lightning!

I didn't quite know wether to post this in the general section or here, but I guess since the employees are at CP all the time, you guys would probably know.

Has anybody seen a ride struck by lightning? If so does anybody have a picture of it? I've heard of MF being struck, but I mean Power Tower is just as tall, and VertiGo will soon be that tall.

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http://tiny3k.cjb.net
"This is better than orgasm." ~Effie, Road Rules 2 on MTV

Yeah I can recall a time last year when I was working on Iron Dragon, and a storm rolled in, Lightning & Thunder. Lightning struck and it hit 3 rides with one bolt, Wildcat, Sky Ride and Power Tower. It is very loud !!  Sorry no pics.
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Wildcat Crew 99
Blue Streak Crew 00
Raptor Crew 01
Just watch out for flying beer in the Garter

In '98, Power Tower was hit a number of times - very loud! I remember it kept messing up the lights.

'97 Disaster Crew; '98 Dragon Crew
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PO!NT OF VIEW - A Different Look at Roller Coasters
http://www.crosswinds.net/~justmayntz/thrills/

It would be pretty hard to take a picture of a flash of lightning, unless you were taking the picture at the exact time that the bolt hit (or if you were doing a time exposure; actually that would be a pretty cool picture; hmmm...)
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DIPPIN DOTS!!!111 THEY ROXOR YUR WORLD!!1!

waaaaay back in 1977 (before all the new cool rides), i was a ticket taker...i was working at the front gate, sitting in a metal chair...there was a tree about 20 yards behind me...it had been raining, so the ground was wet...a renegade bolt of lightning hit the tree...the charge hit the chair...

yep...you guessed it. right in the rear. :0

never saw anyone jump so fast in your life!

my hair was frizzy for a week. :)

sorry...no pics...LOL

also was riding the frontier lift on a day off, lightning hit the third tower, blew the power box clean off...there i am, laying in the bottom of the car, saying, "PLEASE don't do that again." LOL confessed my sins right then and there LOL they had to use a volkswagen engine to pull the remaining cars into the loading station...

thanks for the memories...i miss cedar point, especially since i live in texas now...six flags ain't got NOTHIN' on the point!

hope to come up to ohio this year...if so, a trip to the point is definately in order...last time i was there was when power tower was installed...that is a cool ride!

karla in texas. :) ticket taker 1977

Last year during a storm, I had the duty of staying out at the entrance of the ride to keep the people away, saying it's closed, etc. Well these kids would not leave, and I kept telling them we can't run it becuase of lighting, and they didn't believe me, so I walked them out by the WT Midway, and all of a sudden BOOM, a huge bolt hit Power Tower or somewhere like that. You have NEVER seen 5 people run so fast in your life. I ran back to the ride and hid in the electrical room and made someone else go out there.

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Matt - '02-'03 WT crew
Guest- "Are the towers supposed to move??" Me- "No, I just sit in a chair underneath it all day long, hoping it collapses on my head."

Wow Karla, if you haven't been to the Point in five years, then I'd say it is definetly time to make a trip. I hope you can make it up this year, you need to try Millenium Force and Dragster :) Your lightening encounters were funny - although, I'm sure they weren't at the time!! =o)

(Sorry for going OT!)

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Area 2 Restrooms '01

Zone 4 Sweeps '02

Area 2 Restrooms '03 - Ready to show Cedar Point no mercy!

i love lightning storms. in 2000 we watched one from mil force dispatch area. and it was so beautiful and poetik! watching the lightning and the rain- and the line dwindle into nothing! it was so beautiful that it still touches me now.and i can't forget abot the storm in 98- when people almost ran me over on the midwa-or in 98/99/2000 watching storms from the a side of gemini gemini up on the hill. or even from commons and cedars and gold! i could write a whole novel and book of poems on it....
*** This post was edited by djdj 3/19/2003 4:53:34 PM ***

i remember (i dunno what year) but my brother's ex/ told me about being at the point and there was a water spout (tornado in a body of water for the ignorant folks) in erie...(i think that's the lake their)when she was in the parking lot...yeah they got the @#$!@$%#! outta there.

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we're gonna eat a dolphin!
no we're going to pet a dolphin.
oh yeah...
Snake River Falls 03 (newbie)

1998

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June 11th, 2001 - Gemini 100
VertiGo Rides - 82
Technical Services 2002-2003
Fright Zone Screamster 2002-2003

ya it was 1998- i almost got ran over by the power tower- it just became one insidous mess. and t was a day for massive cutbacks.

That made the national news...pretty scary for anyone at the park. I've heard accounts of mass chaos amongst guest and a lot of flooding on the midways. I'm such a storm freak I'd probable actually stand out there and watch them.

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

i worked power tower last year during that particular storm. when i say i have never seen the sky that many different colors i mean it. as far as the lightning hittin the towers, it didnt. it struck in the wooded area near mantis.. but it came very close to the towers. we re-opened later that night. if the tower had been hit, we woulda been down the whole night.

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Keep The Fires Burning.. PTC '03

Gosh Lightning is the worst in the world up there! Summer of 2000 I was at the Balloon Race in Camp Snoopy when a massive dark cloud came and made the place black. It was raining so hard that I had to stand on my stool because it was so deep. I just looked over at MF and the biggest bolt of lightning I have ever seen hit it. I believe it was closed for a couple days after that. It was crazy! The phone rang one time which meant run to the Camp Snoopy Theatre to take cover. UGH!

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John
Camp Snoopy Ride Op 2000
MF Laps-50
www.shoewee.tripod.com

By far the best picture i have ever seen of lightning at CP was working on the platform of MF last summer and watching the summer monsoon storms come across the lake, it was like watching impending doom, one side of the park in complete sun and the other side a wall of blackness with frequent bolts (not flashes, bolts) of the most amazing lightning ive ever seen. I will never forget the storm in august that came across the sandusky bay and the rain was like a wall that just engulfed things as it passed them, one minute you would see the bridge to port clinton, the next instant it was as if it disappeared, that was the most amaizing thing i think ive ever seen

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Cedar Creek Trading Co. 1999
MF 2002
Sky Ride ATL 2003

I agree! The Millennium platform is a great place to watch the storms roll in.

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Screamsters 2001
Millennium Force/Screamsters 2002
Rip Cord/Screamsters 2003

Another good place to watch storms is in your room under the covers. You know what i'm talking about Chris.

The storms are amazing. There was one instance last season during one of the longer shutdowns (mid August, maybe? sapman, you may remember this...)

Myself and a couple others swear we seen MF get hit...I've had closer encounters with lightning and tornadoes, but I won't get off topic. If you're into forces of nature like me, CP is a great place to work!

Lightning probably, honestly, wouldn't shut PT or MF down the whole day...they're built with those things in mind, and a structure like that would absorb most of the energy within the structure, probably not causing any damage to the electrical system. Just my take.

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Alan
PTC02/ScrewCrew02
ScrewCrew03

We have an amazing picture of that water spout over in Breakers Express. It was awesome!!!

lol...Oh my Abby. That is another good place to watch them.:) And i'm sure i'll be seeing you there again this season durring a storm;)

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Screamsters 2001
Millennium Force/Screamsters 2002
Rip Cord/Screamsters 2003
*** This post was edited by 99er 3/26/2003 1:37:06 AM ***