July 7-8 - We feelin' Hot Hot Hot

So after having several longer narrative Trip Reports this season I decided to go with more of a topical summary of the weekend. Feel free to read just the sections you want, or the whole thing for the full meal deal! If you want more particulars... Just ask

Dates: July 7-8
Weather: Sunny and HOT! 90-95
Ride Partners: Adam (TTD) and Mark Small (Sunday)
Accommodations: Maples Motel

Rides:
Despite having a streak of 4 rides in a row that went down while I was in line for them on Saturday (WT - twice, maXair, Corkscrew) everything ran very good for the 2 days I was there. Operations were decently quick, especially considering the heat. And despite packed Midways, lines never got too out of hand.

Got several rides on Maverick, and it seems every train is now dealing with the vibration issue. Riding in the back feels like riding a coaster on the "Foot Massage Barrels". Riding in the front doesn't have much vibration at all, but you can still hear the train vibrating behind you. I hear that Maverick is going through wheels left and right, and I assume this is the reason. Hopefully CP finds a way to remedy this... Still my favorite Coaster in the park :) Also, there is a new LCD TV in the queue house that plays several different videos including a Forward POV, Reverse POV, Construction Time Lapse, and Off Ride Video. In between are various on-ride photos, and advertisements for the on-ride photo packages. A neat addition!

Fortunately, I wasn't as disappointed in Magnum on my rides this weekend, but it still feels neutered. Even on a 90 degree day the train felt like it was barely coasting it's way around the pretzel.

Got on a water ride for the first time in years (Yes, it was that hot). We all took a spin on Thunder Canyon, and it was actually quite fun. Mark got the most soaked of all of us, with myself staying the most dry.

Skyhawk was proving to be Airhawk, as we had some incredible rides, with some of the most airtime I have ever experienced on that ride. Adam was giggling like a school girl ;) Saturday night was especially great as we got 6 rides in 45 minutes!

Blue Streak continues to impress me this season (Yes, I say that every trip report). If you haven't rode it this year. DO SO! And ride in the second to back seat, or the first seat of the second car. Good times!

Food:
With the extreme heat, we tried to eat inside as much as possible. Saturday Night, we went with Chick-Fil-A. Still good quality, and fast service. As long as it's not Sunday, it's my place to eat at the back of the park.

Sunday for lunch we went to Famous Daves. I must say, for as much complaining as there was about that place early in the season, they have made a COMPLETE 180. Our server was very friendly, and our food (3 rib platters) was at our table in literally 10 minutes. The food was hot and completely delicious. And the air conditioning was "very nice." All this for under 15 bucks a person. We were blown away. I will definitely be going back!

Sunday Evening we had Macaroni's thin crust pizza. Nothing to write home about, but decent for the price, and our server was hilarious... He could recite the beverage list in his sleep! We did notice one thing quite humorous. On the table is a list of "Daily Specials". One of those is Double Cheeseburger Tuesdays.... where a Double Cheeseburger is on "special" for 12.95... Terrible.

Oh! And for some random reason, on Saturday there was a Cotton Candy cart on the Midway near the Tunnel under Millennium on the Frontier Trail. No price signs on it, No one attending to it, but blue Cotton Candy still in it... It was gone on Sunday... I have photo proof if you need to see it.

Accommodations:
Well Adam and I finally stayed at the elusive Maples Motel. I'll be honest, from the website I was a bit nervous, but the price beat any other hotel in town by 25 bucks. I liked the location, out of the town, and with quite a bit of farmland and nature preserve around it. And it was close to the Chausee, so it was nice to have a change of scenery going back and forth from the park (That road is so long!)

When I called to hold the room, all that was available was a single bed room, and since Adam was staying, we needed another bed. Joan was great on the phone and assured me they would put an Aero Bed in the room as well. That worked out well, and as far as I know Adam found it comfortable. Check in was a breeze, and the man at the counter (Joan's Son?) was very polite. He made conversation with me, and welcomed me since I was a first timer. The room was decent... Definitely not luxurious by any means, but comparable to a Bon Air room, and much much cheaper! The room had a slightly musty odor at first, mostly due to age, but the air conditioner swept that right out. There were also a few cobwebs, and one little spider that Adam encountered, but you will have that with any older motel. I only have one BIG complaint...The Trains...

The Maples is right near the intersection of Cleveland and Perkins, which also happens to have a train crossing... A very busy train crossing... The whistles blared all night... and I mean all night. I woke up to at least 8, and I know there were probably more. It sounded like the train was running down the sidewalk next to our room, and it very nearly was. The thin wooden doors didn't help at all. Luckily there were free Donuts in the morning to help ease my pain ;) Regardless, for the price and the friendliness, I will be back again... I will just remember to bring earplugs the next time.

