Best location for a relocated Ripcord...

I've got it figured out.

Why not just rename this thread to 'Cedar Point, Pretty Pretty Please Don't Put Ripcord in Shoot The Rapid's Spot Because We Have Better Ideas For That Land!!!'

That's how most of the posters are coming off as in this thread.

I'm a simple guy and the simple answer is almost always the right explanation. With all of the other projects and changes going on around the park, why would they further 'taer' up another part of the park to shoe horn in an upcharge ride? STR's area is pretty ample and available, without disrupting much of anything else.

The Sports Park idea is phenomenal, but in the long run is it really sustainable? People are there to attend sporting events.

Just my two cents.

^Honestly, I don't think the STR location is a great fit for Ripcord. I looked at that area first, obviously, and I did come up with a way it could be placed, where it's not too obtrusive, has a bit of "wow factor" sailing over the lagoon, and still allows for a decent sized GCI woodie or some other coaster to still fit there. However, it still didn't feel like an "ideal" placement for the ride, nor the best fit. Other attempts to utilize that land for it presented as an even worse fit, and a bigger waste of space. Maybe they still go that route... But aside from the one concept I had, it just didn't make much sense to me - completely independent of considering what other future attractions could be placed there.

BTW Jeff, I literally laughed out loud at your suggestion! Very nice...

HeyIsntThatRob? said:

...why would they further 'taer' up another part of the park to shoe horn in an upcharge ride? STR's area is pretty ample and available, without disrupting much of anything else.

The Sports Park idea is phenomenal, but in the long run is it really sustainable? People are there to attend sporting events.

Just my two cents.

Agree with some of your points and reasoning but why the relocation of mini-golf to this new complex then? Sometimes family members are "dragged along" to their siblings game. While being bored and watching their big brother getting crushed 10-0 in a soccer/baseball match, little ones might want something else to do. Ripcord and mini golf might fill that void in the new sports complex. Is it ideal for the park to tear up existing areas of the park just to put an upcharge attraction? No; but I feel as though this might be a time it is warranted to possibly bring in more revenue than it's currently generating in the dead Challenge Park area. I think the placement of Ripcord on MF island isn't much different than the current Challenge park location, it's still hidden, wouldn't attract alot of foot traffic, and IS Ripcord's placement there going to kill the potential of a much better use of real estate in the near future for maybe a dark ride,flume,or whatever? Absolutely.

Also, I think the bigger question to me anyhow is why is it critical for CP to keep this attraction at the park after 20 years? Does it really bring in that much extra revenue in its current location? In my all day visits to Soak City this year and multiple 2016 visits, and riding Gemini and Magnum inside the park and glancing over toward this attraction, Ripcord seems pretty dead to me. I think it's outlived its usefulness more so than Wildcat or Paddewheel Excursions ever did. Those things still had people interested in going on them.

In summary, if the park is intent on keeping this attraction, why not explore a highly visible area seen from a popular midway (ala Slingshot) or the main midway (like in the Point Pavilion area ) where it might start generating revenue again like it did in 1996? My two cents.

HeyIsntThatRob? said:

I'm a simple guy and the simple answer is almost always the right explanation. With all of the other projects and changes going on around the park, why would they further 'taer' up another part of the park to shoe horn in an upcharge ride? STR's area is pretty ample and available, without disrupting much of anything else.

I think we can assume the park feels 3 water rides is justifiable, given that they installed StR. So we can also assume that there will likely be another water ride coming at some point. If they use the StR land, where can they shoehorn in a water ride in close proximity to the other two?

I agree that Rip Cord's appeal has largely faded. I imagine that a 300'+ model, as a replacement, would spark my interest.

Look at the 300+ ride at Fun Spot in Kissimee. It's HUUUUGE!

Seriously, the land it takes is practically the entire length of that small park. And to me, not worth it.

I think that part of the issue with its current location is the relative lack of visibility and impulsivity available; with Slingshot, a person on the midway can watch the ride and decide to drop the $25pp to do it right then and there. With RipCord, a person on the midway would have to *know* it's there in the first place (possibly from seeing it from another ride such as Magnum), then exit the park to get a closer look and consider buying a ticket. In short, a person from the midway would have to deliberately choose to go to RipCord, and the people walking past RipCord on a regular basis are Soak City visitors, resort guests, and back lot parkers, who are a subset of the total group of park attendees. On that note, I wonder what the numbers are for a Skycoaster that is more visible, such as Kings Island and Canada's Wonderland; under this logic, they would be higher, and the way I've seen Kings Island's run, the numbers should be at least a little higher than RipCord's.

I'd say that's true. But you even find days at KI where they seem to be begging for riders. There's a guy holding a sign, there's sales and such to encourage ridership. I dunno.

And maybe all the resort guests on earth finally couldn't make Challenge Park a good idea. The water park, even with it's shorter season, must be where the money is.
And I'd agree that the park must see value in the attraction or it would be gone too, but I can't for the life of me come up with a place where I'd like to see it go. I suppose the idea of locating it behind Toft's there is the least intrusive, but at the same time it would be at the front of the park, and over concrete, and not very appealing. But it would be inside the park, more visible and accessible.

