Cedar Point opening weekend review.

[raptorrvnge4928]

Well as you all know, CP opened this weekend. I, as well as a few others from this message board, went to the park opening weekend. We did not all go together, before I begin. So I would just like to give a little review of the park, and I write this especially before Harpo chimes in on it. ;) Frankly, I was very disappointed in the park this weekend. Now bear in mind, it was opening weekend. On many coasters, I noticed that they did not have full capacity serrings on any many of these rides. Most rides did not have all their trains running on them. TTD had only 2 trains running, but had decided to load two more while my roomate and I were in line. MF had two trains, while Mantis only had 1. This obviously led to some annoying waits that did not need to be. I did not get to ride WT at all, though I did see it either testing or running a few times that weekend.

Though this is my fault I suppose for not getting down there to renew my season pass earlier, or for not renewing it by mail or internet, the season pass process was annoyingly awful this weekend. After purchasing the pass, we were directed to guest relations to have them print out a season pass for us, had we wanted to use last year's picture and not have another one taken. Well logic would suggest if we did not want to wait in the long season pass line, we would go there. What we didnt know was that in a line of 60-70 people, there was one printer working to create a season pass for an entire line of people that wanted last year's picture on this year's pass. I after staying in that line for 20 minutes or so, I just jumped into the original season pass line awaiting pictures taken, and got through that one quicker than I would have in the other line. In fact, after I had left that line and entered the park, the person that was in front of me still had not entered guest relations.... I would had been in line still, perhaps to this day. LOL Bad direction from the CP workers.

And sadly, my bigges fit about a CP change this year, that was in tact last year, was the removal of the free refill policy. A year ago, CP had instituted a policy that allowed people with souvenier cups to get free refills all season long. This year they had removed this policy, and in fact, are charging 10.00 per cup initially, 2.00 for a refill.

So all in all, after this weekend, at least thus far in the season, CP fanboys have no right to flame Six flaggers for maintenance on rides, quality of food (which was in fact horrible this weekend), or for time spent in lines.... in my opinion, CP was just as bad...

... but I also have to realize, it was opening day.

[Xzentrificenceo]

Hmm sounds like all that glitters is not gold. hehehehehehehehe.

[IEATPASTE001]

Were we at the same park?

TTD had 4 trains running, 1 on the transfer tracks(one was shot off of the track and landed in the moon!!!) for most of the day. I had a really good time, getting on all but Mantis and Raptor. Considering this is the first time a lot of the workers are actually running rides with guests on them, I think they did very well. I saw a ton of fresh faces running rides and a few that I knew from last season.

I got an untrimmed ride on Mean Streak and Magnum. Mean Streak was awesome. I wasn't ready for the normal forces of the ride and slammed into Nicole. It was a great ride. Fast and forceful, like it should be. I saw a ton of roll backs and TTD closed intermittantly through out the day, but never being down for more than 15-30 minutes(in general). I don'tk now why the suviner cups aren't free refils this year, but I bet it has something to with the fact that they are the same as last year. I am thinking that the free refiils are good for the first year the ride is open, then $2 the next year. Either way, it is still a good deal if you are going to drink pop/orange drink in the park.


Also good news, Top Thrill Dragster has freeway this year. It merges in where you go up to the ramp to the station. I would give Cedar Point and its new faces a giant shiny golden star for their opening day performance.

Hey raptor p.s. RENEW BY MAIL!!! ;)

[TopThrillJunkie]

I would have to agree, with the new faces at cedar point opening day was quite well, tho I showed up late due to the fact that I have class in the morning and a friend of mine was in a tournament, i wasnt there to see the 2 trains of TTD running, thank god for that cuz i would hate to be there when they have to transfer 2 more on!!!! It got kind of annoying at times to see rides that you usually move through the line fast no matter how long it is get you through a bit slower, but the way i see it is, it will get there when it counts.... in the summer when there is more people in the park.

And I must say I do like the Doritos machines in the park.... lol the only thing I hate about them is the fact that its double what it should be.. but its cedar point... Im used to the over pricing by now.

I too was a idiot about the season pass, my friend got his already but I kept stalling about it and putting it off like a fool, so we had to wait for around a 1/2 hour 45 for it, *shakes head* a lesson has been learned here and renewing by mail shall happen next year!

