Cedar Point: New Area, Restaurants, and Festival

Greetings readers!!!!

So today I bring news out of Cedar Point with updates on dining and a festival plan.  I have made a nice little outline for everyone to read; it was actually how I wrote it up and it just makes sense to write it up that way.

So I'll start with the new area:

I grabbed this from Cedar Point's website

Forbidden Frontier on Adventure Island

• Replacing Dinosaurs Alive
• Entrance is through former Shoot the Rapids station
• Unlock puzzles and physical challenges
• Interact with characters
• Multiple different endings depending on what secrets are discovered

Honestly it sounds like an outdoor escape room to me with the puzzles and challenges and secrets.  Usually things like this don't interest me, but I might give this shot considering there are multiple endings and ways to figure things out.

Next up is the two new restaurants:

Cropped from Cedar Point website

BackBeatQue

• Located at the previous site of the Witches Wheel; near the Magnum XL-200 park entrance.
• Smokehouse Barbecue
• Live Music
• Outdoor Dining Space
• All food is made from scratch
• Will have 2 or 3 smokers for meat

Carrie is excited for this since she LOVES barbecue while I'm okay with it.  Not a huge fan, but that's mostly because I don't like messy food (I'm weird like that).  Although if majority wins we'll absolutely try it out.

Cropped from Cedar Point website

Hugo's Italian Kitchen

• Replacing Midway Market
• Traditional Italian fare and desserts
• Located next to Raptor
• Gas-grilled and Open flamed brick pizza oven
• Hand made pasta

Since Carrie and I are both Italian this one sounds pretty awesome although I was a fan of the Midway Market and am sad to see it go, but it's nice that CP is updating it's dining options.  Also, both of these restaurants will be on Cedar Point's Dining Plan.

Finally the festival:

Cropped from Cedar Point website

Frontier Festival

• Brew & BBQ will be incorporated into this new festival
• Old west type street festival
• Featuring local artisans
• Will have kid's crafts and games
• Continuous live entertainment
• Food and drink outside of the Brew & BBQ food
• Extra fee for food and drink cards
• Open daily on June 7th to 30th from 4pm to 10pm

We are SUPER excited about this because Carrie and I killed the food and different drinks last year and greatly enjoyed the Brew & BBQ fest that we're both excited to see how Cedar Point is going to update this.

 

I'm honestly glad to see Cedar Point updating and trying new things because I feel like for the last couple of years they seem to have been riding on their name and being the "Roller Coast" blah blah blah.  Since we are a whole 3 hours away from Sandusky everyone can rest assured that ISI will be checking it again this year.

Best wishes ISI readers!!  

Tragic Death at Cedar Point

Good morning peoples!!!!

I hope that everyone is doing well this morning and Happy Friday!!

Today's article is regarding the tragic accident that happened yesterday at Cedar Point.  If you haven't heard already, a guest was struck by the Raptor coaster when he entered the restricted area of the ride.  Sadly, due to his injuries the guest passed away.  Thankfully no one on the ride was injured when this occurred.

As you can see in the above photo the fence (if memory serves stands taller than my 5'2" frame) runs around the entire coaster grass creating a safety area for a reason.  The Raptor trains run about 60mph and there is generally two trains running (one loading and one on the track) but it can go up to three.

Once the accident happened CP immediately closed the ride and called authorities. They also posted to their social media pages what had happened.  I give them credit for openly saying what had happened rather then wait for someone else to do it.

From a couple of news sites, the guest (who I will not name out of respect) lost his cell phone on the ride and once he exited he jumped over the fence to retrieve it and was struck.  Now, while I have my opinions, this is the perfect lesson to all amusement/theme park lovers out there.  Your cell phone is NOT worth your life-this is a luxury item that can be replaced, you can not.  What the guest should of done upon realizing that he lost his phone was to alert any park employee who would than alert ride ops who would either hold up the ride for the item to be retrieved or would find the best time to retrieve the item.  Those protective fences are there for a reason!  Any guest can not accurately "time" a ride for safety, depending on weather conditions a coaster train can speed up or slow down along the track.

Please let this be a lesson to all you faithful readers.  Nothing you own is worth your life!  These amusement/theme parks have signs/fences up for your safety-which means they are there for a reason and usually that reason is that you could get injured/die.

