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 Day 1: Cedar Point
We got to the park at 9:00pm, one hour before close, and pretty much ran to get in with our Worlds of Fun passes. The very friendly lady at guest services wrote down our pass numbers and we stepped into paradise.
Wow. This is what we drove all this way for, and has to be one of the most visually appealing parks around. There are lights, flags, flowers, trees, rides, people, and just random things to look at all around this park. I loved Raptor’s curlicues overhead, the flags lining the midway, and the colorful skyride crawling overhead. It only took me about two seconds to realize why this place wins all those awards.
It didn’t take us much longer to decide to head for Top Thrill Dragster. I wadded up the park map and shoved it in my pocket (who needs one anyway?) and set out for the ride.
Damn, this park is huge! It looks like it is only a few minutes away, but it took about 10 minutes at a half-jog, half-walk to get there. I knew the Point was huge, but I never expected it to be *this* big.
We found about a 30-minute wait for the ride. It has pretty much the best pre-boarding entertainment ever, watching train after train crest the hill and watching all the riders gasp for air and wipe the bugs from their face. After what seemed like forever, we were on the ride near the front and rolling forward.
The few seconds before the launch are a few of the most painfully excruciating seconds in all of coasterdom. A mixture of anticipation and nervousness flooded me. But before anything else could happen, the three yellow lights came on and tires squealed in the background. Showtime.
Wow, the launch is crazy intense. It’s one of those things you can’t ever get used to, no matter how many times you experience it. When you think it hits top speed, it seemingly goes into overdrive and blasts you even faster. The launch has to be one of the most exhilarating parts of any coaster in existence. The ascent is intense, and the g’s at the bottom of the hill are crazy. The twist during the climb was really quick, and then I saw the cars in front of us disappear over the horizon. I peered out, and saw Millennium Force, Mantis, and Lake Erie below us. Absolutely breathtaking.
After a split second of calm, we are then subjected to a few more seconds of insanity, in the form of a twisting vertical dive. It is just absolutely incredible. I wasn’t sure I would like how it twisted on the way down, but actually experiencing it is just unreal. I couldn’t help but scream and laugh during the fall; it’s just so fun and crazy all at the same time. Top Thrill Dragster sure isn’t the best roller coaster out there, but it is one of the most insane experiences around. It sounds stupid to wait 30 minutes, let alone hours, for a 20-second ride, but it’s 20 seconds I’ll never forget.
By this point, it was about 9:45, so I bought my on-ride photo of Dragster, and we high-tailed it to Millennium Force. We got in line before they closed the queue and we waited about 45 minutes before we were finally able to hop on the train in the very back row. It was completely dark by the time we boarded, which made a really cool setting for our first ride.
I had really high hopes for this ride; after all, it is pretty much a consensus top-five ride. The silent, smooth climb was eerie and cool, but I wish it would have given more time to look around. Before we could enjoy the view, the front of the train disappeared, and we followed down the drop.
The drop was, obviously, probably the best first drop I’ve ever experienced. It’s just so big and steep, and has some pretty good airtime in the back. The pullout, overbanked turn, and swoop into the tunnel are very intense. The first camelback gives perfect floating air. It isn’t intense or extreme, but it is a pretty cool feeling. The overbanked turns on the island were cool, but went by really fast, and I would have liked to have a few more turns or hills to give some variation to this part of the ride. The second camelback was cool too, and the final tunnel, bunny hop, and overbank onto the brakes all went by with blazing speed.
So, is the ride worthy of all the hype? No, I don’t think so. I love the height and speed, but it seems too smooth, too fast, too graceful to be the best ride on the planet. It was actually almost exactly what I expected, but the constant speed and ‘flow’ of the ride seemed a bit, well, boring to me. Don’t get me wrong, I would rather ride it than most coasters out there, but I feel confident in saying that this ride isn’t as amazing as most people hype it up to be.
Obviously the park was closed at this point, so we had to leave. We had not planned to be at the Point at this time, so it was great to know that we had already gotten Dragster and the Force out of the way. Wired with adrenaline, we stopped at McDonald’s and found our hotel in Milan. We decided that we wanted to sleep in the next morning to get ready for the next day, our ‘marathon’ day at Cedar Point.
