Valravn, Valravn, and even more Valravn: CP's Winter Chill Out (2/20/16)

[Ride On_17]

I finally got some time to write up a trip report for Winter Chill Out! By now I'm sure most people have heard about the event and have seen some pictures, but I'll still include my experiences and explain this awesome event.

 

I'll start by saying I had only been to one other CP off-season tour, and it was before it became known as the Winter Chill Out as it is now. It just so happened to be that it was for the last coaster the park was building, Gatekeeper, back in 2013. I thought that event was absolutely amazing for several reasons. One, it was my first time seeing Cedar Point in the off-season. Two, I got to see the construction of Gatekeeper and the front entrance. Three, I just thought it was awesome the park let us come in for an event like that. Well, since then, obviously the event has continued to grow. It's amazing everything that is provided for us now, from the lunch, to the souvenirs, to the tours of behind-the-scenes-areas, and just the fact that every penny goes to charity. As much as I loved 2013's event, this year's went above and beyond all my expectations and instantly became my highlight of the year so far.

 

First off, WOW. Pictures truly don't do Valravn justice in terms of its sheer size. It drastically changes the park's skyline and fills what used to be a decent sized gap in tall rides when seeing the park from the causeway. It's so cool seeing another massive steel structure protruding into the sky and gives the entire skyline, especially the middle area, brand new excitement. I was surprised by the coaster's dominance in the skyline as you begin to approach the parking booths and entrance to the parking lot. Due to its placement, you are looking directly at it as you drive that way, and it actually blocks the view of Dragster. Before, the 420 foot behemoth would dominate your view entering the park, and now it's impossible to not see the new shiny steel in front of it that actually makes it look smaller (what an interesting perspective). As I continued to find out throughout the day, Valravn has really changed the visuals of the park and stands out from many locations. What an incredible ride to look at.

 

 

I was a member of the 10:30am group, and after an energetic greeting by Tony Clark at the season pass center for check-in, my mom, friend, and I proceeded to the Midway Market, where snacks and coffee were graciously provided. Soon after, we were informed that we could join a group outside and begin our tour. We started by going down the Blue Streak Midway to the Valravn construction site. It appeared as if no work was being done yet in this area, but I'm still hoping for some type of refresh. It doesn't even have to be to the level as the Gemini Midway, but at least maybe some planters, pavers, and new facade to the Pirate Ride Building. Especially with the new Valravn midway being created, I feel like this area would stick out like a sore thumb if nothing is done to it.

 

Since the construction site is a hard hat zone, we obviously weren't allowed to actually enter it, but were able to stand pretty darn close. We were able to get a good look at the work being done on the station and gift shop/photo building. It was pointed out that the roof of the station is designed to look like wings to enhance Valravn's bird theme, and this wing/v-shape pattern is also present in the architecture of the souvenir building. I'm so glad these buildings won't just be big, boring, metal barns (I'm looking at you, Gatekeeper). You also really get a sense of scale when you're standing at the base of its lift hill. I can't wait until the new midway is built and actually interacts with and goes under the track.

 

 

Raptor's new paint looks absolutely amazing. I figured it would look good, but I had no clue just how much a difference it would make. The colors are so bright and sharp, and it provides a nice contrast from the darker colors of Valravn. Even though I was disappointed to see some of the supports already covered in seagull mess, overall it looks like a brand new ride and is such an improvement.

 

 

Next, we went over toward Valravn's Immelman and had some time to walk around the area near the Skyride station and take lots of pictures. The smaller groups that they divided us into went off one at a time into the sequential tour stops, so there were periods throughout the day that we were standing around waiting until we were able to proceed, but I really didn't mind it. It was sunny, warm (in terms of Ohio winter standards), and it was awesome just to take in the beauty of the park. Can't forget about the amazing views of Valravn, too. This coaster will be just as much fun to watch as it will be to ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued...

[Ride On_17]

While waiting to move on to the next park of the tour, I continued taking in the quiet yet beautiful atmosphere of the park. It was eerily silent without any rides running, people talking, or guests walking around, but the park took on a completely different feeling. While sort of weird and sad, it was also really cool and fascinating to see everything in "hibernation" mode. 

