Winter Chillout event at Cedar Point reveals changes at the park

Maverick is my favorite ride at CP, and the shoulder straps were never a problem for me. I did hold onto the straps and brace through the turns, but it just felt natural, given the extreme forces.

What frustrated me with Maverick was that it seemed many people weren't fully enjoying it, because of issues with head, neck, jaw, or ear banging. Taking someone new on it was slightly unpredictable, and it was always disappointing for me to hear of complaints with the restraints rather than how much fun it was.

Soon after the soft straps were installed on I-305, I wrote an email to CP, sharing the mixed experiences I'd noticed with Maverick's restraints and how the soft straps might be the perfect solution to reduce or eliminate the complaints. I received a forgettable but personally typed response from someone in rides management, so I knew my email had at least been read.

I don't think my feedback was personally responsible, but I do feel that Cedar Point is really listening to their customers' collective feedback, especially over the past few years. Everything I've suggested to them has ended up being addressed/fixed/improved, so definitely let the park know your thoughts directly.

There are so many exciting changes this year for CP. Two new coaster experiences, the long-panned Breakers gets a complete overhaul, more beach improvements, a revamped Wicked Twister midway, a nod to the past with Tiki Twirl, and freshly made sweets all sound good to me.

Lately I've been vocal about the removal of family rides at the park. Turnpike cars can go. These were small two seaters that were impossible to ride if you had more than one small child with you.

Rub a Dub's Tubs is the bigger loss. That was something that I could enjoy with my three boys. Based on the 2014 additions I'll be hopeful that something will take up its place in the future. I'm guessing ridership was the biggest factor in its removal as it was very easy to get on this ride, even on busy days. I would guess its entrance location being hidden had something to do with that.

~Rob

I rode the Tubs for the first time last season and thought they were a little tricky to climb down into from the dock/loading area. There was a also a semi-large elevated boardwalk area next to the ride, so I can see how they would want to reuse that space.

Since they finally decided to remove a car ride, I'm glad they chose the right one. I hope the other two stay for a very long time, especially the one in Frontier Town which adds to the overall theme.

You can relive Sir-Rub-A-Dub's forever thanks to YouTube.

The tubs were a favorite for my kid, so I'm sure he will miss the. That said, I couldn't believe they would run them with several inches of water in the bottom of them, and completely disgusting midge-smeared seats. That was uncharacteristic for the park, but it's what we saw last year.

You can tell there's a pretty big cultural shift in the company, that's for sure. A serious rehab of a ride (a la Monster and now Calypso) is something that would have never happened under the old regime. Small changes like new signage, medium changes like a wine bar and new group facilities, and enormous improvements to the hotel are all representative of a culture that wants to continually improve and polish what's there. I think finding the right amount of investment in that way is what makes the entire experience feel a little more premium, a little nicer.

I don't know if that's common sense or Disney influence, but there's a reason that Magic Kingdom looks new and not 44.

I think the Turnpike cars were the first amusement park ride I ever rode on, and I remember the moment the ride operator winked at my being slightly under the height requirement and let me drive by myself. So I'm a little sad to see them go. (I will chain myself to the Mine Ride if they ever decide to remove that.)

Curious about the move of the Calypso - it suggests to me, looking at Google Earth, that maybe the dead-end by the Blue Streak will become part of a loop, maybe over to near where Wildcat used to be?

I have a photo or two of Preflux in the tubs. He liked it a lot as a very little kid.

I have always wanted to meet "Sir Rub A Dub" but he was never around.

I have always wanted to meet "Sir Rub A Dub" but he was never around.

I'm pretty sure you'd find him in the cedar point jail, because that's kind of frowned upon in public...

Thanks a lot Bin Laden! (Or Obama)

[Or Maverick]

So, not to reignite any unnecessary heartline debate, but after looking at the seats, it's pretty clear that Rougarou's seats are higher than your standard floorless train.

http://i.imgur.com/6GcwNWF.jpg

So it looks like there may have been some attempt to take that heartline into account after all.

I think that's an optical illusion...

http://coasterbuzz.com/RollerCoasters/Photo/6506

I might give you an inch, maybe, but mostly I think the color difference and the cutouts to save on weight are causing an optical illusion.

I don't think that's an optical illusion. It's clearly different from any of the previous floorless trains. Even their most recent install 'Nitro' looks more similar to Dominator than Rougarou.

Yeah, that photo does make it seem less pronounced. And now that I think about it, the more likely reason it would be slightly higher is simply that they wanted an extra inch or two between your feet and the top magnetic brakes.

Edit: Maybe not, Nitro has magnetic brakes as well.

Even looking at the L-bracket, and the positioning of the restraint locking piston, the Rougarou trains are clearly a bit higher. The DominataBatman trains don't even have room for those cutouts, they're so much closer to the chassis.

Overall, the Rougarou and Nitro trains look beefier in the seat and armrest department, so maybe this is an all around change, but those seats, for sure, look higher.

Turn around, jump up and back. Ouch.

RCMAC, Notice the little step in front of Nitro's seats in the floor, I'm sure they designed some sort of solution to the height of the seats.

Pretty interesting to see this come together. The seat bottoms look the same, but the arm rests are beefier, maybe to compensate for the twistiness before the midcourse and the ending of Rougarou. This is all speculation on my part. I guess I like that part of this discussion.

~Rob

Cedar Fair has a four-coaster exclusivity contract on those new trains!

*wink*

I get that you are kidding, Gator, but now you got me thinking. What other stand-up coasters could this kind of redo benefit? Definitely the larger rides like Green Lantern would.

If this conversion is successful, and it increases the ride's popularity, perhaps other parks should look into this.

The best jokes are often the ones where you lampoon yourself (and I myself still haven't given up on the RMC-SF thing, hehe). If you laugh at yourself in the mirror first thing every morning, your day goes much better.

Personally, every B&M stand-up other than Riddler and Scorcher should get this refurb.

Actually, I think Riddler would be pretty sick as a floorless.