Sudden Death Experience

Charles Manson writes "I'm sure you and your readers have already heard about this evil monster, but I just stumbled upon a fantastic review of it. Cedar Point has always been an innovator, but god damn, this thing is just sick. I'm glad I only live a hundred miles away becuase I'll be practically living there this summer. My favorite quote of the article is 'If Hell has thrill rides, this brilliantly evil machine should be one of them.'" We mentioned the Cedar Point coaster earlier. The best parts of roller coaster riding are the little surreal notes, i.e. looking over the side and seeing 500 hats on the ground below.

Comments

I do miss Cedar Point

[Flounder]

I used to live in Ohio and would go to the park at least 10 times during the summer. Last time I was there was right after Millenium Force opened up. At the top of the first drop, you're looking almost straight down into Lake Erie. Best damn coaster park in the country.

Re:I do miss Cedar Point

[Saint Mitchell]

Millenium Force is such a bad ass. It's the only time in my life I've wondered why I got on as I went up the hill. TFD is supposed to be like 120ish feet over that hill. Thankfully it shoots you up it rather than drag you up like on Millenium Force. Go up quick, go down quick, done. I know somone is going to die this summer, there is no avoiding it. It won't be the rides fault either, i'm sure they will have it posted that you shouldn't ride with a bad heart. Yet someone will do it and keel over. It's supposed to be low g-force though, so who knows maybe it will be ok for all after all.

Cedar Point

[zzxc]

The roller coaster exerts a maximum force of approx. 1.4 G's on the rider. Also considering the ride is 400 feet from the lowest point of the track to the highest, there's no way I want to go on it.

Cedar Point seems to have fewer and fewer sane-yet-not-kiddie rides. I was there last year and the only thing I rode was the "mine ride."

Re:Cedar Point

[Flounder]

Cedar Point seems to have fewer and fewer sane-yet-not-kiddie rides.

That's like saying there's fewer and fewer sane-yet-not-kiddie movies. There's no money in mild anymore. Over the top, push the envelope, burst a blood vessel and spray your fellow patrons. That's what sells. Not that I don't agree with you, I'm just stating facts. It's either an $84Mil opening for X-Men2 or $22.8Mil total box office for Being John Malkovich. Bigger, louder, faster, not necessarily better.

Kennywood in Pittsburgh is a great old-style park. Lots of older "sane" coasters, lots of rides for the kids, and pretty decently priced admission too. My kids loved it.

Re:Cedar Point

[Saige]

Then we did the mean streak, which sucked! Its like a rollercoaster during an earthquake, but wooden coasters usually suck like that.

The Mean Streak is a good demonstration why wooden coasters have been left behind. It set all sorts of records when it was built as the largest and fastest wooden coaster. And once upon a time, it was fun. I was there in May of the year it opened, and it was relatively smooth, and a lot of fun. I rode it a couple times that day.

The problem is that the speeds, coupled with the nature of the materials used, cause the structure of the ride to suffer. I've heard - though I am not certain - that they have like 6 full-time carpenders employed just for that ride alone, checking it every night for loose bolts and breaking wood. It is very high maintenance, and that still doesn't keep it in the shape they'd want it to be.

It's been said the ride is destroying itself due to the speeds and stresses on the material, and I don't expect it to last that long. They already have to change the rails every three years, as they degrade over time and make the ride just too rough. I've heard that riding it on that third year is pretty much a guaranteed method of getting a really bad headache. And given the fact that the ride gets rougher as the year goes on, riding in, say, October of that third year before they replace the rails is probably one of the roughest beatings you can take in a rollercoaster.

Though if you get on at the beginning of the year after a replacement, I'm sure it's still pretty damn fun.

Re:Cedar Point

[AttillaTheNun]

I haven't been to Cedar Point in years (the year the Magnum opened, but broke that morning before I got a chance to try it out). However, my favourite ride at Canada's Wonderland (where I live) is STILL the Great Canadian Minebuster - the old wooden one that's been there since 1981 or whenever that place opened. I still love the old wooden, shaky rides over most of the trendy stuff they build today (standup, backwards, underwater, etc). I hope that coaster still has lots of life in it. Mind you they've tamed it down since I was a scared shitless 10 year old who was convinced I was lifting right of the seat since the handle bars were so far away at the time. Now they've got more secure restraints (probably because some poor kid DID fall out, which proves my original fears correct) - kind of takes away from the "Near Death Experience". Still, this 400+ft beast scares the living shit out of me. I'd better get on it before I'm too old (at 32, it may already be too late) :)

Re:Slow Friday?

[Xzzy]

This movie doesn't do the article justice (it's mostly an ad for the website), but towards the bottom of the article they have a 15 second or so clip (wmv format) showing the ride in action.

I dunno.. record breaking is nice and all, but seems to me a longer slower ride, with more loops and swoops, would be much more fun overall.

the irony

[fjordboy]

I find it sort of ironic that "Charles Manson" would post a comment including the words "god damn" and several references to hell....

