New for 2014

I agree that it looks like it will be a nice looking area when finished. By I also think the midway is a bit narrow. I would say the potential for bottlenecks will be high, makes me wish the Frontier Lift was still around. I guess I'll be taking the train a bit more often .

The new midway doesn't look any narrower than the narrowest part of the old midway.

Yeah, that train's never crowded. Or slow.

To me, it looks like the new midway is designed to put motion in the mind's eye, more like a wandering path than the wide, straight shot freeway look Cedar Point offers in so many areas. Trees along the area will break up sight lines, too. The flag poles with the string lights will give the area charm, more like an amusement park should be. (provided they stay away from those tacky LED Christmas lights they've used everywhere else...)
Anyway, I'll say it again. I like it.

When you think about it, Cedar Point's layout is unique in that the land is long and narrow. Seldom do you find midways that are so long and straight, layed out basically in blocks. The Ohio parks, CP and Coney Island, both had that same mall-way kind of set up, a main drag with short offshoots and loops. (KI's Coney section was purposely designed to replicate that, KD followed suit.) Other parks back in the day had a more meandering feel to them. Modern theme park design went along with Disney's proven wagon wheel layout. A main entrance and a circle.

Think about other parks and how narrow their paths can be. I immediately think of Kennywood and Busch Gardens as examples. They're well attended parks, relative to their size, and traffic seems to move along just fine. And a busy day will always be a busy day.

Why did the construction workers make lines in the midway? It almost looks like they forgot to pour concrete in some areas?

Shawn, it's part of the design of the new midway. Refer to the rendering below.

https://www.cedarpoint.com/images/uploads/file/CP2014_8x10_300dpi.jpg

I wonder if those areas will be filled with pavers or if it will actually be gray colored concrete as hinted in the illustration. Pavers would look better IMHO.

I wonder what effect the string lights will have on the Halloweekends Parade. Will the route change, will they take the lights down or maybe they won't even have the parade anymore.

While I agree that pavers would be more aesthetically pleasing, isn't there an issue about driving/parking on them in winter? Considering these gaps span the entire midway, that may prevent pavers as an option.

Pipe Scream is testing right now.

I thought those lines were where the utilities were positioned, and they would place pavers for easier access in case of a problem.

Chris

Electrical and data lines usually terminate at "handholes", which are plastic boxes in the ground that have removable covers. Electrical wiring is run to and from these handholes inside conduit in such a way that if they need to add or replace something in the future, they can simply pull new lines through the conduit.

Actually, now that I think about it, handholes might be limited to only data lines, and electrical terminations/junctions might need something with more protection, such as a NEMA enclosure. Regardless, the idea is the same so far as the layout is concerned.

A few weeks back, you could see such conduit being laid out in nice, slightly curved arcs from the side of the new restaurant out to the light posts, etc. The slightly curved arcs make it easier to pull new lines, since there are no 90-degree turns to get snagged on.

If you look at the camera today, they have inset what appear to be red pavers into the sections cement was skipped. Looks nice.

Actually, it looks like they're pouring concrete or something. Presumably, that's why they're laying plastic down on the nearby concrete, so that whatever they're pouring doesn't splatter onto it.

It really looks like Pipe Scream is testing.

djDaemon said:
The new midway doesn't look any narrower than the narrowest part of the old midway.

I went back and compared the webcam to an old shot on Google maps. It's hard to discern because the angles are different, but it does appear to be narrower. However not by a significant margin, and not nearly as much of a difference as I thought I saw upon first look. I agree with you that it probably won't make any difference in traffic.

RCMAC said:
Yeah, that train's never crowded. Or slow.

Good point. But then I'm usually there on Tuesdays when it's "slower", so I can usually time the train so I have no wait.

The area is really looking great, it'll be a nice area to walk through this summer.

I would concur that it is pavers going between the concrete pads. You can see where sand has been filled in some areas between the slabs and some areas have very straight line edges right next to the scattered sand.

I'm imagining it being very similar to how they have the Dragster Midway, between Matterhorn and Super Himalaya, set up.

The darker color you see is poured concrete. No pavers. The midway has undergone a pretty amazing transformation. You're going to love it.

Oh, and Pipe Scream made a few cycles today. It's all lookin' good!

Does anyone have a saved picture from earlier? I was at work and don't know what you guys are talking about.

operative_me said:
...it does appear to be narrower. However not by a significant margin, and not nearly as much of a difference as I thought I saw upon first look. I agree with you that it probably won't make any difference in traffic.

The area that looks narrowest to me is at the far end of PS, where the retaining wall juts out slightly into the midway. In the illustration, it's the area where there's a small stall between PS and Snoopy Bounce.

Now, provided the opposite side of the midway is made wider than it was previously, there shouldn't be any issue. But that is, in my opinion, the narrowest area.