Snake River Expedition

The queue, preshow and boats are indeed well done. The queue music helps sets the tone nicely too.

I agree it feels like the experience could be a bit more streamlined, perhaps either by shortening the preshow or removing the stop at the dock partway through the course. I do get though that much the pace of the whole thing is dictated by the operational nature of a boat ride.

Perhaps it might work best as just a classic lap around the island like Paddlewheel Excursions with simple scenery and corny jokes. While the attempt to have more involved story is admirable, most guests are probably just looking to get off their feet and have a pleasant boat ride.

All that said, I definitely appreciate the effort to do something new and unique for the park, particularly something that aims to be a broad-appeal family attraction.

I watched a YouTube video of SNE and my first thought was, "Nobody who's been slogging around a hot amusement park all day is going to feel like getting involved in some LARP (live-action role play) kind of thing. Just loop the boat around the island and call it a day!"

The basilisk subplot is baffling - why is it even there? If it's a riverboat, why not alligators? Doesn't make sense.

What CP should have done is have a riverboat ride like Disney does. Disney's Magic Kingdom has a riverboat where you get on it and it just loops around while a voice-over talks about life on the Mississippi. Maybe CP should have kept the animatronics and set it to a soundtrack that talked about Ohio's canal and wilderness history. Something soothing, nonconfrontational, and relaxing. And educational!

Even when I was a kid, the riverboat was where we went when we just wanted to get off our feet for 15 minutes. Cedar Point missed the mark by assuming everybody wants to be part of some corny story. They don't.

(this is, of course, not meant as a criticism of the actors who are doing their best with what they're given.)

Well they can't all be winners...
I rode SRE (aka SNE) once, and that was plenty for me.
The same goes for Adventure Island. I checked it out when it first opened and haven't been back.

I think SRE is exactly what I expected out of boat ride. Sure the jokes might be corny, but it's still a pretty relaxing boat ride. Maybe it doesn't.... float everyone's boat..... but I had fun, and would absolutely do it again.

SarahB1863 said:
I watched a YouTube video of SNE and my first thought was, "Nobody who's been slogging around a hot amusement park all day is going to feel like getting involved in some LARP (live-action role play) kind of thing. Just loop the boat around the island and call it a day!"

Except that's exactly what Forbidden Frontier is, and, in case you haven't noticed, Cedar Point is now making an effort to integrate Frontiertown. They are treating the Snake River Expedition as an extension of Forbidden Frontier.

The basilisk subplot is baffling - why is it even there? If it's a riverboat, why not alligators? Doesn't make sense.

Because it is the Snake River.

Cedar Point has never been a theme park. In accordance with the Post-Disney Theme Park Rule of the 1960's, they did establish a Western-themed section (well, what park didn't? Heck, even Americana had a Western town in it). It's an easy way to integrate some theming into a park; put in a few distressed-wood buildings, add a "saloon" (preferably with live entertainment) and even though it makes very little sense, you have a great place to put your obligatory Runaway Train roller coaster. So over the years, Cedar Point has ended up with this massive hodgepodge of individually themed attractions and elements: the Cedar Creek Mine Ride, the Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad, Frontiertown itself, Snake River Falls, even the Crystal Rock theming (which is related to park history) attached to Shoot the Rapids II. In developing the new attractions, they've made a *huge* effort to tie all of this together, even tying in existing well-remembered elements from Paddlewheel Excursions like the non-animated mumble-mouthed Buck Skinner. It's such a hodge-podge of elements that any reasonable themed entertainment developer would have just blown it all up, developed a totally new theme, changed the names on all the rides, and started over. Personally, I am quite impressed that Cedar Point *didn't* do that, and really has been...with some success...slowly tying everything into an integrated Frontiertown and Forbidden Frontier. Because the only connection to "Cedar River" was a building on Paddlewheel and the only connection to Cedar Creek is the Mine Ride, but Snake River Falls is adjacent to and over Forbidden Frontier, it made sense to just call it the Snake River.

So why is it called the Snake River? That's where the basilisk subplot comes in. Yes, it's forced. But so is everything else in Frontiertown.

What CP should have done is have a riverboat ride like Disney does. Disney's Magic Kingdom has a riverboat where you get on it and it just loops around while a voice-over talks about life on the Mississippi. Maybe CP should have kept the animatronics and set it to a soundtrack that talked about Ohio's canal and wilderness history. Something soothing, nonconfrontational, and relaxing. And educational!

The Western Cruise was a shameless rip-off of the Jungle Cruise. That's OK, of course, because Disney returned the favor by ripping off the Pirate Ride some years later. The truth is, if Cedar Point had merely resurrected Paddlewheel in more-or-less its final form, most of us would have been happy with it. But I think we have to give them credit for trying to do something more with it.

I can do without the performers telling me that they'll see me real soon, though. That's a little over-the-top.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

A "shameless rip-off of Jungle Cruise? OK, as an adult, Dave, maybe I get that. But the Western Cruise sure made a lasting impression on me as a little kid. (See my PointBuzz user name!). "Don't worry folks, those are wooden 'Guardians' shooting wooden bullets, so if they hit you, it wouldn' hurt....And they're from Cleveland, and we all know the Cleveland 'Guardians' can't hit a thing."

But Dave--I agree with you 100%. Even though I'm not sure how I feel about the pre-show and storytelling of SRE, I applaud the park for trying to tie together all of the theming. For a park that clearly isn't a theme park, I think they've done a bang-up job. I think Jason McClure really liked Frontiertown, and may have been one of the driving forces in embracing and extending it. I hope the park continues to show it the love it deserves, even if there are some growing pains.

