10/21/07 - A Reminder

Working at the park all summer was great, but when it came to my last week at the end of August, I was very tired and relieved to go home. Working at an amusement park isn't all that easy.

Two months have gone by, my first year at college is in full swing and all I can think about is how much I miss the Cedar Point. This isn't anything new, but I miss all the people I met and worked with day in and day out throughout the season. That said, I had to make it to Halloweekends to get that last ride of the season and see some of fellow employees who are still working.

First off, I seem to always get to the park the second to last Sunday of the year and I always luck out with cooler temperatures in the low 60s to last year's high 40s. It being Sunday and cooler weather, crowds are always light. This year was VERY different, 80 degrees and sunny. The park wasn't packed, but it sure wasn't dead. Every ride had some kind of line, most due to low staff, but others (Maverick & MF) were past 1 1/2 hours all day.

My plan of attack was to just ride a couple of the rides and just enjoy myself since I've ridden the all the rides many times throughout the summer already.

First is the one, the only, MAVERICK!!! I can't say enough about this ride. I been on the ride many times. I even worked on the ride for a couple weeks, and I still can't get enough. I believe I have 50 rides now (stopped counting at 40 something). I came up with a simple conclusion why Maverick is so great. Everyone has their favorite parts of roller coasters (ie: TTD=launch, MF=first drop, Magnum=bunny hills, etc.), but I look at Maverick and think, what is my favorite part? I have no answer. From beginning to end Maverick is top-notch FUN. No goods, no bads, just GREATS all around.

Since I was in Frontier Town, Skyhawk was next. I personally like this ride a lot, it just needs to get a little longer and it'll be perfect. Maybe just one more full swing, it only adds no more than 10 seconds to the cycle time.

Now to Mean Streak. Nothing new here, just good ol' Mean Streak, giving its riders a brutal shake.

On to Magnum, got second row and I can now say that the "molly orange" ride is becoming one of my favorites.

I then finished the morning out with a quick ride on Corkscrew to see my old crew. Back seat isn't really all that bad.

After all that, I took a stroll around the Main Midway and back by Wicked Twister to check out the depressing state maXair is currently in, just sitting looking dead. :(

Next, was the ride no trip could be complete without. Top Thrill Dragster was running great today, minus a lot of guest issue (size/loose article) that slowed the crew down. I got front seat in about a hour and 45 minutes. Just as good as I remember it. Nothing beats going 0 to 120mph in less than four seconds.

I now headed back to the front of the park to get on Raptor. I waited for the front and discovered that the track really creates a head chopper effect throughout the ride.

I am now sad to say I went on Disaster Transport next. No details other than it's an embarrassment for such a great park.

It was now nearing 4pm (parade time) so I ran over to Panda Express, got my usual, lo-mein/orange chicken Panda Bowl, found my spot on the midway and watched the parade. Kudos, to everyone who put that together. You can tell a lot of work, planning, and thought went into every aspect of CP's first ever parade. I'm excited to see what kind of future this sees; I'm hoping they figure something out for the summer months.

That being done with, I went to check MF's wait time and 1 1/2 hours isn't worth it to me. I've really lost interest in this ride. Not exactly sure why, but it just doesn't thrill me so much anymore.

So, to end the day I decided to make my last ride be on Maverick. Like someone quoted in another topic, "It's like being tied to the tail of a twister!" I LOVE this ride.

In conclusion, for the first time, I finally made a trip to CP not wanting to power ride EVERY coaster in the park. It was my day to relax and just enjoy the park with my friend. Like I said in the beginning of this TR, working at the park over the summer was great, but you really do start to have a different perspective of things and sometimes forget about what it's all about. Today was my reminder to why I love Cedar Point.

*** Edited 10/22/2007 7:29:52 AM UTC by Gomez***

What is wrong with Max Air?

MaXair has been broken since August.

Yes, someone once told me its motor blew up......... ouch!!

Here's the six page topic about it.

http://pointbuzz.com/cpplace.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=21763