Cedar Point's Windseeker will not be ready for opening day

Wonder if Dick's beginning to wish they had gone with the Starflyers after all.

I doubt it.

That assumes they were ever really being considered in the first place.

You're talking about a company that's used to dealing with Intamin. A minor delay is nothing.

Apparently Windseeker at CP opened a little bit ago.

Yup, it's getting positive reviews on PointBuzz. I'll be heaed up after work today to try it myself.

June 14? That's really late for a new ride to open.

How late did Shoot the Rapids open last year?

And I wonder why it took so long to open.

And now that I think about it, a lot of new-for-'11 rides are not open yet, across the country.

What I don't get is why Kings Island, originally miles ahead of Cedar Point construction-wise, still has water bottles sitting in the seats and Cedar Point's ride has live humans in it's. Ah well, I'll drive to Sandusky if necessary, probably Father's Day, but hopefully KI will have theirs open by the weekend instead.

CP is closer to Dick's house.

Shoot the Rapids opened June 26th I believe. So, they have improved by 12 days! Congrats CP. ;(

Yeah, KI gets the second rate treatment. We should probably get used to it. Next year is KI's 40th. I'm expecting a new coat of paint for the Eiffel Tower and a new coaster at CP.

If you are in the shoes of the GM of Cedar Point or the shoes of the GM of King's Island...you are pretty darn happy to be in Cincy.

I wasn't implying anything about favoritism, only that "dad" was watching.

I got my first ride tonight. I thought it was a very nice ride. Relaxing, a good breeze, great unobstructed view of the park for an extended period. Not at all disorienting. I like it. The only reason not to ride it would be if you have a problem with heights.

Jason, was there much contact with the "chairs" in front of or behind you?

I don't think Dick really plays "favorites" (unless you are related) but I was implying the same thing you are Jeff; having the constant scrutiny of the CEO is not enviable.

None at all. Not even close.

I walked in through the beach gate at 9a yesterday and took two back to back rides on Windseeker, my first time. I guess I should admit my embarrassment about being so nervous all winter about this ride. While high enough, the ride action was so pleasant that there wasn't really any cause to be afraid. Now, they could've had a real thrill ride on their hands if the ride was faster and if it started rotating a little closer to the ground for a spinny ride to the top. But as it is they have more of a family ride (with a 52" height requirement, no less) that is more akin to an outdoor observation tower than anything else. Well, certainly nothing jarring or intense about it. The view of the lake and the midways is great, and the music soundtrack that plays during the ride is genius. I enjoyed it.

There's a couple things for CP to iron out - the load time was long ("unlock seats 1-8,... relocking seats 1-8, attendants please re-check" happens frequently) and the poor ops that were responsible for keeping track of who sits where and who has what number were having a terrible time all through the day. One guy, (having lost complete track after a string of riders passed thru without numbers while he was momentarily distracted) finally just tossed his little dry erase board aside and said "ok guys, just pair up somewhere"! I'm sure these small things will get better as the season goes by and the crowds get bigger.

The universal joint at the top of the stick plays havoc somewhat as the swings move freely in all directions during the load and unload. At rest the seats are fairly low, but still require a bit of a hop up and over to clear the horn on the seat. (ouch!) I saw that some people had a little trouble with it. I noticed no swinging or bumping during the ride, especially when there were no empty seats anywhere.

Picky little items, I suppose, but that's my over-all positive review!

I rode it Sunday - Neat ride. I do agree about the load/unload times... It's not worthy of a "Agressive Thrill Ride" rating they assigned to it - was very gentle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cgCsiL7m08&feature=player_embedded - seems to show some REALLY close calls, and potentially some contact, a little over 90 seconds in.

I saw that on Screamscape, and almost posted it here in reply to RCMAC's post about him not seeing the seats swinging or bumping during the ride.

Isn't that video insane? I suppose that they were still trying to figure out the exact wind conditions that the ride can be safely ran in, at the time that video was shot.

That video is crazy!