WindSeeker

WindSeeker is a 301-foot-tall (92 m) thrill ride at several Cedar Fair parks. The Mondial rides were opened for the 2011 season at Ontario's Canada's Wonderland, Ohio's Cedar Point and Kings Island, and California's Knott's Berry Farm. Charlotte's Carowinds and Doswell's Kings Dominion will open their models in 2012. The first four WindSeekers each cost $5,000,000, while the later Carowinds and Kings Dominion models will cost $6,500,000. The three-minute ride features 32 suspended twin seats (64 seats total) which spin around a central tower. An LED lighting package was installed on all four WindSeekers.^{[7][8][9][10]} There are strips of LED lights mounted on the arms that support the swings and (except at Knott's Berry Farm^[11]) colored floodlights, which light up WindSeeker's tower from above. Canada's Wonderland was the first of the four parks to open their WindSeeker. On May 24, 2011, the ride was only open for an hour when problems with the ride caused it to be closed for repairs.^[1][12] The second WindSeeker was officially opened to the public at Cedar Point on June 14, 2011.^[3] On June 21, 2011, Kings Island officially opened their WindSeeker to the public.^[5] On August 18, 2011, Knott's Berry Farm officially opened their WindSeeker.^[2][4][6]

History

Throughout August 2010, several hints were dropped on the official Facebook pages of several Cedar Fair amusement parks about a new ride in 2011. On August 24, 2010, Canada's Wonderland, Cedar Point and Kings Island, and Knott's Berry Farm all announced that they would be adding a Mondial WindSeeker for the 2011 season. At the time, all four WindSeekers were due to open sometime in spring 2011.^{[13][14][15][16]} Throughout August 2011, Carowinds hid six different QR codes on the park's website. Once scanned, each code led the user to a website revealing one of six clues as to what the 2012 attraction would be. Once the user found all six clues and put them together, the picture read "Voiceless it cries, wingless flutters, toothless bites, mouthless mutters, fun soars to new heights... August 24".^[17] On August 24, 2011, the official announcement was made that Carowinds would receive the fifth WindSeeker in the Cedar Fair chain.^[2][18] On September 1, 2011, Kings Dominion officially announced that the sixth WindSeeker in the Cedar Fair chain will open at the park in 2012.^[4][19]

Construction for the WindSeekers at Canada's Wonderland, Cedar Point, and Kings Island began in late October and early November 2010. To install the ride, Canada's Wonderland's Jet Scream was removed and Cedar Point's Ocean Motion was relocated to another area within the park.^[8][9][10] Construction was scheduled to begin around the same time at Knott's Berry Farm, where Sky Cabin was scheduled to be removed to make way for the new ride.^[16] However, after a two-month delay, it was announced on January 7, 2011, that their WindSeeker would not replace the Sky Cabin and would instead be located within the Fiesta Village section of the park.^[20] Work began almost immediately after this announcement.^[21] Construction for the WindSeeker's at Carowinds and Kings Dominion started in early November 2011 after the parks closed for the season. In order to install the ride at Kings Dominion, El Dorado will be removed at the end of the 2011 season.^[22]

Kings Island's WindSeeker was originally scheduled to be the first to open, on April 30, 2011,^[23] but the opening was delayed due to inclement weather.^[24] On the morning of June 21, 2011, the ride officially opened to the public.^[5] The Kings Island WindSeeker was the first model to use the Fast Lane program.^[25]

The WindSeeker at Canada's Wonderland was originally scheduled to open on May 8, 2011 – one week after the Kings Island installation.^[12] During ride testing, a series of problems were discovered. On May 24, 2011, Canada's Wonderland announced on their Facebook page that Windseeker would officially open to the public later that day.^[1] After only one hour of operation, the ride was closed due to the discovery of further mechanical problems.^[12] From May 24 to about mid-June 2011, the ride was intermittently closed due to a variety of problems. Most of the problems have since been resolved. At the beginning of October 2011, the hydraulic dampers which are used on the Knott's Berry Farm model were added to reduce the amount of swing movement even more.^[26] Cedar Point's WindSeeker was originally scheduled to open on May 14, 2011 – two weeks after the scheduled opening of the first WindSeeker at Kings Island.^[27] After almost a month of inclement weather caused delays in construction and testing, the ride officially opened to the public on June 14, 2011.^[3]

