A week prior to this trip, I made it up to Cedar Point for the first time in 2003. It was marvelous. I took my uncle and cousin from San Diego for their for first time ever. They loved every bit of the park and said it was truly top notch. But their was one thing missing, and that’s what had me itching to go back. Because on that day, the dreaded “Top Thrill Dragster will not open today” signs were scattered throughout the park.
We left our house at around 2:45 with our bags packed, drinks in hand, and the message that Top Thrill Dragster was scheduled to be open posted in the back of our heads. The normal 2 ½ hour drive came to a close as we pulled around the bend on the causeway and the glorious sly line appeared yet again. I was accompanied by my mom and my friend Seth this time. Seth hadn’t been to Cedar Point since 1998. So he was really looking forward to all the big boys that he hadn’t been able to conquer yet.
The whole way down the causeway, my eyes were locked on the Top Thrill Dragsters top hat. And finally, after about a 3-minute wait, I saw a train rocket up and down the 420-foot vertical hill and I was relieved. About a half hour later, we were checked into our hotel room and heading into the park. Seth and I had both sworn Millennium Force would be our first ride of the day. So we headed that way, and happened to come across Top Thrill Dragster about to launch. We walked to the staging area, saw the countdown lights drop, and WHAM, the train was out of there so quick. I was amazed!
When we made it to Millennium Force, we saw that there was maybe a 15 minute line b/c it was broke. Seth automatically didn’t want to wait, but I convinced him that they always fix this thing really quick. Sure enough, in about 5 more minutes, we entered the line. After 10 minutes at the most, we arrived at the station. We already made our minds up a long time ago and knew that we had to head in the direction of front row. That station still pumps me up so much. Then our turn finally came. I hopped in first on the left side, we strapped in, and we were off.
Millennium Force – After riding it 25 times now, this one still has me screaming for more at the end of the ride. The first drop is my 2nd favorite drop on any roller coaster. Just the fact of how it seems to curve under itself always shocks me looking down the hill. As many people know, I’m a speed freak. Give me speed on a ride, and it’s probably going to be my favorite. Does Millennium Force have it? Heck yah. This one never seems to give up until it hits the brakes. 10/10
When we got off, we walked down the ramp and went to see the Mantis line. It was listed at 45 minutes. I told Seth it would be down tomorrow so we should just catch it then. He agreed and we decided to go to Wicked Twister for a quick ride before dinner. The line said 30 minutes, but I know how that goes. The line only went to the tunnel under the back spike. We were loaded into the back row in around 10 minutes.
Wicked Twister – Not even full power, this ride still delivers. In fact, I kind of like the way this ride is operating. It kind of gets people thinking that the ride is a piece of cake after going up the front and back spike once, but when they hit the launch for the third time, those LIM’s really kick in. Then the second trip on the back spike has always been one of my favorite moments on a coaster. The twisting totally disorients me as the beach spins in font of my face. Plus the fact that you’re just hanging there about 210 feet above the ground looking straight down kinda helps. 9/10
We ended up hitting Wicked Twister two times in the back row because of the really short line. After that, it was time to meet my mom for dinner at the Midway Market. The food there was reeeeally good. I enjoyed it so much because I hadn’t eaten at all that day except for a cereal bar in the morning. We “refueled” for about 45 minutes and talked to my mom. She told us all about how she absolutely LOVED the parks show, Starstruck. So I’d recommend anyone to go check that out.
When all the food was consumed, I knew it was time. I told Seth, “I think it’s about time for Top Thrill Dragster.” His reply, “I couldn’t agree more.” So we headed down the midway, past the packed station, past the grandstands, and into the 4 maze long line. I wasn’t really worried about the line, it was the breakdowns. Sure enough, 15 minutes into our wait, it broke down. It happened to be down for about 35 minutes and A LOT of people left the line. We ended up moving 1 ½ full mazes when it was broke down. But when it finally reopened, the line moved very smoothly and we were up in the station at dark, 2 ½ hours later. We weren’t going to take our first ride on this together anywhere else, but front row. Around 2 trains before we got on, I happened to look outside of the station, and sure enough, I found my mom walking down the midway. I was so excited because she was going to get to see my first launch. And 3 minutes later, the gates opened….
