Cedar Point opening day (5/5/02)
A new year, and so much to tell. I'll try to go in order of what I did for the sake of remembering. Lots of things to talk about!
First off, I ran into nearly every CoasterBuzzer or GTTP member that lived within a thousand miles. Shouts to you all, and yes Kara, you can move here any time and play on my volleyball team (regionals in two weeks would be nice ;)).
I met Dan at Magnum and after what was apparently some air gate issues (yes, the ride has air gates now), we got out on the first public train in the ejector seat. Trims were wide open. It was running insanely fast. We did it again toward the back, and with the trims squeezing hard it was still insanely fast. Nice way to start the day.
At this point I should probably mention that the former Dogem site is surrounded by a big old wall with lots of landscaping around it. Inside the walls are two big old footers. Let the speculation begin!
From there we passed the relocated climbing wall and the new Snoopy Bounce, replacing the one that blew away last October. We hopped on Gemini and got a trimless ride. It moved like it hasn't for me in awhile. This was a trend that would only continue throughout the day!
The train ahead of us on Mean Streak was apparently light and slow, because the trims didn't touch us on the first drop. Here's the shocker... no squeaking, no shuffling, no bumping around the track. The entire first half of the ride was pure speed. Had it not been for the mid-course grabbing on hard, it would've been a ride unlike any I've taken since '91 or so.
From there we continued our leisurely pace around the trail and passed Millennium Force, which was running very quiet. All wheels were steel, no nylon, and the stainless steel front car shells had been replaced with silver fiberglass, thus far not mutilated with that nasty looking orange logo. Yellow had not yet made its way to the track.
They're experimenting with something called "Freeway," an obvious slam to the various "virtual queue" schemes that cost money at other parks. The premise is simple... get stamped with a time, come back then and ride. We got a 6-7pm stamp and moved on. At the moment they're apparently doing about 10% of a ride's capacity, which means about 120 stamps per hour on MF. The rest is filled by the queue. Wicked Twister was also using the system.
Working our way up to Blue Streak, we find Dave "RideMan" Althoff and Scott "ShiveringTim" Short exiting the ride oddly happy. They raved about Blue Streak, we shrugged it off, and got on.
I speak the truth when I say that anyone who says Cedar Point needs a good wood coaster has not been on Blue Streak this year. New paint aside (which looks great, by the way), this thing is smooth as glass and doesn't let go from the first drop on. Extreme airtime every hill, and the laterals on the turn around insane. Sit in the back and listen to those upstops smack the track. This quite frankly is your parents Blue Streak, and we were happy to repeat with another lap. I don't have the slightest idea what they did, but I'm very proud to have Blue Streak at my park.
On Disaster Transport we got all kinds of surprises. First off, lots of new black lights in the queue, and some new props in the third room. Even the robotic arms repairing the shuttle work! Inside the ride, lots of 3D star fields (for use with glasses). Looks kind of cool, but in some ways it's a "hide in darkness what you won't fix" kind of thing. Fine with me though... I really enjoyed the ride.
Wicked Twister, by some freak of nature, only had a 20 minute wait, so we hit it, near the back of course. Having to actually wait this time, I really appreciate the view on the beach now. Great location. And yes, I dig the ride more and more every time I ride it. The back seat is the money seat. If you doubt how different this ride really is, don't go to Cedar Point and have fun on your holding brake. One less person in front of me!
We stopped at the PR office to chat it up a little, then headed off for another lap around the park. Eventually we landed on the train, and led the group in a "hump that fence" chant on behalf of the skeleton that gets acquainted with the fence under Snake River Falls.
Mantis at this point had a short wait, and we jumped on. Here's the deal... they're only running two trains (the third is being stored under the transfer). As a result, the timing issue is eliminated, and that means no trim on the first drop. It's not a factor. Even the mid-course is barely a tap. Yes kids, our intensity on Mantis has returned, and you even get new restraints, free of six years of goo and bugs.
Iron Dragon was outright odd because the foliage has not really bloomed yet. Our trees really haven't filled in yet here on the North Coast, but I bet it'll happen this week.
After some Wicked photography, we returned to The Force and got in the cheat line. Our wait was about 20 minutes. The ride is running just a hair slow, and I'm guessing it's because there aren't any nylon wheels in use. They've added pull straps to the seat belts, not sure why. I noticed that the guide wheel springs are getting really sloppy, leading to lots of lateral play in the turns. If it gets worse, the ride is going to feel "rough." I wouldn't be surprised if they begin to change them throughout the season.
