Wednesday, June 30, 2004
New Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 Video
You can find it at the RCT Website (it is video #2) or directly at this link.
It looks just amazing. I won't spoil it but there are some really cool new rides and scenery.
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
A few more things from Cedar Point
On Tuesday ACE designated the Magnum a Landmark Coaster for being the first steel ride to mimic a wooden out-and-back ride and the first full circuit coaster over 200 feet tall.
National Geographic was also there on Tuesday filming on Dragster (which was running for them). They picked a few ACE members as extras for their shoot as well.
On Wednesday night ACE had its annual banquet. It was slow to get started and slow overall, but I doubt you are really interested in how long it took us to get our food (a while). So here is a quick rundown of other things at the dinner:
ACE awarded Cedar Point with an Honorary Membership because they were the first corporate member AND they hosted this year's CoasterCon.
They also had an auction at the very end of the night. Some of the silent auction items (like t-shirts and books) went for very low prices. Then there was the oral auction with prices that started out high and went even higher.
A Gemini 25th Anniversary sign went for $150
A Raptor wait time sign when for $250.
Two Dragster banners went for about $200 and $300.
A Millennium Force banner went for about $300.
The Blue Streak's old brake handle went for $250 and was donated by the buyer to the Rollercoaster Museum.
Some CoasterCon signs Cedar Point made for the park went for $300-$400.
Finally, a Magnum wait time sign went for $500!
I almost bid on the Raptor sign, but $250 was way too much. Although it was a steal compared to what the other items went for.
Tune in tomorrow for Geauga Lake (including what will be coming their next year) and Memphis Kiddy Park.
Sunday, June 27, 2004
Part One: Cedar Point
This was my first multi-day trip to Cedar Point and on top of the 12 hours of normal operations, there was an additional 3-4 hours a day of ERT (exclusive ride time). On Sunday the crowds were average size (about 1 hour wait for Millennium Force), on Monday they were less (30-45 minute wait), and on Tuesday and Wednesday there were a lot more people (1-1/2 hour wait). It was really nice though because we didn't have to rush to see everything in a day. We could just walk around and enjoy the park.
The event mostly went as scheduled. Iron Dragon broke down just before its ERT (I even saw them welding the track) so they opened up Power Tower for us and moved Iron Dragon back a day. Top Thrill Dragster was the real problem though. For every ERT it was broken down. The park was nice about it though and they gave us two Freeway passes (like Disney's Fastpass: a system to avoid waiting in line, basically front of the line passes) good any day this season. We were also able to get a few more off people who never used theirs and lived far away. Using the passes I was able to get two rides on Dragster in this trip. A bit disappointing, but better than nothing.
As you know... I have been talking about the Millennium Force seatbelt thing and what might happen at this event. Here is the news about it from CoasterCon: Nothing happened. People mostly tried out the test seat and if they didn't fit they didn't ride. A lot was said to the management about the issue, but nothing nasty.
A fun part of these events for me is the question and answer session with the park management. Cedar Point had the different heads of all the departments (Operations, Foods, Entertainment, Etc.) there to talk with us. As I said, a few people commented on the seatbelt thing here. Most of the questions about the future plans for the park were not directly answered, it was to be expected though. One man asked if the park could get a pop that was both diet and caffeine free (like Diet Serria Mist) and they responded with a YES. They also seemed open to the idea of making the park smoke-free except in special locations.
One man brought up an issue that was blown off by the management and which I think they should have listened to. He talked about how hard it was to move his wife around the park in a wheelchair. Not problems like steps or walls but from simple procedure. His example was thus: Powered wheelchairs are allowed to go up the exit of Millennium Force. However, push chairs must enter the freeway line and join the regular mass of people at the ramp to the station. This means a constant start stop pace for the pusher in which they must stop the chair and set the break (and then take the break off) over and over again. The park management responded that they like to keep disabled people in the "mainstream" as much as possible, but I think they should really look at this again.
That is it for now. A little more about Cedar Point, a lot about the ACE dinner and Geauga Lake later.
Cedar Point trip for grieving children ends in tragic crash
A sad accident took place while I was at the park:
Sunday's trip to Cedar Point Amusement Park was one of several excursions planned for the coming months.
