Thoughts and observations

I guess I thought the height was going to be much greater. Growing up with Cedar Point, everything has always been bigger and badder than the sister parks. Where I live, there is some serious overlap though. Kings Island is 4 hours away, Cedar Point is 2 and Canada's wonderland is about 3 give or take a few minutes. So I have no real reason to visit at least one of those. Of course I have to have my rides on the Beast, so sadly, Canada's Wonderland will probably be left out next year.

I have to say this ride scares the crap out of me. I'm going to ride it, but I'm afraid my heart won't take too many rides on it. I thought I was going to die on Skyscraper.

chris325 said:

Fortunately, CP's never seemed to have an issue with opening flat rides on schedule, so hopefully this will be operational on opening day.

Now keeping them running with all of the lights working is another story! ;)

Sorry, couldnt resist. It was way too easy. :)

My 2 cents:

- I am VERY curious and excited to see the lighting package they are talking about at night. I agree with others that this is a gorgeous addition to the park. I think it's quite a sight just to watch in action.

- I don't get the disappointment about the height. The wave swinger still gives me some trepidation, and this is the wave swinger on steroids. Swinging freely (take a look at how free you are in those seats!) at 300 feet? Really? Next time you are on Millenium Force imagine stopping at the top of the lift hill and going for a little swing. No wonder a diaper was one of the clues.

- The addition of the same ride at all the parks is not surprising at all. In fact, if I were the other parks, I would be proud that we got the same deal as CP for once. Now everyone can enjoy this thrill (which was pretty cheap, all things considered).

- I really think this is just the beginning of the beach area being revived. No, I am not suggesting the "Cyclone" is returning, but much like the past 6 years spent rebuilding Frontier Town, I would bet that this is just the beginning.

:)

Cannot wait to ride!

^I have to go along with Kevin on this one. Looks pretty impressive, just hoping down the road they spend the money to keep lighting functioning. Look around at most of the rides around the park, and you will see a large number of non-functioning lights. Reminds me more of a travelling weekend carnival than a major amusement park when I see how many lights don't work.

I would love to see some big revitalization in that area. It's been a dead spot for so long, maybe it's finally getting it's turn in the whole scheme of things.

Looking forward to getting a ride on this next year, and I'm a coaster junkie who doesn't normally go for spinny rides.

As for the discussion on when this will open, I don't see construction taking an incredibly long time. It's not Maverick or STR. The base and main tower will be the longest part, which should leave plenty of time to get the swing assembly on and get testing done before the park opens.

crazy horse said:Do you have substantial proof that most people don't want a coaster? If not, don't knock people who may think otherwise weather they are right or wrong.

Did I at any point say I did? I was suggesting that unless you have proof then don't bother suggesting everyone wants a coaster when you don't know whether or not the general consensus is "YES I want a new coaster NOW!" I don't do the surveys or ask the questions so I wouldn't know myself. The same goes for all of us though. We can only guess as to what they could use. The only thing that sets us apart from the general public is that we know first hand what other parks add and how well they do for them. Then we go and suggest that they get it because it worked for the other park. What's missing is that we're not the general public. We may be part of the gp but we as enthusiasts dont make up the main financial draw of the park like the gp does. If they added just what we wanted, then it'd be a park solely catering to us. Not saying a park like that is bad, but I think it's a bad move financially.

Just about everyone I know is always asking me what the next coaster is going to be at cedarpoint. I think you underestimate what people want. Cedarpoint backed themselfs into the corner by adding new coasters and not much else for the last 15 years.

I agree that they're known world wide for their coasters and I'm sure everyone is curious as to whats next. But it boils down to lack of patience and understanding from our side. It's the crying and moping about them NOT adding a coaster just because they're "due" for one. And just so I'm clear, I am and have always been talking about the person who has a "BWAHHHH It's not a coaster!!!" attitude.

With that said, I think this new ride is a great addition. But I do think it's time to start looking for a new coaster as well.

For the record, no one said that the new coaster isn't or hasn't already been in the works for some time (since there technically isn't anyone who WOULD tell us anyway). I think it is and it'll start to rear its ugly head sometime next year. Don't forget that they usually have a 4+ year plan for coasters so it's just something to keep in mind.

Kevinj said:
- I really think this is just the beginning of the beach area being revived. No, I am not suggesting the "Cyclone" is returning, but much like the past 6 years spent rebuilding Frontier Town, I would bet that this is just the beginning.

God lets hope! And make it nostalgic!

Ooo, it's wave swinger's and space spiral's child!! OK, with steel arms, though.

