Combined Report: CP 7/25, SFMM 7/18, KBF 7/17
After pulling some strings I was able to head off to the Point on Friday the 25th. After dropping my dad off at work in East Lansing at 8, I headed straight to the point. Most of the drive went ok, but I did get stuck behind some guy with a Florida plate in a Buick doing about 35 through the US-23 Construction. That was only a little bit more than annoying. I made it to the park at about 11:15 or so and pretty much ran to Millennium Force to get a freeway stamp. I managed to get a 5-6 on MF and a 4-5 on Mantis. After that, I rode the Turbo Drop side on Power Tower and then met up at noon with one of the people I was meeting.
We rode Magnum in 1-3 then Gemini, Mean Streak and Mine Ride before we met up with the third person we were meeting. We got another ride in on Magnum before heading to Power Tower. We rode both sides of Power Tower, then headed to Wicked Twister. The guy at the entrance wouldn't let us bring our Dragster cups in line, which I thought was a bunch of crap. Why we couldn't just put the cups on the trays on the other side of the station, who knows. I think this is a really dumb policy in my opinion. After Wicked Twister, I had a cheese on a stick and then we headed over to the Millennium Force locker area to lock up our cups, keys, etc. It was 4 pm at this point and it was time for my Mantis freeway stamp. Brian and Mike got in line for Millennium Force while I went and used my Mantis freeway stamp. I got front row, right seat on Mantis (My favorite). The car in front of us stalled on the lift - some idiot undid his seatbelt. Finally after about 5 minutes, we were cleared to leave the station. I think Mantis is my guilty pleasure this year. I like the feel of stand up coasters for some reason. Once you are standing properly, they really can be a lot of fun and don't hurt at all.
Anyway, after Mantis, I rode the Iron Dragon and then I took some pictures of Millennium Force (They really didn't come out too well, though). Then after sitting around for 5-10 minutes it was 5 pm so I used my freeway pass for Millennium Force. There was a girl in front of me who was scared to ride, but I thought we had talked her into it. Unfortunately, I guess she wimped out because I saw her walking down the employee entrance/exit as we were going up the lift. I got a great ride on Millennium Force, as usual. After MF, I unlocked all of our stuff and called Brian and Mike to find out where they were - Apparently they were in the Mantis line, almost to the front. So I stood around the Mantis entrance for about 10 minutes before they called me and told me they were on the next train out. I got out my camera and snapped a picture of them going down the first drop - It actually turned out pretty well.
After that, we filled our Dragster cups for like the 20th time and then walked back to the Dragster lockers and locked them up. We rode Magnum (They had freeway passes, I just got in line, we both got on about the same time) in the front seat, and then we rode Mean Streak again. We rode the train up front and then rode Raptor, which at 7 pm still had a 30 minute or so wait - The lady at the entrance said they didn't open on time, so maybe that was why. Anyway, I had a back row, right seat ride on Raptor... Always the best :) Then we decided we were all hungry and we ate at Midway Market. I didn't realize I got 10% off with Joe Cool Club, so that was pretty cool. The staff there was very nice. After a filling meal, we headed back to Dragster and stood outside the line entrance. There was probably 100 people total outside. After a few launches, they let some people in. It was slow going as they were waiting for people to lock stuff up. We were next to get in after these 2 girls, and it rolled back! They closed the line. So we were standing there for about 15-20 minutes before they shot off more and finally they let a few more people in. So we were in the queues, and all the way up in the first one to be exact. The ride went down again for awhile but after about 20 more minutes they shot off a test run, it rolled back. They shot it off again 5 minutes later, roll back. Again, another rollback. On the fourth try, it made it over, and the whole line was cheering. Then they shot another test run, If I remember Correctly. That made it as well and they loaded people. They shot off pretty steady for a long time and before I knew it, we were next. I sat back seat this time. I pushed my lap bar down a lot, and the ride op just made sure it was down. I was saved a stapling. I told her I had ridden this a few times before and she just laughed. So we rolled out to the launch position, and after what seemed like forever, we launched. We were going up, and we BARELY made it over. I had a good 2-3 seconds to look around while at the top - What a sight! After I got off the ride, I ran around to the launch area where I saw Brian and Mike being rolled out. I sat there and talked to them for a good 20-30 seconds before they got launched. It was brians 2nd ride and Mikes first. Mike bought the picture, and then I announced I was going to ride Magnum.
