First Trip to Cedar Point: July 19th-20th (Long)
I would have liked my first ride at CP to be Raptor, but it was down due to “mechanical problems”. They had stopped giving out Freeway passes for the day as well, so I decided to ride it the next day. I made my way to the next closest coaster: the Blue Streak. I wasn’t expecting too much from this coaster, based on its statistics. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I waited about 30-45 minutes in line and finally got in car 4, row 2. The first drop was pretty good, but that wasn’t the best part of the ride. I got airtime on almost every hill and the turnaround gave some great lateral G’s. Overall, it was a good first ride at CP. I’ll give it a 7 out of 10.
After checking to see if Raptor would open any time soon, I crossed the main midway and entered the line for Disaster Transport. Again, I wasn’t expecting much (especially after hearing some bad reviews of the ride). And, once again, I was pleasantly surprised. The theming was decent, but not great. Some parts were more well-done than others, and I liked the black light portion of the queue. The ride itself was okay, but I wouldn’t wait more than 15 or 20 minutes for it (I waited roughly 25 minutes). There were a few cool surprise turns during the ride, which I liked. I’ll give Disaster Transport a 6 out of 10.
I didn’t want to cross the midway to check on Raptor’s line again, so I got in line for Wicked Twister. The queue line gave some good views of the ride itself, so I got some pretty good pictures. The swaying towers freaked some people out, but I thought it was cool. After a wait time of about 30 minutes, I got on the ride. I sat in row 6 on the right side. The first launch on Wicked Twister was great, but the best parts of the ride are definitely the two 450 degree spirals. I had one of the most unusual ride experiences ever, and although I found Wicked Twister to be somewhat disappointing, it’s a great addition to Cedar Point’s coaster lineup. I’ll give Wicked Twister and 7 out of 10.
Without going back to Raptor, I walked over to Corkscrew. There was no line for the ride, and I sat in car 5, row 2 on the left side. Being from Northern California, I’ve had the opportunity to ride PGA’s Demon many times. I was expecting Corkscrew to be very similar to that coaster. The first drop was decent (not as good as Demon’s), but the bunny hill before the vertical loop reminded me of the Turn-of-the-Century roller coaster (what Demon used to be called during Great America’s pre-Paramount ownership). The corkscrews over the midway were cool, but nothing like Demon’s corkscrew in a tunnel. Still, I found Corkscrew to be a fun ride, albeit a short one. I’ll give Corkscrew a 6 out of 10.
After Corkscrew, I passed Power Tower and got in line for Magnum XL-200. The posted wait time was 45 minutes, but I got on in 30 minutes thanks to a great crew. Since I’ve heard so much about the famed “ejector seat”, I got in car 1, row 3. The first drop was good, and I did get ejector air on the second hill, but the best part of Magnum were all the small bunny hills near the end of the ride that yielded some incredible airtime. I also liked the two tunnels on Magnum; they offered some great hand-choppers. Overall, I had a good ride and I’ll give Magnum XL-200 an 8 out of 10.
The next coaster I came to was Gemini. I had some high expectations for this ride, after riding Colossus at SFMM and Le Monstre at La Ronde. I wasn’t disappointed. I sat in car 4, row 2 on the right side of the red train. The first drop has a great hand/head-chopper effect. The turnaround was cool, but no one wanted slap hands with me. Oh well…I got a little bit of airtime and the helix was cool, so I’ll give Gemini a 7 out of 10.
I skipped the coasters in Camp Snoopy and made my way into Frontiertown. My first ride in Frontiertown was the Cedar Creek Mine Ride. I waited about 10 minutes for car 4, row 2. The Cedar Creek Mine Ride wasn’t the greatest mine train coaster I’ve ridden (especially compared to Thunderation or PKI’s Adventure Express), but I did get some good lateral G’s on the turns. The helix at the end of the ride was pretty cool too. I’ll give it a 6 out of 10. Although I did like the Cedar Creek Mine Ride, I wouldn’t wait more than 10-15 minutes for it.
I skipped Mean Streak and got on Cedar Point’s railroad. The animatronic skeletons were cool, and the ride overall was very well done. Good job CP! I got off and ran over to Millennium Force, but I was saddened to see that the posted wait time was 1 hour and 45 minutes. I skipped Millennium Force and went over to Mantis to check on that. Again, the posted wait time was 1 hour and 45 minutes. I skipped Mantis too and went over to the Anton Schwarzkopf-designed Wildcat. I’ve been to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and was immediately reminded of the Hurricane. I waited 15 minutes for the Wildcat and sat in row 2 on the right side. There were some good forces on this coaster (positive and negative) and there were a few spots with good lateral G’s Overall, I liked this coaster and I’ll give it a 6 out of 10.
After checking on Raptor again (it broke down again), I rerode my favorite coasters of the day. Around 9:30 or so, I went back to Raptor and it was finally open and I got in line. The posted wait time was 45 minutes, but I got on in 30 thanks to a great, enthusiastic crew. I sat in row 2 on the far right side. The first drop on Raptor was great, but the vertical loop, heartline spiral, and cobra roll all seemed like nothing truly special to me. It’s the second half of Raptor that really makes the ride great. The two barrel rolls were great and the helix was extremely intense. Raptor is now tied with Fire Dragon at IoA for my favorite inverted coaster. I’ll give it an 8 out of 10.