 

 

 

Then for the next stop, we were able to go inside the CP&LE Railroad engine house. This was actually really enjoyable, since it's an aspect of the park many people don't know much about and get to see behind-the-scenes. The train engineers were very knowledgeable, and it was clear they take great pride in what they do. I give them lots of credit, too. I don't think I'd be able to do the hot, grueling work that they do. Yet they seem to enjoy it, and it really shows. It's definitely not an easy task running and maintaining the trains, but it all pays off.

 

 

 

 

And then the tour moved on, giving a look at some Millennium trains ready to get back on the track. Also notice how even from this location, Valravn stands out in the background. Like I mentioned before, it is visible from so many areas of the park, and I think many people will be surprised by how noticeable it is. I still can't get over how much a visual ride it is, and I love it.

 

 

 

We went back through Frontier Trail, and it was so peaceful. It was nice to take in the whole atmosphere, all while realizing you were walking through Cedar Point when it's closed for the season. Definitely something that not a whole lot of people can say they've done, and I'm still so thankful that Cedar Point offers to host this event, especially after finding out the guides and other workers volunteered to be there.

 

 

No gem mining today. Or any day in the next 2 and 1/2 months.

 

Of course by now I think everyone realized we'd be walking past Shoot the Rapids. Thanks to all the speculation and rumors flying around previous to the event, I (along with everyone else) was excited to check out the area and see if they were true.

 

Sure enough, as soon as people started approaching the ride, there were many gasps and "Look at that!"s and "It's true!"s. Lo and behold, the second hill and drop had already been removed. So the rumors were true after all...Goodbye, Shoot the Rapids, you won't be missed by many. It's very exciting thinking about what the future has in store for this large chunk of prime land.

 

 

 

To be continued...

[calakapepe]

Wow, fantastic shots. Can't wait for more. How did Top Thrill Dragster look?

[Ride On_17]

Wow, fantastic shots. Can't wait for more. How did Top Thrill Dragster look?

Thank you!

 

It's looking great! I could clearly see where they left off with the paint, but the part that's already done looks amazing. So much better and brighter, just like Raptor's.

[Ride On_17]

Snake River Falls...minus the river...and the falls...and I guess no snake either

 

 

Twisty!!!

 

 

No swinging going on anytime soon...

 

 

Cedar Point announced it will not be building higher fences in result of the Raptor incident...

 

Instead, it looks like they're just removing them altogether!

 

 

(Just kidding, actually they're just replacing the fence around Mine Ride, no need to worry. ) It's so cool seeing all the off-season work and maintenance being done that most people will never even know about. 

 

I do have a question though... How the heck did a canoe paddle get in the now partially-drained water under Mine Ride??

 

Good 'ole Mean Streak.

 

 

Next stop: The prop and decoration storage area behind Gemini. It was fun to see all the various park decorations back there. Mostly there were lots of various HalloWeekends parts and pieces. 

 

 

 

And then...the big reveal. The moment of truth. The sight of all sights. 

 

Inside the main storage building, we were greeted with a brand spanking new Valravn car!! I honestly love the blue so much. It will really enhance the existing blue of the supports and will contrast the track color. They are very sleek and to put it simply, just look cool! By far a highlight of the whole day was being able to sit in the car and get a picture taken. Personally I'm a fan of the new B&M vest restraints and am glad the park opted to go with them on this coaster. There were also renderings of Valravn and the surrounding area on display, and although I never got the chance to talk with him, Rob Decker was around too. Between seeing Rob, the trains, all of the props being stored, (oh, and a Valravn sign, probably the one that will go on the station or souvenir building), I was totally geeking out. I think I had died and gone to coaster enthusiast heaven.

 

 

(My friend, my mom, and me).

 

Looks like these guys have been hanging around too long...

 

Someone was having some fun with us...

 

So close yet so far away!

 

There's the sign!

 

To be continued...

[Ride On_17]

Top Thrill Dragster in all its glory..

 

You can see how almost all of the drop has yet to be painted, as does the top third of the ascent. Also, it looks like some of the supports still have yet to be painted (especially the left half), but the ones that have really look bright and stand out. What has already been painted looks beautiful and makes such a difference.

