So long, Midway Sky Ride?

Does anyone know if Cedar Point is removing the Midway Sky Ride to make the midway wide enough for that parade they're going to be having next year? Someone on Facebook claimed that CP had confirmed on Twitter that it was being removed, but I couldn't find the tweet that said so.

On the one hand I would understand if the Sky Ride was removed, I mean it is a very old ride and they would need to take that out (along with the landscaping beds, I'm presuming) to have room to get those floats down the midway.

On the other hand, that would suck if they decided to take that ride down and didn't announce it. I would have gone back to CP just to ride the Sky Ride if I knew it was coming out. That's always been one of my favorite rides in the park.

What I am about to say is entirely unofficial and not very scientific, but I'm fairly certain that the "someone on Facebook" has no idea what the heck they are talking about.

So I wouldn't worry about it.

Sky Ride will be nowhere close to interfering with the parade.

I wouldn’t take those fantastical artist renderings of the floats literally. A Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this is not, think Shriners parade or something slightly bigger than a parade for ants.

If a pickup pulling 5’ x 10’ flatbed trailer can squeeze by the SkyRide stations, there will be plenty of room.

If you notice also when the WebCam is pointed towards the Giant Wheel and GateKeeper, the general traffic flow goes around the back of the Coliseum, not in front of it.

Doesn't seem necessary, and it does seem highly unlikely.

But, an interesting observation I made numerous times was how little Sky Ride was running in 2019.

The Sky Ride, despite not being a major thrill ride and often down due too weather/wind, is an iconic park ride. It would be really ironic for them to take something like that out while they bringing so much nostalgia in for next year.

If it meant having a midway more like Kings Island, I would say remove whatever necessary. While the new buildings they are putting in are most likely going to be nicer and more functional than what they are replacing, I would have preferred they completely revamp the entire main midway from the front gate to the train along with the Gatekeeper midway and have some sort of common theme. They are keeping it a mish mosh mess that makes no sense and doesn't even look all that nice. Once you walk past the Midway Carousel, the only thing that stands out is TTD. There is no "WOW!" factor about the CP midway.

Yes, I also find the litany of towering roller coasters and attractions to be quite dull and unexciting. Nothing to see here. /s

^Don't even try telling me it's remotely close to being as impressive as Kings Island's International Street.

^It's all in the eye of the beholder, and they're very different parks. The Kings sister parks opted to make a grand entrance using the tower as a focal point, and a grand fountain in front of it. Cedar Point lets the rides do the talking. I think it's really cool when you walk in CP, and you see the sky ride taking people back toward an array of 200+ foot tall thrill rides. But maybe I'm in the minority.

They're both great, but I love seeing the towering mass of tangled iron you see from the main parking lot. Very much in-your-face. I can only imagine the impression it makes on a first-timer. It just screams "CEDAR POINT".

I would get pretty bored of park entrances if they all copied the Kings Island/Main Street idea. Is it neat? Of course, but there are also plenty of other ways to do it. It's just different.

For whatever reason this is making me think of the now defunct Wildwater Kingdom (Geagua Lake) waterpark; I always loved that entrance with its foliage.

To me, Cedar Point's entrance starts when you drive up the causeway and lay your eyes on the coaster-jungle in front of view.

Pretty hard to improve on that.

Agreed. The only way to improve on that view is to allow you more time to enjoy it while you are driving. It really is hard to take it all in and stay in your lane. Fortunately, the park is working toward that end with the new Gold Pass, we should all get at least a good 10-15 minutes to stare at that view each visit next season. ⏳

And once in the park Skyride is that WOW. KI and most other parks don’t have one anymore.

Oh, my first impression of the new fountains at KI was not great, I liked the old style much better. It might grow on me over time. Besides the fountain at CP is more family friendly, they actually let you play in it. Every time I we try that at KI, Security gets their panties all in a bunch.

One thing KI & CP have in common is they are both closed today.
https://twitter.com/KingsIslandPR/status/1206576150241259524?s=19

I like KI's entrance, but quite frankly CP excites me every time I drive up the causeway. To each, their own, I guess.

Cargo Shorts said:

And once in the park Skyride is that WOW. KI and most other parks don’t have one anymore.

It's funny you should mention that. When I was a kid (and really yet today) my favorite ride at CP was/is Cedar Downs. I love how fast it goes, that the horses go back and forth, and it rumbles so you really feel like you're on a racetrack with a bunch of other racehorses.

There are only 2 racing carousels left in the world, and one of them is at Cedar Point. The other one still works, but the horses don't go back and forth. So Cedar Point has the ONLY fully functional racing carousel in the WORLD.

When I was at Disney World this past spring, I told my sister that if you'd taken me to Disney World back when I was 10 or 11, after going to CP a few years, I couldn't have told you the difference between the experiences - except I probably would have been disappointed that Magic Kingdom didn't have a racing carousel.

Magic Kingdom was cool, but it ain't no Cedar Point.

There are three. Cedar Point, Rye, and Blackpool.

Zoug68 said:

^Don't even try telling me it's remotely close to being as impressive as Kings Island's International Street.

The two midways serve very different purposes, in my opinion. At KI, International Street is the main attraction, so it needs to be impressive on its own. At CP, as others have noted, the rides are the main attraction, and the Main Midway serves as a conduit to them. And despite it not having a cohesive theme, CP's Midway is beautiful.

That said, I am a little surprised they didn't go with a more generic theme for the two new restaurants. Something vibrant but vaguely modern (think Sweet Spot) might have gone a long way toward making the whole stretch feel more cohesive.

Other than serving absolutely terrible pizza, what is “international” about International Street?

You know what I like about Cedar Downs? It's really one of very few rides at CP where your fate is in your own hands. You climb aboard this horse that moves in two planes at a high rate of speed. No seatbelts, no shoulder harness, nothing. Don't fall off, you'll get hurt! The only ride that really compares to this from a perceived risk standpoint that I can think of was WWL.

When you think about it, it's absurd that there are seatbelts on cadillac cars which go 2-3mph max, when you are flying around in a circle 4 feet off the ground on a wooden horse at 25-30mph on Cedar Downs with plenty of centrifugal force.

I love the feeling of there being an element of risk. I'm frankly surprised that nobody has gotten hurt on this ride (that I'm aware of).