Oh yeah, and of course I had fun on the rides, too...
The early morning rain must have scared some people off. The weather was perfect throughout the whole day, but crowds were pretty light for a Saturday. We waited an hour and a half for Millennium Force and an hour for Mantis; everything else ranged from a walk-on to twenty minute wait. Besides seeing a fairly empty parking lot when the busses arrived, I also noticed a sign that said, "Millennium Force will Open Later Today" All right, so I was two for two so far. Light crowds, and MF was finally reopening!
I'm not going to get into too much detail about all the rides, but we got on all twelve of the major coasters (Gemini twice because it wasn't racing when we first rode it in the morning and my one friend really wanted a race), plus Power Tower Up and the Dodgems. I seriously can't remember the last time when I got on all twelve major coasters in one day, if it has ever happened, that is! What a great day! My friends were happy that I came because they said it was the first time they had been to CP when they didn't have to use a park map!
Some notes about a few of the rides:
Mean Streak: We rode in the back, which I don't usually do on this ride. This ride is really smooth now, surprisingly, but of course, it's also really slow. It seems like the trims on the 1st drop are turned down a bit (maybe because of the rollback a few weeks ago), but it seems like CP also slowed down the chain lift a little. I really think that if this ride had a more interesting second half, it would be a great ride.
Disaster Transport: This was the first time I rode this all year. Yes, it is a really fun ride, and I really love whooshing through the darkness. I don't know why people want CP to get rid of this ride. It really is cool and definitely unique (and the air conditioned queue is a bonus, too). I just wish CP wouldn't let the theming go down the tubes. I don't know why they don't use that huge video screen anymore (where the asteroid would blow up).
Mantis: Yeah, we waited an hour, but I like this ride more and more every time I ride it. I used to think it was so-so, but for some reason, I really started to dig it this season. The ride was running with the block brakes off yesterday, so the second half was really fast! I just love whipping through those final turns in the backseat!
Millennium Force: It has finally reopened! It opened about noon or so, and it kept shutting down periodically during the day for what must have been quick little maintenance checks. True to other reports, the lift sled is a bit scratched up from the cable break. Oh and as for my friends' reactions, they all thought it was incredible. This ride never disappoints!
When I got off the Gemini, I was waiting for a friend who went off to the bathroom and I saw a group of guys who were wearing Legend T-shirts exiting the ride. I struck up a little conversation, telling them that Holiday World is on the itinerary for next summer, and we chatted for about a minute. This was the first time I have ever gone up to someone I didn't know at a park and started talking about coasters. Anyway, I never even thought to ask those guys if they were CB or GTTP members, so if you are and you're reading this, you met MooreOn Saturday!
The bus ride home sucked, since I'm used to hopping in my car and being home pretty quickly. I was puzzled that the driver took a pretty strange route home, which involved taking US 250 to I-71, and then taking that to Delaware. I really think we could have shaved twenty minutes from the trip if we had taken Route 4. Anyway, it was a really great day at one of my favorite places with some friends who I usually don't get to go to parks with.
-----------------
*** This post was edited by MooreOn on 9/9/2001. ***
You must be logged in to post