CoasterMania 2018

^In that regard I disagree. A certain website/group did very much actively mock the people trying to save Big Dipper. They even bought a web domain specifically to mock them. But I do agree that the situations were very different. One ride was worth saving, the other was not. And Cartwright nailed the park/enthusiast relationship on the head a few posts ago.

Plus, the folks that saved Giant Dipper were serious, had a plan, and ultimately saved the coaster. Cedar Fair literally gave people nine years to "have at it" with Big Dipper before they demolished it. There were no honest, legitimate plans made during those nine years to purchase and/or save the coaster. They just as easily could have demolished it after the auction (or even before!)

My brother, who lives in San Diego, turned me onto the Giant Dipper in 1994. I'd known about ACE for a long time, and joined after riding and learning the history of the ride. Preservation is a good thing.

Change is Good.

Without change, things stay the same and ultimately will stagnate and die.

Skydiver said:

Preservation is a good thing.

In some cases.... But not in others. :)

Good point. I would have to agree!

Big Dipper was a coaster with single lap bars, true floating off your seat, and no dividers. They don't really make them like that any more. Maybe somebody could, but they'd have to pay out the nose to insurance companies, custom-make their own trains because all currently made trains have dividers, and the operator would have hell to pay if something *did* happen, even if the rider was acting up to cause it.

Did anybody really *not* like it? I can't imagine Giant Dipper at Belmont is that much better, but it was saved through community action, including the participation of enthusiasts.

Big Dipper is not the same as Son of Beast, which was a nearly universally reviled coaster that had actual major construction issues.

There's something to be said about a classic boardwalk coaster though, as compared to a "good" coaster in the middle of nowhere. It's not an apples to apples comparison.

Big Dipper was an OK ride which to me was fun but not especially thrilling. Plus there was no knee room in the trains so the seating was somewhat uncomfortable. I don't care that it was demolished and if it was relocated I wouldn't go out of my way to ride it again.

Rode Big Dipper once at SFWoA in 2003. Didn’t care for it...

Dutchman said:

I seem to recall that Coastermania was originally thought up Jack Falfas.

I'm not sure when Jack started with the company, but to the best of my knowledge, the first CoasterMania was in 1978. I forget where I got the information from, but that's what I have on my timeline on my website. And my information came from various sources, which I obviously didn't take the time to site (as I should have).

"Cedar Point holds first CoasterMania. (June 30) The event ran through July 2. About 140 people attended event, which was sponsored by park and the popular culture department of Bowling Green State University."

I don't know if it was at this event or a Media Day (did they exist then?), but I have seen footage of enthusiasts reviewing the ride. "It's so steep, it's like you're going straight down." "It's so fast!" :-) I saw the video footage at a past ACE convention, so it's possible that the footage I saw wasn't even from 1978, as ACE wasn't even founded until 1978 and the first convention was at Busch Gardens: The Old Country. I'm not sure if they had other organized events that early on.

Jack hired me to work in 1974, he had been seasonal supervisor a couple of years prior to that. Saying that, I'd say he had some input on the creation of Coastermania. He took the concept with him when he assumed the position in California (1997-98?)

Big Dipper was overrated.

1978 is correct for the first Coaster Mania, I have a copy of the program and brochures that were given out. Produced by the Cedar Point Marketing Dept. and the Popular Culture Department of Bowling Green State University.

Big Dipper was my first ever "big coaster". I was really young so I don't remember much from that day but I do recall enjoying it more than Raging Wolf Bobs. Lol

Looking over my Coastermania brochures dating back to 1996,

-the 1998 Coastermania was advertised as the 10th.

-the 2010 Coastermania was advertised as the 22nd.

-the 2004 Coastermania was Saturday September 18.

-the 2007 Coastermania was the 3rd Friday of June.

-the 2009 and 2010 Coastermanias were Friday AND Saturday events.

-the 2012 Coastermania was moved to the 2nd Friday in June because of ACEs' May 18-20 spring conference at CP.

-the 97 thru 01 brochures indicated additional tickets could be purchased for up to 3 non-club members.

-the 02 thru 09 brochures indicated an additional ticket could be purchased for a non-club member.

The shift in 2004 was also because of ACE. They had their annual convention at Cedar Point, Memphis Kiddie Park and Geauga Lake that year. Over 300 enthusiasts went to ride Little Dipper at Kiddie Park that week. :-)

I always thought CM started informally around 1979, and didn't really occur again until Magnum first opened. Then became an annual event a short time after.

I'm not sure of how many events happened in the early days. But, when magnum opened, they called it MagnumMania. From what I can tell, the name change happened in 1992.

1991 - MagnumMania was on June 7th

1992 - CoasterMania was on June 5th

Yep, thought it was something like that. The name kind of evolved.