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Sudden Death Experience 345

Posted by michael from the keep-remaining-hand-inside-the-car dept.
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.
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Sudden Death Experience More

Sudden Death Experience

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  • Slow Friday? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by InfinityWpi ( 175421 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:17PM (#5921676)
    I mean, this just got posted, no replies to it yet, and the damn thing's already slashdotted. Ye gods... is it a slow Friday and everyone's got nothing better to do than wait for a new link to pounce on?

    • Re:Slow Friday? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Xzzy ( 111297 ) <sether@@@tru7h...org> on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:27PM (#5921779) Homepage
      This movie [xzzy.org] 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.
    • >I mean, this just got posted, no replies to it yet, and the damn thing's already slashdotted.

      Wow, you mean people are actually reading the article before posting replies? Dang, that's amazing.

      While the coaster does seem pretty amazing, I would love to read about the technical hurdles that had to be overcome in creating it. How do you achieve that kind of acceleration? What are the safety measures (I'm sure there are a ton)? How many computers control it? Etc, etc, etc.
      • "Wow, you mean people are actually reading the article before posting replies? Dang, that's amazing."

        Reading? We just click through and hope they have pretty pictures/video.

      • Re:Slow Friday? (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward


        How do you achieve that kind of acceleration?

        Electromagnetism, my friend.


        What are the safety measures (I'm sure there are a ton)?

        They have computers controlling the "blocks," or sections of track that a single train can safely travel without crashing. For example, many coasters have "block brakes" which, if a coaster fails to reach the end of the course but goes after the block brakes, and if another train has already dispatched, the incoming train would just stop at the block brakes. This point

        • Re:Slow Friday? (Score:3, Informative)

          by TomServo ( 79922 )
          Augh, lost my whole post! Time to try again...

          Unlike one of Intamin AG's older creations, Superman: The Escape [rcdb.com] at Six Flags Magic Mountain [sixflags.com] in CA (0-100mph in 7 seconds, though it's realistically only making about 88mph with a full car these days to conserve some electricity and keep the motors cool), this one does *not* use electromagnetic LSM/LIM motors to launch. This one is basically Xcelerator [rcdb.com] at Knott's Berry Farm [knottsberryfarm.com]'s (0-82mph in 2.3 seconds) big brother, both using a hydraulic [rcdb.com] launch [rcdb.com]
          motor [rcdb.com].

          I reme

  • I do miss Cedar Point (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Flounder ( 42112 ) * on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:19PM (#5921689)
    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 (Score:5, Funny)

      by Deagol ( 323173 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:53PM (#5922012) Homepage
      My last Point excursion was to ride the Magnum. I remember looking down at the Gemini and thinking, "Shit, I'm toast."

      Kinda dates me, though. I used to think the Demon Drop was pretty scary. My 30-year-old heart would probably bust a valve if I tried one of these new-fangled coasters!

    • Re:I do miss Cedar Point (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Saint Mitchell ( 144618 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:55PM (#5922024)
      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 (Score:5, Interesting)

    by zzxc ( 635106 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:19PM (#5921690)
    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 (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Flounder ( 42112 ) * on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:25PM (#5921754)
      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.

      • Agreed, I personally find Kennywood to better than the 6 flags parks. However don't forget about the Steel Phantom which at the time it was built in Kennywood was the fastest roller coaster in the world and had the steepest fall.

        But if you like old style wooden coasters try the Thunderbolt whose path crosses right over the Phantom's while doing 50 mph on an old rickety wooden track.

        Is the Phantom still there for anyone thats been there recently? I haven't been back there for a couple of years and I think

        • Kennywood (Score:5, Informative)

          by Mr.Pumpkin ( 309896 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @05:07PM (#5922132) Homepage
          I have to agree that if you're looking for classic amusement park stuff, you can't beat good ol' Kennywood. They even have a themed area for some of the older rides...

