Rides that might be removed in the next few years

redsfan said:

Cedar Fair does not have $100,000,000,000 saved up in a rainy day fund

Actually, they might. They've made a few bucks over the years.

There could be just 1 big universal bank account that all the money generated from the Cedar Fair parks goes into. Then, when it's time to spend money on a particular park, they draw it out.

Or, each park could have its own separate account. So when it's time for CP to build, it comes out of what CP's balance is and what they've profited. When it's time for KI to remodel, it comes out of what they made and what their parks balance is.

Would be interesting to know.

sigh. I guess it's time for another Classic Hit from the rec.roller-coaster songbook!

Okay, I am off by a couple of orders of magnitude. But then, I wrote this one in 1998.


Subject: Re: If I had a billion dollars..
Date: 1998/06/19
Message-ID: <6meqme$ad3@login.freenet.columbus.oh.us>
Newsgroups: rec.roller-coaster

If I had $1,000,000,000
(If I had $1,000,000,000)
I'd buy you a park
(I would buy you a park)
And if I had $1,000,000,000
(If I had $1,000,000,000)
I'd buy you coasters to fill your park
(Maybe a nice CCI or a Boomerang)
If I had $1,000,000,000
(If I had $1,000,000,000)
I'd buy you a Spider
(A nice classic carnival ride)
If I had $1,000,000,000 I'd buy your love.

If I had $1,000,000,000
I'd build a coaster in our yard
If I had $1,000,000,000
You could help, it wouldn't be that hard
If I had $1,000,000,000
Maybe we could put a real Century Flyer on there
Yeah, we could go up there and, like, hang out--
--ride on the coaster...
Yeah, and we'd already have operators working for us, pulling those
big 'ol brake levers...
Hey, how come they have big levers for wood but they don't have them
for steel?
Well, can you blame them?
Yeah!

If I had $1,000,000,000
(If I had $1,000,000,000)
I'd buy you a Zipper
(But not a real Zipper, that's cruel)
If I had $1,000,000,000
(If I had $1,000,000,000)
I'd buy you an exotic plush
(Like a lobster, or an alien)
If I had $1,000,000,000
(If I had $1,000,000,000)
I'd buy Whalom's Fly-O-Plane
(Ooh! All them crazy barreling rolls!)
If I had $1,000,000,000, I'd buy your love.

If I had $1,000,000,000
We wouldn't have to ride an SLC 'cause we're poor
If I had $1,000,000,000
We'd build a B&M 'cause it costs more
If I had $1,000,000,000
We wouldn't have to eat Pronto-Pup dinners
But we would eat Pronto-pup dinners
Of course we would, we'd just eat more
And buy real expensive Sno-Cones for dessert
Yeah, that's right, and all the fanciest Dippin' Dots
Mmmm!

If I had $1,000,000,000
(If I had $1,000,000,000)
I'd buy you a T-shirt
(But not a real T-shirt, that's cruel)
If I had $1,000,000,000
(If I had $1,000,000)
I'd buy you a Spin-and-Barf
(a Cycloid or a Chance Twister)
If I had $1,000,000,000
(If I had $1,000,000,000)
I'd buy you a log-flume
(Haven't you always wanted a log flume?)
If I had $1,000,000,000, I'd buy your love

If I had $1,000,000,000, If I had $1,000,000,000,
If I had $1,000,000,000, If I had $1,000,000,000,
I'd be rich.

(with apologies to Steven Page and Ed Robertson)


--Dave Althoff, Jr.

^ I tried singing that song to the melody of Janis Joplin - Mercedes Benz. It didn't workout too well when I got to the 4th bar ;)

But it follows the old (1992) BNL tune *very* closely. 8-)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Nice, RideMan. I think I have that song in my karaoke database somewhere. Could have sworn someone just sang it at one of my DJ shows last week ... You may have some royalties coming !

I was just thinking from my last trip which was June7-8. I overheard people talking about their head hurting from riding corkscrew. Now with this in mind, I was wandering if this has affected Corkscrew's rider performance over the years? I know when this topic was brought up, people were saying how Corkscrew days were numbered. If it's still putting up good rider stats, why remove it besides the fact that it's a head banger? I cannot think of anything that would really fit in corkscrews place.

If they're removing Gold dorms, then something big could easily fill in there and where Corkscrew currently resides.

If Corkscrew does get replaced, I'd love to see a new ride that keeps those double corks over the midway. Out with the old, in with the new, but keep the unique factor of it.

Yesterday it had a 45 minute wait. I hate that ride so I never go on it, and I'd love for it to be replaced, and like Gravity said, I'd want to see double corkscrews over the midway replicated in a new coaster.

