What's New for the 2011 Season?

So for those that have visited the park, what has changed for 2011? From ice water cups ;) to ride restraints, new cosmetic changes, construction, games, food, and entertainment, please post your findings here.

Part of Millennium Force got new paint, windseeker, Pinks. New candy vending machines that take debit cards. New POS/registers at nearly every location that can take cards or do room charges. New brick pavers around windseeker. Big LED billboard on the causeway just before the tollbooths. Lots of paint touchups in various locations.

Not sure if this is a new rain policy or what but a very light drizzle shut down almost every coaster and most large rides until the rain stopped

If opening day is a sign of the future...
No more lights in the Maverick tunnel
Only 1 on ride photo on Maverick
Power tower lights still not fixed
Can barely see the lights on the MF lift hill
Starlight Experience already running even though it's not scheduled to start for a few weeks still
Crews are energetic but capacity is struggling, which is to be expected on opening day

Glad to hear that CP continues to move away from Concrete Point. And it sounds like our complaints were heard about their archaic registers.

I think it'd be wise for CP to really start pushing CP Gift Cards in the park (that can be used as payment for everything with no expiration dates) too, and I imagine the new registers support that capability...

Gift cards were also listed as an accepted form of payment at all the sites that can do cards

Maniaman said:
Not sure if this is a new rain policy or what but a very light drizzle shut down almost every coaster and most large rides until the rain stopped

As I walked out of the park in the rain, I saw Raptor, Corkscrew and Magnum running in the rain.

Since I was probably one of the few Shoot the Rapids riders today I'll post some of the changes... New "rapid" effects added to the second hill, possibly new boats with smaller front which now has a shield on it, the ride was defiantly moving quicker than before and all rows of the boat were open. It was also only the few rides in the park that was up for the full day.

Magnum has the lights on in the tunnels again.

Tofts replaced the challenger park Subway.

No front entrance person for the rides. Some rides had a weird policy of walking around the line checking heights.

Millennium Force has 2" longer seatbelts now. I got on and couldn't believe how much extra room there was. I could tell from looking at them they were new but it wasn't until I buckled I realized they were so long. I asked the guy checking us "are these longer?" and he said "Yes, they are 2" longer now". I could hear many people on my train commenting on the added length.

The bushes hiding Dragsters line have been trimmed so you can see the line without walking into the queue area to see.

Many rides were running in the rain (including Millennium).

I did have conversation with what I'm guessing is Single Rider Bobs friend/rival. He told me he had 2,000 rides in a season or whatever on Raptor. What ticked me off a little was him talking about how he and Bob don't have to get off of Raptor. The ops know him well and just let him stay up there after getting off. He said even on the busy days. I thought he was full of it a little, but sure enough when Raptor opened (at 10:30), we were all on the same train together (first train of the year FTW), and when we got off I turned and saw him and Bob finding single, open seats on the next train to go, having just gotten off of the first. Am I being a poor sport in that I think they should have to go back and wait in line? I know being a 4 wide ride there are always empty slots they could fill in but it doesn't sit right with me for some reason. ah well...

Are you sure the Challenge Park subway is gone? I saw the Toft's soft serve sign but I also saw the Subway sign on the building.

I actually didn't pay attention or check since it looked closed, so it could be still there, but just combined now

Kyle2154 said:
Am I being a poor sport in that I think they should have to go back and wait in line? I know being a 4 wide ride there are always empty slots they could fill in but it doesn't sit right with me for some reason. ah well...

That doesn't sit well with me either, if I see that happening I'm going to go to park operations and complain, I'm sure park op doesn't know that it is going on. If you see it again, I would suggest you do the same. The single rider Bobs, or single rider whoever, rub me the wrong way too, they seem pushy and have this sense of entitlement that I hate.

Shoot the Rapids completely slipped my mind! So glad to hear of the changes...would you say it's a more enjoyable ride now, and with the shields, can you ride without needing a locker? Has that jerk on the 2nd lift been fixed too?

Kyle2154 said:
What ticked me off a little was him talking about how he and Bob don't have to get off of Raptor. The ops know him well and just let him stay up there after getting off. He said even on the busy days. I thought he was full of it a little, but sure enough when Raptor opened (at 10:30), we were all on the same train together (first train of the year FTW), and when we got off I turned and saw him and Bob finding single, open seats on the next train to go, having just gotten off of the first.

That is total BS and I cannot BELIEVE that is happening. NOBODY should get that kind of treatment at the park. I don't care if you're single rider Bob or some celebrity, everyone should be treated equally. The moment you give one person better treatment than anyone else is the moment that you have to consider giving every guest the same kind of treatment. Not only am I positive that they turn down many requests for other guests who want to do the same thing, but they are screwing up the Daily Operational Reports since people like single Rider Bob are not being accounted for every time they ride the raptor. That totally pisses me off because not only is it not fair, but these single riders have already ridden the raptor hundreds of times, and though you can argue that there are going to be empty seats, you never really know if it's screwing over another guest who could have gotten in that seat earlier. What if the ride ops have inadvertently screwed over some guy who has never ridden the raptor before because they let the single riders ride again and then it started raining?
Sorry for the rant. Had to get that one off my chest.

That was a good rant and i agree totally.

I must have caught everything at a bad time then during the rain. Was walking out of the park and heading back to breakers and didn't see a single coaster running. Good to know they won't shut everything down for a light drizzle.

Also forgot to mention... Blue Streaks trains look to have been completely overhauled with new paint, new padding, new chrome, etc. The train I rode in looked like a new train

Guys, don't be so quick to hate on SRB. He's a class act and is not one of the many rude Single Rider people who will push, shove, cut, or sacrifice a newborn just to get on a ride quicker.

I know Bob personally and he's as gentle as they come. He only does what is allowed and does not push the envelope. What you are describing on Raptor is quite common, especially during slower times when trains are not 100% full. I have even been able to do the same thing on Maverick, though, MUCH less frequently there.

Anyway, I say if he's not making anyone wait longer, leave him alone. If something were really wrong with it, the ride ops wouldn't let him do it, especially considering this was the first day and theoretically everyone was on their best behavior as far as enforcing rules...

I have to agree that if I saw anyone getting special treatment like that I would also have to be a tattle tale. I have been a single rider on Raptor before and would have liked to stay on, but I went to the end of the line like everyone else.

"Single riders" are people that have too much time on their hands so they are constantly at Cedar Point. If anything they should be moving out of our way, so that we can get more time on the rides..since obviously they are at the park a lot more than we are.

Shoot the Rapids was more enjoyable, and the few people riding it with me all we having a great time. The ride defiantly is moving faster so there are less dull moments. Everyone got wet, but it wasn't a full soaking like on Snake. Kind of a in between of a flume and Snake River Falls soaking.

Great news about STR.

Has the foliage grown significantly around the ride from last year, or is it too early in the season to tell?

I did not read all of the posts so I do not know if this was stated. They added topiary (SP?) on the end of the causeway near the booths. The bushes are sculpted in the peanuts characters.

I remember hearing something about no re-rides in the past? Which means you have to walk around and join the end of the line. Last Oct. even remember seeing him coming up the exit to Raptor during ERT and the ride ops let him ride(SRB), while ever one else had walk though the line. In my opinion that is special treatment, do not know if they let him re-ride.