Cedar Point Announces New Water Ride for 2010 Season

Fanboy!

Oh, I thought it was because I was "so GP".

I am not a fan of water rides. Ask my family, most times I have to be dragged on to one. I think Sunday will be my Shoot the Rapids day though. Have to try it once just to try it before the weather decides to start cooling off much.

Okay, rode Shoot the Rapids tonight. Second row of the boat. For those who haven't seen, they are now keeping the middle row empty and loading the front two and back two rows. As far as the ride goes, I'd give it a solid 4 out of a possible 10. The tunnel at the start was decent, first drop hill was okay, second was so-so. It's supposed to be a "family ride" but is rated as an aggresive thrill ride on the sign. They could really drop that rating a level in my opinion. Overall, I'd say it's an okay ride. I wasn't impressed with the yards of smooth concrete around everything, and think they could do a better job of disguising the lift for removing the boats right before the lift hill. I might ride again on a very hot day, or I might not.

Rode it twice on the 20th.

Our first time through (in the 2nd row), I thought that while it was pretty slow and uneventful, it was still a decent ride. More importantly, the other riders seemed to be enjoying themselves.

On our second ride, we sat in the back row. On both drops, there was a rather violent bump as we leveled out. I liken it to hitting a speed bump in a rail car at 45 mph. Not pleasant at all, and had me wincing for a while afterward. Not sure what caused it, or why we didn't feel it in the 2nd row.

Overall, I think the ride will be a success, simply because it's a decent water ride with nice theme elements (that don't require a lot of maintenance, as animatronics would). Sure, it's slow and rather boring, but WWL wasn't exactly the most thrilling ride ever, either (despite the highly romanticized memories many seem to have). And wow... when the landscaping grows in, it's going to look fabulous back there.

How wet did you get in the last row?

Not very wet at all. In fact, aside from the front row, it doesn't seem that anyone gets truly soaked, and even the front row drenching seems limited to the feet. The poor couple in the front row on our first voyage were wearing socks & shoes, and were quite shocked at the wave that unceremoniously dumps water into the front row foot wells after each drop. But they still left the ride all smiles (and we ended up riding with them again on SRF), which sort of puts a damper on the OMFG guys this ride gets you too wet, so it totally sucks argument.

I can't emphasize enough how much park guests seem to enjoy StR. There were plenty of folks watching friends & family from the observation deck and firing the water canons (which, even with a direct "hit", don't soak you). Even if they don't get the boat issues worked out (though I fully expect they will), this ride is a hit, and really rounds out that area of the park quite nicely.

You're such a fan boy.

Chase Gilbert said:
It's supposed to be a "family ride" but is rated as an aggresive thrill ride on the sign. They could really drop that rating a level in my opinion.

Few things are as useless as Cedar Point's thrill rating system. If they really tried to be realistic, and anchored the spectrum with TTD/Maverick on one end, the train on the other, and spread all the other rides evenly between those extremes, many of the ratings would change, I think. Instead, ratings like "3" encompass everything from the turnpike cars to Calypso, and nearly every roller coaster gets a "5."

Add to it the fact that Woodstock Express is apparently in the 80th percentile of thrill rides at the park, and well, you get the idea...

djDaemon said:

On both drops, there was a rather violent bump as we leveled out. I liken it to hitting a speed bump in a rail car at 45 mph. Not pleasant at all, and had me wincing for a while afterward.

I thought that while it was pretty slow and uneventful

Sure, it's slow and rather boring

...they don't get the boat issues worked out

ditto!

Overall, I think the ride will be a success

Wait... what?

Nice work, Kyle. You've adequately shown you can take specific comments completely out of context and rearrange them in manner that is not in any way keeping with what I wrote.

Quick! Send your resume to FOX News!

They're hiring?! BRB!

:)

They're always looking for folks who prefer to push an agenda rather than have a legitimate, well-reasoned discussion. You'd fit in perfectly! :)

Ture, making things like "violent bump" + "not pleasant" + "boring" + "slow and uneventful" + "boat issues" + "wincing for awhile" = SUCCESS!

Whatever. I knew you'd chime in and say pretty much exactly what you're saying. I've gotten used to your bait. :)

Despite your inability to conceive as much, one can be critical of certain elements of an experience, while simultaneously recognizing that said elements do not detract from the experience being an overall success. I know this concept may be foreign to those who are able to only see things in binary, but it's actually true.

I didn't say I disagreed. I just said "wait... what?" trying to figure it out. Sure, if you think a slow, painful, boring ride with a lot of issues is a sparkling success, cool.

More power to ya.

I was surprised when I was there a week ago that the line for STR was only 1.5 hours (at least that was what the sign said). I expected the lines to be longer this summer for the ride. It wasn't a hot humid day but still warm enough (with the sun shining most of the day) for a water ride if folks were interested.

Anyone looking to be in media and push an agenda has a lot of options.

Kyle2154 said:
...if you think a slow, painful, boring ride with a lot of issues is a sparkling success...

Selective reading much? I also mentioned how much everyone seemed to enjoy the ride, in addition to noting that other elements of the ride experience ranged from "decent" to "fabulous". Then there's the part where I pointed out how the interactivity with non-riders is not only well done, but popular with guests.

But you weren't interested in those comments, because you're trying to start some sort of argument by taking certain comments out of context. This forum could do with less of that.

The point, since I apparently need to spell it out for you, is that the ride succeeds despite the technical problems it has had. And on top of that, those technical problems are effectively non-existent to the vast majority of the ride's target audience. Which is why I said it I feel the ride will be a success.

And that's the last food I'll dole out to you, since it's painfully obvious you're trolling.

GoBucks89 said:I was surprised when I was there a week ago that the line for STR was only 1.5 hours...

A 90-minute wait for a water ride is pretty damn long. Even on some of the hottest days, the water rides at CP have waits of less than an hour, in my experience. It was pretty hot Friday (the 20th), and we rode StR twice (first or second boat of the day, so our wait was nonexistent), and TC & SRF once each all in a matter of 30-40 minutes.

I think, as usual, you are taking a joke waaaayyyy to seriously. I say "wait... what?" and you are posting paragraph rants in response.

Relax, I get it... the ride sucks yet rocks, chillax man.

With it being new this year, featured in a lot of advertising and not being open earlier in the year when folks first visited the park, I expected the line to be longer than it was. Maybe there was no basis for that expectation. Certainly it wasn't met in any case.