The end of Paddlewheel at Cedar Point

Rumor has it that Robin Innes, the PR guy, has the Blue Streak brake handle. I forget who told me that... maybe he did himself.

Now that I think about it, didn't the Western Cruise go *clockwise* around the lagoon?

As for the Blue Streak...it wasn't horrific from a rider's perspective 1994-1996. That was when they *really* screwed it up.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Every time the "family ride" topic is discussed here or at Pointbuzz, I realize that different people have different perspectives on the issue. I have been taking my kids to Cedar Point since they were 3 or 4 and have never run out of things to see and do. My son is a big thrill junkie and my daughter isn't at all. Yet we are able to find plenty of things to do each visit. We do typically separate for a couple of hours (which I did when I was a kid visiting with my family, counsins, aunts/uncles and grandparents 25-30 years ago in what many seem to think was the heyday of CP's "family" attractions -- though doing so is much easier now with cell phones). I have ridden all of the Camp Snoopy rides that they will allow an adult on. Much preferred that to watching kids go around in circles on the colored umbrella rides with the loud buzzers/horns.

I would prefer to see the Paddlewheel remain over dinosaurs. Saw a dino exhibit at the Cleveland Zoo a few years back which seems to me has little appeal beyond very little kids and little re-visit ability.

On the Blue Streak, I don't know when the various changes were made but the coaster was so much better without seatbelts, seat dividers, headrests and individual lap bars. And the manual lever brakes and separate load/unload areas were great too. To me, ride today (though still one of my favorites in the part) has been neutered from its old self.

All wooden coasters were better without those things. I remember riding Grizzly and Rebel Yell as a kid getting flung all over the place. I find it amazing that Kennywood hasn't had to update Jack Rabbit with its static bar and leather strap for a belt.

Im pretty sure Grizzly always had Dividers. The Beast did from the beggining but didn't have individual bars and highbacks yet it was built before Grizzly. Rebel Yell and Racer did not originally.

Ah yeah, you're probably right.

I actually believe that it was done originally to keep more than two from trying to occupy a seat as TrackWalker states on the Screechin Eagle news thread. Later it became necessary to keep you under the individual bars.

Sadly Vater the leather strap has been replaced with a regular seat belt in recent years. Still has the static lap bar though and is still pretty crazy though there was something I liked more about that leather strap...

As far as family attractions go, here is my perspective, comparing Michigan's Adventure to Cedar Point. My sons are 46" and 41" respectively. We now go to Michigan's Adventure because they can do more there than at CP. Here are some comparisons...

At Michigan's Adventure, they can ride Logger's Run, but can't ride Shoot the Rapids at CP. They can ride Grand Rapids, but not Thunder Canyon. They can ride Zach's Zoomer, but not the Mine Ride. They can even ride the swings, but not the Wave Swinger. See a pattern here?

It's not that CP doesn't have any family rides, it's that families aren't able to ride them due to the designed height requirement. It's pretty poor that CP cannot fix this or won't recognize this as a problem. (Shoot the Rapids, for example.)

This is Cedar Point we are talking about. Didn't Kinzel promote Maverick (at least initially) as a "Family" coaster?

OhioStater, If I recall correctly, Walt S. researched and disproved that.

Someone over at PointBuzz found this

http://www.cedarpoint.com/dinosaursalive/index.cfm

I was the first to speculate that it will go in and around the ThunderCanyon area. There were some markings found around there earlier this year.

When I click on the link, all I see is a log-in page.

Yes, but it is a login page for Dinosaurs Alive. Replacing the words dinosaurs alive with something else would result in a 404 page.

Ah, I get it. Thanks.

In order to login, you have to first pay $5. ;)

From their Facebook page:

"ANNOUNCING NEW in 2012: Cedar Point's Dinosaurs Alive! Millennium Island will be transformed into the prehistoric Adventure Island filled with animatronic dinosaurs. Don't miss out on this great adventure - more details coming soon!"

At least we didn't have to suffer through a big lame marketing hype buildup the way Kings Island did earlier this year.

Speak for yourself. I hyped the hell out of that in my head.

And... There we have it:

"With the addition of Dinosaurs Alive!, the Paddlewheel Excursions boat cruise will be retired from the park. The pioneer-themed boat ride will be in daily operation through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 5."

That's all, folks!