Boardwalk Project 2016

Don't get me wrong, I think the front gate looks much better with Gatekeeper - but those descriptive words are
a bit over the top, and the whole front gate project seems to be a distraction from the lingering issues with Mean Streak, Shoot the Rapids, and Skyhawk.

It will certainly be interesting to see if the paint job on the keyhole towers holds up as well as the ones on other coasters. It might not be so "sensational" if it follows in the footsteps of TTD and is't kept up to maintain its fresh look.

I don't follow your logic of how the front gate project had anything to do with the three existing rides in the park that you mentioned.

That's because there is no logic to follow....

Don't look at those rides that are SBNO, look at what's new for 2013.
That's the association. It's a distraction from problems elsewhere in the park.

SteveH, you're a "glass half empty" kind of guy aren't you?

When you pay full price, you should get a full glass. Making excuses or ignoring the glass is half full when you are served only proves both the customer and the provider are making bad decisions about how to run the operation.

SteveH said:
Don't look at those rides that are SBNO, look at what's new for 2013.
That's the association. It's a distraction from problems elsewhere in the park.

CP does not have the capital to simply fix everything that fanatics find wrong with the park at once, despite the fact that it is still the best amusement park in the world. I think CP has been doing a great job so far at addressing the problems not addressed by the previous administration as far as atmosphere and image goes. Give them time and I think we will see further improvement, including improvements to areas that we see as "in need."

The front gate was a capital improvements project which, if CP is like most places, has nothing to do with the maintenance budget. I highly doubt that the downtime for Skyhawk and STR had anything to do with the budget and I don't even know why Mean Streak was mentioned. The ride had extensive work done on it over two off seasons and ran fine for the entire summer. Neither Skyhawk or STR were SBNO for the entire season.

SteveH, you sound like you are just trying to stir the pot with negativity that is mostly unwarrented.

On the contrary, I find many here as over positive. If CP is indeed the best park in the world, rides like STR and Skyhawk would not be down for MOST of the season and rides like MS would not have people commenting that you are not riding it correctly or in the right train/car/seat.
Everyone gets reviewed at work and told they have room to improve. If you only give praise, the faults become acceptable.

I see where you are coming from SteveH. If cedar point has a grand entrance, they better deliver on everything else to or it just seems like a distraction. But I don't think the maintenance department and the Future department share the same goals. I think being critical is important and shows that you are willing to find the bad for the good of the park.

When I go to Disney World you bet I expect Slash Mountain to be running. Even when Its down for rehab. As a guess that paid for a ticket, I'm not happy. I understand that rides need maintenance and shut down but that still means I'm not riding Splash Mountain.

I have a season pass to Cedar Point so when something is down Im like "oh well. Ride it next time." But for most guests the day they've got is the day they get. Cedar Point needs to deliver the best amusement park day in and day out.

I do get what you're trying to say Steve (with the whole half glass thing) but I don't think you're using it properly as an argument. You make it sound like Cedar Point has to be some kind of utopia where nothing goes wrong. Unfortunately, utopias don't exist (and never will) and we just have to deal with the real world.

Suggesting that the front gate is somehow distracting people from the rides that are/were down is quite silly. I honestly don't think you'd be arguing this if the rides were only down for a few days or weeks.

Cedar Point has soo much to offer....sooo much that 2 rides being down for a good part of the season is not enough to suggest Cedar Point has failed to deliver a quality product to their guests or that they don't care. I'm not suggesting to not see the park as some kind of perfect entity, but it seems to me that you might need to rethink what you consider to be standards for a successful park before suggesting what might constitutes failure.

"X and Y are down, Gatekeeper doesn't make up for it." (ugh) That sums up this page.

Back on topic:

We've all heard of the multiple boardwalk like expansion onto the lake. Unfortunately, something like that would probably never see the light of day. For one, this would have to be a massive pier. Lets not forget the types of crowds this park gets, and it's basically a one-way street and then you have to turn around. Huge cluster problem there. Plus you'd need zoning rights and costly construction. And all that would need to be done EVERY time you add something big. Great concept on paper. Basically, they'd be putting in a huge workload for a small payoff.

We'll see a second soak city before this ever happens.

I like the water park Soak City if there any day to go to Soak City its the opening weekend because when me and my dad went in 2011 and 2013 and it was absolutely empty about 50 people in the park!!!!!!