Day 2: Cedar Point
Since it was dark the night before, it was great to see Cedar Point during the day, and the place looked even more impressive in full sunlight. There are just so many things to see and do here. I think someone could spend a week here and not run out of things to do or see, and that’s the sign of a good park. We got through the gates at a little after noon, and since Demon Drop was just a few feet away, we decided to ride it first.
I’d never ridden anything like Demon Drop before, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a walk on as well, which always helps. It was smooth, and the dropping sensation really stood out. The drop also seemed bigger than it looked, which was a plus. The pull out was smooth and an interesting experience. All in all, a fun, quick, interesting ride.
maXair was right next door, so we hopped in line, which was about half an hour. This has to be one of the most visually stunning flat rides around, basically just because it’s so huge. But I guess huge is kind of a theme at the Point. Anyway, I really enjoyed the ride. It wasn’t as intense as I expected it to be, but it was a lot of fun, and the visuals from on the ride were awesome. I loved seeing seagulls fly below my feet, and the airtime at the apex of the swings wasn’t too shabby either. A very fun ride. At the time, this was my favorite flat ride, but that would change later in the day.
Disaster Transport was next, and was the longest non-TTD-or-MF line of the day, around 30 minutes. It was definitely not worth it. The theming was weird, and bobsled coasters are always at least interesting, but the ride was just really slow and really boring, and it didn’t do much for me.
Wicked Twister was next, and I found it strange that a shuttle coaster at a park as popular as Cedar Point would only have about a 10 minute wait, but I’m not complaining. It was a really fun ride, and pretty intense. We sat in (I think) row 3. Going up the forward spike was really fun, but the back spike was the best to me. All in all, a quick and very fun ride, one of the best in the park.
After Wicked Twister, we headed over to Raptor to find a 90 minute wait, so we skipped it and hiked to Corkscrew. I liked Corkscrew. It was pretty smooth, and I have a soft spot in my heart for Arrow loopers. As pretty much everyone knows it is a very good looking ride, with the corkscrews over the midway. The ride was very short. It was pretty fun, and is perfect for what it tries to do.
We decided to ride Dragster again, and this time we sat in the front seat. Take everything I’ve said about the ride above and triple it, the front seat is absolutely insane. It seems twice as fast as any other car on the train. The wind was absolutely crazy, and the view at the top and the dive from the front are absolutely amazing. We waited probably an extra half hour for the front (they were having some dispatch problems), and it was definitely worth it.
After wiping the bugs from my shirt, we headed to Magnum XL-200, and found about a 10 minute wait. We rode in the back seat. It was pretty similar to my other ‘standard’ hyper (Mamba) and it gave really good airtime. But the ride was bumpy, very bumpy. I had a hard time keeping my arms up the whole ride; I had to brace myself for what was coming next. It was very fun, and I can see why people think it’s so amazing (the airtime is great), but it’s just too bumpy for my liking. I actually prefer Mamba to Magnum.
Next up was Gemini, and it was a walk on. It was a fun ride, a few spots of airtime and very cool drops. I really liked the ride, and it was very smooth. It wasn’t crazy or intense, but it was very fun.
We hiked to the very back of the park, and after sneaking a peek at Maverick’s site, we hopped aboard Mean Streak, with about a 10 minute wait. It is definitely one of the most visually stunning rides, at it is just absolutely huge. As for the ride itself, it wasn’t as bumpy as I thought it would be, but that just may be because the trim brake killed any speed the ride may have had. I’m pretty sure this is the first rollercoaster I’ve ridden that actually slows down on the first drop. I liked the layout and sheer size of the ride, but it was just really slow and pretty boring. I can only imagine how rough it would have been without the trim though. I would love to see Gravity Group try to tackle a ride like this. I think they could make it great.
Next was the Cedar Creek Mine Ride, a standard mine train. I liked it better than Adventure Express at PKI, and it was pretty smooth, but otherwise pretty boring, standard stuff. No mine train matches Thunderation at Silver Dollar City as far as I’m concerned.