The only thing I saw to be truely idiotic about the park wasnt the park in general, but the fact that when i was in line for the 2nd time for the TTD at night, I saw a flash come from one of the cars, 1st reaction was "Was that a camera?" my friends thought i was crazy til we saw the train come back and indeed the person in the 1st car was holding a camera... moronic i must say for the fact that somebody could of gotten seriously injured, or killed if it were to slip out of his hand, especially at that speed, and height.

[Harpo]

When did you see only 2 trains running on TTD? I always saw 4 or 5. On Saturday, I was in line when one of them was pulled off -- it was having mechanical problems.

Mechanical problems are always very common for opening weekend. After all, the rides are stripped down and overhauled in the winter, then put back together in time for opening weekend. It's their first rigorous use since October, so problems are going to occur.

I was surprised that the red train on MF had a significant quantity of parts sitting under it, clearly due to lots of work being done on it, and the second train for Mantis was not fully assembled. (It was missing a few cars.) I can only speculate that they ran into unforeseen problems with those trains.

Wicked Twister had lots of problems this weekend, but maintenance was working on it. It was finally working reliably starting Monday afternoon. Dragster was also having lots of issues, but maintenance kept working on those, too. On the plus side, I was in the front row on TTD and got to enjoy the experience of a rollback! Whoo hooo! That was a blast!

Paste: I kept expecting you to call! I would have called you, but, silly ol' me, I forgot to bring your number. D'Oh!

Oh, one marvelous upgrade to the park: Game Day Grille has some excellent food! I had the "Sacrifice," which is an open-faced roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy. It was delicious! (Some yummy goodies could also be found at Donut Time, where I had a chocolate chocolate chip cookie, and a jumbo chocolate muffin. Both were great.) Neither one is your typical amusement park food experience. (When you say the food was horrible, I have to ask: where did you eat? Johnny Rockets, Macaroni's, Game Day Grille, and Midway Market all had super food. Additionally, I believe Midway Market is the single best food value I've seen at any amusement park -- $11 for all you can eat and drink.)

Overall, taking into account the normal "opening weekend jitters," I thought the park was looking quite good. It improved Sunday, and improved even more Monday.

[raptorrvnge4928]

Whereas you are the type that goes to the buffet, gameday grille etc, I have my usual CP food traditions. I usually grab a slice of pizza by that little joint by Raptor. Usually go and get cheese on a stick either by the little place by WT, or the one by MS. and usually get fries buy that place across from Gemini. On all 3 occasions, the food was luke warm/cold. But it really makes no difference, I was expressing my explicit opinion, and apparantly CP can do no wrong, eh? Afterall, the poor quality (in my opinion) was just because of "opening day".

To each their own-I hope it was just opening day problems, afterall, since I invested so much money into a season pass.

[Harpo]

I don't recall ever saying that Cedar Point could do no wrong. I do believe they do an excellent job, and, if the problems are brought to their attention, I believe they do a great job fixing the problems. Your opinion matters, but that doesn't mean I'm going to blindly go by it without asking for specifics. You've given some specifics, so now I have more information I can share.

The pizza place near Raptor would be Corral. I generally avoid Corral at all costs. It has to deal with the highest volumes in the park, hence the food at that location tends to be substandard. (I generally consider that stand to have the worst food in the park.) For pizza, I highly recommend Macaroni's as the park's best pizza. However, if you want faster pizza, you'd be better off going to Frontier Inn in Frontiertown. You'll sacrifice some quality for speed, but you'll get a much better pizza than at Corral.

I've not had Cedar Point's cheese on a stick, so I can't comment on it.

As for the fries, I believe the fries stand near the Aquatic Stadium has the best of the Cedar Point fries, although I believe that one was closed all weekend.

What I will urge: If something's wrong, talk to them. They won't know you're displeased if you don't say anything. If you politely inform them of your dissatisfaction, my experience has been that they will do everything possible to make it right. Of all people, I would expect a Spartan to take action rather than merely grumbling! ;) Are you sure you're not an "imitation Spartan?"