As always: If you're nice to us than we'll be nice to you. You can find us in the usual places, just go to the "Where to Follow" tab on the home page and follow!!! 

B&M Dive Machine Coming to Cedar Point in 2016?

Well, it would appear that the rumors are circulating something fierce on this one thanks to a memo that was leaked/uncovered by the Sandusky Register. It would appear that a communication from the famed Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) coaster design firm is firmly hinting at a new coaster coming to Cedar Point in 2016.

So, just what is in the uncovered document? Well, it would seem like one of the design firm's dive machines will be coming to the park. At a price tag of around $15mil, it does seem like a likely fit and the park already has a healthy stable of coasters from B&M, as do many Cedar Fair parks around North America.

One of the things that makes this rumor a little more concrete is that the area the park has currently marked for redevelopment isn't that large. By design, most dive machines are compact in nature thanks to steep lift hills and their typical 90 degree first drops, allowing for a much smaller space to be utilized by them.

Given the fact that demolition has started on the Good Time Theater, the area around it could be a good fit. This is in spite of a couple of other rides in the area. I'm sure that they could work around them if they wanted or possibly go in other directions with the layout as well.

Interestingly enough, the proposed ride from B&M also included specs as well. According to the report, the coaster would feature a height of 223 feet with a total length of 3,625 feet and a top speed of 80 mph.  The ride will feature several elements including a vertical drop in a tunnel, an Immelmann, a 270-degree roll, a banked curve, a “looping,” an Immelmann with a half-roll exit, a second drop, a camel back and a spiral with a total of four inversions.

If those stats are anything to be believed, it would not only make it the tallest and longest coaster of its type in the world, but also with the most inversions and tallest. The tallest currently, Busch Gardens Williamsburg's Griffon at 205'. The only other coaster of its kind in the United States is Sheikra at Busch Gardens Tampa.  Curious what it's like to ride one of these beasts? Got ya covered from our ride on Griffon earlier in 2014.


Now, this is only one proposal the park is looking at for 2016, and we won't know for sure if this is exactly what's coming, but it would make sense if they wanted to get another record breaker for the Cedar Fair family of parks.

Stay tuned for more info out of Cedar Point and what could be coming in the future and everywhere else across the globe right here and follow us on Twitter, Google+, Tumblr and Facebook for all the latest!

Cedar Point- Mantis Being "Squashed".

Cedar Point- Breaking News, 'Mantis' Coaster at Cedar Point Being "Squashed"?!

Well, looks like rumors from Cedar Point might be true.

In a surprise announcement, Cedar Point stated that the Stand-Up Roller Coaster 'Mantis' will be 'squashed' in 2015. Now, no one is sure what exactly this means. Will the ride be entirely removed for the park or will is be receiving new trails, turning the ride into a 'floorless' roller coaster?
Some speculation also exists that the ride could be entirely re-named for a bet Cedar Point made to LeBron James, stating if he came back to the Cleveland Cavaliers, they would rename a roller coaster for him. 

Your last chance to ride Mantis will be October 19th, 2014.

There is still no word about the much rumored 'Dark Ride' which others believe the park has been hinting at for years.

More Clues from Cedar Point on their 2015 Project

Well, it's no secret that Cedar Point is up to something and just recently I took a look at a few of the clues and potential locations for their newest attraction. I'm still in the mindset that this will be some kind of dark ride. I just don't see the park adding a new coaster after spending $30million on Gatekeeper just last year and recent hints from the park definitely lean dark ride.

Just recently, the official Cedar Point blog "On Point" released a series of pictures and a few stood out to not only myself, but also +Carrie H.C. and +Alexandra F as well. The first one in the series definitely caught my eye.

What looks to be just an unused building by the Blue Streak queue to many is actually the former home of another attraction from Cedar Point's past. In this case? A dark ride.

The Pirate Ride (yeah, we know, not really an original name) operated for a span of 30 years from 1966 until it's eventual closure in 1996. As you can see in the picture to the right, we're looking at the exact same location as pictured above.

Could be something to throw people off, but we're talking about a ride building that's been unused for nearly 20 years now. That's a little weird.