          With coasters like the Jack Rabbit and the Racer built in the 1920s (and on the National Historic Register), you definitely get a whole time-warp feel going. My wife grew up there in the '60s and it's amazing how much is still there from when she was a kid. Can't say that much about most of the other parks I know...

          BTW, Kings Dominion in Richmond has a similar ride to this one [kingsdominion.com].... But not near the height. Only 165 ft. Only problem is the damned this is broken down most of the time! Hope CP has better luck with theirs....
        • Is the Phantom still there for anyone thats been there recently? I haven't been back there for a couple of years and I think I remember somebody saying that they took it down.

          They took out the loops, extended the big drop slightly, and added some wide, sweeping turns and a few little hills. It's now called the Phantom's Revenge. Oh, and they got rid of the crummy Arrow trains with the over-the-shoulder horse collars and replaced them with trains that only have a lap bar. I think it's actually a much be
      • True, but BJM probably cost a tenth of what X2 did, and I don't think amusement park ride costs vary that much.
    • Has anyone been on the Hypersonic XLC [kingsdominion.com] at King's Dominion in Richmond, VA? I've only seen videos (including the one on the site). I've been anticipating its opening for some time now, but I moved to the west coast, so I haven't been back to King's Dominion in quite a while.
    • You complain about the modern, safe, and exhilirating metal coasters and then say you road the mine ride which is the most poorly maintained ride in the park with the highest shutdown % by a longshot. You have to be like 10X more likely to get whiplash on that old thing then you do riding a modern ride like the raptor which has head pads. I would bet the pulse G forces from the bumps on the mine ride are several times higher then the nice smooth G's produced by Mellenium Force and Top Thrills Dragster.

    • Re:Cedar Point (Score:5, Informative)

      by scrawny ( 75842 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @05:14PM (#5922184)
      1.4 G's? you get more G's than that accelerating from a red light in a poorly-running car, seriously.

      from the post-gazette:

      Under the proposed standards, front-to-back G-forces cannot exceed 5.6 for more than one second; and side-to-side G-forces cannot exceed 2.5 for more than a minute, although the figures can change, depending on the kinds of restraints.

      The G-forces on Kennywood's 85 mph Phantom Revenge range from -1 to 5, said spokeswoman Mary Lou Rosemeyer. Even though this ride goes faster than the Steel Phantom [the former coaster that had a top speed of 82 mph] it's so smooth. The technology is so much more advanced.

      Cedar Point spokeswoman Janice Witherow would not release G-forces for individual rides, but said all of the park's 15 coasters, including the nation's fastest and tallest coaster, the 93 mph Millennium Force, have G-forces below 5.

      lots of interesting info when you google.

  • Slashdotted, so here's the text (Score:5, Informative)

    by JJAnon ( 180699 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:19PM (#5921694)
    Top Thrill Dragster
    The Giga-Coaster Rules No More.

    Hard to believe it was just three years ago... three years since Cedar Point broke through the 300-foot height barrier with Millennium Force, the world's first "giga-coaster." At that time, I was certain that many, many years would pass before the next major height barrier-400 feet-would be surpassed, if ever.

    But here we are today, in 2003, with what the Point calls the world's first "strata-coaster," a 420-footer. Also happens to be the world's first coaster to hit 120 miles per hour. Which it does in four seconds.

    I don't know about you, but since Top Thrill Dragster was officially announced, I've been having dreams about riding it. (That may not be something I should admit to, but there it is.) I was lucky enough to do so on May 1st, the media preview day.

    I'll be the first to admit that I'm prone to hyperbole when it comes to writing about thrill rides. But you're going to have to believe me when I tell you that Cedar Point's Top Thrill Dragster is, without question, the scariest roller coaster I've ever experienced. Seriously, brothers and sisters, this big dog bites as hard as it barks.

    Had a chance to ride Knott's Berry Farm's Xcelerator yet? Then you know that Intamin's hydraulically launched "Rocket" coaster is not for the squeamish. Wild as it is, though, Xcelerator is less than half the height and a good 40 miles per hour slower than TTD. This should worry some of you.