All of those plans were destroyed Monday night in a multivehicle accident that left six dead. Those killed in the accident were Scott, 44, of Detroit; two of his daughters, Alexis Howard, 9, and Alecia Howard, 7, both of Eastpointe; his niece Ariel Scott, 12, of Detroit; his girlfriend, Shannon Scott, 24, of Romulus; and a sixth passenger, Amber Channey, 6, of Ypsilanti.
...
The crash happened on the sometimes maligned Ohio Route 2, one of two primary routes for Michigan visitors to Cedar Point, the popular Sandusky amusement park on Lake Erie.
The accident bears eerie similarities to one that took place on the same road in August 1997. That crash claimed six lives, including five Detroit teenagers headed to Cedar Point, and happened roughly eight miles from Monday's crash.
Darryl Scott's Cadillac Escalade Monday night was third in a line of cars headed west on a two-lane section of Route 2, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
A Chevy Blazer was at the head of the group, followed by a Toyota and then the Escalade. As the three vehicles passed the Route 19 intersection at 11:46 p.m., an eastbound tractor-trailer approached the group.
“It appears as though the Blazer crossed over the center line and struck the truck,” said Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Rick Zwayer. “The truck continued eastward to hit the Toyota and then struck the Escalade head-on.”
The Escalade broke through a guardrail and came to a stop on its roof in a nearby marshy area of Turtle Creek. Brandi Scott was thrown from the vehicle and pinned underneath it, according to Rita McClendon-Scott, Darryl Scott' sister. McClendon-Scott said the 13-year-old called family members from her hospital room.
I'm back
Yes, I am back from CoasterCon. There is lots of news to go over, so expect a lot of updates in the next few days.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
CoasterCon
It is about to begin. Sunday afternoon I will be heading to Cedar Point to begin the week of the coasters. Sunday through Wednesday is at Cedar Point and Thursday through Saturday is at Geauga Lake. If you are interested, a flyer with all the events is available.
From what I have been told there will be about 800-900 ACE members in attendance. That is a lot less then the 2000 some who come to CoasterMania (Cedar Point's annual event). It remains to be seen if there will be trouble because of the new restrictions on some of their major rides.
Speaking of those restrictions... I got an e-mail from Carole Sanderson (President of ACE) about a newspaper article where she was quoted as being for the restrictions and that "There's a billion other things to do in that park. A billion":
Thanks for writing to me about the recent article that appeared in the Plain
Dealer. As it often happens (and I'm learning), what was quoted in the
article was not what I said to the reporter. She caught me on my cell phone
while I was on a busy convention floor!
Her one question to me was did I think that the restraint change on Top
Thrill (which I found out later was really millennium Force) would stop
"people" (not coaster enthusiasts) from attending Cedar Point. My response
was that there WERE a billion other things to do, and there shouldn't be a
significant drop in attendance.
As I'm not an engineer and don't work for the ride manufacturer, I do not
know how they figure their calculations for who can ride and who can't. I
do know (after checking with the Amusement Industry Manufacturers Safety
Council - AIMS) that the manufacturer of millennium Force has had five
similar accidents worldwide of people being "popped" out of the seat while
riding. Four of the people were large. Cedar Point and all parks, I
believe, don't have a choice when the manufacturer mandates restraints or a
change in restraints. I'm sure they're not happy that many of their guests
can't ride. I can assure you that no park wants an accident or death of a
guest.
We don't want accidents. That's true. Some large people have had problems. That is true. But once again, having an inch or so of slack on the safety belt (a SECONDARY SAFETY DEVICE) will not make anyone safer. If anything, the slack allows the belt to become more loose during the ride and allow someone to slip out. A belt with no slack would not loosen and would keep the rider secure.
We will see what happens.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Disneyland To Get New Monorails?
Over at Mice Age, Al Lutz got some interesting e-mails from readers. Apparently, Disneyland's Orange monorail has been taken from Disneyland to the Imagineers. They are going to tear it apart and document every piece to create blueprints for a new monorail version.
