Cedar Point 2025 Winter Chill Out Updates

[Orion-XL200]

Was able to attend WCO this year after a couple year hiatus. Found out some good info and saw some cool things! Here's a list of said things: 

• Siren's Curse is coming!
  • The lead car for one of the trains arrived in the crate and performed an example of lighting/audio.
    • Lighting and audio are not finalized.
    • Audio sounded awesome not on board (park claimed it was only at 60% out of 4 speakers on the headrests).
  • Preview event will likely happen.
  • Free lockers
• Top Thrill 2 is planned to be open on Opening Day. 
  • Trains are coming back from Zamperla after adjustments have been made. Zamperla will do testing, the state will do certification testing, the park will do testing before opening.
  • Free lockers
• Millennium Force anniversary
  • 25 years! 
  • New control panel 
  • New lift motor
  • New paint (will be completed by 2026)
  • New seat belts with a bit more give and new location to assist more riders. 
  • More uptime
  • LED Lights will return to make the support structure shine even brighter!
• Cross Current Slides 
  • 2 new slides are being added, one with panels that are see through.
  • Undetermined if the 3rd slide, the green wide one that was the only operating one on the tower in 2024 will return. 
• Happy Friar will be returning with a brand new look/purchase experience.
  • Similar to the Chipotle concept, it'll allow for more customization on the famous Cedar Point fries.
• Famous Dave's is moving out of the Peninsula. 
  • Replacing Quaker Steak and Lube.
  • Nothing replacing FD at the marina.
• Front Gate photo op
  • The 150 Years sign will be replaced with a Cedar Point sign, that should look great in photos.
• Entertainment
  • The Celebration Stage on the midway between the main midway and Iron Dragon has been demolished.
  • Entertainment will be more spread out through the park.
  • A new Lusty Lil's show will take place on the Gulch Stage in Frontier Town (next to the covered bridge).
  • The Palace Theater will reopen.
  • Class of '99 will return with what seems to be a bit of an update.
• Park signage 
  • Similar to what we've seen at KI, Cedar Point is adding the Waypoint signs, that will display things like the park map, wait times, etc.
• Food
  • A chicken and dumpling type soup will be available at Farmhouse.
  • More special offerings from the pastry kitchen will be available for a limited time throughout the park at various points throughout the season.
• Magnum-XL200
  • Noted during my presentation, the park will continue to invest in the ride through trackwork and other off season projects. Two of the trains have basically been re-done as if they were new. 
• Iron Dragon Queue ReRoute
  • The current queue will be reconfigured for Fast Lane and the regular queue will be routed down toward coasters.

 

WCO guests got to experience: 

• Walking through the garage of Top Thrill 2 with great views of the top hat on the way in. As everyone entered into the garage they were treated to the first views of the lead car of Siren's Curse. It looked amazing and sounded awesome! 
• Everyone then walked through the back of the park, passing Magnum-XL200 and down the Gemini Midway. We were treated with a view of the Happy Friar's construction. 
• Attendees were able to walk through the sign shop where various signs from the park's past and the present were put on display. As the tour of the shop continued, everyone walked through a pathway surrounded by skeleton's from Boneville on either side of them. Disaster Transport Dave and the other robot (I can't remember the name) were on display. Electronics for rides, lights, sound were on display and an interactive moment was given where guests could press buttons to hear different ride spiels. 
• After the sign shop, groups headed to the barnyard to see Churro and his friends. We were able to feed the crew of alpacas and give them some pets. On the way there, guests noted that the station of Snake River Falls was still standing but the remainder of the ride has been completely removed. At the barnyard, it was apparent that Professor Dilbert's Frontier Fling was gone....surprisingly showing quite a big space for future investment. The sign of the ride was still on display. 
• After the barnyard the groups headed toward Siren's Curse. As construction is active and was during the visit, we were only able to get up to the edge of 21 and Colder by the train station. I was shocked to see that the tilt would face more toward Rougarou than Iron Dragon. The tower up close is massive. Cannot wait to see how this will end up interacting with the midway. Speaking of the midway, it seems like it could be a bit of a bottle neck, but I think with the reroute of the Iron Dragon queue will assist in this (as will the removal of Celebration stage).
• Groups were then able to tour the Engine House of the Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad, where several of the train engines were on display in various stages of off-season work were being completed. 
• Unfortunately due to the construction of Siren's Curse, groups had to backtrack and head toward the back of the park. Once back near Coasters Drive-In, guests then headed to the Food and Beverage Warehouse. The F&B Warehouse was neat, finding out that everything in the park and out of the park basically arrives here and is distributed throughout before early entry starts. Ride parts...they head to this warehouse....funnel cake mix, yup, here too. As we finished this portion of the warehouse, we headed into the pastry kitchen.
• Pastry kitchen is fairly new. Any specialty pastries, puddings, rolls (Grand Pavilion) are made through here. I asked as they expand offerings if they'd be adding more to Sweet Spot similar to KI's offerings (pudding cups, Racer Eclairs, etc.). They said as of right now, Sweet Spot at CP is ran by merchandise. If (and hopefully) they take over the shop, they'll add more items. The pastry chef wants the CP pastry kitchen to be the standard of the chain.
• Lunch! We were provided with a lunch that included: salads, soups baked potato bar, vegetable medley, a lemon pasta, chicken drumsticks and parfaits from the pastry kitchen (4 different types).
• Guests then headed into a presentation (which covered almost everything from the above section).
• We then headed to the arcade for a bit of time of free play...our group did mini-bowling. 
• Next up, our group headed to Linen Services to see how the year round operation works on cleaning all the linens in the park as well as in all of the resorts. Interestingly enough, Sawmill Creek doesn't really get serviced out of this operation as it has it's own facility on site.
• We then headed to Landscaping and then maintenance. 
• In the maintenance shop, we were treated with a view of the lead car of the blue train of Magnum (I particularly loved this and it looked great), the red lead car of Gemini, a Cadillac Car as well as Millennium Force train, Maverick train in mid refurb. We also saw a Raptor car near the exit of the shop. We were able to watch a video of how the park inspects coaster track via drone, able to stimulate how magnetic braking works and were treated to being able to play with the ride panels of Millennium Force (the old one panel) and the former panel of Top Thrill Dragster. 
• We then headed to Park Services to see where they keep lawn mowers, chemicals, soap, trashcans, liners, etc. that help the park continue to operate and be clean for guests. Park Services is located in the former Pirate Ride. Surprisingly, a few figures from the ride were found in here. 
• Finally, there was a special walk through of the Jack Aldrich Theater to check out former show prop, costumes, equipment, concept drawings, haunt costumes, etc. This is also where the 2025 entertainment would be happening. 
• As guests left the Jack, they were able to stop in Point Plaza to shop for some exclusive merch as well as year round merch. 

