Tag Archives: Ride Construction

News and Updates, Soak City, Water Slides

Cool off with Dragster H20

April 29, 2012 Andrew Leave a comment

Cedar Point Press Release

Brace yourself for a high-speed race that ends with a splash.

Soak City’s newest slide, Dragster H2O, is a six-lane mat racer that sends riders through enclosed fiberglass tubes in a tight spiral that serpentine alongside each other, transitioning into a side-by-side racing configuration. Located in Soak City East, next to the first drop of Magnum XL200, it replaces two speed slides.

Friends compete for bragging rights, so there’s bound to be some close calls and boastful debates. Cedar Point fans chose the name, inspired by the park’s tallest, fastest coaster.

“The sensation of plunging headfirst and racing against friends down a six-lane slide is a new twist for splashing wet summer fun at Soak City,” said Rob Decker, Corporate Vice President of planning and design.

Dragster H20 has more capacity than any other slide in Soak City and can accommodate guests who are 42 inches tall, opening it up to more riders than most larger slides, said Jim Wolshuck, Cedar Point’s manager of waterparks.

“Cedar Point is an awfully large place, and it’s difficult to see it all in one day,” Wolshuck said. “Cooling off in the afternoon after walking around the hot midway is a great way to break up your day.”

Dragster H20 will be ready when Soak City opens for the season on May 26.

Features:

Guests grab a specially-designed foam racing mat and climb the slide tower
Six guests line up at the top of the slide tube to race one another
The race begins by sliding down the tube when the signal light turns green
Enclosed flume sections at the top help build up speed and add to the racing thrill when the guest pops out into the open flume drop section
The winner of the race crosses a finish line and all six lanes splash into long flume sections that slow racers to a stop
The mat racer style ride has strong visual and spectator appeal will keep guests coming back, again and again

Facts & Figures

Height: 45 feet tall slide; 60 feet including tower
Lane length: 350 feet
Lane Width: 2 feet
Capacity Per Hour: 150 riders per lane
Speed: Starts slow at 10 mph, then accelerates to nearly 30 mph.
Hydro power: Uses a high-quality filtration system that delivers 400 gallons per minute to each slide.
Manufacturer: Whitewater West Industries Ltd., the world’s largest provider of water park attractions.. Whitewater has supplied several other attractions for Cedar Point, including the Zoom Flume and Splash Zone attractions. The fiberglass is made using a special manufacturing process that results in a smooth surface on both sides of the slide.
Height requirement: Must be 42 inches to ride.

Cedar Point opens for the summer on Saturday, May 12 and will be open daily through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 3, 2012 and Friday through Sunday through Oct. 28. Soak City opens May 26. For more details and additional information about Cedar Point, please visit the new cedarpoint.com or call the park’s general information line at 419-627-2350.

Deals, Events, News and Updates, News Stories, Rides, Spinning Rides, Thrill Rides

Cedar Point Opens for the Summer on May 14

May 13, 2011 Andrew Leave a comment

Cedar Point Press Release

SANDUSKY, Ohio, May 6, 2011 — Premium made-to-order gourmet hot dogs and chili dogs will add to the fun and excitement of a Cedar Point summer when the Sandusky, Ohio, amusement park/resort opens for the season on Saturday, May 14.

Beginning Saturday, May 14, Cedar Point will be open every day through Labor Day, Sept. 5.

New this summer will be Pink’s, a restaurant that specializes in gourmet hot dogs, chili dogs and onion rings. A Hollywood legend since 1939, Pink’s will be located near the front of the park, just across from Toft’s Ice Cream Parlor. It will be the first Pink’s franchise east of Las Vegas.

Later in the month, the park will also introduce WindSeeker, a 301-foot-tall towering swing ride that will be located near the Cedar Point Beach. Seated in open two-passenger cars, riders will be treated to dramatic views of Cedar Point, Lake Erie and the Cedar Point Beach.

