Windseeker will not be reopening, Calico Mine Ride next to be refurbished

[NGW]

Just some hearsay from someone working at the park that I trust the word from. Windseeker is down for good, they will not be reopening the ride. Source also said that once the work on Timber Mountain, which includes all new animatronics, but still keeping in line with the original theme of the ride..just a modernization of it, is complete we'll likely be seeing something similar done to the Calico Mine trains, provided guest reactions are positive.

Really sad to hear about Windseeker, I absolutely loved the thing, very relaxing IMO.

[OneGuy TwoParks]

Never got to ride WindSeeker, but I wasn't overly fond of its presence. Upon seeing test footage from the other Cedar Fair parks in high wind conditions, something just said "bad idea" from the get go. (Even though not related to the reason why OUR WindSeeker would be shut down) Overall the ride just seemed to push boundaries for silly reasons (IMO).

Actually reminds me a lot of VertiGo! to be honest.

Also, apprehensively excited for the Mine Ride refurb. Classic things need to return (bubbling mud in the pot room), as well as improved animatronics (maybe an improved explosion tunnel?). As long as the ride keeps its feel, I'll be happy.

[JesterMn]

As mentioned on here many times before, hearsay from a casual park employee is not generally a reliable source of information.

While I suppose it's possible, it seems really unlikely to me. Cedar Fair bought six of these. All combined, that's a pretty massive loss at parks all over North America. They'd have to have a pretty serious reason to do that. If they just close one, maybe that's not as bad, but why would they just close one when they're all the same? It just doesn't make much sense unless it is truly an unfixable situation.

And just to add to the confusion, I heard from a fairly reliable site that it was expected to go up in a few more weeks. So someone's wrong. Could be you, could be me, but either way, sometimes it's just hard to know for sure unless you're in the middle of it.

As for the original test footage, the bumping was pretty scary. But once they added the dampner bars, it really seems that problem was successfully solved. So don't let that footage cause you to not want to ride it.

At least we can all agree that a Mine Ride refurb would be pretty awesome!

[Coasterjunkie]

I think Knotts and California's Great America are the only CF parks that are open year round do I wouldn't be suprised to see the Windseeker at KBF still closed. Remember, the problem they're having is with all their Windseeker attractions and not just the one at Knott's. I've ridden two of them myself, the one at CP two years ago and the one at Carowinds last year and I found them both to be fun rides especially at night with the soundtracks they use and the LED lighting at night. To me, Windseeker is just a giant WaveSwinger ride without the tilting top. You can see the anti-sway bars in my below of the Windseeker at Carowinds.

[Ryan120420]

^Knotts is the only year round park in the Cedar Fair chain.

[Retrocool]

Given that the Windseeker ride was shut down at several Cedar Fair parks across the country for various mechanical issues, it seems likely that they may be just throwing in the towel and not reopening it again. (And you couldn't PAY me to go up in that thing. No way.)

Cedar Point temporarily closes popular WindSeeker ride following series of malfunctions nationwide

Glad to hear that the Calico Mine Train is getting a refurb, though! All the classic attractions need TLC, and perhaps some occasional tech updating. Really glad to hear this news.

[sir clinksalot]

CF spent too much $$ on these rides to just throw in the towel after what really accounts to one full season.

I've ridden the ones at Knott's and Kings Dominion and they are fun rides. Not a thrill ride at all, but just a glorified sky cabin. If they've been able to get and keep Sky Cabins running for close to 40 years in some cases there is no reason to believe they can't get these running consistently.

[mratigan]

I just got passes and can't wait to go on the "new" log ride and hope windseeker reopens

[explodingboy]

CF spent too much $$ on these rides to just throw in the towel after what really accounts to one full season.

It doesn't matter how much Cedar Fair spent on them, if safety regulations require them to be shut down for good that is what is going to happen. Sure, it only happened at the WindSeeker here, but that doesn't mean it can't happen at any of the other ones.

[Dutchman]

I would believe that this is Mondial's headache and they are going to have to make good on it. I'm sure that the CF's legal dept is all over this. Remember these are prototypes, these hadn't gotten past the design stage when they approached Cedar Fair. Yes they took some risk in buying six of them at once, but I would imagine that there is some boiler plate in the contracts that make Mondial responsible for making them functional in all the locations. So if perchance they are taken out, Mondial is going to foot the bill, not CF.

[MrTour]

This isn't rocket science, exactly... Other rides have much more technical elements. I am confident this problem will be solves. On the other hand, Condor at Magic Mountain was a similar attraction, and it did not stick around very long. Some attractions are short lived. Luigi's Flying Tires, perhaps???)

AND I STILL SAY, BRING BACK KNOTT'S BEAR-Y TALES!!!

[sir clinksalot]

^ Yes, Condor was short lived at SFMM, but it wasn't removed because it wasn't reliable, it was removed for Viper.

There are still many of those Huss Condors out there and I actually rode one at Hershey Park last year. So fun.

[Coasterjunkie]

I do believe Great Escape in New York State still has one of those HUSS Condor rides as well.

[mratigan]

they really need a classic dark ride at knotts
not an off the shelf Sally shooter

[JesterMn]

Yeah, for some reason, I really like those HUSS Condors too. Been on the Hersheypark one as well, and I know there's a few others still around.