Water Main Break

The water tower is not large, genius, it would be drained in a matter of hours (and if it is in use, then that's clearly what happened).

There is no question that the park likely made some mistakes at some point, but whatever, stuff happens. They did a good job communicating the situation.

It's not a matter of blame, it's a matter of foresight and responsibility. CP is just as in bed with Sandusky when it comes to this problem. Last I checked, the peninsula is owned by CP. There may be setbacks and rights for utilities, but to say CP shouldn't have been aware of their infrastructure weaknesses and taken steps to proactively shore them up is just the rambling of CP apologists.

Most water towers are used more for water pressure than storage anyway. I'm sure now that this has happened once CP and Sandusky will take steps to make it less likely to happen again but really sometimes crud just happens. It could have just as easily been a brand new water main and burst because of faulty quality. The only thing they really could have done to prevent this was have more than one water supply and given the location and the statistical chances of this happening to begin with I can understand why that was never done.

^ I wonder if you will take that same laissez faire stance when the bridge you are driving across decides to crumble beneath you. After all, the statistical chances are very low, and crud just happens.

If Cedar Point gets hit by a tornado, are they going to be at fault for not constructing stronger rides and buildings?

I have no idea on the water tower in terms of how many gallons it holds, what that water is used for, how long it could last, etc. My guess is it doesn't last long when you have thousands of people showering in hotels, employees showering in dorms, a water park, dozens of food service locations, etc. Maybe it was emptied out in a couple hours or maybe they simply keep it in case of fire or something. Didn't they say the main broke around 7? I know we flushed the toilet a few times before we discovered around 9 that we no longer had water at Breakers.

CP does have a PA system now - at least in some areas of the park. I've heard them use it around the Dodgem area in the case of approaching storms. I'm not sure if they used it yesterday and if not why they chose not to. Maybe they tell people they don't have it since they don't want to have people asking them to call into the park for Johnny to tell him his mom is there to pick him up.

You've got to remember that it's not like the 4000 kids that work at CP are in constant communication with upper management where the decision to close the park was made. There is a chain of command that is followed and the water went down right as people were either just about to start entering for early entry or had already started entering. So you had some people already in the park without any idea there was a problem - perhaps until the first time they went to go to the bathroom or get a drink. To the person above that said they were there until 3 pm before someone who could barely speak English told them to leave - really? A huge amusement park with no one in it and no rides running for 3-4 hours and you thought that was normal so you waited on a bench with no idea what the heck was going on until someone told you to leave? I get it if you were curious and wanted to hang out to see what would happen, thought it was cool to be alone in Cedar Point, etc, but to pretend like you were oblivious to something going on? Give me a break.

I don't know what time they went up, but last evening, they had "Cedar Point Closed" signs along the Ohio turnpike. They had one or more on Cleveland Road based on pictures I saw. The CP sign at the start of the causeway had a message on it. Twitter, Facebook, the CP website and local radio (including 102.7) were broadcasting periodic messages about the closure. Yes it might have taken a bit of time to get all of this out there, but given that the mess started right as the bulk of the day's visitors were probably driving and somewhere close to the park, it was bound to be a mess - especially when you have thousands of people arriving, thousands of people trying to leave, and a water main break at the point of entry/exit. I'm not sure they could have communicated all that much better.

I feel bad for the people that drove a couple hours or more to get there yesterday morning or traveled from far away for their annual or once in a lifetime trip and had nothing to do. I feel bad for the employees who had to deal with the situation. But I think there is a lot of embellishment going on too. Sometimes stuff happens and there really isn't a whole lot anyone can do about it.

Cruise ships?!? Right. Like THAT'S always a safe and healthy environment!

This is not a unique situation. As others have pointed out, infrastructure is crumbling around the country and water main breaks are common. The real question is why did the park have to be shut down? It was a management decision. Other businesses around the country such as malls and large sporting arenas and even public schools have all experienced identical losses of water yet sometimes they choose to remain open.

As for the park itself, it is primarily an open outdoor venue. There is no real risk of injury to guest due to a fire. If fire was the main concern, they could have closed the indoor attractions such as entertainment and sit down restaurants. Bathrooms could have still functioned (albeit with reduced water pressure) or the park could have rented port-a-pots on a very short notice. There is plentiful drinking water in the form of bottled water and other beverages (which could have been provided to guest for free as has been done in other similar circumstances).

Hotels are a harder question and probably should have been closed. There is a greater risk of fire especially in the middle of the night. That said, the loss of water is an incredibly huge inconvenience; but, it does not constitute a disaster to the point the park could not operate. It again demonstrates poor management and the lack of a good disaster recovery plan by the park. The park is on a peninsula and is almost entirely surrounded by water for crying out loud. How can you run out of water? Especially, since water doesn't have to be drinkable to be used for putting out fires or flushing toilets.