This could be the bigger clue.The next couple of pictures show ground markings. Yeah, I know, so exciting. But, the fact that we're looking at some kind of plastic pipes (PLAS) in the very area of an older ride gives some pause here and feels like something is about to change in the vicinity. Sure, it could just be coincidence but somehow I doubt that.

At first we thought the markings had something to do with water lines, but a little more examination has proven that to be wrong. These are in fact typically used for marking communications, alarms, signals, cables or conduits under the surface. The color is a little hard to make out and there's some debate over , but somehow I doubt there's any flammable lines running under the park here.

The bigger issue though, is that these are pretty far from the location above. These could have more to do with FUNtv than anything else.

The rest of the pictures from the blog post seem pretty random though a couple of things did catch our eye. One of them being a picture of a steel building that's right next to Gatekeeper. This one's a little confusing because I doubt they'll be removing it or putting in something new so close to the coaster, but weirder things have happened.

Now, I'm not 100% sure if this is the building that some people were referring to earlier or if it was the one that I pointed out in the previous article about this. Either one could be the case, but I think if anything this one gets used for one of the mazes this fall.

I can't really see them doing much with it at all for a ride building since there's not much to it and that close to Gatekeeper would be very strange indeed. I don't care how tight they are on space, that's just not a good idea.

The last little tidbit in the blog post was an interesting bit about not waiting century and the use of the word "mi", which is Italian for me. Now, we're not sure what they're up to with this one at all since from the looks of things Centurian or at least a Roman theme was planned for Carowinds, but at this point, it's hard to say just what they're up to at all.

My bet right now is whatever is coming to the park in 2015, leaning towards a dark ride of some kind still, that it will likely be either in or near the old Pirate Ride building. Until more clues and a date for the announcement becomes known, we'll continue to speculate and try to piece together the pieces. Stay tuned for more updates!

Breaking News - Cable Snaps on Cedar Point's Skyhawk

The Sandusky Register is reporting that the Skyhawk ride at Cedar Point experienced a malfunction around 10:30pm Saturday, July 26th.

The cause of the accident has been reported as a cable snapping which caused damage to the ride's barrier. Reports are coming in that say that the cable snapped while the ride was at or near it's peak height of 125ft after a series of "loud bangs", according to a park employee, and the ride was not stopped mechanically, but by gravity.

 According to guests at the park, at least one person was hit by flying wood debris from this. However, there's no real confirmation on that. There's also been reports of another guest suffering a broken leg, but no sources have confirmed this and the park has not made any official statements regarding the accident yet.

Skyhawk, built by S&S Worldwide was opened in 2006 and can reach speeds upwards of 65mph. This particular ride has had issues in the past with cables snapping as well, and this marks the third accident in the past 8 years occurring with it.

The entire InSanity lurks Inside team hopes that everyone on the ride and surrounding area is alright and no major injuries occurred. We'll have more on this story as details develop.

UPDATE 12:54pm: Cedar Point has come out with an official statement regarding the incident;

Cedar Point spokesman Bryan Edwards released the following statement:

"At approximately 10 p.m., a cable on one of the Skyhawk swing ride's carriages disconnected. The ride's crew immediately shut down the ride and notified the park's emergency personnel. 
The cable came in contact with two guests. One was treated and released at the scene. As a precaution, the other was transported to a local hospital for evaluation.

Safety is our top priority at Cedar Point. Skyhawk will remain closed until our investigation is complete and the ride can safely reopen."

Images via the Sandusky Register

Cedar Point to get New Dark Ride in 2015?

Okay, so it was rumored last year that Cedar Point may be getting a dark ride in 2014. Turns out that rumor was false, the dark ride ended up at Canada's Wonderland as Wonder Mountain's Guardian. It's not the first time that's happened either, in the past Knott's Berry Farm was to get a giga coaster and that ended up in Canada as Leviathan.

So, here we are once again with a rumor stating that Cedar Point may finally get their dark ride, assuming of course this one doesn't get shipped off either. However, there is a case for things this time around. As reported by Screamscape, this mainly comes in the way of something from Twitter and the name of a camp site. Doesn't get any weirder than that, but here we are.

