This past Friday and Saturday was my first time in the park in two years. We were there around the same time in 2013 when Gatekeeper was new. I was with a friend of mine on Friday. We stayed in the HoJo on Cleveland Thursday night. Not a bad non-CP resort to stay in, although I was really disappointed they didn't have good bakery-style donuts like they did two years ago.
We started at the marina entrance where we arrived around 9 AM. I like to get there early to get a good parking spot because we bring food to eat at the car. There was a short line of early-entry folks but when they cleared out we were the only ones there for most of the time waiting for 10. They waited until exactly 10 to let us in. Two years ago at the front entrance they opened 10-15 minutes early both days. The one thing I missed about being at the main entrance was the Gatekeeper flyover during the national anthem. That was really cool.
When we got in we headed straight for Millennium Force. We entered the queue around 10:05 and were off the ride by 10:50. This is probably the shortest I've ever had to wait for MF. They were running all 3 trains and seemed to be getting them through quickly. This is still my favorite roller coaster in the world, riding very back row. The first drop is just incredible.
From MF we headed back to Maverick. We wanted to get both of these rides in early. The queue for Maverick was the shortest I'd ever seen up to that point. It was probably about 45 minutes as well. This is such an amazing coaster. From back row, the airtime over the first drop is insane, and the other big airtime hill is crazy too. Such a fun ride, especially with that short of a wait.
After Maverick we hit Skyhawk. Two years ago Skyhawk was closed, so it was really built up in my mind from how much I'd loved it several years ago. It didn't disappoint after all this time. The airtime and feeling of being thrust out of your seat is great. I like it better than MaxAir because my favorite part of MaxAir is when you're going straight back and forth, and Skyhawk gives you that with every swing.
The fact that we got through MF, Maverick, and Skyhawk by just after noon was a great way to start the day. We started making our way towards the north side of the park. Here I would experience Gemini for the very first time. My first trip here we tried to ride but it was closed for some reason. This was a walk-on and it was fun! Unfortunately, our side (blue) lost, but the ride has a few fun drops and wasn't too rough for an older woodie.
From there we hit Magnum, one of my favorite coasters in the park thanks to the drops and all the airtime. We rode this in the very back and the air on the last few hills didn't hurt my thighs as badly as the last time I rode it. This would've been close to a walk-on had it not been for a "guest illness" shortly before we got up to the platform.
It was about 1 then when we decided to hit Top Thrill Dragster. This was looking like a decent wait, around 45 minutes or so. While in the queue we saw a train only go halfway up the hill and then rollback. I'd never seen a rollback so short, only from the very top. After that they shut it down for mechanical issues. I was glad we had just gotten in line so it was an easy decision to move on and try again later.
Our next ride was Rougarou. I hated Mantis so I wasn't sad to see it go and was excited to try this out. This had a pretty short wait. We went for the first available row, so we ended up in the 3rd row I believe. I was still pretty underwhelmed with this coaster. It was absolutely much smoother than Mantis was, but it just felt slow and kind of boring to be honest. Next time I'd like to try it again from the back to see if that adds a little more intensity. Otherwise this will once again be a skippable ride for me.
From there we checked on Millennium Force and Raptor and decided to pass on both for the moment because they were both hour waits. We went out to the car for some lunch and were back in the park at 2:30. Since we were up front we went to Raptor. This ended up being about a 40 minute wait. Having just been at Kings Island on Wednesday, I was excited to see how Raptor holds up because it was always one of my favorites at CP. I was happy that it was still a blast! We rode this very back of course, and it still felt as intense as ever.
Since we were at the front we rode Gatekeeper next. I really wish they had some more cover from the sun in that queue. Or I just need to never ride it mid-afternoon again. This was another 40 minute wait. My friend decided at the last second he'd sit it out because he was feeling shaken up. I rode in the very back on the right side. I love that side because of the way you're suspended over nothing before you pick up speed on the first drop. This is a great, smooth ride.
Since we were in the area I went to Wicked Twister next. My friend skipped this one too. The first couple times I was at CP I loved this ride. Two years ago I was disappointed it didn't live up to what I remembered. I made sure I was at the back of the train this time because that's when it was most fun, but it was still underwhelming. I wish you went backwards to the very top more than just once, because that's where the real thrill is for me in that ride. I'd rather just ride Skyhawk than this one. I think I'll officially take it out of my plans in future visits.