A pier will never be built at CP. I would hate to see how many legal hoops they would have to jump through to be able to build one over the water. The piers some of you people are talking about would undoubtedly cost over $100 million. We have a better chance of seeing a 2 mile long 600ft high B&M replacing Magnum (it would probably be cheaper though).

I really like the boardwalk idea though (not the pier). As Cedar Pointer said, a singular pier would may cause problems with crowds. However, there is a goo 30-50 meters of beach space between the lake and WT. You could create a boardwalk (not a pier) that runs parallel to the beach. Put an entrance between GK's entrance and the nearby spiral of WT. Then another one next to Windseeker by taking out the arena (they don't even use it for it's intended purpose anyways).

With two entrances, you could eliminate the crowding problems with a pier. At the same time you get the same interaction with the lake without actually having to build out into it. However, this would still be an extremely expensive venture and in reality would have to be done in sections over a number of years. For example:

Year 1 - demolish the arena and replace it with some attractions and shops (its a good size area).

Year 2 - Build a boardwalk from Windseeker to the nearest tower on WT. Crowd would probably not be a problem since you could more so integrate the space left by the arena so the entrance could really be upwards of 50m wide.

Year 3 - Build the second access point at the GK entrance plaza and connect it with a boardwalk running parallel to the beach along the length of WT

Year 4 and so on - Continue adding rides/shop/restaurants. Maybe a intamin ball coaster and various flats.

Again, this is probably unrealistic but I think it would be a better idea compared to a large pier.

I see the park updating the boardwalk in the next few years. However I think any major attractions won't be part of it. The idea to wrap around twister is a good one and placing some classic rides the park lacks would be a nice touch mixed with retail and restaurants. Rides such as a rotor, a whip, a trabant style ride, and others. I think a classic feel area would be enjoyable. I hope that the pavilion area will be redone, current tent city is an eye sore. As well as possibly shops, restaurants, maybe nightlife that improves the resorts. A wild mouse coaster would also suit the area nicely.

I like the boardwalk idea(pier is to unrealistic).

Relocate Giant Wheel between WT & boardwalk. Maybe add a few flats. Demolish stadium. RMC/Intamin cyclone styled woodie (not the standard model, a RCM/Intamin version :p). WT entrance could be relocated to boardwalk, and the woodie's entrance could be on the midway. Or vice-versa.

I like the boardwalk idea(pier is to unrealistic).

Relocate Giant Wheel between WT & boardwalk. Maybe add a few flats. Demolish stadium. RMC/Intamin cyclone styled woodie (not the standard model, a RCM/Intamin version :p) could be built in the free space left by stadium & GW.

If they did do a boardwalk I don't see any reason to move the Giant Wheel. There's empty space between GateKeeper and Troika that could be used for beach or boardwak access.

SteveH said:
If CP is indeed the best park in the world, rides like STR and Skyhawk would not be down for MOST of the season and rides like MS would not have people commenting that you are not riding it correctly or in the right train/car/seat.
Everyone gets reviewed at work and told they have room to improve. If you only give praise, the faults become acceptable.

I'm pretty sure no park would qualify for "Best park in the World" then, because I have never been to a park where everything is open and running.

I'll agree with Pete and say you just like to argue for the sake of arguing.

I can tolerate not every ride in the park is open and running. But most of the new ride introductions over the past few years are experiencing significant issues.

Year opened - Problem
2002 - Wicked Twister had significant issues leading to multiple closures last summer.
2002 - Invertigo's tower collapses (January 14th) and is quietly removed.
2003 - Top Thrill Dragster was down more than it is operational the first year or two, and still suffers from frequent issues - although it has improved over time significantly.
2005 - Maxair has had problems that closed it for most of the late summer/autumn two years ago.
2006 - Skyhawk was down more than half of the 2013 season.
2010 - Shoot the Rapids had a delayed opening, boats that were initially too long, and then a "mishap" that closed the ride for most of 2013.
2011 - Windseeker has issues with riders being stranded for hours leading to KBF relocating theirs entirely and all parks issuing a lengthy shutdown.

Now I can understand one or two rides with trouble, I can even understand a problem with a vendor, or a new or unproven prototype technology, but CP has rides that are significantly older and perhaps even more complex (like CP Downs) that aren't closed nearly as much as the ones that were billed as "New for ...." just a few years ago.

The "Worlds Best Amusement Park" shouldn't have this sort of track record. They have all winter to rehab and re-engineer these attractions to improve capacity (queue's, loading procedures, etc.), their safety, and their reliability.