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Ride On_17

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Posts posted by Ride On_17

  1. The only disappointment discovered at the event was the removal of all the large trees near Panda Express. My family and friends almost always sit and relax under their shade every time we go to the park since they provided a cool, beautiful place to take a break. This area now looks so open and lacks charm. One of our tour guides said that they were removed due to being dead/diseased or dying, which is very unfortunate. Their absence makes a huge (negative) impact on this area, so I hope the park replaces them and makes an attempt to add more charm, landscaping, and shade.

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    Next we stopped by the new location of Ripcord--or should I say Professor Delbert's Frontier Fling. I was skeptical of the site choice but I have to admit, after seeing it in person, I feel like this is a really good spot. Visually it will be very entertaining to watch (I imagine it attracting large crowds like SlingShot often does), and I appreciate the theming/nod to the park's history. My only critique right now is that all of the water from Shoot the Rapids was remove underneath it. I was hoping for the ride to swing out over some type of water, but it appears as though the land has all been filled in (besides the lagoon) and seems like it will be solid ground. Despite this, I feel like the area will still look nice. Plus ridership will increase by having it in this location. I do still hope that this area receives some other type of major investments in the next few years since there is a lot of remaining potential in addition to just this relocated upcharge attraction. 

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    I thought this was a cool shot of the junction of some of Millennium's supports at a specific section of its first overbanked turn. It's fascinating to think about the engineering and design that goes into rides like this.

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    Snake River Falls was looking a little...riverless.:P

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    We continued to walk past Mine Ride after a brief stop in front of Skyhawk. Our group wanted to all sit inside a Snake River Falls boat that was on the midway for a picture, and one of our guides actually called to check if we'd be allowed to. Unfortunately we weren't able to (it makes sense due to safety/liability/not wanting to break the boat), but hey, at least we tried! 

    In front of Mine Ride we had to enter another no-photo zone until we looped around down by Gemini and Witches Wheel, but any pictures taken before the no-photo sign were allowed. Which is where I captured this perfectly legal, rule-abiding picture of Mean Streak. I really am so exciting to see its transformation and find out what it will become.

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    We were then able to actually walk underneath Gemini which was really cool. I loved getting a totally new perspective of the coaster from inside one of its turnarounds. 

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    To be continued...

    • Like 7
  2. $40,000, over 800 participants, and a day full of fun later, Cedar Point's 2017 Winter Chill Out was a success! I was thankful to be able to attend this amazing event again, and it was as great as ever. The park did an incredible job hosting it, and all of the staff deserves a huge thanks for their time given for this event to even be able to occur. I'm sure many of you have already read updates and seen pictures, but I figured I'd go ahead and write up my own experiences and thoughts, as well as sum up the main highlights and share my own pictures. 

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    I was in the 10:30 group, and after light snacks and beverages, we were broken up into smaller groups and had staggered park tours. Both of our tour guides were very friendly and it was clear they both loved their jobs. We departed Midway Market and were able to check out one of the merchandise warehouses. It was one of the no-photo zones, but it was really cool to see and learn about about this side of park operations. It truly was crazy how many boxes and deliveries there are to go through--I give that entire department so much more respect and credit for what they do. 

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    It was chilly, but at least the sun was out a little bit at the start of our tour. We headed over by Valravn to enjoy its beauty and regroup before continuing on farther. 

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    We went inside Snoopy Boutique to find the store mainly empty besides some shelves and racks of plastic-wrapped souvenirs. It was strange seeing the store so barren, and then went next door into an equally empty Sweet Spot. All of the kitchen equipment and machinery gets taken apart and receives maintenance over the off-season in preparation for the new round of sugary, chocolate goodness being created.

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    One of the best parts of seeing the park during the winter is to get glimpses at random ride parts scattered everywhere and seeing the park in a general state of disarray. While everything is orderly and organized, it's still crazy seeing ride cars and carriages disassembled and placed throughout the midways.

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    To be continued...

    • Like 9
  3. As with any big change like this, it'll take a little while to get used to but my initial impression is that it is a very clean, modern look. I like it. It's also interesting how they seem to be trying to put a much larger emphasis on multi-day stays. I only spent 5 minutes checking through the site so far and already the amount of times I've seen "stay overnight" or "you'll need more than a day" or anything else along those lines is well up in the double digits.

    I feel like the park (and chain) has definitely been going in the right direction, especially in terms of its marketing, and I definitely think this follows suit.

  4. If you're a pizza fan, I'd recommend Imo's! (Pronounced "eemoes.") It has super thin, crispy crust and tastes like no other pizza I've ever had. I know there are some around the St. Louis area, probably elsewhere in the region too.

     

    In Jefferson City, if you're able to/into that kind of stuff, I'd recommend taking a tour of the old Missouri State Penitentiary. Very cool and creepy building. Overall, I was actually sort of underwhelmed by the city as a whole when I went there (It was a Saturday in the late afternoon and there were literally 5 people walking around) and most of the stores on the main street were closed, but it is a quaint little town. I'd definitely recommend walking around the statehouse, especially on the back side since it overlooks the Missouri River.

