Something is Surfacing 9-19-2024

[KIBeast]

20 hours ago, Orion742 said:

 I do believe this makes 2026 our year with Cedar Point getting back to back major coasters and the parks not liking to do major additions in the same year. I think the park is saving The Vortex plot for something special and I can’t wait to see what it is in the future. I do think the park is going to have to get very creative with our next coaster. Should be very interesting.

Actually, including the short lived TT2 opening, Cedar Point installed back to back to back coasters; i.e. Wild Mouse, TT2, and now Siren's Curse.

I also cannot wait to see what is decided for The Vortex plot of land. I would not be mad to receive something similar to Alpen Fury at Canada's Wonderland.

[disco2000]

What is a Til coaster 

[DispatchMaster]

2 hours ago, johnjniehaus said:

personal attacks such as labeling people as belonging to a "weird community"

I include myself in the weird community of enthusiasts. But I'm self-aware enough to know that the way we tend to reflexively think about things (why didn't Park A get New Ride X, they Park A deserves it more!") doesn't apply to the real world of park management.

2 hours ago, Tr0y said:

...the disastrous investment in TT2...

First of all, calling TT2 a "disaster" is an emotional response.

But more importantly, who considers the investment to be "disastrous"? Just because an enthusiast thinks it's a disaster doesn't mean the folks in charge do. Now, that's not to say the ride not opening this year is anything other than bad, but coasters are a several-decade investment, so it's a bit early to label the investment a disaster.

There were a few rides whose debuts were pushed from 2024 to 2025. Are those also "disastrous" outcomes? If those aren't "disasters" I don't see how TT2 is, considering the net effect is the same - a ride is opening a year later than originally scheduled.

2 hours ago, Tr0y said:

Maybe they did not meet their expectations for hotel reservations

Even if it were true that hotel reservations were down this year, does it make sense to spend several million dollars because a few rooms went unused during the season? It seems like it would make far more sense to simply adjust room rates, something they already do to control demand. In fact, their ability to dynamically price lodging means that if there unused lodging capacity, it's probably more or less by design.

[cdubbs727]

1 hour ago, DispatchMaster said:

But more importantly, who considers the investment to be "disastrous"?

I agree with most of what you have to say. However, I think there's a lot of people who consider this disastrous, even if it's a bit of hyperbole. 

TT2 was supposed to be a solution not only to a safety hazard but also to a PR disaster; when your faulty ride sends someone to the hospital, that's a PR emergency. And so TT2 was supposed to be some sort of vindication. Had it been up and down throughout the season, people could say "well, TTD was a maintenance nightmare, but became more reliable over time." When your ride that has been designed to garner some good PR and bring in season pass holders only operates for less than a week, that's a PR disaster.

Yes, in the long term, if they can bring TT2 up to working order, it's probably not a long-term fiasco. And the enthusiast community, by large, probably knows this. 

But the GP isn't as kind. And several of the folks who live around here (I'm in the Detroit area) have laughed quite a bit about CP not being able to keep its new ride open for a week. Couple that with the nightmare stories people come back with about lengthy lines, extended downtime for other rides, and what seems to be a general trashiness at the park in terms of staffing, upkeep and clientele, and I think it just adds to an overall disaster. 

So I think it makes sense that CP probably rushed this ride over to distract attention from giant top hat and spike that haven't worked and get a bit of good PR. Maybe TT2 opens in May and this rides a hit and CP figures out its operations; I hope so. But it just proves out to me why I'm so thankful Kings Island's recent updates have been about improving the park experience, not stuffing in more thrill rides. 

[johnjniehaus]

43 minutes ago, cdubbs727 said:

I agree with most of what you have to say. However, I think there's a lot of people who consider this disastrous, even if it's a bit of hyperbole. 

