Space Spiral could have stayed!

I also got it.... We really need those +1 buttons. :)

I was sad to see it go, but it was time for it to go. The whole timber thing was cool. I just wished they could have saved the cabin. I just think it would have been kinda cool to have them build some sorta stand or something out of the old cabin. Keeping the history of the past ride in an unique way.

I think their goal was to keep the cabin, even to the point of digging a hole for it to land. Unfortunately, that didn't work out.

I don't think they ever planned to do anything with the cabin. If they did, they would have disassembled and removed it before they brought the tower down. I believe the cabin is 4 pieces based on pictures of AstroWorld's tower and cabin after it was removed.

I think there was probably a trade-off between how much they wanted ensure the cabin's survival and the amount of time and money it would take to bring the structure down.

It was very apparent that the decision was made at least a decade ago about deferring maintenance on the SS. It was about that time period that Seaworld San Diego overhauled theirs, having a new cabin manufactured in Japan and installing new controls and drive. In their case it was necessary to maintain it as an operating attraction to keep the maximum height grandfathered in for the California Coastal Comission. Once the word got out how much this rebuild cost them CP probably made up their mind that it wasn't worth it. Interestlingly enough Knotts put put their Skycabin back into service when we all thought it was coming down and Windseeker was going in to it's location.

Apparently the Knott's fans made more of a fuss than the CP fans. :)

Speaking of Knott's ride. I heard somewhere that the ride was saved because that Big K on top of it is a Historical Landmark or something like that.

Never heard that. Only thing that I heard was that Dick was out for an inspection one week, and when he went back to Sandusky it was announced that they were going to put the Skycabin back on line and put Windseeker in the Fiesta Village section instead of the Skycabin's location. Had the foamers over on Micechat really wagging their tongues for a while.

^^Ive heard that too.

besides they made it removable with windseeker.

I have read through this all and I keep thinking about all the comments from other threads saying how fantastic Gate Keeper is looking and the colors are wonderful and what great pictures it takes and will take in the future.

Now add the SS back in those pictures and it looks like crap, it was an old ride that was kind of an eye sore especially standing next to a fantastic looking Gate Keeper.

Walt said:
I think their goal was to keep the cabin, even to the point of digging a hole for it to land. Unfortunately, that didn't work out.

I personally think that would have been a cool idea, but they never actually planned on saving the cabin. That cabin was twenty years old and would have been hard to restore. They dug the hole just to reduce impact.

Unless I'm missing something, want't that the original cabin? That would make it about 45 years old.

45 years old is what I'm thinking also, was the cabin ever replaced?

I asked about it and was told that it was twenty years old. It could be a mistake though

If you look at old Cedar Point videos on YouTube, the cabin looks different than what it looked before it was demolished.

I believe the cabin was replaced at some point during the ride's lifetime. I want to say mid to late 80's, but I have no idea where I think I saw that.

If I counted correctly, I saw 3 different looks to the cabin in this video, though that may not mean its a new cabin.

http://youtu.be/gGz5OVFTdcA

I was in the Spiral in early August and it sure looked run down, beat up and put away wet. Looked pretty bad for being only 20 years old.