Best location for a relocated Ripcord...

Couldn't agree more and considering most of the people polled on this forum thought it should end up at the new Sports Force Park or in the scrap pile, I think it will just be an eyesore along the quiet Frontier Trail, if it in fact does end up by there. I'm still perplexed on why the park feels that it's critical to keep this 20 year old attraction when other things before it (ie Paddlewheel Excursions) seemed to cater to a much bigger audience in terms of age range. Still shaking my head.

I think you'd be surprised at the age range that comes through Ripcord. Sure most people here voted for Sports Force Park or the scrap pile, but look at the demographic here. Most, not all but most, people here fall into the enthusiast category. I know many enthusiasts who love the ride, as well as the masses here that seem to loathe it. I don't quite understand the people loathing it, but that's just my opinion.

^I have never tried Ripcord or Slingshot. I wouldn't shy away from either one as they look quite thrilling, and just for disclosure my age is 55. I do not have ridership statistics, but just from observing Ripcord from the Magnum lift-hill there seemed to be very sparse ridership, and that is from various times of the day on over 40 visits each of the last few years. So, I am not in the "loathe" group, but rather the "disinterested in spending more money" group.

My hunch is that CP will surprise us with an as of yet unannounced attraction at the STR site.

Put Ripcord at SFP.

CPfan1976 said:

I'm still perplexed on why the park feels that it's critical to keep this 20 year old attraction...

Really? The ride makes money and operates at a very small cost. The park would be stupid to get rid of it now if it still has enough interest to generate revenue. Regardless of where the park decides to place it, id rather it be installed than have a vacant plot of land going to waste. So what is perplexing to me is everyone that is so against keeping this revenue generating attraction around.

I'd like to see that space used for something like a dark ride, a coaster or a log flume like everybody wanted. Those kind of things are what sells tickets and gets customers through the gates. Ripcord would just look out of place back there. There have been other good suggestions on where it could possibly go. This feels like a waste of space. Maybe this will only be temporary and it gets relocated again or removed in the next couple years.

There is plenty of space around the park that I would have loved put to better use than what the park decided to do but in the end the park knows what they are doing regardless of what we think "looks right" or "makes the most sense". We don't even know for sure if Rip Cord is going along the Frontier Trail but saying that it will look out of place back there without even seeing it yet is silly. Then again this is the same crowd who will judge the crap out of a coaster before the first support is even lifted. I just don't understand all the negativity for a ride the park has decided to keep as opposed to being sent to the junk yard. Any ride kept is a win for park enthusiasts!

djDaemon said:

It's difficult to be certain, but it appears there is some concrete pouring happening at StR's former location.

Do you have a saved screen shot of the area?

^ It's zoomed out too far to make out much; however, for your satisfaction:

This is from yesterday. It's pretty easy to miss, but a concrete pump is visible under Millennium Force's first airtime hill and in front of Snake River Falls.

^ Thanks dude! You're Awesome!

99er said:

So what is perplexing to me is everyone that is so against keeping this revenue generating attraction around.

99er said:

I just don't understand all the negativity for a ride the park has decided to keep as opposed to being sent to the junk yard.

Finally someone has been able to put into words what I've been thinking. Without the bias of spending (almost) the whole season at the ride, I truly feel that Ripcord is one of the more underestimated rides in the park. I'm very excited for what the future holds for the ride.

Not sure if it's just me, I just can't see myself spending $15 or $25 (whatever it is) on a 1 minute long ride

You're definitely not alone in that thinking. I use to think the same thing until I actually rode it and couldn't believe I always passed it off as something I would never do because of the cost. Skycoasters are the only rides that can actually give me a thrill these days.

99er said:

I just don't understand all the negativity for a ride the park has decided to keep as opposed to being sent to the junk yard. Any ride kept is a win for park enthusiasts!

It seems like most of the negativity isn't that they're keeping the attraction, but where they appear to be installing it. I mean, I'm sure most of us would welcome WildCat back, but would we want to see it installed in the parking lot?

I guess I am in the minority then in saying that the first time I rode a Sky Coaster, I was let down. I guess it comes down to heights do not scare me, and the thrill only lasts for the first couple of swings. I prefer to save the $30 a ride and put the money towards sky diving.

I did the largest one in the world at the time in 1997 in Las Vegas 250', it was fun for the first drop. Regardless of cost, I don't see myself ever doing another. There's just nothing there for me.

The last 3 posts above mine all echo my sentiments exactly. It's not that I'm opposed to the park keeping Ripcord but where they might plan on relocating it. Many other options have been presented (in way better revenue generating locations, IMO) and the rumored relocation to the old STR site would just kill a future better use of real estate for a dark ride, another water flume ride, a small family coaster or whatever. Is this the absolute best use of the old STR area that we can think of? I don't think so.

I feel alot of people (enthusiasts included) feel the same way that I do: If after me knowing that Ripcord has been at Cedar Point and located in Challenge Park for the last 20 years and I'm still not going on it, relocating it above a murky lagoon and off the Frontier Trail sure as hell isn't going to make me now want to go on it. And this is someone that has paid $25 a person to go on Slingshot when it opened.

Yes, you can put lipstick on a pig, but at end of the day...it's still a pig.

If STR's former site is in fact where Ripcord is going, it is entirely possible that the ride will not take up the whole site, depending on just how it's set up.

Skycoasters are some of the few rides that really scare me. (I won't pass an opportunity to ride one though!) Having been on CP's and KI's, I can say the scariest parts are the lift up and right after the ripcord is pulled. Right after pulling the ripcord, there is some slack in the cable, and IIRC you pitch down at the same time which makes you feel like you are falling head first until you "hit" the cable and start to swing.

SkyCoasters are fun, but I'd like to see the giant ones. Like down in Orlando, that's fantastic. Ours is ok..buut..

^The taller ones are only good for a view. The initial drop is better the smaller you go. The best drop to me has always been the model that Geauga Lake had.

CPfan1976 said:

...and the rumored relocation to the old STR site would just kill a future better use of real estate for a dark ride, another water flume ride, a small family coaster or whatever.

And if it is indeed relocated to this location, nothing says it has to remain there for another 20 years. My point has been that if it was up to either a swampy plot of unused land or Rip Cord, why the heck would anyone want the unused land? Just because some here don't want to ride it? Does anyone honestly think that if Rip Cord wasn't relocated there that something else would have been installed there instead? Maybe there is a coaster going there in 2021 but instead of doing nothing until then the park has decided to continue making money with an attraction instead of throwing it out.