Snake River Expedition

Snake River Expedition is running!

You can see it on the second (Top Thrill Dragster) webcam. The loading dock is in the lower left corner.

They're running three boats right now. I'd love to hear reviews from people who've ridden it. As a fan of the old ferryboat ride, I'm very happy a waterboat ride is back in the park.

Now we just need to get the Space Needle and Pirate Ride back...

No. First we need a log flume. :)

We got a ride in yesterday. The ride itself was ok, and the kids seemed to enjoy it. The wait was approximately 2 hours, but that was expected for the opening debut. The animatronics were decent enough, and the jokes were as cheesy as ever, but the story could be better imo. Maybe once they combine the ride with characters on Forbidden Frontier when it opens for the season....

...and Earthquake and Upside Down Fun House, and the real Western Cruise.

Rode the boat today and also ventured over to the island for the first time. I was impressed by the theming and actors. Snake River Expedition (SRE) almost feels like a Disney ride, pretty close. Certainly trying to model after Jungle Cruise. Waited about 25 minutes only. Forbidden Frontier (FF) was bigger than I expected and had quite a few characters, well-acted. I like their approach, they will chat with you and gently try to get you involved but if you don't want to they just tell you to have a great day. I became interested in a story one of them told us and I talked to several characters about it. It was fun. I saw kids running around with baskets finding eggs, having fun. FF and SRE bring a new dimension to CP. Even if you are mostly a big coaster fan, if you are staying for 2-3 days it is worth it and a nice change of pace. I think the new leadership may be pushing CP back to a few more themed attractions. Watching the Youtube video about SRE I recall one of the leaders mentioning about bringing more theming to the park. I personally am happy about this. Not saying they wont continue to build bigger, faster, crazier rides but why cant we have both. Maybe this approach will finally get us that top-notch dark ride some of us fans have been clamoring for.

...and Earthquake and Disaster Transport.

CoasterHawk said:

...and Earthquake and Disaster Transport.

Why do you keep typing this? Are you saying Snake River will be a failure because these were (somewhat) failures?

CoasterHawk is just clinging to the past. They carry some notion that those rides would somehow be well received or pass muster with today’s guests.
Earthquake, for instance, would never be considered up to the standard set by most current dark rides. If anything, it would make a suitable museum piece.

Master D said:

CoasterHawk said:

...and Earthquake and Disaster Transport.

Why do you keep typing this? Are you saying Snake River will be a failure because these were (somewhat) failures?

Considering how long those rides existed at the park, I’d hardly call them a failure.

Shoot the Rapids 2.0 on the other hand…

Dear RCMAC,

Yes, I do miss those rides. A lot of people do. The fact that they are old technology is the point. Think Kennywood. "They" should have kept some old rides. Cedar Point was a place like no other once, now it has become a place like many others. The uniqueness is gone.

Poppycock.
I’m curious to know when you first visited Cedar Point.

Early 1960s. I remember, although barely, the stagecoach ride with the real live horses. I rode the monorail. And seriously, what about the park now is unique? What can't you find elsewhere? It has become a cookie cutter park.

CoasterHawk said:

And seriously, what about the park now is unique? What can't you find elsewhere? It has become a cookie cutter park.

In no particular order...

Top Thrill Dragster

Cedar Downs

Blue Streak

Hotel Breakers

Lake Erie's Beach

Lake Erie

Magnum

Millennium Force

Steel Vengeance

The Causeway (and it's awe-inspiring view)

Corkscrew snaking over the midway

Forbidden Frontier and all it's actors

Maverick

Snake River Expeditions

Iron Dragon

The woodsmith that has been crafting for decades on the Frontier Trail

The Frontier Trail

The trains

Boneville

The Trail Tavern

Lusty Lills

A park that will still open rides at 9:45 even the park closes at 10:00 and everything has been down since 6:00 due to weather

Ticket of a Lifetime!

The carp in the water near Mine Ride

Not one, but two antique car rides

Lighthouse Point cottages

A fansite like Pointbuzz dedicated to the park. Seriously...have you ever looked at other park's forums? They're horrible if they exist at all.

I'm sure I missed something...or 34 things.

What in the hell is a cookie cutter park, anyway? I am fond of different parks for different reasons than why I am fond of Cedar Point. Any park worth its weight has a uniqueness to it that makes it its own, and while it certainly does (and always will) have room for improvement, it's a little silly to call Cedar Point a park with nothing unique because it doesn't have dark rides that belong in a (as RCMAC stated) museum.

EDIT:

The Marina

Mayflies, Midges, and Bears, oh my!

Six Flags parks are cookie cutter parks. They have many cloned attractions across their chain. And Paramount Parks during the Paramount era did the same things. They just placed cloned attractions throughout their parks. The only cloned attractions CF has ever done that I can recall is Windseeker and Dinosaurs Alive. But that was under old management.

Kevin, you forgot the Marina.

Let’s not leave out the muffleheads/mayflies/midges.

Yes, I will agree on Cedar Downs and the train ride. Everything else is available someplace else. I used to live close to Sandusky. I grew up going to the park. One by one the museum pieces were removed for stores, arcades, and footers which could have gone elsewhere. Would you call parks like Kennywood a park with rides that belong in a museum? With 150 years of history there is little to still show for it. The new rides are wonderful, but not one of a kind anymore. I understand your perspective and mean no disrespect.

You're right. I forgot about my visits to Six Flags Over a Great Lake, the hyper, giga and stratacoaster at Knoebels, and the Busch Gardens park with an open RMC.

Coasterhawk,

There's no disrespect taken (or given); we just disagree. I happen to find Cedar Point just as unique as it ever has been. Just like Dollywood and Busch Gardens Williamsburg (and so on)...

I have a feeling (correct me if I am wrong) that by "cookie-cutter park" you are highlighting the fact that Cedar Point has fewer options like the Old Pirate Ride, Earthquake, Fun House, Jungle Larry's, etc.

I have been the biggest cheerleader for over a decade for the park to get a high-quality (hint: not a mobile video game) dark ride and a log flume...or both. There is no doubt that there are some "holes", if you will, in the park's lineup from my own perspective. That said, the park has added Forbidden Frontier and now Snake River Expeditions to further bolster the "something other than a coaster" lineup, and those are not small investments. I'm still a little taken-back at the scope of Forbidden Frontier. I never thought I would see something like that at Cedar Point.

That said, I would stand by the little list my head came up with in the 60 seconds of thought I gave it that every one of those is something unique to Cedar Point. Or, at the very least, rare finds.

I finally rode SRE for the first time Tuesday. I think it’s fine, but I don’t anticipate riding it again any time soon.

Positives:

• The queue, pre-show room, and boats look great
• There are a lot of live actors, and I think most did an admirable job in the context of an Ohio amusement park

Negatives:

• I think the theming along the ride is sparse and, in the case of the animatronics, somewhat cheap looking
• The story feels off to me. It doesn't grab me as an adult, and it almost seems too serious/confusing for children.

Luckily, the negatives seem like elements the park can easily work on in the future, if they want to.

Also of note, the entire ride (including the pre-shows) seems long, which I suppose is a positive for people who enjoy it. But personally, even though I didn’t hate SRE by any means, I’d rather spend the ~15 minutes it requires on something else.