Remember a while back the conversations and arguments we had when it was discovered that Slingshot would actually go inside the park? "Oh no! It will never work. What about Challenge Park? Up charge attractions like that should be outside the gate, blah blah blah".

For the record, I'm cheap (so cheap that I always check the 'reduced for quick sale' meat bin at the local grocery store (clearance meat as I like to call it (who can argue with $2 filet mignon?))). I've never ridden one of these contraptions.That said...

Logically, these are money-makers; Cedar Fair, for example, doesn't keep the thing around for 20 years because it loses money each year. It doesn't have to be busy all day every day to be a money maker* (*cough* nor does Mean Streak :-) *cough*). And Mac's point that it would likely make more money inside the park is a good one based on impulse purchases.

I agree, behind Toft's is the best place to relocate the thing, with a pretty new paint job. It's tall enough that it will draw attention while not being in the way of people who are in a hurry to get their first order of chili cheese fries :-p

*I caught a story on the news a few months ago that, because of the markup, mattress stores only have to sell one mattress a day to be profitable; any other sales are pure profit. Maybe a similar principle is in play here?

bootymix96 said:

I think that part of the issue with its current location is the relative lack of visibility and impulsivity available; with Slingshot, a person on the midway can watch the ride and decide to drop the $25pp to do it right then and there. With RipCord, a person on the midway would have to *know* it's there in the first place (possibly from seeing it from another ride such as Magnum), then exit the park to get a closer look and consider buying a ticket.

This. Thus my suggestions about a more highly visible area seen from a main midway. I think its current spot IS the problem. I agree with Mac and Noggin about the current dead area between Ocean Motion and Pinks. I think it'd work there.

Here's another spot that hasn't been discussed in this thread yet (hard to believe) and I think would be highly visible since there are alot of split opinions on location. (Maybe bootymix96 can copy/paste googlemaps?) What do you guys think of the spot off the main midway where Matterhorn currently sits? A relocated Ripcord would be visible to BOTH the Breakers Hotel AND park goers inside the park. A ton of foot traffic flows through there. Other than the RFKA Calypso, Matterhorn has been relocated more since the 1970's than a gypsy on moving day.

I was thinking of a perpendicular Ripcord setup (in relation to the end of the midway) of Ripcord above the bathrooms with a relocation of Wardrobe (they need a new bldg!) to that dead area by Ocean Motion. You could throw Matterhorn over there too, there's enough room. Don't forget the old water tower would be gone by then. Could that spot work? It sure would be very visible and open up more real estate for the park. Any thoughts?

PS: Btw, I'm going to do a full tally Monday (including vote ups) for best possible relocation spot.

As of yesterday, the price was $15/person.

I think the employee sitting in the sales booth was the most bored worker I've ever seen.

I will open up Photoshop tonight at work.

I have a better idea. Build a new, bigger, much improved Challenge Park off the peninsula. They can cater to the FEC crowd, not to mention boast a third day's worth of attractions for resort guests. Run a shuttle from the hotels. Hell, they could feature an extended season for the locals.

CPfan1976 said:

I was thinking of a perpendicular Ripcord setup (in relation to the end of the midway) of Ripcord above the bathrooms with a relocation of Wardrobe (they need a new bldg!) to that dead area by Ocean Motion...Could that spot work? It sure would be very visible and open up more real estate for the park. Any thoughts?

Here I am, as requested. :-) I think this is what could work for that area, though Matterhorn would definitely need to be moved for RipCord's ticket office and flight suit area. The area would be just big enough, though it could possibly work a little better if the bathrooms right there were removed (in my experience though, removing those bathrooms would be a huge mistake, since those are probably one of, if not the, most attended bathrooms in the whole park!). Also, the parking lot on the left would be cut off, and I'm not sure how that could be reconnected to Perimeter Rd. One last issue with this site; almost every time I wait to ride Matterhorn, I notice that there is usually a very strong garbage smell in the vicinity, so I don't think that flying through the scent of garbage would be particularly pleasing, lol! On the plus side, this is probably the most visible area discussed (right up there with Kings Island's Skycoaster if you ask me), so I think that if the bugaboos can be fixed, this area is likely to be the area with the most potential revenue for RipCord. Good going, CPfan1976!

That's gonna hurt smacking into the new water tower...

Google Maps is old (still has Space Spiral!), so obviously where I put RipCord could have to change a little based on the location of the new water tower. The last time I looked at the site, I was under the impression that the new tower was quite a bit further to the left than the old water tower, or at least far enough away, lol. The site is definitely large enough for RipCord though, and that's what the copying and pasting is for--finding out the sizes of sites and whether the puzzle pieces could ultimately fit together.

I admittedly didn't read through all 5 pages of this thread... but to me this ride would be perfect on the beach, swinging out over the lake.

CPfan1976 said:

...with a relocation of Wardrobe (they need a new bldg!)

The one problem is that the laundry center that handles all associate uniforms, as well as linens for the hotels is attached to the building, so there's a lot to it that would need moved.

I do think that area (corkscrew and buildings behind it) will be revamped in 3-5 years. It seems like such a prime location. If the laundry room does the linens for the hotel, maybe they should include that in part of the 6 tower addition coming in 2018. That fixes that issue..