Tag Archives: August 2010

News and Updates, News Stories, Rides, Thrill Rides

What’s the commotion? Say goodbye, Ocean Motion

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From the Sandusky Register…

SANDUSKY

As Cedar Point begins to shuffle an old ride off stage, a new star is preparing to make its entrance.

The amusement park has put an old ride, the Ocean Motion, up for sale, and begun dropping clues about the new ride it will debut next year.

Offers for Ocean Motion are being taken by Ital International, which sells new and used rides. The ride is identified on Ital’s website as a Huss Pirate Ship, reference No. 1392.

The asking price is $179,000.

“In our industry, this is a very good ride,” said Carlo Guglielmi, founder and chief manager of Ital. “It’s a classic in the business.”

Ocean Motion is in good shape, well made and would cost more than a $1 million as a new ride, he said.

Cedar Point spokesman Robin Innes said Ocean Motion, which dates back to 1981, is less of a drawing card for Cedar Point than newer rides at the park. Reviewers discussing the ride at the ThemePark Critics website note that “short lines” are a major attraction for the ride. A YouTube user who posted a video of the ride labeled it “lackluster” and wrote, “this ride in hardly popular anymore.”

Fans, however, have noted on the internet that the ride is well-landscaped and that the beach location adds to the ride’s ambiance.

Jeff Putz, webmaster for Pointbuzz.com, said a swinging ship ride is “kind of a staple of theme parks everywhere. The fact that they are selling it surprises me.”

It’s also a surprise considering that Cedar Point has made a considerable investment to keep the ride in good shape, Putz said.

Construction markers near the ride have given rise to speculation that the space vacated by Ocean Motion will be used for the new ride.

Cedar Point announced Tuesday that it will reveal its plans for 2011 at 2 p.m. Tuesday. It began posting  clues about the new ride from its Facebook site. Tuesday’s clue linked to lesson plans for teaching students how to make a wind detector.

Over the weekend, the amusement park celebrated getting more than 500,000 Facebook fans by posting a clue about the new ride. The clue is “IEItRmA,” which unscrambles as “airtime.”

That’s not much of a clue, because most of the rides at Cedar Point spend time in the air, Putz said.

He said he’s confident the new ride will not be a roller coaster but will be a thrill ride with broad appeal.

Speculation has been rife at roller coaster websites that the new ride may be a ride resembling the StarFlyer, a ride made in Australia. At Vienna’s Prater Park, the ride has a tower 236 feet tall that spins guests seated in chairs at the end of a chain.

Roller coaster fans at a Dutch website have pointed out that Mondial, a Dutch ride manufacturer, is producing a new ride that resembles the StarFlyer but can operate against stronger winds.

Mondial said early this year that it designed the Wind Seeker ride “following requests from clients who wanted a Star Flyer-style ride they could still operate within normal wind conditions.” The company said then that “negotiations are currently under way to find the first client.”

Ocean Motion facts

• Manufactured by HUSS Park Attractions, Bremen, Germany

• Debuted in 1981 at Cedar Point

• Seats 54 people

• A boat that swings back and forth in the air

• Located next to the beach in the northeast part of the amusement park

Events, News and Updates, News Stories, Rides, RollerCoasters

Cedar Point to Celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Millennium Force

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Cedar Point Press Release

SANDUSKY, Ohio – In 2000, fears and concerns about Y2K were running rampant across the world.  Closer to home, then Vice President Al Gore and George W. Bush, the governor of Texas, were campaigning for the presidency of the United States.  How the Grinch Stole Christmas was the year’s top grossing movie, and Beverly Hills 90210 aired its final episode.

In May of that year, Cedar Point made history.  The Sandusky, Ohio, amusement park/resort had just introduced the Millennium Force roller coaster.  Standing 310 feet tall and reaching speeds of 93 mph, it was the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world!

Now 10 years and more than 17 million rides later, Cedar Point will commemorate this legendary coaster by hosting the Millennium Force 10th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, Aug. 21.  Some of the special festivities on that day will include a 10th anniversary ceremony beginning at 11 a.m. and contests for Millennium Force prizes.

One of these contests will be for guests who follow Cedar Point on Twitter and the park’s in-park mobile messaging program.  During the day, several messages will be posted instructing guests on how to win an awesome Cedar Point and Millennium Force prize package.

“From Day One, Millennium Force was an instant hit,” said John Hildebrandt, Cedar Point’s vice president and general manager.  “It is an international icon for Cedar Point and symbolizes the best in roller-coaster-riding.”

Designed and manufactured by Intamin AG of Wollerau, Switzerland, Millennium Force is one of the most popular roller coasters ever built and has repeatedly been selected as the best coaster in the world in polls throughout the decade.

This steel giant towering over Sandusky Bay on Lake Erie was the first roller coaster in history to surpass the 300-foot threshold and to exceed 90 mph.  With a track length of 6,595 feet, Millennium Force is still the longest steel roller coaster in North America.

At a cost of $25 million, Millennium Force is one of the most expensive ride projects in the history of Cedar Point.

