Crazy CP rumors and stories.
Hey, CP_genius, you must have been sitting right behind me with that battery story. I had the exact same experience with a double-A that had been left in the footwell of the third seat, right hand side.
One of my favorite wild stories came from the employee who was turning potential riders away from White Water Landing on a rainy day. As you may or may not know, there are optical switch pairs on the run-out at the bottom of the drop for the block safety system...they are housed in little windowed plastic boxes on either side of the drop. I know this now; and I know why rain can be a problem for those, and that they are well outside the splash zone for the boats. I didn't know this then.
I walked up to the gate of the closed ride. "You can't tell me this is closed because of the weather..."
That was my mistake.
The employee proceeded to launch into a tale involving one of the wild turkeys (from beneath Gemini...What ever happened to those, anyway?) getting into a boat and wreaking havoc with the ride. Of course, the story set off my crap detector, and he 'fessed up that indeed, the problem was merely the rainy weather.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
One of my favorite wild stories came from the employee who was turning potential riders away from White Water Landing on a rainy day. As you may or may not know, there are optical switch pairs on the run-out at the bottom of the drop for the block safety system...they are housed in little windowed plastic boxes on either side of the drop. I know this now; and I know why rain can be a problem for those, and that they are well outside the splash zone for the boats. I didn't know this then.
I walked up to the gate of the closed ride. "You can't tell me this is closed because of the weather..."
That was my mistake.
The employee proceeded to launch into a tale involving one of the wild turkeys (from beneath Gemini...What ever happened to those, anyway?) getting into a boat and wreaking havoc with the ride. Of course, the story set off my crap detector, and he 'fessed up that indeed, the problem was merely the rainy weather.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Sheesh Jenn...thanks for coming clean. So it was your crazy stories that I had to hear every day for the first three years I worked there...thanks a lot! Sad thing is how many people were too convinced that all those stories were true. Hey though, I guess no one ever said that all the employees are rocket scientists! :)
OK Jenn - You've inspired me...After all these years of keeping quiet, I confess....I was involved in the start of the rumor to end all rumors. As I recall, the story that was published wasn't even close to as outlandish as the original version that was edited for space in BTL. Anyway, who could believe that because of one little article, my life could have possibly changed so much. Mere weeks after the publishing of that article, I began seeing reports of the greatest coaster in the world sinking into the soil. Even after a published retraction, people wouldn't stop talking. A few weeks after the retraction, a smart CP employee found me out and began hounding me to come forward, of course, I would not....prefering to live in hiding. Well, as some of you may know, I soon left Ohio for other places, but alas, this employee would not stop there. For the last few years I have been dodging the CIA, FBI, FEMA, USDA, UNICEF, and the NBA all of whom had agents out searching for the truth (which was OUT THERE you know). Constantly dodging cameras, bullets, and hidden bugs, my life has been an exciting, glamorous adventure fit for Hollywood. In fact, I have recently sold my story to Steven Spielberg for 1 billion dollars (he had to sell a kidney to afford it!) who will soon be turning it into a movie starring David Duchovny (in a brillant typcasting move)entitled "XL-ent: The Great Lake Erie Sinking Coaster". Upon its release, I have negotiated a deal for 90% of the gross ticket sales, half of which to be deposited into a secret Swiss bank account and half of which to go to building a 1000 foot stand up inverted coaster called "Titanic" (after all, its unsinkable)in each of the Cedar Fair parks for the 2001 season. Wow, who would have thought all of this could come from one little article, and I swear it's all true.
Jenn - Call me. Ain't it nice to be a part of history.
Jenn - Call me. Ain't it nice to be a part of history.
:) Hey Erik my dear... I couldn't help it. I had to tell them. It has been haunting me day and night. Everywhere I turn there it is... I had to come clean.. I just had to. I am still here.. I still have to deal with the phone calls, the guest stopping me on the midways, the Magnum Rides employees telling me their version of how the rumor started.. I just couldnt take it anymore. Besides, I figured if they were going to do something bad to us they would have done it years ago. Good think Katja made us edit that story eh? I can't imagine what the rumors would have been if it hadn't been shortned. By the way.. I am letting you take all the credit. I just proof read it. I am sure I even tried to talk you out of it.I knew it would cause trouble.. my stories were always nice little things like "The History of The Frontier Trail." or " How to impress your manager" or "How to clean the Jungle". "For what it's worth " , I would never have considered doing anything like that ever. I can sleep peacefully now.. knowing that the world knows the truth.. and you, my friend, will never live it down ( me either:) )
Last year in line for power tower I heard a bunch of people talking about how some girls hair got stuck somewhere on the tower that shoots you down and it ripped her hair off.
Also last year (not a rumor) A girl was standing up on the log ride between snake river and mean streak and she fell out going down the hill. She was in the water and the next boat hit her and broke her leg. True story. I'm not 100% on the story, i talked to people getting off and there were people crying and the cedar point officials were giving out free passes. The ambulance came and took a girl away.
Also last year (not a rumor) A girl was standing up on the log ride between snake river and mean streak and she fell out going down the hill. She was in the water and the next boat hit her and broke her leg. True story. I'm not 100% on the story, i talked to people getting off and there were people crying and the cedar point officials were giving out free passes. The ambulance came and took a girl away.
