directly related to the ride-- I would venture to say the name change is exactly why the announcement was pushed back.

No one is having a feast over this story as is. It was a news story for maybe 24 hours, and it wasn't a big deal outside of local news outlets. The only place you see this mentioned now is theme park enthusiast sites.

Yes, they will explain the meaning of the name, as part of the promotion, but come on, nobody decides what ride to ride cause of the theme or meaning of the name, it just doesn't matter. They could name it Number 2, race down the poop shoot, and I guarantee if it was an awesome coaster people would ride it the same.

I'm not sure why y'all have a heightened sense of importance and think that people at large are going to care about this incident for years to come.

Tilt-a-Whirl said:

The majority will make the connection because the media will feast all over this story.

But in this case I think the "media" would include the Sandusky Register, which is essentially a tabloid, by the time the announcement is made. Largely, the national media has moved on already, but the story is still on the front page of cnn.com. It's already nearly dropped off the major Cleveland news sites.

Heck, I live in Louisville, and while the first week of school is going to be emotional (we have grief counselors here for the kids and there will be some sort of tribute), the "buzz" has already died down, and I can't think of anyone in this town (including Mr. Young's family) that would believe for a second that Cedar Point would be in bad taste for naming a coaster Valravn.

But, I can see both sides to the argument.

For all we know, though, this is not even being debated. I've never in my life heard of "Coaster Studios" until today, but it sounds like a kid in his basement just making stuff up as he goes along. I'm not sure how a 17-year-old coaster lover gets "solid sources" who tells him it's OK to leak sensitive information.

Just, no.

Does that mean they won't change the name? Of course not, but this would simply be fish-in-a-barrel by this guy. Really? He's an insider?

I want to know if this Coaster Studios guy is just blowing smoke or actually has solid sources. I want to say he's full of it but I really wouldn't doubt a name change.