Welcome to the first July 2004 edition of “Rumors of the Road” on your source for Cedar Point information, The Point Online presented by me, Sgt.RoadKill. Now the rumor world has been in turmoil for the past six months but I’m going to try to pull some of the pieces of the puzzle together so you the reader can make your own judgment. Oh what a difference six months can make and let me say some things are for the good and some are for the bad. So bare with us because there is going to be a lot of information thrown onto the screen and the last thing we want is a blue screen of death. So bring out some fresh squeezed lemonade and a lawn chair because you’re in for a nice long relaxing edition of “Rumors of the Road”. If you don’t like lemonade then just have a glass of water, besides we are trying to be more concerned about our health right?

Well let’s just say that this past month has been hectic enough for me that I couldn’t release a June edition as originally planned. With work, sickness, Boys State, mini-vacations and family reunions I don’t think I know where home is anymore. First off Six Flags Worlds of Adventure as most of you already know is now owned by Cedar Fair, the parent company of Cedar Point. With this acquisition everything that has planned seems to be thrown out the window. Now Cedar Fair doesn’t have to worry about the annoying Six Flags loons barking up there backs they have to worry about keeping two parks separate but equal. Now you may scratch your head wondering what in the blue moon that means, well you have to try to orientate each park to be similar enough so that people recognize that they are great places. At the same time you have to convince people it is well worth there money to visit both parks. There is a similar plan used at Disney that is now in place. Orientate each park to specific groups of people but generalize some things enough to attract families to both.

“Castaway Bay” is well under construction and it’s only a few more months until visitors year around will be making the trek up to Sandusky, Ohio. As you will read later on this is a test project for Cedar Point. Can anybody remember what happened to Disaster Transport, the idea of giving rides a theme was scrapped off the dinner table? I mean Disaster Transport, or formerly known as Avalanche Run, is a decent ride but the theme just stinks, at least they made a modest attempt to make everything prettier with the opening of Wicked Twister. Still for bringing in millions of dollars a year the theme could have been prettied up by die hard Point fans.

Around Cedar Fair more construction on coasters has progressed. Now each of you will need to spend a little time looking into these projects because they hold some of the secrets behind the future of Cedar Point coasters. Is Cedar Fair jumping onto the B&M bandwagon again?  Dorney Park will be receiving some fresh steel on an already destroyed wooden coater’s location. Also Knott’s is taking huge steps on “Silver Bullet”, the transfer track and part of the brake run are beginning to take shape. From the troubles once handed to us by Intamin could B&M really hold the answer to what lies in the future? Or will Cedar Fair begin to spread their pattern out? I know that once Cedar Fair deals with a roller coaster company deals with a company a couple times they usually buy a few a coasters from them. Who would have known that Jr. Gemini would lead us to the making of Dragster?

Now it is time for some more current news. This topic might be a little off of your interest but is still an interesting new but historical tidbit. The Ogontz, which is a replica of a paddle-boat that used to take tours through Cedar Point, has been refurbished. It takes tourists on an hour long trip along the causeway. You can now see Cedar Point from another angle and be able to have a relaxing hour all at the same time. If you are interested in one of these trips, or have friends that just aren’t ready for the big coasters yet and are trying to convince them without paying the entry fee to the park try this seven dollar adventure. You can board the Ogontz at Monroeville Marina which is just off of the causeway on River Avenue or call (419) 297-0350 for more information.

 

In other news, Cedar Point has now created a newer system to purchase tickets. You can now purchase tickets from the comfort of your own computer desk. You will be able to turn your computer and printer into a ticket office and be able to save time by not having to wait in lines at the park. This is not a relatively new idea since companies such as ticket master have been using this for concert tickets for a couple years. On top of saving time you will also receive four dollars off the regular price. I still would recommend if you want to save money though to check out some of the offers suggested at The Point Online. From AAA to pop cans there is always some ways to save even more money when planning your vacation.

 

Some of you that have visited the park have already realized that Millennium Force might be a little tighter of a squeeze then last year. Intamin has made the seat belts for the ride shorter and has posted a notice that if you weigh more then 220 pounds that there is a chance you will not be able to ride due to seatbelt constraints. These measures were put into place after a ride similar to Millennium Force had a rider ejected from his seat and was killed. More safety additions have been made in response to this death as well at Knott’s on Xcellerator and Silver Bullet, which is still under construction.

Now it’s the time you all have been waiting for and asking about. What is coming in 2005? Has Geauga Lake affected Cedar Point’s future plans? Well Geauga Lake has thrown everything that was originally planned into a blender and twisted everything up. The original plans for a flyer in 2005 have been pushed back since early this year. We have a general idea of what will be coming in 2005. We believe that Cedar Point will receive at least one flat ride if not more. The location is uncertain but the swan boats area is a strong possibility. Gossip has been swirling around that Huss has been contacted about a ride which seems since Knott’s is currently finishing up construction on a ride from them called Rip Tide. It would be real interesting to see if Cedar Point would receive one of the newer giant flat rides. Cedar Point might though get more then one flat ride but there has been no serious confirmation from anybody connected with either party. Another choice is a themed flat ride but it might depend on how the head officials feel about how well it went with Dragster’s slight theme.

Could 2006 be the year that Cedar Point gets the B&M Flyer? With new ride features being developed it should be ready in time for 2006 but it is unsure of whether Cedar Point will go ahead and build the ride or delay it until 2007. Cedar Point is interested in the idea of a dark ride but details are real sketchy. This could depend on the job done inside of Castaway Bay which is still under construction. After the tragedy of Disaster Transport they might be leery to put more money into adding a theme to an inside ride. It has been over a decade though and they have learned from their mistakes which are seen in some of their newer or revamped rides. Hopefully though the plans continue on with a flyer in 2006 but with the recent purchase of Geauga Lake it may still be in turmoil.

Well it may seem like we haven’t covered a whole lot but take the information given and you can go far. I would just keep an eye on the area around where the swan boats were and wave swinger. Anything between there and Mean Streak is open to some work so it’ll be interesting to see what comes to be. If anything does come up remember I’ll be here and try to get an article up in a timely manner. It has been awhile but when you really think about it, it’s better to be sooner then later or never at all. Oh by the way, I hear that 2007 still will be the big year. Nothing planned as of yet that we are aware of in the source world but it should be Mr. Kinzel’s last hooray.

Before I keep you reading this through the rest of the summer I think I’ll let you go. I think you have enough information to use to hold yourself off for a few weeks. Just to inform you I’m not checking my e-mail account anymore due to junk mail, so if you could please send me private messages if you need to contact me on the point online message boards. I’m one of the moderators so just click on my name and you should be able to figure it out from there. I would like to thank all of you again for your support. If you’d like to have something discussed in my articles let me know through the message boards and if it’s reasonable I will try my very hardest to get it in. Thanks again for coming and may God bless every one of you. Feel free to send me messages on AOL Instant Messenger, my screen name is SargentoRoadKill.

You can e-mail Sgt. RoadKill at marshall_dude@thepointol.com or  leave him a private message on the TPOL Forums.