At this point we were ready to give TTD another try. Fortunately it didn't go down this time, but we did have a longer wait. It ended up being just a few minutes short of an hour. Because the ride is so short and the wait so long, I usually only care to do this one once per visit. It is a crazy fun ride though. I think no matter how often you ride it you still get some butterflies when you're just waiting for those lights to go green. I rode this in the very back and the air you get come down the hill was great.
It was back to Millennium Force from there. Once we were on the platform there was a delay where they had to remove the yellow train. It's cool to see them switch the track to get it off the main track. With that delay the wait ended up being about 50 minutes. Still not bad at all for MF.
We went back to Maverick then, and as we were headed that way I told my friend I wouldn't be surprised if this was going to be our longest wait of the day, and I was right. It was almost exactly 90 minutes. Still, nothing to complain about for the whole day.
By about 9 we got to the Midway Market Buffet for dinner. I'd eaten here two years ago, and the food was pretty mediocre, but as far as getting the most bang for your buck it's still a good option. It might be just a couple more dollars than a combo at another food place, and you get free refills and dessert. Plus the variety is nice. While we were in there, however, the power went out suddenly. Apparently it was that front quarter or so of the park that went dark, including Raptor. We could still get food, but unfortunately that meant the Coke Freestyle machines were down and we couldn't get any refills. I talked to an employee and they called over to Pinks to give us a refill if we went over there. Her name was Naya (sp?) and I appreciated that very much. It didn't matter for my friend because he had the ride and refresh wristband anyway. We could also see from there that Windseeker was stopped at the very top. They weren't up there long but I can imagine that would be terrifying.
I had originally thought we'd hit Gatekeeper again since we were at the front, but we weren't sure what would be running up there with the power outage so we headed towards MF again. We waited just around an hour. MF is so much fun at night. To close out the night I experienced a couple more firsts: Skyhawk and Maverick at night. Skyhawk has quickly become one of my favorite rides in the park. And the lines are usually so short even on a busy day. Being thrust upward into the night sky is pretty freaky! Maverick at night was really fun too. The line was super short. The queue only went as far as the bottom of the stairs. That made it easy to ride it twice in a row. I'm so used to Maverick having such long waits, this was the highlight of the day.
I was torn between riding Maverick yet again or booking it back to MF for one last ride. I was expecting it to be open until at least midnight, possible a few minutes after. Unfortunately by the time I got there, before midnight mind you, it was already shut down. Not only was the queue closed but I could see the platform was totally cleared out, too. I'm not sure why it was closed so early.
Naturally I was bummed I missed out on one last ride on Maverick, but overall this was the best single day I've ever had at CP. I got to ride everything I wanted to at least once, and I got to ride my favorites several times.
I probably should've called it and went home the next day, but I couldn't help but to want to come back for more. I went to Meijer and bought the R&R ticket (the reason I didn't have that Friday was because I got that ticket on the Christmas in July deal). I also decided to try out the all-day meal plan. Ultimately I ended up eating more than riding because Saturday was incredibly busy.
I was by myself this time and started the same way I did Friday. Went to the marina entrance, got in right at 10, and went to MF. This was just like Friday. The queue was really filling in behind me but it only took about 45 minutes. From there I headed back toward Maverick but stopped for my first meal beforehand. I got the chicken finger combo and it was pretty good. I can't imagine paying $15 just for that though. Maverick was of course worth the wait as it took about 90 minutes again. I'm sure it would've been shorted if not for the food stop. I was determined to get my money's worth out of the $30 though. From Maverick I did Skyhawk again, and it was still just about a ten minute wait. I got a cheeseburger at Stockade after that, which was pretty good. Since I was still at the back and wasn't sure if I'd be up for another long wait for Maverick, I decided to hit Skyhawk one more time before moving forward. I got to Magnum about 1:40 and they were closed and said they had been for 2.5 hours. Sadly that meant I wouldn't ride it again.
At this point lines had filled so much I barely did any more riding that day. I did go to Power Tower. The line for it was longer than I'd ever seen on the drop side. This was the one time where I benefited from being a single ride. I got to skip a good bit of the line to ride. I also had another first--the other side of PT. The line on that side was non-existent, but it's obvious why it was. The drop side is much more fun. You're up at the top longer and can take in the view better.
