7/17 - 7/19

worth mentioning.

The last time I'd been to Cedar Point was when I was 9, and at the time I was too chicken to ride anything bigger than the Gemini. Fast forward a half-dozen(protip - I'm 16) years and I'm back, ready to ride everything in sight (thanks Hersheypark!) We stayed at Camp Sandusky, some mediocre campground a few miles from the park with free pancakes every morning. Our site was next to a freeway exit. Not fun. There was also a Geauga Lake trashcan by the pool.

But let me not bore you any longer with my campground follies. The first day we arrived, the 17th, it must have been around 100 degrees, if not then more. That coupled with it being a Tuesday must've made attendance lower than usual. We( We being my dad and I, the trip was a birthday present of sorts) arrived at quarter of 10 and I was able to make my way to the park opening a few minutes before it opened. Obviously my first ride of choice was the Dragster, and it was definitely a highlight of the trip, simply because of what happened.

I assume you all know the benefits of being a single rider, and they shined through on this day. I was waiting in line for a seat in the middle car, when I heard an employee ask for any single riders. I raised my voice to let him know I was one, and wouldn't you know it, the front seat had only one person in it. He must've been the same age as me, but he was clearly an experienced rider because as the train pulled back, ready to rip down the track, he turned his head and said "Four more seconds!" I barely had time to fully comprehend what he said, and just as I did the lights lit up and we were out of there. And I was on the front seat. Awesome.

After that experience I, in a haze, backtracked over to the Wicked Twister, which I got a back seat on. The ride does what it says on the tin, I'll tell you that much. Then I took a ride on the Windseeker, which I would later get my dad to ride (he loved it). I liked the orchestral music. Nice touch. After that I rode Maxair, which is basically now my favorite flat ride ever. Then I rode the Mantis, a decent stand-up coaster I guess, it made my legs go numb about halfway through. I walked to the back of the park and discovered how huge it was, bought a souvenir cup to add to my collection of souvenir cups, played some DDR at the Frontiertown arcade, stared at Maverick for a few minutes then walked all the way back to have some hot dogs at Pink's with my dad. Chili cheese dogs, to be exact. Surprisingly good chili cheese dogs.

I'd say at this point it was almost 2:00, and I decided I would take on Maverick. But it was hot. Really hot. As I was passing a theater, I heard a lady advertising for a family show, Happiness Is Snoopy. I discarded it as a kids show and was about to continue onwards towards the Maverick, but then she said those two magic words: air conditioning. I immediately changed trajectory and headed into the theatre. If you haven't seen the show, I'll sum it up in 5 words. Dancing Crayons and Justin Beagle. I'll let you come to your own conclusions here.

I waited an hour or so for the Maverick, and it was definitely worth the wait. From the first 95 degree drop to the horseshoe roll, the launch tunnel, the airtime hills, the sharp turns... It's now my #2 coaster. Following that I rode Mean Streak. I did not like Mean Streak. I don't think I will ever like Mean Streak. I'm pretty sure I momentarily fractured my spine on Mean Streak.

Walked down the Gemini Midway, rode Gemini a couple of times to find it was as fun as it was six years ago. Trash talking and high fiving ensued. Rode some flat rides, particularly the Witches Wheel (I love enterprises). Then I rode the Magnum, which was basically a walk-on every time I rode it during my stay. Definitely one of the better coasters at the park. During the part where it circled around to head back, someone had etched "CALL ME MAYBE" into the sand below. I don't know who it was, but I want to believe it was Carly Rae Jepsen herself who was at the park two weeks ago for Luminosity apparently.

After that I made my way to the Iron Dragon, which I'd skipped earlier because it wasn't open or something. I would've enjoyed it, except the ride op told me I had to ride with everything I brought with me. I wouldn't mind, except I had that souvenir cup from earlier, filled with lemonade. I asked him nicely if he could put it by the exit or something but NO. I had to hold it the entire time, in front of me, trying to compensate for the swinging so I didn't get lemonade all over the place. I was successful.

After this, we both decided it was too hot for anything else, and we left for the day. It rained that night. The next day we drove two hours to some hardware store out in Amish country my dad saw on the Travel Channel. I saw amish people.

It didn't rain that night, but early the next morning it started to rain. Hard. I was saddened. I would understand why we wouldn't have been able to go... But I didn't get to ride Millenium Force! I was determined, though; sure that it would stop raining soon, I convinced my dad easily, and we headed off.

