Ride Watch

Interview with Cedar Point Director of Maintenance & New Construction Ed Dangler

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1 year ago
by Andrew in , , , , , , , ,

From WKZO.com…

Coaster buffs like myself will enjoy a full 30 minutes with Ed Dangler, Director of Maintenance and New Construction at Cedar Point. Topics include various coaster wheel assembly arrangements, launch and restraint systems, how coasters and maintained and repaired, the process through which Cedar Point decides what to build and how to build it and much more!

Interview Highlights

  • No wooden coaster in the near future for Cedar Point, maybe after two more years. 16:12
  • Part of the WindSeeker’s foundation will be on the beach [like suggested by the construction stakes earlier this season].  18:10
  • WindSeeker Challenges  18:15
    • Winter Weather
    • Water Table
  • Process of Adding a Ride  20:32
    • Executive Planning Board to decide ride based on the need to offer guests something new and excited.
    • Ride manufacturing is in charge of the design.
      • TUV overseeing WindSeeker Construction.
  • Dick Kinzel decides if they want to be the first at something, such as the tallest and fastest roller coasters. 25:35
  • Nostalgia is a delicate decision at Cedar Point.  A long and thought out process to remove a ride. 26:00
  • Guest input is important. Cedar Point is good friends with ACEers.  They read and encourage comments.  Social media gives them instant feedback.  28:00
WindSeeker

New for 2011: WindSeeker

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1 year ago
by Andrew in , , , , , ,

Cedar Point has announced that it will introduce WindSeeker, a 30-story-tall swing ride to the Sandusky, Ohio, amusement park/resort for next summer. WindSeeker will tower above everything around its location on the beach, rising almost as high as the Millennium Force roller coaster’s giant first hill.

In the early 1900s, the Cedar Point Beach was a hub of activity as families played in the sand or frolicked in the lake. One of its most popular attractions was the Sea Swings that would dip riders into the cool waters of Lake Erie as it spun in a circular motion.

Now 100 years later, Cedar Point will add a 21st century version of that thrilling ride to the park for next summer.

The new WindSeeker will be a 301-foot-tall tower that will spin riders nearly 30 stories above the Lake Erie shoreline. Seated in two-person swings that will allow their feet to dangle, riders will slowly begin rotating in a circular motion as the swings ascend the tower. At the top, the swings will be reaching speeds between 25-30 mph, flaring out almost 45 degrees from the tower. WindSeeker will be able to accommodate 64 riders (32 swings) at one time.

“Spinning almost 300 feet above Lake Erie and the Cedar Point Beach will be a very exciting ride experience for our guests,” said John Hildebrandt, the vice president and general manager of Cedar Point. “Day or night, WindSeeker will provide riders with dramatic views of the park and the Cedar Point Peninsula. It will be an extremely popular addition to Cedar Point.”

WindSeeker will be positioned near the present location of the Ocean Motion swinging boat ride and will extend the park’s midway onto the Cedar Point Beach. At the end of the season, Ocean Motion, built in 1981, will be dismantled. It is currently available for sale.

In comparison to other Cedar Point rides, WindSeeker will climb nearly two stories higher than the cabin on the park’s Space Spiral observation ride and is only a few feet shorter than the first hill on Millennium Force. Another swing ride, the Wave Swinger that opened in Frontiertown in 1979, is 31 feet tall and has a top speed of approximately 9 mph.

The ride is manufactured by Mondial, a 23-year-old Dutch-based company. WindSeeker will cost approximately $5 million to build. Riders must be at least 48 inches tall and will be secured with individual over-the-head lap bars with interlocking seat belt.

Overall, Cedar Point will add more than $6 million in capital improvements to the park for 2011.

Height

301 feet

Manufacturer

Mondial

Ride Time

3 min., 0 sec.

Year Opened

2011

Height Requirement

48″

New Cedar Point ride’s patent being disputed

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1 year ago
by Andrew in , , , , , ,

From toledoBlade.com…

SANDUSKY – Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky had intricate plans to use the social media site Facebook as the place next week to unveil its newest ride for 2011.

But now it appears that an Australian ride manufacturer has revealed it in a patent dispute over its version of a towering thrill ride it calls StarFlyer and a Dutch competitor’s version called Wind Seeker.

Funtime Group of Bundall, Australia, claims it thought it had a deal with Cedar Fair LP to build a 400-foot high StarFlyer ride to debut at Cedar Point in 2011, but now the Sandusky park plans to buy a Wind Seeker from Mondial World of Rides of Terband, the Netherlands.

Both rides feature a large tower that spins up to 50 riders from a center ring that rises high into the air. StarFlyer’s chairs are attached by chains, Wind Seeker’s by poles.

Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services Inc., of Cincinnati, said StarFlyer-type rides cost just more than $2 million each and do not require a large area like a roller coaster.

Funtime, which introduced StarFlyer in 2004 and has a U.S. patent on the design, has threatened legal action if Cedar Point builds a Wind Seeker.

