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The line was short, despite it being brand new, due to it seating about 40 people. It was fairly relaxing, and you got an awesome breeze.
HOWEVER- BEWARE(!!!) of getting off the seats. It's up high, and your feet dangle, so when I went to push myself off the seat, I was not paying great attention to the plastic seat belt harness that sits between your thighs.
Needless to say, I did not push myself over it, and instead rammed my pelvic region directly into it. I had to go directly home, as it knocked the wind out of me and made me sick the rest of the day from the excruciating pain. My 'private' area is now completely black and purple with bruising and is still incredibly sore.
I will never get back on this ride again, and I can't believe I was the only one this has happened to.
"Cedar Fair has finally embraced the idea that a ride can be as fun to observe as it is to experience." Had to laugh at this. Seems like you are the one finally catching on here - this has been Cedar Fair unfailing strong point since the company came to be - it's how they theme their parks - especially Cedar Point! Otherwise, this is a great review.
Yes, I believe you're right in a sense, but perhaps missing the point. Cedar Point's parks grow more and more like "carnivals" with each year that passes. Each ride is essentially vying to be the most bright, the most noticeable, and the largest. At Kings Island, for example, not a single roller coaster - not one - passed over any of the main midways. Each was placed back from the path (usually in the wood a la The Beast, Adventure Express, Top Gun) or indoors (Tomb Raider: The Ride, Flight of Fear, etc), not a single one passed over a midway. Diamondback does. It's instantly clear that Cedar Fair built Diamondback, because the once-woodsy "Rivertown" has been turned into a field with a few dogwood trees and a concrete pond for the ride's splashdown. Is it huge? Yes. It is bright? Yes. Is it dominating? Absolutely.
But look at the Paramount Parks pre-Cedar Fair. There is literally a stone amphitheater built around Kings Dominion's Tomb Raider: Firefall where crowds gather even five years later to watch the flames, hear the synchronized music, watch the water spraying at riders. The same can be said of Volcano: The Blast Coaster or the Backlot Stunt Coaster at the parks. They invite crowds to watch and enjoy, and create a sense of movie magic and immersion.
THAT is what Windseeker does. It's entrancing, fun to watch, and involved. Cedar Fair has long understood the power of building gigantic rides that hark back to the time when each carnival ride needed to be brighter, louder, and taller than its competitors, but the notion that a ride can be fun to watch start-to-finish is new. Millennium Force may be scary to look at, but you could practically sell popcorn to the crowd outside of WindSeeker or The Crypt. And that's what I meant.
I agree to disagree, ride placement for ballyhoo is not a new notion for Cedar Fair -- and isn't Windseeker a taller, brighter and louder carnival ride? You could also practically sell popcorn under the Corkscrew,(there is seating!), in front of the Gemini,(dull show - but hey), in the viewing stands for Dragster, on the bridge between Snake River Falls and Maverick, the splashdown areas on all the water rides that have viewing platforms, under the Sky Ride, in the middle of the Starlight Experience, I could go on for days. Did you never watch Demon Drop from start to finish? Perhaps you have never taken a young child or a grandparent, or possibly someone with a great fear of rollercoasters and noticed where the stand and gaze in amazement. The entire park of Cedar Point is set up with rides on full display and few are hidden like what you find at Kings Island or other aquired parks.
Diamond Back does this as well even though it may be ugly and destroy the theme of the area - but Cedar Fair and theming are a differnt topic - and your article is still great!
Around a week ago, there was an "incident" caught on video of Windseeker cars colliding with each other while spinning up near the top of the tower. At first, I thought that it might have been caused by strong upper winds, but I'm now thinking more that something happened with the ride itself as it appeared to be slowing down much earlier than in the program. Whatever caused the problem, it was very clear that rider's legs were coming into contact with the car in front of them and the cars were swaying wildly forward and backward and side to side. Has Cedar Point come up with a reasonable explanation as to what happened and what they intend to do about this type of situation from happening again? This is a very real problem that they must address both to the manufacturer AND to the general public!
^ All swing rides do that so what is the big deal?
^^ When you are 300ft+ off the ground on a prototype attraction I do think it is cause for concern when body parts come in contact with parts of an attraction at 30mph.
The rumors going around suggest that the incident you're talking about was a momentary failure of the hydraulic bracing supports affixed to each arm of the ride. As I mentioned in the review, these devices seemed to have been last-minute additions. I hardly think that anyone was in-danger, and following the ride's guidelines (to not extend your leg) would certainly help prevent injury. You can see an image of the dampers posted to Screamscape.
I would say that those fixtures are not essential to the rides operation. Imagine the chain-supported StarFlyer's like Six Flag's SkyScreamer. They truly are typical yo-yo swings, but at high altitude, and collisions almost certainly happen. Like a ride stopping at the mid-course brakes or a rollback, these situations doubtlessly occur, but because this scenario is new, it feels unsafe or unexpected. I feel certain that there are protocols in place for just such situations.
To me, the ride length was long enough. I think that the Matterhorn, or when they had Chaos; those rides are / were way too short. As soon as Matterhorn starts getting good, it shuts down. This ride though seemed long enough. And I rather have Chaos back than this ride. Sure, they moved Ocean Motion, but they also got rid of my Chaos! Ocean Motion didn't deserve to be preserved anyway either.
To me, it's an okay flat ride. It's very similar to Cedar Point's I think they call Space Spiral (Sky Cabin ride), but it's a tiny more intense, and the only reason it's more intense is because of the wind, and the fact that you are right by that lake. Kings Island probably isn't as windy. As you are turning, the lake side was a lot more windy.
I felt it on one side it was normal, but not the other side. It's not really thrilling. Think of a Swing Ride like the Zierer Waveswinger, and that's this ride higher up in the air, but if it wasn't as windy, it would be even more boring. It doesn't make a lot of sense to add this ride when you have Space Spiral already. And Knott's has a Sky Cabin Tower too. And the lights do look nice, but I rather get in line for a coaster at night than a flat ride that maybe only 20 min during the day.