What is this beautiful concept?

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gomez said:

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J7G3 said:

And a very sad, former, classic woodie.

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Are you talking about Blue Streak? It lost its classic status over ten years ago and the ride has been running the best it has ever been the past few years.

I never quite understood the whole concrete thing. Some people expect trees to grow overnight, give some of the recent landscaping to fill in.

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Yep, Blue Streak. It was such a beautifully run and maintained coaster... and I'm sure still is. No matter how 'fast' it may be running now, it will never be as good as it was with big blue seats - no seat divider - no headrests - and the high old 'buzz' bars.

I worked on that ride the last 2 years it was still classic. They could have updated the station/system/brakes without destroying its classic status.

CP seems to pull out so many trees when a new ride is put in. Sure, you can argue from any point of view, safety, etc., but when other parks put in rides 'around' their trees, there's just more class to it.

The que lines at CP... long boring ... long boring silver steel rails. There are other 'interesting' things you can do with a que to make it more of an experience when waiting for a big ride (think Mean Streak)... but CP is all about that whole strict military like code - gotta see the whole que, 'safety' and control. It's lame. Functional, from an operations point of view, but soul-less and boring.

Just my 2 cents guys, no hate ;)

^huh, lets look back shall we:

2007 Mavrick: Using the old WWL station and then proceeding to a queue in the middle of the ride (ie it will be buzzing around you)

2004 TTD: Queue smack dab in the middle of the coaster

2002 WT: Queue wraps around ride and most of it has a clear view of the beach

2000 MF: Queue surounded by the last turn

1996 Mantis: Shock queue in the middle of the ride

1994 Raptor: Queue in the middle of the finale of the ride (helix and corkscrew)

1991 Mean Streak: Queue in the middle of the ride (which you said was an inovative idea)

1989 Magnum XL 200: Ah finally a queue full of boring switchbacks with nothing to see. Clearly CP has built way too many of these lately ;).

Edit: Im no CP fanboy, the park is not perfect but you seem to have some irrational hate of the place, is it because of your job there? I guess I dont seem to feel the need to complain about things like this when we could instead talk about some real issues the park has (like no dark rides, international crew, Magnum sinking, etc.) *** Edited 4/25/2007 3:54:55 AM UTC by Touchdown***

No matter how 'fast' it may be running now, it will never be as good as it was with big blue seats - no seat divider - no headrests - and the high old 'buzz' bars.

Don't blame CP for that...blame their insurance company.

Yeah, guess your right :) I'm just picky about CP b/c I think it would be 'cool' if they were a little more 'creative' vs. putting in the biggest, most, etc., etc. I look at parks from the enjoyment point of view (Holiday World, Indiana Beach, Hershey, Kennywood), but CP does have their operations down well, and the money side of things.. anyway.

Mean Streak? Yeah, I musta just been so mezmerized by the sun and those ptc's racing around me for an hour, and a half. Wow, wouldn't it be cool if there was a ride in the middle of here? Or three? Or! A nice size kick butt woodie would fit in here!

I think it would be 'cool' if they were a little more 'creative' vs. putting in the biggest, most, etc., etc.

Um...hello? Maverick?

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Mamoosh said:
No matter how 'fast' it may be running now, it will never be as good as it was with big blue seats - no seat divider - no headrests - and the high old 'buzz' bars.

Don't blame CP for that...blame their insurance company.

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What was the cost difference Moosh? I worked that ride for 2 years and the only potential safety issue was the blocking/braking system. Crews were always carefully picked for that ride. Now it's a sit and let it stack fiesta.

I think those hard high backs and thigh pinching lap bars cause more 'pain' than the trains that worked for 29 years....

Cost difference? I have no idea, I'm not privvy to the park's insurance policies.

It has nothing to do with what restaints cause pain but rather what the insurance company considers the safer restraint -- i.e. they consider the buzz bar to be less safe and theremfore more costly to insure.

*** Edited 4/25/2007 4:06:13 AM UTC by Mamoosh***

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Mamoosh said:
I think it would be 'cool' if they were a little more 'creative' vs. putting in the biggest, most, etc., etc.

Um...hello? Maverick?

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well... ok :) you got me there moosh.

but really, with CP being who they are, big and famous, I think they could do something a little more awe inspiring, with the themeing... just a little better. I know, it is A LOT for CP, the themeing on this new ride, but to be a world class, top ride, think they could do better.

Why should they do better with theming? Cedar Point is an AMUSEMENT PARK, not a THEME PARK.

Your right :) So the half a$s job is fine :) Fence sitting I guess :)

You're missing the point [and the phrase is "half assed"].

Ooops! Guess I am missing the point ;)
We all have our own opinions, etc. what one person thinks is cool (I prefer a Vekoma SLC to a batman clone). CP has one foot firmly in 'lets be cool, the best, get praise, cool but have the records too' and one foot in 'control, money, control, money'.

I have just seen Coaster, cement, miles of silver que, then repeat, year after year. I'm a dreamer and an artist at heart, a coaster geek, and an engineer at the same time.

There was a story I heard last summer about this teenager got off Voyage and was saying "Mean Streak kicks the butt outta that ride!" Well, there's something about perceived value, etc., and real. That's were opinion and coaster geek snobbery comes in. I've been guilty, but I'm better than I used to be.

CP does a hell of a job operating the worlds biggest "thrill park," they deserve that. I just happen to think there are some pretty 'dumb' and 'dumb looking' things at the park: a purple yellow and red mantis, a giant mc donalds the ride disaster... I'm picky man I know it, sorry, just giving opinions. Peace, it's bed time!

It's OK if we have different opinions...I'm not denying you the right to think of CP what you want. You think CP should do better on theming. That's cool. I think given that they're a traditional amusement park and not a theme park the fact that they have any theming is already above and beyond the job.

But it's all good ;)

The thing is, however...

Cedar Point does have a lot of trees, and every time they put in a new ride they may take out a whole lot of trees, but they also attempt to replant as many as possible. Yes, it would have been nice to keep many of the old healthy full grown trees, but it would make working on Maverick a hell of a lot more difficult for the engineers & construction crews putting that thing together.

Either way with Dragster, Maverick, or other coasters... Cedar Point has made an attempt to plant trees in any spot they could after they've taken out the ones necessary in order to put in the ride. I remember reading how barren Iron Dragon was when it was first put in, and now the trees are like a natural forest as it winds through them & even brushes 'em at points. Same with Thunder Canyon...

The queue's? What more can you really do with a queue in order to space-save? You don't really want a Disaster Transport queue all the time, do you? Yes, it's nice... it helps pass the time, but is it really necessary? It's about the best Cedar Point will offer. They're just trying to fit the most amount of people in the least amount of space... especially considering their yearly attendance.

I never seem to grasp why everyone feels that all CP has is concrete and they tear down all the trees. Check back these pictures of White Water Landing.

Opening Day 1982: (note how visible the ride is)
http://pointbuzz.com/Gallery.aspx?i=2960

21 years later 2003: (takes a little while, but it looks great)
http://pointbuzz.com/Gallery.aspx?i=181

Here's an example of what Millennium Force looked like during the construction in 2000:
http://pointbuzz.com/Gallery.aspx?i=1148

A different angle, but the area looks very nice now.
http://pointbuzz.com/Gallery.aspx?i=739

Now for a recent addition that used quite a bit of concrete:
http://pointbuzz.com/Gallery.aspx?i=2249

I should add that the open area feeling of maXair fits that area.

With Maverick, CP sure seems to understand that Frontier Town should remain a shady area. They're showing a lot of effort into fitting the new ride into the area.