 

This year's event was quite enjoyable. There were a handful opportunities for restrooms. That situation definitely has improved. The only thing missing this year was exclusive views under rides like what was done in the past (Maverick tunnel, Millennium Force track visits, etc.). 

Great time all together! 

 

[Diamondback_Is_King]

Lead car looks super cool! @Orion-XL200 did you say on board audio or not? I was confused.

Finally we have free lockers at TT2!!! So many people were complaining about that, and I'm glad they fixed it. Zamperla's future resides in TT2's success this next year. Their reputation is already down sense the closure, but if TT2 continues to be down, it doesn't look good for the future of Zamperla.

Also, will the preview for Siren's Curse just be for Cedar Point Home Park pass holders, or All-Park Passport pass holders?

[Orion-XL200]

3 minutes ago, Diamondback_Is_King said:

Lead car looks super cool! @Orion-XL200 did you say on board audio or not? I was confused.

Finally we have free lockers at TT2!!! So many people were complaining about that, and I'm glad they fixed it. Zamperla's future resides in TT2's success this next year. Their reputation is already down sense the closure, but if TT2 continues to be down, it doesn't look good for the future of Zamperla.

Also, will the preview for Siren's Curse just be for Cedar Point Home Park pass holders, or All-Park Passport pass holders?

There is on board audio, it's still being finalized. They gave us a preview of what it could be and it was at 60% volume out of 4 speakers.....it was loud and awesome.

From what I've heard from not only Tony, but the previous GM and the AGM of Cedar Point, Zamperla was not happy with how the trains were working and they were the ones who decided to pause operations to make adjustments. This was the first time these trains have been used at this scale...they are quite positive (Zamperla and Cedar Point) that the ride will continue to operate and be successful. Even if it isn't, I do not think it looks bad for the future of the company. Outside of enthusiasts/fanboys, there really isn't anyone talking about the future of the company being based on TT2. Zamperla has projects worldwide....their rides are showcased at Coney Island in NY....they've got a successful line of flat rides....they supply various ride parts, etc. The company is not based on just one coaster. While it's been disappointing that the ride has been closed for essentially the entire 2024 season, that wouldn't be the final nail in the coffin for the company. 

No details on preview for Siren's Curse were given. 

[jzarley]

I’m a little disappointed to hear about Famous Daves—not that FD was that spectacular, but mostly since if nothing goes into the old Melt space they will be down one more full service restaurant this year. In our annual trip to CF we usually go on a Thursday/Friday in late August and stay at the Breakers—usually hit Fridays the first night then dinner at FD on Friday evening—guess we’ll need to come up with a new plan this year :-)

[Tr0y]

On 2/24/2025 at 8:54 AM, Orion-XL200 said:

Was able to attend WCO this year after a couple year hiatus. Found out some good info and saw some cool things! Here's a list of said things: 

• Siren's Curse is coming!
  • The lead car for one of the trains arrived in the crate and performed an example of lighting/audio.
    • Lighting and audio are not finalized.
    • Audio sounded awesome not on board (park claimed it was only at 60% out of 4 speakers on the headrests).
  • Preview event will likely happen.
  • Free lockers

Free lockers, which means more in-line metal detectors… Definitely not a fan of that. 

[Orion-XL200]

1 hour ago, Tr0y said:

Free lockers, which means more in-line metal detectors… Definitely not a fan of that. 

Not sure if the free lockers will be inside the queue or out. If out, not too bad to experience. Though, I don't really care if I have to go through them.