I got off Raptor just in time to see the Summer Spectacular. It was pretty good, but I’ve seen better laser shows before. I did like the salute to America, though. Immediately after the Summer Spectacular, I ran over to Mantis. I was very happy to see that there was absolutely NO LINE! Other than me, there were only three or four people in the queue. I sat in row 4, on the far right. Mantis’ lift hill seems much larger than it actually is, which I couldn’t figure out. The first drop had potential to be truly great, but the trim brake killed all hope. The vertical loop was okay, and the diving loop was cool, but the rest of the ride was kind of painful. There were lots of head-banging during the second half of the ride, but the spaghetti-bowl nature of Mantis was the first I’ve experienced on a stand-up coaster. Overall, it was a decent ride. I’ll give Mantis a 7 out of 10.
That concluded my first day at Cedar Point. I stayed until 10:30 and then got in the car and drove back to the Breakers Express. After what seemed like 30 seconds of sleep, I woke up at 8 o’clock in the morning. I ate a very quick breakfast and drove over to Cedar Point so I could get an early ride on Millennium Force. The entrance plaza was crowded, but I got in relatively quick. I took the Sky Ride to the end of the Main Midway, where I broke into a run towards Millennium Force’s entrance. I waited for about 30 minutes before finally getting to the station. I got on the red train in car 5, row 1 on the right side. The first lift hill was really cool, and I got a great view of most of the park. What really makes Millennium Force great is its first drop. I came out of my seat, even though I had pretty much stapled myself into the seat. For some reason, it didn’t feel like a 300-foot drop, but maybe that’s just me…oh well. The overbanked turns were cool, and I got some good airtime on the final bunny hill. Overall, I had an awesome ride. I’ll give Millennium Force a 10 out of 10. It’s now my second favorite steel coaster, right behind the pre-heavily braked Titan at SFoT.
Right after my first ride on MF, I stopped by the Freeway pass booth and got assigned to the 1 o’clock to 2 o’clock time slot. I continued the day with a lot of rerides on Blue Streak, Magnum XL-200, and Gemini. I also got a ride on the coasters I didn’t ride the previous day: Mean Streak and Iron Dragon. I rode Mean Streak first.
After a 15 minute wait time, I got on car 1, row 2 on the right side. The first drop was really horrible, since it was trim not once, but twice. The rest of the ride was very rough and I got very little, if no, airtime. My neck even hurt a little bit after I got off. Mean Streak is the second worst woodie I’ve ever ridden, just in front of Grizzly at PGA. I’ll give Mean Streak a 2 out of 10.
After Mean Streak, I walked over to Iron Dragon. I waited about 5 or 10 minutes to get on the ride. I sat in car 3, row 2 on the left side. The first drop on Iron Dragon was decent, but other than that, I felt sorry for this ride. Arrow should have designed it to induce more lateral G’s (required to swing the cars). The turns over the pond were cool, but nothing compared to the Big Bad Wolf at BGW. I’ll give Iron Dragon a 5 out of 10.
Right after Iron Dragon, I went back to Millennium Force, only to find out that the lift hill cable was broken. An attendant at the entrance to the ride told me that MF might be closed the rest of the day, but if it was open I would still be able to use my Freeway pass. I spent the rest of the day at Soak City, returning to Cedar Point around 7:00 in the evening. I rerode a couple more coasters, then walked along the beach behind Wicked Twister.
Finally, I got back on Millennium Force at 8:00 in the evening. I successfully merged into the normal line for MF without getting my hand-stamped to say I had used it. My second ride on Millennium Force was awesome, just like my first ride. This time, I sat in car 3, row 2 on the left side. After Millennium Force, I got one last ride on Magnum XL-200. It seemed to be a little rougher this time. I sat in car 1, row 2. The second hill was way more intense than my last ride, but I got jerked around a lot. I decided to try and ride Millennium Force one more time after Magnum, since my hand was not stamped the last time I used the Freeway pass. Sure enough, the attendant at the entrance to MF let me in without knowing I had ridden already.
My last ride on Millennium Force and at Cedar Point was even more intense than my first two. Looking out into the black void of Lake Erie was especially frightening. The two camelback hills were a little disappointing at night, since they were all lit up, but that was the one problem I had with the ride at night. Everyone burst into applause as soon as we hit the brake run. What a great ride. Good job CP and Intamin!
Overall, I had a blast at Cedar Point. The employees were so energetic and enthusiastic about their jobs. It really made a huge difference in my experience. The coasters were overall of very high quality, with a few exceptions (Mean Streak). I hope to come back soon and when I do, I hope there’s a nice new roller coaster soaring over the park. Thank you, Cedar Point, for a great trip!
*** This post was edited by newbie 7/24/2002 12:45:18 AM ***
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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP, Sillynonsense.com
7/27: Subdivision Cam becomes party cam at the year's hottest Ohio luau!
I'm glad you had a good time after making such a long trip to visit.
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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
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