Best location for a relocated Ripcord...

Why would they need to fill anything in? Look at Kennywood's swing.

noggin, i never said it wasn't popular. I was asking if it was and I added a bit of my own personal experience. I am fully aware that one visit is not enough to determine the popularity of an attraction. I was only stating that, in MY experience, it hasn't been :)

If I'm not mistaken the CP lagoon is considered wetlands and needs to be replaced somewhere if removed or altered. I know that's been the case for other rides, something makes me remember Mantis as a good example.

It needs to be relocated to a location which has plenty of foot traffic. I think that rules out Camp Snoopy and the former Shoot the Rapids sites. Those are both too far out of the way in my opinion.

On the beach near Breakers would be a good location, but again I'm not sure there would be enough people there all day to make it viable. Maybe if they only staffed it for specific hours? Back in the day Challenge Park would stay open later than everything else with the aim of being available for resort guests.

It's hard to tell from Google Maps, but it looks like Kennywood's Skycoaster is also a reclaimed island, so RipCord could probably work in the same way, though since the one pictured is a single flight line installation, the issue of flyers entering one flight area while the other is running would have to be addressed at RipCord if they went this route.

As far as the actual replacement of wetlands, there's two areas of unused space nearby behind Snake River Falls and near the Shoot the Rapids site (circled in yellow). (EDIT: Scratch that, the Snake River Falls circle has the adulterer scene on the CP&LE railroad in it. Whoops!) They could widen the river in the rightmost circled area to accommodate the moved wetlands, and even just widening the whole section of river parallel to Cedar Creek Mine Ride could accommodate the wetlands with little encroachment on the Shoot the Rapids site.

Ripcord at Michigan's Adventure frequently has a significant queue, and is also much more expensive than Cedar Point's model. Also taller. So to say they aren't popular isn't necessarily true.

LunaD858 said:

IF joining the Gemini midway to the current Mean Streak area is part of the plan (and relocating P&D), Rip Cord could be on that midway (right near Slingshot- one booth could sell both tickets)...

If Mean Streak is in fact RMC'd, how would you feel about relocation inside of Mean Streak's infield?

Chuck Wagon said:

"It needs to be relocated to a location which has plenty of foot traffic. I think that rules out Camp Snoopy and the former Shoot the Rapids sites. Those are both too far out of the way in my opinion.

On the beach near Breakers would be a good location, but again I'm not sure there would be enough people there all day to make it viable...."

I never thought of the beach location but I do like that. One of the reasons I originally suggested the new Sports Complex is because of the foot traffic that will go through there most of the year, it seems as though the park is intent on keeping Ripcord. If they have to keep Ripcord in the park, what do you think of placement in the Point Pavilion location up front? It would be right off the main midway (by the front Sky Ride station) where tons of foot traffic goes through. You could also put in a new entrance/exit to the left of the Raptor bathrooms where it might be fun to watch from Raptor's queue line. **Google maps pasters, could it fit in that spot?

CPfan1976 said:

B. If you must keep this inside the park, relocate it to the current Point Pavilion section up front by Raptor and Blue Streak. It would be tucked away as to not block any views but still be visible enough to park goers.

I agree that SFP is the best spot, but yeah, if it "needs" to be in the park, this would be a great spot. High visibility, and huge amounts of traffic.

You all aren't seeing the big picture here.

Ripcord is the battering ram to knock down Mean Streak in a few weeks. It'll be positioned to throw riders into the structure to knock it over to make way for Project 2017 ;)

Hoist em up...3, 2, 1, FLY.....CRACK

How about between Gatekeeper and Wicked Twister? is there enough room to swing out over the lake?

I think a new section of asphalt in direct sunlight and wind blocks on all sides would be a much better use of in park space than RipCord.

It'll be interesting to see where Ripcord will move. My guess would be somehow near Slingshot.

I suppose they could paint the arch to match slingshot, it's pretty ugly now.
That's just a lot more space than slingshot takes up for inside the park.

I don't think I've ever seen this style of Sky Coaster painted before.

CPfan1976 said:

If they have to keep Ripcord in the park, what do you think of placement in the Point Pavilion location up front? It would be right off the main midway (by the front Sky Ride station) where tons of foot traffic goes through. You could also put in a new entrance/exit to the left of the Raptor bathrooms where it might be fun to watch from Raptor's queue line. **Google maps pasters, could it fit in that spot?

Here's four possible setups for the Point Pavilion area. Part of the issue with RipCord's relocation is it needs a lot of clearance (length-wise and height-wise) for the flyers' arc of flight; as such, I think the first setup shown would be most likely (swinging out towards the picnic shelters),

the second could still be likely, though it would be more difficult safety-wise (swinging out towards the midway), but would give the best visibility from the midway,

the third (swinging out towards Raptor) could work, but would likely be a very difficult installation for ensuring flyers' safety, especially in windy situations,

and the fourth setup (swinging out towards the Marina) would give a great view during flight and is likely safe, but since it severely lacks the "wow" factor needed to draw customers in from the midway (a la Kennywood and Kings Island), I think it would be the least likely of all for this location.

All in all, the location is certainly big enough for RipCord, though placement and direction are the key factors for this spot.

The key factor is removing a gigantic area used for group sales, which account for a non-trivial amount of attendance and revenue.

I hope they can find a good space for it other than the STR space. That would just be a waste of space. I would rather they put something there that will get people through the gates. It would be a big waste of space to put an upcharge attraction that maybe 1 in every 1,000 guests will ride. Either put a new coaster, dark ride or log flume in that space. The big issue with these is they require a decent amount of space where Slingshot barely takes up any room.

Put it right next to the sling shot

Jeff said:

The key factor is removing a gigantic area used for group sales, which account for a non-trivial amount of attendance and revenue.

That crossed my mind, but the way I see it, the horizontal positions (towards the midway or towards the Marina) would allow a large portion of the Point Pavilion to survive, there's still the Lakeside Pavilion available, and if needed, one of the public picnic shelters could be repurposed as a third group pavilion, which would make up for the lost area in the Point Pavilion.

Placing Ripcord near Sling Shot is a good idea except it would likely require the repositioning of a number of maintenance sheds, something that is very important in keeping the park running smoothly. I don't think that management would want to move maintenance any further from the park. I like the idea of having Ripcord up in the front of the park near the main Midway. It would receive the greatest exposure if it was located up by the Main gate. The problem with that is the main gate is the most developed portion of the park. If Ripcord is moved there, a number of structures would need to be relocated or removed entirely.