“We are very excited to officially kickoff summer in the Midwest,” said John Hildebrandt, Cedar Point’s vice president and general manager. “It has been a long, cold winter and people are ready to have some fun. Roller coasters, hot dogs and Snoopy are the perfect solution.”

Opening for its 142nd season, Cedar Point features an extensive entertainment package that includes thrilling rides and roller coasters, live shows and special entertainment for young families. With 74 rides, including 17 roller coasters, Cedar Point has more rides and more coasters than any park in the world.

In addition to the rides, guests will be able to watch some of the park’s award-winning live entertainment. Tropical Heat, Island Beat, presented in the Red Garter Saloon, will feature the hits of Jimmy Buffett and the Miami Sound Machine, while Charlie Brown’s Funtime Frolics will be performed in Camp Snoopy. Four other shows will open later in the summer.

Other special activities at the park during its Opening Weekend include:

— Beginning Opening Day through Father’s Day, Sunday, June 19, guests can enter the Take Home a Thrill contest to win a new XUV 825i John Deere Gator, valued at more than $11,000. Entry forms can be obtained at Cedar Point’s Guest Services, the Town Hall Museum or by mail. For more information, please visit cedarpoint.com.

— On Sunday, May 15, the park will also hold an all-you-can-eat Picnic in the Park meal featuring Johnsonville Brats, fried chicken, hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, baked rigatoni, cookies, ice cream and assorted Pepsi beverages. The picnic will be held in the Coral Courtyard from 4-6:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at cedarpoint.com or at the park’s admission gates.

Through the end of May, Pick-a-Date tickets for a June visit can be purchased online at cedarpoint.com for only $32.99, a savings of $14 per ticket!

All of Cedar Point’s resort properties will open for the season on Friday, May 13. Resort guests qualify for Early Entry and can enter the park one hour before it opens to the public and can purchase tickets for only $29, the lowest rate available.

For more information about Opening Weekend at Cedar Point, please visit the park’s website at cedarpoint.com or call the park’s General Information Line at 419.627.2350.

Media, News and Updates, Off Season, Photos, Ride Construction, Rides, Spinning Rides, Thrill Rides

The 2011 Park Map (Spoilers)

February 1, 2011 Andrew Leave a comment

Thanks to the help of my friend, Christopher Huges (@chriswc11), I stumbled upon the 2011 park map. It’s not the full map as it takes up half a page in the school group brochure, but it gives you an idea of what the map and park will be like next year.

WindSeeker

Starting off at Cedar Point’s new ride WindSeeker we find the the Beach Entrance is going to be placed on an angle and it looks like WindSeeker’s queue line will start by the Extrema Sports Stadium as shown in the animation.

Chaos

We all knew it was coming, it looks like Chaos is leaving and a 3-point challenge is going in it’s spot. As seen in the next image, it looks like the Demon Drop 3-point challenge has vanished from the map.

Ocean Motion

Cedar Point’s other “new” ride for 2011 is Ocean Motion. Moving from it old location where WindSeeker is going to the Demon Drop’s old site. A pond will be placed next to it to add to the theme of the ride. As you can see the 3-point challenge is no longer shown.

Behind the Scenes, Media, News and Updates, Off Season, Photos, Ride Construction, Rides, RollerCoasters, Spinning Rides, Thrill Rides, Travel Reports

Cedar Point Off-Season (January 17, 2011)

January 30, 2011 Andrew 1 Comment

For my first trip of the year, I had the opportunity to visit the park in the winter off-season. Mr. Innes was very nice and agreed to take myself and a few select CP Guide members on a tour of the main midway, wicked twister midway, and a small part of the wildcat midway.

To start we walked through the Hotel Breaker’s parking lot and saw the roller coaster cars awaiting a winter check-up.

Then we moved on to the WindSeeker construction site. They had just poured the foundation the Friday before and they were working on setting up the concert mold for the ride base.

