Flat Ride Reboot

As much as I love cedar point consistently achieving the biggest and best rollercoaster every so many years, I would love to see a reboot of some of the old flat rides that I remember growing up as a kid.. For a much smaller investment in the years between new coasters they should bring back new and improved versions of the ROTOR, Bayern Curve, Schwabirchin, funhouse, and especially EARTHQUAKE as a new dark ride. Maybe it's just fond memories but i miss these quick family rides between coasters and they way they used to look in their glory days with working lights and cheesy decor. Any thoughts on how they can bring back newer better versions or any other past classics I may be forgetting?

I don't know about rebooting some of the flat rides, but I would really enjoy a water ride that doesn't get you absolutely soaked. I remember with Mill Race and White Water Landing, we used to get a little wet, then go ride Gemini to dry off.

I do think a new version of Earthquake would have tremendous potential for a new dark ride.

Getting a new state of the art darkride would be a dream come true for me.

A nice flume that wouldn't completely soak would be nice. I miss the Mill Race and the old Shoot the Rapids.

darkrider68 said:
A nice flume that wouldn't completely soak would be nice. I miss the Mill Race and the old Shoot the Rapids.

Not a fan of the new Shoot the Rapids? It doesnt get you that wet!

Not a fan of the new Shoot the Rapids? It doesnt get you that wet!

Whoops. This is kinda embarrassing. I don't think I've ever ridden it!! I'll have to hit it this summer.

I remember getting to ride it in the commercial in the front row, before they got the splash guards, and my bottom half got completely soaked

I would love to see stuff like power tower getting a new launch sequence (if that is even possible) and Troika getting a little spruce up or even Matterhorn running backwards like many types of that ride do

You don't get wet on the new Shoot the Rapids...are you kidding???? Depending on where you sit, you get soaked -- and the water inside the trains soaks your shoes as it sloshes back and forth...the old flumes got you damp on the last hill, and maybe dripped a few drops of water on you as you passed underneath themeing...not sure people want to get soaked on flume rides. Witness the huge popularity of "Race for your life, Charlie Brown" at Kings Island vs the pretty small lines for Shoot the Rapids at CP.

I think the big issue at CP is not the lack of flat rides -- they have a good selection of them -- but the lack of "unique" flat rides anymore....with the removal of Space SPiral, and the Paddlewheels, and both Earthquake and the Pirate Ride, and the Fun House, and White Water Landing, and the giant slide, etc etc etc they have yearly removed more and more of what made the old CP unique and they have replaced them with coasters instead without matching the flat-ride/family attraction quotient...

At least in my experiences, I have gotten pretty soaks on Shoot the Rapids. It is no Snake River Falls, but riders on STR are sitting wet in the boat for a few minutes, making it a pretty dreadful experience. As RonAnnArbor said, "Race for your Life, Charlie Brown" always has huge lines. It is a great family ride.

I was just talking about this on my last trip. I hate that they don't have a ride that doesn't get you completely soaked. I've never actually been on str or srf, just because we never want to go through the hassle of changing clothes, bringing swimsuits, carrying them around, finding a spot for phones, it's just not worth it. Especially if you don't go that often like me. Every time I go by str I get disappointed as the people walking off are soaked. It would be awesome if it didn't get you soaked. Maybe it could be modified eventually, but who knows. I wish the same would be for thunder canyon. Everyone could be misted, but not soaked. And when the dinos leave the island, they could be moved over to thunder canyon, and be labeled as a brand new themed attraction. (Search Jurassic park river adventure). As for flat rides I would love to see a flying scooter ride as the one at Michigans adventure is really fun. The line moves slow though.

Shoes will get soaked! But if we dont get the front seat, we get sprinkled with water. Unless we take a direct hit from one of the water bombs!

I wear water shoes when we do the water rides. Either keep them in the wagon, or come in the park from Breakers dressed in swim clothes and water shoes, then head into Soak City!

I would love to see a large capacity flying scooter ride, like the size of WindSeeker...maybe not quite as tall. A dark ride would also be a welcome addition.