Obviously, it's currently too late to fix the problem, but I'm sending your comments to the Cedar Point food department. Problems get fixed when they are brought to the park's attention. They can't fix problems that they don't realize are currently in existence. In the case of cold food, I would guess it's probably a case of the new crews still stumbling along, so I would certainly expect it to get better. (My only "stand" food this weekend was at Round Up in Frontiertown, where my hot dogs and fries were hot, so I can't really say why you encountered cold food.)

(However, I do think you need to reevaluate your view of "Most." Rides that had fewer than max trains running: Mantis, Millennium Force, Gemini. Part day, due to maintenance issues: Dragster, and maintenance was actively working on that train. That's 3 or 4 out of 16 -- I would generally consider "most" to at least cover 50%. I would definitely have liked to have seen all 3 trains on MF running, and both Mantis trains running, which was my only disappointment for the weekend. As I previously mentioned, I suspect they ran into unexpected issues with those trains, which is unfortunate, but I'd rather have them work on fixing the trains rather than put in trains that are unsafe.)

Edit: I sent a note to the assistant director of the Foods department. I know him quite well -- I have no doubt he'll do everything possible to address the issues, as he's very much a perfectionist. I saw him briefly a couple of times on Saturday and Sunday, as he was running about the park addressing and correcting issues.

I am curious about 1 other thing: why wouldn't you go to the Midway Market buffet? It's in a convenient location near Raptor's entrance, it's got a good variety of food, it's quick, and it's all-you-can-eat. If you buy a pizza slice, large pop, and ice cream at the stands, you'll be paying about the same price as the Midway Market, yet you can eat so much more food at the buffet. (If you're a Joe Cool member, you even get a discount at Midway Market.) When I ate there, I had some chicken, a fajita, a cheeseburger, some spaghetti, mashed potatoes and gravy, a Pepsi, chocolate ice cream with several toppings, and a cookie. I ran out of room, or I would have had some pizza, too.

[TopThrillJunkie]

Back to your other post there Harpo, you experianced a roll back? ... i envy you!!!! my friend and I have been waiting for one of those we see them and go "wish that was us" never happeneds obviously.. good times though good times indeed.

[raptorrvnge4928]

LOL ah ah ah... I thought the word I used was "many", and in the retrospect of things, to me it was many. The ride you forgot was WT. In my experience, 0 out of 1 trains is considered not running up to par. Now take into consideration I am 6 ft 1, and hell have a hard enough time trying to ride in some coasters in regards to my legs, that leaves me with 14 coasters. Now having 4 out of 14 coasters (Not counting Jr. Gemini and that little one in Camp snoopy, for height reasons), that means that nearly thirty percent, almost 1/3 of their rides were not running to peak capacity for whatever reason. If this was a SF review, I'd probably think it was a good day. ;) J/K. But in all seriousness, I suppose my expectations were based off of last year, which I was very pleased with.

Now I also noted that it was opening weekend, so I could slightly understand, but it was Cedar Point. My expectations are a little higher when I go to CP, as well as PKI for some reason. Hopefully in a few weeks when the waterpark opens, they will be better, but of course they will, they will be alot busier.

And as to your restaurant suggestions Harpo, once again it all goes back to traidtion. We usually go get those snacks as I had mentioned, and then afterwards we usually head to that East of Chicago pizza joint, or that TGIF where Castaway Bay is currently being constructed.

...And as to why I didnt complain, hell I did realize it was opening weekend. Nothing was being done that was unsafe, so I wasnt totally dissatisfied, and complaining to CP wouldnt magically put that 3rd train from MF on the track, would it? I dont think it wouldve done any good. Now I am not saying I dont think complaining to CP will do any good, I am just saying under the circumstances, yadda yadda yada.... you get the point.

[iAMpaste001]

I have a question about Midway Market for those of you who have eaten there--do they have a pretty good amount of food that does not contain meat? I'm a vegetarian and I wouldn't want to pay $11 for a meal only to find the only thing available is a plate of lettuce or something. I usually don't eat a meal at the park unless I bring one, I just buy snacks (because there's not a lot of meat-free meals). But Paste and I might be interested in trying the market if I could get a good meal there.