First up, the tweet from Cedar Point's Tony Clark:

Currently working diligently on 2015. Did I spel that rite? More importantly, did I say it right...
— Tony Clark (@TonyClarkCP) July 15, 2014

The interesting bit there is the "Did I spel that right?" and "Did I say it right.." bits. Time for a little word geekery to get to the bottom of this one!

First off, "spel" is an Old English spelling for the word "spell", as in magical spells. Next up is the word "rite", which by definition is typically a ritual of some kind. So out of context it seems like nothing, but a little deeper look and we get a ritual spell out of it. Now, that last bit? Any fan of the Evil Dead movies should get the reference there to Army of Darkness, saying these things is important, just ask Ash how that turns out if you get it wrong. Remember, don't speak the Latin!

The other clue is that the temporary camp name during the Coaster Campout Event that was held over the weekend of 19th and 20th. The name was Camp Rou. On it's own, it seems rather innocuous. However, knowing that Cedar Fair has filed a trademark for Rougarou, the French word for Werewolf earlier this year makes it a little more interesting than normal. Interestingly enough, it also is an abbreviation for Romania (nice tie in there) and I doubt they meant it to mean Roué which is a man devoted to a life of sensual pleasure. It could be, but that'd be weird.

Be a Kid Again at Kings Island - Kid's Prices for Everyone!

Kings Island announced on Facebook today that for one day only everyone gets to be a kid again. Well, at least as far as the price of tickets to the park goes that is.

That means that everyone can purchase a ticket for the low price of $36.99! However, there is a catch. The tickets have to be ordered online through the Kings Island website and they are only good for Monday, June 30th.

Either way, it's a helluva deal for such a great park and not to mention, getting a chance to ride the world record breaking inverted coaster, Banshee as well as the world's longest wooden coaster, Beast!

So, if you're looking to go and want in on the deal head on over to www.visitkingsisland.com and remember to use the code 1DAYSALE619 in the upper corner of the website. Act fast though, this is a one day sale that starts at Midnight tonight and ends at 11:59pm on Thursday the 19th (that's tomorrow btw).

Feel free to catch our review of the park from last year as well as our review of Banshee right here!

More Problems for Flight of Fear at Kings Island?

It's been reported that Kings Island once again had an issue with Flight of Fear this past weekend.

Saturday morning fire crews were called out to the park due to smoke seen coming from the ride. The smoke, according to Kings Island's statement, was from an electrical panel and was able to be dealt with quickly. Luckily, little damage was done and only the panel itself was effected.

Just a couple of weeks ago, on June 3rd, fire crews were called out to the ride due to heavy smoke as well. That incident resulted in the ride building being evacuated and 18 people suffering from heavy smoke inhalation. The cause was apparently due to a motor within the ride malfunctioning.

At this point one has to wonder if the days are numbered for Flight of Fear. Only time will tell if the ride has some major faults or if they can be corrected to keep it running smoothly in the future.

Cedar Point Re-Open after 'Wet' Weekend.

Cedar Point Re-Opens after 'Wet' Weekend.

 It isn't often that I report an amusement park has closed in the middle of the summer season, yet this is exactly what happened to Cedar Point.

 While the park has officially re-opened today (Monday) it was closed over the weekend due to a massive water-main break. However, the blame seems to have been pushed around. Cedar Point hinted that it was the City of Sandusky's fault yet the water-main pipe in question was located under the Cedar Point parking lot. Which is on property owned by Cedar Point.. so wouldn't that be the parks responsibility?  As always, the public will likely only get a small faction of the truth.

 There don't seem to be any answers about the matter of responsibility and ownership but I'd suspect that Cedar Point will likely be spending this coming off-season doing some serious infrastructure upgrades. Generally the rule is when one sections of a  water-main breaks, it's simply a matter of time until more sections begin to fail.  Perhaps other parks will take this sudden weekend closure of Cedar Point to heart and pay attention to their own power/water supplies.

**On the Good Side...**
  Cedar Point is offering a Discount Ticket to make up for the closed weekend issue. Giving you $20 off your ticket until this Sunday and one Free Admission to Soak City until September 1st.
  Just visit- Cedar Point Park Update

Kings Island- Flight of Fear Malfunction

Image from WCPO

 Kings Island's "Flight of Fear" Malfunctions, Causes Smoky Problem.


