Cedar Point Announces New Water Ride for 2010 Season

EricCartman said:

Well I wonder how much it really cost to keep up all of the coasters that are 20+ years old? I don't think it cost more to up keep the coasters than it dose to up keep WWL,

Ummm, coasters do not leak water, do not have to pump water, and do not have to drain water. Flume rides do have the same lift expenses as coasters as well. Plus steel lasts longer than fiberglass.

I will say this again that people really don't want a water ride,for the exception for a few that have shown great interest in it.

So, CF either didn't do customer surveys or else ignored them? For 3 years people have been bitching in these forums about WWL being removed.

Also, SRF has averaged over 520,000 riders per year over the last 10 years--despite not being open for Halloweekends, which is about 10% of CF's operating season.

But as food for thought-If you look beyond the curve it looks like thay combined TC and SRF and made a new ride i really think that is a lack of creativity.

Or it is designed to be an upgrade--and REPLACEMENT for SRF, Just as WWL was a replacement for Shoot the Rapids 1 and Mill Race. What replaced Mill Race? Oh yeah, Raptor.

And as for what we want CP should listen,cause we pay the admission,and spend our hard earned money there witch in turn,we give them our money so thay can pay the other people that work there.
If you don't keep the people happy there will be alot of people in the unemployment line cause no money will be comming in to make the pay roll.

And if their customer surveys--which they do take--said they needed a water ride? For all we know 10x as many people said water ride (on Lake Erie, imagine that :)) as 500 ft wooden aquatrax with reversable boats.

Ty Z said:
Cedar Point is an Thrill Park. They have done enough to appeal to all age groups. They need to move on from families now and focus on being the best of the best of thrill parks.

I would have to argue that an 85 foot drop (and a 49 foot 2nd drop) is a "Thrill Park" ride. Heck, the only aquatrax in existence only has a 72 foot drop.

PB-Reader said:
I have thought it over for a day now, and my first impressions still stand. This isn't a ride that would make me want to get a season pass to ride it. Also, I am really not a water ride person, neither is my family. I already know my wife will not ride it, and two guys at my work said its a waste (not cedar point people). Me and my kids ride anything, Once.

A valid response. And many people won't ride TTD, let alone buy a season pass because of it. Jr Gemini does not interst me, nor do Kiddie Kingdom, Camp Snoopy, or Planet Snoopy. And, yet, neither you nor I would argue that the $$$ spent on those attractions is wasted. They appeal to some people and convert them into paying customers.

If you buy a season pass because of the 17 coasters they already have, great. You are a current customer. They are trying to attract people who are NOT current customers. They are already getting getting your money :)

I believe it will be busy, a lot of people like water rides, but I am afraid it is tucked in so deep into frontier trail, that no one will even see it.

I bet people find an 85 foot tall ride. :)

Ty Z said:
I wouldn't mind cedar point putting up a new water park somewhere else and take out soak city. They can use the extra land soak city takes up to expand the park.

I agree, but they use the water park to fill up the hotels. Remember, CP is, according to them, a "resort." And, apparently, a resort needs more than an amusement park.

Chief Wahoo said:
That same family of four could go to Disney and ride family rides ALL DAY LONG, never repeat a ride,

That's because they are standing in line for most of it. :)

P.S. I agree with everything in your post.

Again, obviously STR will replace SRF, allowing CP to add either a family or a thrill ride on the land that SRF currently occupies.

Ty Z said:
Did you not read what i said? Cedar Point does not want to be like Disney and have nothing but family rides. and Cedar Point can't make the amount of many Disney makes because Disney is open year round plus makes a ton of money on movies. NO one can compete with that.

So you sit in on upper management meetings to find out what CP wants to be?

You also have no idea of CP's history in the '60s and '70s. They had much more in common with Disney back than they do now. Matter of fact, when the park was transformed in the early '60s, management said they want to turn CP into an "Ohio Disneyland". And the park was extremely successful.

I think CP peaked in the mid '90s after Raptor was installed. I think they had the optimum mix of coasters and other attractions at the point. Family friendly attractions have been neglected in the coaster building spree, and I'm not just talking about rides. Stuff like the Hobo Band and Beach Band, Jungle Larry and more extensive crafts on the Frontier Trail all added to the family friendly atmosphere that entertained everyone. Plus rides like Western Cruise, Earthquake, Pirate Ride, Upsidedown Funhouse, Mill Race, White Water Landing, Frontier Lift all added to the appeal of the entire family.

