Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

The trio of company-owned hotels — the historic Breakers Hotel, upscale Sandcastle Suites, and 12-year-old Breakers Express hotel — at Cedar Point must become “more than a room for the night,” Mr. Ouimet said.

 

This is great news! Those resorts were stuck in 70's. I think this will really do a lot for them.

The Breakers feels like it was stuck in the 1870's.

Has anyone here participated in the summer Jobs program at cedar point? Where in cedar point do you work, and is it worth it to move from the West Coast for the summer? Also, If anyone knows how much the pay plus what they take away for housing and AC is, that'd be awesome.

^ I worked there in 2010 and the following off-season in Challenge Park and Castaway Bay. I knew several that came from pretty far away, most liked it some hated it but it all depends on who you get to know and if you enjoy your job. For housing im not sure what it is now but when I worked there I paid $38 a week to live in the commons dorms (With A/C).

I work in rides, and I am from the southwest, so I'd think the experience from the west coast would be pretty similar. I drive there every summer, so I have to deal with gas prices, but a plane ride is also a viable option, you just have to consider how to get there, because transportation from cleveland to sandusky is crap. There's either greyhound or amtrak, but they are always at the most inconvenient times. Knowing people who live there always helps.

The experience as a whole, in my opinion as a coaster enthusiast, is well worth it. You get to ride coasters for free while you're there working your job, you meet a lot of cool people who are also coaster enthusiasts, and you get to see a completely different side of the theme park industry. The job itself is really fun for a coaster enthusiast because you get to push buttons and check seat belts and stuff! The housing, unfortunately, is not the best. It is livable, definitely, and it's also not too expensive. They just deduct the cost from your paycheck and you never even think that you're paying for housing. The point is that we get a lot of hours so the money isn't bad at all. AC comes with housing if you live off point, however there is no AC in Cedars (men) and Gold (women) dorms, which are on the peninsula. The thing most people love to use is the Cedar Fair perk, which is that while you're an employee, you get into other Cedar Fair parks for free! King's Island trips are frequent!

I don't regret at all working at CP. It costs even more money for me because I have to take a 20 hour drive to get there, but I love every minute of working there!

This is great news! Those resorts were stuck in 70's.

 

That's because Kinzel's mentality of running the company was stuck in the 70's.

 

This is great news though I have never stayed at any of the resorts but I've heard stories about them. I'm really loving what Mr. Ouimet is doing with the company and the parks. CP was actually a bit more enjoyable this past summer than it was the last few years under Kinzel's watch though there is still a bit of work to do to make it the great park it used to be.

Agreed! Still a lot more work is necessary to return the employee attitudes back to their peak 4 - 5 years ago.

Gatekeepers colors have have definitely grown on me... I absolutely love the color scheme.

So at what point do they install the 50' Bowling pin?

........

Drop is almost done!

All I can make out are supports...

Haha! I was thinking...did I miss something?

Here's a screenshot from earlier this afternoon:

http://www.toledoblade.com/State/2012/12/02/Firm-to-invest-60M-to-restore-old-hotels-and-beach-properties.html

 

A century ago, Cedar Point in Sandusky was the place to vacation in Ohio.

 

With its sprawling Breakers Hotel, pristine nationally-known beach, Atlantic City-style boardwalk “roller chairs,” and shoreline rides like the Water Toboggan, the Cedar Point peninsula was crowded every summer with visitors anxious to spend lots of days and nights at the Erie County resort.

 

Matt Ouimet thinks Cedar Point can be that way again.

 

The Cedar Fair LP president and chief executive officer recently green-lighted a $60 million three-year reinvestment of hotel properties at the Sandusky-based amusement park chain’s flagship Cedar Point property. If successful, the move could convince more visitors to plan multi-day stays at Cedar Point rather than one-day visits.

 

The trio of company-owned hotels — the historic Breakers Hotel, upscale Sandcastle Suites, and 12-year-old Breakers Express hotel — at Cedar Point must become “more than a room for the night,” Mr. Ouimet said.

 

The former Walt Disney Co. executive said the importance of Cedar Point to its parent company is obvious.

 

“It’s more a destination resort or super regional park than any of the other parks we have. Its resorts play a much bigger role here than we would see at any of our other parks,” Mr. Ouimet said.

 

“I was talking to some of our guests earlier about what they would like to see. They said they would like to see the resorts more refreshed and the beach enhanced,” he said.

 

After 18 months at Cedar Fair’s headquarters, which is nestled between Cedar Point’s nostalgic buildings and beach and is but a short walk from the park’s midway, Mr. Ouimet agrees with those customers who want a restoration of the park’s hotel and beach properties.

 

“I’ve become enamored with this place,” he said of the 106-year-old park. “This is a very important asset not only to our company, but to the state of Ohio.”

 

Mr. Ouimet envisions hotels with greater ambience — an aspect he may have learned from running Disney’s Cruise Ship lines — and a beach where families can play, stroll, and bathe in the Lake Erie waters during breaks from the amusement park or nearby Soak City water park.

 

To make that vision reality, two weeks ago Cedar Fair announced it would sell its Knott’s Soak City water park in the San Diego suburb of Chula Vista to SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. Cedar Fair will use the sale’s proceeds to help fund makeovers at its Cedar Point hotels.

 

The water park’s sale price wasn’t disclosed, but Cedar Fair paid $11.6 million for it in 1999. Mr. Ouimet said the park’s value has increased since then.

 

SeaWorld approached Cedar Fair about buying the water park, Mr. Ouimet said. But the CEO acknowledged he immediately saw the deal as a good way to pay for hotel upgrades — which are slated to start in late 2013 and cost $15-$20 million annually through 2015 — without disrupting Cedar Fair’s annual capital expenditures budget that funds new rides and attractions at the company’s 11 amusement parks, three remaining outdoor water parks, and one indoor water park.

