RailRider

Well besides using a traditional style elevator, would it not be possible to use one of the wheelchair staircase lifts? I know that when my highschool reopened the original highschool from the 1950's that part of the remodel process was making it ADA compliant. It is a 3 story building with no elevator so for disabled students they put in a wheelchair lift that would run along the center hand rail of the stair case and lift students from the 1st to 3rd floors with no problem. Would this not meet the same ADA guidelines as having an elevator?

Wondered how long it would take to remove FlashBack. That thing is maybe running 10 days out of the year.

Well for the park I always go with running shoes, unless it is FearFest, then I wear some good comfortable dress boots because of the cooler weather. Over at Boomerang Bay I agree its a bad idea not to have something on your feet because the sun, concrete, and some of the non slip surfaces can tear your feet up. So I wear my dive boots on most visits, but occasionaly will opt for the classic aqua sox. hahaha It must be the offseasson

^ ^ Agreed completely, but it doesnt help that after Cedar Fair bought the park they built the huge water park at GL with non union labor in a very pro union area. It is the rust belt for a reasson. So the park almost fell apart under Six Flags and then Cedar Fair acquires it and basically gives everyone in the area the big middle finger by hiring non union contractors. Not a good start for a park that was already in bad shape.

Well actually Aurora was refering to one of the mythical X Planes developed at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. Just so happens its also the name of the town in which X-Flight is coming from. Unfortuantely some amusement parks have sunk to the level of selling their naming rights. Pepsi Max Big One and Playstation the Ride, both located at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Thankfully it is still a rarity in the industry, but more and more rides are sponsored by a company or product. Toyota sponsors Spiderman at IOA for example.

^ No it needs to meet State Standards so it can opperate once again. Obviously with all the structure modification being done the ride needed a major repair and the accident last seasson pointed out the defect in the structure.

Well still no announcement yet on what is in store for KI in 2007. But we can already look forward to a new Son of Beast. Yes it wont have a loop, but we have been informed that there will be many improvements/repairs to the structure and track so that the ride complies with the State of Ohio. Also it will either have lighter modified trains or new trains. Maybe the Son will finally get on the right track this year. (horrible pun) Second we have the action over by Fort Cooper and the possible addition of X-Flight or another new ride. Not to mention these changes there will more than likely be the addition of new paint, landscaping, beautification, and possibly a new resturant or two. Could be a very exciting year, but one that will definately be filled with change.

I would imagine that X-Flight will keep the name X-Flight, after all it fits the area well and the ride has been known as X-Flight under Cedar Fair ownership. It was one of the only rides that didnt receive a name change when Cedar Fair bought Geauga Lake from Six Flags. Although here are some possible name changes that I think would fit the ride and the Fort Cooper Area. Aurora, Project Vulcan, Have Blue, Project 51, SkyStreak, Valkyrie If anyone has been to the Air Force musem or is a fan of the various X-Planes most of these names will make sense. Still I think X-Flight is a great fit for the area. Maybe just a new color and station.

New article regarding Maverick and the construction process from the Sandusky Register also has some nice photos of the trains and track.Sandusky Register Article

I wonder if the public when visiting the park will be let down because there are no real signature attractions for the conversion from Marine World to SFDK? I have also seen some concept drawings and the changes look to consist of a new logo, new signs, paint, and a show. You can check out the pics over at NorCalCoasters. Sorry but after being burned by SixFlags for so long I meet their changes with skepticism not enthusiasim.

^ Yeah he is usually right on top of things. The only time recently that he had anything groudbreaking was with the Maverick layout. Then again the person with that picture tried to post it at point buzz, but that post was imediately taken down, so they went to screamscape. Afterall screamscape will post anything that could be remotely possible. I guess if you post enough guests you are bound to be right sooner than latter. Its like playing the lottery.

Well this sounds all to familiar. Anyone remember Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. They were trying to do the same thing there that they are doing with SFDK. Hopefully this isnt too big too fast for this park. Something else I found interesting was that the press release doesnt mention capital improvements to the park or tout it as a $X Million dollar improvement or renevation. Does this mean that park has gone basically unchanged from Marine World to SFDK, with nothing more than new signs, paint, and some other general park maintence? Should be interesting to see if this works out for Six Flags or if it ends up like SFWoA

Trains are on the track and the pullthrough process has begun. Notice that the trains are mocked up with clearance boards. Should be interesting to see when full scale testing begins or if they will wait till warmer tempretures happen. Heres a link to the CP Webcam. Notice the trains sitting at the base of the lift. Maverick WebCam

I dont know, but $10M seems a little much, especially seeing as he is charging both officers seperatley. Also hasnt it been awhile since May? Just kinda seems like he might have been convinced by an ambulance chaser to file suit. I dont know the details but this is just my initial thoughts on the situation from the report. Just smells funny.

