CP on Sunday, 9/7

I needed some major stress relief after an extremely busy first week of classes on campus, so I grabbed my coaster bud, Catherine, and we headed to CP on Saturday evening for an overnight. Breakers Express was booked, so I made reservations at my backup, the Red Roof Inn in Milan, just south of the Turnpike.

We hit the park at 5:30 pm, and saw that TTD was down, but had hopes it would open later for Catherine's first ride. Instead, we went straight to Wicked Twister. Catherine happily fit into the test seat with no problem so we got into the 20 minute line. The ride op was great as she let a few mor people in ahead of us so we could ride my favorite seat in row 15. I still get a rush on this coaster.

After a 20 minute wait for both Disaster Transport and Raptor , we were going to hit the walk on Blue Streak when Catherine noticed TTD testing. A fast walk back got us in line outside the station just past the grandstands. Within 40 minutes, we were strapped in near the middle of the gold train and on the launch pad. I still have a difficult time putting the experience into words. Having your breath forced out of your body on the launch makes for an intense experience, but the slow crawl over the top followed by the head first spinning drop is what I like best. Again, I was totally cut out of the on-ride photo, so we passed on the purchase.

We had enough time to hit the space shot side of Power Tower before taking the long way around to the resorts entrance, past MF, through the Frontier Trail and back down the Gemini Midway hoping traffic would have cleared by the time we got to the car parked by Gemini. It still took us 30 minutes to hit the causeway with the mass exodus from the park. I can't imagine what it's like during a really busy closing Satuday.

After our check in at the Red Roof, we opted for dinner at Chi Chi's (and an ice cold Corona for me!). We settled down for the night about midnight, only to be kept awake until 2:30 am by partiers in the next room. At one point I heard someone pounding on their door and they were asked to quiet down, but it didn't last for long. 7:30 am came early when one hasn't had a lot of sleep, but the excitement of a full day ahead riding coasters, and a free cup of coffee helped a great deal.

We parked again by Gemini and were in at 9 am with our Joe Cool passes for ERT. Of course, we waited for TTD which had been testing before the gates opened, and after a 9:15 opening, were on the ride by 9:40 am, strapped into the second row. What a way to start the day! We exited the ride, did our little RCT jump, and headed to the photo booth. FINALLY! A photo where I wasn't cut out of the picture! We opted for the keychains.

MF was next, and we were surprised to see the line ended at the end of the ramp. Cool! We got two rides in about 20 minutes, in the blue train and red train, then got a freeway for 2-3 pm.

The rest of the day was filled with perfect weather and short waits for everything. Although we are both on diets, we split some cheese fries for breakfast, and had lunch with our 10% Joe Cool discount at Midway Market. I played a little DDR in the arcade, and let Catherine have a go at it. She decided it's not her thing.

The biggest surprise was seeing Kara at Corkscrew. I also rounded out my coaster pin collection by purchasing pins for some of my older favorites: Blue Streak, Mine Ride, Corkscrew, Wildcat, and grabbed Woodstock Express as well. I still need Disaster Transport and Jr. Gemini, but that only means I'll have to take another trip back to the Point for Halloweekends. Darn! ;)

We rode almost everything twice, hit a lot of flats, and I even did the drop side of PT with some coercion from Catherine, but enjoyed it in the end. My feet hurt and I was totally wiped out after the two hour drive home, but it was worth it. I even lost two more pounds although I cheated on the diet. Can't ask for more than that!!

------------------
I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
http://www.webtechnik.com/ebony/CPLady.htm

---

Again, I was totally cut out of the on-ride photo

---

Did you ask a photo attendant to try to recenter your picture? The cameras capture a much larger field than shown on the monitors, so it never hurts to ask.

Sounds like you had a great trip. I've not been on a coaster since a side-trip to SFGAm in July, and I am positively itching. The good news is I have a trip to LA next week, and plan to stop by our friends at KBF for a bit of Xcelerator and Ghostrider goodness.

------------------
It's not war, famine, or pestilence; it's only downtime.
*** This post was edited by Brian Noble 9/8/2003 8:54:46 AM ***

Yeah as always it's great to hear when guests have a great time. Being a PTC employee i'm very very biased towards my ride and unlike many people i'm not that impressed with dragster...I feel it comes in probably 4th of the rides at CP...with Raptor being 1...Magnum being 2 and MF being 3. Anyway i'm glad you rode both sides of my ride....even though you had to be coerced. But yeah like Brian said next time ask the ride photo person to try and recenter your pic....i've heard it's worked alot of times for people who got cut out. Either way glad you enjoyed your day....as for busy saturdays...getting out is a biznatch.

-----------
Power Tower Crew 2003

I don't mind the drop side of PT so long as I'm on the 4 seat side with someone on either side of me. Being a party of two, more often we get stuck on the 2 seat side and I feel like I'm just "hanging" out there. Kinda freaky for someone who is deathly aftraid of heights!

I am proud of myself for overcoming my fear of PT drop, though. I've ridden it more in the past year than I have in the years since it was built.

------------------
I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
http://www.webtechnik.com/ebony/CPLady.htm

OldCPer,

I am another one who loves costers but is affraid of heights. I would NEVER do PT and hated Tower of Terror at WDW. Everytime I get on Magnum or Milly I ask myself, "WHY?".

But I still do.

MrScott

------------------
"If we go any faster, she'll blow apart for sure!"
*** This post was edited by MrScott 9/9/2003 7:07:42 PM ***

I went on Sunday as well, and it was quite a good day. It was more crowded than I expected, although a average 20 minute wait for Millennium Force was pretty good. Walk-on rides for Raptor and Mantis at times were suprising. Does anybody know why many people were wearing Fantastic Sams t-shirts? There had to be thousands of people; you would see them everywhere.

------------------
Chris, everything I say is a lie. Except that. And that. And that and that and that and that and that. And that.

It reminded me of Club Math earlier in the year. Probably a company-sponsored day at CP. They did have their name on the sign at the Pavilion if I remember right.

------------------
18 straight years of real thrills and counting...

Ah yes, Club Math. What was their saying again?

------------------
Eric Morrison (Coast)
Drag Races: 9

"Alcohol & equations don't mix, so don't drink & derive!"

:)

------------------
XL89: You conquered the Magnum, now capture the moment!

2003 Stats
Visits: 10
Magnum: 28 MilF: 12 Dragster: 5 Raptor: 13 -- Total rides: 147

Those bright yellow Club Math shirts were great!

------------------
It's not war, famine, or pestilence; it's only downtime.