Anyone Else Obsessed With CP?

I'm obsessed with CP. I have been in love with the park since I was a little kid with my earliest memories being around 6 years old -- I'll be 50 this year. As a teen/adult it was a huge part of my life . . . so many "firsts" are tied to CP. My husband and I had our first date at CP, honeymooned at CP, and 20 years later renewed our wedding vows on Magnum -- our first ride on our first date. My kids love CP, but nowhere near as much as I do. Living only 20 minutes away, we make at least 30 trips per season (not all full day). Over the last 26 years, there were only 2 that we didn't have SP -- the two seasons I was pregnant!

Corniest obsession confession? I cried my eyes out when Disaster Transport was removed. Not because I was obsessed with the ride, but because that summer I was hospitalized and discharged with instructions not to ride anything. I was so upset that I didn't get to say goodbye. :(

I was 18 years old before I rode my first rollercoaster at Kennywood Park. As a kid we went to a few amusement parks, but I was never allowed to ride any coasters because my mom was afraid of them and so she assumed that I would be. My cousins lived 10 minutes away from Kings Island, and we went there once or twice, but only rode the flat rides. When I was in the seventh grade, we went to Virginia and had a side trip to Busch Gardens. I wanted to ride a coaster, but again was not allowed. Finally went to Kennywood the day after prom with several friends -- and fell in love with the speed and air time. So I was a late comer, but tried to fix that the best I could. Later that summer I made it to CP for the first time ever - the magical summer of '89 when the coaster wars really got started.

I didn't make it back to CP again for 11 years when another big barrier was broken! The difference was that now I lived in Sandusky and bought a season pass for the first time. I came to town for a job, not for the park, but that was a nice fringe benefit. I got passes each year from 2000 through 2004 - which was the summer that I began dating my now wife. She was not a ride enthusiast, so we did not come over to the park at all together that summer and when we starting saving up money for a wedding the following year, I let my season pass lapse. The irony of it all was that my girlfriend/wife's family had strong ties to CP. Her grandmother was Mama Berardi who ran the old french fry stands back in the day and her dad was formerly a VP in charge of maintenance, until his sudden and untimely death in 1968.

We came to the park a few times between 2005 and 2010, but not often. But with her limitations (back issues and fear issues) I was not riding many big rides in those days. I did on occasion, but it was more important to me to spend time with my wife and my kids - one too young to ride anything outside of the kiddie areas and the other old enough and enthusiastic enough, but just not often enough.

I think it was 2013 or 2014 when we finally got to a place where we could afford season passes again. But it was 2015 when things really came full circle. That was the year that our eight year old went from terrified kicking and screaming on the Iron Dragon to an enthusiast kicking and screaming on every coaster in the park over the span of about six weeks. It really was something to see and is the inspiration behind my forum signature. I'll never forget the day I told her how proud I was of her and how she had ridden so many rides at an age so much younger than I ever had. Without missing a beat, she shot back "Yeah, because Grandma wouldn't let you!"

We've gone between 35 - 50 times in each of the past two years. When a week would pass without a trip over to the park, it felt like an entire season! When the off season comes, my daughter and I scour YouTube for any Cedar Point vlogs to try to satisfy our fix. I haven't introduced her to PointBuzz yet because I don't think reading these forums will quite hold her attention the way that watching videos does. But I do share some pieces of info that I see on here with here occasionally.

So our obsession might not reach the same level as the OP (no recurring dreams yet that I am aware of) -- but the itch certainly is there from December through May and our daughter always calls out from the back seat of the car whenever she sees any part of the CP skyline as we drive about town on our daily commutes.

I'm not as seasoned as many of the enthusiasts, but I've been to about 8 or 10 different amusement parks -- including the two biggies in Orlando. They all have their own charm, but I have to agree with the poster who said CP is still top choice even over WDW.

All in all, I consider myself extremely lucky to have ended up in Sandusky, meeting and marrying a girl with family connections to the park's history, and having a daughter to pass this obsession on for future generations. And now my nearly 80 year old mother has finally decided to sell her house and move 3 hours north to be closer to us. That will hopefully happen sometime this summer. She still thinks I am crazy to ride those rides with her granddaughter, but she can no longer stop me!

