Cedar Point's 2011 ride will target thrill seekers

Captain Crunch said:
CP has an excellent track record on safety and I think this ride has too many uncontrollables for the park to build. No matter what measures you have in place or how safe the manufacturer says it is, it's still just a chair on a wire/chain a couple of hundred of feet in the air. Way too carnival for CP.

So the park needs to tear out the Wave Swinger? The only difference would be that it only goes maybe 30' in the air. Probably not enough to kill you but if the wire/chain concept is really that unsafe shouldn't we have seen a whole bunch of people go flying off of it by now?

I'd have to say that those are two completely different scenarios that should probably not even be compared. The wave swinger holds mostly children which normally weigh a lot less than people interested in a thrill ride and goes a lot slower than a thrill ride version would go.

^^Well, what about Ripcord? You're just hanging from a cable too. In fact, they don't even give you a chair! ;)

Ohh...touche..but still, there is a difference. Who's side are you on anyway? ;)

I was just on the CP website and noticed something that I haven't noticed before. It's probably nothing but I'll share it with you anway. At the bottom of the page where it has the facebook, twitter, and youtube stuff it now has a link to their one sponsor Red Gold Ketchup. I have never seen them put a link to any of their sponsors on the main page of the website. It is obviously a legit company and sponsor but I can't figure out why it would get special treatment on the home page...

I still think it is going to be a wooden twister. I can't see Cedar Point building an enormous Wave Swinger. The reference to the past, and as I have argued many times before, the four year coaster gap makes me think we are going to see a Wooden Twister called Cyclone. Isn't next year also Kinzel's final year as CEO? Unless he re-ups, I would imagine he would want to go out with a roller coaster being installed at Cedar Fair's flagship park. At the very least we can all agree that at a time when amusement parks are hungry for new customers, a roller coaster will bring in more people than a giant Wave Swinger.

If the ride is going to be a Star Flyer, then the Intamin part of it--SYSTEM ERROR--

Sorry about that. That subject has been delayed.

Anyway, we are due for a coaster...but then again, the cycle may have been stopped for a year due to the economy. After all, Shoot the Rapids was originally planned for 2009, but

"The decision [to build STR] was made three or four years ago, Decker said. When the economy sank, the ride was put off a year. Cedar Point built a cheaper new attraction for 2009, the $1 million Starlight Experience light show."

Maybe this possible Star Flyer was originally intended for this year, with a 2011 coaster. Instead, the coaster will likely be set for 2012. If that's the case, I want the 2012 coaster to tell us that the Mayan Apocalypse IS going to happen and the world will end 12/21/2012!!! In terms of thrills and record breaking statistics, of course. A 500 footer (with an elevator lift), or a looping wooden hypercoaster that tells us what Son of Beast should have been.

--ERROR FIXED--The Intamin version of the Star Flyer would feature a more secure locking mechanism for the seats, and it would resolve any of the other safety issues present in existing rides...and given Intamin, create new ones...

Sorry to get off topic but I just thought I should mention that 12/21/12 is my twentieth birthday..

So the park needs to tear out the Wave Swinger? The only difference would be that it only goes maybe 30' in the air. Probably not enough to kill you but if the wire/chain concept is really that unsafe shouldn't we have seen a whole bunch of people go flying off of it by now?

But my point is, a safety issue @ 300ft. is a HECK of alot different than one @ 30 ft.. And new rides always have issues of some sort...maybe not fatal ones but, man, I'd hate to be stuck up there while they figure it out.

See, I'm not so sure I agree with you. I suspect that a catastrophic failure on Wave Swinger (i.e., a complete breakage of the chains while elevated and traveling at speed) will kill you just as dead as a 300' Starflyer. Of course, it would kill you much, much faster. But dead is still dead.

I remeber years ago at maybe a fair or something a ride like Wave Swinger broke causing at least one death if not mutiple deaths. If memory serves I think the chair snapped from the cables. So I tend to agree that even on wave swinger if something were to snap a smaller person would definately die and an average person would be seriously harmed or die.

That's all true but the thing is, on a wave swinger, if something broke and people fell, they could die but there is still a chance that they could just be severely injured. On a 300' thingy there is no chance in surviving that unless you are some superhuman freak type thing.

Or possibly if the momentum carries you far enough out over the lake and you happen to be an extreme high diver...

Where did this crazy rumor about a star flyer come from?

What about that would bring back memories?

It is not reminiscent of the Sea Swing at all. The Sea Swing was in the water, and was so low that you hit the water...so it was, in essence, a "soaker" water ride, and we all know how popular those are around here ;)

The only thing it has in common with the Sea Swing is that it spins. If you call that bringing back memories, well...I'm not sure what to say.

I don't think anybody was implying that they were the same type of ride just that they had the same concept of being near (or in) the water and they spun around and kinda had the same sort of look to them.

I'm not totally convinced that this type of ride would invoke memories of the Sea Swing. Of course, they would probably call it that if this is the case.

If we just happened to get a Starflyer, for those that have ridden them, do they make you feel more or less nauseous than say MaxAir?

I can't get over what a great view of CP this ride would be, and how eerie it'd feel at night on the beach. I'd rather have a new roller coaster or drop tower, but this moves strongly to #3 on my list.

Hmm. Hadn't thought about riding such a contraption at night; that would be quite a rush.

And I'm not even in the "teen market". :)

Ffej said:
do they make you feel more or less nauseous than say MaxAir?

It depends on what makes you nauseous. Is it the varying motion, the height or something completely different. Because if your concern is the motion of the ride, it's quite similar to Wave swinger except that the top doesn't tilt. If your concerned with the height, the one in Orlando is a few hundred feet tall IIRC.

Roller coaster/thrill ride aside, I think maybe they are starting "so early" because they are re-vamping the entire beach side area...putting in a boardwalk, maybe moving some rides around, more restaurants/snack joints or something of that sort. Just a thought =)

I do wish we were getting a roller coaster but it seems as though we probably are not...this star flyer thing sounds kinda fun I suppose!