Enjoy Busch Gardens, truly amazing park. Make sure you eat at the Crown Colony Reserve and ask for a table by one of the panoramic windows that looks out on to the Serengeti Plane. Truly amazing dinning expereince.

A monkey farting on a snare drum would be better than the paramount mountain logo.

After reading the article regarding the decline in attendance I would say most of the decline came from Geuaga Lake. After all the decline only pertains to the Cedar Fair parks before the addition of Paramount Parks. I think with the rough year GL had that could have accounted for the majority of the less than 1% loss. The drop is roughly 193,000 guests and if you look at the total of 19.3M guests that is referring to the number of guests that visited the Cedar Fair parks before the addition of the Paramount Parks. Roughly an average of 2.75M guests over the 7 Cedar Fair parks. I think with the addition of the Paramount Parks as a chain Cedar Fair may have actually seen an increase in attendance. Since we dont know the attendance figures yet for Paramount Parks this is unknown. I would say that as of right now Geauga Lake is the biggest issue Cedar Fair has and especially after MiA may have set a record this year with their attendance. Should be interesting to see how 2007 turns out.

Phantom Theater would be the ride I miss most. Dark rides are just not that common anymore and Phantom Theater reminded me of the Haunted Mansion at Magic Kingdom.

Another Idiot. Wish I had that much time to waste...

^ Well I think you are right about KD and that Cedar Fair feels the same way. Afterall they did receive the 2nd largest capital investment this year within the firm.

^ Dont forget the family of Racoons that roam the rafters also

I dont take it as you being an ass, so no worries. Understand where you are coming from completely. Lets see my background. Well I am not just a fan boy, yes I have park experience, spent a few years at the Point actually. Also I was lucky enough to intern with Mr. Don Mears, who was the General Manager of Cedar Point for quite some time. I interned with him during the construction of Millenium Force, also at that time CP was installing a new ride control system and refurbishing trains on Cedar Creek Mine Ride. By no means am I an expert but from first hand experience I understand what it takes for a park to build a coaster, to modify trains, etc. I know it can be extremely hard to modify a train to make it loose excess weight or to change the configuration on them, some trains are just engineerd heavier than others and you cant do a whole lot to over come those issues, unless you start removing cars which effects capacity. So yes Im not an expert on SoB or its trains, but I do have my own experiences in the industry to go by. Which leads me to think that modifying the trains does not seem like the best solution. The SoB trains were made to be heavy and durable because of the beating they would take and the fact they needed to go upside down. Some of those intial needs are no longer required. You can either half ass fix the situation with modified trains or you can put new ones on the track that meet the goals of the newly designed ride. Like I have repeatedly said. Nobody wanted anything to do with SoB when it still went upside down. Why else was Premier the maker of the trains? Nobody else wanted it. But saying that nobody wants to build trains for it now without the loop is like saying nobody wants to be the construction company that builds the Freedom Tower in New York on the site of The World Trade Towers. Things have changed, requirements have been met, improvements have been made; a coaster company would make trains for SoB if approached.

Folks were also excited over the change from Geauga Lake+Sea World to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. We all know how that turned out. They may have sucess with the remaining parks they own and opperate, but Six Flags and Cedar Fair are not in heated competition like they were during the Coaster Arms Race seen between SFMM and CP during the 90's and early 00's. WooferBearATL and RailRider locked in the eternal struggle to agree to disagree about Six Flags and Cedar Fair.

I figured it was a generalization because I think a lot of employees could learn from the workers at SFOG. I've never seen the level of interaction that you see from employees at SFOG at any other park. The only good experiences I have had at a SixFlags park were at SFOG and SFOT. The others have been pretty bad overall experiences. Also Magic Mountain is like a cancer for SixFlags because it is almost miserable for a guest at that park. Once you get through spending your life savings to pay for parking and addmission you then realize once inside the park that only half the coasters are in operation. Has anyone ever ridden Flashback or been there when its open? I hope for Six Flags sake they can change their image and opperations. Best ride crew I have ever wittenesed it ThunderHead at Dollywood. Professional, Fast, Great Guest Interaction, and they work in an extremely noisy envirnoment with the station fly thrus. My hat goes off to them... Also something impressive to behold is a TTD crew that has the opperation of all trains mastered. Watching them load, unload, and cycle that many trains when they get a good rythm going is impressive. Also makes the line move fast.

Hmm Geuaga Lakes employees still act like Six Flags employees, as in they dont care about their job and could care less about the guest experience. Kings Islands do a much better job and the majority seem to take pride in what they do. I am making a generalization, not saying all SixFlags employees dont care, but that seems to be the norm from my expeirence. I think everyone will agree ride opps and Cedar Point and Kings Island do a much better job than the ones at Six Flags.