My first trip to Cedar Point was summer of 2006, I was 11 years old. After briefly looking things up online, I was super excited for Disaster Transport. Driving up the causeway I was absolutely amazed at how beautiful the skyline was. Throughout the day, I didn't ride too many rides, as I was terrified. I'd rode Blue Streak and Iron Dragon and finally after lunch came time for Disaster Transport. I thought the glowing cargo bay room was the coolest thing, but man the ride was a let down from what I was expecting. Later on my cousin convinced me to ride Gemini, and it ended up being my favorite ride from that trip.

Fast forward to 2010, my next trip to the park after that first visit. I was determined to go home with no regrets. My mom and brother talked me onto Millennium. I was ready to back out in the station, but they wouldn't let me. Nearing the top of the lift hill, I hear the guy behind me yell "Hey buddy! It's all downhill from here! Literally!" and that moment was when my love for coasters was born. As the day went on, I started noticing more and more detail, like just how excited the ride hosts were capable of making the crowds. And it was in that moment that I decided I want to do that some day.

Yearly trips continued in 2011 and 2012 with nothing special to note, other than an increasing love for the park. 2013 and 2014 I had a Platinum Pass and enjoyed many, many visits to the park.

Finally in December of 2014 I decided to apply to work at the park. Before long I was hired to be a ride host at Shoot the Rapids, and it was a dream come true. Little did I realize on that first visit in 2006 that 11 years later I'd be preparing for my 3rd season working at the park. Today my days off are spent in the park, taking everything in. The sights, sounds, smells, and just all the small details of the atmosphere. I could easily write a small book of the memories and friendships created at Cedar Point, and am looking forward to many more this summer.

ValravnCP said:

Anyone Else Obsessed With CP?

Enough to find this website in 1999 and to make this post in 2017.

Sucks.

Wow so many responses! I already knew about this site and come on every so often to read posts but I never wanted to post anything until now and I am glad I did! I loved reading all of your stories! It feels so great to be able to talk about CP at any time! I wish I had joined years ago. Thank you all for your warm welcomes too! :)

99er said:

ValravnCP said:

Anyone Else Obsessed With CP?

Enough to find this website in 1999 and to make this post in 2017.

Guide to the Point, back then, right?

CP Maverick said:

99er said:

ValravnCP said:

Anyone Else Obsessed With CP?

Enough to find this website in 1999 and to make this post in 2017.

Guide to the Point, back then, right?

Who else remembers the Point Online? It was still up last time I checked and is very nostalgic.

CP Maverick said:

Guide to the Point, back then, right?

Yup and Walt's website Virtual Midway.

Skyhawk2001 said:

CP Maverick said:

99er said:

ValravnCP said:

Anyone Else Obsessed With CP?

Enough to find this website in 1999 and to make this post in 2017.

Guide to the Point, back then, right?

Who else remembers the Point Online? It was still up last time I checked and is very nostalgic.

I was fairly active on TPOL. As far as I know, they transferred over to a Cedar Point fanpage on Facebook.

Cedar Point? ****in' hate the place.

Why? Besides Kings Island imo it's the best thing from May-October.

Nope. Not obsessed with Cedar Point. I just joined this website 11 years ago in order to troll it every 3 days. But the people were nice so I stuck around :-)

I'm obsessed with cedar point and the sandbar ; )

^^The people here were nice? The only impression I ever get from new members is that everyone here is an a-hole. ;)

TTD 120mph said:

...everyone here is an a-hole. ;)

;)

As soon as i saw the title I knew.

cpworshiper said:

As soon as i saw the title I knew.

Haha hi :)

We live an hour from the park and have had Platinum Passes for almost 10 years, each year we go about 20 times until 2016 we went 27 times. I really like this place but for some reason when ever I go to a new park I enjoy it more, that might be because I am so used to Cedar Point. This is probably one of my favorite parks along with Kings Dominion.