Why are unnecessary lights left on at night?

Are some of the ride lights used for security purposes during the off season?

A lot of it is probably just security lights. But again, I honestly don't see how much of a difference the park going completely dark at night would make in terms of their power expenditures, especially if they've gone predominantly LED-based. Modern LEDs use so much less power over time it's ridiculous.

I also don't see how the park choosing to leave the lights on during the off season is somehow going to lead to increased ticket prices during the operating season.

I consider myself a slight environmentalist (though I loathe the term tree hugger) but in the grand scheme of things I feel like Cedar Point's carbon footprint/energy use/blah blah is pretty negligible.

Could be as simple as someone forgetting they were on while doing work on the lights during the day. Happens pretty often at my company.

Or maybe this is there way of testing out new lights, system, timers, etc?

How many business locations go completely dark at night when no one is there? Ever driven by a shopping center or a bank at 2 AM? Pretty sure you will find that some lights remain on at Cedar Point for the same reasons stores, banks, restaurants, and other business/commercial locations leave some sort of lighting on at all times.

All this talk of security lights and after close has me thinking, has any one ever heard anything about some one spending a night in the park or breaking in during the off season?

As for being on topic, does it really matter if they have the lights on? I think it is safe to bet that a decent amount of people on here currently have lights on outside their house and I ask the question, why? Obviously because its decoration for the season but serves no other purpose. They can do what they want, and most likely it is for the upcoming flight to the North Pole, the ride lights usually shut off after that. Plus I would be willing to bet that most of the lights are on a a timer or some sort of photic sensor for the operating months and it is much easier just to leave it all on until after Christmas before shutting it all down minus security lights for the remainder of the offseason.

Sheesh, with all the mentions of lights, I can't get the word out of my mind. I can only picture Dandy Don Meredith crooning "Turn out the lights, the party's over....". Next came UFO "Lights Out", followed by Pat Travers "Boom Boom (out go the lights)".

There, now I am light headed.

I was in Marblehead last night, and other than the red marker lights on the tall rides the place was very dark. Maybe the maintenance dude read this thread and remembered to turn off the lights before he went home yesterday. lol

last night when I checked the webcam, Blue Streak was all lit up!

Checked the cams just now out of curiosity on this. There's a few floods on at the construction site, the midway floods are on, and Blue Streak's lit up for... some reason. Other than that it's pretty dark- heck, Cam 2 is pitch black.

I have an idea as to why they leave some lights on... so people will ask why, and look! It's working! ;) ;)

Blue streak lights have been left on for a few years now- since they started reopening Bay Harbor in the off season again. It lights up the perimeter road near the restaurant.

The first year it reopened. They actually lit up more rides to let people know it was open and to create buzz in town.

Based on his posting style, I truly wonder if the original poster is posting these thoughts from a bunker 20ft underground stocked with supplies and a ventilation system.

PyroKinesis09 said:

Based on his posting style, I truly wonder if the original poster is posting these thoughts from a bunker 20ft underground stocked with supplies and a ventilation system.

I think it is safe to assume that.

Or he's just a troll living under his bridge.

Ripped Tattoo said:

Yet during the construction of the gatekeeper, max air was alight for most of the off season and I still wonder why?

Because every person who is bored at 3:30 am and decides to check out the web cams is yet another potential Season Pass Holder.

I always wonder how much their power bill runs every month. lol

Millennium Force's lift hill motor is rated around 800HP and it takes roughly 22 seconds to make it up the hill. I don't know what voltage its running at, but that's one serious daily power bill just for that. Anyone know what voltage(s) the park runs the lift hill motors at?

I work in an electrical field, so as far as the main topic, I'd wager a bet that lights being left on has a lot to do with what power circuits are left on where work is (or was) being done. Some are obviously left on for security too.

For an 800 HP it would be three phase for sure and 480 volts, possibly 4160 but I'd bet 480. Some of our larger motors at work go up to 14kv but those are on a completely different level than the ones for a coaster lift hill.

ever just consider maybe blue streak, gatekeeper, johnny rockets, and maxair are scared of the dark?

when my sister was little, she was afraid of the hallway at night and needed a nightlight on all the time :)