 Today around 2:45pm the roller coaster "Flight of Fear" at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio malfunctioned. The indoor roller coaster had fire crews responding to reports of a possible fire and smoke.

 While no fire was found the moter which powers the roller coasters famous launch was found to be smoking, causing a complete evacuation of the ride and 18 people to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Image from WCPO

 During the evacuation and inspection by fire crews, the roller coaster 'Firehawk' was also closed down to allow the crews to move through that area safely.  'Firehawk' reopened around 4pm today.

The cause of the engines malfunction is not yet known, the ride will likely be closed for several days to clean and repair everything, as well as find out why the problem happened to begin with.

Fire at Clermont Steel- B&M Ohio Coaster Plant

Fire at Clermont Steel, B&M's Ohio Fabricator.


 Not good news for American Roller Coaster Fan this morning as older news tends to hit late.

 Cincinnati's WLWT is reporting that two alarm fire broke out at Clermont Steel Fabricators recently. This is the Ohio Plant which produces many of the United States collective of B&M Roller Coasters. The fire departments reports the fire started in a 'bag house' in which the company stores recyclable items. They also report no injuries but also not damage assessment either. As you can see from the image, coaster track is stationed outside the plant for delivery... no word of if this will effect future coaster deliveries.

Info from: WLWT Cincinnati 

Kings Island- New Show for 2014

Kings Island adds a New Show for 2014.

 Coming to Kings Island in 2014 is a new "Cirque" style show. Opening on May 24th at the Kings Island Theater, the new show called "Cirque Imagine" will show off impressive acrobatics.

 Not much is known about what acts are included in the new show but from the teaser video we've seen balance, acrobatics, human hoop and rollerblade bits included. The new show is fully included in your park admission and is set to last 30 minutes.

 Check out the teaser video below!

Post by Kings Island.

King's Island: The Bat - The Car

 

King's Island: The Bat

Hello All!!!

I'm so sorry that I'm a little behind in this update but life happens especially with ISI leaving our home turf tomorrow and heading out to SoCal for the week!!

So I have found a photo of what the cars will look when the park opens for business in April.

And....

3....

2....

1.....

BOOM BABY!

I like the orange myself.  I bet it'll reflect nicely with the sunlight and everything is going to look gorgeous!!!

And just for fun and games (and I can't remember if I posted it before, haha) here is the original commercial for The Bat from 1981.  This is a just a bit of fun plus it's interesting to note that the original ride opened on April 26 and the new ride will open on April 18.  They are SO close to the same opening date. 

Now I don't want everyone to worry that any new information will be forgotten while the crew is in CA.  We will be keeping up with all of our in progress stories.

So as always: any comments made are to be polite and without malice.  If you're nice to us then we'll be nice to you.

You can find us on Google+, Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook.

*Picture was found on KI's Facebook page and the video was on YouTube

King's Island: The Bat - Repainting

 

Hello all!!!

King's Island is super busy with construction on Banshee and redoing The Bat all in time for opening day this year.  We have found some updated pictures for everyone to enjoy.

For everyone who may have forgotten: The Bat is being recreated out of Flight Deck and so far it looks really neat.  

Here is a photo of Flight Deck cars being repainted.  I'm going to guess that they're going with the orange and gray color scheme like the track photos, but I haven't seen any finished pictures yet.

 

Here are two photos of the track being repainted.  I am really happy to see that King's Island is revitalizing Flight Deck rather then knock it down to build something else. I can't wait to see this finalized in April and hope to see more pictures soon.

As always: any comments made are to be polite and without malice.  If you're nice to us then we'll be nice to you.

You can find us on Google+, Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook.

*Pictures were found on KI's Facebook page.

The Beast - 35th Anniversary!!

Happy 35th Birthday to King's Island The Beast!!!!

Hello peoples!!

Yesterday was the 35th Anniversary of The Beast at King's Island.  In 1979 King's Island unveiled the monster that we know and love to the public.

So here is some info about the angry coaster:
 

Length:	7,359 ft
Height:	110 ft
Drop:	141 ft
Inversions:	0
Speed:	64.8 mph**
Duration:	4:10

Capacity: 1,200 riders per hour

**(We call BS on this because ISI has clocked her running around 80mph and anyone who has ridden the coaster knows that as it gets cooler outside Beast runs faster.  I killed a bug with my face because of her speed, trust me.)