I think they want to get back to that point. Could the name Shoot The Rapids be for not only nostalgia and the fact that it is a good name, but also as a message that they want to get back to the family friendly image of the past? I think this ride will be impressive, fun and enjoyed by all.

I am happy to see Shoot the Rapids! I think it will be fun. I know I would have loved to see a coaster too! This is just a crazy thought, but it would have been really sweet if they would have added Shoot the Rapids and a coaster called White Lightning... that would have be awesone!

This is going to be a great addition to this area of the park. Not to start a "save the trees" arguement, but it would have been cool to only remove the vegetation in the path for the water trough on the island. Judging from the computer rendering, looks like it will be mostly a pool of water over in that area anyway.

If you watched the video, you probably saw Hildebrandt say that their research indicated people wanted a replacement for WWL. He said the same thing to me last week when we chatted at the GKTW fundraiser. He might be GM, but recall that he came up through the marketing ranks. He's very research oriented. This was not some silly arbitrary decision.

Again CP's issues have more to do with where the park is located that the mix of rides in the park. If you view the 90s as the peak, what has the population of Ohio and Michigan (and the midwest in general) done since the 90s compared with the population of Florida (and the south in general)? Its difficult to keep growing when the population of the area you are in is not. Yes, CP draws people in from outside the region but the vast majority of their visitors are from people within the region. From what I can see, I think the population shift will be felt by everyone in this region over the next 10-15 years and beyond in many more aspects of life than just amusement parks.

And I do not agree that CP does not have enough rides for folks 48" and under. I started going there in the late 60s and was under 48" until the early/mid 70s. Seems to me that they currently (before this new ride) have more rides for folks under 48" than they have ever had in their history. I took my kids there when they were under 48" and we had a lot of fun. There were (and are) a lot more things to do at CP than when I was under 48". And its certainly true that there are a lot more coasters than I was a kid as well.

In the end, as I think I saw somewhere on this site, any day at CP is better than a day at work/school. No matter if they were adding a water ride, coaster or flat ride in 2010, there is a lot to do and a lot of fun to be had at Cedar Point.

Regarding "family rides"

When my brothers and I were little we never spent any time in any kiddie land at any amusement park we visited. We rode all the rides we were tall enough to ride, and we often measured each other during the year in anticipation of the many amusement park trips we would make as soon as school was out.

We always appreciated that King's Island employees didn't measure as often or as carefully as CP did, and we often got onto rides that we really weren't tall enough to ride.

We quickly got bored with the "family rides" and just rode the thrill rides we were tall enough to ride over and over, with our parents. Those were our "family rides."

My great-great aunt and uncle used to go to Cedar Point and Kings Island with us,and they were in their 80's. I first rode King Cobra and Vortex with my great-great uncle.

When I had kids of my own, our family bypassed the kiddie rides and spent our time on every thrill ride the kids were tall enough to ride.

I think STR is actually going to be pretty fun. They could have given us a lot worse (aka nothing). I just hope it doesn't get you too wet.

Also, Whyte Lightning was a really good name for a ride. Hopefully they are saving this name for a future coaster or other major attraction.

Would you agree that the last "family ride" (under 48") was chaos?

Now, if the last coaster Cedar Point had built was Mantis how do you think things would be going with the thrill seeking demographic?

Now, again, let's be clear. I'm talking about an attraction the entire family can enjoy together. Sure, Planet Snoopy and Camp Snoopy were built for the under 48" set but how many of those rides are pleasing to teens and adults too? None of them. I like riding the little train with my kid but it isn't the same as taking my 3 year old on Toy Story Mania and me liking it as well or better than her. We have fun...together. That is what I want. I like watching the kids in Camp Snoopy but it would be more fun if we all did things together.

I was in the park this past Monday. It wasn't a very warm day, I think I was wearing jeans and was comfortable.

Anyway, I was talking to a friend of mine at the entrance to Thunder Canyon who was working on the HalloWeekends changeover. Even though it was cool, there were probably 7-10 groups of people who stopped to ask us if TC was open, including a man & his two sons who were in swim trunks. And, this was in a 10-minute span.

