Atmosphere in the park in '89
This is a question more for the "old timers" on the board who have been around a lot longer than most of us and can remeber the past years. I was wondering how different the atmosphere was in the park during the '89 season when Magnum opened compared to previous years. I am only asking becasue that same feeling is going to be back this year and from what I've seen so far. WOW. This year is going to be something very special and as a a park regular for a few years now I am getting more and more excited with each passing day.
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daniel j. haverlock
'99 Magnum Count: 801
www.rollercoaster.nu/dan
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daniel j. haverlock
'99 Magnum Count: 801
www.rollercoaster.nu/dan
Although I was only 7 at the time (gone to CP every year since age 2, i'm gonna be 18 in april) I do recall how it felt to be at the point in 89. I didn't ride Magnum in it's first season, but I remember on both trips my family took that year, it was relatively crowded (even for CP!) and remember seeing the line for Magnum stretch all the way past (the then) Jungle Larry's!
I also remember gazing in awe as we pulled into the parking lot, seeing the magnificent 1st and 2nd hills of Magnum tower over everything else!
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Jeff Tobe
tobejeff@pilot.msu.edu
http://members.xoom.com/ACEerPo/
I also remember gazing in awe as we pulled into the parking lot, seeing the magnificent 1st and 2nd hills of Magnum tower over everything else!
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Jeff Tobe
tobejeff@pilot.msu.edu
http://members.xoom.com/ACEerPo/
I was a high school senior in 89. The atmosphere was quite different, you really felt like you were on "hallowed ground" looking at that orange beast. If you rode it, you really felt "cool".
I also remember the line at times stretching into the main midway past the corkscrew and by the Matterhorn!
The hooplah surrounding MF is way more than Magnum ever got, but nowadays with the net and all, it can't help but get more publicity, Magnum surely would have gotten it if the net were around back then.
These are going to be special days at CP, for those of us that have been there a long time, there may even be a tear or two shed when it opens..
I also remember the line at times stretching into the main midway past the corkscrew and by the Matterhorn!
The hooplah surrounding MF is way more than Magnum ever got, but nowadays with the net and all, it can't help but get more publicity, Magnum surely would have gotten it if the net were around back then.
These are going to be special days at CP, for those of us that have been there a long time, there may even be a tear or two shed when it opens..
Funny you should ask. I have been thinking about the differences between the two lately.
The first thing I notice is how much faster the MF winter has passed compared to the Magnum winter. It seemed like Magnum would never open. Part of the reason is the change in technology between now and then. We used to have to wait for the next ACE News or Inside Track to see what was going on, but now we have all of the internet stuff (of which Jeff is the best) to keep up with what is going on.
Second, it seems to me that there is more pre-hype for MF than there was for Magnum (not that there wasn't alot for Magnum) but at that time the world was looping coaster crazy and the whole idea of Magnum was strange for most people. For the national media it seems to me that Magnum got bigger and bigger the first couple of months it was open. In Ohio, rather than see Magnum as one of the greatest coasters ever built, many people wanted to engage in a stupid, stupid, stupid debate as to whether or not Magnum was as good as the Beast.
As far as the park goes, I remember it changed greatly from day to day and crowd to crowd. The first couple of weekdays they were open were very light and you could easily ride 30 times a day if you wanted to. Later the lines were very long. You could watch people come in the front gate and walk straight to Magnum as if it were the only ride in the park. The first version of the ride amazed even the most skeptical coaster geeks, but after the misconceived brakes were put on the third hill alot of folks were disappointed in the ride because it often seemed to just crawl back to the station.
I think Magnum changed the atmosphere of, and peoples attitudes about CP more than any other single thing they have done there. I expect the hype and excitement to be bigger for MF than it was for Magnum, and to be huge from the first day, but it won't fundamentally change the way anyone looks at CP.
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The first thing I notice is how much faster the MF winter has passed compared to the Magnum winter. It seemed like Magnum would never open. Part of the reason is the change in technology between now and then. We used to have to wait for the next ACE News or Inside Track to see what was going on, but now we have all of the internet stuff (of which Jeff is the best) to keep up with what is going on.
Second, it seems to me that there is more pre-hype for MF than there was for Magnum (not that there wasn't alot for Magnum) but at that time the world was looping coaster crazy and the whole idea of Magnum was strange for most people. For the national media it seems to me that Magnum got bigger and bigger the first couple of months it was open. In Ohio, rather than see Magnum as one of the greatest coasters ever built, many people wanted to engage in a stupid, stupid, stupid debate as to whether or not Magnum was as good as the Beast.
