If you live in the Midwest, I really hope you are enjoying a wonderful start to April! We all know today is April Fools day, but I have bigger things on my mind, and maybe you do to. In just a few more weeks Kings Island opens, as well as many other parks around the country, if they haven’t opened already. I am just as excited as the rest of you to check out any of the new attractions at parks this year, but I am also a little puzzled and interested by the lack of something noteworthy at Cedar Point. Just in case you haven’t noticed, there has been no announcement of any kind from Sandusky, but there have been rumors, and more recently, pictures from a fly-over of the park. So hop in, strap in, and hold on for another edition of RCPro: Blogged!
Like I just mentioned, there has been nothing out of Sandusky regarding anything new for the 2009 season, although there were plenty of rumors going around at this time last year and continuing throughout the summer. The rumors were mostly about the demise of Snake River Falls and the possibility of a new water ride taking its place. Some people also allegedly spotted markers on Millennium Island, further adding to the fires. A friend of mine recently flew over the park to take some pictures, and what they revealed was surprising and reignited the rumors at an even greater level than before. If you haven’t seen them yet, then simply follow this
link to have a look. You will notice that most of the other half of the island has been pretty much clear cut, which coincides with the reports of various markers being spotted on the island last summer. This by itself is pretty interesting, but what really jumped out to a lot of people is the vacant strip of land along the lagoon directly behind Snake River Falls. That strip of land was the previously cluttered junkyard for the park, aptly named the “boneyard.” To my knowledge, the boneyard has never been cleared out before, and was the dumping ground for old ride vehicles, some spare parts, and rarely used vehicles. The fact that this has been cleared out at the same time as clearing the island certainly seems to be more than a coincidence, which leads me to the new information that I am excited to share with you.
Over the past few years I have been lucky to meet and befriend a lot of people in the amusement industry, and as such, have made a lot of connections. The image that I have included below is a piece of early concept work on the logo for the new ride that will be coming to Cedar Point in 2010.
As you can probably guess from this early bit of artwork, it will in fact be a water ride. I have been told that the removal of Snake River Falls will more than likely happen once the park closes during the week while preparation for Halloweekends takes place, though it may remain standing until closer to the end of October. The new ride that will be taking the place of Snake River Falls is supposed to be an Intamin Aquatrax, though I have also heard that there were talks with Mack about their water coaster, although the Mack is evidently much more expensive compared to the Aquatrax. The current splash down area for Snake River will also be the main splash down for the new Aquatrax, with most of the coaster portion of the ride out on Millennium Island, and the flume portion over the old boneyard and Snake River Falls section. Paddlewheel Excursions has also been a topic of the rumors involving a new ride, and the information I have been given indicates that the new ride will provide enough vertical clearance for the Paddlewheel boats.
That is all the information that I have to provide on the new ride that will be coming to Cedar Point in 2010, and I am certainly excited to follow its construction over the summer! Of course, this is April Fools day, and what would it be without a good laugh? I believe we are all aware that Magnum is sinking, but I am saddened to say that the ride has now sunk an additional ¼” into the sand over the past year, bringing it dangerously close to some clearance issues. The park hopes to be able to keep the ride open throughout the season for its 20th anniversary, but should it sink any further, it will have to be shut down while they work on raising the support structure and adding onto it.
That about does it for this edition of RCPro: Blogged. As always, thanks for reading, and have a great day! If you want to discuss this post, click on the button below to go straight to the forum thread.