So if there were that many people interested in a ride that does nothing but douse you with water on a day where the high probably never broke 75... I'm pretty sure that there will be interest in StR well into the early/late season cool periods.

...Just sayin'

I'd gladly ride it during Halloweekends. 3 coats needed or not. ;)

And remember that Rob pretty much said that they will be able to control the amount of water used to get you wet. So in colder months, they could essentially turn the water way down or even off making it so the only water to hit you would be on the drops. Heck, the splash can even be dialed back a bit to by lowering the water level.

I have no idea what was the last family ride that CP built. Unlike what appears to be just about everyone who posts here, I go to CP once or twice a year; spend the day there and drive home that night. There were two or three years in which I had a season pass and even in those years I never went more than 4 times. I don't follow the daily blogs of everyone in management/planning at CF. I do not know which companies made which rides at the various parks in the country. I don't know what the various names of types of coasters (other than steel/wood) that people toss around here mean. But I will go with Chaos (never ridden the ride though I think I know what it is) as the last family ride built and its year of 1997.

But I think there are significant differences between the under 48" crowd and the over 48" crowd. Majority of people in the park on any given day are over 48". You are only under 48" for a relatively brief time in your life (at at least a couple years of that time period are ones in which no rides will be appropriate other than stroller rides). And once you leave the brief stay in the under 48" circuit, you will live a long life (hopefully) in the over 48" circuit. So it doesn't make much sense to make direct comparissons to the number of under 48" and over 48" rides they build.

And I had fun on Toy Story too. But it had nothing to do with the ride. I had fun riding that ride with my kids. My daugther's fav ride at CP is Troika (now that she got kicked off of the frog hopper because of her height). I don't really enjoy the Troika itself. But I always have a great time riding it with her. And I think CP has plenty of rides that non big thrill riders can ride. Between my wife and daughter, I have 2 such folks in my immediately family, and I have spent a fair amount of time on non big thrill rides at CP and elsewhere.

FWIW, my daughter would never ride the new ride. She hates big drops. I suspect there are a fair number of such folks out there (over and under 42"/in and out of families) who feel the same way.

I agree that STR is a replacement for WWL. And I suspect that we will see one of the other existing water rides removed in the next 5-7 years (replaced with another water ride or another non-water ride).

I think wild thornberries River Adventures Design is great. Arrow& Mack really can make good flumes. Journey to Atlantis at all seaworld parks is really good plus have great themeing. I sorda like Shoot The Rapids. It needs to be more of an traditonal flume and stay in the air. Le-Scoot is also a really great flume + great capacity. STR looks pretty good but IntaRides is not that good with being traditional & having good capacity. Intamin, be more like ARROW.

what if cedar point added soap to STR? (:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHgYao8q3Fc

From the Mystery Constrution thread:

Buzzer said:
Has anyone thought about the fact of lightening striking twice?

Perhaps they are going to reuse a name of rides of the past... I predict that Shoot the Rapids will once again be at Cedar Point!

Buzzer called it...

I think I'm going to wait until I see it/ride it/experience it next year to form an opinion.

My daughter is 2. I'm excited that another ride is being built that I will be able to ride with her that will be fun for both of us.

We're a family.

We will spend more money on and in the park than any young/single/teenager slice of the demographic out there, simply because we are a family. This point has been labored over this forum for quite some time. Another moderately thrilling family-oriented ride is exactly what they needed, and to be honest, they need more.

I would vote for similar installations over the next couple seasons (dark ride, etc.) before adding another coaster.

I doubt that a 2 year old (unless a very tall 2 year old) will be able to ride STR though no height requirements have been released.

I wasn't talking about this year (for her to ride)...but in the near future. I wasn't sad about losing WWL until our daughter was born, and then it hit me...

I want to do everything with her, and losing WWL suddenly mattered.

Guess I am a little confused at this point. When you said that you hoped they would put in similar rides over the next couple of years before they put in another coaster, I figured you meant less intense/family type rides. But your second post seems to indicate that there is some type of nostalgia at work here.

There have been numerous rides removed from CP since I started going there 40 years ago. And I liked many of the rides that have been removed. But there also have been a lot of new rides added during that time. And overall, I think that the park is a much better park today for people of all ages than it was when I went there as a kid.

And yes, I wish I could take the new and have kept a lot of the old rides that were removed. But that isn't possible.