Planet Snoopy Thoughts

I know most of the talk here is on thrill rides and adult oriented topics (not THAT adult oriented) but I wanted to see what others with young children thought about Planet Snoopy. My son just turned 4 this summer and when the announcement was made about PS last year I was excited that there was going to be more for him to do this season. I even showed him the webcams a few times over last winter and was really talking the area up. But once the season opened I thought PS was a real letdown. I took my son there opening weekend and found the same rides that were already in Camp Snoopy and Kiddy Kingdom and a lame mall-styl figure 8 version of the train. I don't think I took him back to PS once the rest of the year. My son kept asking me where the tree slide was and where the baseballs were. I think CP would have been better off leaving an open play area there than to throw in a bunch of duplicate rides. My wife and I used to have a lot of fun taking our son to the Peanuts Playground and letting him go down the slide or play in the pebbles while the other of us would take our daughter on the coasters. As far as I can remember CP always had an open playground-type area up until this year. Does anyone else remember the cargo nets and balls by the Space Spiral/DT area from 80s? I'm not trying to bash the park or anything but I think they would have been better off to leave the area as it was or to refurb it with a new open play area for the under 46" crowd rather than another ride area with duplicate rides.
Any other thoughts?

I think the bigger goal should be true family rides, not rides that parents watch their kids ride.

I wasn't too impressed by Planet Snoopy eathier. I know CP didn't have a lot of room to work with, but I was expecting something more on the lines of Camp Snoopy.

I grew up on that playhouse with the balls and netting. I think it was called King's Court or something like that. It was pretty close to the aquatic stadium and the building with the sharks in it. I also remember growing up on the Sky Slide which was near that same area.

Peace, Mikey

Good point Jeff. That is one of the things that Disney does a great job of. One of the examples I can think of is Autopia at Disneyland. We used to take my daughter on that ride when she was 3 and she could drive the car and thought it was the best thing in the world. You go to CP and you have to be 48" to drive the Turnpike or Cadillac cars. Same goes for the 40" requirement for Splash Mountain.

I agree with Jeff and have been pushing for true "family" rides for years. We went to Planet Snoopy this year and my 5 year old and my 2 year old both had fun. Of course, they had the same amount of fun on the other side of the Coliseum at Kiddie Kingdom.

I guess the positive of all three kids areas are their location. We used those areas as "home base". We had a group of adults along too so we took turns watching the kids and alternating to nearby "big rides".

This is the first time...in a long time...that I paid my own way into Cedar Point. I thought that would mean I would feel like I had to "do" more in order to feel like I got my money's worth. I guess the reality is that when you are a father your joy comes from your kids' joy. (Though I did sneak in a few coasters including the less than engaging Maverick...a "family" attraction my a$$.)

There is no doubt that more rides the entire family can enjoy together would be a significant improvement. Every time I'm in a "kiddie" area I strike up conversations with other parents and they all say the same thing: they wish there were more for the whole family to do together.

Planet Snoopy? Meh. My daughter would rather have the playground back, hands down.

You are wrong in your Autopia and Turnpike Cars comparison and giving CP the short end of the stick it.

Both rides are basically the same thing. The Disney ride has a 52" height requirement to ride alone. The CP ride[url][url] only has a 48" height requriement to ride alone. Both rides allow guests under the height limit to ride with an adult. Your three year old would be able to drive the Turnpike Cars at CP if you ride with her, exactly the same as Disney. But, at CP she would be able to drive by herself at a younger age. So, one can argue that the CP ride is more family friendly than the Disney ride.

I'm still not sure what these "family" rides are. Yes, Disney pulls it off, but at considerable expense. What rides exist that are going to appeal to a 2 year old, to a 65 year old, and everyone in between? And what percentage of families visiting the park fall into that exact demographic?

We had this discussion back in June. Does a dark ride and log flume suddenly make Cedar Point the family ride capital of the world?

It doesn't need to be the capital, but a solid suburb would be a good start. There are a lot of small spinning rides, about half of which you can ride with your kid, but they don't have a signature ride beyond Woodstock. Log flumes and dark rides are certainly examples of this.

I agree that those things would be great additions. I'm just not sure I see them as vital.

Chief Wahoo said:
Every time I'm in a "kiddie" area I strike up conversations with other parents and they all say the same thing: they wish there were more for the whole family to do together.

That is a good point, and I think people mean "big" rides they can do together, as most of the flat rides do allow children to ride with an adult.

Sky Ride, Giant Wheel, three car rides, CP&LE RR, Space Spiral and Paddlewheel Excursions are the big rides I can think of that are family friendly. Those are all rides from the 60's, nothing was recently installed along those lines.

The family aspect of CP would be much improved if they had a large scale themed flume, some type of high tech dark ride, a family walk through attraction (Jungle Larry's added a lot to the day) and a simulator type attraction.

The addition of all the coasters did hurt the family aspect of Cedar Point, both in perception (people think roller coaster park), and in what was actually removed. At one point CP had two flume rides, two dark rides, Jungle Larry's Safari, a fun house and an aquarium. I think those types of attractions would greatly improve the park.

I don't think CP needs to spend a fortune on Disney-style dark rides but they could do something ala the indoor ride at King's Island (is it Haunted Manor..or something like that)?

