10/16/04-Windy and Cold, but Fun

Despite the bad weather forecast, me and a friend decided to take our chances since the weather in Sandusky changes a lot, so we were pretty sure ti wouldn't be bad all day. When we got there it was really windy and kind of cold, and while the wind did die down a little bit later on, it remained pretty cold all day. However, there was very little of the predicted rain and the weather kept the crowds light.

When we first got there, we noticed that many rides were down because of the wind, so we started with riding what we could. We rode WT, Magnum, and Gemini (which was only running one side). They were all great rides, although I did need a little help fastening the belt on WT since I was wearing a winter coat.

After getting off Gemini, we noticed MF was running so we headed over. The wait was marked as 1.5 hours, but it took closer to 2 due to slow loading. I thought it was just the one inch rule, but when I got to the station I saw that it was more because everyone was wearing winter clothes, which made fastening the belt difficult due to the added thickness and the reduced maneuverability. The ops needed help about half of each train fastening the belt, myself included. The ride itself was "interesting" because it had started sprinkling before we got on, so it really stung.

After that ride, we took a break to play some DDR and to eat dinner. We ended up trying Game Day Grille, and I was quite happy with it. The staff was friendly and efficient, and the food was pretty good.

After dinner, we were happy to see the wind had died down a bit. We took rides on Corkscrew and Iron Dragon just for the heck of it, and then we took a ride on Mantis. That would have been a fun ride, except the op decided to put my seat higher, even though I was already standing up straight, and that made it sort of uncomfortable. I know that is what they are supposed to do, but it was still a little painful. We then took trimless rides on Magnum and Gemini, which were great, although that helix on Gemini is a bit rough without the trims. We also took a second ride on WT.

We decided to end the night with a front seat ride on MF. We ended up waiting about an hour with the extra wait and the extended loading times. Once again, the ops seemed more concerned about just getting all the belts fastened around everyone's winter coats than about getting slack. This rise was a lot of fun and was better than the last one since it wasn't raining.

All in all, it was a good day despite the cold weather. I was a little disappointed that Raptor and TTD never opened. I understand TTD not opening because the wind would have been really bad at 420 feet, but rides larger than Raptor were open, so it being closed all day was kind of strange. However, almost everything else ran, so it was fun. *** Edited 10/17/2004 7:02:38 PM UTC by Coasterfan***

Well, sounds like you made the best of it!

I might have gone yesterday, but i could barely walk outside without my teeth chattering, so that wasn't going to happen. Hopefully we'll get some warmer less windy days before October ends.

I was at CP two years ago on a windy day, and Raptor was closed all day as well. Must have problems cycling when it is windy!!!

The reason Raptor doesn't run in high winds is that it will not complete the course. And you thought a rollback on dragster took a long time to reset....

well to answer your question on raptor...it was the wind...i have been there in the past when it has been closed due to weather and they were still running things like powertower and sky ride. so i questioned an employee...and this i the answeri recieved, "when raptor train rolls over the tracks it loses speed, and normally this isn't a problem until it reaches the breaking areas. there are two main ones...both of which face the lakshore (where the wind barrels on the ride) the first major is about halfway through the ride...you go throught a couple barrel rolls and when you reach that platform area w/ the spiral staircase over by the blue streak the wind hits the train and pushes it backwards...it would roll backwards awhile...then get stuck, they have no way to get it back up the hill w/out getting out a crane and dragging it back up. (hourly process!) another spot is in the final docking area (if it made it there) it may not have enough speed to make it there...then it would roll backwards through the spiral area where the camera is. another long crane process.
so i was there also this weekend and yes it was frigid cold, but i am glad they didn't run raptor! i would hate to be stuck on the thing in the cold. oh and the reason why top thrill was closed was b/c they couldt get the thing over the top w/ the wind gusts. If you think that they normally have a hard time getting it over...w/ the wind gusts the computer wouldn't be able to average a speed and the weight of the guests and the wind speed to get the stupid thing over the top (can you believe another park is attempting to do a 450 ft beast? i think they are insane...learn from cp...it can be difficult...i bid them good luck!) and the reason power tower wasn't running, was b/c the cables were smacking against the tower in the wind, once the wind speed is up to about 45 mph...power tower won't run. i think raptor is about 45mph also (not sure on that one, so don't hold me to it!)
well those are the major rides that i could think of that they weren't running and their reasons for not running them...there are really no dangers for running them in the wind, just won't work as well. hopefully that answers your q's

Glad to hear that you still had a good time, I have been at CP in May with winter coats on but not in the fall. I guess a cold day at CP is still better than a cold day at home.

Actually, Power Tower not running had more to do with temperature than wind. The sensors don't work correctly when the temperature drops below 40-50 degrees. That would be why it didn't run either Saturday or Sunday. It wasn't nearly as windy on Sunday. :)