 

Oh no, the launch cable isn't connected! How long with the ride be down for?? Wait, it's off-season maintenance, carry on.

 

Next tour stop: a maintenance shop! This one focuses on Intamin coasters and contained Millennium and Maverick trains in various states of assembly/disassembly. It's fascinating seeing how the coaster cars we know and love are stripped down to their most basic form and look nothing more than hunks of unrecognizable metal. Even crazier is the fact that the staff is able to piece them together again in perfect working order. 

 

 

 

 

There was also a video of Dragter's hydraulic launch system in action. I'd seen pictures before but never an actual video of what the hydraulic system looks like when it launches a train. We were not allowed to take pictures or videos of it, but it was really cool! We also were able to see the Dragster catch car. I find all of this behind-the-scene maintenance work to be so fascinating. Before we know it, everything will be pieced back together and we'll be riding them!

 

Then we moved on to lunch in the newly-renovated Lakeside Dining Room and got to check out everything being stored in the Lakeside Pavilion. I thought it was strange how they still had some of the old Maverick restraints lying around. 

 

 

Picnic tables stored with a view.

 

Trains, trains, and more trains!

 

 

Lunch was really nice too! There was a wide variety of food to choose from. There were boneless wings, a chili station, pasta, a wide variety of veggies, and cookies. Everything was delicious, and it was really generous of the park to provide all of that for us. I also picked up two CoasterDynamix models that were being sold! I got Valravn and Millennium Force, and hopefully by the end of the year after my park visits, I'll have all the currently available models.

 

After lunch, we were taken inside Hotel Breakers and were given a brief rundown of its history and renovation. I still love what the park did with it, and I'm glad they blended old with the new. It looks so much better now.

 

 

 

To be continued...

(By the way, hopefully nobody minds all the series of posts. I could do one giant one, but I figured that would be a lot of information and pictures in a single post.)

[calakapepe]

Flickr is very good for albums like this.. until you use 1TB of data anyways

Im saving that photo of TTD. I wanna remember the difference it really made haha.

[Ride On_17]

Tony and Jason McClure did a great job with the general park presentation portion. Lots of humor and personality, along with some fun jokes that kept everyone on their toes. It was announced that over $40,000 had been raised for A Kid Again, which is absolutely incredible. Still so amazed every penny from the event goes to that organization and the park keeps nothing. Then we got into the juicy stuff...

 

The highlights:

 

-New Ninja Dodgem cars from Italy (even though Jason got everyone in an uproar by first messing with us and saying Dodgems was being removed)

-Shoot the Rapids is officially being removed (after Tony messed with us and first said it was getting rethemed and improved. He also even joked about the ride's super long ride time. Also poked fun at Dorney/Jason saying that it will be scrapped and won't be going there. Got some good laughs from the audience.)

-Challenge Racing and Skyscraper are being removed (In fact, it looked like Skyscraper had already been removed.)

-A picture of Ripcord was shown for just a few seconds and Jason said, "Nothing to see here". Which to me, is a pretty obvious sign that it will be staying at the park but will probably be relocated.

-Someone brought up Dinosaurs Alive but Jason just sort of brushed it off and moved on without saying anything else. (After all, this year will be the 5th and final year of the contract. Plus given the fact that STR is coming down...Adventure Island is definitely a place to watch for new attractions in the future, I'd say.)

-Chick-Fil-A by Maverick is being replaced with Frontier Inn, which will have fresh, hand-breaded chicken fingers, a variety of sauces, and what I'm actually excited about, several salad options. Yay for healthy food in the park!!

-Huricane Hannah's at the front of the park is being removed and replaced with Coca-Cola Oasis. Tony said it's supposed to have a bubble machine at the top, but he got a lot of laughs by saying, "Knowing Cedar Point, it'll stop working after 10 days."

-Cedar Point will have its own exclusive coaster club, called the Ride Warriors Club. It will be a $120 membership and limited to the first 1,000 people, and will be accepted for Coastermani, host a bunch of exclusive events, and even have a separate off-season tour.

-Selfie stations will be set up at various spots in the park, encouraging guests to take and share pictures of their visit on social media and use the new FunPix system, which was also explained more in detail. The new free park WiFi was also mentioned.