Before plans to move the Knott's Berry Farm version of the ride and keep Sky Cabin were made, the ride was to have the same colour scheme as the other WindSeeker's. Also, instead of there being the red "UFO" on the top of the tower, original concept designs show that a large purple "K" was to be placed on the top of the ride.^[28] The ride opened to the public officially on August 18, 2011, after three months of delays.^[6][29] In 2011, Fast Lane became available on Knott's Berry Farm's WindSeeker.^[30]

The WindSeekers at Carowinds and Kings Dominion will have the same appearance as the WindSeekers at Canada's Wonderland, Cedar Point and Kings Island and are expected to open in 2012.^[2][4]

Problems

The four WindSeekers are based on the same prototype design by Dutch amusement ride manufacturer Mondial Rides. The WindSeeker at Canada's Wonderland was the first to be completed and thus the first to be tested. It was discovered during testing that the swings could rock back and forth once the rotation reached full speed and were close to hitting each other in some cases. For this reason, hydraulic dampers not a part of the original design were added to all four WindSeekers to reduce the movement of the swings in operation.^[38] Despite the addition of these dampers, there were still incidents: on June 14, 2011, on Cedar Point's WindSeeker, the swings began to sway in different directions, causing some seats to almost collide with each other. In one reported case, a rider had to extend their leg to stop the seats in front of them from hitting them. The ride operated for the full three minutes.^[39] Official explanations suggested that the hydraulic dampers can fail under high winds: apparently, an unbalanced swing structure (when some swings are full and others are not), coupled with high winds, could cause the swings to collide.^[39] On June 29, 2011, Breakfast Television Toronto's Jennifer Valentyne rode the WindSeeker at Canada's Wonderland for her "Live-Eye" segment. When the swings reached the top of the tower, the seats began swinging and hitting each other. As the ride continued its operation, Breakfast Television hosts Kevin Frankish and Dina Pugliese asked whether the seats are supposed to touch each other, but received no response.^[40] No reason can be determined as to why the dampers failed on this occasion.

Additional problems were discovered when the ride opened to the public. The WindSeeker at Canada's Wonderland underwent repairs for just over one week when a fault was discovered. One of the thirty-two pairs of seats was removed from the ride for an unknown reason,^[41] and were replaced; testing for the ride began shortly after. In another case at the same installation, riders got stuck at the top of the WindSeeker tower for 20 minutes when the swings did not come down.^[42] Following these incidents, ride operations are suspended during high winds or heavy rain.

Structure

All six WindSeekers consist of the same parts which form an identical structure. The 301-foot-tall (92 m) center tower is made up of eight identical parts. The base section is different from the other seven tower pieces because it supports the rest of the tower. On the top of the eighth tower piece, there is a steel platform where workers and mechanics can observe the operations of the ride and perform maintenance from above. An element described as the "red UFO" or "the Crown" exists above this platform. The swings themselves are made up of a number of parts. Most of the parts go towards the structure of the swing. In the middle of the structure there are a number of mechanical wheels that allow the swings to rotate as it makes it way up and down the tower. The swings are brought up and down by a number of cables that are attached from the swing structure to 4 different sets of yellow wheels each attached to a different section of the steel platform at the top of the tower.^[43] Hydraulic dampers that were not a part of the original design were added to all the WindSeeker installations to reduce the movement of the swings while in operation.^[38] Below is a breakdown of the ride to show where the parts are located on the ride and what they look like.