Geauga Lake- Property may be Reused

Former Amusement Park, Geauga Lake Property May be Reused in the Future.

Image from Wikipedia

 The former property of Geauga Lake may see reuse in the future. The city of Aurora has announced that they plan to rezone the 548 acres not associated with Wildwater Kingdom (currently owned by Cedar Fair).

 They'd like to turn the property into a mixed zone of retail, housing and entertainment. The announcement is suppose to be made public on January with the public vote to be held sometime in May.  While even Wildwater Kingdom may be rezoned in this movie, Cedar Fair as stated they plan to keep operating and retain ownership of the former SeaWorld property.

More details at Aurora Advocate

Banshee Watch- December 13

 Another Update to Banshee Watch for December 13th, 2013

 Even in the Winter Months while most of the park lies dormant in the snow, waiting for it's springtime crowds to return, construction on the new Banshee Roller Coaster hasn't stopped!

 While much of the site may be covered in snow, work keeps moving as you can see from the photo to the right which was posted on Kings Islands Facebook Page.  Work still continues on the rides heavily themed station area, rumor has it they expect to have much of the construction finished and ride testing to begin sometime between February and March of 2014.

Banshee Charity Event- First Time Night Rides

 More information today about the opening day of both Kings Island and their newest, record breaking roller coaster- Banshee.


 On April 17th of 2014, Kings Island is offering a special event for fans of the new roller coaster and raising money for charity at the same time. In an event called "Scream For A Kid Again" Kings Island will be allowing the first 'night riders' on their new coaster exclusive ride time in return for raising money for 'A Kid Again' charity.

 A Kid Again is a Greater Cincinatti Charity which raises money for kids with life-threatening illness' and their families through respite times of group activities and destination trips. Allowing the kids to enjoy being a kid and having fun-filled times of happiness.

 For a $25 dollar fee riders can sign up to raise $100 each in donations. For the folks who raise the most money, will be the winners of the very first 'night ride' during Banshee's first day of full operations!

 In 2009 Kings Island raised more then  $107,000 with the same event for the opening of their 'Diamondback' roller coaster. Not only do you get special riding privileges, you do something good for kids!

 If you'd like to sign up and help raise money, please visit- Kings Island: Scream For A Kid Again

 We here at InSanity lurks Inside are thinking we may put together a ride team for this event. However, I need to confer with our team members! Stay Turned for more information! 

More Sad News- Saying Goodbye to Raging Wolf Bobs

More Grim News Today- Saying Goodbye to Raging Wolf Bobs

 This month has truly been a roller coaster of emotions. Good news is always peppered with the bad and this week is also no exception. We're loosing a modern legend, the end of an era and one of the biggest coaster mysteries to date.

 Raging Wolf Bobs. People speak of it in hushed whispers of reverence and then speculate wildly about one wooden coaster which as been sitting abandoned since the closure of Geauga Lake in 2007. 

 Now, I'm sure many of you haven't followed the odd history and the mystery of this ride so I'll refer you to to Geauga Lake- The Mystery of the Raging Wolf Bobs and a group of people with more mind-boggling knowledge about the park then I could ever have Geauga Lake Today and Forever.

 We know Raging Wolf Bobs was sold, we know it was being handled to Apex Western Machinery Movers. We know it was sold at auction for a reported $2,500 and a large portion of the track moved to an unknown owner.

 Not answers exist beyond those facts. No one knows for sure who the mystery owner is or if all the tracking was removed or only a portion of it. However,  today we're sorry to say what remains of the ride structure are being completely demolished.  This image spotted today over on Coaster Talk, No BS Zone seems to confirm the demise of yet another once amazing ride.

 Watching any coaster comes down tugs on the hearts of fans. It doesn't matter if you never had the chance to judge it for yourself, because now you never will. However, with Raging Wolf Bobs- Hope still exists. With an unknown owner perhaps sometime in the future the ride will once again claw it's way up for the ashes to howl again.

With Raging Wolf Bobs now gone, I can't help but wonder something. What is the fate of it's sister coaster, Big Dipper?