July 26-29. From a VERY Big Guy

I just spent 3 days at CP with my wife, daughter, son-in law and three grand daughters, aged 4, 2 and 8 months. I am 55, 6'5" tall, 46 " waist, and 54" shoulders, 315 pounds. Think ex offensive lineman gone bad. I am going to give a ride report, because in three days I did not see anyone bigger than me at the park. I have been going to CP since the 70's and went just about yearly until my youngest graduated high school in 2008. So I believe the last time I was there was 2006. We went to the park Wednesday and Thursday at nigh after the kids were in bed and rode the rides with minimal lines. We bought fast pass plus passes on Friday, so I could ride the rides I could fit on as much as I wanted. Here are my thoughts:

The Breakers: Much better since the renovation. I used to tell people go to CP for the rides, not the accommodations, which generally sucked. Well, not any more. The Breakers is great and I would recommend to anyone. A real "resort" feel.

Magnum: The belt just did fit. Still a great coaster. I rode the ride several times.

Gemini: I fit no problem. I good coaster. Several places with lots of air time. Rode it several times.

Mean Streak: A tight fit. I had to buckle the belt kind of standing and then slide into the seat. I rode this 3 times and am not sure why. It is just an old, slow, lumbering coaster with no air time that beats you up. Glad to see they are doing something with this.

Maverick. Fit no problem. Very big person friendly. Rode it 6 times with the Fast Pass. In my opinion, best coaster in the park.

MF: No way. Belt in the test seat was at least 4-6 inches short. Figured with the fast passes I would still try to get on the ride. The belt in the car was bigger, but still no shot. I would say that if you are a little short on the test seat, you may still get on the ride. I rode this ride the year it first opened and have not been able to get on since. I am sure they shortened the belts.

Valravn: It was tight with the red belts. Ride operator had to press down and then buckle me in. It was not to the point where it was uncomfortable. Rode it several times and loved it. If you are big, ask for the red belts. Buy fast pass plus and ask for the first row in the car. It is great.

Gatekeeper: Same as the Valravn. Has to be the same manufacturer. Loved this coaster.

Raptor: No chance. Shoulder harness did not come down near enough to buckle the belts.

WT: No chance. Seat way to small and again shoulder harness did not come down near enough to buckle the belt.

TTD: No way.

Rougarou: No way.

Pipe Scream: Rode this because my 4 year old grand daughter (42" tall) was able to ride with an adult. It was a fun ride. To all you coaster enthusiasts out there, give this one a shot. No problem fitting.

Mine Ride/Blue Streak: Did not try. Rode these several time in my younger days, and always remembered the leg room was horrible and the cars were tiny. Didn't think I could fit.

All in all, I had a blast. I would say to larger guests, don't worry about what you can't ride and enjoy the rides you can. To me, it is worth the price of admission and a fast pass to ride the Valravn, Gatekeeper, Maverick, and Magnum several times. And if you are smaller than me, I am sure you may fit on many of the rides I could not.

Just a comment: It seems that the newer coasters (Valravn, Gatekeeper, Maverick) are all designed much better to fit larger guests, while those built in the 90's and early 2000's (Raptor, MF, TTD) are not. Not sure if this is by design or accident. I hope it is by design. Now that my Grand kids are getting to CP age, I can't wait to start going yearly again!

Thanks for such an informative report. I wish I could show this to my friend I took to the park that same weekend. I really talked up the park as I'm a coaster junkie and went every summer with my dad as kid. Now I live in Kentucky and am about 6 hours away, so now it's a once a year trip if I'm lucky. I should have known with her living in Florida that her expectations were going to be really high, but I didn't. I had not seen her in three years and thought she was my size and I'm not skinny by any means. Well she got on Gate Keeper, Raptor and Valravn, she then started throwing a hissy fit because she could not fit on wicked twister, millennium force or dragster. To make matters worse Saturday evening they had the water main break so she threw a complete fit that the rides should have extension belts blah blah blah. It got so bad that we ended up leaving the park, I was absolutely heartbroken. I wish she could have seen things the way you did, she screamed that she wasted money on fast lane plus because she couldn't ride anything. Thank goodness my husband and I are going back for halloweekends so we can enjoy ourselves. We both decided we need to lose weight as it will be cold and we will have to wear layers of clothes. I fit on wicked twister after changing rows but my husband was a no go so he's determined to be able to get on in October.

It's really great to read nice and positive posts here!

I hope your next trip is back to the great times you remember at the point, it really is an exceptional place when people take the time to enjoy it.

Even with the water main break I still loved the park and didn't want to leave. I was upset that I had the all day dining and drink cup and a lot of the stands were not open but I certainly didn't hold it against the park, I just wish I would have been informed prior to entering the park, I probably would have held off and went Monday. For most people that issue is not a big deal but with me having a hip injury I have a hard walking so I didn't have the luxury of walking further to get something. What made me mad was my friends attitude that she was so entitled and they should be accommodating her weight. We did definitely have problems with Breakers express but guest services made it right, when I told her we are going back she got so mad and said she would never go back. But unfortunately it wasn't just CP, we went to kings Island Monday and all she did was complain that both parks are filthy and don't know what they are doing, we couldn't get her on the plane back to Florida fast enough. I know from now on my husband and I will go alone. He has never been there for halloweekends so I know it's going to be a fantastic trip.

kjp300 said:

Mine Ride/Blue Streak: Did not try. Rode these several time in my younger days, and always remembered the leg room was horrible and the cars were tiny. Didn't think I could fit.

I'm 6 feet, 215 lbs and I just barely fit into Blue Streak and Mine Ride. I have to cross my legs to fit into Mine Ride with my son. If you're 6'5, regardless of weight, I think you'd have trouble fitting.