Ride experience

Riders sit in one of the 64 seats placed around a central tower which brings the swings up and down. A restraint bar is placed on the rider's lap to ensure the rider stays firmly in the seat. There is no seat belt across the rider's lap, only one from the seat to the restraint bar in case the lock on the restraint bar fails. After the operators determine that it is safe to operate, the swing begins to make its way up to the top of the tower to a musical accompaniment. The swing slowly begins to spin around the central tower and pick up speed as it continues up the tower. By the time the swing reaches the top, it is rotating around the tower at its full speed of approximately 30 miles per hour (48 km/h). The swing remains at the top of the tower for just over one minute. The swing begins its descent and immediately begins to slow down. By the time the swing reaches the bottom of the tower, it is at a complete stop. When the swings reach the ground, the riders exit the ride and the next set of riders enters. One cycle of the ride lasts three minutes.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Ride features

The five WindSeekers at Canada's Wonderland, Carowinds, Kings Dominion, Knott's Berry Farm, and Cedar Point have JBL speakers mounted to the inside of the swing structure which play 18 different tracks when guests ride. Some of the tracks are the theme song from E.T., Hedwig’s theme from the Harry Potter films, the theme song for Star Trek: The Next Generation, and songs from Flight of the Valkyries and Peter Pan.^{[4][44][45][46]} At Cedar Point and Kings Island, the WindSeeker sign changes colors during night operations.^[47][48] At Cedar Point, as the swings make their way up the tower, the LED lights at the top of the tower completely turn off, making the tower invisible. The LED lights on the swings remain visible. When the swings come back down, the lights at the top of the tower turn back on.^[48] At Canada's Wonderland, the LED lights at the top of the tower remain on throughout the cycle, keeping the tower visible at all times.^[49]

Differences in Knott's Berry Farm version

The WindSeeker at Knott's Berry Farm has a number of differences from the other five versions. Rather than using white, blue, and green colors on the tower, Knott's tower has an orange, purple, and yellow color scheme to reflect the Spanish California theme of the Fiesta Village section of the park.^[50] The tower at Knott's Berry Farm has no lights at the top of the tower.^[11] A third difference is that the "tent" above the queue line is made out of fake bamboo rather than the translucent cover seen on the other three WindSeekers.^[51] The ride's sign has a Mexican theme, and does not light up.^[52] The final difference is that instead of using small hydraulic dampers to prevent extensive movement of the swings when in operation, Knott's Berry Farm uses larger hydraulic dampers that connect the swings. These dampers possibly cause more reduction in swing motion and create a second "ring" around the swing structure.^[53]

Reception

One week after the official opening of the ride at Cedar Point, noted attraction reviewer Brian Krosnick of Theme Park Tourist submitted an online review of the ride at Cedar Point stating that the WindSeeker "is truly breathtaking". The review applauded Cedar Fair for "the inclusion of on-ride audio and such an exemplary lighting package", stating it was "more than anyone expected or could've asked for". Krosnick pointed out that due to the location of the ride beside Lake Erie and the hot summers, the lights on the ride attract massive "clouds" of bugs. The reviewer felt the ride cycle might be too short for the type of ride, particularly the time spent at the top of the ride.^[44] On July 13, 2011, Nick Sim, also from Theme Park Tourist, reviewed the ride at Kings Island, and made similar remarks to his colleague a month earlier.^[54] Los Angeles Times blogger Brady MacDonald complimented the "impressive nighttime spectacular from anywhere in the park", and reported having thoroughly enjoyed the ride at Knott's Berry Farm, stating that he would ride it every time he visited the park.^[55] Tom Sherer of the Sandusky Register praised Cedar Point's version for having one of the best views of the park^[56] and commented that it "isn't as extreme as a lot of people fear, unless you’re afraid of heights."^[57] He also criticized the name of the ride, pointing out that the ride is unable to operate in high winds as the name suggests.^[58] Members of the general public have also applauded the addition.^[59]

Gallery

See also

• Mondial (amusement ride manufacturer)
• 2011 in amusement parks

References

External links

• WindSeeker at Canada's Wonderland
• WindSeeker at Carowinds
• WindSeeker at Cedar Point
• WindSeeker at Kings Dominion
• WindSeeker at Kings Island
• WindSeeker at Knott's Berry Farm