I totally forgot about the basilisk subplot. I have to admit that I also didn’t understand the point of it while on the ride.

Ultimately, count me in as someone who would prefer a less interactive river boat ride. But if the interactive element is here to stay, I think the story needs to be reworked. I just don’t see it landing with adults or children currently, and I’m not sure who’s left.

Also, does the theme have to be frontier related? Since the ride’s entrance is by the Gemini midway, I think a more modern Ohio river cruise theme could be interesting and more bespoke.

(And whoops, I have no idea where I got “SNE” from!)

I revived this thread because I rode SNE yesterday.

All of the actors are gone, along with the plot involving Trapper Dan and gold robbers.

The preshow is now a slide show selling Snake River as a property investment opportunity, since the story is Trapper Dan abandoned the river. The ride still contains the same animatronics, but the captain now mixes familiar "bad joke" patter with trying to sell the buildings along the ride as residential properties or investments.

It's a game attempt at rebranding the ride, but there's been speculation as to what's going to happen to the ride next year. Some have suggested it be rethemed to be closer to the original Riverboat Excursions. I wouldn't mind the ride being revamped to be a riverboat cruise talking about/showing the history of the park through animatronics and other constructs.

What do you all think should happen with the ride? Do you think it should stay exactly as it is, or should CP try to do something else with it?

As long as they continue to cut back and slash the Live E budget, it will be exactly what it currently is, assuming they even run it at all.

The biggest issue is that the boats are too small and the preshow (both the 2021/2022 and current 2023 edition) slow things down even more. Those boats need to have twice the seating and all 5 need to run, because the current experience can post a painfully slow moving 60-90 minute wait even on a slow day for an experience not worthy of such an investment of time.

I went on it today, and I was bored the entire time. And I agree, the boats are small, and the current pre-show is long and didn't make too much sense if you weren't fully paying attention. Our captain kept getting interrupted on the radio by the ride supervisor, and as we were rounding the corner passing Iron Dragon I kid you not he points to it and says "and here's the Cedar Creek Mine Ride."

If the storyline is that property is up for sale, they might have a hard time getting a buyer.

Yeah, I don't even know why they're bothering with the pre-show. Just leave the shed open at both ends and let people walk right through to the boat. It's OK entertainment but doesn't really connect to the actual boat ride and let's face it, how many kids are even interested in buying real estate? It's a very odd experience.

And that's a shame because when I was a kid, the riverboat excursion was one of my favorite rides, corny jokes and all. But that had more stuff actually going on, like the burning riverboat and the Indian attack and the fort firing "cannonballs" into the water. This iteration just has some very clunky animatronics and not a lot else to look at. The basilisk is kind of interesting, but it's small and the head comes out of the water just as the back part of the boat passes - most people don't even see it unless they're sitting on the outside left edge.

One of my rides this year had the boat captain making several jokes along the lines of "we used to transport gold around here but now we're just boring real estate agents" - if you knew the 2021/2022 ride it was pretty funny.

^I definitely appreciate some self-deprecating humor, and that would have definitely helped out the one ride that I took on SRE this year. As the others have mentioned, it was simply boring, and the throughput was horrendous. I agree that the pre-show should just be canned completely. I definitely like the idea of a boat ride there and I'm hoping it stays, but a few updates could go a long way to making this a more enjoyable attraction.

I'm a little baffled as to why they don't just ditch the whole idea of a preshow "story" and just make it a wildlife expedition - eg, the captain just points out all the different animals doing funny things and makes the same corny jokes without trying to tie it into selling real estate or anything else. The vast majority of the animatronics are animals; and the setup is already 'wildlife expedition.' Why overcomplicate it?

SarahB1863:

Why overcomplicate it?

Maybe Cedar Fair has folks from Intamin working in Live E spiel writing this year?

It may not have worked out but I give credit to CP for trying to jump into the immersive attraction experience. Like Disney with the Star Wars hotel, you don't know until you try. I enjoyed the full version of Snake River Expedition, with the actors and "storyline" but without it I can't imagine riding it again unless they plus up the various scene elements. How much money do you throw at it though?

My wishful thinking is a well designed and constructed flume on the island with theming and scenery that could also be shared with SRE.

IMO they wouldn't have to throw another dime at it. Just get rid of the entire preshow and have people go directly from the squares on the dock through the shack and onto the boat. Throw out all the stuff about real estate properties and redo the script so the captain is just talking about the wacky wildlife at Cedar Point. Keep in the corny jokes. Mention at the beginning of the ride that the last animal is the "coup de grace" and when they get to the basilisk, say "Here it is - the coup de grace. This is a giant snake named Grace."

Everybody groans and gets off the boat.

Chief Wahoo:

It may not have worked out but I give credit to CP for trying to jump into the immersive attraction experience.

Indeed, and I wonder how much the pandemic affected the outcome, given the staffing and revenue challenges they faced as a result. If they had tried this a few years sooner, who knows, it may have worked out differently.

It'll be interesting to see where the park turns their attention next. As I see it, there are three areas that could use some attention/TLC, in no particular order:

1. The "middle" of the park where they just removed a couple of flats, along with Celebration Plaza and the former Cedars site
2. Kiddie Kingdom (which I am surprised didn't see any attention last offseason, but I suppose budgets are finite)
3. The former StR area/island

I'd agree with areas #1 and #3. Kiddie Kingdom could use a little love but I think it can continue to satisfy zillions of youngsters for quite some time as is. All rides seem fairly functional, serves it's purpose.