Dark Ride Possibilities

Here's my 2 cents.

Despite my disappointment with the ride, I really like the fact that CP pulled "shoot the rapids" out of the nostalgia box. Yes, part of the culture and identity of Cedar Point is it's ever-changing landscape, and I love that as well. But, I'm a sucker for nostalgia, and I really think it serves a multi-layered purpose when a place like CP makes a nod to the past.

I'm 35, meaning I grew up with the Pirate Ride at Cedar Point as the king of all dark rides. I really feel bad for those of you who are either too young to remember, or simply never had the chance to experience it, but it really was something that nothing...and I mean nothing...even comes close to at Cedar Point today. You could argue that the outside of the ride (the animated figures, pirate ship, etc) was just a part of the experience as the inside.

Point being? Nothing would make me happier than for Cedar Point to revisit this theme as a reboot of an old classic...and I mean classic in every sense of the word. For those of you who do not know, it's actually been argued that Cedar Point's Pirate Ride was actually the inspiration for Disney's now iconic attraction (although I believe it was at a park called Frontier USA or something like that at the time).

So that's my wish.

Or two crazy outrageous ideas that will probably never happen.
Option A: move parking to the mainland. Have some type of transportation to the peninsula and turn the current parking log into the park.
Option B (even more unrealistic): move all hotels onto the mainland and add more to the park there.

Dark rides plus a lot of room for expansion.

Whoever keeps saying that we need more rides where the whole family can ride together is so right :) the park just took out one of the very few rides that grandma all the way to an infant can ride at the same time: Paddlewheel excursions.

The only other rides like that are: skyride, the train, ferris wheel, walking with a stroller in the midway, and a bench. The park needs a good dark ride, and I really love the wild west frontier town idea. it's not too elaborate of a theme, like at Disney, but simple enough, as most people "get" a wild west theme anyway :)

also, who so some people on here keep saying they want a flyer? There is nothing that special about them, I just go to kings island if I want a good flyer.

Miss_Maverick07 said:
also, who so some people on here keep saying they want a flyer? There is nothing that special about them, I just go to kings island if I want a good flyer.

You call that a good flyer? I would be awesome to see a good B&M flyer at CP. something like Manta at Sea World Orlando, but bigger, faster, etc.

If Ceder Point ever builds a flyer, please God let it be this one.

The moving the parking lot to the mainland idea sounds great and all but wouldn't that defeat the purpose of Gatekeeper... keeping gates? It would be in the center of the park. I suppose the entrance could move and the keyhole towers stay if this idea actually happened.

Picklesthedrummer said:
...I believe they defiantly would...

First things first...

defiantly
- Marked by defiance; boldly resisting

definitely
- Indisputable; certain

Picklesthedrummer said:
My point is that it is more cost efficient to build a high caliber roller coaster than a high caliber dark ride.

Again, where are you getting this information from? And what are your metrics for efficiency?

If you're suggesting there's better ROI from a roller coaster than a Disney-level dark ride, then I'd recommend a glance at the operating margins of Disney and Cedar Fair. Disney invests a lot more money than Cedar Fair, but Disney also has a much higher profit margin.

It's true that CF cannot financially justify a Disney-level attraction, but that's a result of Disney's access to IP and their parks being open year-round.

Getting back to your point, you have to remember that the measure of impact of an attraction isn't simply the number of bodies coming through the gate. It's the measure of how much each of those bodies spend, on average. Straight from the mouth of the Cedar Fair CEO, families (the target of dark rides) spend more per person than do teens (the target of thrill rides). By that measure, it seems that it's more cost efficient to spend $25 million on a dark ride than it is to spend the same amount on a thrill ride.

I glanced through this thread, and I don't see where anyone has mentioned Knoebel's, where the Haunted House is one of the best dark rides ever. It's a bit of a misnomer, and not a "haunted" house by today's gory standard. But customers, old and young alike, line up all day to ride thru and they jump out of their seats every time. Enthusiasts love it as well. It's old fashioned fun that in voting arenas ranks right up there with Disney and Universal rides.

So here's my idea. Cedar Point should repurpose the Pirate Ride building into an old fashioned bump-thru-the-doors dark ride with traditional, startling stunts designed to make riders scream, jump, and laugh. There's a tradition of rides like this at CP, dating back to Berardi's Pretzel ride, thru the Earthquake and Pirate rides. The facade could be kookie/retro, which would fit in with the traditional feel of the Blue Streak midway. The building is probably the right size but could be expanded toward Raptor if necessary. They could go ahead and call it Laff in the Dark and that would be fine with me.