     

    In St Louis, I'd recommend walking around Forest Park. Recently it was even voted as the best city park in the country. It's a very beautiful and relaxing area. I'm really into architecture, and downtown and some surrounding areas have some really interesting buildings, so if you like that stuff, it might just be fun to drive around and check everything out. Union Station (now a hotel) is one of my favorite buildings in the city.

     

    If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to let you know! You'll have a great time!

    • Like 2
  5.  

    I wonder if this is a version of Jeff Gramke's wooden coaster that was originally slated for the Diamondback area back in the Paramount era? Wait, he said those plans would never see the light of day, if memory serves me well.

    Oooh, I haven't heard about this one. Please share what you can. I love to hear about things like this!

     

    I'm sure someone else who knows can explain it in more detail, but I heard about this too. All I really know is that the park was planning a large wooden coaster around the area where Diamondback currently sits, and the coaster was already planned out and construction was about to begin when the park for some reason suddenly decided to nix it. Not sure why they did, but everything was basically scrapped and the park moved on like that coaster was never even planned. 

    • Like 4
  6. What an improvement from last year. Seriously, last year's Coastermania doesn't even hold up in the slightest compared to yesterday. All day, every employee I encountered was friendly and happy (and not just in rides---everyone from food service to maintenance went above and beyond expectations). In addition, the event went extremely smoothly. Check in was a breeze, lunch was delicious, and ERT was truly what ERT should be like--no lines, re-rides, and overall just a blast, plus I was finally able to get my coaster credit on Wilderness Run. I didn't see any issues with rides all day, even Dragster and Maverick. I can't stop saying enough good things about the day. Out of all of my trips to Cedar Point, yesterday was by far my favorite one. Kudos to Cedar Point for such an incredible day.

    • Like 4
  7. Noah (from the article) and his grandpa Marty are awesome people! We've become great friends and have met up multiple times at amusement parks and even other trips such as to Tennessee. Noah and I actually first met through PointBuzz and have been best friends ever since. My mom and I were standing with him and Marty when Don came over and asked the two of them if they'd be interested in being interviewed for the Inquirer. The article turned out to be very well written, and it's so cool that one of my friends and his equally awesome grandpa were able to be featured.

     

    By the way, some of you may have already seen some of Noah's YouTube NoLimits creations, but I'll post them here again so you can remember how great they are, and can now associate them with their designer (Noah).

     

     

    • Like 5
  8. ^I agree! The scavenger hunt was a blast, and added a great extra activity to the weekend. However, does anyone know where the footer with the bent bolt was located?? I, along with several other people, spent forever trying to find it but to no avail. We did find one that could have matched except the bolt wasn't bent like the one in the picture. 

    • Like 3
  9. I had an amazing time at Coasterstock! I'd like to thank Don and the rest of the park immensely for such a memorable and fun event. Despite some questionable weather the first two days, this weekend has been amazing. Between the park's hospitality for providing the event, the giveaways like the shirt and free photo downloads, tours, ERT, and so much more, it's been one of my most enjoyable trips I've ever had to an amusement park. 

    • Like 9
  10. When I get up to The Point (hopefully this summer...), Valravn will be my first dive coaster as well. I'm also intrigued to ride Rougarou and Wicked Twister in row 12 (to compare it to Possessed in the same row) and of course, Millennium Force and the best coaster in the wild wild west- Maverick!

    Gotta love Cowboy Coaster! :P

     

    (Ride On_17, cross threadin')

    • Like 4
  11. I thought Valravn was awesome. I rode in the middle of the back row and the ride experience exceeded my expectations. I thought the vertical drop was very intense, and it felt like it lasted forever. The entire ride was also incredibly smooth; in fact, it might be the smoothest coaster at the park. The drop after the MCBR was also very fun, and the final inversion reminded me a lot of Banshee's inline twist, which I absolutely love. Even though I have no other dive coasters to compare it to, I think this coaster is a winner. Plus it makes such a bold impression visually when watching the ride and walking around it.

    • Like 7
  12. 68 pages, several days, and far too many hours than I should have spent later, I've finally caught up on this thread. :rolleyes:

     

    The end of my first year of college as well as a busy start to summer has kept me really tied up lately, so I've been glad to finally have some free time to read through everything. It's been a lot of fun seeing all of the speculation. The 2014 Decoding thread is actually what first brought me to KIC, and is what ultimately caused me to join the site. This is by far the most welcoming, enjoyable, and friendly enthusiast site, so I'll always be thankful for the speculation of what became Banshee for leading me to it. 

     

    Of course in result, this latest decoding thread will be a lot of fun for me. In my opinion, the speculation before a new addition is one of the best parts of being an enthusiast. I find threads like these along with the clues, teasers, and wide range of thoughts regarding future additions to be such fun ways to spend my free time and get excited about whatever a park will be adding. I will be attending Coasterstock this year, so I can't wait to check out everything going on at KI. Already it's been so much fun going through all of the speculation, and I'm sure it will only get increasingly interesting and intriguing as the season goes on. 

     

    Thanks for such a fun discussion so far, and I can't wait for what the next couple months have in store. Bring on Project 2017! Whatever it may be, based off Cedar Fair's recent quality of additions, I'm thrilled for the park and am sure it will be a fantastic enhancement!

    • Like 20
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