Re: Cedar Point | Gemini Midway Update | Disco & Flying Scoo
Yay!
I used to love the eagles at Kings Island as a kid and I was so sad when they tore them out (though BSC's pretty awesome too if you're an eleven-year old, so I wasn't complaining) so they're two hours further than they were, but I'm glad there'll be one closer than Virginia! (We didn't even GET to ride them when we went in 2010 because my family felt the need to walk right past it with no line, I SWEAR they'd get eaten alive by the park gnomes if they didn't have me. -_-) They're a lot of fun and I love being able to swing them around violently, so this is great news!
A while back I said that I wanted to see this part of the park get a facelift, but at the same time was concerned about it losing its old school charm that makes it feel like an 80's throwback. Both of these rides seem very much like they will fit in with the area and while they may not be from that time period, I could see them being from it.
My home park has Surf Dog which I absolutely love, but hate the theming of it. Those things are great if you ride out on the ends. And since it seems to be an underlying topic here, I personally don't count it in my coaster count. The way I classify coasters requires them to meet a set of criteria for an initial launch/gravity-powered coaster or fit the criteria for a powered coaster, and part of my criteria for a powered coaster is that it is a full circuit, and the disco is absolutely not a full circuit.
Though looking at that picture, it looks like my prediction on those pointless kiddie rides being removed was correct. I'm glad they moved the frog hopper since it's one of the better types of kiddie rides there are, and it looks like those bumper boats next to it are getting relocated to the giant theme park in the sky. It looks like that basketball shootout thing stays but the two other game buildings next to it go, and a path loops around it.
One thing I noticed is that it focuses on just the the eastern part of the midway. Could we see a possible phase 2 of this expansion on the western side of it? Preferably filling in that giant grassy area near Gemini's entrance? Sorry if I sound like a broken record, but I do think a very tall drop tower would work well there. Build a Falcon's Fury-style tower and paint the structure beige with red and white accents and it would work very well in the area. Curious to see if this is it for the Gemini midway or if they continue to renovate it.
And then there's Junior Gemini. Not only am I happy that I rode it in its final season under that name (Though honestly, it's awful. The train jerks to the side a bit when the chain lift engages and those airtime valleys are painful, in addition to the the feeling that the whole thing's about to just collapse under your weight, not to mention I was able to just reach out and pick a handful of leaves on that last turn had I wanted.) and while it's better than any of the kiddie coasters I grew up on, I don't see them theming it to Wilderness Run easily. It looks like it's getting repainted brown in the sketch but the station still looks the same. While I suppose it could be forest-themed with the wood and river rock, I see it as looking like the poster child of 80s architecture. They probably won't mess with it since kids won't see it that way, but they could maybe put log cabin-looking siding on that roof slab that's currently colorful siding with the Jr. Gemini name on it. It doesn't look like the trains get a repaint, but they'll have to do something about the Jr. Gemini name on the front car. Maybe it's just a decal they can rip off so it just says Cedar Point.
But this looks great! Can't wait to see this if/when I make the trip up there next year!