A Spirited Valentine ...

[Nubs70]

Bit of an aside here, but I went to Cedar Point for the first time in over a decade yesterday, and I think that talking about themeing on the boards has made me a bit of a theme park snob lol The only part of the park that I really loved to spend time in was Frontiertown. It had the most attention to detail, and it made the other parts of the park feel a little off.

There are two Snoopy areas now, and only one feels themed. The other looks like a hodgepodge of kids rides collected from other parks (and I think that was actually the case).

One last note- I went on Snake River Falls for the first time, and expected a Splash Mountain like thrill level. While they both reach 40 mph, Snake River Falls is 30 feet higher than Splash... and a sharper descent angle (did some research and SRF is about the same as Jurassic Park). So, I think I should be ready to tackle JP this fall (despite my incredibly unattractive screaming and yelling yesterday )

Lastly, I really wish Disney would add a suspended coaster like Iron Dragon. It's a pretty fun ride, and it'd be something different to offer.

How were their fast pass lines compared to WDW?

 

[michmousefan]

How were their fast pass lines compared to WDW?

I'll jump in here as CP is my "home" park... CP and all the CF parks have their "fastpass" -- at CF it's called FastLane -- sold as a separate uncharge item. And it's an expensive one, too. At CP the top tier of Fast Lane Plus (which gets you on to four additional rides - the best coasters), can run you around $135/day on peak days. Perhaps even more; they really like to futz with the pricing. But, as such, the lines for FastLane are relatively short. On weekdays most every ride is a walk-on with it; on weekends, you can still wait 15-20 min for a headliner coaster. But... if I was only able to bring a family to CP on a hot, humid sunny saturday in July -- I'd still spring for the privilege. Otherwise the waits can be 9 -min to 2 hours+ for some of the rides.

 

[Princess Leia]

How were their fast pass lines compared to WDW?

Pretty short, from what I saw. My friends and I waited in line for Maverick- well, they rode it, I just kept them company in the line- for about an hour. The Fast Lane only seemed to have a 5 minute wait. Gemini also had a fast moving Fast Lane line. As the day went on, the regular lines got a lot longer. Mantis had a 2 hour wait, and Millenium Force (which I accidentally kept calling Millenium Falcon all day) looked like it had a similar wait time. At 6, Iron Dragon had a 60 minute wait (compared to 15 when we rode at noon).

We had perfect weather in NW Ohio yesterday, so the crowds were to be expected. Springing for the Fast Lane option would have been a no brainer for my group if we wanted to try to hit all the coasters (and not do the raft ride 3 times in a row).

Back to Iron Dragon- if Disney wants to make an indoor Indiana Jones coaster for Orlando, I would really love to see it be a suspended coaster.

 

[bclane]

Pretty short, from what I saw. My friends and I waited in line for Maverick- well, they rode it, I just kept them company in the line- for about an hour. The Fast Lane only seemed to have a 5 minute wait. Gemini also had a fast moving Fast Lane line. As the day went on, the regular lines got a lot longer. Mantis had a 2 hour wait, and Millenium Force (which I accidentally kept calling Millenium Falcon all day) looked like it had a similar wait time. At 6, Iron Dragon had a 60 minute wait (compared to 15 when we rode at noon).

We had perfect weather in NW Ohio yesterday, so the crowds were to be expected. Springing for the Fast Lane option would have been a no brainer for my group if we wanted to try to hit all the coasters (and not do the raft ride 3 times in a row).

Back to Iron Dragon- if Disney wants to make an indoor Indiana Jones coaster for Orlando, I would really love to see it be a suspended coaster.

Ah, I wish you would have ridden Maverick! So much fun!!!

 

[the.dreamfinder]

The Cedar Fair and Busch parks are nice clean and safe amusement parks. Six Flags, not so much. I think, if done right, a park at SeaWorld's plot could be a locals park that also gets some of the tourist dollars by offering a bit more thrill than the big boys. Particularly now that Universal is losing Dragon Challenge.

Augie Busch III is still alive! Much prefer a return to Busch family ownership for those parks.

 

[NearTheEars]

I want Cedar Fair to buy SeaWorld. SeaWorld is already half way to a Cedar Fair park. And that is one thing the Orlando market doesn't have. A "classic" '70s style iron park.

Cedar Fair doesn't do animals. When they bought my beloved Geagua Lake (well what was left of it after a failed Six Flags takeover) they sent all the marine animals in the former SeaWorld side of the park packing.

We have really enjoyed what SeaWorld has done with their Christmas offerings and this summer Electric Ocean. Really, really impressed. They seem to have some great folks working on that stuff. But maintenance is an issue in parks of the park, especially Wild Arctic.

Side note: why does Fun Spot claim to be a "theme park?"

Edit: I see you meant for CF to come in and do their own thing w/o animals.

 

[bclane]

Cedar Fair doesn't do animals. When they bought my beloved Geagua Lake (well what was left of it after a failed Six Flags takeover) they sent all the marine animals in the former SeaWorld side of the park packing.

We have really enjoyed what SeaWorld has done with their Christmas offerings and this summer Electric Ocean. Really, really impressed. They seem to have some great folks working on that stuff. But maintenance is an issue in parks of the park, especially Wild Arctic.

Side note: why does Fun Spot claim to be a "theme park?"

The theme is...fun???

 

[lazyboy97o]

Bit of an aside here, but I went to Cedar Point for the first time in over a decade yesterday, and I think that talking about themeing on the boards has made me a bit of a theme park snob lol The only part of the park that I really loved to spend time in was Frontiertown. It had the most attention to detail, and it made the other parts of the park feel a little off.