A more on topic note...that coaster looks freaking awesome. However, I still give the Pheonix at Knoebel's grove in PA my vote for scariest coaster ever. Not because it is fast, not because of crazy g-forces, but because the riders know that it is a REALLY old coaster and the whole thing shimmies around like there's no tomorrow. People who have ridden it know what I'm talking about...it just feels unsafe...when you're strapped in to these new coasters, you know that they've passed insane safety tests before they allow humans to ride...but the pheonix...I pray through the whole ride that the car doesn't derail or that the whole structure doesn't collapse. Just looking at it makes me think of horrific newspaper headlines with pictures of the carnage after the oldest wooden coaster in the US collapsed...

Cedar Point

[Schezar]

I've been going to Cedar Point every summer for most of my life. My parents had their honeymoon there. I'd even go so far as to say that my best childhood memories arise from my times in that blessed haven of thrill rides.

Hands down, Cedar Point is the greatest coaster park in the world. I've been to various others (6 Flags, Canada Wonderland, King's Island...), but they just don't compare. Cedar Point has always had the biggest and the best. They've had the tallest coaster in the world on several occaisions, and still hold the record for most coasters in a park.

I was there the day the Magnum XL200 opened (before they activated the breaks at the top of the first hill to slow it down for safety). I was there two years later for the opening day of Mean Streak. I was there for... Well, you get the point: I'm a Cedar Point nut. (An old one, too. I've ridden a lot of rides that aren't even there anymore... Anyone else remember the potato-sack slide?)

Granted, the park has changed a lot over the years. Back in the day, ther were beer carts everywhere, and very few children outside of "kiddy-land." There were more open spaces and quiet areas. I remember watching the wild turkey roaming around Frontier Land. There was a sense of history (Cedar Point is a -very- old park) and decor.

Now, it's $3 just to get a soda from a machine, there are no open spaces (and no more turkeys), and they've added this garish Snoopy dome thing. The taste and decor are gone, as are the beer carts.. It's a commercialized "family" park. It's loud and flashy, and the crowds are sometimes almost unbearable.

Now, don't go modding me troll just yet ;^) I still go there every year, and I still love the rides. Cedar Point will always be tops in my book, because no matter what else they screw up, the coasters will always be there.

Unless one of those tornados decides to pop down.

---

Moore's Law

[Scrumper]

Does Moores law apply to roller coaster's as well?

Re:Lame

[John3]

You can occasionally get some great rides in addition to pure thrills from the steel coasters. Universal Orlando has a cool pair of coasters called Dueling Dragons that combine the speed of a steel coaster with some creative intertwining tracks...and the ride last more than 30 seconds.

However I still prefer the rattling old wooden coasters like the Dragon Coaster (built 1929) and the Wildcat (built 1996).

*ponders trip to ohio*

[ocelotbob]

Got to say, the thing looks fun. 420 feet straight up and then straight down has got to be a damn good rush. Course, i'm a believer that you've got to push youself if you're to really live. Sitting in a cubicle for 8 hours a day an not doing anything to challenge yourself is not living; it's just going through the motions. A ride like this allows a relatively controlled release of adrenaline and excitement, and would be damn fun, too.

Sometimes I wonder about the people on this site. They seem to have no desire for action or excitement. All y'all you are commenting about how dangerous this looks need to rent a very fast car with no top, and cruise for the weekend going at least 20 miles per hour over the speed limit for at least an hour. Trust me, it's much more fun than playing it safe.

Love the rides, hate the wait

[swb]

I wish more places used a Disney fastpass-style system.

I try to schedule an annual trip to Valleyfair here in MN on some oddball Tuesday when it looks like its going to rain, it usually cuts the wait by about half, but some rides *still* have an annoying wait.

Some suggestions for amusement park execs:

1) Have limited-admission days where park admission is capped. Charge more to get in to make up the difference.

2) Upcharge (2x? 3x?) admission to allow some kind of limited queue-jumping system (maybe a less restrictive fastpass deal where you could get multiple fastpasses for different rides). Set the fee high enough where not everyone does it.

3) Maybe just make more fun rides and fewer megabucks rides. Nobody buys your overpriced food or stuff when they're stuck in a queue. I have a great time on the scary-maintenance rides at the State Fair, and I almost never wait for them, and those rides are usually small enough that they can be folded up and transported on a semi trailer or two.

The Navy has...

[Anonymous Coward]

Aircraft carriers. I would like to try TTD (I live in OH, so it's not a big trip), but based on my little brother's description of Carrier trap ("landing") and launch ("takeoff"), I would like to try a coaster that simulates what Navy Aviators do regularly...

0-170 in 2 seconds...

170-0 in 2 seconds...

Re:While reading that review

[lommer]

Bzzzzt! Wrong Answer.

Due to the intense G's, his pee actually flew across town before landing on the hot-dog stand.