As much as I would like to believe that, Jeffrey, I'm not certain that it is true...and I am not certain that there is any way to verify that it is true.
I'm pretty sure that there have not been any ride related deaths at Cedar Point in my lifetime. But I am not so certain about the first hundred years.
As for the Corkscrew myth that E. posted...that is most certainly a myth. One could safely ride Corkscrew with the shoulder bars removed and not come out of the train. Well, except maybe that second hill, but even at that, an UNlocked shoulder bar would be enough to keep a rider inside the train.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
I'm pretty sure that there have not been any ride related deaths at Cedar Point in my lifetime. But I am not so certain about the first hundred years.
As for the Corkscrew myth that E. posted...that is most certainly a myth. One could safely ride Corkscrew with the shoulder bars removed and not come out of the train. Well, except maybe that second hill, but even at that, an UNlocked shoulder bar would be enough to keep a rider inside the train.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Here's a myth from an UNreliable source- if you were to unbuckle the seatbelts (on the restraints) on RAPTOR, the trains (equiped with individual brakes) would immediately stop. Evidentely this has happened on more that a few occassions.
Oh, and one more for good measure (different source, yet just as UNreliable). A year or two after MAGNUM opened they were going to enclose the trains because the wind gusts were too strong- people were getting injured by holding their hands up on the hills and getting them blown back into their faces. There were many people supposedly driven to the hospital with broken noses and such.
What some people choose to believe...
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"To ALCOHOL- the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems."
--Homer J. Simpson
Oh, and one more for good measure (different source, yet just as UNreliable). A year or two after MAGNUM opened they were going to enclose the trains because the wind gusts were too strong- people were getting injured by holding their hands up on the hills and getting them blown back into their faces. There were many people supposedly driven to the hospital with broken noses and such.
What some people choose to believe...
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"To ALCOHOL- the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems."
--Homer J. Simpson
Jeff,
I know im like 3 dayz late on this one, but I too saw the thing in PCXL. That magazine is the best. If your a gamer. GET IT. ok now onto the rest of the post. I seriously doubt the Raptor would immediately stop if someone unbuckled the seatbelt on the restraint. If you think about it, that could be dangerous. Say someone unbuckled the seatbelt in the middle of the Cobra Roll, part of the train would almost be or entirely be inverted. Same thing on the Inline Twist. But thats my 1 and a 1/2 cents.
I know im like 3 dayz late on this one, but I too saw the thing in PCXL. That magazine is the best. If your a gamer. GET IT. ok now onto the rest of the post. I seriously doubt the Raptor would immediately stop if someone unbuckled the seatbelt on the restraint. If you think about it, that could be dangerous. Say someone unbuckled the seatbelt in the middle of the Cobra Roll, part of the train would almost be or entirely be inverted. Same thing on the Inline Twist. But thats my 1 and a 1/2 cents.
Somewhat Chewey, you get the big "annnhhh---you're wrong". ;) It is indeed a myth that any of the coasters have individual lapbar/seatbelt sensors on them. The only major thrill ride at cp with this type of safety device is power tower with its electric contact plate.
Here's one for ya. It's a ghost story!!! Rumor had it that one of the old wings of the hotel Breakers was haunted by spirits that were trapped when one of the wings of the Hotel Breakers caught on fire "back in the day" due to the lack of firewalls. When guests complained that they weren't just hearing chains on the roller coasters at the park, but also while trying to sleep at night, Mr. Von der Vice, the manager of the resorts, took action to remove the unwanted guests--no not my Dad's grandchildren; the ghosts!! They then planned the demolition of the old wings, and building of the the East and Tower Sections to rectify the problem--sort of an excorcism. There were still a few areas of the breakers that employees who work there say were haunted, though, including the two very creepy, dimly lit hall ways where employees stay behind the old tiffany stained glass windows on the second floor of the main lobby. CP hired a spirit interpreter, to meet the ghosts' demands, and that's how we ended up with Halloweekends and the closing of the Pirate Ride!!! Scary Stuff!
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Dave Kochman
Who has also throughly scared himself... :)
Here's one for ya. It's a ghost story!!! Rumor had it that one of the old wings of the hotel Breakers was haunted by spirits that were trapped when one of the wings of the Hotel Breakers caught on fire "back in the day" due to the lack of firewalls. When guests complained that they weren't just hearing chains on the roller coasters at the park, but also while trying to sleep at night, Mr. Von der Vice, the manager of the resorts, took action to remove the unwanted guests--no not my Dad's grandchildren; the ghosts!! They then planned the demolition of the old wings, and building of the the East and Tower Sections to rectify the problem--sort of an excorcism. There were still a few areas of the breakers that employees who work there say were haunted, though, including the two very creepy, dimly lit hall ways where employees stay behind the old tiffany stained glass windows on the second floor of the main lobby. CP hired a spirit interpreter, to meet the ghosts' demands, and that's how we ended up with Halloweekends and the closing of the Pirate Ride!!! Scary Stuff!
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Dave Kochman
Who has also throughly scared himself... :)
Closed topic.