Maverick opening delayed

[Browntggrr]

http://www.cedarpoint.com/

[PKIDelirium]

Press Release: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070508/cltu075.html

Press Release Source: Cedar Point

Maverick Opening Delayed

Tuesday May 8, 1:05 pm ET

May 10th Media Preview Cancelled

SANDUSKY, Ohio, May 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cedar Point announced today that the opening of Maverick, the park's 17th roller coaster, will be delayed until early June to make modifications to the coaster's steel track.

The Media Preview of Maverick scheduled for Thursday, May 10 has been cancelled. The ride will not be in operation on Opening Day.

The decision to delay the opening of Maverick was based on pre-opening tests and consultation with IntaRide, the manufacturer of the ride. Based on these discussions, it has been determined that three sections of steel track following the launch tunnel should be replaced.

"We apologize to all of our guests for this inconvenience," said John Hildebrandt, vice president and general manager of Cedar Point. "This decision was made in the interest of improving the guest experience on the ride and to eliminate excessive stress on the trains."

The modification process is already underway and the park hopes to open the ride by early June.

Cedar Point will be open daily Saturday, May 12 through Labor Day, Sept. 3. It will reopen for a Bonus Weekend on Sept. 7-9 and seven HalloWeekends from Sept. 14-16 through October 26-28, 2007.

[Captain Picard]

I thought that turn looked like it would give you a good beating when I first seen it.

[Browntggrr]

Well it seems that Intamin has suggested to replace 3 sections of track after the launch out of the tunnel. I do give credit to CP for coming foward with the news, but when are they going to learn that Intamin rides just are not reliable. Great rides- EVENTUALLY

Ironically enough, the rumor site most seem to hate came up with this news back in March.

[PKIDelirium]

I thought that turn looked like it would give you a good beating when I first seen it.

Yeah, it looked like an Arrow transition.

I'm guessing some execs rode it and had an unhappy phone call with Intamin over it.

[Delirium_Guy]

I thought that turn looked like it would give you a good beating when I first seen it.

Yeah, it looked like an Arrow transition.

I'm guessing some execs rode it and had an unhappy phone call with Intamin over it.

There was another article that I read earlier that stated the trouble section was the heartline roll following the launch. Gotta admit, after riding Kingda Ka last year with those restraints, I instantly became concerned over Maverick's ride. Its an awesome layout, but Kingda Ka gave my neck a good whack and thats just a simply twist down from the tower. Sorry that it wont' be open on our Monday visit, but better they take care of the problem now before it becomes a larger issue later.

- Todd

[PKIVortex]

That's true, and before it will cost the park more money. This is sad news for the ones who planned on riding it on opening day.

This goes to show though that anything can happen to delay an opening of a ride. I hope Firehawk won't have any delays but it if does it does.

[Vortex]

Well I am glad to see Cedar Point taking the time to fix the coaster before letting everyone ride it. I just hope the next big coaster at the Point is made of Wood. Mean Streak just hurts no matter where you sit anymore. Well if you do goto the Point take some pictures for us that are going to that other Ohio Cedar Fair park.

[Gordon Bombay]

I thought that turn looked like it would give you a good beating when I first seen it.

Yeah, it looked like an Arrow transition.

I'm guessing some execs rode it and had an unhappy phone call with Intamin over it.

There was another article that I read earlier that stated the trouble section was the heartline roll following the launch. Gotta admit, after riding Kingda Ka last year with those restraints, I instantly became concerned over Maverick's ride. Its an awesome layout, but Kingda Ka gave my neck a good whack and thats just a simply twist down from the tower. Sorry that it wont' be open on our Monday visit, but better they take care of the problem now before it becomes a larger issue later.

- Todd

How do those restraints (the ones on KA and Maverick) work out for larger guests? I'm a bigger guy and last summer I was able to ride FOF, TTD, MF, and Wicked Twister without any trouble or struggle but I've put on some weight this past offseason (not proud of that) and was wondering If I may have trouble on Maverick?

[Delirium_Guy]

I thought that turn looked like it would give you a good beating when I first seen it.

Yeah, it looked like an Arrow transition.

I'm guessing some execs rode it and had an unhappy phone call with Intamin over it.

There was another article that I read earlier that stated the trouble section was the heartline roll following the launch. Gotta admit, after riding Kingda Ka last year with those restraints, I instantly became concerned over Maverick's ride. Its an awesome layout, but Kingda Ka gave my neck a good whack and thats just a simply twist down from the tower. Sorry that it wont' be open on our Monday visit, but better they take care of the problem now before it becomes a larger issue later.

- Todd

How do those restraints (the ones on KA and Maverick) work out for larger guests? I'm a bigger guy and last summer I was able to ride FOF, TTD, MF, and Wicked Twister without any trouble or struggle but I've put on some weight this past offseason (not proud of that) and was wondering If I may have trouble on Maverick?

Well, to me anyway, they seem to be more accomodating. The shoulder part is surprisingly very THIN, but very stiff. The result for me was having that very hard strip bash into the side of my neck. It wasn't very enjoyable. I definitely wasn't as wedged in though like on MF, Dragster and the Superman coasters.

- Todd

[The Interpreter]

Many, many guests who do not fit on Top Thrill Dragster, Millennium Force or Pitt Fall at Kennywood find they fit easily on Kingda Ka. Now El Toro is a very different story....

[Guest faceoff]

I am wondering with the delay in maverick-how many people, who have hotel reservations at

Cedar Point or any off point hotel-will cancel the weekend and wait for maverick to open? While i

was looking forward to maverick,i would never cancel my weekend.

