Best location for a relocated Ripcord...

99er said:

You mean they aren't leaving it there forever with no chance of ever building a roller coaster!?!

I couldn't care less if they built a coaster there or not, anything besides an early 1990s hype-attraction would be better. Turning it in to another three point change would've cost the park much less and made a lot more money.

Clearly the park disagrees with you on the money making thing.

C'mon. What does Cedar Fair know about park economics that we don't? :-)

99er said:

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!

I agree with 99er in the sense that the park knows what it is doing. I can safely say that it is very unlikely (not absolutely impossible) that I will ever ride Ripcord. But my daughter and I love to watch other people taking the plunge. We often parked in the back lot and walked past Ripcord on the way in and out of the park. If someone was queued up, we would usually stop to watch their release. But we could only do that on the way in or out - in an area with very little continuous foot traffic. We might watch one launch, but since this was either on the way in (excited with anticipation to get in the gates and start having our own fun) or on the way out (tired and foot-weary and ready to find the car and get some much needed rest) = there was little chance of us sticking around to watch more than once.

But inside the park, how many dozens of people do you see that stop to watch multiple Slingshot launches? That is always fun for us to see (even if we are too sissy-ish to experience). These examples are all a little different, but you can say the same thing about many of the coasters and other rides. It is FUN for people to stop and watch the different thrill rides - people who would never step foot through the queue turnstyle. People craning their necks to watch TTD crest the tower, or sitting in the grandstand at the launch; people gathered just underneath the departing and returning Magnum trains; people sitting on the observation deck just before Thunder Canyon riders get drenched by waterfalls; people standing on the bridge to watch Snake River Falls plunge and drench the riders waiting on the walkway. So many more!

Each one of these rides has something that Ripcord never did, until now -- a place where other park guests could easily and safely watch from a distance, while still inside the park. Why should I be upset with the fact that they are moving a ride I don't intend to experience, but don't mind watching, to a spot which could be occupied by another ride that I would get on?

I'm definitely curious and a bit puzzled by this turn of events. I wasn't sure Ripcord was profitable enough to merit moving in the first place, but obviously it must be or they wouldn't be doing it. Moving it from what I would guess to be the 2nd busiest entrance to the park to a dead end location off of the quietest midway in the park is very curious. Maybe it will eventually get some good neighbors, but that would happen when? 2019 at the earliest?

^Chuck, I agree in the "dead end" comment as I always felt the STR entrance was a bit obscure along Frontier Trail. (I know, there was a huge sign that read "Shoot the Rapids").Then again, I admit I never road it. I don't claim to know the ridership numbers at it's former location, but my eyes tell me that that it wasn't overly popular. When on Magnum lift-hill you would rarely see people at Ripcord. Hopefully it is either temporary or there is more additions to that area. Does the train crossing require an additional employee or do the ride hosts handle the safety announcements?

^^Rusty, I am one who enjoys seeing the reactions of riders on those rides, people watching at CP is amusing. I am not too sure how visible Ripcord actually will be when walking along FT due to tree foliage and it's location across the RR crossing. True, one could make the detour to the STR viewing plaza but I am not going out of my way for that.

I am looking forward to going over to that area for the new ride they will have there in 2018.

^at Shoot the Rapids, the "entrance host" was responsible for the safety spiel and raising and lowering the gates

^Thanks samosuband, incidentally, at the bottom of your post it lists 2015: and then 2016:. I assume those are all rides/ areas you worked. How busy was Ripcord, it seemed to be not too busy when I saw it, but that may have been due to time of day, mostly before noon.

Lake Erie Eagles is pretty fun with my son, but is agonizingly slow to come to a stop!

samosuband said:

the "entrance host"

I still hate that they use that term...it's so...Disney and cheap sounding...Resume.."Ride Host"

Nah.."Ride Operations" or "Ride Operator" sounds way better...dunno what "host" has connotation to.

"the guardian of the kingdom"

I believe Disney uses the term, "Greeter."

This was just posted on the CP America's Roller Coast Facebook page:

Chuck Wagon said:
Moving it from what I would guess to be the 2nd busiest entrance to the park to a dead end location off of the quietest midway in the park is very curious.

Yes, but...

A towering arch will be very visible, and riders flying through the air will bring a kinetic energy to the area.

^The park knows what they're doing. At one point the same could be said about the DT area, it was empty and barely anyone even ventured into that corner, now look.

They have their reasons, and they have millions of dollars worth of planning/design, which none of us have.

I wonder how ridership in general would be impacted by moving it into the park itself. On one hand I would assume there would be more potential riders on the other its now a charge i addition to the admission fee to the park itself.

Anyone know how slingshot ridership has been?

Let's be honest, how many people came to Cedar Point just to ride Ripcord and didn't buy admission to CP?

Slingshot always had a line when I looked. Ripcord at Michigan's Adventure always has a long line when I'm there, at least on the weekend. KI has a line. The nice thing about KI is their dynamic pricing.

It seems that this is definitely a wise move for CP. It's also hard, and arguably unwise, to compare its past profitability to its expected profitability in the park. Obviously Cedar Fair has a lot of comparators to determine if this is a wise move and, obviously and not surprisingly, it appears to be so. Its location, appears to be a case of space.

I, as a long time fan of staying at The Breakers am a little bummed all the same. A lot of the resort feel of Cedar Point seems diminished to me with the removal of Challenge Park, and the less classic look that Soak City (er... new name) has taken over the past few years. Not that it doesn't make sense, but a piece of me is also disappointed that this side of the park is removed and changed so much. I know with everything the park does it's in the hopes to make the experience better and longer (i.e. more money), but for right now it's just a little disappointing.

Also, I loved that Cedar Point was one of the few parks that once you got in the park, there wasn't a ride or attraction (except games) that you couldn't do without paying more money.

It wasn't as much of just going to ride Ripcord but I'm assuming they got some sort of gawker traffic from people at the resorts or just in challenge park or just in Soak City for a day.

Also what exactly is the reason for the upcharge? Anyone know?

Skycoaster requires that it be an up charge. I was quite surprised learning just how involved Skycoaster was in everything involving the ride, all the way down to the front end.

With skycoaster being so involved, it's likely there's a contractual issue for the ride staying considering the removal and demolition of every other challenge park attraction . Given the great theming that STRs area had it seems like this may be a temporary placement or a testing of the marketability of the ride inside the parks gates.

The General appearance and overall disarray that most skycoaters suiting areas maintain, makes it appear that skycoaster isn't all that concerned about the overall impression of these rides. Even the CP ride appeared rusty and old looking, the cashier area was messy and poorly signed, with the suiting area generally a messy appearance as well. It's a huge difference compared to the Slingshot rides appearance and surround maintenance. Every other park I've been to with one had the same lack of overall maintenance on and around the rides.