“We’ve spoken with the folks at Cedar Fair and my belief is we’re going to work it out,” said Tony Handal, a lawyer for Cottingham Agencies, the U.S. patent holder on StarFlyer for Funtime Group. “We have a patent and it’s a remarkable ride, newer technology. I couldn’t imagine Cedar Fair wouldn’t respect our rights in this.”

Mr. Handal said Cottingham wants Cedar Fair either to buy a StarFlyer or pay a licensing fee for using technology it claims infringes on its patent.

The attorney said that, while the two ride makers attach their two-seat ride cars differently, Cottingham’s position is there’s “no significant difference” in the two rides.

Officials at Mondial could not be reached for comment.

Cedar Fair spokesman Stacy Frole said the company had no comment on the controversy or statements by Funtime.

“We haven’t announced the ride yet, so there’s nothing to comment about,” she said. The announcement on the ride is to be made Tuesday.

Mr. Handal said Cedar Fair went to Florida this year to view a StarFlyer at Magical Midway amusement park and contacted Funtime about one for Cedar Point. In July, Cedar Fair filed a trademark name application for a new ride called “Stratosoar.”

“[Cedar Fair] did contact us, but then they went with another company that doesn’t own the patent,” Mr. Handal said.

Jeff Putz, a Web site operator for PointBuzz, a Cedar Point fan site, said the patent controversy is now the hot topic among parkgoers.

“There had been a lot of rumors beforehand about what the ride was,” he said. “So far, people are talking more about the controversy than the ride.”

Contact Jon Chavez at:
jchavez@theblade.comor
419-724-6128.

Ride wars at Cedar Point?

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1 year ago
by Andrew in , , ,

From the Sandusky Register…

The fate of Cedar Point’s new ride could already be up in the air as a patent war brews between two ride manufacturers.

Brian Mirfin, of Australian ride manufacturer Funtime Group, said the new ride will be the Wind Seeker, made by Dutch-based manufacturer Mondial.

The Wind Seeker, however, is a patent-infringing copy of the StarFlyer — a tower ride the Funtime Group made and owns a patent on, Mirfin said.

Both rides are tower rides that spin riders around as they extend high in the air.

The StarFlyer pulls seats attached to a chain. The Mondial design is similar but uses arms instead of chains.

In its news announcement in early February, Mondial said it came up with the new ride “following requests from clients who wanted a StarFlyer-style ride they could still operate within normal wind conditions.”

“It’s almost like Mondial’s plagiarizing our idea,” said Mirfin, director of the Funtime Group and owner of Cottingham Agencies, which holds the patent for StarFlyer. “It makes us very, very angry.”

Executives at Mondial did not return an e-mail from a reporter seeking comment.

Dick Kinzel, president, chairman and CEO for Cedar Fair, said Wednesday night he had no comment. He repeated that the company plans to make an announcement at 2 p.m. Tuesday about the new ride for 2011.

Mirfin said his company, which has built 22 StarFlyers so far, thought it had a deal to build one for Cedar Point after amusement park executives flew to Orlando, Fla., several months ago to look at a StarFlyer at the Magical Midway.

Mirfin said his company planned to build a StarFlyer for Cedar Point that would be 400 feet tall — even bigger than the StarFlyer at Prater Park in Vienna, which stands 384 feet tall.

Instead, Funtime learned Cedar Point was buying a similar ride from Mondial, Mirfin said

“Now, not only do we not get the contract, now we’ve got to get into litigation,” Mirfin said. “The ones that we’ll be suing will be Cedar Point and not Mondial.”

Funtime’s U.S. patent for StarFlyer — patent No. 7666103 — was granted Feb. 23.

Tony Handal, the Connecticut attorney who filed the patent, said he believes the Mondial ride would be a patent infringement on the StarFlyer.

“It looks pretty much like the same thing to me,” Handal said, adding that he doubts litigation will be necessary.

“I think Cedar Point will not go forward without a license,” Handal said. “They can either do that or they can have the ride built by a licensed company.”

Wind Seeker

Is the new Cedar Point ride a Dutch treat?

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1 year ago
by Andrew in , , ,

From the Sandusky Register…

SANDUSKY

On Monday, I mentioned speculation that the new Cedar Point ride for 2011 could be the StarFlyer, a tower ride that hoists riders into the air and spins them around.

The StarFlyer, produced by an Australian company, is said to be vulnerable to winds. A roller coaster fan at a Dutch website for coaster buffs points out that a Dutch ride company, Mondial, has a new product, the Wind Seeker, that resembles the StarFlyer but can cope with the big winds generated by being next to a big lake. The ride uses arms instead of chains.

Interestingly, Mondial says it designed the Wind Seeker “following requests from clients who wanted a Star Flyer-style ride they could still operate within normal wind conditions.” As for a customer for the new ride, the Feb. 2 dispatch says vaguely, “Negotiations are currently  under way to find the first client.”

Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but today’s Cedar Point Facebook clue show a picture of a windmill that links to a Web site for making a “wind detector.”

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