[Harpo]

lil' paste: I tend to be a bit more of a carnivore, so I'm not too sure about the non-meat selections! ;)

However, I know Midway Market has spaghetti, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, a pasta entree that I think is manicotti (I'm not much into pasta, either, so I'm not sure if that's what it is!), and a salad bar. They also have a large variety of desserts. The menu changes periodically. You might consider popping in the front door and asking what's on the buffet that day. They might even let you take a close-up look before buying.

TTJ: Yep, I got to experience a rollback! I've been hoping for one for a long time, and finally got it! That was an awesome experience. Being in the front seat, we crested the top, but I could tell we weren't quite going fast enough, so, before we stopped, I said, "We're going back!" Sure enough, we reversed direction, went back over the top, and dropped backwards. When we got back to the launch point, an operator asked us if we wanted to stay on and try again. My answer was, "Absolutely!" As we were going up that first time, I did unzip my jacket and tried to use it as a bit of a parachute to encourage the rollback, but I doubt it made any material difference, other than the psychological thought that I may have helped slow it down a smidgeon!

Raptor: You're right that commenting on the rides wouldn't have helped, and they really should have done more to have the rides ready. But you probably would have gotten results commenting on the cold food. At the very least, they probably would have replaced it. Depending on the situation, they may have also added an extra item. As an example, when I went to Round-Up on Sunday for a footlong, they said the footlongs weren't looking too good, so they asked if two regular dogs would be OK. To compensate, they gave me more french fries.

I generally avoid Friday's when at CP -- I figure I can just as easily go to Friday's in Troy any time I like! Of course, I could also go to Johnny Rockets in Auburn Hills or Detroit whenever I like, but the dancing staff is much more enthusiastic and talented at C.P. In fact, the Johnny Rockets corporation wants to use the Cedar Point crew in their training videos.

I do have a suspicion as to why the rides weren't as ready as they should have been. Talking to one of the permanent folks in the Games department, I found out that CP had to provide a LOT of help to Geauga Lake during the past month to try and get that park ready. I suspect that mainenance staff may have been shipped to Geauga Lake to try and get that park running, thereby leaving gaps in the staff at CP. Now, GL is running independently, but it still may have put CP behind where it should have been. That doesn't make it right, but it would be understandable, especially if steps are taken to ensure everything's running properly by opening day next year, showing that they've learned from this year.

[raptorrvnge4928]

Well as I said, we usually go after the park is said and done. True, I could always go here in Lansing to Friday;s or Johnny Rockets, but as I said, it's tradition.... perhaps borderline habit.

[Harpo]

I do understand about traditions. My family has some too. When going to The Point in August, we always stop at a Big Boy near Monroe for breakfast. That's actually a tradition I keep trying to break -- I've not been too keen on Big Boy since I got a moldy bun on a hamburger, and they acted very annoyed about the fact that mold on my hamburger bun bothered me. They did replace the burger, but they didn't even apologize. But, my niece and nephew always want to stop at that Big Boy, so I go along with it (although I do suggest other possibilities, but, thus far, to no avail).

Outside of the park, there's a really good restaurant at the Great Wolf Lodge (formerly Great Bear Lodge). I don't recall the name of the restaurant, but they have tasty food, and it's not a chain that you'd find in Lansing. (At least not yet.) Max & Erma's is also pretty good, although the service tends to be slow.

Since the Friday's at the Radisson is owned by Cedar Fair, I really should encourage you to keep going there -- after all, any money you spend there helps boost my dividends! :D

[raptorrvnge4928]

Hey I'll do that for you, just as long as you keep shipping things via UPS (that boosts mine) :D .

[toosie_4ever]

Thanks for explaining what a rollback was Harpo - I figured that's what it was.
What would cause the TTD to not get enough oomph? It has a set speed, gaining after hitting each thing (OK, I can't think of what they are called!)....so why wouldn't it make the hill?
Boy, I can just imagine newcomers or kids wondering why the coaster never made it to the top.... LOL You think that might turn away novice coaster folks....they see that & say, "no way am I riding that!" ? Of course, if they are novice, they probably wouldn't ride TTD for a while.:D
How often does a rollback happen? Not much I assume.
Thanks,

[raptorrvnge4928]

Well the launching mechanism of TTd is different thana LIM (which I believe you are referring to, judging by your post). A cable attaches to the underside of the TTD train. As the train launches, the cable retracts, generating the speed that each train needs to crest the hill. A hydraulic cylinder plays a part in the launching of the train, in respects to the cable, but i am not sure how, seeing as the flywheel for the cable is at the end of the track, and the cylinder is in a building where not much can be seen.

