New For 2017: Cedar Point Shores Water Park

Interesting that at both the new CP Shores entrance gate and the new park admission gate there appears to be new gated structures prior to the entrance gates. My first thought is that perhaps these are permanent security check points (bag checks, wanding or metal detectors) similar to Disney. If that's the case, I think it's unfortunate that this is now just part of experience. But at the same time, at least it may upgrade the current random, half-baked security measures.

Unless those are ticketing booths?

The existing tunnel provides a relatively safe manner for people to cross Perimeter Rd. without ever having to worry about inattentive drivers. It also benefits motorists by reducing congestion since drivers aren't forced to stop and wait for what may sometimes be a continuous herd of people passing through. Since they're adding another tower to the Breakers both foot and automobile traffic are bound to increase in the area.

To construct an at-grade crossing they're going to have to reprofile a significant portion of Perimeter Rd. and the surrounding areas. They'll also probably need to construct a temporary road to maintain access to that section of the park while the existing tunnel is removed and the excavation and paving is taking place.

From a design standpoint I agree with Chief Wahoo that changing the grade of Perimeter Rd. would open that area up and but it looks as though they plan to plant some new trees on both sides of the street so some of that view will be blocked. From a safety standpoint I think it may be step backwards though and I think they'd be better served by constructing a new, larger tunnel and given the vagueness of the drawing I wouldn't rule that option out.

jscll said:

^^ Remember Perimeter road does not have nearly as much traffic by the resort gate as it does by the Marina. By the resort gate the road only has Breakers and a small amount of manager/maintenance/delivery traffic. By the marina add Lighthouse point traffic(With large motor homes), Sandcastle suites traffic, and the traffic going to/from the 1163 Soak City parking spots (currently only 980).

Consider that Breakers will be ~30% bigger, all of that growth being on the end nearest this new gate. That's a lot of foot traffic.

And in my experience, the line of guests on a Saturday morning can get pretty long, sometimes winding its way toward the SC lot. And that's without security checks. In that case, where do you snake that long line if there's no tunnel?

The exit gate for Magnum is shown on the map just to the right of the new entrance. It shows the swing gates to let riders off and everything. It doesn't look to be rerouted at all.

Ah, thanks. I didn't notice that. I must be blind, lol. I don't know how great of an idea that will be. Having an exit ramp of a ride dump out to a park entrance? Seems like it may make things very crowded in that area.

If they did re-route the exit to magnum though and flipped it to the other side, surely they could have put something in the infield of magnum's turn around. Flat ride, picnic area/rest area, etc... oh well.

EDIT: Something like this

Guess this also confirms that the new water tower was not just a backup but also to allow for the expansion of the water park and hotel.

They probably could get rid of the ramp exit on Magnum XL-200 now that they have the lift for ambulatory purposes.

The elevator can handle about 2 people at a time. That is definitely not a good alternative.

I think what codeGR is suggesting is eliminate the exit ramp and replace with a set of stairs that would serve as the exit for most riders. Which would leave the elevator for those with accessibility needs.

Personally, I would be for walking down a set of stairs after riding versus winding back and forth down the ramp but by no means would I consider it a priority.

That makes a lot more sense! :-D

Yes, that is what I meant. Apologies for not being more clear. :)

Why not route the Magnum exit back toward the (empty) queue area so it let's out on the midway through the existing entrance?
Something like this: Build a main entrance for Magnum that parallels the fast pass entrance and leads into a reconfigured queue (you really only need less than half of that queue). After riding, walk down the first ramp (possibly truncated and supplemented with a staircase) and turn right to walk behind the station (under the track that leads back into the station). The exit would rejoin the existing entrance (so now you're walking the opposite direction out as now). Build a photo kiosk to walk by before being deposited on the midway between the lockers and the restrooms.
All of the foliage along the Magnum waiting area needs to be cleaned up anyways, and those queues are perpetually empty, so might as well sell pictures right there.

That section of midway already gets highly congested, perhaps they're taking that into account.

There's:
Entrance people
Exit people
Bathrooms
Dragster tower gawkers
Guess your weight
Stroller people heading to 'Camp Slowly'
Magnum entrance
Pretzel hut
And overall people stopping there to make decisions where to go- gate, TTD, Gemini etc...

XS NightClub said:

Dragster tower gawkers
..

It's incredible how the ride still draws attention the way it does more than a decade later.

And I think the magnum exit will be fine. I am sad about the photo building leaving. I usually prefer the photos of everyone flying out of their seats unlike every other ride there.

I believe there will be a photo hut for Magnum, given the parks massive push for FunPix. And,I agree, it is one of the best photo ops in the parks on ride pics.

The photo booth will still be there, pointed out within the red box.

Edit: addition: if you look closely, and are familiar with architectural drafting, it appears that there's a 'window' cutout towards the eastern wall and built in counter space.

Yeah, it is pretty crowded there. Maybe Magnum pictures aren't making money anyways so it's no big loss.
Speaking of unused queue lines, there is tons of wasted space all over the park in perpetually empty lines. Magnum, Rougarou, Power Tower, Wicked Twister, Mine Ride, Skyhawk... just to name a few. I'd love for them to shorten some of these queues and re use some of that land.

^ That's a good idea. Maybe they could re-route some of these queues and delete certain parts of queues and then plant trees!

There's no doubt in my mind that that the tunnel is going bye bye and there'll be a zero grade crossing. That architectural drawing shows that it's going to be identical to how they did the crossing for Valravn and the new Marina gate.

LunaD858 said:

Speaking of unused queue lines, there is tons of wasted space all over the park in perpetually empty lines. Magnum, Rougarou, Power Tower, Wicked Twister, Mine Ride, Skyhawk... just to name a few. I'd love for them to shorten some of these queues and re use some of that land.

What would they use that land for? You can only squeeze so many rides in. The only queue that took up land that could actually be used for something was Mean Streak, which they did up end up taking advantage of with Eden Muse. Maybe Millennium because they have the empty pad of concrete that could potentially fit a ride.