Rides of the Past

Hi everyone-
Just found this board even though I've been a fan for years...
I'm 18 and I was wondering, I never got to see/ride Jumbo Jet, Avalanche Run (before it was converted), Earthquake Ride, Shoot-the-Rapids, Frontier Lift, Fun House etc. I am always on the lookout for historical cedar point pictures and details, but can anyone older tell me firsthand about their experience on these and other "classic" rides? As well as if you think they should'eve stayed or if they weren't that good. Especially the jumbo jet, seeing pics of it, it looked like it would have been unique.
The only rides I can remember riding when I was younger that are no longer there are the Mill Race, Sky Slide, and Kid Arthurs Court (I LOVED that as a kid!!!!)
Thanks in advance to any of the "older" CP fans out there! :)
Boy do I wish time travel was possible!

The Fun house.. I loved it.. a mirror room.. a room that was slanted with a queue line in it you had to make it through.. and it ended with an enclosed metal spiral slide that dumped you onto mats on the midway..

The Giant Slide.. lookign for that "Special" burlap sack that would help you get air on the second drop and beat your dad..

Frontier lift... nothing but trees.. and what a drop.. also coming in right over Mine Ride as a train was going up.. swearing you were gonna hit them..

Shoot the Rapids.. I remember baking in the queue lines that were in front of the ride with no shade..... then crossing over the bridge to the island where they decided which load platform you'd be on..

Avalance Run.. another queue that cooked you all day... and DAMN those black seats on the cars were hot..

Earthquake.. the leaning tower of Pisa lookalike that, no matter how many times I rode it as a kid, I swore it was gonna hit me..

But I REALLY miss the Beaue-Kurve (sp?)


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MF 2000 - 269 laps
MF 2001 - 89 laps as of (6/26/01)
June 11th, 2001 - Gemini 100 *** This post was edited by Red Garter Rob on 6/26/2001. ***

First of all, welcome!!! Avalance Run was awesome, and well worth the wait! I remember in 1987 climbing the lift, and thinking wow, a ride that doesent have a track (per say)is crazy! Now I don't think anything of it! The park should never have gotten rid of it, or at least kept the "special Effects". Agin, welcome!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey be sure to check out the gallery on the site for some "historical photos" of the rides you listed and many others.
Be sure to note the "classy" shirts the Shoot the Rapids MEN use to wear:)(Hey I was one of the Rapids Men in 1980 and we OWNED Frontier Town:))
While I enjoyed all the rides you mentioned along with the BAYERN Kurve(:)) Change is one constant at CP. It has been wonderful watching the Park evolve year after year into what it is today.
On Sunday I commented to my wife as we walked up the steps of the Magnum how the pines have filled in the area. You use to be able to see the whole queue area. Also, the same is true with White Water Landing.. You could see the whole ride standing on the ramp.
I may have not made some of the changes CP elected to make but everything has been done for a reason and a purpose.
Now please stop making me feel old because I can remember riding ALL of these old rides and more (Pirate Ride, Double Ferris Wheel, FT Carousel,Tiki Twirl, Trabant, Super Jets-aka Star Vouyger, a TWO track Turnpike Cars, The original Western Cruise) and a few more.

Tim your our resident Historian round these parts..hehe:)

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http://www.msu.edu/~armbrus9/cp.html
mf laps = 100! No More No Less!!

Wow ,the Super Jets I used to love those.

My favorite was riding Sky Slide when they first opened that ride in the morning after a fresh wax. Man, could you catch some serious air.

Another personal fav was the old lady in the Earthquake ride that would gaze into her crystal ball and say "I see an Earthquake in the future" that ride rocked even though it was kinda cheesy.

There are still a couple "Jumbo Jets" running. One is at Coney Island in Brooklyn. I think there's another one somewhere in New Jersey as well.



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Without upstops, airtime would have a whole new meaning! *** This post was edited by Chaindog on 6/26/2001. ***

Tim - I remember all of those rides you mentioned and I'm not old ... am I? :) Remember when Bayern Curve had the Olympic theme in 1984? I bet you have lots of great stories from back then. We'll have to get together sometime soon to walk the midways and reminisce.

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VirtualMidway
http://www.virtualmidway.com

Oh, here I go tearing up about the old Western Cruise again. I always wanted to work that ride when I grew up...woe is me.

I, too, remember all of the rides mentioned in this thread (from my childhood).

But it does make you wonder--what will be next? Rides like the Western Cruise and Shoot the Rapids lasted around 20 years.