It was 10:30 at this point, and Mike said he was going back to his hotel. After getting the stuff out of the lockers, Brian and I rode Magnum. We rode in the second to last row the first ride, then ran around and got on it again. This time we rode 1-3 and when we got to the helix, I didn't hear the trims. The helix was VERY intense, and then there was no way my butt touched the seat after that! This was absolutely the best Magnum ride I had EVER had! Trimless in 1-3! It was 11pm at this point, and we went out to my car in the soak city lot. I drove Brian up to his car in the front lot and we both drove home. Truely one of the best Cedar Point trips I have had.
Now, I wanted to just put some brief trip reports from my trip to Knotts Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain last weekend. Last Thursday morning I had a flight out of Grand Rapids at 7:40 am, so I was up at 5 am ET. I flew out to LAX, ending up there at about 1 pm PT. My friend Cory picked me up at the airport and we hung out for awhile. The original plan was that my other friend Dylan, who I was staying with and visiting, would come get me after he got off work and we'd go stay at his Grandma's house in the Valley so that we were only a 15-20 minute drive away from Six Flags in the morning. Plans changed, and Cory had to go out to eat with his folks, so he dropped me off at Knotts. The guy at the ticket counter wasn't exactly sure what he had to do with my Season Pass. I bet it was one of the first Cedar Point passes he had seen. After a little confusion, I was given my ticket to get in. It was kind of a pain because I had to have my lugguage searched, but after locking up my bag in a locker, I was off to enjoy the park.
First I rode Ghostrider, since it was right there near the entrance. What a GREAT wooden coaster that was! I didn't get to fully enjoy it, though, because I had forgotten to take my PDA off my belt, so I was sitting on it during the ride, and I didn't want to lose it. I loved Ghostrider, though. After that, I was pysched up. I HAD to ride Xcelerator! I walked as fast as I could to the back of the park where Xcelerator stood. I was pleased to see the line wasn't but 5 or 6 people out of the station. After a short 5 minute wait, I was on Xcelerator in the back seat. The ride op was kind of a nazi, and she wouldn't let me put the belt through my hat or shove it down my shirt, so I had to have her put it in the box on the other side. What a great ride Xcelerator is! They launch you right out of the station. There was a bunch of airtime on the way down, and then the turns were pretty cool, although I have to say, not exciting enough. I'm almost kind of glad Dragster is just a Launch - Tophat - Brakes. It gives it a lot more capacity. Anyway, I wanted to ride again, so I ran around and got back on. This time, I put my hat in the box, and got into the ride. The lady was griping at me because of my cellphone. She said that it was going to come off. Right, it's probably ridden more roller coasters than her. Anyway, I had her go put it in the box after a bit of protest. Ride 2 was just as great as ride 1. After this, I got a ride on Boomerang in. Its quite a fun coaster, actually. It loads pretty slowly, but there was almost literally no line, so it wasn't a big deal. After boomerang, I rode Xcelerator again, this time making sure to not get stapled at all. The airtime I got was insane! Anyway, after that Dylan called me. He was at the park. so I got my stuff out of the locker and met him at the front gate. All in all, a great stop. It was already like 8 pm PT at this point, so I was dead tired. I had been up since 2 am PT. We drove up to his grandmas house, which I guess was near Northridge.