    Speaking of worrisome, Cedar Point's skyline is now completely dominated by TTD's soaring yellow and red superstructure. Power Tower? Not so powerful-lookin' anymore. Even the Force seems, well, kinda small now. (If you really want to give yourself the willies, hang around till after dark and look at TTD when it's all lit up, glowing against the night sky.)

    Oh, and how's this for worrisome? At more than one location in the queue, we're informed that "Occasionally, a launched train will not clear the hill. You should not be concerned; the train will slowly return to the launch position." Gulp.

    Should you need a place to sit and reconsider your decision to ride, there's the set of metal bleachers that faces the launch zone. You'll be mightily entertained by watching how each passenger squirms, yelps, freezes and/or freaks just before takeoff. (Media days are especially satisfying for this kind of passive sadism; one poor woman, clearly not a coaster enthusiast, looked to be on the verge of tears.)

    From this vantage point, you'll also get to appreciate how much effort was made in designing this coaster's unique trains. The "stadium seat"-equipped middle cars are not much different from those found on Millennium Force. But the first and last cars, each with just a single two-passenger row, are unique to TTD. The sleek winged nose in front and the faux racing engine, air foil and mag wheels in back make these cargo-haulers as distinctive as they come.

    (A note about the trains: for the media day, they were shortened to carry just 12 passengers, not 16 as promised, nor were they loading the very last row. Nor were two trains always filled and released simultaneously, also as planned. And the sixth train was nowhere in sight. To the park's credit, they had to make up for many lost days of construction, due to winter weather, and did what it took to have TTD operating in time, even if at less than optimal capacity.)

    Non-riders will also dig the delightful details of the launch. Each train moves slowly into position accompanied by the prerecorded rumbles of an idling high-horsepower engine. Occasionally, the engine "revs" a bit-vroom, vroom-a sweet little tease. Finally, the long row of metal fins that line the launch track-an integral part of TTD's fail-safe magnetic braking system-sinks. The train inches forward.

    Buh-bye.

    To the tune of a roaring engine and squealing tires, and a very nifty cloud of "burning rubber" smoke, the train disappears. Unnerving to watch, but nothing like what it is to r

  • Google cache (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    here [216.239.33.104].

  • Go around early May to avoid lines. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Thinkit3 ( 671998 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:21PM (#5921713)
    I think it opens a bit earlier for the season. All the rides were open and there were around 4 minute waits at most.
    • Better yet, find out when one of the other coasters breaks down and go the day the other coaster gets fixed. Several years ago I went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg...my family went two days. On the first day we went, the inverted coaster "The Big Bad Wolf" was closed for repairs and the lines on the other coasters were awful. However, the second day the big bad wolf was open, and the rest of the park was EMPTY! I rode on the now defunct "Drachen Fire" 11 times without getting off. For most of the ti

  • Evil monster (Score:5, Funny)

    by Zakabog ( 603757 ) <john.jmaug@com> on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:21PM (#5921716)
    Evil monsters, sudden death, are you talking about the slashdot affect?

  • Holiday (Score:2)

    by rf0 ( 159958 )
    One thing I've been wanting to do for ages it go on the top 10 roller coasters in the world. I've been planning to take in things like 6 Flags in California and go on the Riddler Revenge. Looks like though I'm going to have to add this to my list somwhere

    Rus
    • You really need to put Cedar Pointe on your list anyway, considering nearly every coaster in the park has held a record of some sort for at least a few months after construction.

      The park is really quite amazing, for a coaster fan.
      • Definately put Cedar Point on that list. And since you are in Ohio anyhow, head down to PKD for a couple other great costers. It's only a few hours drive!

        Is it sad that I consider Ohio a great vacation destination?

