Cedar Point 2012

^I'm glad you mentioned that about the advertising. CF doesn't really advertise anything but their rides much. Even in the current commercials with the kids dancing around, they only show the coasters and five frames worth of Windseeker. Their campaigns are never really focused on the Cedar Point experience as a whole, albeit I have yet to see an amusement park commercial that does, other than maybe those of the Disney genre.

...but I digress.

There are a lot of markings throughout Soak City, especially the east side. Some of the red ones run along Magnum near Bubbles, then there are some more heading in the direction of Hotel Breakers and go onto the boardwalk on the corner near the beach. Also a stake in the middle of the lazy river near the tube slides.

Not that these are truly meaningful, as there is always the possibility of various markings for routine checks/upgrades to utilities, but Soak City could certainly use something new. While I understand that they market it as more of a resort destination, myself and many others would appreciate any kind of major slide/attraction newer than the technology that existed in 1997. Unless they are starting way in advance for next year, I'm not sure why anything would be marked up in that area at the moment for a future attraction...

SSL488 said:
^Agree... I posted this topic in order to talk about possible rumors for the 2012 season. Not to argue about whether or not they should be more family oriented.

There are only a small handful of posts that actually have to do with 2012 rumors....

So let's just get back on topic about RUMORS OF 2012

PrawoJazdy said:
While the discussion context is actuallyabout Cedar Point in 2012 as the header dictates, it's gets all kinds of sidetracked

Just a quick note on what both of you said, and youngin' you're new so we'll cut you some slack :), but PointBuzz threads often get sidetracked into different conversations, but this conversation is actually pertinent to the topic. As you know PrawoJazdy, PB speculation is at times very tedious and seemingly unnecessary, however when debating the possibility of a new ride, evaluating current attractions (such as the petting zoo, which relates to where some of the markers are), as well as evaluating what group the park may market this new ride towards (families, teens, etc.) are all necessary and valued topics of discussion.

RideWarrior18 said:

Just a quick note on what both of you said, and youngin' you're new so we'll cut you some slack :), but PointBuzz threads often get sidetracked into different conversations, but this conversation is actually pertinent to the topic. As you know PrawoJazdy, PB speculation is at times very tedious and seemingly unnecessary, however when debating the possibility of a new ride, evaluating current attractions (such as the petting zoo, which relates to where some of the markers are), as well as evaluating what group the park may market this new ride towards (families, teens, etc.) are all necessary and valued topics of discussion.

^ This. Every word.

three7five said:
There are a lot of markings throughout Soak City, especially the east side. Some of the red ones run along Magnum near Bubbles, then there are some more heading in the direction of Hotel Breakers and go onto the boardwalk on the corner near the beach. Also a stake in the middle of the lazy river near the tube slides.

That's an easy one to explain. This is where they are going to put all the waterslides that they are going to take from wildwater kingdom when they close it at season's end.

the ffej man said:
Attendance did not flop last year. That had nothing to do with the new attraction last year. It had to do with the weather and the perceived economic upturn. Wildwater Kingdom had a stellar year last year and they had no new attractions for the 2nd year in a row. All I am saying is that The point could use some buzz, not just ho hum.

the ffej man said:

That's an easy one to explain. This is where they are going to put all the waterslides that they are going to take from wildwater kingdom when they close it at season's end.

So WWK is doing well and making money and they are gonna close it?

I'll point out some theories that were mentioned in the past about 2012.

Many (myself included) thought Mr. Kinzel would go out with a bang by building some sort of record-breaking coaster right around the time he retired. That no longer seems to be the case as his term is up in January...months before any new ride would open. It would also be convenient if he weren't there to clean up the mess if the ride flopped.

Kings Island has its 40th anniversary next year. Many fans use that fact in their wishful thinking for a big new coaster. In the past, I would never have thought that CP and KI would both get new coasters in the same year given their proximity, but I never thought they would get the exact same ride in the same year either.

However, next year will be 5 years since a coaster for CP and 4 for KI. You'd think the law of averages has to catch up at some point, right? Then again, maybe times are getting progressively different from how they were in the past 20 years. We may be in an era when new coasters are rarely less than 5 years apart.

Wicked Twister 90 said:

the ffej man said:
Attendance did not flop last year. That had nothing to do with the new attraction last year. It had to do with the weather and the perceived economic upturn. Wildwater Kingdom had a stellar year last year and they had no new attractions for the 2nd year in a row. All I am saying is that The point could use some buzz, not just ho hum.

the ffej man said:

That's an easy one to explain. This is where they are going to put all the waterslides that they are going to take from wildwater kingdom when they close it at season's end.

So WWK is doing well and making money and they are gonna close it?

I never said it would make sense. it is just inevidable that it will happen. I wouldn't want to see it, but I just think it will. Look at what has gone on over there in Aurora. They have done nothing at all to add to the experiance over there. Lets face it cedar point has needed an expantion for a while. Aurora has the highest slide complex anywhere close and the funnel would fit in nicely into cp.Cp 2012 could have a new coaster and a huge soak city expansion.

PrawoJazdy said:
It's not hard to figure out. While the discussion context is actually about Cedar Point in 2012 as the header dictates, it gets all kinds of sidetracked, with discussions about the petting zoo and whether or not people, such as yourself, want to visit the park because there isn't enough for anyone under 48" to do.

