Dark Ride Possibilities

^ The same way you keep the basement from flooding... a pump...

Jason Hammond said: A dark ride could provide that cool down as well. But, I'd have to wait in line first. :-)

Well if done right, the queue would be air conditioned too. ;-)

I was always a fan of the pirate ride when it was around. It was simple yet the theme made it like no other. I am not sure if cedar point will ever add a similar ride now that DT is gone.

I'm guessing the arcade makes a lot of money year after year, while a dark ride might provide just a temporary bump in attendance. Not that it's a bad idea, but I suspect they'd want to have a way of offsetting that revenue before they would get rid of the arcade.

^ I'd rather see them put a dark ride in Mean Streak's infield, the old Wildcat location, the old Frontier Wheel location, or even where the turnpike cars are at.

Any of those are a possibility except WildCat's location.

^You could fit a dark ride (multiple stories) there. You could even take out the unused pre-show area for the theater and use that land as well.

Last week I went to several Orlando Disney parks as well as Universal, and I have to say, I was blown away with many of the indoor rides. Granted, Cedar Point is and never will be anything like Disney, but it would still be nice to have a dark ride at least somewhat similar to somthing at Disney or Universal. Soarin' is obviously really cool, and Universal has the best indoor rides I've ever been on. The Spiderman one was awesome. You had to wear 3D glasses, and it's hard to explain but between the visuals, special effects, and car movements, it was an amazing ride. And don't even get me started on the Forbidden Journey at Harry Potter World. I know CP could never pull off something like this, but it made me realize how badly the park is lacking a good dark ride.

Lol...why is it anytime I see harry potter forbidden journey...my mind instantly hits the gutter...

I completely disagree with the notion that Cedar Point could "never pull that off". That's like saying Disney could never pull off Millennium. They could, they simply choose not to. On the same token, Cedar Point makes Gatekeeper, which, frankly, could eat all of Disney's rides for dinner in terms of "thrill factor".

It's all about choice. There was a time when Cedar Point's Pirate Ride inspired Disney...not the other way around.

It's true CP will never be Disney...that's not why we go there. I'm taking my family to Disney next year for a different experience, and there's nothing wrong with that.

What is wrong, though, is to suggest that Cedar Point's utter lack of family rides has anything to do with an inability to do so. They have simply chosen a different path.

^ +1

A path that appears to be changing.

How is it changing exactly? Cedar Point for years and years has been going down the path of thrill rides. That's it's signature and why it's such a famous park.

Dutchman said:
A path that appears to be changing.

Yeah, Gatekeeper is technically a dark ride.

Kevinj said:

What is wrong, though, is to suggest that Cedar Point's utter lack of family rides has anything to do with an inability to do so. They have simply chosen a different path.

I never meant that Cedar Point had the inability to pull off a high quality, indoor ride. I only suggested that, like you pointed out, the park took a different path than Disney. What I was trying to say is that based on its current path, I can't see CP ever adding a dark ride as innovative, costly, and massive as one like the Forbidden Journey. Could I be wrong? Maybe. I was just implying that even if the park doesn't add a dark ride as elaborate as some of the ones at Disney and Universal, the park is still desperately in need of one.

Dutchman said:
A path that appears to be changing.

Oh crap, 52" is a family attraction now. Nevermind, that was STR that was billed as a family attraction.

I love dark rides, but the ones I like the most require to much space for Cedar Point. My all time favorite is Revenge Of The Mummy at Universal in Orlando. Its a perfect ride for cedar point but it takes up a lot of land. I also love The Amazing Adventures of Spider Man. This would take up less room but you need the backing of Universal or Disney to make the ride at the same caliber.
What I think Cedar Point could do is a ride like Mission: SPACE at Epcot. It's intense with the orange side, gentle with the green side, a great simulator, can take up less space, and it has less theming and props for Cedar Point to give up on.

Mission Space was a $100 million ride. Cedar Fair would be unlikely chose a ride like this because they can get just as an effective of a ride for getting people in the gate for 1/4th the cost. Both Mission Space and Millennium Force/Dragster/Maverick are top notch rides, yet all of those coasters cost $25 million or less.

I now know why I loved that ride so much. Oh well maybe Cedar Point will win the PowerBall and decide to splurge on a ride. ;)

For those of you who didn't quite understand what Dutchman was referring to, take a look at the following thread.

http://pointbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/29160.aspx

If you listen to that podcast, Matt Ouimet talks specifically about exploring and developing dark rides for future additions. I believe I also saw him mention it elsewhere but I can't remember where exactly off the top of my head.