We spent the night, and woke up in the morning, ate breakfast then went to Six Flags. They were idiots about parking, and showed us to our spot, instead of just letting us in. At least it was only $8. Anyway, it took about what seemed forever to get into the park. We had to walk through metal detectors. What a pain in the butt. Then, Dylan had to wait in line to get in with his ticket. There was nobody in the season pass line, so I got in right away. We rode Revolution first, which was quite a cool ride. It had a OTSR and a Lap Bar, which was also weird, but kind of cool. After that, I saw X running, so we got in line for that. 2 hours later, we rode X. I have to say, this is one of the BEST rides ever. Probably one of the more intense rides I have ridden as well. It was only running 1 train, though, so it was super slow. Apparently it broke shortly after we got off, so we got in line at the right time. Anyway, after that, we rode Ninja. It was ok, not much greater than Iron Dragon. They were only running 1 train, though. It was a SLOW moving line, and to make it worse, there was this guy and girl in front of us who were slobbering each other the whole time. YUCK! After that, it was Superman: The Escape time. One word fits this ride the best: Overrated. It only travels maybe 300 feet up, if that. The launch really isn't all that intense and there isn't much of a feeling of free falling. Top Thrill Dragster blows this ride out of the water, as does Xcelerator. Even Wicked Twister has a more intense launch. Oh well.
After that, we ate overpriced, horribly tasting, undercooked pizza. I was not impressed by the food. Then, we rode Gold Rusher. Better than Cedar Creek Mine Ride, in my opinion. I could have gone for another ride on it, but we ended up never making it back over there. It was actually quite a fun ride. Next up was Riddlers Revenge. The line was about 80 minutes long. I got front seat, of course. They were letting people just sit down - OUCH! I had mentioned to the Dylan to put his feet all the way back, stand up straight and look forward. We both got in there correctly, and so did the girl next to him. It was a great ride, although the layout was MUCH like Mantis. Worth an 80 minute wait? Yeah, I guess. Much better than Mantis? Not really. Few more loops, and a bit taller, but not a ton greater. After we got off, the girl who was next to Dylan really thanked me for the tip on keeping your feet back, head forward and standing up straight. She said it was the best ride she had ever had.
Anyway, we rode their equivalent of Snake River Falls, didn't get too wet, nor was I impressed. I don't even recall the name of the ride. Then we rode Colossus, which was ok. I prefer Gemini, though. It was cool to ride the wooden equivalent of the Gemini, though. Then it was off to Goliath. What an over-rated piece of junk this ride is. After a 90 minute wait, we got on. I made sure to slouch to get a real loose lapbar. What a waste of energy that was. There was only 1 good airtime hill, and its not even for long or anything. Magnum and Millennium Force have Goliath beat in the fun factor by a million. After Goliath, we got one last ride in - Viper. I have to say this was quite a good ride. I was quite impressed. I enjoyed my ride on Viper and only waited about 5 minutes for it. Can't beat that, really. We headed out after that, and that concludes my trip report.
Knotts was quite up to specs for Cedar Fair. Boomerang was a bit slow loading, but the rest of the rides were good in terms of capacity. The staff was very friendly, and the park was clean and very fun to be at. This place could be super great if they had more land.
Six Flags Magic Mountain left me very disappointed. X and Ninja and some other rides were running 1 train almost all day long. Capacity sucked. The park was also TRASHED. People had written, spraypainted and carved into everything it seemed. There was gum on trees, signs and in the bathrooms. All the toilet seats were carved into. There was litter all around and the staff wasn't the most friendly. There was usually 3 people running each ride too... 2 checking lap bars, one doing controls. Overall, there was some good rides there, and some snoozers. It was quite a hit and miss park. Really makes me sad that all the money, time and effort for X was wasted at Six Flags instead of Cedar Point.
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2003 Stats - Visits: 6
TTD:4 MF:9 Mag:9 WT:5 MS:8 Raptor:4 Mantis:4 Gemini:8 DT:2 CCMR:4 CS:4 ID:5 WC:1 BS:2
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I've got a disease, and the only prescription is more cowbell.
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Formerly the imbecile known as ddogg
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2003 Super Screw Crew
*** This post was edited by Drew 7/27/2003 10:34:44 PM ***
And, I guess 20 was an exaggeration.. I think it was more like 7 or 8 ;) And, surprisingly, I only visited every bathroom in the park maybe once or twice ;)
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