Cedar Point's 2011 ride will target thrill seekers

Kyle2154 said:

I must say, I'm impressed. It just looks, I dunno, more modern than the Star Flyer. The seats look better, the arms look better going up than the chain. Looks pretty intimidating too.

I think I'd prefer, from a rider's perspective, the chains of the star flyer. I bet there is much more of a free flying feeling with the star flyers then the windseekers. As far as looks go I doubt any wind seeker will look as cool as the star flyer in Prater. That green and gold scheme with the gold dome and clocks just looks so cool. Call me less then impressed or surprised with the color scheme CF is going with so far. We'll have to wait and see what they come up with at the other parks but I'm not anticipating anything less then generic CF.

I am hoping that CP installs a really nice, state of the art LED lighting package on the ride.

I am so excited about riding this thing at night, should give an amazing view of the park.

And with 64 people this things capacity should be right in line with MaXair and SkyHawk.

Great. CF is turning into six flags adding the identical ride to multiple parks

Buckeye122 said:
I won't be dissapointed with the ride itself. In fact I would love it! It seems tacky to add Windseekers to almost half of the parks at once. But, CF knows what they are doing right? ha

Replace "tacky" with "Six Flags in the 90's". :)

Ohio is probably the only place it will matter. Most folks go to one park only and could care less. It's gonna be weird to see TV commercials for CP and KI advertising basically the same ride.

sabers22 said:
Great. CF is turning into six flags adding the identical ride to multiple parks

They're not all identical, and even if they were, who cares (well, aside from some disgruntled kids)?

Besides, I'd bet if CF were adding identical GCI's across several parks, you wouldn't be complaining. :)

JuggaLotus said:
I'm running twin Dell 21" LCDs. If I could get the department to spring for another one, I would.

And how many of those screens are you actually using for work? ;)

sabers22 said:
Great. CF is turning into six flags adding the identical ride to multiple parks

There are only so many designs for flats. Most of the parks in the chain have an S&S Tower and at least a couple have an S&S Swing.

When Cedar Fair starts dropping coaster clones into every park, then I'll be worried.

Watching that video made me sick! Everyone is talking about having good views from the ride but honestly how much are you really going to see while you are spinning so fast. Oh and I agree that it is pretty lame that all the parks are getting the same thing.

Ensign Smith said:

JuggaLotus said:
I'm running twin Dell 21" LCDs. If I could get the department to spring for another one, I would.

And how many of those screens are you actually using for work? ;)

At least 1.5.

2 wind seekers down... 2 to go?

Knotts

A.M.B. said:
Everyone is talking about having good views from the ride but honestly how much are you really going to see while you are spinning so fast.

I don't think it starts spinning until you are all the way to the top. It takes 50 seconds to rise to the top and it probably takes a few seconds to get up to speed spinning, so plenty of time to enjoy the view (and get really, really nervous if you don't like heights). Who knows, maybe they'll make at least one leisurely spin before getting up to speed. A slow spin as you rise would be cool.

This ride looks a little gimmicky, but after reading what I just wrote, I convinced myself that it might be fun.

If you want the view without the fast spin, just ride space spiral.

^Very Interesting

Valleyfair: Planet Snoopy ($9 million)
Dorney Park: Planet Snoopy ($8 million)
World of Fun: Planet Snoopy ($5 million)
Knotts: Major Addition? ($22 million?)
Carowinds: Starlight? ($3 million?)
Canada’s Wonderland: GCI? ($12 million?)
Michigan’s Adventure: Waterpark Expansion? ($4 million?)
Kings Island: Small Expansion? ($4 million?)
Kings Dominion: Small Expansion? ($2 million?)
California’s Great America: Small Expansion? ($3 million?)
Cedar Point: Stratosoar? ($6 million?)

Pulled that out of the old closet. Remember how that totaled to $77 million? Well lets recalculate that:

Valleyfair: Planet Snoopy ($9 million)
Dorney Park: Planet Snoopy ($8 million)
World of Fun: Planet Snoopy ($5 million)
Knotts: Windseeker ($5 million)
Carowinds: Starlight? ($3 million?)
Canada’s Wonderland: Windseeker ($5 million)
Michigan’s Adventure: Waterpark Expansion? ($4 million?)
Kings Island: Windseeker? ($5 million?)
Kings Dominion: Small Expansion? ($2 million?)
California’s Great America: Small Expansion? ($3 million?)
Cedar Point: Stratosoar? ($5 million?)

Those current projections put us at $55 million, well short of the announced $80-$90 million. What does CF have up their sleeve?

(All bolded are confirmed)

And I'm wondering where you guys got started on thinking that Carowinds was getting a WS as well?

Kyle2154 said:
2 wind seekers down... 2 to go?

Knotts

Cedar Fair's naming team is really dropping the ball on this. I know it would be tough to come up with 5 different names, but couldn't they at least come up with 1 for CP and 1 for the other parks without just using the ride's name?

Actually, it takes 50 seconds to reach the top of the 300 foot towers, so it will probably take just over a minute to get to the top of Stratosoar. And that minute-plus would indeed provide some spectacular views. The only problem is that the carriage doesn't spin until you get to the top, so your view may be somewhat limited, depending on your seat. Though really, from 400 feet, any view should be pretty nice.

RideWarrior18 said:
Those current projections put us at $55 million, well short of the announced $80-$90 million. What does CF have up their sleeve?

Did we ever determine whether or not that $80 million figure included general in-park improvements. You know, non-marquee stuff that we probably wouldn't even notice if it weren't pointed out to us?

RideWarrior18 said:
well short of the announced $80-$90 million.

Where was this "announced"?

I admit I may have missed it, but aren't we just guessing at this number based on past years?

^^I don't think we ever determined that, but isn't the left over $25-35 million a little much for general improvements? Thats an average of $2.3-3.2 million per park.

^If I'm not mistaken, this came from Kinzel, but I do not have a link to confirm that.

JuggaLotus said:

Kyle2154 said:
2 wind seekers down... 2 to go?

Knotts

Cedar Fair's naming team is really dropping the ball on this. I know it would be tough to come up with 5 different names, but couldn't they at least come up with 1 for CP and 1 for the other parks without just using the ride's name?

You never know, maybe that was part of the deal for Mondial to get their name out. Name 3 the same, but CP's gets to be taller and named different.

And as far as CapEx, I agree, lots of cash on the table. Maybe they figure the Wind Seekers are good enough, which is looking like the case, and will be able to save on initial CapEx estimates.

EDIT: CapEx estimates were given during the 2nd quarter earnings call.