Top Thrill Dragster – Warnings blare on the loud speakers, then the infamous “Ready To Go” pumps you up even more. All while getting locked in and prepared for your journey. “Ready, Ready,” says the operator. “Clear.” And we begin moving. My heart begins pounding extremely hard. I take a quick glance and wave to my smiling mom. Then flashbacks and news headlines and pictures along with the awesome videos from VirtualMidway.com all blazed through my mind at light speed and told me, that this is finally it. “Keep arms down, head back, and hold on,” was next from the announced over the loud speakers. At that point something hit me. I knew that this was going to be the ride of a lifetime. The speed was going to be stunning and the drop, well, amazing. So I just let it all out right then. I yelled a little. Though not too many people could probably hear me over the revving engines. Just when I was about of breath from screaming, the train lurched back about 8 inches. “ARMS DOWN, ARMS DOWN!” The loudspeaker repeated again. My heart was beating so fast at this point, my arms straight out in front of me, and my eyes were locked on the countdown lights. The first one lit up, and the arms shot pointing straight up at the sky. My head turned towards the track, and around ½ second later, the acceleration began. I had always imagined the launch would almost hurt because it takes off so fast. But boy was I wrong. The acceleration was so smooth and quick. But just because its gentle as far as taking off is concerned, doesn’t mean that it’s a cakewalk launch. This thing just wouldn’t let up. The faster we went, the better it was. As I said earlier, speed is what I’m all about. Though the one thing I seemed to notice was that once you reached the grandstands, it almost seems to kick into another gear and go even faster. I loved that part. After hitting the top speed, with my eyelids flapping in the wind, we began the climb. Wow was it high. We seemed to climb forever and ever, and THEN we finally made it to the twist. The twist really caught me off guard in my first ride and I even knew it was coming. The whole way over the top we were out of our seats and looked down on the all lit up park. Now comes my favorite drop in the world. When you sit in the front seat, you get a chance to just stare down through the gaping hole (the spiral) and look at all the supports that are looking to maul you. The drop took me by surprise because of how fast we went down. The supports turned into a blur and the spiral totally knocked off my sense of direction. From there, we hit around 120 mph and glided into some really smooth brakes. I was hooked. I couldn’t believe how fun that could be. 10/10
We exited Top Thrill Dragster with the adrenaline still pumping and talking faster than the launch could ever go. We immediately bought an on-ride photo and slowly headed back toward the hotel while stopping to watch various launches while recapping what our experience was like.
The next morning, Seth and I woke up early and went to the Magnum entrance since we wanted Top Thrill Dragster to be our first ride of the day. We were the first ones there and the only ones until about 8. That’s when huge amounts of people started pouring in. I was extremely happy that we got there that early. At 9, we listened to the National Anthem and did a dead sprint to Top Thrill Dragster.
When we arrived only about 7 people were in front of us. The ride op said they would open the line up around 9:30. But about 9:20 he got the call, and led us in. We went straight to the front row of the second train in the station. 5 minutes later we were out as the 4th train of the day. I must say a night ride is a lot different than a day ride on this coaster. I prefer day because you can notice the objects flying by you. And just like the night before, the ride delivered an amazing experience.
We decided that we wanted to get a freeway so we went to Millennium Force, and for some reason, we stopped at Magnum to get one too. Even though there probably wont be a line. But once we got these, we went ahead and got another ride on Millennium Force in the front row. Still an amazing ride.
Moving on down frontier trail, we decided to ride the Mean Streak.
Mean Streak – I never seem to see what is so bad about this ride besides the first hill trims. I got a ride in the middle of the train, and yes, gasp, I did get some airtime. I just really like this ride because of the length. Just when you think you’re done, you still have a whole other lap around the structure. 7/10
Walking off of Mean Streak, we returned back to frontier trail and went to Mantis. Seth had never been on a stand up before. The line was about 20 minutes long so we did make a good choice by not riding it the day before.
