BY LARRY P. VELLEQUETTE
SANDUSKY -- Cedar Point will build a $1 million animatronic dinosaur exhibit on a four-acre wooded island at the back of the venue next year, the amusement park announced Friday. Park officials also said a mat-racer slide complex will be added to its adjacent water park.
However, tickets for the walk-through journey back in time to visit about 50 life-sized moving dinosaurs in the planned "Dinosaurs Alive!" attraction will extract an extra $5 bite from park-goers' wallets, Cedar Point officials said -- the first time an exhibit inside the park will require an additional fee. Cedar Point is the premier park of Cedar Fair LP of Sandusky.
The dinosaurs in the exhibit will roar and move, and each will be handcrafted and covered with skinlike materials that will replicate their external features, park officials said. In addition, four of the dinosaurs will have interactive consoles to allow guests to guide their movements and create an up-close look at how these dinosaurs moved their arms, tails, eyes, and mouths.
The approximately three dozen types of dinosaurs on exhibit will range in size and height from a Ruyangosaurus that will stand nearly 40 feet tall and 72 feet long to an Angustinaripterus that will be only two feet tall and eight feet long. The interactive exhibit, which will replace the pioneer-themed Paddlewheel Excursion, will include a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Irratator, Baryonyx, and Spinosaurus, the largest of all known carnivorous dinosaurs.
A plated Stegosaurus and three-horned Triceratops will also inhabit the island along a half-mile-long path that will allow guests to explore underneath several of the larger dinosaurs, providing what the park called "a very intimate encounter with the prehistoric beasts."
"I think it's a good move, and I think it will be fine," said Gary Slade, publisher of industry newsletter Amusement Today. Customers will probably accept the additional fee for the attraction, which is becoming standard in the industry, he said.
"Cedar Point is really just catching up to what everyone else has been doing. And $5 is really pretty small, about the cost of a food item."
However, fan reaction to the announcement made Friday was as swift as it was severe on Cedar Point-centric Web sites such as Pointbuzz.com. Fans of the amusement park attacked not only the additional cost, but also that similar -- if not identical -- attractions are available at Kings Island and other regional facilities.
"I know that they will not be getting $20 out of me [for a family of four] to walk through Dinosaurs," said J.W. Addington. "Just keep eliminating all the rides the [entire] family can ride, see where that gets you."
One prolific poster to the site who identifies himself as "Chief Wahoo" and said he now lives in Florida, called the announcement a "completely uninspired decision" that he hoped wasn't an early indication of the direction of the park under what will be its new management team next year.
"Forget about firing up your customer base. I'm a loyal fan, past employee and current unitholder and this is about as exciting as CSPAN … but you've got to pay extra," the poster wrote Friday.
Cedar Point spokesman Robin Innes said the decision to build the dinosaur exhibit was made because of the early success the attraction has had in southwestern Ohio.
"Our sister park, Kings Island, opened a 'Dinosaurs Alive' in May, they got a lot of good feedback. It's gone very well for them, so we thought it was good for us," Mr. Innes said. "Overall, I think it will just be a very popular addition to the park. Once our explorers complete their journey through Dinosaurs Alive, because of the details and the size of the attraction, I don't think they will be disappointed."
Next to Cedar Point, the Soak City water park will add a new mat-racer complex that will offer racers a speedy ride through a series of dips and plateaus, park officials said
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