  • yikes (Score:5, Interesting)

    by erikdotla ( 609033 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:24PM (#5921745)
    That looks scary. I just hit Six Flags, and rode everything there (except X which was closed.) Their Goliath coaster is a monster - almost straight down, loooong drop, and then it starts a repeating loop that cause Gs so hard you feel your eyes pushing into your skull. None of the other rides at the entire park had that effect. You really feel like you're about to die for a few seconds there.

    I rode Goliath after I'd ridden everything else - so I was actually a little bored with coasters toward the end of the day. Still, Goliath impressed and scared the hell out of me.

    Another thing that probably helped is that there was precious little to hold onto, unlike every other coaster I've ever ridden. At least in the front car, you feel very helpless as there's really nothing to grab onto. You panic slightly during the slow climb to the top, realizing you're about to go hands-free whether you like it or not.

    However, it doesn't seem like anything compared to the monstrosity in this article!

  • Coaster Mania (Score:5, Informative)

    by magicsquid ( 85985 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:24PM (#5921746) Homepage
    Coaster Mania at Cedar Point is Friday, June 6th. I'll be there, and can't wait to wake up at 6 AM and have extended ride time on Top Thrill Dragster from 6:30 AM to 8:30 AM. I imagine there's no better way than to wake up and get shot out of a cannon at 120 MPH.

    If anyone has friends in Ace I highly recommend checking out Coaster Mania. The whole park belongs to you and only about 2000 others between the hours of 6:30 AM - 10:00 AM and from 10:30P PM - 1:00 AM. You have to be a member of a coaster association to get tickets, but either Acer can get one ticket for a non-card holder also.

  • Lame (Score:5, Insightful)

    by stratjakt ( 596332 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:25PM (#5921753) Journal
    These stupid go straight up then straight down and thats it coasters are just lame, and the speed or height doesn't impress me. They're boring as hell. You wait in line for 2 or 3 hours, go fast for 2 or 3 seconds, and the rides over.

    Give me more giant wooden behemoths with hills and twists and corkscrews, and a track that rattles your brain loose from your skull.

    THAT's a rollercoaster. This is just theme park owners comparing wangs to attract customers.

    • Re:Lame (Score:2, Interesting)

      by John3 ( 85454 )
      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 [rcdb.com] 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 [ridezone.com] (built 1929) and the Wildcat [rcdb.com] (built 1996).
      • I've been on some clever steel coasters, and I find them fun but not that exciting. I think they're just too smooth; you have the feeling of moving quickly in strange directions, but it's mainly just interesting, and doesn't have the same thrill as a ride that shakes you while it happens.

        On the other hand, it's fun to get pictures of yourself on a steel coaster going down a big hill. Everybody else is screaming, and you're calming chatting with the person next to you.

    • no no no! These are great! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by mekkab ( 133181 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:50PM (#5921992) Homepage Journal
      Why? Why is it great that there is a 30second ride that people wait on line for over an hour for?

      Its great because while those schmucks are online for the new "uber coaster" the line for the slightly-less ubercoaster has 4 people on it, and you can ride it over and over and over again!

      Bigger,faster,better coasters are great because that lets me ride all the other ones without the crazy lines.

      • Skip the lines (Score:3, Informative)

        by John3 ( 85454 )
        If you have some $$$ to spare when heading to Universal Orlando then stay at one of the on-site hotels. Showing your room key gets you to the head of the line at every ride in the park. At Spiderman, we rode four times straight and each time walked by the same people on line. On the Jurassic Park ride the kid behind us said he waited an hour and hoped the ride was cool. I had to "shush" my daughter who was about to tell him this was our third time in the past fifteen minutes.

        I felt guilty a few times a
        • yeah, there's also some other deal where you get some pass and once every hour you get to go to the head of the line...

          Still, if I ever go to Uni Orlando I'll stay on site. No Lines is worth $100 (to me).
    • There's a whole group of coasters that still rocks. Raging Bull in Schaumberg (Six Flags Great America, I think) - no inversions, it rides like a giant, really really fast woody. Big and wide sideways "loops".

