Cedar Point, Unsafe?

Cedar Point is one of my favorite parks, but a lot of things have been going wrong with the rides lately. First, we have the Wild Cat crash, Maverick keeps breaking down, MaxAir had been shut down for the start of the season, and the Magnum crashed last year. What is happening to Cedar Point???? Could this effect its future?!??!

This will never effect the future of the park. Cedar Point is known for its safetly. Yes, I understand that there have been a few accidents here and there, but you haven't heard of anyone flying out of a train on any rides like Magnum or Gemini have you?

^^wow. If you want to tell yourself that these accidents make the park unsafe, even though two of those accidents didn't even result in injuries, you go right ahead. That's one less person I'll have to wait behind in line. And good grief, calm down.

I think that Cedar Point is the safest amusment park out there. There have never been any major accidents at CP. Just because the rides may have downtime, it does not mean they they are unsafe. They are shut down like that to make sure that they are indeed safe. So you don't have anything to worry about. Now if you were at Six Flags, that would be a different story. ;) lol I'm just kidding.

Generally speaking, when a modern ride goes down unexpectedly, it is usually because an unsafe condition has been prevented. "Out of service" after all, is not generally considered to be an unsafe condition.

Cedar Point hosts around 3,000,000 customers per year. Of those customers, in a very bad year, they will send perhaps as many as 10 to local hospitals for injuries sustained as a result of a ride incident. Of those ten, usually none are actually admitted.

I would not be at all surprised (in other words, I don't know if this is true or not) if we were to learn that the Food Service division has more life-threatening incidents than Ride Operations. And that's just because you're more likely to die choking on a pretzel than riding a coaster. Oh, and the thing that's most likely to get you seriously hurt at Cedar Point is probably a traffic accident on the Causeway or in the parking lot.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Why is this in the news section?

^My thought exactly.

The rule of thumb of amusement park safety: you're far safer at the actual amusement park than on the drive there. This applies to your average park, which Cedar Fair parks certainly far exceed in terms of safety consciousness.

CPLove21

Your pessimism spells out a bright future in the news media industry for you. I wish you all the best of luck! I must wonder how one goes around life with the "glass half empty" mentality?

~Rob Willi

Maverick keeps breaking down? Maverick has been running a lot better lately...

^^^ Mike, that is funny because that is exactly what I always say. :) I feel much more safe in a coaster than in any car.

HeyIsntThatRob? said:
CPLove21

Your pessimism spells out a bright future in the news media industry for you. I wish you all the best of luck! I must wonder how one goes around life with the "glass half empty" mentality?

~Rob Willi

Rob, you don't have to be so mean. If you would have looked at CPLove21's profile you would have seen that he/she had just joined yesterday. She/he probably doesn't know a lot about coasters or amusment parks. And with the recent Wild Cat scare, if I didn't know about coasters...I might be afraid too.

When we were at CP last week my sis would freak out when the rides would shut down or if a car would get stuck on the lift. When people do not know things, they just assume the worst...because their fear takes over. You just have to calm them down and tell them the truth, like Dave did above. Not everyone has your savvy knowledge of coasters ya know. :)

Can you get through a day without bashing the journalism profession, Rob? Seriously.

Rides breaking down doesn't mean they're unsafe. If you think that's the case, you need to better understand why a ride goes down. See Dave's post.

And while opening day was less than stellar in terms of up time, I didn't encounter any closed rides on my subsequent visit. Not even one. Those trying to find a trends are looking where none exists.

Maverick's problems have nothing to do with safety. These problems are technology related and wouldn't cause anyone any injury.

The day when journalism isn't all doom and gloom is the day I won't bash it, until then they are fair game.

How's that? ;)

PS. CPLove21, my apologies if I crossed the line.

~Rob Willi

There are over 600 proximity sensors on Top Thrill Dragster alone, these censors control the brake fins I believe and are also found on Maverick. There are sensors in the launch tunnel and launched lift on Maverick, and all through out Maverick.

These sensors are the leading cause of downtown I believe.

I don't think the problems going on in the park are them "oh let me get that crescent wrench and tighten that bolt down so this coaster doesn't fall apart".
But when these unexpected things happen like wildcat it only leads to speculation.

When Millennium Force fails and a train goes backwards 300 feet in to the loading ramp than I will be afraid of going to Cedar Point.

^I didn't realize that downtown was that much of a problem . . .

You have more of a chance getting hurt on the car ride to CP than you do on one of their rides.

cpfanaticisback:

you're making an ass out of yourself by not spell-checking your posts, which would lead me to believe that one of his reasons for deleting your account was your inability to spell simple words properly.

That being said, it amazes me how a single incident on Wildcat leads so many people to believe that the park is somehow unsafe...if something decides to fail, or break, or the wind is blowing in the wrong direction at the wrong speed, it's gonna happen. The park cannot completely control any forces that may be beyond its reach. (i.e.: the exterior environment)

Speculation of the how or why simply results out of most of us not knowing the exact details, not working at the park, or, having not been witness to said incidents. Luckily, Cedar Point has an excellent staff who consistently exceed safety standards, and if and when an incident occurs, the park, I believe, is the best at handling such issues.

If, CPlove21, however, you do have concerns or questions regarding safety devices on the parks numerous rides, I believe Dave (RideMan) can answer those the best due to his expertise in said area.

HeyIsntThatRob? said:
The day when journalism isn't all doom and gloom is the day I won't bash it, until then they are fair game.

That's a stupid generalization, Rob. Look around. There's great journalism everywhere. Stop watching Fox News. :)

I actually don't have FoxNews, I have just the basic satellite and I'm not a huge fan of Bill O'Reilly. I would just like to see a "good news" story on the front page of the paper instead of page H27.

Again my apologies to CPLove21.

~Rob Willi

Check out the front page of today's Detroit Free Press. Plenty of good news there.