From the people I talk to, most agree that Corkscrew is the worst in the park. I agree with that also, I never ride Corkscrew. It's too short and hurts too much for it to be worth even a walk-on wait.

The reason ridership is down has very little and probably nothing to do with the ride being any different than it used to be. It has to do with the seatbelts that they added and the goofy procedures they use to "check" them. The capacity has dropped severely with these changes.

MDOmnis. seatbelts? goofy procedures? Please explain.

IMO, Corkscrew will stay until Gold dorms are taken out. If Gold dorms bite the dust, I'm going to guess Corkscrew will only have a few years left after that happens.

Corkscrew procedures this year kill hitting interval and ridership, other than that it still pulls good numbers. also might I add that when many other rides go down, we can stay up. if its removed btw this is one of the smaller '48 coasters for beginners, take that out and there's not too much left for beginners. Plus it still does get a good bit of riders...maybe not Millie gatekeeper maverick esque...but there are times it will be busy.

I don't see corkscrew moving anywhere anytime soon, plus its iconic status gives it a great stone to stand on. I also would like to see as much of Ron Toomers work stay alive as long as possible..that guy will never have enough credit IMO.

Can we stop focusing on what gets the chopping block...I don't enjoy mean streak, mantis, or think our three kiddie areas are even close to great comparing to the one kiddie area at ki but I don't put em up for chopping blocks...let the Parks do what they have been doing and enjoy everything they offer.

Explanation for procedures btw. Previous sop had you tug on harness after car was locked and visually check belt and if needed buckle it, or if you had suspicion (looks like its not buckled completely, twisted seatbelt, etc) give it a tug or fix it. Now ride ops must tug harness and have each guest tug their own belt. Mind you how many are paying attention to the op, complying in queue, etc. Second they now have to have load 1 go back to the front of the station (drop off and turn to go to lift) to give their clear. Before if the train rolled in and stooped and you were in the front you'd wait and check from front to back, then as soon as you check car 6, throw your clear up. Then next train rolls in. Wait for the back three to lock, and check from car 6 to car 1, and then throw your clear up. It just creates a giant waste of time now and this procedure I have no clue why they did it, it just seems stupid. All of this apparently inspired by the new lady at park op from what I've heard. Ah well

CDF said:
IMO, Corkscrew will stay until Gold dorms are taken out. If Gold dorms bite the dust, I'm going to guess Corkscrew will only have a few years left after that happens.

Rumor has it that this is Gold's last season.

thedevariouseffect said:
Can we stop focusing on what gets the chopping block...I don't enjoy mean streak, mantis, or think our three kiddie areas are even close to great comparing to the one kiddie area at ki but I don't put em up for chopping blocks...let the Parks do what they have been doing and enjoy everything they offer.

Your right. I just had this thought in my head earlier and thought I would ask it. Don't get me wrong, I love everything about CP, but just thought in my head about what rides might be endangered soon. Just trying to pick up where we left off with this topic. ;)

I'd hate to come up with an idea other than taking it out, but how hard would it be to smooth it out. Outside of bumps and head bangs it is a pretty decent ride.

Gravity said:

CDF said:
IMO, Corkscrew will stay until Gold dorms are taken out. If Gold dorms bite the dust, I'm going to guess Corkscrew will only have a few years left after that happens.

Rumor has it that this is Gold's last season.

I also heard Gold will be demolished after this year, with Cedar coming down either next year or the year after. Could this also be Corkscrew's last season, too? I believe Ouimet stated he plans on looking at the coasters at each park and trying to weed out at least 1 that no longer is needed/wanted. I think Corkscrew is the most obvious at CP. Could this be where we will see the long awaited dark ride? Maybe 2014 will bring us a new dark ride plus a family looping coaster to replace Gold dorms and Corkscrew. Only time will tell...

I could pick several other things to go well before corkscrew...

As for the bumpiness, its because it was hand built in site, not off site and computer perfect and down to perfect tolerances. It has the human element involved in it. Also all wheels aren't in contact with the rails at all times like most modern coasters. The ride actually comes off of the road wheels and only on the up stops on certain spots, and only hits the guide wheels when needed. I mean you can even watch it go up om the lift, the second axle (back of car one front of two) actually isn't even in contact with the lift from when the chain dog engages until the beginning of b block if you watch closely.

I've come to accept its bumpiness and whatnot, its a classic and that's how it should be. If its outside of the accepted tolerances say bad wheels, maint. Or flat spots that needs attention, but this doesn't need to be new roller coaster smooth.

I have a dumb question here. Where are the gold dorms?