Scottyf said:
CP is just as in bed with Sandusky when it comes to this problem.

Yeah, because they totally were OK with losing millions of dollars over this. By the way, were you even there? If not, I value your opinion even less.

They did use the PA around 10 a.m., maybe shortly thereafter, Matt. Not sure if you bailed by then or not.

I wonder if Cedar Point carries any kind of loss of business insurance and how that might come into play here. Businesses usually carry that sort of thing in case, say, the street in front blows up and they are forced to close down.

Wait-that is kind of what happened there.

Jeff said:

Scottyf said:
CP is just as in bed with Sandusky when it comes to this problem.

Yeah, because they totally were OK with losing millions of dollars over this. By the way, were you even there? If not, I value your opinion even less.

They did use the PA around 10 a.m., maybe shortly thereafter, Matt. Not sure if you bailed by then or not.

I don't see how me being there would have changed perspective or anything when it comes to understanding the infrastructure.

Kudos to park management for issuing refunds to hotel guest. Did the campground close as well? I didn't see any communications from the park saying it was closed; only the hotels on the peninsula. Earlier post indicated campers where staying put while everyone else evacuated.

Scottyf said:
^ I wonder if you will take that same laissez faire stance when the bridge you are driving across decides to crumble beneath you. After all, the statistical chances are very low, and crud just happens.

A bridge is different than a water main. If a bridge fails, people die. Not having a second water main to deliver water to a seasonal resort if there is a problem with the first one results in major inconvenience and loss of money. They are completely different situations with completely different possible outcomes when things go bad.

A couple of comments:

1. The reason our infrastructure is crumbling is not only because it's incredibly expensive to repair, but also because infrastructure repairs have no sex appeal to politicians and the general population. Nobody sees water or sewer pipes, and politicians can't name themselves for one of their interest groups after a 10 mile run of underground pipes.

2. Who's willing to bet that CP/Sandusky will be replacing the entire run of pipes within a week of park closing this fall?

3. This might have been alluded to earlier, but I've read in investor reports that CP owns all of the land on the causeway. So, I'm not sure if that means the water line is CP's responsibility.

4. I've also read that per-attendee spending is approx $40, if someone's looking to estimate what this is costing.

5. Not only is this costing CP, but also the city of Sandusky in lost tax revenue.

Scottyf said:
^ I wonder if you will take that same laissez faire stance when the bridge you are driving across decides to crumble beneath you. After all, the statistical chances are very low, and crud just happens.

Wow, talk about hyperbole. Are you comparing a bridge collapse, something that happens maybe once every 2 years in this country, to a water main break, something that probably happens every day?

Any word about a Friday Night refund for breakers? I called this morning and left a message with the property manager, I know it's not their fault by any means, but I wouldn't even have given them any business that night if I just did not come.

To me, it's not expected but it would be good public relations.

"Cedar Point Closed" is currently trending on yahoo.. haha.

Jeff said:
The water tower is not large, genius, it would be drained in a matter of hours (and if it is in use, then that's clearly what happened).

There is no question that the park likely made some mistakes at some point, but whatever, stuff happens. They did a good job communicating the situation.

Amen brother. Crap happens, Cedar Point will make it right, I think they handled the situation great.

Does anyone REALLY think they love losing money like they are? I saw a customer on the news last night turned away and they were mad. Now I have to take another day off work, pay for gas to get here, yada, yada, yada....Sure let's let everyone in and tell everyone, Sorry Folks Nor bathrooms today, hold it or go in your car...seriously...it happens, not like it happened on purpose or happens all the time.

I'll leave with this, what do you mean a water main break closed the park that's surrounded by so much fresh water! Bring in pumps!!! Just kidding....Hope Cedar Point opens soon! I miss it and love it!!

jetsplumber said:

Pete said:
Water mains have a predictable life span and the city should have replaced this water main before there was any chance of failure.

its just not Sandusky. much of the USA has infrastructure that is outdated and should have been replaced yrs ago. the main problem is, no one wants to pay.

What jetsplumber said. Something like this happens, everyone who's inconvenienced is angry. But when municipalities come around saying we need to our aged water mains so we're going to raise taxes... people don't always want to pay.

Pointguru - are you serious? Yes, I guess it was a management decision (someone had to make the call), but are you really suggesting they could operate an amusement park for the whole day without water? Think about that for a minute. Some guy posted a picture of a toilet in the park and that was with just several hundred or at most a couple thousand people in there for early entry. No flushing, no hand washing, no fountain pop, no ability to clean puke or bathrooms, risk of a fire with no water to put it out, need I go on? They made the only call they could. If they had done otherwise, the outcome would have been 10x as bad and they'd probably be getting fines from the health department or something too.