I think this will be cool to ride at night. I wonder of they shut it down during fireworks displays!! Hope not. I mean, they keep twister opened launching.

This ride is also a great family ride. You wont see any kids running up to it and becoming intimidated by it, here, they will want to ride it and have something to look foreward to......:)

-I think plain lazer green lights would look sweet all the way up the tower. Then, on the arms, have lazer red lights. It would be pretty sweet.

-I will probably ride this once on opening day. After that I'll probably be done with it. Too much spinning. Just a one trick pony.

-I wish this thing had a better top. The UFO looks kinda out of place. I still liked my Lighthouse idea.

-Can't wait for a webcam and following construction. :)

jkbarnes128 said:
Here's a novel idea - why doesn't CP ask its customers what they want?

Do you honestly believe they don't do extensive research before building something like this? Dick Kinzel doesn't take a dump without measuring the ROI before flushing.

crazy horse said:
Do you have substantial proof that most people don't want a coaster? If not, don't knock people who may think otherwise weather they are right or wrong.

You don't need proof, it's common sense that they're doing research. And what does weather have to do with it?

Do you honestly believe they don't do extensive research before building something like this? Dick Kinzel doesn't take a dump without measuring the ROI before flushing.

Solid nomination for Post of the Year!

I really like the addition of Wind Seeker. And I mentioned this on the other topic that I am glad they are putting this in a spot where it's been dead for years with Ocean Motion being there. I'm not saying Ocean Motion is a bad ride, but it would do better at a park such as Michigan's Adventure. I think it's Awesome too that they're building Wind Seeker at Kings Island too. I was hoping they were announcing they were doing something with SOB. There is still time for that though. :)

I'm looking forward to this one. Looks like a great addition to all the parks it's going into.

I've never understood why it's bad to have a good ride in more than one park.

And since when is a 300' not impressive?

Good job, Cedar Fair. Looks like a winner to me!

They are doing something with that SOB. They are making it into a haunt.

^ Well I mean besides that. What is SOB future beside the Haunt? Will it be operational again? Are they going to try and fix it or just let it sit?

I have to agree that the height is a little disappointing. Not that 301' is anything to sneeze at, but I thought, with 4 parks getting a similar ride, CF would do something to differentiate each. Since CP was last to announce ( I think), I was expecting more of a bang. Kind of anti-climactic after the other announcements. Wonder why they didn't do, say, 301' for the other parks and 350' or even 400' for the flagship park!? And "Stratosoar" must have fallen victim to the Funtime debacle. Perfect name for this ride, and with 4 parks getting the same, SOMEONE should have used it.

I'm pretty sure the safe bet is that it wont run again. Its being worked into a haunt. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't do all the construction they have done to just take it all down and get it up and working again. How long it will stand is the real question.

Did anyone see a height requirement for the ride? For some reason I'm thinking it would be 52in. or 54in. My 7 year old son wants to ride it and he's only 48 1/2 in. now...doubt he'll be even 52 in. next summer.

I will definately ride it. I love the smaller version of it. I'm a bit dissapointed that it is not a coaster, but we all had a good hunch that it was going to be this for a while.

Scratch what I said. The details page says 48".

I think the "Stratosoar" name change can be explained. Here is the timeline:

• Early 2010: CF Execs go to Florida to check out a Starflyer. They plan to build a 400 foot Starflyer at CP, breaking the current world record. (source: Register article)
• July 16 2010: CF applies for the name "Stratosoar" as a trademark.
• August 18 2010: Register posts article stating that Funtime plans to sue CP for buying a "copied" ride from Mondial.

So, it would seem that talks failed with Funtime in late July, early August. We can guess that it might have been related to wind, as that was mentioned in the Register article. CP wanted to ensure less downtime due to wind, Funtime couldn't make any guarantees, and CP went with Mondial instead.

For whatever reason, Mondial didn't want to do 400 feet. So the Stratosoar name got tossed out in favor of WindSeeker. Funtime was, as they put it, "very, very angry" about being jilted at the last hour, so they went public with their story. It would not shock me if they contacted the Register first.

I still don't understand the Ocean Motion removal. It was first found online on July 21, so it does not appear to be related UNLESS the fallout with Funtime happened between July 16 and 21 and there is some major difference between the ride footprints for Starflyers and WindSeekers. It doesn't seem like there would be, so OM appears to have been on the chopping block all along. 180K doesn't seem like enough of a benefit to fix up a ride that 'might' sell, especially for a company spending $80M in CapEx every year.

All of these are, of course, my own personal theories.