Wind

I was just wondering if anyone knew the wind speeds that close down rides or what rides are affected by wind. Thanks!

https://www.cedarpoint.com/plan-a-visit/ride-policies-and-procedures

The wind policies are insane. Was there Saturday and not sure of the specific winds but there was barely a breeze and Sky Ride and Windseeker were down all day.

Sky Ride can get very wobbly even in light winds and Windseeker is right up there with STR in terms of being the biggest dud in the park.

CPboy77 said:

The wind policies are insane.

The wind policies are better safe than sorry.

Don't forget that "barely a breeze" on the ground can turn into a gale force wind at 300 feet. Windseeker does not operate in winds much especially because of prior incidents that were specifically wind related. Windseeker cannot seek much wind and still run safely.

I've seen on many occasions a SkyRide bucket bang against a tower due to a random gust of wind.

Honestly though, regulations notwithstanding, would you REALLY want to be up top on Windseeker with 50mph gusts?

There's been plenty of times I've ridden it where it's been completely calm at sea level and the top of Windseeker became the scariest ride in the park. Even if it's just a 15mph gust, the perception of the wind plus the height and the exposure makes it a teeny bit terrifying.

The towers on the Sky Ride have guide rails to safely guide the gondolas past the tower if they sway too much. The Sky Ride is shut down before any banging on the guide rails could cause a problem.

Never knew you could go through the exit to test a seat before waiting in line if no test seat is provided at the entrance.

Pete said:
...The Sky Ride is shut down before any banging on the guide rails could cause a problem.

That's not true having worked SkyRide for a season and a half. Maybe things have changed now though.

But whether it hits the tower or a guardrail on the tower, it's not a comfortable situation

shut down before any banging on the guide rails could cause a problem.

I believe Pete was saying- it would shutdown before it could cause a problem.

Not that banging on the guides doesn't happen.

That's still not the case.

Expand on that please. The guide rails I'm talking about are the round tubes on the side of the tower that match up with the vertical bumpers on the side of the gondola. That's pretty much standard design on many gondola lifts, and I've seen a lot. The Sky Ride has never had a cable deropement on a sheeve train as far as I know, which typically would be the result of the cabin banging too hard on the guide rail.

Are those rails visible in any of these photos?

Yes, just below the three white stripes.

Pete, all I can tell you is that I've been in a SkyRide bucket as it has hit the guide rails on the tower. This has happened more than once. And a few of those times were during operation with guests riding. This was due to gusts of wind, and as soon as it is reported, SkyRide goes into immediate shut down.

However, that's not to say problems haven't occurred because of it. I'm not going to go into full detail on a public forum as I'll be a Cedar Fair employee once again starting next week. If you would like to hear a story, feel free to PM me.

The rails are there so that a gondola doesn't bang against the tower itself. There's a huge difference between saying a gondola has hit the tower due to a gust of wind as opposed to the rails, which are designed for such an event.

TTD and Power Tower are shutdown if there are gusts higher than 35 mph on top of power tower. The tests are taken every 25 minutes or so from what TTD operators told me.