Live Entertainment:
I have two things I noticed in Live E this weekend. The first was the DJ in line for Millennium Force. He was excellent! I have heard DJs in the past mention line jumping, smoking, and sitting on queue rails, but this guy made sure people heard him. He went on a nice long, yet humorous rant about it. He even caught people line jumping and called them out ON THE MICROPHONE... classic!

Second, on Sunday, Mark, Adam, and I went to Snoopy's Summer Vacation. I wasn't really craving to see a figure skating show, but the Air Conditioning was too appealing. The show was pretty entertaining, and there were some impressive, and at times thrilling, moves by the skaters, except for one uncomfortable (cough) presentation (cough). The only other complaint I have is the lack of a story line. There were a few narrative moments where it felt like there should be a story, but then the show would go in a whole different direction. You have to see it to understand.

Conclusion:
Overall, this was a very fun trip! Despite feeling like I would pass out from Heat Exhaustion and having sore legs all through the day today, it was well worth it! Although I love to visit the park on less busy days, it is nice to see the park really flexing its muscle with the larger crowds. I was very impressed with all facets of park operations. Except for the lack of the enforcement of the smoking policy, but I'm starting to feel that will probably stay the same for the rest of the season...

Ride Counts:
Maverick - 5
Skyhawk - 9
Magnum - 3
Blue Streak - 2
Gemini - 2
Iron Dragon - 1
MF - 1
Dragster - 1
Wicked Twister - 1
Wildcat - 1
Power Tower Shot - 1
Power Tower Drop - 1
Thunder Canyon - 1
CC&LE RR - 2
Witches Wheel - 1

Total Hours in Park: 18
Total Rides (w/o Train): 30

So... this went a bit longer than I planned. Sorry!

*** Edited 7/10/2007 12:25:14 PM UTC by Josh M.***

Yup that's pretty much the trip in a nut shell.:)

OH OH, show the pic of me in front of the cotton candy stand!!

Great TR Josh. Despite the heat on Sunday, I'd say we had a pretty good day. I hadn't been on Thunder Canyon in a long time, and it was very refreshing in that heat. I don't think I would have made it through the rest of the day without it.

And I'll second the comments about Famous Dave's. Great food! Great service!

Glad to hear that you discovered the wonderful world of the maples. Joan and Ken are some really good folks. We found them towards the end of last year and won't stay anywhere else now unless we have to. But you are right about the earplugs, they should give them out at check in.

Sounds like a good trip to me. I totally agree that Blue Streak is really fun. I hadn't bothered to walk back there and ride for about two years now, but did it for the heck of on my last trip and loved it. It was much faster than I remember and surprisingly smooth. I'm definitely going to make a point to hit again when I go Thursday.

Sounds like you had a great time! I give you a TON of credit for being at the ride park on a day like that. I, myself, would never go on such a hot day. I'd be at the waterpark (which I was).

I'd like to comment on your Thunder Canyon ride. I rode this years ago, and was very disappointed. So disappointed that I vowed never to ride it again. Then last August, I rode a similar ride (can't remember it's name) at Knott's Berry Farm. Let me tell you, the canyon ride at Knott's blows CP's Thunder Canyon away! That's not saying much, because I think Thunder Canyon totally sucks, but if anyone ever gets out to Knott's, ride it!

Heck, I think GL's Grizzly Run is better than TC. I don't mean to rip on TC, but to me it just needs more thrills and less water just being dumped on ya.

I understand your comment about TC. I guess with the heat we were just looking for something to dump water on us... so it worked out well :)

Wow. That sounds like a dream trip...minus the heat of course. :P

The Maverick vibrating problem is new to me. Is there another thread where it has been talked about that I totally missed? If not, does it detract from the ride experience at all?
Also, did you get a picture of the TV in the queue?
Man, I feel like I'm asking too many questions. I don't check in trip reports very often...

It's been discussed some, but not extensively. People who have rode the ride numerous times are more prone to notice it.

I did take a picture of the screen, and of the cotton candy stand. They were with my cell so they aren't great. I will upload them later today.

And yes, the heat was pretty rough.

JTaylor said:
Glad to hear that you discovered the wonderful world of the maples. Joan and Ken are some really good folks. We found them towards the end of last year and won't stay anywhere else now unless we have to. But you are right about the earplugs, they should give them out at check in.

Joan at Maples has a bucket of ear plugs at the front desk, just ask for them when you check in. I personally use my other pillow for over my head and that blocks a lot of the train noise.

Josh, glad you had a great time and a great stay at Maples! Joan and her family are the best! :)
*** Edited 7/11/2007 2:46:55 PM UTC by raptorqueen***