But We're Not Telling the Full Story

If they were building a second, smaller ride they could quietly do it in the off-season and no one would notice with all the attention at the front of the park!

Although I would never underestimate the users of this site and their ability to figure out Cedar Points secrets lol

$30 million sounds about right for the coaster + entrance and for the demolition of DT and SS. Actually a little on the cheap side I think considering Wild Eagle cost $20 Million and has 1000 feet less track. I guess that's why they skimped out on the station building and special effects. Who knows, maybe they'll quietly add some effects as a surprise on opening day.

xtremecoasters said:
Who knows, maybe they'll quietly add some effects as a surprise on opening day.

That would be a 180 degree departure from the way these projects have usually worked out in the past: see Maverick, Snake River Falls, etc. Whenever a ride goes over budget in construction, the tendency has been to make up for it by axing theming and effects.

On the other hand, this is a new age for the park under new executive leadership, so who knows how things might change ?

I was going to say the same thing, Ensign. I hope those days are long, long, long gone, never to return.

Absolutely. Can you imagine how much nicer Frontier Town would look with the originally planned mountain on SRF?

Coaster Boi said:
I was at the press release yesterday. After the video, the sound system said, "But we're not telling the full story." The tech guy quickly turned the sound off. What's that about?

If you watch the video it didn't show the key hole element, it skipped it. Then the phantom said "but we're not telling the full story" thus the part of the key hole element but they had a technical problem on the AV side.

Can anybody find me a link to the original SRF plans with the mountain and everything? I never did see those, and I would like to.

Here are some various conceptions that I've compiled from the park brochures. Including Snake River Falls.

http://rollercoasterfreak.com/Cedar_Point/Conceptions/index.htm

I would love for the games area to look like that rendering in the top row. Very neat stuff.

I'm sure they'll throw some nice things to look at or to go through on the ride. If, that is, they're truly discussing it as they say they are. My bet is for something to in the infield of the final helix. Maybe a flaming griffin that shoots fire at you? :)

Also, the concept for SRF is really neat. It's a shame that mountain didn't make it into the final product. (Not to mention the one for DT, just look at that atmosphere...gorgeous)

And might I say that I can't imagine how bad it would be if they did anything with GK as they did with Magnum in this promo pic: http://rollercoasterfreak.com/Cedar_Point/Conceptions/index.htm. With all the people thinking GK goes backwards, just imagine how many people would be asking "Omg does it go in spce!? omg itz taller than spce spir@al!?"

Absolutely. Can you imagine how much nicer Frontier Town would look with the originally planned mountain on SRF?

If I had a million dollars....I would be you a house...

But seriously, it's not too late.

Let's build that mountain. :) Honestly, it would be simply breathtaking back there. That thought has crossed my mind more than a few times.

Me too. I wish the chain could take a page from the Mouse House playbook and stop viewing these attractions as fixed, static investments. That's sort of a "if you build it, leave it as is and get your ROI back as soon as possible" philosophy.

Mr. Ouimet seems to appreciate intangibles (or as I would prefer to call them, 'less-tangibles') like atmosphere and energy. This ought to be right up his alley. Finally installing the barely remembered mountain on SRF (for example) might seem like a less concrete or measurable investment than, say, putting in an upcharge dinosaur walk-through, but I would posit that the effect would be very real, and ultimately beneficial to the bottom line.

Don't underestimate the power of theming and immersive experience. Park-goers might come for the thrills, but they'll come back (again and again) for the magic...

With the cap-ex spending for GK, I really wonder what the impact of the SOB removal at KI, and rumored Giga installation at Knotts will have on the overall budget. This might be the start of some really big spending in the chain, along with at the very least - some increased short term debt.

These are all huge projects, and they involve significant cost in de-construction as well as construction. Then again, CF saved quite a bit of money building Windseekers, Snoopy "family friendly" sections, and Christmas light displays over the past ten years at many of the parks. Couple that with FastPass, and Dino upcharges - and I guess you have a nice balance sheet.

Unfortunately, we aren't seeing anything near this sort of spending at what is left at Geauga Lake, or even Michigan Adventure. And when you couple this with the last of the land sold off in Michigan for what was going to be a future park - I would guess that the big parks are going to get better while the lesser locations can only pray they get something other than hand-me-down attractions sometime in the future - because the improvements aren't favoring the little guys or startups given that these $25M developments can only be done a few at a time.

SteveH said:
Unfortunately, we aren't seeing anything near this sort of spending at what is left at Geauga Lake, or even Michigan Adventure.

What spending do you expect to see at Geauga Lake?

Toxic waste cleanup.

I don't expect anything near $25M. But, any new attraction would be nice. The last attraction installed was the Tide Wave Bay wave pool in 2006.

One has to wonder what the long term plan is for the smaller properties. For a park like Michigan Adventure or what is left at Geauga Lake, do they simply milk them until it is no longer worth keeping the doors open - or do they do similar (Dragster H2O?) upgrades and install smaller but similar improvements (compared to these $20+M installations at the flagship locations). If the land at these properties by itself isn't marketable, and you never follow through (anyone remember that the last improvements at GL were billed as "phase 1"), what do you tell the shareholders when attendance never improves or decreases at these locations? "We are just going to hold on until conditions improve and then either total close or sell what's left?"

Jason Hammond said:
Here are some various conceptions that I've compiled from the park brochures. Including Snake River Falls.

http://rollercoasterfreak.com/Cedar_Point/Conceptions/index.htm

I have never seen those before - thanks for the info.

After looking at the mountain on SRF I have to say I am disappointed in it. I always thought the the mountain would have enclosed the ride. Having the mountain sit below, inside the steel support structure seems pretty worthless in my opinion. It would have added nothing to the ride experience itself and the aesthetic value to the folks looking at the ride from the midway would be ruined by the steel. Seems to me like they made the right choice by scrapping it.

I'll stop the blasphemy now:)

^ Especially considering the CP&LE Railroad goes through SRF's supports. Was the train supposed to go through the mountain?

From what I gather the plan was for the train to pass through the mountain. There were supposed to be vents to allow for heat to exhaust out of the tunnel.