-Sunrise VIP tours are in the works. Pricing and final details aren't ready yet, but it will include getting to see the opening procedure of Valravn, be the first riders of the day, and (pending the legal team's approval) getting to go to the top of the lift hill.

-The cruise will return to CoasterMania this year (which will also have a fee and limited number of spots this year).

-All of the fresh cut fries locations are getting renovated and will have RCT-esque giant fries placed above the order windows. The Attitudes shop next to fresh cut fries location by Raptor will be removed and replaced with a Coke Freestyle center. However, Tony yet again got everyone fired up (so many people were actually mad and yelling) by saying the fresh cut fries would not be returning, since guest feedback indicated people much preferred the frozen kind. A cruel, cruel joke, but one that was entertaining after he relieved us all by saying he was messing with us. I don't think I've ever heard sighs of relief so loud.

 

And so the tour continued...

 

Giant Wheel looks so strange without its cabins.

 

The next stop was actually a surprise since it wasn't listed on our scheduled stops found on our lanyards. It turned out to actually be one of my favorite stops, just since it's something rarely seen by the public and something I wasn't sure I'd ever get to see: The Grand Ballroom!

 

I knew it's where HalloWeekends Screamsters would get ready, but I found out it's so much more. The back portion behind the stage has actually been turned into offices and a rehearsal room for Live Entertainment. In another corner is the wardrobe office, a small yet productive space filled with a variety of wigs and fabrics. We also learned that the space is the only area where the cast of Luminosity can perform full run-throughs due to the size of the room. I love how the space still keeps its art deco style, but I just wish it was still used on a regular basis. Part of me wishes I could have been around back in the day when bands would perform and everyone would dance the night away (after roller skating around the perimeter of the dance floor, which I learned--the skating rink is now covered in carpet). A worker who led a presentation here said how its lack of air conditioning is probably the main reason why it isn't publicly used, but he said he would think the space will be used more in the future given the park's space constraints. Maybe he knows more than he was letting on to, or maybe he was just giving an honest personal opinion, but I do hope that space gets more widely used in some shape or form soon. 

 

 

 

 

Back out on the Main Midway, Valravn really dominates the entire area. Wowza.

 

 

Yay for Raptor!

 

 

The soon-to-be renovated fries stand and future Coke Freestyle center.

 

Good riddance. I always hated how there was a tropical themed food stand as soon as you entered a famous Ohio amusement park. Doesn't fit in at all.

 

And goodbye out of place palm tree. (I actually really like this picture with the lighting and Gatekeeper's keyholes in the background.)

 

Cool perspectives.

 

 

The Perimeter Road detour wasn't closed so before we left, we quickly swung around back behind Valravn to get another perspective of the ride. There were no signs saying no entry, so we figured we would be able to drive over, get some pictures, and leave. It was so cool seeing the coaster from this side, plus we got another look at the station and souvenir building construction.

 

Overall, the entire day was such a blast. We left the park at 4:30pm, 6 hours after starting our fun adventure. Valravn is incredible to see in person, and it was great checking out the rest of the park and behind-the-scenes areas. Plus all the proceeds went to a great cause. The event couldn't have been better, and I'm so thankful the park opened its gates for us. Now it's time to look forward to May!!

[jcgoble3]

Great report! Thanks!
 

What is this designed by, a sadistic Roller Coaster Tycoon player?

[MDMC01]

Good stuff; Valravn looks amazing and totally dominates, sort of like how you can see Banshee from pretty much anywhere (like the unique view from Coney Mall). Dragster and Raptor's new paint looks cool too... this makes me really pumped to go to The Point this summer!

[IndyGuy4KI]

Great PTR! Thanks for taking the time to share. From someone who has done quite a few PTR's in the past it is a time consuming task.

[CoasterOhio]

Coaster Porn warning? You gotta put them in sometimes, ya know?

[Ride On_17]

I'm glad everyone likes the report! It was such a memorable day, and I wanted to be able to share it with everyone else.

 

Except it really did not help the off-season blues at all...Such a tease being in the park and not riding anything!

[Creed Bratton]

Especially with the weather! It was so nice!