TT2 was supposed to be a solution not only to a safety hazard but also to a PR disaster; when your faulty ride sends someone to the hospital, that's a PR emergency. And so TT2 was supposed to be some sort of vindication. Had it been up and down throughout the season, people could say "well, TTD was a maintenance nightmare, but became more reliable over time." When your ride that has been designed to garner some good PR and bring in season pass holders only operates for less than a week, that's a PR disaster.

Yes, in the long term, if they can bring TT2 up to working order, it's probably not a long-term fiasco. And the enthusiast community, by large, probably knows this. 

But the GP isn't as kind. And several of the folks who live around here (I'm in the Detroit area) have laughed quite a bit about CP not being able to keep its new ride open for a week. Couple that with the nightmare stories people come back with about lengthy lines, extended downtime for other rides, and what seems to be a general trashiness at the park in terms of staffing, upkeep and clientele, and I think it just adds to an overall disaster. 

So I think it makes sense that CP probably rushed this ride over to distract attention from giant top hat and spike that haven't worked and get a bit of good PR. Maybe TT2 opens in May and this rides a hit and CP figures out its operations; I hope so. But it just proves out to me why I'm so thankful Kings Island's recent updates have been about improving the park experience, not stuffing in more thrill rides. 

Great points. It's interesting what the GP thinks about things.. sometimes they don't care and only the enthusiasts make a big deal about something but then other times the GP can be the harshest critic. 

[Tr0y]

2 hours ago, DispatchMaster said:

Even if it were true that hotel reservations were down this year, does it make sense to spend several million dollars because a few rooms went unused during the season? It seems like it would make far more sense to simply adjust room rates, something they already do to control demand. In fact, their ability to dynamically price lodging means that if there unused lodging capacity, it's probably more or less by design.

Dynamic pricing isn't what draws people to stay the night in Sandusky. Dynamic pricing is strictly to compete with the neighboring hotels. What draws people to Sandusky is Cedar Point, and its lineup of world class, record breaking coasters. Even with Dynamic pricing, CP still charges a premium to stay in one of its hotels.

[SmartCat7162]

2 minutes ago, Tr0y said:

Dynamic pricing isn't what draws people to stay the night in Sandusky. Dynamic pricing is strictly to compete with the neighboring hotels. What draws people to Sandusky is Cedar Point, and its lineup of world class, record breaking coasters. Even with Dynamic pricing, CP still charges a premium to stay in one of its hotels.

Very true when I made a trip to Cedar Point this year I had free tickets so it did not make sense to stay at the hotel since it is so expensive and the real perk is buying a ticket bundle with the hotel stay and getting ERT. If I had been to Cedar Point before my trip this year I probably would have weighted to go till next year to ride TT2 since it is such a far drive from Cincy. But since it was my first time ever going I took the opportunity to go.

[SonofBaconator]

If it’s still possible, I think it should be repainted purple. There are already 5 coasters with red track at that park.

[WoodVengeance]

55 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

If it’s still possible, I think it should be repainted purple. There are already 5 coasters with red track at that park.

I was thinking this too for whenever Cedar Point got their next coaster. Though it would be funny, considering this coaster is themed to a screaming mythical creature, just like another certain coaster that resides in the same state that also has a purple paint scheme.

[robintodd]

21 hours ago, Tr0y said:

Maybe they did not meet their expectations for hotel reservations at CP

They met their expectations.  I often look for rooms at random times to see how busy Breakers is and I can tell you it was busier this year than ever.  That being said, I do expect that several reservations were cancelled/changed once it was announced that TT2 would not be opening this year.

Another thing to remember is that the sports complex (sports force parks) brings in a ton of people to Sandusky as well.  

[SonofBaconator]

12 hours ago, WoodVengeance said:

I was thinking this too for whenever Cedar Point got their next coaster. Though it would be funny, considering this coaster is themed to a screaming mythical creature, just like another certain coaster that resides in the same state that also has a purple paint scheme.

That was kind of the intent behind the color choice, that, and the former wildcat coaster that sat in that same spot had the same colored track.