Fortunately for the rest of us, you don't get to decide where a thread might go.

I'll say it again, there's a sentiment on the part of several people who believe that anything other than a roller coaster is a waste of time for the park to build, and that no one would care if the pet farm disappeared. I'm saying that sentiment is nonsense, and contrary to what the park has to do to maintain a diverse attraction experience that has a broad appeal, especially to families with young children, who spend the most money.

Today there are a handful of rides I can do with my kid, and judging by his apprehension of carousels, I doubt he'll ride many of them without protesting until he gets a little older. So with the pet farm, at least that's one more thing I can do with him. I'm sure we'd have a good time in Soak City in-season, but I'm not going to fly cross-country to do what I can do close to home.

This is in stark contrast to a place like Disney World, where there are countless dark rides, boat rides, boat dark rides, parades, light shows, animatronic character shows, character encounters, and of course Animal Kingdom, which is like a super-zoo.

You can go down the route of, "CP is an amusement park, not a theme park blah blah blah," but if that were really true, they wouldn't make even the attempts that they do at trying to appeal to families. The problem is that they've taken the approach that a Zamperla ride package makes it a family park, and that just isn't true.

PrawoJazdy said:
If families had a problem with what Cedar Point has to offer, then families wouldn't be the biggest spenders now would they?

You're looking at this backwards. Or perhaps sideways.

Families don't spend the most money based on the attractions of a destination, but rather because Daddy wants to make sure Timmy and Sally have a good time, and as such, will spend a few more dollars here and there to make that a reality. And of course there's Mommy. And if you're traveling as a family (as opposed to, say, a group of 18 year olds), you're more likely to stay at a hotel on property, eat on property and so on, simply because convenience has greater value to families.

In other words, a family is going to have a higher per cap than an 18 year old, regardless of the destination. Ask a family of 5 how much they spent the last time they went to the movies/zoo/museum/etc., then ask an 18 year old the same question. Families spend more, generally speaking. And I think we can agree that coasters and thrill rides appeal more to the average 18 year old than they do to the average family with young kids.

I'm going to briefly step onto another issue: Someone above had mentioned something about GL'S WWK closing. I don't see it happening. I know Aurora may not have much to do anymore, but the market is there. There'll always be a larger market for a water park over an amusement park.

With that said, I think I'd like to see WWK continue to grow and add new things. It's capable of competing with Schlitterbahn in Texas.

WWK isn't even in the same league as Schlitterbahn. Maybe if they doubled the amount of rides and added innovative designs, but it sure doesn't measure up to me.

I would think the several thousand miles between the two would keep either from competing with the other.

WWK is a very beautiful waterpark. The place has been PACKED the last 3 years, but CF is determined to close the park. They haven't added any rides since 2006 when they added Tidal Wave Bay (wave pool). CF needs to add something to this park. The land is there and the market is there.

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if shady CF closes it after this season and moves the slides to SC. Especially it being Dick's last year, he can happily retire knowing he single handedly destroyed a beautiful property in Geauga Lake.

Back to topic. If someone would have came up to me in 2007 when Maverick was added and told me that we wouldn't get a new coaster for at least 5 maybe 6 years, I would have called them crazy. Am I saying one is needed? Not quite. But from a thrill seekers point of view (like me), I have no interest in going to the park as much as I did in previous years with the lack of new thrill rides. Sorry, adding a water ride (which I do love) and adding a ride that you installed in four other parks, does not make me want to go as much.

As proof, I did not purchase a platinum pass or season pass this year for the first time in 5 years.

There were six other hands holding flags that helped him kill that park.

Buckeye122 said:
WWK is a very beautiful waterpark. The place has been PACKED the last 3 years, but CF is determined to close the park. They haven't added any rides since 2006 when they added Tidal Wave Bay (wave pool). CF needs to add something to this park. The land is there and the market is there.

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if shady CF closes it after this season and moves the slides to SC.

If it has been "PACKED" for the past 3 years, then why would CF be "determined" to close the park? With Glassman's Dover Lake closed they essentially have a monopoly over the area. Sure, it would be nice for CF to add to GL's WWK, but it's not essential to keep people coming to the park. Almost everything is brand new. They just added it in 2004. WWK is not closing any time soon.

Packed? We went multiple times last year and it was a ghost-town every time. That said, I hope it stays open as it's a short drive and our daughter loves it.

Ditto that about the daughter loving it. Our experiences have varied. Last year, the crowds ranged from quiet to moderately busy. It really depended on the day and the weather. WWL might not be a raging success, but I wouldn't consider it an unmitigated failure either.

OTOH, that's what I thought about the Cedar Fair incarnation of Geauga Lake itself, so who knows?

Wildwater Kingdom was busy on Memorial Day. The real jaw-dropper was the 16 oz drinks for a dollar promotion they had going that day. I don't know if they had advertised it at all, but anytime a Cedar Fair park actually lowers prices on soft drinks (even temporarily) is one of the history books.

I would agree with others that they do have a golden opportunity to have a one-of-a-kind outdoor waterpark. There would be nothing to compete with it in the area at all, if they added a few state-of-the-art attractions.

I'm looking forward to several trips this summer. :)