I have to say, for all the years to be living in close proximity to Cedar Point, whilst co-operating a big fan site for it, this is pretty much the year. We haven't really had a year quite like this since 2000, and that year was just a new ride, not a huge facelift for the entire front of the park.
GateKeeper is certainly a headline worthy roller coaster, and it really is quite good, but to me the striking thing is that entrance makeover. It was still a bit of a mess when I was there the other day, but the difference compared to the way it looked for 40 years or whatever is stunning. It's modern and classic at the same time, and with the ride looping overhead, completely iconic. There are some parks that have amazing entrances, like Magic Kingdom and Epcot, or the Kings parks with their fountains. Perhaps the Great Americas with their carousels. But this is something to behold. You really know you're entering a special place when you approach the gate.
Walt and I were hoping to re-do PointBuzz by opening day, but that just didn't happen. We're getting there, and certainly the new forums are an important feature, but we're not done. I did, however, whip up a live blog app that we're going to use, starting on the media day, and going through opening weekend. I'm really excited about it, as it will update in real time, running in the cloud with a CDN and lots of caching... total overkill. I even wrote a little Windows Phone app to upload photos.
Cedar Point remains the only thing I really like about living here. So many great friends there. PointBuzz has been around in various forms now for 15 years. That's nuts. I'm glad I don't have to run it by myself anymore.
The next week should be super fun. I'm really glad I get to share it with Diana and Simon. Even though he doesn't get to ride, there's no doubt that he'll be thrilled just to see those trains roll out of the station.
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