Snake River Expedition Closing?

Tony Clark updates the website hourly, based on what rides are open or closed. For example , right now the only attractions listed are Perimeter Road, Cedar Point Beach, and the Break Wall Scramble to the lighthouse.

The only other thing I can think of is maybe it's getting a different name/theme (nothing elaborate) and it's temporarily off the website. I don't recall what the ride description said as of last season, but maybe it wasn't exactly matching the new ride experience.

But I would guess it's simply gone.

Seems odd that there would be no communication about it, though.

Why would anyone expect the park to communicate about an attraction that is closing?

Hey everyone - look at us!!! We are eliminating a ride - a family ride to boot!!!! Come visit us this year!!!!!!!!!!!

The park always announces a closing attraction in some way.

For reference, it was early March when the park announced Forbidden Frontier was not coming back.

So maybe we're a week or so away. Because it would be expected.

Those boats were custom built, yeah?

Yeah.
Earlier someone mentioned a hope that the boats would go to another park. Ok, but which one? I may be wrong, but I think the only other CF park to ever have a boat ride was Carowinds and that waterway was removed for a coaster.
I think boat rides in general are becoming a thing of the past.

Shades:

Why would anyone expect the park to communicate about an attraction that is closing?

Aaronosmer, yes that is partly true. However last year for example. I’m not sure if you have the Cedar Point & Kings Island apps on your phone or not; (I know they both have changed and been improved). But anyway my point is that last season, the rides that didn’t open until Memorial Day weekend in the dry park; (Snake River Expedition, Snake River Falls, Thunder Canyon, Congo Falls, White Water Canyon, and Race for Your Life Charlie Brown) yes they were still listed in the rides & attractions page on the website, but they didn’t appear on the app map until Memorial Day weekend. I know it sounds weird, but trust me, I checked.

The following year at Geauga Lake, the list of rides on that sign had grown exponentially. :)

I think a lot of folks on here still operate with enthusiast brain when a vast majority of park goers are single visit types who may not have any idea the park even has an app

If SNE is indeed permanently closed, I find that pretty amusing. I'd love to know the full story behind CP's brief love affair with live, immersive entertainment.

I only rode SNE once, in it's opening year. I didn't enjoy it at all. But I also don't have kids and don't like hokey role playing, so I probably wasn't the target audience. The boats were nice enough!

I know that many people want CP to evolve into a place with non-ride entertainment for everyone, but I don't think SNE was that, and I think CP/CF/SF has a long way to go before they can successfully execute that vision.

Maybe they're just re-branding it under a new name, which would justify the reduction in live actors in the ride. The Intimidator rides were just renamed to Thunder Striker and Project 305 at Carowinds and KD respectively. I'll let you form your own opinions on those names, but perhaps we'll see SRE return as Lumber Floaters.

Confirmed Dead by Tony to WKYC

https://www.wkyc.com/articl...gyv76eht3s

Dvo:

but perhaps we'll see SRE return as Lumber Floaters.

That name is strikingly similar to what some used to claim they suffered on good ole' Mean Streak:

Lumbar Floaters.

And right on cue, there's your early March announcement.

With the Live E getting gutted chain-wide, and now this; not exactly pumped about the direction our beloved park is taking. Another example from out west; out at Knott's there is this super cool-super old bar with a stage...got a chance to snag a drink in there with a honky-tonk piano player. Pretty cool. They announced no shows in there at all for the first time in park history. Place looks like this:

Kind of like 1) The Palace theater having no shows, and 2) The museum just left sitting there.

I would love to ask the still-relatively-new GM Carrie about this, but she never leaves her office. I'm starting to think she died two seasons ago. Miss the days of park leadership actually walking around the park they are in charge of.

Maybe they’ve reached their capacity for rides and attractions that they can staff. Any new ride from now one will be replacing an old one in the lineup.

If that's the case, a more accurate way to say that would be that they've reached their capacity for rides and attractions they can staff at the wages they're willing to offer.

I know this is an unfair, simplistic way to look at it, but that $5.5 million that Zimmerman and Witherow received (in stock options) as a reward for the SF "merger" is worth 275,000 man hours at $20/hour. Again, I realize hiring more people isn't as simple as liquidating those stock options and using the proceeds to pay employees, but it's just not a good look that those execs are getting a major financial reward at the same time the company is diluting their brand with cuts like these.

I imagine attractions like SRE and FF are the kind of effort that may take time to become popular, given they're somewhat of a departure from the coaster-heavy brand they've become known for over the last few decades. Killing them so quickly while using the "welp, these attractions just aren't popular enough, what ever are we to do?" strikes me as a deeply cynical, cheap move.

But, hey, who cares? These executives will be richer despite destroying the brand and then move on to another high-paying gig, so why should they care?

/rant

I don't believe Town Hall closure was a staffing issue whatsoever as it just had Ken and a few others when he wasn't on shift. As for Live-E staffing, it (and the park as a whole) was stretched beyond the ability to adequately staff in the Covid season(s). And that wasn't unique to CP but in many service industry businesses as well, some that never recovered.

I wonder if many of the typical Live-E recruits from years gone by now seek other ways to hone their craft, or get noticed. I'm thinking of all the YouTube/Instagram/Tic-Toc/X platforms that anybody who thinks they have "content" posts on. And then some performers don't want to commit to a several month long contract but prefer gigs at all these bars/clubs around our landscape.

Just some random musings.

Not much of a fan of the Register, but gotta give Justin Dietz props for his decidedly-pointed article. Some highlights:

Sadly, Cedar Point, or rather Cedar Fair, has been decimating the live entertainment aspects at all of its parks as the company moves into the merger with Six Flags.

The livelihood of what makes Cedar Fair parks special is being cut across the board. Those unique experiences that made Cedar Point a well-rounded entertainment park are being removed.

I particularly love the closing paragraph (emphasis mine):

This cut is a further progression of Cedar Fair cutting live entertainment costs at the expense of the guest experience.

Sure, lots of guests will be waiting in your lines to ride the newest Top Thrill 2 roller coaster, but just as many will need something more to do than stand around in the heat all day.

Though there is always the option to upgrade to the VIP lounge...

If Justin isn't already a PB member, he'd sure fit right in. :-)

I have felt that since Steel Vengeance came out the stories and mythology CP has created was overly complicated. I’ve never read Into the story of blackjack and co. They were bad now they’re good? Maverick is now bad? The background of the ride characters and then into frontier island and SRE was all too much to want to think about on a hot summer day. I really love the look of the boats and enjoy the ride, and I want them to continue. Possibly in a reduced story and less Interactive way.