To learn more about the Millennium Force 10th Anniversary Celebration or any of the other rides and attractions at Cedar Point, please visit cedarpoint.com or call the park’s General Information Line at 419.627.2350

News and Updates, News Stories, Ride Watch, Rides

Ride wars at Cedar Point?

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From the Sandusky Register…

The fate of Cedar Point’s new ride could already be up in the air as a patent war brews between two ride manufacturers.

Brian Mirfin, of Australian ride manufacturer Funtime Group, said the new ride will be the Wind Seeker, made by Dutch-based manufacturer Mondial.

The Wind Seeker, however, is a patent-infringing copy of the StarFlyer — a tower ride the Funtime Group made and owns a patent on, Mirfin said.

Both rides are tower rides that spin riders around as they extend high in the air.

The StarFlyer pulls seats attached to a chain. The Mondial design is similar but uses arms instead of chains.

In its news announcement in early February, Mondial said it came up with the new ride “following requests from clients who wanted a StarFlyer-style ride they could still operate within normal wind conditions.”

“It’s almost like Mondial’s plagiarizing our idea,” said Mirfin, director of the Funtime Group and owner of Cottingham Agencies, which holds the patent for StarFlyer. “It makes us very, very angry.”

Executives at Mondial did not return an e-mail from a reporter seeking comment.

Dick Kinzel, president, chairman and CEO for Cedar Fair, said Wednesday night he had no comment. He repeated that the company plans to make an announcement at 2 p.m. Tuesday about the new ride for 2011.

Mirfin said his company, which has built 22 StarFlyers so far, thought it had a deal to build one for Cedar Point after amusement park executives flew to Orlando, Fla., several months ago to look at a StarFlyer at the Magical Midway.

Mirfin said his company planned to build a StarFlyer for Cedar Point that would be 400 feet tall — even bigger than the StarFlyer at Prater Park in Vienna, which stands 384 feet tall.

Instead, Funtime learned Cedar Point was buying a similar ride from Mondial, Mirfin said

“Now, not only do we not get the contract, now we’ve got to get into litigation,” Mirfin said. “The ones that we’ll be suing will be Cedar Point and not Mondial.”

Funtime’s U.S. patent for StarFlyer — patent No. 7666103 — was granted Feb. 23.

Tony Handal, the Connecticut attorney who filed the patent, said he believes the Mondial ride would be a patent infringement on the StarFlyer.

“It looks pretty much like the same thing to me,” Handal said, adding that he doubts litigation will be necessary.

“I think Cedar Point will not go forward without a license,” Handal said. “They can either do that or they can have the ride built by a licensed company.”

News and Updates, News Stories, Ride Watch, Rides

Is the new Cedar Point ride a Dutch treat?

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From the Sandusky Register…

SANDUSKY

On Monday, I mentioned speculation that the new Cedar Point ride for 2011 could be the StarFlyer, a tower ride that hoists riders into the air and spins them around.

The StarFlyer, produced by an Australian company, is said to be vulnerable to winds. A roller coaster fan at a Dutch website for coaster buffs points out that a Dutch ride company, Mondial, has a new product, the Wind Seeker, that resembles the StarFlyer but can cope with the big winds generated by being next to a big lake. The ride uses arms instead of chains.

Interestingly, Mondial says it designed the Wind Seeker “following requests from clients who wanted a Star Flyer-style ride they could still operate within normal wind conditions.” As for a customer for the new ride, the Feb. 2 dispatch says vaguely, “Negotiations are currently  under way to find the first client.”

Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but today’s Cedar Point Facebook clue show a picture of a windmill that links to a Web site for making a “wind detector.”

News and Updates, News Stories, Ride Watch, Rides

Watch Between the Lines with special guests Diedre Cole and John Hildebrandt

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From the Sandusky Register…

SANDUSKY

Our guests for this week’s Between the Lines program included Sandusky City Commissioner Diedre Cole and Cedar Point General Manager John Hildebrandt.

Click on the player below to watch the entire show.

Highlights

  • October Saturdays are busiest days of the season.
  • Hildebrandt averages 5 to 6 miles of walking in the park each day, 8 to 9 miles on Saturdays.
  • Special ticket pricing online allow discounts for guests.
  • Hildebrandt confirms next year’s new attraction is a ride, that’s above ground, and it not a water ride.
  • “I ride just about every ride [at Cedar Point]. I’m not sure I’m gonna ride this.” -John Hildebrandt
  • It (next year’s new ride) will be a unique experience.
  • Hildebrandt would not confirm the ride was a roller coaster or that it would change the Cedar Point skyline.
  • The park recognizes that they need to invest in employee housing, and they’re working hard to do so.
  • The new ride doesn’t include the word “star” in any way.
  • Hildebrandt would not confirm that Ocean Motion is for sale.
  • Undertaker U is getting replaced by The Asylum for HalloWeekends.
  • All new show in the Jack Aldrich theatre for HalloWeekends. John describes the show as a song and dance magic show.
  • The park is in discussions with IntaRide over the delay of Shoot the Rapids.
  • New ride’s color scheme has been “pretty much” decided.
  • Construction will begin this fall on the new ride for 2011.
  • New ride will be announced later this month.
  • There will probably be a construction webcam for the new ride.

(Highlights list from Point Pixels)