Voyage to the Iron Reef at Knotts...

Just watched this POV video, not sure it was what I was expecting. The ride system seem fun, but there is no story line at all. I hope they can come up with a decent story before they clone this to all the Cedar Fair parks. I'm not a big fan of the interactive shoot em up part of the ride, but I'm sure there are people out there who love that stuff! Any thoughts?

It definitely looks to be a considerable improvement over Wonder Mountain's Guardian. Knott's appears to have put some effort out in theming some of the space around the screens so it isn't just a blank building full of screens. While it would still have been nice to see what Garner Holt Productions might have done with an entirely new dark ride, the Triotech products are probably more feasible budget-wise for most Cedar Fair parks.

^^^ While I too wish that WMG had the themeing of the non-screen space that VTTIR does, I believe they left the space blank so that when they change the program running on the screens that there isn't stuff that doesn't fit in ... The theming that goes with the Guardian program might look odd when the Zombie program is running...

Sorry, but I'm just not overly impressed with Triotech's product. We drove to Canada to experience Wonder Mountain's Guardian, and Voyage to the Iron Reef appears to be very similar.

To me, it felt like playing a bad Playstation 2 or 3 shooter game. The graphics seemed dated and cheesy. The shooting felt brainless and unrewarding...almost like a chore. The ride itself felt disconnected from the digital world. Overall, I just felt WMG was forgettable and lacked any personality or charm, much like my feelings after watching Voyage to the Iron Reef.

As has been stated, the ride environment was left very neutral so that they could change the video for a new experience. That's a neat concept on paper, but perhaps that adaptability is holding back the overall experience by making it bland.

I do think these are rides that young kids might really enjoy, and I thought the drop element was fun. A big advantage to this technology is that the theme shouldn't need much maintenance, so I doubt we'd see the ride experience degrade much. But as much of a fan as I am of dark rides, I really hope CP doesn't get one like this from Triotech.

It looks interesting enough to me. I've only seen Triotech's demo at IAAPA, but I can see how there's a lot of appeal to a system that can be changed without a lot of physical rearrangement.

I have a feeling that is one of the huge selling points for Cedar Fair. Triotech provides them with a budget-friendly alternative to "real" dark rides with a handful of clear positives, namely the interchangeability and interactivity. And given Cedar Fair's mixed history with theming I think the Triotech products are within their wheelhouse so to speak both creatively and financially.

We have a thread here where a lot of us hashed out our thoughts about dark rides, specifically this breed of interactive dark rides. I'm not a big fan of them if we are comparing them to non-interactive ones; that is, I'll take a ride like Pirates of the Caribbean over a ride like Toy Story any day.

All that said, I think we're all in a state of denial if we start pretending this isn't coming to Cedar Point in the very near future, and I'll focus on the positive. It's just a POV, but this Iron Reef looks like a significant improvement over Guardian at CW, which left much to be desired. My hope would simply be for this trend of improvement to continue by the time Triotech lands in Sandusky.

If CP goes with a dark ride that has the big screens I would like to see something similar to The Curse of Darkastle at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I agree with Kevinj though, I would take a Pirates of the Caribbean type dark ride any day. Something with animatronics and some good detail and story line as long as it was well maintained though....

Yes, Dark Kastle is fantastic. One of my favorite dark rides. Physical theming, some screens, real life effects (wind, temp changes, fog, water, etc.), and great sfx. Seriously those subs bump. Then a neat little story, I'm sold. I didn't see how storming a mountain I'm taking a lazer gun and shooting at stuff, even underwater. The drop track is cool, not as neat as Zierer drop tracks, but hey it'll do. But in terms of dark ride, it's a fluke to me and goes the way of Boo Blasters.

But will Cedar Point get a coaster or a flat dark ride. I'm hoping it's a coaster.

Orlando Mike said:

I hope they can come up with a decent story before they clone this to all the Cedar Fair parks.

...

I'm not a big fan of the interactive shoot em up part of the ride, but I'm sure there are people out there who love that stuff!

While I would certainly prefer a full-scale dark ride a la Pirates, I get the appeal of attractions that can be changed out for seasonal attractions (Halloweekends) or completely re-done with a minimum of physical alterations for the company.

Given the Amusement Dark concept, and comments from Ouimet about adding to the Amusement Dark portfolio, this is clearly a direction Cedar Fair is going to pursue.

If I wasn't sure there are people out there who love the interactive shoot em up part, one visit to Toy Story Mania would answer that question :-)

^^

I'm hoping for a dark ride, but I'm guessing (dive?) coaster.

I keep watching this video and other videos on YouTube of this ride and it just makes me cringe to think Cedar Point might be getting one of these in the future. I really hope they go a different route with a dark ride. Just my opinion but these look sort of cheesy.

The flexibility of the system is definitely the selling point here. It can be quickly re themed for Halloween attractions, or winter holidays for that matter. Not to mention when the current concept grows old it won't take a whole lot to up grade it. The other thing is that each park can "plus" the attraction by the increasing the level of the scenic pieces along the route. Essentially it's a lower budget version of Disney's Toy Story Midway Mania.

^^What he said.

My wife and i were just at Knott's and we went on this. We had Fast Lane, so im not sure on what the storyline is supposed to be, if that is built up in the queue line or not, regardless, we enjoyed it. They merged us into a 10 minute wait line, up in the station. I was actually kind of shocked at park opening that everyone ran to this ride, while i was the only one walking to Xcelerator, very fun ride by the way, but with one train ops, with a second train in pieces on the ground, SMH!

I was one that was saying that i didn't want CP to get one of these, but if they can come up with a unique theme to bring to the park and keep the rollercoaster part(WMG) out of the ride, this would be a decent addition to the park.

They give you 3D glasses that you return after the ride, and it was pretty neat with how you felt like you were under water with everything coming out and attacking you. Everything seemed to flow really well together, going from screen to screen. Your "gun" has its own colored dot on the screen so you know where you are shooting. The huge screen at the end is really impressive, with the audio, and everything attacking you, it was hard not to get into it. I know my kids would love this for sure!

I wouldn't mind a snoopy vs. the red baron dark ride. I just can't see cp adding a non shooting type dark ride

I wouldn't like a Snoopy anything dark ride, too cute and skewed too much towards kids. The iron reef theme actually seems pretty cool and I like the description of the underwater elements from the reviews I've read. With CP being on the water, that theme would fit as well. Though, incorporating the mythical Lake Erie Monster into the ride would be a nice touch.

TOTALLY agree with you Pete on all counts. I don't understand what the this Peanuts dark ride fixation is. Something like Iron Reef, but Lake Erie based would be perfect for CP.

As mentioned above, it's a matter of when this is coming, not if. Pete, I think your idea is the best way this could go, and I could dig the nautical vibe.

When you get off the ride, the gift shop will include, of course, a sample of Lake Erie Monster for each rider 21 and over.