CP on 7/21/04

It was hot, it was humid, it was crowded,and we had a great time.

My son, Ian, his GF, Donna, TheRealCP and I got into the park 15 minutes after 9 am, and met Ben Holcomb (former PT op, now SkyRide op) in the line for Dragster. He'd already had his first ride in the front. TTD was running fast and fully loaded cars were easily making it over the top. After a 15 minute wait, we were on for our first ride of the day. I did not hear of any major downtime on TTD yesterday while we were there, and it seemed to be running every time we were in view.

The disappointing news was even though TheRealCP was able to ride MF on opening day, she didn't pass the test seat. It's quite obvious the changes to MF's seatbelts and/or policies were not in place until later on. So, disappointed, but not unexpected, we left Ian and Donna to stand in the already 40 minute line while we went on to find other coasters to ride.

Magnum (2 rides) was running trimless first thing in the morning. After the initial, thigh banging ride, we took our second ride in a middle seat so as not to be above the wheels and had a fantastic ride.

We rode Mean Streak (trimmed and SLOW), Whte Water Landing and CCMR before Ian and Donna called to say they'd gotten their ride on MF. We met them on the Frontier Trail and did another round on ride on Mean Streak before heading to Gemini who had both sides running when we got there. I still love Gemini. Two rides with TheRealCP and I in red and Ian, Donna and Ben in blue for some handslapping.

After catching another ride on Magnum, we decided it was time to grab a bite at the Midway Market. Still the best deal at the point, IMO, for the quantity, variety, and the mixed berry pie!! Ben accompanied us to lunch which had him close to his car and the SkyRide where he had to do a 1:30 - close shift.

Opting to let the old stomachs settle before doing coasters, we walked back to Frontier Trail where Donna said she was ready to get wet. TheRealCP and I had no desire to walk around the park in wet clothing, so we became the walking lockers for Ian and Donna's shoes, socks, cell phone and wallet while they took a "spin" on Thunder Canyon.

We watched for them from the deck, and after they passed, walked toward the exit only to have them emerge disappointed. Both had escaped a soaking, so they tried again. The second time, Ian got hit once before the bend before the observation deck, but when they exited the ride, Donna was still dry and disappointed. What are the chances that two rides in a row she'd completely avoid getting wet while Ian, sitting next to her got soaked? Fortunately, the third time was a charm and after letting their feet dry, donned the socks and shoes again and dripped along back into Frontier Town.

While Ian and Donna drip-dried in the sunshine, TheRealCP and I took in the Twistin' to the 60's show at the Palace Theatre. Great show! And especially appreciated by an old fart like me who found herself singing along to songs I grew up with.

A walk down the crowded Dragster Midway showed a nearly empty PT queue for both the space shot and drop side. We did the drop side first (my choice, much to Ian's surprise) and then the space shot side, which Donna had never done before. Found our first difference. I prefer the space shot, she prefers the drop.

We made our way to Wicked Twister, with a stop for a walkon ride on Chaos, and after our 15 minute wait, had what seemed to be a much faster launching ride on WT. At least the second shot up the back was much more forceful than I recalled from opening day.

The only real line we had (except for Ian and Donna's MF line) was for Disaster Transport, and frankly, the only reason we endured it was because we thought it would be much cooler inside than it ended up being. Still, I always take a spin on this bobsled coaster, just because it's so much fun to put the sunglasses on and screaming like sissies.

A stop for a chat with the fellow working at the refreshment stand by DT while he gave us cups of ice water. We were losing steam by then, so sat by the fountain with frozen custard cones in hand when HeyIsntThatRob rang my cell phone. He was down by Gemini and said he'd call again after he met up with another group.

Cooled off by the custard and hands dipped into the cold fountain water, were off to do a walk on ride on Blue Streak, and a 15 minute wait for Raptor, both rides in the last rows. We sat on the break run on Raptor with one train in the station and another in front of us for a good 10 minutes before an empty train climbed the lift. Ah...a puker in the station, I thought, and it was confirmed when we finally got unloaded as an op was still working the squeegee to get the water off the platform.

I checked the phone, and saw Rob had tried to ring again, but wasn't getting an answer from his phone. Intuition told me to head to Frontier Town, so we did, still trying to reach Rob and checking the midways for him and my sisn-in-law who we never ran into once all day.

By the time we reached Magnum, my feet were complaining along with the rest of me, and it was after 7:30 pm. One more attempt at phone tag with Rob was successful. He was at Mean Streak and offered to walk down to Magnum. Good thing because I don't think I could have walked any more.

After a short visit and hug, and apology for not hanging out longer to ride, we said our goodbyes and we limped (at least TheRealCP and I limped) to the car parked by Gemini. We made a dinner stop at Cracker Barrel in Sandusky, then hit the road for home by 9 pm managing to miss any rain until only 15 minutes from the driveway at 11 pm.

Wow, your friend was "exceptional size" for MF but seemed to be able to ride everything else in the park. (heavy sarcasm here) I know I have great dislike to the words "exceptional size" when it comes into play for one coaster that I have rode many times. Maybe the sign at MF should read "Due to our poorly designed seats, you may not be able to ride." Well, I glad you guys had a good time.

I guess we take the view that we've been going to CP long before MF was built (1966 for me) and there are so many other things to do that not getting a ride on MF isn't as big a deal. In fact, I've been to the park many times when it was down, or the line too long so we avoid it.

As it turned out, we got a ride on Mean Streak, White Water Landing, Cedar Creek Mine Ride and two rides on Magnum before Ian and Donna made it through the line for MF.

As for TheRealCP, she feels she's got incentive now to exercise and lose weight. At the beginning of last year, she could not fit into the test seat for Dragster. By August, she was riding it. Her goal now is to be able to ride MF again by Halloweekends.

Awww, you forgot to mention my solo ride in the red train on Mean Streak.

I waited for front seat, and I was on the train after Oldcper.... and it just so happens that nobody was in the station.. and I got my own little solo ride in the red train.. Talk about slow!

Good morning, though! I ended up with 2 rides on Dragster, 2 on Magnum, 2 on Gemini, 2 on Mean Streak, and one on White Water Landing, Sky Ride and Mine Ride all before my 1:30 shift with time to grab a meal at Midway Market.