[PKIVortex]

I doubt anyone would cancel, but I could be wrong. They are still 16 other coasters.

[The Interpreter]

If their reservations are with Cedar Point Resorts, they will find the cancellation policies rather onerous. Unless, of course, in the interest of good PR, Cedar Fair chooses to be more lenient since the grand new attraction for 2007 is going to be somewhat delayed.

Then again, no one should ever make reservations SOLELY to ride a new ride. Things can and sometimes do go wrong, regardless of the best efforts of all concerned.

[DropZone99]

im not really upset about maverick being delayed, i dont think it looks really exciteing.

but im hyped on Firehawk.

which opens in 18 days!!!

[PKIVortex]

We shall say it's suspose to open in 18 days. Unless something happens it should open in 18 days. But anything can go wrong, that's why they test these things before opening them to the public. I'm just wondering if the opening of Firehawk, do you think the lines for other rides will be a lot shorter?

[Kennywooddude]

Don't see why people get bitter when a new ride isn't opening on opening day. Thats like the first rule...never plan to ride the new ride when it first opens because it's always plagued with problems. But yea, as you all mentioned before, kudos to CP for replacing it before it even opens to the public...god knows that we need another "Chiller" mishap.

[DropZone99]

I don't think Firehawk will open as planned, and if it does open on the 26th. it will probably have problems or something.

=[

[PKIVortex]

Well unless we hear anything less, it's still slated to open Memorial Day Weekend, now that could be any date that weekend, May 26th, 27th 28th or 29th. Yes it will probably have some down time, they will have to work out the kinks.

[BoddaH1994]

I'm actually pleasantly surprised with how well people are reacting to the Maverick situation. I'm sure CP would love to have it open this Saturday, but they also have to do what they've gotta do.

I think Firehawk will go well. Don't forget that it's a moved ride, so a lot of the previous kinks may have been worked out.

[PKIVortex]

Okay since it's a moved ride, is the computer system new? I know the wiring is. Thanks.

[Browntggrr]

I'm actually pleasantly surprised with how well people are reacting to the Maverick situation.

Yeah. Sure. Check out pointbuzz.

People there have made comments ranging from "CP is just doing this to take our money", to "CP lied to us".

It really is amazing how ignorant people can be when they let their emotions talk, as opposed to their head.

I can understand people's disappointment, but hey, it IS an Intamin coaster. Their track record is not the best. Why some would plan their one and only vacation to the park on opening weekend just to ride Maverick really does blow my mind away.

[jzarley]

I think Firehawk will go well. Don't forget that it's a moved ride, so a lot of the previous kinks may have been worked out.

Plus they have the "lessons learned" from relocating a very similar ride from PGA to Carowinds just a few years ago...

It's too bad that Maverick won't open with the park, but not terribly suprising. I guess that's another benefit of not planning a trip to CP until late August...if a new attraction isn't open by then, it's probably not going to

[Gordon Bombay]

Don't see why people get bitter when a new ride isn't opening on opening day. Thats like the first rule...never plan to ride the new ride when it first opens because it's always plagued with problems. But yea, as you all mentioned before, kudos to CP for replacing it before it even opens to the public...god knows that we need another "Chiller" mishap.

People have a right to be upset when a ride doesn't open on time, they are the paying customers and the ones who made the reservations and plans to make the trip up. Granted the rule always does apply: "buyer beware" and guests do need to take into consideration that the rides are machines and at times do break down, but Maverick has been heavily promoted and you can go to Cedar Point.com and find out all the info you want about the rides statistics and features, but untill yesterday, you could only find a small disclaimer saying the ride may not open. I have reservations to for Breakers Express on June 4th and 5th and if Maverick isn't open by then its not a big deal to me, I'm a fan of amusement parks and have worked around rides in the past, so operational delays dont really bother me cause I can see the parks point of view, but a guest doesnt think that way and there may be many paying customers who will be cross with Cedar Point.

[flightoffear1996]

Why would they do it to take peoples money? They have to replace track and that is all their is too it.

[Gordon Bombay]

Why would they do it to take peoples money?

What?

Read the whole topic, no one is saying they did this to just take peoples money or that they're dealying it on purpose, what people are saying is that they are discouraged they've spent the money to take a trip up to the park and now the new attraction wont be open.

[The Interpreter]

Why would they do it to take peoples money?

What?

Read the whole topic, no one is saying they did this to just take peoples money or that they're dealying it on purpose, what people are saying is that they are discouraged they've spent the money to take a trip up to the park and now the new attraction wont be open.

Actually, YOU might want to read the whole topic. To quote Bodda in part:

Yeah. Sure. Check out pointbuzz.

People there have made comments ranging from "CP is just doing this to take our money", to "CP lied to us".

So some people on pointbuzz ARE saying "CP is just doing this to take our money."

[RWildman424]

It says here that it is not the turn after the launch, which I thought it was, but the heartline roll which now that I think of it has puzzled me the entire time. There has to be some pretty intense vertical and lateral G's through that thing. You have a lot of speed, and its just like BAM!!! you're thrown towards the ground and pulled back up again.

Here's the web site:

http://www.pointpixels.com/

[corn4ahead]

This just sucks. I am going to CP June 7. I hope that is wat they mean by early June.

[PKIVortex]

Well people should be happy that they found the problem before it opened. They are doing this for the best interest of the park, the ride and the Guests.