Mantis – While the ride is rough compared to other B&M’s, I just find it plain old fun. The drop is really good (until the trims) and I just love the hang time through the loop. But my favorite part of the ride is the Incline loop and the upward S-Bend after that. I always find myself laughing during these elements. The helix is also very powerful and intense. The ride is very underrated in my opinion, but ooh well. 8/10
Our next stop was Raptor. And boy do I love this ride. I talked it up so much in line because Seth had never ridden it before. He was in for another real treat.
Raptor – The wait was only around 20 minutes and we rode in the front row. The floor dropped and we cruised to the top of the lift. The first hill is extremely fun followed by the intense loop. Next up is the heart line roll, my second favorite part of the ride. It just seems so out of control and is completely disorienting. But before you can recover from that we were in the worlds first cobra roll on an Invert. I was really hoping for a trim less ride and my wish was granted. The swooping drop off of the brakes is my third favorite part of the ride, which is then countered by a flat spin. Some straight track gave me my only breather of the ride before we dove into another flat spin. This is where my favorite part comes in. The downward helix is extremely intense, yet very fun. I always seem to scream uncontrollably through this section of the ride. I couldn’t think of a better way to end the ride. 9/10
That ride ended our morning coaster events and it was time for lunch. We walked back to the hotel and met my mom and T.G.I. Friday’s. I always love the atmosphere there. Not to mention the food. Our waiter was extremely nice and got our food out to very quickly. We devoured our chicken finger and fries while brewing up “The Plan”. The plan was to ride Wicked Twister and Magnum once, then devoting the rest of the day to Millennium Force and of course Top Thrill Dragster. We wanted to get 2 more rides on Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster apiece. We know, its not really possible if we plan on riding the other two coasters too. But hey, we can dream can’t we. After finishing off the meal we set back off on our journey, first stop was to Magnum.
This is the one that I skipped and had Seth go on by himself. While he rode this, I pulled out my camera and decided to tape Top Thrill Dragster. I got about 10 minutes worth of footage, and Seth returned. Magnum was another ride he hadn’t ridden yet. And with the way his face looked, and the way he was rubbing his thighs, I could tell it wasn’t that pleasant of an experience.
So with only one other coaster left besides the “tremendous two”, I put my camera in a locker and we strode over to Wicked Twister. Yet again we chose the back row. I really can’t say enough about that back spike on the second reverse launch. It’s just insane.
Now we were onto the plan of riding MF, TTD, MF (with the freeway). TTD. Instead of riding Millennium Force in the front row, we wanted to try something different. So we went and waited for the very back row. WOW! It’s a totally different ride. Even though I still prefer the front row, the back is still really intense. Plus the air-time is absolutely insane.
Well, 1 down, 3 to go. Things were looking good as far as time was concerned because it only took us 35 minutes to get on that time. But our schedule seemed to come to a halt as we reached Top Thrill Dragster. It was down for daily maintenance. Two hours went by sitting in line 40 people from the entrance when they finally reopened. We were ecstatic. Our goal could maybe be reached. We walked up to the station hollering and cheering with the rest of the group only to be let down, 4 trains away while waiting for the front row. The ride seemed to just not want to cooperate because every time the mechanics fixed something, another thing went wrong. Hours went by, including the Millennium Force freeway time. That was when we realized that this was the last ride of the trip. After a 7-½ hour wait, we finally jumped into the trains, as pumped as ever. We knew that this was our final ride and it was going to have to be top notch. It was just flat out amazing. The wait didn’t even faze us. We could have waited 10 more hours, and still loved the ride just as much.
As we unloaded the train, we fetched my camera, watched 3 more launches and proceeded out of the gates to end one heck of a trip.
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My trip was one that I’ll never forget. Top Thrill Dragster has become my new favorite ride and bumps Millennium Force to second. I really can’t explain how much fun I had. My buddy Seth and I enjoyed every second of it and can’t wait to head back up this Saturday. I can’t really emphasize this enough, for those of you who have never been to Cedar Point, pleeeease make the trip there and find out what it is all about. The rides, cleanliness, staff, and atmosphere are all top notch. And what they say is true, Cedar Point truly is Absolutely Amazing….
*** This post was edited by Mawty Schiwig 7/30/2003 5:04:23 PM ***
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Guess what? I got a fever! And the only prescription... is more cowbell!
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