Valravn Goes Vertical--Construction Starts

Go Intamin, I wasn't at Cedar Point for it, but I definitely remember that game! Jim Thome was my idol growing up.

I remember one time when we went to Pittsburgh to watch the Indians vs. Pirates, we stayed at the Double Tree hotel (which was the same hotel Cleveland's baseball players stayed in too). Me and my father were in the same elevator as him, and he was such a nice guy.

Later that night after the game, there was a huge crowd in the lobby waiting for the players to come back. Jim Thome and Jacob Cruz come walking in. Jim saw my father and I and remembered us. He didn't even hesitate to sign my baseball and he shook my father's hand.

It was cool to see that my idol was so down to earth and so genuine to his fans considering how popular he was in the MLB.

I'm excited to see the last piece put into place and all, but I'm starting to get really excited about other things now. Like visualizing how the rides entrance will look, especially being that you can get to the ride 2 totally separate ways, or how the inside of the station will look, lighting, the landscape around the ride, etc.

I have a selfish comment. I think it is safe to assume that Valravn will draw vastly larger numbers of people to Blue Streak area. My selfish comment is concerning my ability to ride Blue Streak numerous times in succession with my son without any or limited wait time. We would normally be there at 10:00am for first ride or two, then later on for a few rides. Seriously though, the extra crowds will probably result in more riders for BS.

Quick Thome comment: I recall his first game when called up by Indians. It was against the Tigers, he played 3rd base. Sparky Anderson never praised young players but on the postgame he proclaimed that Thome was going to be an outstanding Major Leaguer. Good call by Sparky but I still do not think Thome warrants a statue.

Dang it, I "Voted Up" your post right before I read that last sentence. If I was able to take it away now, I would :D.

With that said, I completely respect your opinion. BUT, anybody who is as big of a power hitter as him, has played 22 seasons with 612 career home runs, and is a Silver Slugger award winner deserves a statue smack dab in the middle of Progressive Field's Heritage Park in my opinion.

But to ease the mind a bit, according to Tony's blog, Wicked Twister had some of the lowest numbers in 2013 when Gatekeeper debuted right next to it. Granted you can enter and exit Gatekeeper's plaza without having to walk past Wicked Twister.

One thing I have noticed, however, is that since 2013, Wixked Twister has had more fluctuating lines. They used to be about the same, but now they can be either really big or nonexistent. I do hope that BS won't have too many more riders, however, as that was always my go to ride on a crowded day. I rode it 21 times in about 2 hours, when even Corkscrew had a 30 minute wait. Also, I really love the crew for that ride. Some of them even knew me by name towards the end of the season!

Another Indians note, I can see something similar in Francisco Lindor that I saw in Jim Thome. They're both guys that showed up to play in their first season, and Lindor has some power in the clutch.

Pete said:

My wish is that the Cleveland Indians win the World Series in my lifetime. Came so close in 1997 and ended in such bitter disappointment.

Two words: Jose Mesa. Yet another Thome note: I also remember him getting called up from the minors back at old Municipal Stadium and I was there for the 95 and 97 series (one game each). He had the only modern jersey I ever owned. I honestly feel as long as the Dolans' are owners, we'll never get to relive those experiences again. Same goes for Jimmy Haslam. I knew John Hart and the Jacobs family and the current owners of both CLE football & baseball franchises don't even come close. From a former die hard fan of both.

Go Intamin, I echo your praise of the Blue Streak crew. As a frequent rider of it, they grew to recognize myself & my son. The person in the booth would always smile & wave at my son who is autistic, a small gesture that meant so much to him.

TwistedWicker, I loved having Thome on the Indians & I was a big fan of him. His attitude, enthusiasm, joy for the game shined forth.

His ability as a "slugger" was good, decent batting average. Home run total high because of longevity of his career. Lots of DH at bats but credit for years in NL where he played in the field. He will make the HOF.

But a "statue"? Seems like a little much in my opinion.

I'm sure we will be hearing much more to come in the Valravn area at winter chill out.

Very curious to see what comes about the pirate ride building.

My money is on nothing.

Seems like a missed opportunity to put some sort of restaurant or something in the Pirate Ride's place this year. You could argue there is already a restaurant next door, (Chickie and Pete's), but that restaurant is nothing more than mediocre at best.

I'm interested to see what the on-ride photo and souvenir building looks like. The darn webcame doesn't show it. Be sure to take pics all you Winter Chillout people!

At least they put in a spiral staircase up to the block brake instead of the hideous stairs that Sheikra has.

I wonder if they'll paint the stairs the same color as the supports?

If they are galvanized steel than probably not.

And I'd put my money on them being galvanized and staying that color. None of the other mid course spiral staircases at the other coasters are painted. The most I could see them doing is painting the support bars from the staircase to the track support.

I'm curious as to what all the fuss is at the top of the lift, they have done zero vertical construction the entire week...must be some serious wiring up there.

the rest of the track wont take much work after its installed, so i'm sure that is lower on the priority list. The lift and brake runs on the other hand take a lot of work, especially on a dive machine that has another chain and motor on top of the lift

Yeah id imagine they are taking advantage of the calm weather to install either the chain or other technical components. That way the easier, and lower, track pieces can go in if the weather gets funky again.

My guess? I think they are waiting on additional track pieces to arrive from Claremont. The fenced in area near Breakers Express is completely empty of any track and supports. I see they went ahead and moved all the remaining supports near where they will be going. And yes, it will probably go up very quickly.

~Rob

I think the remaining track segments are in the employee parking area (by the boathouse). I believe you can see them in the webcam but it's hard to tell from soo far away.

Two supports installed.
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