GP's Reaction So Far

What has been the reaction of the people you have told about Dragster so far? Every person I have told goes nuts! Telling me how crazy, awesome, or scary it is going to be. But then 90% of the people tell me that 1. It won't be worth such a short ride after waiting "4 hours" or 2. People are going to die on it. What are the reactions have you been getting?

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"I can see Canadaaaaaaaaahhhh!" - Me atop of Magnum.

All my friends at work think I'm nuts to want to ride it. But then they're not into Coasters like most of us on this board. Not sure when I'll be traveling from Texas to The Point, but it will be this summer.

about the same here. People have said,"They're going too far. This one is too fast. The g-forces are going to kill people." then when I try to explain that they won't because the transitions are so gradual they talk like they're the expert and that I have the intellegence of a rock. Any ideas on how to deal with non-entusiasts who think they're more right than someone they know is obsessed with coasters? Just yesterday my friend told me, "Matt! Did you hear!? The new coaster is 600 feet tall!!" I was like, "No, its not. Its 420" and my friend is like," What are you talking about? Its 600 feet. My friend told me. He heard it on the news." I was like,"yeah, well your friend is wrong" and then my friend gave me a dirty look and was like,"Whatever...." and then just walked off. I hate when GP thinks they know more than enthusiasts. Not to put them down, but they don't know as much, and in my opinion they should not act like they do. There, thats my rant for the day.

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life without danger is a waste of oxygen

Well, people at my school that have heard about it on the news and saw the animation went nuts. They all came and told me about it, asked me if I knew about it, and asked me what the stats were. They were all excited, and were saying how insane the ride is going to be. It seems the a portion of the target audience digs it so far.

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What is most anticipated event of 2003? the debut of # 16, the release of Metallica's new album, the release of Terminator 3, or the release of Matrix:Reloaded...tough call.

One friend of mine says hes gonna have a heart attack riding it. Everybody else thinks that its crazy and sounds awesome.

Most of the people I've showed the artist renderings to so far think it's way to short of a ride. They say "that's it?" Then I explain to them that they're gonna accelerate from 0 to 120 in 4 seconds and then go up a 420 ft tower, and spiral on the way down with NOTHING BUT A LAPBAR! Then they go nuts and think it's gonna be awsome. My suggestion: show them the stats first and explain the ride to them, then show them the layout.

The people at my school (in Detroit) think that it is way too big. Millennium Force was one thing, this is pushing it too far too soon. I, of course, disagree

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Feel the Beat

People at my school are also saying "thats it?" of course, most of those people have not been on MF, and can't even grasp the concept of being shot up a 420 foot hill at 120 mph and a 90 degree angle, then coming back down with a twist with, as CPCyclone said,"NOTHING BUT A LAPBAR!"

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life without danger is a waste of oxygen
*** This post was edited by irys 1/11/2003 10:18:37 PM ***

Many of the so-called 'GP' that I've talked to are completely excited about the new ride. Sure, a few think its somewhat short and a couple think its too intimidating for them, but no one I've talked to thinks this thing's gonna kill people.

That's what I've never got about this whole 'GP' thing. I've never met anyone who thinks a ride will cause people to die by its very design, and most people have the height of this new ride at least within the ballpark when they talk about it. I think that *most* of the the GP at least has some common sense.

Ugh.... I don't even want to talk about about it with people anymore!

On person got one of our science teachers and asked him if G-forces were bad for you! The teacher said, "yes, if you exceed certain limits," which, of course he is speaking of SUSTAINED or EXTREMELY HIGH G-force. It is too bad that nobody will listen to what I have to say about it after they hear somehting like that.

Typical conversation:

"So, it goes up then upside down????"

"No, it twists on the way up"

"What?"

Finally, I get the typical "only lapbar????!!!!????" comments.

I guess it's good that CP has the public all excited, too bad they tihnk Cedar Point is building a dangerous coaster.

Sounds like Ohio's GP are no different than the California GP!!! Some of them think Xcelerator goes upside down, they're afraid of the humongous, unsupported track that sways 5 feet to each side, of the lapbars not possibly holding you in on the thing (adding OTSRs would increase ridership so much), of the "your hot rod will accelerate to 80 MPH, IN ABOUT 2 SECONDS" comment in the loading instructions (this is when all the GP decide to leave the queue), the vertical drop, the overbanks looking like inversions, just about everything on the ride. Some of them are just plain stupid and can't find the entrance (I guess its like natural selection to keep the wait time low). Some of them are smart, and just want to ride the ride for the fun of it rather than gripe about it.

