The Boardwalk - New for 2023

The center of Matterhorn looks to be in place and wooden spokes that makes the base underneath the ride are going in place. Build up for portable rides like these can be accomplished in less than a day.
It seems that concrete was poured just the other day, so it’s quick progress.

Before

After

She is definitely waking up! kids rides have shed their winter skin. I was watchin Linus beetle bugs getting put in place last week, or the week before... getting older means loosing track of days - not just time!

I see two beetle bugs on the new coaster track. How many will there be and where are they now?

There are 7 cars - one "cheese" car and 6 "mice" cars. I'm not sure where the others are, but Zaggy and Larry are on the storage track:

I'm a little surprised we haven't seen any car movement, considering Zamperla was on site starting last week. I know these are complex machines, but I would have expected at least Zaggy to have made it onto the circuit.

Matterhorn has its track now. I always find it interesting to see rides in their skeletal form during build up. When boarding the ride it’s hard to realize how high off the ground the track is, but once you account for the hills and the suspended cars it adds up. It appears that the ride might sit slightly higher than before. There’s a little cement ramp at the exit in the front. I think in its previous spot the ride’s exit was right at ground level.

There was a ramp in the old location as well, but it appears it's in a different orientation than the new ramp.

And now Scrambler’s (er… Atomic Scrambler) is there painted in a nice, bright orange. It’s not centered or in place yet.
Remember when it was popular for parks, small or large, to take their aging Scrambler and enclose it with a light show and music? Some of the larger parks, Over Georgia and Busch Williamsburg come to mind, used proper buildings while smaller ones used a dome to cover the ride. While not very exciting visually, it might’ve made a good attraction at this Boardwalk. I think it was a way to boost ridership as people always lined up for them.

I’m going to check the book, but this Scrambler may be CP’s oldest currently operating, non-carousel adult flat. It’s only had two other locations at the park (it’s a ground-mount) but it’s endurance is admirable.
Eli Bridge has produced hundreds of rides since it was first introduced in 1955 and they are work horses. Coasterpedia has an incomplete list but it seems Denver’s Lakeside has the oldest dated 1958, Silvan Beach is next at ‘59, then Cedar Point and Lake Winnie are tied with their rides debuting in 1960. So that’s a long time for our old gal and I’m glad she’s still around.

Not enclosed, but I like the setup at Kings Dominion. At least I did (haven't been back since they re-themed that area of the park).

Funny. I always used to put a building around the scrambler when playing RCT2 to make it more exciting.

Geez. When it's windy I can't stare at those webcams too long without feeling a little vertigo-ish.

5 weeks to go, still a lot to be done.

29 days of workworkworkworkwork...

Mar 4

Apr 2

Tony tweeted pic of a mouse a few minutes ago. Not sure if that means they are/have started testing.

Well, let's just check the webca...

https://twitter.com/TonyCla...8735170564

She is running great! I can already tell that this is going to be a fun ride!

It’s nice that a single car is completing the circuit, but the “running great” part will surely have to include successful operation of a continuous loading station.
As for the run we’ll see how weight in the cars affects the spin. The brake along the back seems to not trim the speed very much so far (if at all) which is a good thing. I’m looking forward to trying it.
Now let’s put the camera back to the Boardwalk, please, lol.

Better yet, will we get 2 laps on the mouse? (wishful thinking) This ride seems very quick and short compared to some of the other mice I've ridden at Kennywood, Knotts, etc.

Another thought, does anyone know if the Giant Wheel will get a new updated LED package on the LAKE side of the ride facing the new Point Pavilion? That side of the wheel (viewed from the lake) is currently dark. Just wondering.

I don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t count on it.
In the grand tradition of show business, they’ll likely only do what they have to. And hopefully the Pavilion will have its own lighting scheme. You know, for those rare evenings when lights are actually required around the park…

This is Cedar Point. To get two laps on the Wild Mouse they would have to stop the train and re-check everyone's lap-bars/seatbelts before sending a train off on another run (yea, I'm talking to all the parents in the room who have ridden Jr. Gemini...er...Wilderness Run and cringed every time this happens).

Running time after the lift hill is about 43 seconds.

I don't know...I think that sounds about the right amount of time I want to enjoy spinning. This is not meant to be an epic installation that leaves you full of awe and takes you on a journey; it's meant to be a fun family coaster. I think that fits the bill.

But next year when the new 43-second ride opens, it WILL leave us full of awe. 😉

MF, one of the longest coasters anywhere, takes about 60 seconds from the lift to brakes. Magnum takes about 65 seconds, and Valravn about 50 seconds, and they were both record breakers. So given that Wild Mouse is a more moderate, family-friendly coaster, ~43 seconds seems right on target.

It also looks like a hell of a lot of fun.