Last time I'd ridden the Dragster. This time my goal was Millenium Force. Because we got there an hour and a half after the park opened and Dragster was closed because of a big problem with the track, there was a bit of a line for MF, an hour and a half one to be exact. At the same time it was drizzling, the clouds overhead deciding whether or not to make or break my day. Props to the DJ, who wasn't really DJ'ing and reading a book with no headphones on next to those giant speakers. It actually started raining harder at one point, and for 15 minutes nothing happened. But then the rain stopped. If there is a god, I thank him; Millenium Force deserves that Golden Ticket much more than Superman/Bizzaro. It wasn't so much of a ride as it was an experience. I didn't get a front row seat - it was actually towards the back, but it was still amazing. I'm pretty sure I saw Canada from the top of that hill.

It didn't rain for the rest of the day. That was satisfying. After MF I rode the Maverick and decided to try Mean Streak again to see if it was just the seat I'd picked. It still hurt. Did most of the Gemini Midway again, went on Magnum twice(seriously loving the lack of a line there). Had some pizza at Hurricane Harbor and chased away a bunch of seagulls. My dad went to put his umbrella back in the car but apparently while he was walking back the clouds were, in his words, "getting really dark and chasing me", so he got his umbrella which apparently has magical weather probabilities and the mean clouds went away.

Went back to ride the Maverick again. Apparently the ride ops are strict about the whole "no glasses" thing and they stopped the ride mid-lift just because the guy next to me, who was putting his glasses in his pocket, could give them to a ride-op. I know they had no way of knowing he was putting them in his pocket, but hey, gotta follow guidelines I guess.

Went back to the Frontiertwon arcade for some DDR and attracted a crowd of people. yay. Then I played some half broken drum game that frustrated me to no end. At this point I realized there were a few coasters I hadn't ridden, and decided I would do those.

The first one was the Cedar Creek Mine Ride. I don't know why I went on that. It wasn't very fun, more relaxing than anything, and I didn't want that. After consuming tacos, I headed for Raptor. It was good fun. The last barrel roll caught me way off guard. Also, the announcer did the whole "there goes the floor you're out the door, enjoy your ride on [inverted coaster]. I didn't know this was common practice. You learn something new everyday, right? After Raptor was the Corkscrew. I got a front seat on that since there wasn't much of a wait. It was alright, I guess. The second hill jerked me forward quickly.

After this was the Disaster Transport. I didn't know it was going to be gone soon, so I guess it was like saying goodbye without knowing it. It was kind of fun. There wasn't a big wait for it, 20 minutes at best. It's basically a watered down version of Space Mountain

There was only one more coaster left, The Blue Streak. And here was another memory made; I was going to put my stuff away and was the only doing so. I walked back to find that the restraints had already shut! It was pretty obvious that wasn't meant to happen, so the announcer came over and looked at me. Now when I'd heard the announcer I assumed it was a woman. But I turned around to see this husky guy, and in the most flamboyant way possible, announced over the speakers"Uh Oh, Spaghettios!" with his arms flying around. I had to keep my laughter in. The ride was actually really fun though, rough enough to shake you around but not so much to actually annoy you and I liked the airtime!

After that I saw the all-wheels extreme show with my dad, a short but entertaining action show with bikes and gymansts and skateboards and stuff. Then I rode Maverick for the third time in a day, followed by a walk down the Gemini Midway where I rode the Gemini for the last time. Sadly, the trains weren't raising so there was no trash talking or high fiving. I followed this up with the Magnum one last time, MaxAIR one last time, and then I took a couple trips on the power tower. I stayed on the up one, mainly because there was no line at all, but everytime I got a great view. It was a good way to end the day.

I hope I go back there soon.

Nice trip report! I'm glad you had a great time at CP. I was there on 7/19, and you were lucky! Cedar Point is usually much more crowded than that in July from my experience. That 80% chance of rain and morning storms scared many away, but the day cleared up quickly and stayed dry. I take a gamble with weather forecasts like this often, and this one delivered just what I wanted.

I like your signature hahaha

Great trip report! Especially considering you're really new here at PB. Sounds like you and your dad had a fun time. The last time I was at the park I was with a group of friends and it was a hot day. We also wanted to go see that Snoopy show just to sit in air conditioning for a while but we we in between show times. I guess it sounds like we didn't miss anything!