On Thursday August 1 my wife and I drive up to Sandusky from Louisville, Kentucky. It was my first time since 2007, third overall, and our first trip together. She had been before but hadn't really ridden any of the good coasters. We stayed a the Howard Johnson by the entrance and it wasn't all that bad.
On Friday morning, we got to the park at about 8:50. Got a great parking spot and were at the very front of the non-early entry line. The Gatekeeper flyover with the national anthem was very cool. They let us in at about 9:50 and we went straight to Gatekeeper. That turned out to be. Great decision. We only had to wait about 20 minutes!! What a great ride. Not only was this our first time on GK but it was my first big coaster ride in years. We rode front left and loved it. My only complaint would be that the shoulder harness is too tight. After GK we went to Wicked Twister and practically walked on. It wasn't quite as fun as I remembered. From there we went to Raptor. Up to this point the weather had been beautiful, but it started getting gloomy at this point. It started to drizzle and that turned our wait into about 1.5 hours. We did get to ride, fortunately, and it was great as usual in the front row. We started towards the back of the park and decided to try Mantis. None of us had ever really been fond of this one but wanted to give it another shot. It did nothing to change our opinion. It's just a boring, uncomfortable ride in my opinion. Maverick was next, and. Was super pumped because I'd only ridden it once before. We ended up waiting 2 hours because it was off and on wit the rain, but man is it worth the wait. We rode very back row and it was fantastic. That first 95* drop was awesome in the back!
After Maverick we went out to our car for lunch, then it was time for my favorite, Millennium Force. My wife was pretty freaked out about this one. I've always liked front but wanted to try back row, and I'm glad we did. The first hill is just incredible and the airtime on all the hills is a blast. After MF we went to Iron Dragon for a bit of a break. The wait was short and it was still kinda fun. Despite the weather, we thought we'd give Top Thrill Dragster a try. We got all the way to the entrance, and the ride was running, the suddenly it started pouring rain. It was about 7 PM at this point. They actually sent another train right after it started pouring, I can't imagine how awful that must've felt. MF in the rain is bad enough. We went to Power shower from there, practically walked on. I love the drop side. You actually have a few seconds t take in the view, then BAM! Down you go. We tried Magnum after that, but the rain never cleared up enough. Around 8, after checking radar on our phones, we decided to call it quits for the day. We did hit Power Tower once again on our way out. After that it actually started thundering and lightning after that.
Day 2! We got to the front of the line for non-early entry again. They let us in at 9:45 this time, and we went straight for Dragster since we missed it Friday. It's gate did t even open until 10, but once we got in it only took about 40 minutes to get on, which was amazing. My wife was incredibly nervous for this one, and I was a little bit too since it had been awhile. What a great ride. We were 2nd row (my wife wasn't up for front row) and it was great. I like some other coasters better, but this, especially considering the 40 minute wait, was awesome. From here we hit the other big one we missed Friday: Magnum. I've always been a big fan, and decided to try back row on this one for the first time. The airtime was ridiculous! The big drops are great but the airtime on all the camelbacks were what made this ride for me in the back. The wait was so short we got right back on. From there we went back toward Maverick. My wife had a rough time on this Friday but wanted to try again. It was "only" 90 minutes from line entry to ride exit. We rode very back row again on different sides. This ride is just so awesome! It was much better for my wife, too, which was a big relief. This would be our final Maverick ride.
Lunch time was next out at the car. We were exhausted at this point because the sun was so intense. We weren't complaining though. The weather was great for riding's sake. After lunch we went back to Gatekeeper. I was excited to see how it stacked up this time vs. how it was being our very first ride. It definitely held up! We rode back-right this time and liked it even better. That first drop is great because you're hanging there a second before you go down. It was back to MF from there. The sign said a 2 hour wait, but it was only about 1:45, and even that was only because we held out for front row which added a good 20-30 minutes. I love front for this ride because looking straight down that first drop is so intense. My wife loved it too. We were getting hungry and decided to head toward the front because we were going to eat this meal in the park. We decided to hit Raptor again first. We waited about 50 minutes and went with back row this time. It was totally different. Not only do you get whipped around a lot more, but you can't see what's coming. It was quite a bit more intense.
For dinner we decided on the Midway Buffet. It wasn't too bad. It's obviously expensive but there's so much variety which is good for a group (we were with another couple). It was great to get to drink as much as we wanted too because we were definitely dehydrated. We left there about 9 PM and split from the other couple. They really wanted to hit TTD again, but there were a few other rides, namely MaxAir and Windseeker, that I wanted to get to, and I really wasn't interested in waiting more than an hour for TTD which I expected would be the case. We went to Windseeker at first, and it was really cool at night. We just missed the sunset, but all the lights, etc. were a cool sight. The view over the lake at night is very eerie (no pun intended, really). After that we went to MaxAir. We got all the way to getting on the ride, then it went down for mechanical for a bit. We just got back off, waited about 15 minutes, then got to ride. It was way more intense than I remembered. I've always loved hanging over the ground when you're at the highest point, but facing upward is really cool too. Feels like you're flying straight up into space. The swinging part was a lot faster than I remembered, too. Glad we got to hit that one once. It also made up for Skyhawk being closed, which was a bummer for me. Because we were so tired, we had decided with our friends that we'd meet back up at Gatekeeper for our final ride since its at the front of the park. We were supposed to meet at 11, but at about 10:45 somebody offered us line skippies for GK for $5. That was a no-brainer! So my wife and I got to ride GK one more time, all still before 11. We were obviously excited to get to ride GK once more so quickly, but also because it meant we could head back to MF to be our final ride. GK is really cool at night. we had never really ridden anything at night before. We waited til 11:30 and our friends were still not there. That made us REALLY glad we didn't go to TD with them, because it meant it took at least two hours there. We knew MF would be the perfect way to end the trip, and were excited to ride it at night as well. The sign said 90 minutes, but we were on in 50. We went with back row again because it was after midnight at this point and the front row queue was pretty long. Not to mention the bugs we felt hours earlier in that spot would only be much worse.
As sad as we were to be done, MF really was the perfect way to end the trip. It's always been and still is my favorite, and I think it is now my wife's favorite, too. She even put her hands up for part of it after the first drop.
This as just an incredible trip. It was hard to leave but we left as content as could be, and very exhausted. It would be really hard to complain about any part of the experience except for the weather toward the end of Friday. I think I was converted from a front row rider to a back row rider. It was great to have a chance to experience most rides in different spots because we spent two days. My wife is already talking about next year, which is probably the greatest part! Definitely don't want to wait another six years before our next visit.
If you read this whole thing, well done!
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