Do we think Cedar Point will be removing the rides it's built in recent years within that same time frame? It's interesting to imagine.

Sorry..that would be a topic for another thread. But thanks once again for the memories.

I can see it now...

Raptor laying in the boneyard in 20 years.

I think that the jumbo jet at coney island is the same one that was at cp.

I thought the Jumbo Jet was relocated to Mexico City? Personally, I remember the Mill Race, Pirate Ride, Sky Slide, Frontier Lift, Kid Arthur's Court (never got on it, but always wanted to!), Sky Wheel (double ferris wheel - scared me to death because I could never figure out if it went upside down), Rotor, Avalanche Run (not really of the past), and I remember seeing the Earthquake Ride but the one I remember going on is at Disney. I think the past-ride graveyard by the Magnum entrance gate during Halloweekends is the neatest theming. :) It's great to remember!

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PO!NT OF VIEW - A Different Look at Roller Coasters
http://www.crosswinds.net/~justmayntz/thrills/

Cedar Point's Jumbo Jet went to a park in Mexico (whose name escapes me at the moment, but more than one person here knows it).

I'll admit (unlike Walt) that I'm "almost" as old as the resident Old Timer. Of course, I'm way closer than Walt is.

The only ride I can remember that wasn't already mentioned was the Rotor. Does Jungle Larry's count as a "ride"?

Expanding beyond rides, I also miss the Chicken and Biscuits and Auntie Em's. I saw that they were on the menu this year at the Chuck Wagon, but I missed out on eating there this year.

We also always made breakfast at the Silver Dollar a tradition. They stopped serving it about the time that Raptor opened, I guess. We'd get into the park Sunday morning at opening, sit next to a window facing the Mill Race, and watch the logs go by empty while we ate Silver Dollar pancakes. To a 10-year old, that was very cool.





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Duane Cahill
I need a vacation to recuperate from my vacation!

ACTUALLY the Jumbo Jet that ran at Cedar Point is in some park in Russia now...

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Matt - Skull Man of the Elite Eight
I stay crunchy...even in milk!

Man, was I fired up when I heard the Mill Run was getting taken out. I also remember sitting in the Silver Dollar eating those Silver Dollar Pancakes watching the Mill Run. Now I'm only 22, but I still remember quite a few of the old rides. The Pirate Ride was one of my faves. I remember going with my friends when I was a punk teenager and jumping out of the cars and scaring the bejesus out of the little girls, LOL. I look back at that and think how stupid that was. I also remember Avalanche Run, but I never rode it. All I can remember is, what's keeping those trains from jumping the track?!?! And Kid Arthurs Court, I used to spend hours in there! And when I was done in there, I used to race my dad a few times in the burlap sack slide. Too bad I don't remember the Earthquake ride. But as far as Uncle Harry, ooops, I mean Jungle Larry, that was one of my favorite things to do when I needed a coaster break! But I have to say I miss the Mill Run most of all. I prefered that over the log ride we have now. Ahh well, I guess I'm starting to babble now, so I'll be going.

The ride i miss most and no one has named it is the rotor. That ride was so awesome. You would cling to the walls and the floor would drop from under you. I wonder if their are any parks in the country that still would have the rotor? If anyone knows please post......

My favorite memories:

Getting lost with friends in the mirror room in the Fun House (even though I knew the way :-)

Girls with long hair riding the Rotor

The queue for the Blue Streak (when it was out front) reaching all the way out to the midway

Cannon ball splashes outside the Pirate Ride

One last Mine Ride before we left :-)

Lots of fond memories from the park -- going back 30+ years now...


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Hey, I heard a rumor that Millenium Force is sinking... *** This post was edited by Millenium_Force_is_sinking_too on 6/27/2001. ***

I've seen the rotor at many county and State Fairs...

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http://www.msu.edu/~armbrus9/cp.html
mf laps = 100! No More No Less!!

I did 40 runs on the old Mill Race ride.... Every time we came back to the station with the guy directing the cars/boats/logs/whateveryouwantocallem to the left and right, we asked him if he enjoyed his job. :p

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*still thinks the Power Tower is crap compared to the Demon Drop*

I remember all of the stuff that has been mentioned. Also the Monorail, and the self-propelled little one-rider trains in the old incarnation of Kiddy Land. One I'm curious about is the "French Frolics Mystery Ride". What the heck was that? There don't seem to be any pictures in the Town Hall, except one of the outside.

Tim Bretz
"Remember to pillage before you burn"