Parking lot coaster?

I agree. STR might as well be in the parking lot. Total lack of charm. And it was the wrong ride to build in the first place. TAER iT DOwN!!11!

If they build a coaster over the lake, imagine what maintenance costs would be, paint job, rust, dead fish getting caught in the supports/rails, dead seagulls, seagull crap, etc.

Also, people's loose articles would be floating ALL around in the waves and getting washed up on the beach. :) More work for lifeguards to trash pick and all.

shoot the rapids IMO has good theme, it is just so barren in that open land. It's like a desert ride themed to the old west. Wait, the old west is in the desert, :P

Given some time and perhaps some more attention to the huge pool on the island, the foliage for STR could really work in its favor.

It's still nowhere near as barren as Pilgrims Plunge.

http://assets.inarkansas.com/6094/pilgrims-plunge.jpg

Guide_Wheel said:
I agree. STR might as well be in the parking lot. Total lack of charm. And it was the wrong ride to build in the first place. TAER iT DOwN!!11!

A lot of families would be upset if they tore down Shoot the Rapids. Cedar Point tried their hardest to replace White Water Landing with something close to it. I've seen the lines for this water ride to have long lines with lots of people enjoying it. I know most people on here don't like Shoot the Rapids, but I do!

I don't understand why some people absolutely despise STR. I don't find it thrilling, but it is definitely a cool ride to experience.

^I agree with you. I enjoy the ride, just hope the area fills out nicely in the coming years.

I get the sense if you went back in time to WWL's construction it would have been just as sparse. Give STR a few years, but honestly, a lot of that might be just because it's really hard to make concrete look natural.

And wow, I really hope that they get around to landscaping around Pilgrim's Plunge. That just looks bad, especially for Holiday World.

STR is a great family ride. They just built it in 2010, they will never tear it down. I hope it lasts a looong time. Yes, it does lack trees, but what I dont get is the fact that people miss WWL so much, and say they want another water flume ride. When the park gets one, people still complain about it. Maybe fanboys just do, I dont know. But I like the ride and the theme is great. Most people I know have ridden it and said they like it. The GP likes it, and that is what matters to the park officials.

Now back to gatekeeper and it being a parking lot coaster.

I also hope that area fills out a little more. It really hurts the atmosphere at night.

GateKeeper is going to be just as bad, stuck in the parking lot and all'

Stuck in the parking lot? What? Perhaps... 5% of this ride is in a parking lot.

STR is a great family ride.

Aside from it not being a family ride, I agree 100%.

1.) Typically, how long are STR lines?

2.) Why would anyone consider this being SCRE......ermmm, a parking lot coaster.

If everyone watched the video, there is grass below the supports. Cedar Fair doesn't do things the same way Six Flags does just by buying a roller coaster and then plopping it in like RCT does.

That Crazy Dan said:
I get the sense if you went back in time to WWL's construction it would have been just as sparse.

Yep.

WWL Before 1
WWL After 1

WWL Before 2
WWL After 2

WWL Before 3
WWL After 3

There are aspects of STR I really like. The way they incorporated the train near the ride, the rock formations, the misty/foggy tunnel to start the ride...it has some good qualities.

I'm staying positive today, so I won't mention the rest. :)

They didn't incorporate the train near STR. They incorporated STR near the train.

djDaemon said:

Yep.

WWL Before 1
WWL After 1

WWL Before 2
WWL After 2

WWL Before 3
WWL After 3

This needs to be quoted for truth in every single thread where people complain about new rides looking sparse and barren.

And also shoot the rapids photos quoted when people pick on a new ride that does not meet their standards, when, in about 20 years from now, when STR is planned on being removed for another ride, (like WWL for Maverick), people will miss it and post photos of shoot the rapids when it actually has foilage grown up around it.

True Jason. That's what I meant. :) I just like the way it interacts with the queue and ride area. It's a nice touch. Now if only it had a Snake River mountain to travel through just after passing STR.

That Crazy Dan said:
This needs to be quoted for truth in every single thread where people complain about new rides looking sparse and barren.

I wouldn't go that far. True, the WWL before-and-after photos do demonstrate what a couple decades can do for "charm".

That said, take another look at one of WWL's "before" photos. There are mature trees throughout the ride (albeit barren, likely due to time of year). They went through the effort to either design around some existing, mature trees, or made the effort to construct around them. In either case, they made an effort to preserve the "charm" that already existed there.

Contrast that to Maverick's construction, where they literally razed the entire plot of land before construction. Today's P&D (or Dept. of Charm, or whatever) could learn a few things from the way things were done 40 years ago. Today's efforts to retain charm seem absolutely lazy and apathetic by comparison.