December 11th Announcement

Let's discuss the "biggest" of the 2020 announcements here.

It would seem the possibilities are mostly wide-open, from a dark-ride installation somewhere in the park, to a boardwalk expansion (or maybe the installation of actual boards), to some kind of upgrade with a historical nod to further acknowledge the park's anniversary.

Discuss.

Hopefully a return of parking operations to the way they were under John Hildebrandt, and maybe return of sweeps if the crowds are going to like they were at the end of the year.

Yes to the sweeps. You can definitely tell sweeps are absent after these past few seasons.

It's a paddle wheel ride return. They already have essentially said that & Knotts brought back a ride for the100th,CP is doing the same for 150th

Likely not a possibility, but I would love to see them turn the plaza by wind seeker/WT turned into a transitional area between beach/boardwalk and park. Bring back a bathhouse with restrooms on both sides, places to change and clean up when going to or leaving the beach.

Maybe throw in a quick serve food/snack window or even park a food truck or 2 out on the boardwalk side so people don’t have to walk all the way down to the sand bar or surf lounge -give people easy access to head out there if it gets crowded in the park - make it even more of a part of the overall experience.

It’s a fun thing to think about, regardless of feasibility.

CED23 said:

It's a paddle wheel ride return. They already have essentially said that & Knotts brought back a ride for the100th,CP is doing the same for 150th

The Paddle wheel ride return (or whatever it will be) has already been announced. The 12/11 announcement is for something else. Something "bigger".

From an atmosphere angle, I would agree the WT/Windseeker area is in need of some love. I would extend that need into the Kiddie-Kingdom area as well.

Not trying to be that guy, but where does it say that there is going to be something big? I’m under the impression that December 11th will be the date that all details are unveiled, considering the very vague announcement that was already released. Yes, the Paddlewheel ride has been announced, but we don’t know anything about it. I just assumed that’s what the announcement would be about.

You're correct; what "biggest portion" is referring to is certainly open to interpretation.

https://www.cedarpoint.com/blog/looking-ahead-to-2020

"...our team is particularly excited to unveil the biggest portion of new offerings for our sesquicentennial season on Wednesday, December 11th – and that date is no coincidence. It begins the 150-day countdown to our opening day on Saturday, May 9."

It doesn't sound like a ride to me; it sounds more like some great improvements to an area of the park. But when you take these words combined with one of Tony's tweets about being excited to type something up, it puts it all up in the air.

Perhaps. If that’s the case, maybe that is also why they extended the $99 Gold Pass sales to January. Hype everything up right before Christmas, get the sales, and up the price at the beginning of the New Year. Smart move, but I’m still skeptical whether they can pull guest satisfaction off next season.

If there is more to the announcement, consider me in favor of giving the WS/WT area some much needed love. And maybe even reconfigure/redo the WT queues for the THIRD time, since guests think the entrance to the ride requires them to climb through the “cattle crossing gate” since 2011.

Kevinj said:

CED23 said:

It's a paddle wheel ride return. They already have essentially said that & Knotts brought back a ride for the100th,CP is doing the same for 150th

The Paddle wheel ride return (or whatever it will be) has already been announced. The 12/11 announcement is for something else. Something "bigger".

From an atmosphere angle, I would agree the WT/Windseeker area is in need of some love. I would extend that need into the Kiddie-Kingdom area as well.

Paddle wheel ride has not been officially announced. Guarantee 99% people of people that attend parks have no idea, besides the1% of guests that are the ones on forums. Also, they have given no details beyond a one sentence vague reference . That is the likely Dec 11 announcement & maybe the other retro stuff they were vague about,, like food, etc..

It was announced.

https://www.beaconjournal.com/news/20190815/cedar-point-plans-for-its-150th-anniversary-in-2020---river-boat-excursion-to-return-but-no-new-coaster-in-sight

That said, it is possible that "biggest portions" means getting into the exact details of that new river expedition.

Also note, I think it’s hard for a lot of us to believe that something of epic proportion (okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration) is to come for next season because of how late the announcement will be. Maybe all of the land clearing (ie: Sandcastle), portable stages (ie: WT area), and Monster Truck courses (ie: Cedars location) are part of the construction for 2020 (whether it be big or small) that has been right in front of our eyes the entire time?

That's the part I find exciting. It may be something most of us consider unlikely, but it's still possible.

Folks, I doubt very much that the December 11 announcement is a logistics one. It’s not going to focus on bathrooms, bath houses, parking, sweeps, or staffing. I also doubt that it will be a significant attraction installation as likely we would have seen signs ahead of time.

However, it is most likely to be a bundle announcement: a complete lineup of new shows, food offerings, merchandise, yes more details on the Paddlewheel along with the unveiling of what the new town hall will be like. Throw in a few surprises that none of us will have thought of and there you go.

Could there be a log flume? Sure, I suppose. Could it be all new toll booths and an expanded gateway into the park? Doubtful but not unrealistic.

Frankly I think it’ll be a here’s everything new in 2020 announcement.

Hello. long time reader on the forum and now a member (again f you count the last posts I added over 10 years ago). Cedar Point is my "home park" and I have grown up with it over the better part of my life. My first coaster was Blue Streak.

A couple thoughts on this topic...

1. An earlier interview also discussed possible updates at the Coliseum (nothing specific was said at the time). Ir would be nice if they would upgrade the arcade games to swipe cards, open a small snack bar, bring back Fascination in the part where the took out the classic games and enclose the lower level with air conditioning.

2. There is still ample time to add a flat ride or 2 to the park next year (and this is still an area that needs attention). Maybe they would be able to acquire, refurb and install a couple classics as they did for other parks? I still look at those giant umbrellas and wish Trabant were back there next to Scrambler for example.

We'll see next month.

I wonder when they're going to get around to replacing Frontier Town's asphalt, since it's one of the few areas that hasn't been touched up recently. A stamped, stained concrete would be pretty nice back there.

There are several areas in the park where a fresh and uniform surface would do wonders for overall general appearance. I agree with Frontier Town being one of those areas.

I honestly don't mind the asphalt in Frontier Town. It's not in disrepair. Based on Cedar Fair's M.O. I would think the adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." would apply here.

That's not CF's M.O.

The beach wasn't "broke", yet they improved it (massively). SC wasn't "broke", yet they improved it. The facade of CCMR wasn't "broke", yet they improved it. The Gemini midway wasn't "broke", yet they improved it. The boardwalk wasn't "broke", yet they improved it. And so on.

Nevertheless I would argue that the mere existence of asphalt equates to being "broke". CP has a grand total of two water rides in the park, and you need to traverse the only asphalt in the park to ride them. That's kind of ridiculous.

Part of the ground is the Roots of the Trees that can't be fixed. The only thing that is bothering me is the bridge. A lot of the Rocks and Ground are breaking up.