I kept moving towards the front after that. I went by both Raptor and Gatekeeper and wasn't up for any long waits for those. Magnum and Gatekeeper were the two that I regretted only riding once on the trip. I went back towards Millennium Force then. I decided to try the Plinko game even though I knew I wouldn't win. Alas, I didn't win. I only did 2 pucks for $5. I had been looking forward to trying the cheese sticks at the Dragon Inn. They weren't bad at all and seemed fresh. Probably because all the food places were so busy.
At this point I decided I probably had one more long wait in me. So before I did one last ride on MF I decided to go back and do Skyhawk again because the wait would still be relatively short compared to MF or Maverick. This was my longest wait for Skyhawk but still only about 20 minutes, and worth it. I took some time to chill with a drink then and checked out the museum back there. It was around 3:45 when I heard the employee there say the entire park was sold out of fast passes. Not surprising given the massive crowds.
I started back towards MF and stopped at Panda Express for another meal. This is the place to eat if you're eating in the park. It's much cheaper than a cheeseburger or chicken finger combo elsewhere and you get more food. Eating lunch and dinner at PE would be cheaper than getting the all-day meal plan. And it's delicious. Right before I got in line for MF I popped in my earbuds and listened to a podcast. That made the wait much more bearable. It was a 2-hour podcast but I only got through about 75 minutes because it was time to put the headphones away. Once again, MF is the greatest ride in the world. Back row, every time, and the perfect ride to close things out.
I did check Raptor and Gatekeeper again since I was headed that way, but they were still well over 90 minutes each and I was ready to head home. I wanted to get one more meal before I left and decided on Pinks, a place I'd always wanted to try there. I was both disappointed and pleasantly surprised. The disappointing part was the chili dog. I'm sure the hot dog was fine, but I didn't really like the chili itself. Skyline is 1000x better. The pleasant surprise was the fries. They were different, and much better, than the ones I'd had anywhere else in the park. There was some frustration as they were having system issues and were only able to take cash. Fortunately there was another customer with the all-day plan who was much more demanding than I would've been for them to figure something out and honor our plans. They ended up writing our barcode numbers down even though it's against their policy apparently. I'm sure that was a massive headache for them to deal with on such a busy day.
One last comment--I wish CP had more Christmas related stuff in their gift shops. My wife and I have a tradition of buying a Christmas tree ornament anytime we go somewhere together, but we couldn't find anything two years nor could I find anything this time around. I've seen stuff in the online store but the shipping costs more than the item itself. I know Christmas is the off-season but it would be cool to see them add more of that to their stores.
Well, this is a really long report so if you actually read the whole thing, good on you. I know these have been helpful to me in planning trips so I hope I can do the same for somebody else. I will never, ever go back on a Saturday without a fast pass. If everyday could be like Friday, though, it would be fantastic.
Thanks for reading!
As I've recently said, Skyhawk is my favorite flat ride in the park, and I'm glad you finally got to ride it and experience how great it was!
This wasn't actually my first time on it, but the first time in several years because it was closed when we were there in 2013. Such a great ride!
Skyhawk is ok, I usually grab a ride (or two or three) if I'm in Frontiertown for early morning Maverick rides. Cedar Point's version (like Valleyfair's) is the biggest and tallest of the S&S Screamin' Swing rides, and while impressive to see, may not be the best version. Overall, I prefer Barnstormer at Dollywood and the Giant Barn Swing at SDC. They are the medium-large size and the ride action is faster (you "get there" sooner) and in my opinion a little more intense. Those rides are also fun due to the blown-out barn theme they have. The close proximity of walls and other structures really adds to the sensation as well.
I like S&S rides for the restraint. Screamin Swings up the scare factor with only a lap bar and no other supports or bars for the riders to grab. The feeling is out in the wide open and precarious, and that's definitely a bonus.
But in the end, particularly at Cedar Point, I'll take maXair. It really delivers the thrills with it's high flying and twisting motion and longer cycle. A few here have mentioned the ride is best when you're facing straight on, but I disagree. A side view at the highest part of the swing is also quite disorienting as you watch the horizon flip in front of you. The ride is long enough and timed so that (unlike KI's Delirium) the rider is treated to a view from all sides of the wheel more than once. Love it.
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