UPDATED: WindSeeker rides [not] closed at all Cedar Fair parks pending internal review

Ugh. I was so looking forward to riding the CP version this coming weekend. This is pretty bad timing in light of the WOF announcement.

I don't think it's going out on a limb to judge that these rides have turned into quite the headache for Cedar Fair. And it makes me wonder how much more trouble they would have to cause before the chain reassesses the continued viability of the five installations in the parks.

On the other hand, with limited modifications these structures could be turned into some rather awe-inspiring Toboggans...

I guess I'm struggling to figure out why these are so problematic. You have the Star Flyers which have been working fine for years. What did Mondial do wrong that whoever it is that made the Star Flyers do right? It seems like it shouldn't be that difficult.

Now, if it were Intamin who made the WindSeekers, okay, we've got a legitimate discussion. But seriously, is it the difficulty in evacuating the rides and if so, what do the Star Flyers have for that mission?

I'm not going to claim that I know how this ride works, but how hard could it be to have some kind of release lever to allow the ride to gently fall back to the ground for evacuation? If cables are going to get in the way, why not install a way to unhook the cables and get them out of the way?

I'm sure everyone working on the problems already knows why the ride can't be lowered easily in the case of a malfunction. I just think it's pretty stupid to install a ride like this that can't be lowered to the ground for whatever reason.

I still find the mess between Mondial, Funtime, and Cedar Fair funny, especially after the problems this ride has had. Did Funtime put a curse on the Cedar Fair Mondial Windsekers when they realized that they were not going to get to sell them their Star Fliers? lol

The Facebook page has comments indicating that the Cedar Point ride is still running. Is this an effective-tomorrow closure? It just seems like a weird time to close the rides when there haven't been any recent incidents.

Is this article saying they are currently closed or that they did at one time all close for inspections??? I feel like they are just digging up an old story about the new ride that their local park is getting.

I read this article over and over trying to determine if this was a story or not. When did this happen? I was riding Cedar Point's Windseeker just last night (Friday) at 9:30, we caught it on the way out. It ran fine in the morning, was down in the afternoon due to high winds, then when we saw it was operating again in the evening we sprinted over to get on. Maybe I lucked out and not only made it back down as scheduled, but was one of the last ones to do so for at least a while.

In a related story, they report about the Windseeker's checkered past and how WOF will be receiving the disgraced ride from Knott's. (information that wasn't revealed in the original release) A pr person from WOF stated that it's corporate policy that "popular rides" (?!) move across the chain's portfolio, and that the ride is safe. (just how long did it actually run in California? A hot second? I'd say it's not the most popular ride at Knott's, anyway) The news story seems to be questioning if the fine people of Kansas City weren't handed a bill of goods here. Mondial is not commenting.

What a nightmare of a mess. Many of us here have questioned over and over the where's and why's of such trouble, and it looks like its destined to continue.

Oh, I didn't make the connection that they were moving the Knott's ride. That implies that California is a bigger problem than the ride itself, and that wouldn't surprise me at all the way they handled Plunge.

Check the update... the TV station did apparently resurrect a year-old story.

Oh, brother...

ah... HA! I knew something was fishy there. Poor Kansas Citians, getting the life scared outta them before it's time. And shame on that No News Today Team for making something outta nothing.

Eh. There's no use getting winded over it. I'm pretty sure any bad press will blow over pretty quickly.

*rimshot*

I guess it's a good thing Knott's didn't replace the sky cabin with the seeker.

If windseekers had good technical records, they would be known as a great investment.

I think you're right. Given the relatively low price tag (compared to a marquee coaster, for instance), these rides would've brought a good ROI had they worked properly--and maybe they still will, ultimately.

Jeff said:

Check the update... the TV station did apparently resurrect a year-old story.

Yet another example of half-assed news reporting. Seriously, this kind of thing has become way to common lately (though usually with far more important stories).