The concert they used was special concrete that need to be done in one pour, the reason behind the giant concert pour. The foundation is 60ft by 60ft and the ride will go down 6ft.

The ride is currently scheduled to open on opening day, but so was Shoot the Rapids, so we will have to see.

Moving down the midway, we find Chaos, or the spot Chaos used to occupy. Chaos is undergoing its off-season maintenance, but it doesn’t sound like it’s coming back.

Troika, like Chaos has been taken apart for its off-season maintenance, the rumor circulating is the Troika will go to Chaos’ spot and open up space for Disaster Transport to be replaced with a new coaster. Of course, this is just a rumor, and I don’t have any real facts to support it.

Throughout the park many rides have been shrink-wrapped; maXair is one of them as well as the test seat.

On the main midway, the games are all closed up as expected and Raptor was hibernating until May.

Ocean Motion, on the other hand, will be getting a new home at the old Demon Drop location and it will be complemented with a pond when it opens in May. In the Blue Streak area, we find Calypso taken apart for its maintenance.

Boo Hill has been reverted to its normal season look and the Blue Streak was nicely covered with snow.

Moving onto the Wildcat Midway, we find that Dodgems has been enclosed so the floor doesn’t get ruined and Wildcat’s queue ramps have been taken apart for easy access to the track for car removal.

Many of the fences around the park have also been removed for easier access to the rides.

The train cars for the CP and LE Railroad are at different parts of the track: one set back in Frontier Town and one is parked by the Mantis.

Moving on to Millennium Force, we find two cars left on the midway. Of course we all went crazy taking pictures of it and the brand new wheels.

Ending the tour, we walked back down the Wildcat midway and by Scrambler and Matterhorn.

We passed Kinzel’s Castel and through the parking lot of coaster cars.

On the way out I took some pictures of Mean Streak’s off-season track work and some views of the park from the road.

To finish the day I took a picture of me in front of the “Welcome to Cedar Point” sign.

As you might expect, those were only a small chuck of the pictures we took, click here to view all 150 pictures on flickr.

News and Updates, News Stories, Off Season, Ride Construction, Rides, Spinning Rides, Thrill Rides

Cedar Point to Pour WindSeeker Foundation Tomorrow

January 13, 2011 Andrew Leave a comment

Cedar Point Press Release

SANDUSKY, Ohio – Although there is ice on the lake and snow on the ground, the Cedar Point Beach will be a hub of activity tomorrow (Friday, Jan. 14) when the concrete foundation for its new ride, the 301-foot-tall WindSeeker swing ride, will be poured.

Weather permitting, more than 1,600 tons of concrete will be needed to build the 30-story ride’s foundation. The dimensions of the foundation are 60 feet by 60 feet by 6 feet deep and will require more than 800 cubic yards of concrete. Prior to the pour, more than 36 tons of steel rebar and 176 steel anchor bolts were placed in position.

Overall, the total weight of the foundation will be more than 3.3 million pounds or 1,650-plus tons of concrete and steel.

The Adena Corporation, Mansfield, will build the foundation while Huron Cement, Huron, will deliver the concrete. The pour is scheduled to begin at approximately 7 a.m. and should be completed by 5 p.m. A fleet of 14 trucks will make 80 continuous trips to the park to transport the concrete to the park.

To watch the construction progress, Cedar Point’s web site: cedarpoint.com will have two of its webcams covering all of the activities. You can also follow the conversation about the construction via Cedar Point’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

Costing more than $5 million to build, WindSeeker will stand more than 30 stories above the Cedar Point Beach. Seated in two-passenger swings with their feet dangling in the air, riders will be treated to breathtaking views of Cedar Point, Lake Erie and the Cedar Point Beach.

Cedar Point will open for the summer on Saturday, May 14.

WindSeeker

Chaos

Ocean Motion

As you might expect, those were only a small chuck of the pictures we took, click here to view all 150 pictures on flickr.

Your online guide to Cedar Point Amusement Park