Aug. 6th, 2006 Afternoon Fun

We arrived at the park at around 1:30 PM and had decided we would be going to Soak City for a few hours. My girlfriend and I both have Combo passes but hadn’t been to Soak City yet this year.

Soak City was packed and we basically just did a few laps in both of the lazy rivers and hung out. After a few hours of floating we decided to go into the park in the swimming attire so we could ride Snake River Falls and Thunder Canyon. We both hadn’t been on these rides in years because we normally don’t like to get wet with our regular clothes on.

Snake River Falls had a ½ hour wait. Skyhawk was a long wait and was only running one side while we waited for Snake River Falls. We got front row seats on SRF and I got soaked at the top of the hill when the ride drops into the turnaround to begin with. Then came the big drop which was surprisingly fun. You get a lot wetter on this ride then I had remembered in the past.

Next up was Thunder Canyon. We rode with a group of guys that didn’t want to get wet. Obviously they made a poor decision in riding Thunder Canyon. My girlfriend and I took three direct hits from the waterfalls, it was also fun and the water moves much faster in that canyon than I had remembered. Not as much fun as real white water rafting but I’ll settle for the thrill.

Next we went on Paddle Wheel and this wasn’t all that fun. We were with a crowd of tired people and nobody really interacted with the captain of the boat. Also the boat driver was pretty bad. We got stuck exiting the dock bumping back and forth and when we docked at the end of the ride she hit the dock so hard I thought the roof of the boat was going to come off.

Next up was the diving show which was better than last years version because they added more humor and got rid of the lengthy explanations of diving and history it used to have. Basically now the show is more of a slapstick performance that involves the audience a bit more. Also the host actually was wearing a bikini this year which seemed crazy to me as I have never seen an employee in any CedarFair park wearing something like that. Usually CedarFair is way too conservative with costumes for shows and employees. It was nice to see a normal bathing suit in the show. Besides they are all over the Midway anyway.

Next up was Space Spiral. It is celebrating its 40th anniversary. I think they should of installed an air conditioner for the party because it was way to hot but we did get a good view of the park.

Then we did Raptor, well I did. My old lady chickened out and I rode in row 8 on the left. I prefer the far right seat but it still gave a nice forceful ride. While waiting to dispatch a ride host asked me about my shirt. I had an Xccelerator shirt on and he asked whether I liked TTD or Xccelerator better. I told him I like Xccelerator better than TTD but that TTD is better that Kingda Ka since TTD is less jerky.

Next was Millenium Force. We had a back row sunset ride. It was very fast and you could tell it was later in the season because the trains had a bit of a shimmy from wear on the shocks. Earlier season rides seem to be smoother in my opinion. It was still an awesome ride.

After MF we attempted to ride TTD. We haven’t rode it this season and I am starting to sound like everyone else because I find myself saying it is never open when I’m there. In the past I always had good luck in riding it nearly every visit, this year I guess I have run out and haven’t rode it. It re-opened around 8:00 PM and we got in line but it rolled back the 3rd or 4th train so I gave up on trying to ride. We replaced or TTD ride with a Magnum walk-on ride and we left the park around 8:30 PM for the day.

Overall it was a fun day filled with attractions and shows that we normally don’t ride on a regular basis. We got to see the construction site and I certainly can’t figure out what the ride is going to be yet. Whatever it is it is going to be large and track and support work is going to be everywhere. Hopefully it will have lots of head choppers.

On the way home we ate at Applebee’s on 250. The staff was very friendly and they were having some kind of team jersey night. All the staff was wearing different Jerseys, mostly Cleveland Caviler jerseys. Personally I’m a Pistons fan but I was in Ohio so I guess this makes sense.