There are two Snoopy areas now, and only one feels themed. The other looks like a hodgepodge of kids rides collected from other parks (and I think that was actually the case).

One last note- I went on Snake River Falls for the first time, and expected a Splash Mountain like thrill level. While they both reach 40 mph, Snake River Falls is 30 feet higher than Splash... and a sharper descent angle (did some research and SRF is about the same as Jurassic Park). So, I think I should be ready to tackle JP this fall (despite my incredibly unattractive screaming and yelling yesterday )

Lastly, I really wish Disney would add a suspended coaster like Iron Dragon. It's a pretty fun ride, and it'd be something different to offer.

Cedar Point is not a theme park. It is an amusement park. Cedar Fair is not ashamed to operate amusement parks.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Cedar Point is not a theme park. It is an amusement park. Cedar Fair is not ashamed to operate amusement parks.

Cedar Point is not a theme park, but Knott's Berry Farms is. And the old Paramount parks are half and half.

And @the.dreamfinder I would love for the SeaWorld Ent. parks all be branded to Busch parks. But Busch is out of the business, and SeaWorld Ent. is flailing. That really only leaves Disney, Universal, Cedar Fair, Herschend, and God forbid, Six Flags.

 

[NearTheEars]

The theme is...fun???

Or AMERICA! I guess.

 

[The_Jobu]

What if the theme is... amusement????

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Cedar Point is not a theme park, but Knott's Berry Farms is. And the old Paramount parks are half and half.

And @the.dreamfinder I would love for the SeaWorld Ent. parks all be branded to Busch parks. But Busch is out of the business, and SeaWorld Ent. is flailing. That really only leaves Disney, Universal, Cedar Fair, Herschend, and God forbid, Six Flags.

SW's CEO did come over from Herschend.

Any new scuttlebutt on the Artegon?

 

[comics101]

I am not. ... Well, I am excited in what is going on behind the scenes and what is driving some of this, sure. But the actual moves? No. ... I'll take Roger Rabbit's Hollywood and the real wooden coaster at Disney's upcoming BW resort and that Swiss pavilion for EPCOT with Matterhorn looks amazing too!

As to fighting battles, I am done. Too old for that. Not interested.

If I want a quality Disney Parks experience in every way, then I'll save my nickels and dimes (down in Mom's basement I have a huge pickle jar full of change!) and go back to Tokyo because I know exactly what I am going to get: namely the best theme park product in the world.

But, hey, Disney is still charging what? ... $120 on average for a one-day ticket to its two near defunct swamp parks? Just bless their cold, cold, cold hearts!

If what is going on behind the scenes is resulting in projects like Disneyland's Mission: Breakout, unfortunately the behind-the-scenes drama isn't resulting in change that's drastic enough.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

SW's CEO did come over from Herschend.

Any new scuttlebutt on the Artegon?

They are in talks. With whom, I have no idea.

 

[UpAllNight]

Seaworld still attracts 4million visitors a year for perspective. It was packed on both occasions we visited this year, so there's a lot of hyperboyle about the place.

 

[ford91exploder]

Pretty short, from what I saw. My friends and I waited in line for Maverick- well, they rode it, I just kept them company in the line- for about an hour. The Fast Lane only seemed to have a 5 minute wait. Gemini also had a fast moving Fast Lane line. As the day went on, the regular lines got a lot longer. Mantis had a 2 hour wait, and Millenium Force (which I accidentally kept calling Millenium Falcon all day) looked like it had a similar wait time. At 6, Iron Dragon had a 60 minute wait (compared to 15 when we rode at noon).

We had perfect weather in NW Ohio yesterday, so the crowds were to be expected. Springing for the Fast Lane option would have been a no brainer for my group if we wanted to try to hit all the coasters (and not do the raft ride 3 times in a row).

Back to Iron Dragon- if Disney wants to make an indoor Indiana Jones coaster for Orlando, I would really love to see it be a suspended coaster.

Remember the Monsters Inc door coaster idea, If any movie IP was made for a ride that would be it. For crying out loud it was a freaking no brainer and could have been done easily with any of the off the shelf suspended coasters.

 

[Nubs70]

I'll jump in here as CP is my "home" park... CP and all the CF parks have their "fastpass" -- at CF it's called FastLane -- sold as a separate uncharge item. And it's an expensive one, too. At CP the top tier of Fast Lane Plus (which gets you on to four additional rides - the best coasters), can run you around $135/day on peak days. Perhaps even more; they really like to futz with the pricing. But, as such, the lines for FastLane are relatively short. On weekdays most every ride is a walk-on with it; on weekends, you can still wait 15-20 min for a headliner coaster. But... if I was only able to bring a family to CP on a hot, humid sunny saturday in July -- I'd still spring for the privilege. Otherwise the waits can be 9 -min to 2 hours+ for some of the rides.

It's been a few years but back then it was an $85 upcharge.

 

[nor'easter]

Man, considering dance parties are a trashy annoying waste of time these SeaWorld parkgoers are certainly enjoying themselves...

View attachment 219315

Yeah, and you could say the same thing about extreme fighting matches.

 

[jakeman]

What if the theme is... amusement????

 

[Mike S]

Seaworld still attracts 4million visitors a year for perspective. It was packed on both occasions we visited this year, so there's a lot of hyperboyle about the place.

4 million? LOL!!!!!!!