After CCMR, we hit the new ride for 2006, Skyhawk. This is the ride that dethroned maXair as my favorite flat ride. The first day I was there, they only had one side running, but the next day both were up. As for the ride experience, it is absolutely great. Fast and intense, with great air at the top of each swing. The swings were very forceful, and the direction changes were quick. I don’t like the S&S lap bars on PowderKeg, but they are wonderful on this ride. The visuals are also great on this ride. I actually think this was my third favorite ride in the park behind MF and TTD, it was just so much fun. The only downside is its length, or lack thereof. The ride only makes about two or three full swings before it ends. I understand it being so short to improve capacity, but I hope in the future they can make it longer, because otherwise this ride rules. I really hope I’ll see one of these at Worlds of Fun in the next few years.
We headed for another ride on Millennium Force, which had about an hour wait. We sat towards the middle. I hate how they assign rows to you on this ride, but I can deal with it if they are trying to improve capacity. It was warmer than the night before, so it was running a little faster, and I enjoyed this ride more. I was still a bit let down by its gracefulness, but still a good ride. I would really like to see a few bunny hops or other elements on the island part of the ride.
After the Force, my friend kept complaining and he really wanted to leave. We still had a few credits to grab though, so I forced him to ride the remaining coasters. The next one was Mantis, and was my first standup coaster. It was pretty much a walk-on, so I didn’t have time to figure out how the restraints worked. I wish I would have though, as I was loading and I pushed the seat down a bit as they locked, and it locked about six inches too low. As a result, my legs were stuck bent under me and when I tried to straighten up, the restraints dug into my shoulders. I dealt with it, and despite being so uncomfortable, I enjoyed the ride. It was really intense even with the trim on the first drop, and I loved how it had a unique layout. The dive loop was really cool. I hadn’t eaten much all day, so the g’s on this started to get to me, but overall I enjoyed Mantis. Wasn’t amazing, but fun nonetheless.
We rode Iron Dragon next, and I know I’m going to get bashed for this, but I honestly enjoyed it more than Top Gun at PKI. It wasn’t as fast, but it felt like more of a ‘full’ ride. I loved the setting over the lagoon, and I really loved the fountains and fog on the last half of the ride. It was pretty relaxing, but the setting was great, so it gets extra points for that. Still not too thrilling, a pretty mediocre ride.
We headed to Wildcat across the midway, and it is probably the ugliest ride in history, with the purple track and lime green supports. It felt entirely too ‘carny’ to be in Cedar Point, but the ride actually wasn’t bad. It was smooth and had some good drops. A good family coaster and I’d rather go on something like this than a wild mouse.
The second to last coaster was Blue Streak. It was a walk on, and we rode in the front seat. I figured this ride would be fun, but nothing spectacular. But as it turned out, I absolutely loved the ride. Some good pops of air on the bunny hops, and wasn’t rough at all. I loved this thing; it’s small, quick, and to the point. Fun ride.
The final ride was Raptor, and I was glad we skipped it earlier, because it only had about a 10 minute wait at this point. We sat towards the middle. I was looking forward to this ride, and it was really fun. The zero-g roll was great, and overall it was really intense. I liked it better than Patriot for sure. A really great invert. I still think I like Dueling Dragons more though.
By this point, it was about 8:00, and we were pretty beat. We decided to head back to the hotel. Overall, we had a good day. The lines weren’t bad at all, and we rode all the major coasters in about an eight hour span. Cedar Point is a really great park. It is huge, clean, and has so many things to do. The operations are first-rate, as all the coasters had at least two trains, or in most cases, three trains running. I was really impressed with the condition of the place. Other than bird poop all over the place, the grounds were very clean, and I loved the gardens and landscaping of the park. I definitely know why this park wins all the Golden Ticket awards, and I can’t wait to visit again.
Day 4: Cedar Point, Heading Home
The last day wasn’t really much of the day. Since we rode everything the day before, we rode Top Thrill Dragster again. We went by Millennium Force, but it was down, so we couldn’t do that again. It was much more crowded than the day before, so we did some souvenir shopping and headed home. We wanted to go to Indiana Beach on the way back home, but my dad called and wanted us to stop in Columbus to look at a car for him, and we kind of got off schedule, so we decided to head home.
Overall, it was an amazing trip. Tons of new rides and parks, some good, some not so good. Even the weather was perfect, temperatures in the seventies and eighties all week with no clouds.
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