Winter Chill Out 2025

MagnumXL-200:

What new footage has been shown with the reworked trains going through high speed testing?

This is what I was referring to. Could just be an optical illusion I suppose. https://x.com/ElToroRyan/st...3522193824

MDOmnis:

MagnumXL-200:

What new footage has been shown with the reworked trains going through high speed testing?

This is what I was referring to. Could just be an optical illusion I suppose. https://x.com/ElToroRyan/st...3522193824

I'm thinking optical illusion. I also default to what explanation that the park gave, was that Zamperla was not happy with the performance of the trains so they were making adjustments. I don't know if I'd consider seats a performance aspect....maybe...I'm not an engineer. But there definitely had to be some major work below the seats for them to be shipped from and back to the park.

The look of Happy Friar is, in the words of Wayne and Garth....excellent.

I may be out of the loop..... have they announced a new General Manger / Vice President of Cedar Point?

^I nominate Plague on Wheels. All who concur, please say "Aye".

Tony mentioned they have not yet named a new GM and introduced Colleen Murphy as the assistant GM during our panel.

Thank You, I appreciate your response!

Any idea what's replacing Chickie's and Pete's? Rumors are its possibly done at CP?

Any word on when or if they will move the webcam to the Siren's Curse construction site? They had one of the webcams showing the entire area for a brief time and then it changed back to its regular view.

^ Aye aye captain! As the saying goes: "dress for the job you want, not the one you have". I wear a sportcoat to Cedar Point.

Cartwright said:

Tony mentioned they have not yet named a new GM and introduced Colleen Murphy as the assistant GM during our panel.

I bet a lot of people are not happy with that decision.

I liked Jason McClure in that position. He seemed the most interactive and present. Carrie was appointed GM during a very rough period between COVID and the TTD incident. However, John Hildebrandt just had a good vision and implemented it very well. I wish they would choose someone that had a mix between John and Jason.

Colleen has been the AGM for a handful of years. She worked at Geauga Lake, Six Flags Ohio, Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, Geauga Lake (again) and Wildwater Kingdom in management roles. She is well qualified. Having gotten to know her, see her in the AGM role and seeing her interact with not only with guests but staff of all calibers, I am confident she is and would be the the right choice for GM.

So, you’re saying Colleen was at GL through the park’s entire downfall? Where exactly is she “qualified” to run a park of the same caliber as CP? It sounds like she is more qualified in helping close a park if anything. As a disclosure, I am not fearful that CP will be closing any time soon. I’m just pointing out that your experience or opinion with her in a leadership role is different than mine and many others. I saw more favoritism than anything. I am also not trying to come off rude. Going back to my statement, I just don’t see her being a good fit or as respected as John Hildebrandt was. But, only time will tell.

I did not attend WCO, but I read the blog Tony wrote about the new additions to the park and I guess Siren's is getting metal detectors then??? He said siren is getting free lockers along with TT2, which I love of course!!... But I wonder if the detectors are the new standard for any new high-thrill ride they add from here on out?

Six Flags/Geauga Lake did not close because of Colleen. Her being there and the parks closing are not correlated.

For sure. If anything, the success of Wildwater Kingdom after the rides moved out is very much on her. And she has been at CP now for more than 10 years.

As someone whose kids learned to swim at Wildwater Kingdom, I can attest to how impeccably it was run. Amazing it lasted as long as it did.

Man I had to dig deep into the photo archives to find one. So many great memories at that place.

Just had a conversation with another parent whose daughter goes to Aurora High School on a college visit about how awesome it was.

Whoever was in charge (apparently Colleen) deserves high praise.