This is what I'd like to see with some of the flat rides:

Troika- way longer ride cycle, new lights

scrambler- new lights

calypso- this ride I had a problem with ever since I have seen photos of it from the 70s, they need to add all the old décor to it and bring back that centerpiece.

super Himalaya- longer ride and also run it backwards!

chaos- miss it

They also need a darkride like earthquake or pirate ride, and a double ferris wheel.

I do not see CP giving rides
The longer run cycles. On some of the rides it is actually pretty long but since it is a
Ride it feels shorter. For example, when you are waiting in line of say Calypso, it seems to go on forever but the ride seems short. As
Much as I too would like to see
Longer cycles, I think CP has if just about right.

As
For your other ideas, I would love to see some of those happen, especially Super Himalaya running backwards.

It would be so nice to see a ride like Chaos come back, but it would have to be revamped and up to date. That thing was awesome, but more like a death trap.

RonAnnArbor said:

I think the big issue at CP is not the lack of flat rides -- they have a good selection of them -- but the lack of "unique" flat rides anymore....with the removal of Space SPiral, and the Paddlewheels, and both Earthquake and the Pirate Ride, and the Fun House, and White Water Landing, and the giant slide, etc etc etc they have yearly removed more and more of what made the old CP unique and they have replaced them with coasters instead without matching the flat-ride/family attraction quotient...

The CP of my youth(1975-1984) is my favorite amusement park bar none. I travel to other parks today to try to get similar experiences of those days. It's angered me over the years that they have gotten rid of most of my favorite attractions, but I still consider CP my home park and have come to a level of acceptance with hope for the future.

Anyway it seems I'm not the only one who aches for something different. I wonder if there is enough of us to make it worthwhile for CP to add something new along those lines?

What I would like to see is a return to the old school method of creating rides, and have the internal maintenance department create something in house.

It sounds almost impossible, but The Beast at Kings Island was built by the people in that park that had to fix and maintain ride operations. Arguably, this is one of the best wooden coasters in the world - even decades after it was built. Who else in the industry knows more about what would fit a park and would take a deeper pride in creating something really special.

Disney has done this for years (granted, they have a huge budget), Knobels (although perpetually delayed) is working on a old time barrel coaster in house (and they are way smaller than CF), and Six Flags is running several of their coasters with backwards trains (something the manufacturers likely didn't favor over selling something new).

Not only would it restore the internal creativity that is badly needed at CF, it would also reduce costs and remove the cookie cutter approach we have seen with rides like Windseeker at every park in the chain.

Lastly, these guys know what runs and what constantly breaks. They would likely steer away from anything they would have to babysit and that equates to more uptime for us.

Yea. The new Black Diamond at Knoebels is fantastic. It's even a revamped version of an old ride.

Chaos will never come back...lol..not beating that dead horse

As for Super running backwards...this would be INCREDIBLE..but after understanding the ride...it's never going to..However if brakes aren't hit at the right time, you can go backwards until the ride finds it's natural stopping point ^_^

Bret said:
I don't know about rebooting some of the flat rides, but I would really enjoy a water ride that doesn't get you absolutely soaked. I remember with Mill Race and White Water Landing, we used to get a little wet, then go ride Gemini to dry off.

I do think a new version of Earthquake would have tremendous potential for a new dark ride.

Don't want to get TOO wet?!? ....one option is to be a nerd like me :> and wear the silly blue CP poncho on the ride. I know, it is silly~admittingly~ and defeats the reason of a water ride, but I HATE walking around in wet clingy clothes for the afternoon. No fun to be chaffed the rest of the day! LOL

My vote would be for a return of the FunHouse...most people that do remember the Funhouse, mention the upside down room with Granny in her rocker with the cat.

• Restore Calypso to its original glory
• add one of these http://www.gerstlauer-rides.de/products/flat-rides/sky-fly-en-US/
• new state of art dark ride
• add one of these http://www.chancerides.com/rides/unicoaster_video.html
• and do something about the Monster, that thing has terrible capacity. Either remove it or computerize the loading system.
• Redo kiddy kingdom and put in a new giant slide, junior coaster, and refurbish the current flats.

Call it a "wish list" if you want but I think they would make great additions/ideas.