I've been around the country and have tried many, many dark rides, and honestly, if I see one more crappy cartoon themed shoot 'em up dark ride I think I'll croak. (I'm looking at you, Gobbler Getaway) You don't need Disney, Universal, or even Sally money to make something fantastic that people will remember, talk about, and want to ride over and over.

I'm not sure whether or not anyone has mentioned the idea. I think that it would be great to have a Halloween themed dark rides (themed to the Peanuts Halloween special). I could picture this as an interactive ride (like Boo Blasters) where you would try to catch Great Pumpkins in a Pumpkin Patch and then maybe fly with Snoopy trying to shoot down the Red Baron. Or maybe two side by side dark rides offering a choice or a random encounter with one of those scenarios.

^I mentioned an idea similar to this. It involved the Snoopy/Red baron/Peanuts themes, and would have scenes from the various Peanuts and Charlie Brown holiday specials.

I was attending media day as media personnel for COASTER-net. We work with Devin Olson Media and they were there making a documentary called "From Dreams to Screams." I was able to sit next to Devin and his team while they interviewed John Hildebrandt and he said something that really caught me off guard.

Devin asked John if they had any future plans to add a family attraction to replace both DT and SS. John said, "I can't go into detail, but I am a big fan of dark rides. We'll just leave it at that."

I will post the documentary here as soon as Devin and his team finish editing. Although that may be several weeks/months away.

^ I've never been on a great dark ride, here's to hoping Cedar Point does it right (I know they will)

^^ Whoa! That makes it sound almost like a done deal. Interesting... I think a dark ride would be a great fit for CP and would certainly diversify their attraction lineup.

I would honestly be shocked if the next attraction is not a dark ride type ride. And there are so many types of dark rides out there I am sure they will do it justice. I vote bring back the pirate ride!!!

Another vote for the Pirate Ride brought back but redone. The building is still there, still has the cannons sticking out.

Something like a rollicky Mr. Toad's Wild Ride would be fun. I wouldn't want a shooter ride or where I'd have to *do something* but rather a passive experience to sit back and laugh and enjoy the views. The point for me is a break but still enjoyable and feeling a part of the experience. Also, wouldn't want to see their first dark ride back being a virtual experience either. I would prefer something more tangible like the dark rides of the past. But I wonder if the old cinema would be good for some kind of virtual experience.

Didn't get to ride Earthquake, but really liked Pirate Ride. Didn't make sense to close it down. I think the best dark ride ever would be the Smurf ride at KI. The air conditioning and gentle ride. I'd love to see that one come back!

redsfan said:
Didn't get to ride Earthquake, but really liked Pirate Ride. Didn't make sense to close it down. I think the best dark ride ever would be the Smurf ride at KI. The air conditioning and gentle ride. I'd love to see that one come back!

The predecessor of the Smurf ride, Enchanted Voyage was beautiful. So disappointed when they changed but the Smurfs were very popular and shows change.

That would be awesome if Cedar Point could do anything close to that.

One of my favorite rides at Disney is Splash Mountain, a combo of a traditional flume and boat dark ride. Cedar Point could cover both missing pieces from their park with something like that, albeit not as elaborate as the Disney version.

3snoH un=l said:
Another vote for the Pirate Ride brought back but redone. The building is still there, still has the cannons sticking out.

Look at the photo here for the Haunted Barrel Works. Look familiar?

http://www.centreisland.ca/rides-and-attractions.aspx#

^ Oh, my a familiar face! That's great! Brings back memories! How did you find this?

Well, what I mean is, the footprint is there to work within, they wouldn't have to raze anything, I assumed all the figures and cars had been trashed.

I think it would be a draw because it brings the nostalgic riders who want their kids to experience the same thing they did when they were a kid.

I found that here:

http://www.dafe.org/articles/darkrides/hauntedBarrelWorks.html

Interestingly, watching a POV of the ride it appears to have a few gags VERY similar to some I remember in the Upside Down Funhouse.

I understand what you're saying about the old Pirate Ride building, but maybe it's dedicated to Boo Hill or what ever it's called on Halloweekends.