Cedar Fair the new company to hate?

You must have gone to a different Epcot than me.

Epcot does have a few interesting things in the walkways, particularly around the signature fountain in Future World. But, Jeff is right, if you are going to criticize a park for it's "significant amount of concrete" then that park has to be at the top of this list.

Frankly, if the biggest complaint Cedar Point has to deal with is walkways that are too wide than they are getting off easy. There are plenty of real things to get in a tizzy about. This ain't one of them. (But those who would like to stay in a tizzy...don't let me stop ya.)

There are a few bottlenecks I've noticed at CP. One of which is the area to the right of Coasters (as you're heading down to TTD). Also, things did get jammed up when the train went by at the crossings.

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There are plenty of real things to get in a tizzy about.

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Ooh! Ooh! Me first!

The food, good God, man, the FOOD! The quality is between fair and nasty. It's overpriced even for a theme park, which is saying something. Service at the window locations is abysmally slow.

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wahoo skipper said:
Frankly, if the biggest complaint Cedar Point has to deal with is walkways that are too wide than they are getting off easy. There are plenty of real things to get in a tizzy about.

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The problem is the spirit of the conversation ended getting dumbed down to "narrow midways" vs. "lots o' concrete" when really issues of capacity, charm/atmosphere/prettiness, and layout are a lot more complicated then that.

I'd be rich if I had dollar for every time that came up on PointBuzz, even if it were only me bringing it up.

Matt,

To that end I would say that Cedar Point has charm, atmosphere and 'prettiness' that is unmatched in the amusement industry.

And, their capacity is certainly right up there with the Disney parks. Frankly, I find it refreshing that you can be at Cedar Point on a crowded day and not feel like a sardine.

I've seen CP with over 50,000 people in it and it felt crowded. If Crokscrew is an hour wait, you know CP's PACKED!

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wahoo skipper said:
Matt,

To that end I would say that Cedar Point has charm, atmosphere and 'prettiness' that is unmatched in the amusement industry.

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Agreed, even though I make it pretty clear I'm not a big fan of mega-chains and mega-parks in general, CP still gets it right just about all the time. There's quite a few decisions that were made at CP that I completely detest but if I'm looking for what Cedar Fair does poorly CP is the last place I'd look.

Well, CP is CF's flagship park. I hope they get it right. Now if only they paid their employees more. $6.75/hr just didn't cut it.

The little parks don't always do it right either. I know Canobie Lake could use a little TLC, especially in the back of the park. Another coaster would be nice.

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Hopman said:
Also, things did get jammed up when the train went by at the crossings.

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Those bottlenecks add charm do they not? How many parks have a working steam train the size of theirs?

Charm? A +

Atmosphere? A +

Prettiness? C +...maybe a B - due to some improving

I dont know how many threads I have posted this in, but I always jump at a chance to share it again. This, by the way, has nothing to do with the conrete...it's just the fact that CP (and I have heard it starts at the top) doesn't put much money into "prettiness". What am I talking about? Here are some examples:

1. The old Pirate Ride has has never been completely removed. You still have pieces of theme there in and around the building (i do believe there is still a "cannon" sitting up in one of the building corners)

2. Disaster Transport's queue. The ride put aside, the queue for this line goes so far beyond tacky and ugly it cannot even be put into words. Simply embarassing.

3. They leave Halloweekends theming out. All year. Last season there was a boars head from Halloweekends out in front of SkyRide all year. "Awe sweety, look at the flowers...the fountains...ah and of course the golden boars head. Let's all worship!"

Now I will say, I see effort, and SOME change. Frontier Town has really improved, obviously. I love the Americana flags/ect., new paint, and generally a new feel (shooting galleries added, etc.). Well done. Also, the gaming area up front is one of the best around with the new lighting package.

I dont mean to sounds nit-picky...but when you go 10 times a year, you start to notice everything.

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OhioStater said:
1. The old Pirate Ride has has never been completely removed. You still have pieces of theme there in and around the building (i do believe there is still a "cannon" sitting up in one of the building corners)

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I like this. There's no practical reason to take the time and money to strip the building of what's left there and it's a nice little nod to the past. I wish the ride were still there but there are plenty of examples of parks leaving in small indicators of past attractions here and there.

I agree it's a nice little nod to the past (and like you, I wish it was still there...remember the giant "worm" that popped up? Good times. :) )

But what about first time visitors? If they want it to be a nod to the past, they could at least put up a small sign/plaque; "Ye ol site of the Pirate Ride. May she rest in Pieces...Yar!"

The same goes for DT's queue. Having seen it detirorate, I get why and how it is the way it is, but if it was my first time there, I would be saying, "what the hell?"

What other park does this? Maybe I havent even noticed.

I'd suspect first-time visitors spend most of their day trying to decide what to ride, what to eat, etc and if they happened to notice the cannon would probably never give it a second thought or think it was out of place.

Has the season started yet?

I have been to CP many times and have never noticed the cannon, and I only went to Halloweekends so the boars head was not out of place...

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Jeff said:
Perhaps it's the photo. 13 parks in the chain, surely you can do better than that.

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Well, sweetcheeks, I didn't know a person has to visit every park in the chain before they're allowed to have an opinion about the company. I guess my units don't count either.

My last visit to KD doesn't count since it was pre-acquisition, so Dorney's the only one I've been to recently.

Actually, I think the plaza in front of Meteor is even more unbecoming than the Coasterimage pic depicts. You walk down the main entrance midway and come upon a paved surface hundreds of feet square with one flat ride and a chute ride that's not oriented to the midway. And nothing really to guide you in one direction or another.

IMO,that location is the equivalent of an anchor in a mall or downtown. And they have the equivalent of the delivery entrance there.

Yes, I'll agree there's nice landscaping within the fenced in area of Talon. Maybe that's part of what seems not right to me. It's not too much concrete, it's not too few trees. It's a lack of comprehensive planning to tie different areas together and manage traffic flow. Talon has its landscaping, Hydra has its own, etc., but there's not much tying all the individual pieces together.

Use the theming and landscaping to direct people where you want them to go and what you want them to see. I don't know what the other parks have, I can only comment on this one.

^Right I think the point is that there a lot of claims leveled at CF as a company, so pointing out that much of Dorney looks like ass still doesn't make a good argument that applies to the chain as a whole. Not that much of Dorney, that section included doesn't look like ass, it certainly does.

^^Wow. RGB called Jeff sweetcheeks?

I.....am......speachless now!!

As for DT, a more fitting name could not be found for a coaster. Even Kinzel admits it was a mistake. Demo it & build a new "world's largest coaster"