      Personally, I view this as a proof-of-concept. Superman vs. Mr. Freeze. Superman is a giant shoot-you-out-fast, long hangtime. Literally, it goes up, it goes down. Big whoop. Compare it to Mr. Freeze, which includes that and a whole lot more. Or to Poltergeist (Fiesta Texas), which takes th
    • Anything that takes people out of the line for The Raptor makes me happy. Its the best ride ever. I'll ride it once, on a nice slow day when no one is in the park, then fill out the big days that my lame friends insist on going on riding the smaller lines while thousands of people pile into lines for M Force and this new one.

  • Almost like a roller coaster (Score:5, Funny)

    by lcsjk ( 143581 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:26PM (#5921763)
    I fell out of a tree once. Same rush as a roller coaster. The ride was almost as long too! Best part was that I did not have to wait in a two hour line to get started

  • Launch into sky... (Score:5, Funny)

    by pjdepasq ( 214609 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:27PM (#5921774)
    I wonder how long it will be before the damned thing breaks and the "car" portion just takes off into the sky landing about 1 mile from the park.

    • Hey, if it works well enough, maybe it will replace the NASA's shuttle launchpad.
    • we used to do that in Rollercoaster Tycoon... there was this one ride, like a shuttle launch or something, that was basically a track angled at 60 degrees into the air which the coaster cars would travel on. You could control the initial velocity of the cars so we pumped it up all the way; the next line of cars to run went flying off the end of the track, burst into flames, and landed far away, with little cartoon people running around and screaming.

      (We also built hedge mazes in front of the bathrooms, b
    • Or rather, until one of the bottom trusses breaks and they're buried at 140MPH.

      "That's one hell of a hole you got there, Sonny."

      "Yeah."

      (akward silence)

      "Rollercoaster."

      (nods)
    • Hey, that's what I do in Rollercoaster Tycoon!

      Another fun thing to do in that game is build one of those "launch" rides that launch a circular platform of people up a shaft, but set the speed to something ridiculously high, and watch the cart fly off and crash into your park.

      Muahahhahaa!

  • While reading that review (Score:5, Funny)

    by teamhasnoi ( 554944 ) <teamhasnoi AT yahoo DOT com> on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:28PM (#5921788) Journal
    I think I peed myself.

  • the irony (Score:5, Interesting)

    by fjordboy ( 169716 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:31PM (#5921817) Homepage
    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...

  • Steel Coaster Records... (Score:5, Informative)

    by mythosaz ( 572040 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:33PM (#5921838)
    Top Thrill Dragster is:

    #1 Largest Drop: 400ft (#2 is 306 by Steel Dragon at Nagashima Spaland in Japan)
    #1 Height: 420ft (#2 Steel Dragon again)
    #1 Fastest: 120mph (#2 Dodonpa at Fujikyu Highlands in Japan)
    #1 Angle of Descent: 90o. (In a 5-way tie!)

    Of course, Superman at 6 Flags Magic Mountain at 415ft isn't too shabby in the wood coaster category either considering it does 100mph and the same 90o drop.

    'Dragster, however, doesn't make the list of the longest by a longshot.

    Both Cedar Point's "other" Roller Coaster (Millenium Force) and Japan's Steel Dragon rank top three on this list AND every other list of speed, height, drop records.

    Side by side, I'd have to say that Steel Dragon (in Steel) and Superman (in wood) still might be the most impressive of the lot.
    • Actually, Superman the Escape at Six Flags is steel....

      Superman The Escape (Six Flags Magic Mountain) is tied with Tower of Terror (Dreamworld, Australia) for the #2 drop at 328' 1", and the Steel Dragon 2000 is 4th, at (exactly) 306' 9".

      Similarly, Superman the Escape is #2 at 415' tall and Tower of Terror is 377' 4" tall, putting Steel Dragon 2000 in 4th again, with 318' 3"

      Dodonpa (Japan) is #2 at 106.9 mph, Superman The Escape and Tower of Terror are tied at 100 mph, and the Steel Dragon 2000 return

  • Cedar Point (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Schezar ( 249629 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:33PM (#5921842) Homepage Journal
    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.

