Conneaut Blue Streak wins $50K Pepsi donation

No, I just don't like you. :)

I kid, I kid.

I come across as kind of a jerk on here, but I'm really pretty laid back and tend to get along with everyone, in person.

Heck, I tend to get along with most people online, when they don't take me seriously. I always say, I'm the same person but in person, you have context.

I'm just Un-American.

Yeah. I'm diguesting. :(

I guess I hate freedom because I didn't vote for BS. :-/

I didn't vote, therefore I have no life :-(.

Having said that, had I know it would be open this weekend, I would have had completely different plans, but I'm not too sad. Finally getting that SFNE Bizarro credit, and some Toro love. Mmmmm...Toro...

I don't want to see the park fail, of course, but now that I think about it, I would rather see fat kids choose dehydrated bananas over candy bars. Those kids are going to grow up and not be able to fit on any roller coaster at any park.

I'm glad that the park is opening the coaster, but for how long? They shouldn't be asking for handouts. They should be figuring out what to do to be able to keep the park open without asking for handouts. I know it sounds really harsh, but it's such a joke to me that they keep begging for support like they are some kind of charitable cause.

I am more of a charitable cause than some unsuccessful amusement park in the middle of nowhere. Send ME your money, so I can buy more music equipment, or else I might fail as a songwriter, dammit.

(Tongue in cheek. Songwriting is just a hobby for me.)

It is crazy how this park manages to stay a-float. I wish they could be a success story, but you can NOT run off donations. Establish a better business plan and worry about MAKING money, not breaking even. CLP has pretty impressive crowds at times for its size, and should be able to do something with the right management.

I wish them luck! Again? :)

Raven-Phile said:
Coasters are only a small slice of everyday life, and sometimes some of us are going to be into other things.

SACRILEGE.

CLP can survive! The "Board" has been making some real efforts to keep it going. Although CLP has much (much) blight in parts, there is just as much renovation and improvement.

I don't see the amusement park expanding greatly for the future, BUT I DO see the crowds coming back as the diversions and amenities continue to be improved. Is it another Indiana Beach? Doubtful. But it WILL serve a purpose and fill a niche. The lake isn't drying up, that Beach Club operation looks better each year and that hotel is BEAUTIFUL! They ARE improving AND generating more revenue.

I say "CONGRATS, CLP on winning the $50k grant!" but, I also say, "SPEND IT WISELY!".

Ken

Raven-Phile said:
Hmmm, I have tomorrow off if anyone's interested in trying to get kicked off the Flyers again. (provided they're running) :)

Josh, last time we tried that, we almost hit the ride op and crashed into the little shed. ;)

If I didn't have to drive to Hartford, CT to pick Clint up for our New England Coaster Weekend, I would SO meet you there! ;)

As someone who is on the board for a legitimate charity (with valid non profit papers and such), I would be pretty ticked if my charity's goal was beaten by someone who is trying to get a freaking coaster to run.

Our organization was planning on using the Pepsi program during their next cycle to help raise some money to fix some schools in Nepal. I think helping rebuild schools in a third world country is much more important than building a coaster to run for a few days. So, forgive me for not voting for your proposal.

EDIT: Fixed crappy grammar and spelling.

Jeff said:
Way to preemptively suggest people who don't agree with this as not having class.

I still think it's lame that the coaster nerd community could carry this hopeless "cause" but not a real charity.

And this is exactly what I expected to see when I clicked this thread. I wonder why, huh? No, I guess I didn't need to be preemptive. This would have been said regardless. I said Kara had class. I don't need to suggest that there are those who, in this case, don't. GKTW was definitely the more important cause, but there is no reason for me not to support this one too.

It still feels like there is a lot of hate towards Conneaut going on here in this thread. The guys running this park now are not responsible for the catastrophe that is the park's finances. Let's give them more than the two seasons they have had to get it turned around.

I don't hate Conneaut -- I really DO want the place to survive. But, I have to question the wisdom of opening Blue Streak now, just as the season is going to be ending.

They'll probably get some crowds during the fall, but will it be enough? Will they be able to open in the spring, or are they going to wish they had the money they just spent on Blue Streak and have to start begging all over again?

I wish them well, I really do, but at what point does it stop making sense to throw good money after bad?

The way I see it, it could be the odds are still steeply stacked against the park. But frankly, I never seriously expected to see BS running again. So maybe this is but a brief pause in CLP's circle down into final ruin. But maybe, just maybe, it's the beginning of something better. Sometimes stories like these do have happy endings, after all.

I'm astounded that the park has actually got the ride up and running. I didn't think that would happen this season, so every credit to them for that!

They have got it opened before they got the $50k - so I'm assuming they had enough capital to do the necessary work regardless of whether they got the Pepsi money or not?

You'd hope that would mean that the park is profitable enough to allow them to justify this work using income from the Summer and the Pepsi money will only strengthen their position - but who knows.

Thats all I was saying, For a long time some on this board could of cared less if Conneaut survived or not. I agree sometimes all the request for donations, Help paint the Blue Streak ect gets a little old. It might work, it might not.

As for Enthusiast helping to get funding for Blue Streak, Gee, It seems to me that Enthusiast do a lot of real charity work too. The recent CF events and many others. HWN has a auction for Charity, Even if sometimes its for a Santa Claus Museum. The still raise lots of cash.

Id consider the ACE Museum the ultimate in having their hands out but Oh Vey.

Mini-Trip Report:
I got my Blue Streak credit last night. They're using the NAD train (the one with the 'headlights'), as opposed to the original Vettel train which is sitting off to the side. One of the ride ops said they couldn't use the Vettel because of the stationary restraints, and said words to the effect that since the ride had sat idle for a few years the old train could no longer be grandfathered in.

According to RavenAir it wasn't as fast as it once was, although by the last ride of the night and in the last seat it was better. I had fun, but I could certainly see how more speed would make it more thrilling. Those first few drops are pretty amazing. Toward the back of the train we had pops on the way back too.

As for the park itself... yeah. Aside from needing a fresh coat of paint, the 'active' areas weren't much worse than your Waldameer or Lakemont. However the creepy 'midway' was made all the more creepy by the lack of people -- we were actually rather surprised they were even open on a Thursday night this time of year, and indeed they ended up closing an hour earlier than listed. We managed to grab a ride on the Flyers and one more Blue Streak before they shut down.

Had Waldameer been open, it would have been seriously tempting to drive up to Erie for an hour of night rides on RF2, because it was a beautiful evening. Ah well.

[Edit: I see CBuzz counts Devil's Den as a coaster, so I guess I picked up two credits last night. :) It's basically a gravity-powered mouse, so why not?]

obxKevin said:
It still feels like there is a lot of hate towards Conneaut going on here in this thread.

I don't hate CLP. I hate its supporters.

;)

Regarding my last post, "hate" is not the word I should have used, and I apologize for that. The word I was looking for was animosity. I just don't want to see anyone begrudging the park anything good that happens.

And for the record, I don't know that they had, or even now have, the capital required to complete the work on Blue Streak. The money figure quoted as needed , I believe, was for the complete restoration of Blue Streak, which is far from being done. Getting enough track work done to get it up and running is only the first small part of the project. But considering how the current regime seems to be working, I don't think the bill for the work already completed is going to remain unpaid. (I hope?)