Shoot the Rapids is being removed!

Roller Coaster definition:

an amusement park attraction that consists of a light railroad track with many tight turns and steep slopes, on which people ride in small fast open cars

Super Himalaya? Matterhorn? Not sure how Pipe Scream fits it better or at least on the same level as those rides do. Why isn't/wasn't STR considered a roller coaster?

I'd be more concerned with a successfully business, not who has the most coasters. The other way around is doomed for failure, look how that worked for SFWoA.

GigaG said:
^Did CP really "officially" consider Superman a drop ride?

I think Cedar Point considered Superman enough of a coaster to build Dragster about five feet taller - just so that there was no question as to who had the tallest.

JeffH said:

... Cedar Point had debated Six Flags Magic Mountain for years ....

Debated? No. Engaged in occasional PR puffery? Sure.

I doubt that a Cedar Fair opinion of Superman's coasterness played a role in the company's decision to build a record-breaking coaster; they built TTD to be a record breaker, not to get one up on Magic Mountain.

I wouldn't bet 100% on that. The late 90s/early 2000s Kinzel years were extremely ego-driven. Millennium Force was absolutely worth it, and now all these years later Dragster wasn't a horrible investment. But Kinzel's ego absolutely is why we have Dragster, Wicked Twister (guarantee if Worlds of Adventure hadn't had Superman at the time, CP never would have installed this one.) The current business philosophy over there converts Mantis to Rougarou, or removes Wildcat and reduces the coaster count but gains some great space for a show. The old philosophy gave us some wonderful things, but also sacrificed the overall guest experience to live up to a certain definition of "the best"

Cedar Point could have built a record breaker without going 420 feet (or 120 miles per hour). It's just a hunch, and we'll probably never know for sure, but it seems to me that they didn't want there to be any question.

''Dragster wasn't a horrible investment"? That's all the credit it gets? Yeah sure it's just a L-TH-B, but who cares? Dragster is very unique and draws in massive crowds. It is without a doubt one of the most popular rides in the park. And that is coming from the majority of non-enthusiasts I know.

Coaster count is all puffery when you consider some of the kid coasters that are part of a park’s count.

CP may have fewer coasters than other parks but I'd argue their lineup of coasters over 200 feet and their other record breaking rides still puts them tops in the country if not the world.

But some people aren't always after the giant coasters. Most families enjoys the small to medium sized coasters so they can all ride together. Then there are people who are afraid of heights and/or just don't enjoy big coasters. The little coasters are just as important to the park as the big ones, so they should be included in the coaster count.

CoasterKyle1121 said:

''Dragster wasn't a horrible investment"? That's all the credit it gets? Yeah sure it's just a L-TH-B, but who cares? Dragster is very unique and draws in massive crowds. It is without a doubt one of the most popular rides in the park. And that is coming from the majority of non-enthusiasts I know.

Kinzel himself has been quoted in saying that the headaches endured in the early years of the ride made him have regrets in whether or not it was necessary. The thing was a trainwreck those first few seasons and hardly brought a good guest experience to many. Over the years the ride has seen decent uptime, and yes, it is a fantastic ride for people to sit and gawk over in the bleachers. As far as an actual ride, it is a great rush, but give me Maverick, Magnum, Raptor or Rougarou any day for an overall great experience. Dragster was installed for no other purpose than to have the tallest and fastest coaster in the world at Cedar Point. So yes, in the end, it wasn't a horrible investment. But it certainly wasn't one of the best.

Is it possible, that they might just be demolishing the intamin parts off of the layout? Maybe in the future we'll have a different manufacturer but with the same layout. Just an idea.

That would still leave the concrete troughs that are not slanted at all, requiring pumps to keep water flowing.

New Haunt for 2016: Shoot the Rapids!

^^Speaking of concrete troughs, Fox 8 news at noon showed a video by drone of Geauga Lake. Quite prominent besides the remains of the coaster were remnants of water rides, including some "troughs". I know i rode whatever ride it was when I was younger, but have no memory of it. For that matter, I never rode STR in the 5 years we have had Platinum Passes, no interest in slimy water on me the rest of the day.

Although I'm late to the party, I'm shocked StR is being removed. I would have understood had the ride been removed after the 2013 incident, but why now? To remove a nearly $11 million ride after only 6 seasons seems a pretty drastic and forced decision--one that would have required serious impetus. But hadn't the ride been running well recently? I suppose there could have been some behind-the-scenes maintenance issues, but they couldn't have been too serious if the ride operated all last season.

Furthermore, was an official cause of the '13 incident ever released? I know Intamin is most popularly blamed, but I don't know that was ever confirmed. Of course, as others have mentioned, the fact that Pilgrim's Plunge was also removed after a short number of years (again, I'm not sure if we ever heard a reason for that removal beyond general "reliability" concerns) doesn't speak well of the product.

I, too, am curious, though, why the ride hasn't yet been removed from the website. Rumor has it Rip Tide is kaput at Knott's, and that ride's listing has already been taken down. Is an extensive refurbishment of StR too much of a pipe dream?

I realize StR wasn't the best water ride in existence, but slowness and flood prone boats aside, I think it was one of the more attractive attractions at CP. The view of StR's infield with Millennium and Dragster in the background is/was picture perfect. I hope the ride's prime land is put to better use than the relocation of Ripcord. Given the commitment to and success of Timber Mountain at Knott's, I'm inclined to think another water/log ride could be in CP's future, but who other than Intamin builds those these days?

(As an aside, I'll never forget riding StR at 2am on the 4th of July in 2010. It was a very cool experience before the days of closing water rides before dusk.)

Maintenance costs for that POS are going to be more than the actual ride itself if they keep it. And the dang thing is only 5 years old! Each and every year it's something new they find wrong with that thing.

i haven't been to Knotts, but after watching some video from Timber Mountain, I would be thrilled beyond words if Cedar Point had that quality of flume. It would fit so well with the theme they already had going with STR. I'd probably ride it 5 times each visit like i used to do with WWL as a kid.

I think the problem with the roll back incident was that the lift hill had an engineering flaw where it was possible for the boat to enter the lift hill out of position so that both the chain dog and anti-rollback dog was rendered ineffective at some point during the trip up. This is just an informal analysis on my part from information that was released and not in any way official. But, it would seem that it certainly was Intamin's engineering that was to blame, along with lack of sensors to shut the lift hill down before the boat got very high if it was out of position.

I think a complete refurbishment and redesign of Shoot the Rapids is certainly possible and it would make sense as some of the investment would be preserved

I don't think there is any possible way it could've gotten on the track out of position. The lift hill had a guide bar up the center of the track next to the chain. Once the hill gets about five or so feet off the ground, the guide gets wider and that's what locks the boat into place. You can see the guide going all the way down the hill too. I think it was just an anti-rollback failure.

I remember watching daily as STR was being built. On one day , late in the construction phase I recall watching about 8 men in suits all gathered at the base of that lift hill. They were there for well over an hour, climbing in and around that mechanism. I even posted about it on one of these old forum topics. It was clear to me that that meeting was not just some guys excitedly looking at the ride. It struck me that there was a problem, and the suits were there to sort it out.