Over the past year or so the monorail's decline has been documented by many websites. Disneyland was even forced to run one train on alternating days because of the wear and tear on the parts. Disney headquarters wouldn't give money to build new trains and Bombardier wouldn't build them new trains because they wouldn't be profitable.
So it seems now that the Imagineers have gotten their money and are planning on building their own fleet. It looks like it may be a direct copy of the monorails used at Disneyland and without improvements from the larger version from Disney World.
It will be interesting to see how this works out.
Monday, June 14, 2004
Disney World Train Station Rehab
The Toontown Fair railroad station at the Magic Kingdom is being torn down and rebuilt. This isn't just a normal rehab with new paint and some patches. It is a full construction job. You can find pictures at WDW Magic.
The reason for the complete rehab is that the station was built as a temporary structure (along with the rest of Toontown) and they never planned it to last that long. Now that they are sure the land will always be there they have to build a better station (the current one was falling apart). The interesting part is the station's design will remain the same. There will be no changes at all.
Maybe they figure the current design is perfect. Maybe they don't want to bother designing something new (but if they had to fix the design to be permanent it seems they might as well have bettered the layout). I think in the 15+ years since it was built they could have come up with some improvements that would have been useful.
Anyway... while the station is closed the train will still be running. They are only doing the work on one side of the tracks and the train will just go by the construction. That leaves only the Main Street and Frontierland stations open, which brings me to something I have always wondered.
Why does Walt Disney World only have three trains stations? Walt Disney always wanted the Florida Project's theme park to be bigger than Disneyland and he always loved trains. So why does his bigger park have one less station then Disneyland? Not only that, but the Magic Kingdom opened with only two stations because Toontown/Birthdayland opened later. Why would Walt Disney (who...again...LOVED TRAINS) design his huge park with only two train stations? He didn't die that early into the project.
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Sci-Fi "C"-Movie To Be Shot At Cedar Point
"Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: Infestation from Mars" will be shot in Eire County, Ohio and mostly in the city of Sandusky. It is a low budget movie that will end with a showdown inside Cedar Point.
Cedar Point has usally kept movie crews out of the park, but there was a big reason to allow this small time movie: The CEO's daughter is in it. Dick Kinzel's daughter got a small part and convinced her father to allow them to shoot the movie at Cedar Point.
It is interesting to note that Dick Kinzel is the only name in this movie I have heard before.
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Geauga Lake Doesn't Like Taxes
Read this article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer. About how Geauga Lake and the city of Aurora are still in talks about an admissions tax. It is interesting to note that the park IS in two different cities. Aurora has most of Sea World, so now there is nothing in their city really operating which will make this issue interesting.
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Tower of Terror
An interesting photo essay is now online at SaveDisney.com, Roy Disney's website dedicated to getting rid of Michael Eisner. Looks like ideas of five hour waits were nothing but dreams.
Michael Eisner predicted during an investor's conference call last month that the ride would transform DCA. Let's see...
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
CoasterCon
This is usually the week where Cedar Point holds its annual coaster enthusiast event. It is open to members of many different coaster clubs around the world, from ACE to clubs that are just part of a website. CoasterMania features exclusive ride time on their biggest coaster plus a question and answer session with park management plus FREE LUNCH! I have gone the past two years and I must say it was fun. Wake up at 6:00am to be at the opening at 6:30 to be the first on the rides. And then the fun doesn't stop until 1:00am the next day.
This year however, there is another beast. The American Coaster Enthusiasts (of which I am a member) are holding their annual convention-CoasterCon-at Cedar Point and Geauga Lake. A full week of days like I just described above... plus a lot more "non riding" events. Except this time it is only open to ACE members, not any other clubs. And so naturally, many people are not happy.
How dare Cedar Point host ACE's event?! How dare they! For the first time ever! In ACE's twenty six years it hasn't been at Cedar Point before! How dare they do this for one single year?! They should be catering to us, not them!
And it is not like these people are not getting their CoasterMania. It is just that instead of this week the event will not be held until early September. HOW DARE THEY?
The rage has died down since the first announcement that CoasterMania wouldn't be held at its normal time. But every so often you see a person on some message board who is insulted that Cedar Point would give better treatment to ACE for this one year.
So my message to them: Get over it. Next year will be back to normal.