    ---

    • Re:Cedar Point (Score:3, Informative)

      by Saige ( 53303 )
      Anyone else remember the potato-sack slide?

      Of course... about 3/4ths the way down the Midway, right across from the smorgasborg restaurant they had (still do?), and near the old log ride. That was a lot of fun when I was a kid, I was on the slide a few times every year.

      The one ride I will be most disappointed to see go is the Wave Swinger. It's been a tradition to ride it at least once every time I've been to the park, and when I'm forced to stop, I will be quite disappointed.

      I do wonder how long unt
      • Oh, man, they must never get rid of the Wave Swinger. I already miss the old fun house, the earthquake ride, and my favorite ever, that one spinner contraption over by the aquarium where the floor drops out and you stick to the walls. Now that was a cool ride.

        Those are gone but the Disaster Transport remained. Go figure.

        I used to go there every summer, but since I moved to Washington it's not quite as convenient. I think the last time I was there the ride that year was the Raptor, which is amazing.

        Just t
        • Last I knew, the large midway arcade, the one with all of the classic games (or in many cases, the old ones they just never got rid of) is still there, though most of the others seem to have disappeared.

          I never did get to go on the spinning ride you mention, though I did hear about it.

          The Disaster Transport... I never did understand that one. After all, all they did was take Avalanche Run and build a building around it, re-theming it. And theming is NOT something Cedar Point does well - especially sinc
    • Anyone else remember the potato-sack slide?
      Hell yeah, and I've got the friction burns to prove it. I swear, every year I managed to leave more and more skin on that ride...

  • Mirror (Score:5, Informative)

    by DigitalSorceress ( 156609 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:35PM (#5921851)

    I'm probably going to regret this, but...

    I got there right when the story posted and have Mirrored it [digitalsorceress.com]

  • Moore's Law (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Scrumper ( 615008 )
    Does Moores law apply to roller coaster's as well?

  • Warning (Score:5, Funny)

    by ergonal ( 609484 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:37PM (#5921873)
    Warning slashdot users. Do not go on this ride. If you do, you brain will turn to mush. Here's one testimonial taken from here [thrillride.com] to prove my theory:

    This is the greatest page ever made in the history of internet!!!!!!! I am a ride fanatic, mean you know what I mean "PSYCHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I am 18, i have been loving rides since i was nine. Every ride!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe I found this page!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much, is there any Club i can join?????? I am going crazy!!!!!!!!!!!! Ah!!!!!!!!

    You've been warned.

  • average /. reader is safe (Score:5, Funny)

    by feed_those_kitties ( 606289 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:39PM (#5921896)
    from the Cedar Point website:
    May not accommodate Guests of Exceptional Size.

    Whew! I guess I won't be going on this beastie!

    I'll just continue to enjoy the Magnum XL-200, even though now people will think that a 200 foot tall coaster is 'wimpy'...

    !Sig

  • Just get a fast sportbike (motorcycle). Learn to ride it well at high speeds and soon roller coasters, bungie jumping and other such things seem like a merry-go-rounds.

    ...and the best part is never having to wait in line for an hour.

  • OK, the real web sites for this thing (Score:5, Informative)

    by Animats ( 122034 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:55PM (#5922028) Homepage

  • As inspired by the headline (Score:5, Funny)

    by div_2n ( 525075 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @04:57PM (#5922050)
    New alias for the slashdot effect: Slashdeath
  • 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 de

    • Rollercoasters, bungie jumping, and all those things, are all just sanitised pseudo-challenge. The fact is that we have become so health and safety obsessed (at least in the western world) that these things we do to get that adrenaline rush are no more than synthetic substitutes for the real thing. Every last movement, g-force, and scream has been calculated to the 19th decimal place by computers. Soon we'll be able to just plug our brains in matrix-style for our regular fix of dial-up thrills.

