Cedar Point 2023

To not think TTD is iconic, that is crazy. When I ever bring up the park to someone who's never been, that's the only one they've remotely heard of. The 1st coaster to go over 400ft singlehandedly makes it iconic.

I hope they find a way to keep it

HotSauceJunky said:

To throw in the towel over a 6 inch piece of angle iron that had a screw fall out smacks of millennial teenager troubleshooting.

Be sure to say that to the victim and her loved ones. The flag plate issue may be an easy fix. But it doesn't change the fact that this is not the first time this ride has had a situation that had the potential to cause life threatening injuries. And we don't know what other close calls may have been had over the years.

To me it seems like an easy choice to remove.

If the fix was easy, if we knew steps would be taken to prevent it from happening again, and especially,if we knew that the victim was fully recovered then it would be a safe bet that the ride would stay. But we don’t know any of those things.

MrJohnJLewis said:

To not think TTD is iconic, that is crazy.

If anyone thinks it's iconic, that's cool; I just disagree. I have taken lots and lots of people to the park who have never been to Cedar Point before over the past decade, and most have never heard of Top Thrill Dragster; that said, they are largely 1) not from Ohio, and 2) have never spent a minute of their life on a theme-park related discussion board. They haven't heard of Millennium or Magnum either; they just know that Cedar Point is supposedly a cool amusement park with lots of cool coasters. They don't know the difference between a wing-coaster or an inverted coaster, or why Steel Vengeance isn't a wooden coaster, much less what in the hell a "hybrid" coaster is.

Iconic means more than "hey this thing broke some records and is is really tall".

Was it the first to break 400 feet? Sure. But thinking that means something significant (with TTD as the end result) is exactly what was so silly about the "coaster wars".

Bigger, faster...but at what cost?

"Iconic" definitely depends on your age.

"Iconic" depends on your personal definition of what is iconic. This is Sitch's Law. 90% of arguments are really just arguments of definitions.

Kevinj- bringing up people that have no connection to Cedar Point feels like a non sequitur. If I took someone who doesn't follow baseball to a Tigers game and they didn't know who Miguel Cabrera is does that make his career not iconic?

There is no doubt that TTD is Iconic to coaster enthusiasts, but that's not a reason to keep it around.

There is certainly an age-segment (folks born in the mid/late 90's-present) that have only known a Cedar Point with TTD. To them, TTD represents the Cedar Point they grew up with - always building the tallest and fastest. For many, people have the opinion that if they can ride TTD, they can ride anything on this planet because it is the "biggest and baddest".

Removing TTD will alter the skyline of the park significantly, and I would compare that to any city removing their tallest building. Some many may never visit that tallest building or even care about it, but it's one of their first thoughts when they think of that city.

I feel like we had that exact same conversation when it was announced that Space Spiral was coming down, and I feel like you'd be able to make a much stronger argument for that ride having been iconic for far longer.

At any rate, I think we can all agree that Space Spiral wins the contest for most iconic removal in the history of the park.

^Watching that Space Spiral video and reading the critical remarks some have posted here regarding the Rides Maintenance crews reminds me of this;

I was recently viewing a YouTube Cedar Point video by CoasterBob62. At one point he is showing Space Spiral cabin going up but not spinning. On top of the red cabin are standing two Rides Maintenance members appearing to having no jitters whatsoever. Upon reaching the very top of the spire, they opened a hatch door and disappeared inside. Props to them (and the present hard working, dedicated crew members).

Kevinj said:

At any rate, I think we can all agree that Space Spiral wins the contest for most iconic removal in the history of the park.

That was a really fun day.

Cedar Point is constantly evolving. Hopefully, in 60 years, the park will be nothing like it is today and will still entertain families and thrill seekers

All Cedar Fair parks are all making there 2023 announcements next Thursday!

All except Great America…

^They might not announce any physical capital like a new ride…but I bet they’ll announce some sort of limited time event/experience that the chain loves now. Anything to make sure they’re driving decent enough revenue against their lease and other expenses.

I am excited to see what CP has in store for the beachside area. Not just this year, but future years.

Looking at the construction from windseeker today, there's framing for what looks like an entry foyer or overhang on the beach side. It extends a bit past where the old boardwalk would have been. Pretty much confirms in my mind that it will have 'outside the park' beach access.

When I worked my second season at CP in 74, I think, I was the manager at Beach Refreshments. On old park maps it’s the little building near Space Spiral that had polka dots on the roof. During those years the public beach and the bath house was at that end of the park. My stand had walk-up window access from the midway side, but also walk-in access from the beach. The pavilion will clearly be a lot grander in scale but I’m here to tell you a two-sided configuration is possible. In the 70’s guests had to have a string and stamp to be allowed in the park from the beach, so a handstamp would work in this case too.

Tony just tweeted that next week there will be an announcement for an announcement of an announcement (or something like that). And he mentioned again that it will be something for everyone.

^Actually this week. More specifically, tomorrow.

^Yeah, he said 24 hours from that tweet. That lines up with the Cedar Fair conference call last week where they said they’d announce 2023 capital expenditures on Thursday, August 11th.