Bill Spehn, then Colleen Murphy, and then Bill Spehn again all deserve praise for their leadership during the Cedar Fair era of that property. They were dealt bad and unusual hands and despite it all they took pride in the various iterations of that park. Even if the final weeks of the 2007 season Bill was still in the park every day keeping things clean and greeting guests when many others would have stopped caring knowing the park only had weeks to go. Colleen spent more than a decade at the property and I know it was hard for her to see the ride side close after being there for the big Six Flags expansion. With no budget, no capital, and locals still angry about what went down on the rides side (not to mention the SBNO Big Dipper and Raging Wolf Bobs) in the background of every lakeside photo op she was able to have several successful Wildwater Kingdom seasons as GM before moving onward and upward to Sandusky.

Is she the right candidate for the open VP/GM position at CP? That I couldn't tell you. But she brings two decades of legacy Cedar Fair operational knowledge, GM experience at a legacy Cedar Fair property, and is well liked by many of the associates I know that worked for her in the Bill Spehn era of Geauga Lake.

TwistedWicker77:

So, you’re saying Colleen was at GL through the park’s entire downfall? Where exactly is she “qualified” to run a park of the same caliber as CP? It sounds like she is more qualified in helping close a park if anything. As a disclosure, I am not fearful that CP will be closing any time soon. I’m just pointing out that your experience or opinion with her in a leadership role is different than mine and many others. I saw more favoritism than anything. I am also not trying to come off rude. Going back to my statement, I just don’t see her being a good fit or as respected as John Hildebrandt was. But, only time will tell.

I'm sorry Cedar Fair hurt you...but it was not Colleen or Bill. It was the board of directors at Cedar Fair at that time, including Dick Kinzel. I don't blame the whole downfall on Cedar Fair....Six Flags of the early 2000s also played a part in it. Colleen and Bill did not make the decision to close....they both worked their @$$es off to run the park(s) and make guests happy.

Cartwright:

Bill Spehn, then Colleen Murphy, and then Bill Spehn again all deserve praise for their leadership during the Cedar Fair era of that property. They were dealt bad and unusual hands and despite it all they took pride in the various iterations of that park. Even if the final weeks of the 2007 season Bill was still in the park every day keeping things clean and greeting guests when many others would have stopped caring knowing the park only had weeks to go. Colleen spent more than a decade at the property and I know it was hard for her to see the ride side close after being there for the big Six Flags expansion. With no budget, no capital, and locals still angry about what went down on the rides side (not to mention the SBNO Big Dipper and Raging Wolf Bobs) in the background of every lakeside photo op she was able to have several successful Wildwater Kingdom seasons as GM before moving onward and upward to Sandusky.

Is she the right candidate for the open VP/GM position at CP? That I couldn't tell you. But she brings two decades of legacy Cedar Fair operational knowledge, GM experience at a legacy Cedar Fair property, and is well liked by many of the associates I know that worked for her in the Bill Spehn era of Geauga Lake.

All of this! 100% spot on. Having heard personal stories, Colleen and Bill were the last to ride Big Dipper before the power/operator panel were made inoperable, Colleen cried and I believe Bill did too. They were not happy at all with the closure.

She is knowledgeable, capable, insanely smart and just a phenomenal person all around. As stated earlier, her interactions with guests and staff alike are part of what would make her the right choice.

How did you get “Cedar Fair hurting me” out of my post? That’s one of the poorest defense mechanisms people use nowadays in an argument.

While I’m glad you see Colleen as an asset, I have never seen her as approachable with guests or staff. She was very passive with a lot of the operations and lifeguard staff. We can also blame her for the continuation of slow operations in the ride department. While she may have loved GL (we all did), Bill Sphen is the one who deserves the credit for how well GL and WWK was ran until their closures.

Years of experience are one thing. Being an actual leader is another. Just because Colleen might have years of experience, it doesn’t make her “qualified” by any means. Carrie was at CP for years and was even a local. While I don’t know much about Carrie, she wasn’t necessarily the most personable GM Cedar Point had. During her short stint as GM, I never saw her on the midways as much as Jason or John. Prioritizing seniority over merit is not going to help the park by any means.