[chknwing]

Could this be Cedar Points New ride next year? They recently obtained the name "Stratosaur" for a new ride.

http://www.parkworld-online.com/news/fu ... eeker.html

[RiDeWaRrIoR]

I think its likely, from what pointbuzz posted etc. I was reading all of these things last week and saw that style ride, forgot what site it was it had the different style rides like a sling shot and that sky star? I cant remember what that is called... I think it was the manufacturers site not sure. It looks more fun than the yo yo we have. Hopefully they will make their announcement soon...

[Jonathan]

The fixed columns instead of chains is disappointing, but hopefully that means the ride can run faster.

[Edwardo]

I'd probably be more apt to ride with the fixed columns than the chains .

Regardless, This will be CP's 3rd major flat ride in the last few years. I hope they start bringing some of those flats to Carowinds. I Wouldn't mind this, a maXair, and an S&S Screamin Swing.

[cwgator]

From the Cedar Point Facebook page:

Cedar Point will announce the plans for 2011 one week from today! For clues and more info, click the "New in 2011" tab above.

http://www.facebook.com/cedarpoint

So check it out next Tuesday (August 24th).

[chknwing]

CP cant use the chains because of the amount of wind they get on the lake. Theis will be the first "fixed mount" sky flyer and can reach heights of 400+.

[RiDeWaRrIoR]

There clue picture today was of a dinosaur so it looks like stratasoar is more and more likely as rumored. I think It would be awesome to be on a swing ride 400+ ft in the air! I could undersand the fixed columns at those heights instead of chains, much safer..

[Skycoastin Steve]

Don't think it'll be 400 feet. Maybe about the same-ish size as Millennium, though.

[Jay]

K. This might be bordering on ridiculousness.

http://www.sanduskyregister.com/sandusky/2010/aug/19/ride-wars-cedar-point

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.”

[Edwardo]

So it looks like they're getting a 400' Mondial version.

I honestly wonder what is going on. Funtime just seems upset. They said they'd be suing CP and not Mondial. I don't know the law rearding this, but why would you sue a consumer for buying an available product that competes with yours? And does the Mondial version actually infringe on any patents?

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

But there are plenty of other rides that have come out that have perfectly legal 'knockoffs' from other companies who figured out how to give the same experience and not infringe one any other company's patents. That the lawyer doubts litigation is interesting.

“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.”

Or they can go with another company who has a similiar ride that doesn't have to be licensed by Funtime.

Maybe Funtime is just mad and did all of this to blow the lid of CP's announcement, and has no real plans to file suit?

[RiDeWaRrIoR]

Wow thats interesting, so apparently they had it in the works with funtime and then found that other design with fixed arms and changed their mind? I would be pissed to if I had a contract with someone and they backed out, but I guess its their choice.... According to the article it will be 400ft, and the name Stratasoar kinda implies it being 400, or it may be like 395 and they say its 400, either way being up that high on some swings would be pretty fun if you ask me.

[Edwardo]

It doesn't say CP definitely had a contract with Funtime, the people from Funtime said they thought they were going to be building one for CP. Without knowing details (which Funtime failed to provided at this point), perhaps the CP Brass went to ride a Starflyer and talked to Funtime about how high it could be built, but decided against it with no actual contracts made.

[Jay]

I closed the other Canadas Wonderland thread because it seemed to be a hoax to me. Maybe we should use this thread for all of the new Cedar Fair rides?

It would not surprise me at all at this point to see Cedar Point, Kings Island, Canada's Wonderland, and Knott's Berry Farm all to get this Wind Seeker thing.

[sccoasterbear]

So, would that fit in Timmy's open lot??? Just add us to the list and let us compete with the big boys

[TrojanCamMan]

IF we were to get one, my bet would be in thrill zone. Not in front of Timmy. It would cost allot to cover up all of the vulnerable heads all around the ride.