News: Cedar Fair preparing for another pandemic-focused season in 2021

I don’t know how you live the rest of your life, but would you see an upside to not catching Covid at Cedar Point?

How does one respond to that? Because it’s the classic safety and security problem. If a Bad Thing™️ happens it’s far to easy to claim that’s because of something you failed to do. Your planning and precautions were clearly inadequate so you need to do more.

Maybe. I’m not entirely convinced that it is possible to eliminate all risks, and in mitigating risk there is usually a point of diminishing return. So what do you do if you take all of these precautions and Bad Things™️ don’t happen? How can you evaluate your mitigation strategy and decide which mitigations really made a difference, which ones accomplished nothing, and which ones created additional hazards or caused other detrimental impacts?

I have been told that on some Cedar Point rides this season, operational procedures have been pushed back up to 40 years in order to improve efficiency and reduce physical contact between employees and guests. Every procedure that has been added to ride operations was put into place to mitigate an actual or perceived hazard. And yet in 2020 many of those procedures may have been modified or eliminated and yet the park just completed another season of apparently-safe operation. Where does that put us in terms of evaluating those procedures?

Can I claim that because I have visited a variety of parks this season, each one employing a different set of mitigations, and to the best of my knowledge neither I nor anyone else has contracted COVID-19 as a result of those park visits, clearly any mitigations not taken by those parks are clearly a wasted effort? Well...of course not. Particularly since my own behavior factors into my own outcomes.

But it does underscore the fact that there’s more than one way to operate an amusement park without spreading COVID-19.

—Dave Althoff, Jr.

I think I’ll just cut through all that and observe that (as far as I know) he’s sitting in Sandusky Ohio this evening without Covid.
He complained that following whatever the park had in place absolutely ruined his overall experience. I know that was absolute because he then claimed the “only” upside was that he breezed through metal detectors.
My only question was if he considered it to be an upside if he got out of there healthy. It doesn’t matter to me if anyone thinks these procedures are necessary or helpful or why.
4500+ cases today. 5000 yesterday.

In that case, wouldn't it have better, out of an abundance of caution, to steam clean each train after each and every cycle? That would have lowered the chances of getting it while riding.

RCMAC said:
...4500+ cases today. 5000 yesterday.

Actually that's the reports. Confirmed cases reported today, 4,358; 5,375 yesterday; 4.915 on Friday.

What's interesting is that if you look at the onset-corrected data, so far the grand champion is still last Monday 11/2 with 4,629 probable and confirmed cases, on a day when "only" 2,725 confirmed cases were reported.

Amusingly, the onset corrected data only shows 12 cases reported so far today. That number will, of course, change. But wouldn't it be nice if it turns out we hit a peak last Monday?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Didn't the park send out surveys before the season started regarding Covid and what people consider to be a safe practice? I feel like I remember that happening but if they didn't I'm sure they did them while open and will likely send more out this off season. I know Disney and Universal has been doing them. Aside from any local or State requirements, the are likely doing what they think guests want based off of surveys. So whether or not a covid protocol is necessary, if doing them makes a guest feel safe (sound familiar?) then the parks will likely continue. Especially if their data shows that by doing these procedures it will bring in more guests than not doing them.

Have you read their surveys? I took several from various companies at the start of the season (and another from Kennywood last week). The problem with the surveys is that they are constructed to generate the results that they want, not necessarily what the customers are actually thinking.

—Dave Althoff, Jr.

Specifically Cedar Point no. But the ones I took for Universal were pretty straight forward...

If we took temperatures would you show up?
If we cleaned rides would you how up?
If we required masks would you show up?
If we did nothing would you show up?

I'm paraphrasing but you get the idea.

mgou58 said:

Pay careful attention to the part where he states that 2021 will not bring any major capital expenditures, specifically because of cost savings and also because many attractions/events didn’t open this year that were supposed to.

Soo.. what you're saying is there definitely was purple B&M giga track delivered to the park? This has to be a clue. Right? 2+0+2+1= 5. This will be CP's 5th B&M! Thanks I figured it out!

Now that's some math I can get behind! I bet it'll be a record setting B&M giga flying coaster!

I can think of few worse things than a giga flying coaster, and I've been on Time Warp.

Then it shall be an intamin strata flying blitz coaster! With hydraulic launch for all the fun!

What is a flying coaster ? What would be an example if one ?

Hey, I hear there's an original Bartlett Flying Coaster with a recently upgraded all-electric drive that might soon become available, you think we can talk Cedar Point into installing it?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

They had one that ran for years, ya know.
It was on the main midway in the spot near Pagoda. I think it went away when Earthquake was built.

I learned of a new ride this evening! Thank you! That's awesome!

Dennis a flying coaster is one where you ride in the "superman" position belly to the ground. Only one I've ever experienced was Firehawk and it was a fascinating and unique ride.

RideMan said:

Hey, I hear there's an original Bartlett Flying Coaster with a recently upgraded all-electric drive that might soon become available, you think we can talk Cedar Point into installing it?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Change.org man. Or start a GoFundMe. It worked for that guy with Geauga Lake.

(I think the only hope for the KW Kangaroo is Knoebels. Ditto for Bayern Kurve. Long shot but hell Knoebels has Looper and that is all wtf.)

TwistedCircuits said:

Dennis a flying coaster is one where you ride in the "superman" position belly to the ground. Only one I've ever experienced was Firehawk and it was a fascinating and unique ride.

I rode Firehawk, at Geauga Lake when it was called X-flight, and considered it a terrible ride even though it was unique. Going up the lifthill laying on you back was less than desireable and then rotating to normal flying position at the top of the lifthill with totally uncomfortable restraints thoughout the ride was not for me. Rode it once and that's all.

I have yet to do the flying rides at Six Flags New Jersey and at Carowinds even though I've been to them many times.

I hated X-Flight when it was Firehawk at KI. But I enjoyed Nighthawk at Carowinds. Go figure.