 

“We see it as supplemental cap-ex budget for the $15 to $20 million a year. It’s supplemental to the rides and attraction budget, as we didn’t want to steal from that,” Mr. Ouimet said.

 

Rick Munarriz, an analyst for the Motley Fool online investor Web site, said a reinvestment in the hotels is probably a good move because staying in them at times feels like “the resorts that time forgot.”

 

The historic Breakers, he said, is very conveniently located next Cedar Point, “But for the most part, it’s as much a throwback hotel as when they had Abbot and Costello stay there and all the other old celebrities who used to come there,” Mr. Munarriz said.

 

“It can be kind of freaky in halls with no elevators and the old A/C units on the windows. … It makes you think that it is a regional operator and not a Disney World type of park,” he said.

 

Mr. Munarriz said spending up to $60 million to improve the hotels isn’t likely to pay off right away for Cedar Fair. “But it’s something that needs to get done even though it won’t be major driver of their income,” he said.

 

“It’s a smart move in theory and one what will pay off in time, I believe,” he said.

 

Details of the makeovers are only now being discussed internally but general plans call for a refreshment in some areas of the hotels, and a repositioning and refurbishment in others. Consumers will be solicited for ideas, and some of the changes could be dramatic, Mr. Ouimet said.

 

Overall, the goal is to create a pricing tier of good-better-best so that there will be nice accommodations for every visitor’s budget, from high-end spenders to budget-conscious families.

 

“I probably learned that originally at Disney but the hotel industry is also segmented that way. It’s a good-better-best philosophy,” Mr. Ouimet said.

 

“I think we have a real opportunity to create a room inventory like that. And like a cruise ship, no matter what level of room you choose, everyone can enjoy all the amenities in the same way. You can enjoy Cedar Point the same way or you can enjoy Soak City the same way no matter what level of hotel you choose,” he added.

 

Customers could even find good-better-best room pricing levels all at one hotel, the CEO said.

 

Once the hotel properties are upgraded, Mr. Ouimet said, Cedar Point will be in position to do two things: offer customers new vacation packages that include lodging and park admissions, and create more nighttime entertainment, such as the Luminosity light and dance show that debuted this past season.

 

Amusement industry consultant Dennis Speigel, head of International Theme Park Services Inc., in Cincinnati, said Cedar Point’s hotels are probably an area where Cedar Fair does need to spend more money.

 

“We’re seeing in Orlando that when you adopt a higher quality room standard, people will spend. It will increase the length of stay,” Mr. Speigel said.

 

Cedar Point already faces strong competition for overnight stays in Sandusky from the Kalahari Resort and the Great Wolf Lodge, the consultant said. Giving customers better reasons to stay at Cedar Point is a good investment, he added.

 

“Sandusky is already a destination. If you’re going to Sandusky, you’re not going anywhere else. So the more people you can put on [your property] the more you can draw them back into the park,” Mr. Speigel said.

 

Cedar Point has done an adequate job with its hotel properties, but, “I’d say the hotel aspect has been under-managed over last 10 to 15 years,” he said.

 

Mr. Ouimet said that in his estimation, the hotels at Cedar Point, which includes its Castaway Bay resort with an indoor water park, have performed “very well” financially, making it hard to change things too much.

 

“But it’s the right long-term investment for our combined assets,” he said.

A well needed update for Cedar Point and a smart financial decision to sell the water park in San Diego to help fund the upgrades of the Cedar Point resort.

All I can make out are supports...

Looks like the image i posted is actually not a screen shot but the actually webcam itself... don't know how that happened... so the image will change depending on what time you look at it. Since it was night time you couldnt see anything... but if you look during the day EST the drop is almost done. Probably will be done as of today!

Here is a screenshot of the webcam at the time of this post:

The drop is almost done.

Wow that really is a huge dive loop.

Yes it is! I remember back when Tatsu's pretzel loop was installed I was like OMG that's huge... but this will be awesome!

Here is a link to another webcam that is not listed on the website! Great view of construction!

http://174.121.245.214/cp/HalloweekendsCam_1024.jpg

I'm oddly excited about riding this next summer now that construction is well under way.

Will this drop get the record of steepest? Near the top, the train will be moving downward at a greater angle than Takabisha?

Will this drop get the record of steepest? Near the top, the train will be moving downward at a greater angle than Takabisha?

Then you would have to share it with X-Flight and Swarm seeing that all three have the same drop style.

Wow! I went to CP in July and Disaster Transpor was in full operation. It's amazing to see what has been accomplished in just over 4 months! Hopefully I will be able to head back there again and try this monster!

^ Thanks to those who posted the screenshots. Unless I get up at 5am I usually can only make out the floodlights. Stupid time difference.

Final Support for the first drop structure is up... Almost done.

Gatekeeper Webcam Screenshot 12/5/12

Gatekeeper Webcam Screenshot 12/5/12

Gatekeeper Webcam Screenshot 12/5/12

Gatekeeper Webcam Screenshot 12/5/12

Gatekeeper Webcam Screenshot 12/5/12

mmmmmmmmmm.... Gatekeeper.......

that looks bleeping hot!

Will this drop get the record of steepest? Near the top, the train will be moving downward at a greater angle than Takabisha?

The drop has an angle of 360°, making it a full circle--however it's clearly 180° .

And the drop really doesn't have any definitive steepness since it's an inversion.

You'd think the steepness record would go to the Screamin' Squirrels (180°), but those actually do not "drop". 180° is moving a straight horizontal direction.