Most of the time, friction has alot to do with the reason for which a train may not crest the hill. perhaps the mass of the car is greater than the force that is needed to cres tthe hill. I.E. if F=MA, and to accelerate acceleration of 2, the mass force has to be 2, and the mass has to be 1 (2 = 1x2). But what if the mass = 2, and the force applied was 1? 2 does not equal 2 x 2. There fore the train will not crest the hill, since not enough force was applied.

Another form of friction that may occur, unpredictably is a wind gust. Or perhaps a computer malfunction makes the system think it is launching at the force needed, when it isnt. I am sure there are many other factors at hand, but this is all i can think of right now. LOL I hope this answers a few of your questions.

[Harpo]

Rollbacks are very common as they are warming up the ride, then become less common as the ride keeps operating. The grease on the wheels needs quite a bit of heat to get it loose enough for the ride to run with a minimum of friction. (For that reason, rollbacks are more common on cold days than warm days.)

Early in the day, Cedar Point leaves the rear few rows empty, since the wheels still need to heat up more, and the added weight of the passengers fighting against the straight up movement combined with the thicker grease can prevent the train from reaching the top.

Wind can also have an effect. If the winds at 420 feet up are blowing into the front of the train, it can slow the train down enough so it won't make it over the top.

I know the above is true, but there are other items that I suspect could have an impact.

When the trains launch, there's a system posting the speed for everyone to see. I'm not sure precisely what it is about the launch mechanism, but I've seen those speeds vary anywhere from about 118 MPH up to about 128 MPH. (121 to 124 seems to be the most common.) I've got several guesses as to what could cause it, but I really don't know for sure. I figure it could be that the catch (called a "dog") on the pulling cable may release too early, or there may be a hiccup in the hydraulic pressure causing a momentary decrease of power. But, those are just guesses.

[toosie_4ever]

Thanks much Raptor & Harpo for answering my Q's. :)
Yup, I was referring to a LIM, just couldn't think of it.
Harpo, that must have been so neat going backwards from the top of TTD!!!
For those of you who have been on TTD, the force must be so strong!! I can just picture everyone with their skin flying back on their face. LOL Reminds me of the ride I loved so much at our State Fair... :) What a feeling! But no comparison to TTD!

[TopThrillJunkie]

Hahaha, You have to see the pictures of people on it, the faces are priceless, never knew the face could flatten *chuckles* or thats what it seems to look like, but the force is definatly indescribable, and I still keep my arms up everytime!! w00t!

[Harpo]

My first ride on Dragster, May 10, 2003:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jeffharp/Dragster11.jpg

(I'm the one on the left in the front seat. I rode alone that day, so I don't know anyone else on the train. However, I clearly had the train's biggest smile!)

[IEATPASTE001]

http://e.1asphost.com/Alphamale/Personal/OnRidePhoto/Nikki_and_Ken_on_TTD.jpg
That is Nicole and I in the second row. Not much face distortion.


Good face distortion, (http://e.1asphost.com/Alphamale/Personal/OnRidePhoto/Jed_and_Ken_on_TTD.jpg) from Top Thrill Dragster. Look and the people in the front row.

[Harpo]

Looks like Nicole is white-knuckling it there! Just how tight a grip did she have on that bar?


What the exit spiel should say:

Thank you for riding Top Thrill Dragster. When the ride comes to a complete stop, reach behind you, grab your ears, and pull them back to the sides of your head. Then, unfasten your seat belt, push up on your lap bar, uncross your eyes, and exit to your right. Enjoy the rest of your day at Cedar Point, America's Rockin' Roller Coast.

[IEATPASTE001]

They had to replace the bar after her ride. THe launch scarred the bejesus out of her. This last time on Dragster, she got over her fear of the ride. She enjoyed the launch. Something that she hasn't liked. I really love watching the faces on the launch. Watching the people sweat, waiting for the lights to drop. It is awesome.