Great footage of old Cedar Point!

I'm glad I got to experience it back then. It was a magical time and place. Ok, need to take my nostalgia glasses off.

bobby79 said:
You younger people don't know what has been lost forever.

You make the incorrect assumption that everyone the same age as you has the same tastes as you.

Oh there were more than a few thrill junkies back then, I often spent my evenings off on the Jumbo Jet. But it was a different park back then, we used to call it Kennywood plus (cause we didn't know about steroids back then). It had a lot more character then, a lot of that had to do with the attitude of the men who owned and oversaw it. I could go on about the changes that started happening in the years after my final season there, but I've already said that.

In the words of the younger folks, I feel you Dutchman.

Watching old footage like this just reminds me how dense the trees were back then. Even walking down the Frontier Trail this past weekend, the trees are as thin as they ever have been.

No assumptions made. I am stating my opinion based on my experiences.

I hear what you guys are saying, I experienced the park back then too. The Western Cruise route was so heavily wooded it really felt like you were in the backwoods on a river.

But, times were very different back then also. It was a much simpler time with much less technology. If the park didn't change would the kids of today think it was as magical as we did? Possibly not. The park is actually much more impressive now.

I think the biggest change was the so called culture of the operations. LeGross and Roose had just about the perfect touch when it came to the guest experience. That changed under Munger and Kinzel. I see a lot of how LeGross and Roose wanted things done in the way Ouimet operates, of course updated for present times. In a way, things have almost come full circle.

I first visited Cedar Point in 1973 with my family -- I was all of ten years old. With very few exceptions I've been back every year since.

This video brings back some wonderful memories.

Cedar Point is still, by far, my favorite park. But over the decades since these videos were shot, it has lost some of its charm.

Even though I miss the way the park was back then, it probably had to change with the times to survive. For every Waldameer and Knoebels, there are many more defunct parks like Idora and Chippewa. It's sad.

Yesterday my girls and I were waiting out a downpour in the Town Hall Museum, and they were fascinated with the White Water Landing model. I showed them what still stands as part of Maverick, and they listened while the employee there explained that the park had a decision to make; spend millions refurbishing the old ride, or the same millions to build a new world-class roller coaster. It was a nice chance for me to explain to my girls that one thing I love about Cedar Point is the change we get to see over time.

Of course I miss the Pirate Ride. I miss jumping into the balls and climbing the net-rope in Kid Arthur's Court.

But that's my childhood Cedar Point, not my girls'. They love Charlie Brown's wind-up, the Lake Erie Eagles, standing in sheer awe of Dragster and watching mommy and daddy get launched, etc...the list goes on.

And when they bring their kids someday, the cycle will repeat itself. And yet, there are things that endure. Wilderness Run is still a part of Cedar Point, there are artifacts of Kid Arthur's Court to remind us of where it stood, and the cannons from Pirate Ride still mysteriously stick out of a building.

This was a great video to watch, by the way. :) But so is this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUK2X6XSqyo

Kevinj said:

Of course I miss the Pirate Ride.

I've probably said this before, but I'm convinced we often remember romanticized versions of old attractions. I have great memories of Pirate Ride and would love to be able take another spin on it. But let's face it. If you take the nostalgia out of the equation, it really wasn't much of a ride.

I don't think it's any different than when you see those ridiculous posts on Facebook about how we used to ride in the back of pickup trucks, drink straight from the hose. But no one ever says, I wish we could go back to the days before we had a polio vaccine. :)

If they brought the ride back tomorrow, just as it was in its heyday, no one would ride it for any other reason than, "hey, I remember riding this as a kid!" And maybe if it didn't cost any money to maintain or operate and it didn't take space away from something else, then perhaps nostalgia would be all the reason needed to keep it.

But that's what happens. People stop riding, the numbers go down, and eventually it's no longer a viable option for the park's lineup. Sure there are lots of factors in that equation, including maintenance cost, operating cost, or measuring the improvement in what that space might be potentially used for. But at the end of the day, park guests get the biggest vote by lining up in the queue.

And Kevin's point about the cycle repeating itself is dead-on. Some might point to the 1960s or 1970s as the perfect Cedar Point. But there were just as many back then who longed for the 1940s and didn't care for the giant midways and the "Disney" approach.

I have to disagree about the PR that "it wasn't much of a ride." I think it was good for the time, even taking nostalgia into account.

Pirate Ride, Earthquake and such were not interesting rides. Nostalgia has a place, sure, but when stuff gets old, it just seems old. The broad market isn't interested in old.

Charm is what you want it to be. I find CP to be every bit as charming as it was when I was very young. It's the people combined with the location that make the park special, not specific attractions.

Jeff said:
Pirate Ride, Earthquake and such were not interesting rides.

That's just your opinion, though. As a child I found them very interesting... I was especially curious how the pirate ride could seemingly turn on a dime just when you thought you were gonna face up with a wall or something else. And I they were both great places to get out of the sun, if only for a few minutes. With the removal of pirate ride, earthquake, DT, and the iMax theatre no longer playing, those options have become more and more limited over the last 20+ years.

Yea, and the aquarium was a delightful place to cool off on a blistering hot day as well. (I'm getting nostalgic again)

Yes, it's my opinion, but you can't honestly tell me that you would have the same fascination today. Nostalgia doesn't make Cedar Point a lesser thing, it just makes it difference.

The spiral slide at the local playground was the greatest thing ever when I was growing up. Now? not so much.

Jeff said:
Yes, it's my opinion, but you can't honestly tell me that you would have the same fascination today.

Agree, however I was a child then, and an adult now. Things always look different through the lens of a child's eye. Lots of things are fun as a kid, but boring as an adult. So it's not so much nostalgia, as it is the age-appropriate nature of the ride(s) in question.

That's still something different. My 4-year-old even expects a certain level of sophistication. (He's probably ruined on everything that isn't Disney World at this Point.) Those old rides were not sophisticated by today's standards.

Jeff said:
... I find CP to be every bit as charming as it was when I was very young. It's the people combined with the location that make the park special, not specific attractions.

Yes! The people + the location. I've been to a lot of amusement parks in my time, but Cedar Point has a special place in my heart for just that reason.