I'm telling you, with a 1500PPH capacity, this ride's line will be more "value" ones in the park, meaning you get more experience for your time. I'm talking like 30 minutes when Millenium force is 1-1.5 hours. I mean, its not rare for Ghostrider (Knott's Flagship ride, the equivilent of Millenium force) to be 90 minutes (and that ride's capacity is higher than Xcelerator's, by 300PPH) while Xcelerator's is only 20 minutes (only 600PPH). What the ride makes up for in length, the short wait time will make up for!!!! But then hopefully the Reliability will not screw my theory over like it sometimes does at knotts. you would NEVER believe how often the ride goes down, starting from day one (but oddly not during testing).

Everyone either asks me if I'm going Opening Day to ride it ("of course!") or how in the world you won't "fall out" with just a lap bar and not OTSRs... arghh.

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Dragster "Top Thrills": 0
World's first strata-coaster!

Ive gotten into conversations w/ many people reguarding the ride, people I thought would be the last to know about it, rather they will ride it is a different story. But I was talking to a friend who didnt believe what i had to say until i showed the press release. She told me that they are just pissed at Japan and they are running out of room and CP will soon be declining. This from someone who does not know much about CP or coasters or anything...how she know this is way beyond me!

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D/\MN GINA!!!!!!!!

You know, I think CP welcomes this "negative" kind of "free" publicity. It gets people curious. The, "Oh, my God! Their building one that's gonna kill people!", probably draws people to the park. If only once in the season, it's one more time than they would've gone if nothing was built "to kill people". Let's face it. The GP tends to thrive on other peoples dirty laundry. And what better dirty laundry to pick through than that of a prominent public figure, such as Cedar Point? Kinda like politics. For example, I've talked to people who haven't gone to Cedar Point in 5+ years that say they are definitely going this year to check this thing out because they've heard of the biological effects it will have. Stating that they just wanna be there when the ambulances arrive. My response to them, "Great! Stand there and watch for about 6 hours. Then, get in line, 'cause it's gonna be long. And, at the end of the day, when nobody died, you'll be kicking yourself for having wasted your admission money on your camping trip! But, I'm sure they'll take your money so they can build the 'next big thing'! Which, I've heard, is going to kill people!"

That usually shuts them up, aside from mumbling, "I can't wait!", under their breath.

I've been told, "Who wants to hear about rollercoasters in January?"

They can just pucker up and kiss my fine whiteass.

MrScott

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"If we go any faster, she'll blow apart for sure!"

I am running at about a 10:1 ratio, with 10 being people that will ride it and 1 that will not. Ive had mixed reactions from 'yeah, no big deal, I'll go on it' to one friend who is sure she would die on it to another who went insane with joy when she saw it on the news. I think 95 percent of the people who went on MF will go on this.

When I told my brother about this ride, he said the ride would suck, because he said that the brakes would bring you to a stop so quickly, that you would thrown out of your seat and your body would rip in half at the belly. I told him it wasn't true, because your head will pop off, not the body.

I had to chuckle that several people on campus stopped by my office to tell me about the new ride, and I pointed to the construction pics I put on my office bulletin board that I'd had up for over a month.

Half the people I've talked to have said they won't ride it. The rest who want to ride it are split with whether they will wait in a long line or not.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead

Hee hee! A friend of mine who is not a coaster fan (although she has her private pilot's license, go figure) had only one thing to say when she saw the "aerial" drawing of TTD : vomitworthy.... :)

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Steve

"Will all those who expressed disappointment at the new ride please leave the park now"

Just a couiple weeks ago, a girl in one of my classes was talking about how Millie was the tallest coaster in the world, and that it freaked her oout when she finaly rode it. Then, on Friday, she said "there's no way anyone will build a coaster taller than Millennium Force!" So, Yesterday I told her about Dragster, and she said "your lieing! I was just up there before it closed, and it wasn't there!"

She will be in for a surprise when she goes back this summer!!

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Note to self: Never try to explain things to the GP!
*** This post was edited by Kel 1/14/2003 6:42:23 AM ***