Cedar Point's 2011 ride will target thrill seekers

UpsideDown said:
A licensing fee paid to Funtime is expected.

Why? Aside from the 2 rides spinning in circles on really tall sticks, they aren't even close to the same. Why should anyone have to pay a licensing fee to them because they made a design similar to, but not the same as, theirs?

Hmm....

I clicked on the clue, and all I got was the dino and wind mill.

UpsideDown said:
would anyone feel differently if this had been WSJ rather than Sanudsky Register?

No, it makes no difference.

crazy horse said:
Hmm....

I clicked on the clue, and all I got was the dino and wind mill.

There is a video to Youtube. Unless you meant something else?

Walt said:

UpsideDown said:
would anyone feel differently if this had been WSJ rather than Sanudsky Register?

No, it makes no difference.

The only difference I see is that the WSJ couldn't care less about ticking off Cedar Point, the Register, on the other hand relies on them a little more.

But, either way, kudos to the Register for running the story... that is their job, and they are getting a lot of publicity for running it. Shame on Funtime for acting like a scorned lover, but you can't blame the SR for running with it.

I got it now. It was hidden in the box.

Side by side...OMG!!!! iT MUST BE A DUEL RACING WOODEN COASTER ON THE BEACH!!!!!!...lol

Sorry, coulden't resist.

Ya knoooooowww...just to play devil's advocate, I DO have to admit this article seems a bit contrived. Though I am not used to the level of integrity to be expected from the Sandusky Register.

“It’s almost like Mondial’s plagiarizing our idea,” said Mirfin,director of the Funtime Group and owner of Cottingham Agencies, whichholds the patent for StarFlyer. “It makes us very, very angry.”

That quote seems really fake to me, and not necessary. "Grrr..we're VERY VERY ANGRY...grrr".

Better yet though...

“Now, not only do we not get the contract, now we’ve got to get intolitigation,” Mirfin said. “The ones that we’ll be suing will be CedarPoint and not Mondial.”

If you don't have a contract, than where is the litigation? Smiles and handshakes unfortunately don't hold up in court.

It just doesn't make ANY sense.

To be honest, I'm in no school of thought on any of this. I just discovered the wonders of Cedar Point back in July, and this whole mystery has been nothing but entertaining and interesting to read and follow.

I've honestly read better stories in the Weekly World News though, in comparison to this Register article. It really just seems kinda phony.

Side by side: common sense = 2 seats per "train" on this ride, giving more into the Starflyer/Wind Seeker theory/probably reality. (That may have already been said) Beyond that, I wonder how it feels to be posting all these clues even though the ride idea has (most likely) been revealed in the Sandusky Register article. Speaking of the article, it mentioned how FunTime thought that it was going to be building a 400 ft starflyer............but since Mondial was actually supposedly building it, will it still be that tall?

Lasagna...

I'm sure that 400' was the stipulation by CP... I believe they coined the term "stratocoaster" when announcing TTD... and kind-of set up the terminology as we know use it:

mega= 150'+

hyper= 200'+

giga= 300'+

strata= 400'+

The question is what made CP jump... my guess was wind rating.

in_eden said:
Lasagna...

I'm sure that 400' was the stipulation by CP... I believe they coined the term "stratocoaster" when announcing TTD... and kind-of set up the terminology as we know use it:

mega= 150'+

hyper= 200'+

giga= 300'+

strata= 400'+

The question is what made CP jump... my guess was wind rating.

Did you mean that Top Thrill Dragster was a "Strata Coaster", because you initially put it as a strato coaster. :)

JuggaLotus said:

Just because Toyota won't build a car that stops doesn't mean you can go to Ford and say "Build me a Camry with brakes that work".

You sort of can? It's a Fusion, and it's more reliable than the Camry.

Unless you were being literal and talking about an exact replica...

yea... this strato-soar thing... you know what I was aiming at!

in_eden said:
yea... this strato-soar thing... you know what I was aiming at!

Ok :)

Here's my opinion on this.

Funtime got po'd at cedar point because cp wanted something that could stand up to the wind of the area. I doubt highly if Cedar Point didn't contact funtime first to make this ride.

Instead of funtime just going the legal route and preparing their case, they went out to try and hurt Cedar Points business image. Had funtime gotten their version of the ride in, it could be a great promotional opportunity for their company, and they are upset and looking to hit back and doing it in a pretty sad way that will hurt them in the long run. THANK GOD no one ever patented a coaster that rides on steel tracks. Does funtime own the patent to the wave swinger? If not starflyer sounds like a rip to me.

If I were DK at this point, I would cut off contact and future interviews with the Sandusky Register for dropping the news when they knew full well of Cedar Points announcement date. Yeah maybe it would've came out before the announcement from someone else, but Cedar Point doesn't need the Sandusky Register for a d**m thing. If you don't live in Sandusky and don't know the area well, you probably haven't even heard of the newspaper to begin with until ride-threads like these start popping up, and if you spend any time on the site you'll see how pathetic of reporting and news it is to begin with. Their interview with John H. was an epic fail ;)

If they really have no interest in suing Mondial, which is not mentioned as being a party in the suit, that there is proof enough that this is only because CP went for someone that wasn't them.

djDaemon said:
The entire reason, at least purportedly, for going with the solid linkage version over the chain version is so that the ride can operate in windy conditions. And CP certainly has their share of wind, especially at 400 feet in the air on the edge of the beach.

Now from my perspective, I'd agree with this and the reason CP went with the solid arm. But, didn't RideMan claim at some point that the wind would not significantly affect a Starflyer that high up?

It didn't make sense to me, but I'm curious for his reasoning (which usually his posts contain alot of) to come to that conclusion...

Regardless, the solid arms and high capacity make the ride appear less thrilling unfortunately. Still, if it's a Wind Seeker (and even if I can't ride it because of motion sickness), it's still not a bad 2011 addition (if it's reliable and gives similar quality rides to a Starflyer...big if's, I know).

It'll change the CP skyline, give some life to a dead area of the park, and likely be something fun to view from around the park.

Not sure if anybody posted this, I kinda skimmed the last couple pages, but the clue: Side by side - 1944. Yes the Wind seeker ride had the side by side seats, but also, in 1944 Cedar Point installed the "Flying scooters". Which were kind of like swings, a little like the old ride at Kings Island, I think it was called the flying eagles or something. But yes, kind of similar to Windseeker design only a lot shorter obviously.

To me, it seems that a chain would have more resistance to the wind. In otherwords, air/wind is more likely to go thru or not effect a chain as much as a solid steel arm.

I could be wrong, but just a guess.

This thing is going to look massive! Considering the Space Spiral is 330ft.

crazy horse said:
To me, it seems that a chain would have more resistance to the wind. In otherwords, air/wind is more likely to go thru or not effect a chain as much as a solid steel arm.

I could be wrong, but just a guess.

Maybe the article was meant to make us believe we're getting a lame wind seeker, when in fact, we're actually getting a starflyer? (lol)

If you think about it, Mondial isn't made out to look to bad. The whole "ride plagiarism" concept is kind of ridiculous, just adding even more credibility issues to the article.

Has anyone ever heard of anything even remotely close to this going down?

I for one would find a star flyer quite thrilling. It's not so much the heights, as much as it would be the lack of secuirty and vulnerability..

To the people thinking this article is a decoy, answer me one simple question...

Why would a fake article for a new ride, mention a legit ride manufacturer as funtime in a bad light?

Do these people really believe that funtime would intentionally hurt their business image to let cedar point trick readers? Nope.