And, they have a pretty good product in the Peanuts characters that there are lots of options. A "Great Pumpkin" ride, perhaps? A "Red Baron" type ride? It doesn't have to be the Pirates of the Caribbean-quality but it could be a step or two above Pirate Ride-quality.

And, Pete makes a good point about "family" attractions now lost while thrill rides have been the major focues for more than a decade. And I will still contend that a family of four with young children is going to spend more in the park than four teenagers. Even when I go to Disney/Universal and say I'm not going to spend a lot of money I spend a lot...a LOT of money.

Pete, I was just there on Sunday and my 3 year old who is 42" tall could not drive any of the car rides with me riding with him. He could ride along sure, but was very disappointed when told he had to ride in the passenger seat.

Just the weekend before he was able to ride and drive on his own the Be Bop cars a MIA. Granted those are controlled by automation as far as speed and block braking. So I can see the riding alone difference.

Planet Snoopy isn't all that bad. They should have saved the tree slide atleast. It would have made a better kite eating tree than the 2nd frog hopper. The kids games and snacks are reasonably priced surpisingly. A dark ride would have been a much more welcome addition there instead though. they should also raise the height limit on some of the rides. My 8 year old neice was with us on Sunday and was mad that she couldn't go on any of the kiddie rides, Just a bit to tall for the 52" limit to ride with my kids on most of them.

The playground will be missed. Kid Arthurs Court was pretty fun as a kid I remember.

We visited the park 2 years ago for Halloweekends with our 2 year old. The playground was PERFECT for him, as he was still too small to go on alot of the rides. I do understand, however, that you're not at an amusement park to go to a playground, so it makes sense not to have one INSIDE the park.

This year, my 3 year-old son spent alot of time at all 4 kiddie areas, but spent the least amount of time at Planet Snoopy, mostly because the rides where all the same as other areas in the park. I'm surprised there's no signature attraction connected to Planet Snoopy like a jr. roller coaster or a dark ride or log flume.

I do understand, however, that you're not at an amusement park to go to a playground, so it makes sense not to have one INSIDE the park.

Why not?

It gave parents a place to go and let their kids just "run wild". There was only 1 exit, so a kid couldn't just disappear. And, from a business standpoint, it required a minimum of staffing. They only had to pay train operators and, I think, there were a handful of other workers as well, just keeping an eye on things. Now you've got a whole new bunch of rides that need to be maintained and operated.

It is nice that they've got the area they have now, but the playground made a lot of sense.

^Exactly. Kids need to do more than just wait in lines with Mom and Dad. They need to work off some steam once in a while, too. Playgrounds, climbing structures, all that sort of thing, do so nicely while letting the parents take a little bit of a break. And Peanuts Playground was one of the best of those from a security standpoint. In comparison, the play structures at Six Flags/Geauga Lake were an absolute nightmare -- on both sides of the park. Multiple entrances/exits that couldn't be seen at the same time from the same position, big flights of concrete stairs to threaten a trip to the ER, and (in the case of the Rocket Sleds) play structures that led directly onto other rides. That was horribly designed, and probably by somebody who has never even seen children at play, let alone had any for himself/herself.

CP could have easily given Peanuts Playground a sprucing up, maybe some fresher theming and more vertical play structures, for a lot less than they spent on Planet Snoopy. I and at least a few parents I know would have been a lot happer.

Dark rides are a perfect way to incorporate the whole family. IMO, a park the size of CP ought to have at least two or three. And we're not talking Disney-size expenditures here. Anyone who went to Kennywood this year knows you can build a heckuva dark ride on a reasonable budget. (Not that I'm holding Ghostwood Estates up as a model of a family dark ride, only that a dark ride doesn't have to be expensive.)

Yeah, I actually liked the old playground too but it certainly needed some work. I don't know that I would say that I (or my kids) preferred that over Planet Snoopy.

And before people get too carried away about the desires of a kid...my kids rode every stinking circle ride in Kiddie Kingdom...multiple times...without complaint.

So, I'm not suggesting that since they already had Camp Snoopy there was no need for Planet Snoopy. I think both fit nicely into the park but I'd like to see a "crossover" attraction...if you will. You've got the SUVs that Disney can afford and you have your basic sedans that most parks have. I want the crossover the the whole family can ride and enjoy. It doesn't have to provide mega thrills but it certainly is in reach for Cedar Point.

A cheap man's Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin would make for a good attraction. Want to pull those kids away from their Wii's and X-boxes and into the amusement parks? Build them some life sized video game rides.

I meant to also add that there has been ongoing, raging debate on the Disney sites about static playgrounds in the amusement parks...even those that are well themed by Disney standards. All I can say is that as a parent of a 5 year old and a 2 year old I think they are GREAT...for the points mentioned above. Kids just need some time to run it off...particularly after meals and so forth. A controlled environment for them to do that in is a blessing in my opinion.

Chief, SRS is something that would be a great addition to the park. You could even theme it easily with the Red Baron and have the cars all shaped like Snoopy's Doghouse.

On top of that, how many of us "big kids" would be lining up to ride over and over to try and get the top score?

What's SRS?