As far as the park goes, I remember it changed greatly from day to day and crowd to crowd. The first couple of weekdays they were open were very light and you could easily ride 30 times a day if you wanted to. Later the lines were very long. You could watch people come in the front gate and walk straight to Magnum as if it were the only ride in the park. The first version of the ride amazed even the most skeptical coaster geeks, but after the misconceived brakes were put on the third hill alot of folks were disappointed in the ride because it often seemed to just crawl back to the station.
I think Magnum changed the atmosphere of, and peoples attitudes about CP more than any other single thing they have done there. I expect the hype and excitement to be bigger for MF than it was for Magnum, and to be huge from the first day, but it won't fundamentally change the way anyone looks at CP.
Man this is l??? ????? ?????? ?? ?? ???? ???? ??? ????
Actually, I think one of the most important things that Magnum did for the industry was to change a lot of attitudes about what makes a great steel coaster. I know that when Magnum opened a lot of people assumed it would be a 'dud' just because it didn't go upside down. Then when everybody loved it, it served to point out that the important thing isn't how many times you invert the rider, but rather how good the complete ride is. Magnum brought roller coasters back to the fundamentals. Its only gimmick was its incredible height. It proved that gimmicks were not the key to success.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
What i remember most about the park in '89 was that it wasn't the same place from the year before because of all of the hype. In '88 i remember the sign just inside the Breakers gate proclaiming the biggest coaster for the next season. The Magnum was CP's first step from a great provincial park to a world-wide power. Sometimes i miss the good ol days when one was not out of their mind for going to the park on an August Sat. That's not to say that i don't like the changes over the past decade.
I think coaster history will be more generous with Magnum. Before Magnum the industry was good, but that was about it. When Magnum was built, it started a world war of coasters. That was in 1989. It is now the year 2000, and the coaster war is 11 years old, therefor, MF is another of many missels in the battle that was begun by Magnum.
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"Magnum is very good value!" -- A RCT Guest on Magnum
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"Magnum is very good value!" -- A RCT Guest on Magnum
I was in high school at the time, and it's funny to think of our conversations on the way up there. We didn't know where the ride physically was, so we jokingly told each other to just "look up" to find it.
It did up the ante a bit. Prior to its construction, the big deal was really Demon Drop.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
"And he says 'I'm goin' crazy up there at the lake...'"
It did up the ante a bit. Prior to its construction, the big deal was really Demon Drop.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
"And he says 'I'm goin' crazy up there at the lake...'"
Well I was only 10 years young back in '89, and the first time I went to CP was back in '90. I remeber I was a paperboy and my paper had a promotion where if you could sign up three new subscribers you would get three free tickets to the park and they charted a bus and took us out there. Well I signed up five people and my dad, brother and I went to CP for the first time toghter. I don't remeber the first time I actually saw it, but my dad left my brother and I over at the GCA, and he went and rode it. I remeber him coming to get us and I asked him where he was and (while we were walking past Magnum) and he said he rode that. I rember stopping, and just staring at it. Little did I know how that ride would have totally chaged my life forever.
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daniel j. haverlock
'99 Magnum Count: 801
www.rollercoaster.nu/dan
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daniel j. haverlock
'99 Magnum Count: 801
www.rollercoaster.nu/dan
Late in the summer of '88, I was with a church group, still one year away from driving myself up there. I remember late afternoon we were stumbling off of the dodgems and onto a big blue sign emblazoned with the "MAGNUM XL-200" logo. Up until that point I had no clue that it was coming. And if I distinctly remember, all that was on the sign was the logo and a phrase mentioning 200 feet tall. Nothing like the billboard for MF in '99. That was the first time I can remember going home and doing research on the Point and its rides (past and present) to find out everything. Since then, it's been all downhill [pun intended].
Summer of '88. Summer of '99. Deja vu on the excitement meter.
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Now that is Restaurant-Quality Lemonade!
Summer of '88. Summer of '99. Deja vu on the excitement meter.
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Now that is Restaurant-Quality Lemonade!
I remember seeing it for the first time, we were coming up the causeway on a bus on my after prom in high school. You could see it from the end of the causeway,I took pictures and everything, the bus was actually silent when I yelled out "Look at that thing, there it is"
Everyone was actually in awe. That summer days at CP were built around getting on it a few times,mostly because of the 2 to 3 hour line but it was really an achievement to get on it.
That coaster was such a leap forward not only in size but design and technology. 200 footers are now fairly common which is why I am surprised mF is getting so much coverage, I thought at first it would just kind of blend in but it seems to be getting more prominence than the mighty Magnum did.
Everyone was actually in awe. That summer days at CP were built around getting on it a few times,mostly because of the 2 to 3 hour line but it was really an achievement to get on it.
That coaster was such a leap forward not only in size but design and technology. 200 footers are now fairly common which is why I am surprised mF is getting so much coverage, I thought at first it would just kind of blend in but it seems to be getting more prominence than the mighty Magnum did.
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