If You Read a Positive Comment About Today's Announcment...Post It Here

I guess I have come up with a positive: Why pay $5 for Dinosaurs Alive when you can ride Millennium Force and see it for free? In a nano-second of the time it would take on foot, at that! :)

I see a major positive as Cedar Fair stockholder. The amount of debt has been cut over the last 5 years. The total investment this year in CP somewhere between 2-4 Million on new attractions. This will enable them to ride out the double dip recession and focus on other parks to make improvements.

I met with a high operations official at CP a few weeks ago and can tell you that the company outlook is positive and this is the start of a new direction for CF. Let's face it, the economy has not been this bad since the 70's. While I absolutely HATE the 2012 addition at CP and probably won't visit either attraction, nobody can estimate what pieces are already in motion for 2013.

Plus everyone that is saying they hate it now, might actually like it once they come to Cedar Point in 2012. It bugs me too that some people on here think that Shoot the Rapids is lame. I absolutely loved that when it first came out! I still love it even though there isn't much praise in it like there was last year. Yes myself I was hoping for a quiet announcement of a small family roller coaster. Does that mean I'm going to quit going to Cedar Point? Heck no! I still enjoy Cedar Point even though all we are getting for 2012 is Dinosaurs Alive.

Who knows, maybe Paddle Wheel Excursions will return in a year. Maybe Cedar Point is taking this time to consider how they can upgrade Paddle Wheel Excursions to make it better! Personally I would have loved the idea of Paddle Wheel Excursions open so that way guests could see a big huge Dinosaur while on the boat. If people decide they still love Paddle Wheel Excursions going into next year, maybe Cedar Point will change their mind in the future.

coolkid says:

I agree with the fact that Cedar Fair has lost some touch with their customers. It just seems like Cedar Fair sometimes just randomly draws a type of attraction out of a bag (like the design for Shoot the Rapids) and then goes with it like it was the best decision they ever made.

Actually, I think Shoot-the-Rapids is a very nice ride and design. Fits perfectly in the area and is a good ride. I enjoy it as I do Windseeker.

Where I agree with you is that it seems like the DA attraction is less about what the guests want and more about how can we take some more money from the guests. I'm hoping that Mr. Ouimet is very serious about listening to what customers want and delivering. Although, I just feel that way about DA, other decisions like Shoot-the-Rapids ARE what customers wanted. People complained about the loss of WWL, so they put in a modern flume.

With all the complaints about DA from both enthusiasts and the average person on Facebook, it looks like that wasn't the best move but we shall see. They probably will make the million dollars back the first year at least, but it is certainly not an attraction I would have picked if I was involved in the park planning process.

I personally like Shoot the Rapids, but when I am on that ride, there are always a few guests who say something like "I didn't know I was going to get this wet" or "this ride was super boring". If the ride traveled a path like a log flume (Le Shoot @ Busch Gardens or The Wild Thornberry's at Kings Island) It would probably appeal to many more guests. Even if the biggest drop were 50ft, families love the sudden little dips that log flumes have.

Your mom is to fat to ride TTD. said:
No one will be there to see the lack of upkeep, because by year two I doubt anybody will pay five bucks to see it anyways. People are barely paying to see it in its first year at KI.

Not true. It has been very successful at Kings Island this year. They have even mentioned it during the conference calls for the unit holders.

I been though the one at Kings Island. I think that it's cool. Some of the kids, and even the older kids think they are cool or real.

I personally wish Cedar Point would just talk openly about some longer-term plans they have.

Now, if you are debuting some epic ride, OK, keep it a little secret...but why does the public have to be kept 1000% in the dark every year?

I think they are more interested in keeping information from their competitors than they are their guests.

I was so ticked off about the announcement...but eventually I calmed myself and realized that they have no excuse NOT to add something spectacular for 2013, haha.

At least Dinosaurs Alive is in a spot that had no potential to be something else (coaster/flat ride), right?

DA has the potential to increase the number of two or more day visits to Cedar Point and the mat racers will give them one more thing to do at Soak City. I still think that it is sad that the paddlewheel boats are being taken out. Maybe it wasn't the most popular attraction at CP, but it was a true family attraction. Cedar Point needs more rides that the family can share together, not less.

What I would hate to see is for the park to look at the lagoons that PWE traveled as an inconvenience to developing the island. CP has a great history and those lagoons are a part of it. Embrace them, as has been done for over a century, and make them something the family can enjoy. Do that and you have my support and respect.

I am really going to miss Paddlewheel. It was always a nice ride to get away from the rest of the park and just relax. So obviously, I was not happy to hear the announcement for Dinosaurs Alive. But then again, I was not happy about the announcements for Shoot the Rapids or Windseeker, but I ended up loving them. Both of these new rides brought a new atmosphere to different areas of the park that I just love, even though I haven't been on str at all this year, and windseeker only once. I am not expecting this to be true for DA, as it is on the island, but who knows. I am feeling confident about a new coaster for 2013 though.

I went to Kings Island this weekend to do three things...1. See DA 2. ride Dimondback 3. ride Surf Dog. From what I saw everyone was enjoying DA when I was there about 30 or more walking through. If they get that same response at CP it will be a huge financial success. People will pay the money, theres no question about it and if it puts CP in a better position to do something big next year...even better. I am excited to go through CPs version of DA and will do so at least once next season so I guess CP can already say they only spent $999,995 on this.

Is the other $5 for the upkeep during the operating season?

Rapids 77-78 said:
CP has a great history and those lagoons are a part of it. Embrace them, as has been done for over a century, and make them something the family can enjoy.

What would be nice is if they put some paddel boats in the lagoons for 2012. They used to have something like that back in the days before Western Cruise and I think it would be a great way for guests to enjoy the lagoons.

The dinosaur attraction would be nice, if it didn't cost money.
As for PWE, I'll miss it, but it was pretty obvious that it needed some major renovations. I'm sure gonna miss those corny jokes!