What are they doing now?"

On the webcam it looks like they're doing something where there is no concrete. To me it looks as if they're planting something. Anyone know what's up?

Looks like landscaping to me.

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Cedar Point Virtual Midway
Now coming May 22
http://www.schmidty.com

They're burying that hand that got lopped off in the test runs ...

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Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill.

everybody's a comedian

Looks like they planted a row of small bushes in that little strip in the middle of the que. Since they're not putting trees there, I think it's safe to say that they'll put covers over the line like Power Tower and Mantis. Oh well...

Tear! :*(

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"Your obssesed w/ that place aren't you?" (as stated by my best-friends about CP)

Spewey, Hillarious!! Remember they could plant trees there but it will take years for them to grow in enough to provide appropiate shade.

Hopefully the covers are temporary (as in a few years.)

But you COULD transplant big trees...

yeah, Dave, you got me there.

Where exactly is the landscaping being done near the queue? None of the pictures I have give a good shot of the queue, and the webcam doesn't seem to give a real clear picture either. I am asking because if the land scaping is anywhere near the track they wouldn't want to put any trees that would grow too large.

I know its a stupid question, as if CP hasn't thought of that, but just my observation.

"But you COULD transplant big trees"

And that's been done before. Two trees near the Mean Streak queue are transplanted. So is the large tree directly under Raptor's first drop. Takes a lot of water to keep those things alive at first.

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Cedar Point Virtual Midway
Now coming May 22
http://www.schmidty.com

Looks like they planted small shrubs or bushes between the sections of the line. I think they have them in Magnums line if I remember right.

They also moved a tree from behind the barn (under the Millennium Force turnaround) to right next to the Frontier Trail at the end of last season...

--Dave Althoff, Jr

"But you COULD transplant big trees"

Yes, for a price. There are very few sources of large, shade, quality trees and they are tremendously expensive to buy, install and maintain. A 30 foot tree may have a root ball of around 12 feet in diameter, a trunk diameter of 20 inches and weigh around 35000 pounds. It would also cost around $20000 and about another $40000 to get it planted properly. Thats $60000 for *one* tree. Of course that's the extreme but the only way to go if you want instant shade. There are more reasonable options, trees just over half that size could be had for less then $1000 and some species might offer some shade. *** This post was edited by millrace on 4/20/2000. ***

But they're not buying the trees. The trees that I mentioned all came from other places in the park. These are trees that had to be removed for one reason or another but were nice enough not to just cut down.

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Cedar Point Virtual Midway
Now coming May 22
http://www.schmidty.com

Well even digging up and replanting large trees can get expensive. They would also have to store the trees and keep them alive until they were ready to be replanted. Digging them up causes a lot of stress to the trees and it takes many precautions to ensure their survival.

Don't get me wrong though! I am all for saving trees and I hate to see nice trees cut down as well as a loss of the forest cover at CP but there are lot of complications involved in moving and transplanting large trees that doesn't always make it worthwhile. The best plans are usually those that try to work around the existing vegetation to try to save as much as possible. I think CP was careful preserve as many trees as they could. I would love to see the queue lines shaded by trees but it is rare to have instant gratification with plants.

"it takes many precautions to ensure their survival"

Yes - I remember once standing in the Mean Streak infield for 3 hours dumping 500 gal. of water between two newly planted trees.

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Cedar Point Virtual Midway
Now coming May 22
http://www.schmidty.com

aaah, you were the lucky one "ensuring their survival"!

Standing in place for 3 hours watching water flow isn't the most exciting job in the world. At least the Mean Streak kept me entertained.

Sometimes during the heart of the summer it becomes at least one person's job just to water trees (and shrubs).

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Cedar Point Virtual Midway
Now coming May 22
http://www.schmidty.com

Another point to consider is that trees growing in a forest or forest like area don't always make attractive specimen trees. One whole side could be totally devoid of branches.

Speaking of landscaping, CP does most of theirs through a very well known local nursery in Sandusky called Corso's. It's on route 250 before you hit the overpass. This is an astounding place to go, they have acres of greenhouses, and many of the plants are grown specifically for CP in the back. I'm sure that as CP takes very well care of Corso's in their annual contract, tree moving wouldn't be as much of a problem as you think.

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-Dave Kochman
Pittsburgh