      That said, t
  • The scariest coaster is the old wooden one [nationalpost.com] at the PNE in Vancouver, BC.

    It isn't scary because it is fast, or upside down or any of that fancy stuff.

    It is scary because it is old and made of wood, and every moment you get the feeling that the wood is going to snap and you will die.

    The new fancy coasters are so strong with reinforced whatchamacallits and you know deep down that they are safe.

    Not this one. I swear that if you don't hold on you'd go flying out after the first hump.

    --jeff++

    • I hear you loud and clear...I mentioned [slashdot.org] earlier that I think the pheonix (I think the oldest wooden coaster in the US...?) is the scariest ride I've ever been on. The cars shimmy back and forth constantly and I swear you see the bolts vibrating on the wood and stuff. Does *not* feel safe.
  • Pictures of this coaster here [enquirer.com]. These go in the "you gotta be kidding me" category.

  • Love the rides, hate the wait (Score:3, Interesting)

    by swb ( 14022 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @05:13PM (#5922172)
    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.
    • 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.

      LaRonde in Montreal does this. You buy you admission, and then you can buy "skip the line" tickets for extra (assuming you can find the hidden office where they sell them...)

      Would be a great system if they didn't limit the value of these tickets by only letting you use the

    • Re:Love the rides, hate the wait (Score:5, Insightful)

      by gozar ( 39392 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @06:35PM (#5922682) Homepage
      Cedar Point has looked into some sort of "fastpass" system, but ran into a couple of problems. Most notably, the weather. It could look like the nicest day in the world when all of the sudden it rains. This adds to the delays. The other problem is ride breakdowns. Another poster noted that the ride broke down for 1/2 an hour. Since the Dragster is rated at around 1,500 people an hour, that's 750 people that you have to try to get back into the cue. Just think of the rain lasting 30 minutes, then another 1 hour before the ride is dry enough to ride. You'd have 2,250 people getting pretty ticked.

  • I have been on this (Score:5, Informative)

    by vital3d ( 1548 ) on Friday May 09, 2003 @05:28PM (#5922266)
    Yes, it is fun. It is obscene. Of course it is fast as hell. I went on Sunday, May 4th. I was in line for at least 6.5 hours. In my opinion, the ride is not worth this wait. After getting to the platform, it broke for at least a half hour, seems like they have some bugs to work out. I would ride it again...and I will. Thank goodness for my season pass. :>

    Now getting in the ride is another painful procedure, especially for males. You see, they have a seatbelt with a handle...and a bar that goes over the lap...with a extension near the crotch that hurts...like a mofo. The ride "attendants" pull on the seatbelt handle until you can't feel anymore. Then they put the lap bar until you cry. Imagine, if you have to relieve yourself after standing in the line for 4+ hours.

    Once the train is released onto the track...the christmas tree lights up & you hear the sound effects...with a voice if you have your hands up. Don't be that guy. Do not put your hands up...you just screw everyone else over. The brake pads go down...3 seconds later the train is shot. I blacked out...all I remember is crossing the top & going down the other side. Wow...what a ride.

    Not worth a 6.5 hour wait. Hopefully it will be shorter later in the summer. The better part of the day happened afterwards...my party rode Raptor, Magnum, Wicked Twister all in an hour.

    I also dropped $12 for the priceless picture.
    http://www.shackspace.com/~vital3d@shack mail.com/t eh%20funnay/topthrill.jpg
  • Isn't the need to experience thrills to enjoy life one of the defining traits of a sociopath? Wouldn't that make this thing a magnet for psychopaths and axe-murderers?
  • I'm staying in a cabin (Lighthouse Point) this weekend at Cedar Point. Does anyone know of any unguarded wireless access points around the island? I'll need to get my fix while I'm there.
  • at first glance i thought they were talking about the slashdotting of .Mac, yahoo, and other small-bandwidth hosted sites...
  • 420

    And you get really high.

    Does anyone else think this wasn't a coincidence?

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