That's the big picture stuff. It was a beautiful day and it just felt nice to be "home." Shame I've gotta work in the morning.------------------
Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"
Jeff I wish I would have gotten to Mean Streak a minute earlier than I did. I saw you, Dan, Rob, and everyone else get off that gold train (I was actually got in the train as you guys were getting off). And unfortunately, the trims grabbed like crazy at both the top and mid-course. :(
I was wondering how they figured out the number of stamps to give each hour for FreeWay, it seems like a pretty decent system.
I agree about Blue Streak. The back row gives some of, if not the best airtime in the park. It's even better in the rain! Now if they could just do away with the headrests... ;)
The absence of the trims on Mantis more than makes up for the absence of a new paint job. The back row minus the trims is insane!
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Break the scream barrier in 2002!
Wicked twists: 3
Danger: Hgih Voltage!
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Cedar Point is the best. I will never stop loving it. You gotta, You wanna, You have to hold on...Cedar point hold on!! :) :) :)
Oh well, I'm sure you're upset about it, right? RIGHT???
I'm not. <3
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Natalie
Mine Ride '99
Thunder Canyon '00
Millennium Force '01
Well, I made it to my first Opening Day today, in the middle of final exams (for which I've got quite a bit of work to do now), and it was an experience like none other. I've just recently become a coaster fan, and what better place to do that than at the Point? I'm sorry I missed both the meeting times, but my excuses for both are valid, as you'll see.
After my friend waited in line to renew his season pass, we headed to the newly painted Blue Streak as a warm-up. Both of us were very impressed with the airtime on the old ride, so we quickly went back to ride it again, this time from the back row. It was then 11:20 and we decided to check the wait on Wicked Twister on the way to Magnum. To our surprise, the wait was only half an hour. We hopped on and sat in the 2nd row from the back. I didn't feel any of the sway at the top, but the whole ride was a real thrill. I screamed from the backwards shot up the twist all the way until we fell down the twist. In line, we joked about the ride being held together by duct tape.
Then, we got to Magnum at 12:10 and waited about 15 minutes. Since I'm Mr. Magnum, we got in the 3rd-row ejector seat, though it was blocked off on one of the trains. On the lift hill, we looked back and saw the construction (2 footers & something under a tarp. CCI woodie maybe?) There may be other rides that are bigger and faster, but IMO they can't beat the enjoyment of the Magnum.
Later, around 3:30, we got on line for the Millennium Force. The actual line wasn't that long, but we waited an extra hour for the front row because they only ran 2 trains. This was only my 3rd time on the ride and 1st in the front seat, and let me tell you there's no bigger rush in the park than that. I was literally crying at the end of the ride because it was that good. Since it's early in the season, I only caught 1 bug. Because of the long wait, we didn't get to Raptor until 5:15.
All in all we did 16 laps on 12 coasters (all but the kiddie rides & Mantis... my friend and I agree that the ride could be greatly improved by replacing the stand-up trains with sit-down floorless ones). Gemini (hand-slapper), Iron Dragon, Mine Ride, & Corkscrew were walk-ons, and we were both pleasantly surprised with our first ride on WildCat. I pointed out the "Hgih Voltage" sign in the Aval... I mean Disaster Transport queue. We didn't hurt our backs on Mean Streak in the front row. We rode Raptor twice, and Magnum a second time in the ejector seat (after an accident caused about half of the seats to be blocked off).
But the best part of the day came after 8-- the perfect ending to the perfect day. After riding Magnum, Corkscrew, and Raptor all within a half hour, we made it to the Wicked Twister queue a few minutes before closing. We waited for the back seat, and rode there on the last public train of the day. The 2nd time seemed smoother since I'd gotten more used to the track. I agree that the back is the place to be, though I haven't tried the front yet.
All in all it was a day I'll never forget. Thanks to my friend Sam for driving and convincing me to wait extra for some of the more thrilling seats.
--Phil (Mr.Magnum)
*** This post was edited by Mr. Magnum 5/6/2002 12:39:37 AM ***
My day was made when I was able to ride on the VERY FIRST MAGNUM TRAIN...same train and Jeffery Putz and Magnum Dan...without even having to say a word to them ;o)
All in good humor though...I was in a very non-social mood today for some odd reason and didn't really feel like chewing the fat with many people.
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James Draeger
http://draegs.livejournal.com
"Whose bright idea was it to get him talking about Cedar Point?!"
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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"
I did meet a female in line for WT who "knew just about everything" about coasters. She seemed okay until she said "did you hear about the new coaster for 2004?? It's a Thrust Air!" At that point I wrote her off, knowing that anyone who REALLY knew would also know better than to blab it in line.
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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
*** This post was edited by OldCPer 5/6/2002 11:23:05 AM ***
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2002- Raptor Hot Shots
Force Laps: 424
Wicked Twists: 5
But I'm gonna make you go hunt for it. I finally put the HTML version up on my web page.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
(Hey, it even has a link back to GTTP...)
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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"
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