June 1, 2008

Well it was my third trip of the year and probably the best thus far. I took advantage of the 10pm closing time and chose to sleep in a little bit since I hadn't had a chance to in 2 weeks. We got on the road around 11. I decided to take Route 2 instead of the Turnpike and was really happy with it. Saves be $4 on the trip and it is much more scenic than the TP. And American drivers, you need to learn two things. 1) Left lane is for passing, not just hanging out in as long as you feel like it. 2) Cruise Control: it's a standard feature these days; use it. I hate passing and being passed buy the same car 5 times in 20 miles.

My friend and I got to the park around 1 and parked in the Soak City lot and went to Magnum first and rode in the back seat with only a 2 train wait. After that we went and rode Monster, which was fun since I hadn't been on it in a while. Next we went and rode Tilt-A-Whirl for old times sake and had a great ride. We continuted on our way and stopped at Gemini for a race, we rode red side back row with a one train wait. The race was close the entire time, and in the end it was as close to a tie as I've ever seen. Fun ride. We headed into Frontier Town and rode CCMR with no wait. Next was Skyhawk with only a one load wait. Next we went on Mean Streak and walked onto the second row for a decent ride, not quite as good as my previous two rides this season.

After that we went to Maverick, the line was in the queue house and the first row of queue outside and we waited about 40 minutes for front seat. It was one of the best rides I've ever had. People have mentioned that it's been faster lately and they might be right. As for the fountain in the pond by the queue, it looks great but the pond under the horseshoe roll looks horrible with all of the algae growing. I hope they find a fountain to get that water circulating.

After Maverick we walked along the Frontier Trail and stopped at the Petting Farm to ask about Earl the goat. I hadn't seen him yet this season so I asked what was up. The girl told me that he retired this year. That is one popular goat though, he has his own myspace. I have a picture from a few years ago with him and he's standing up on the gate. After that we went to Panda Express for a yummy lunch. Next up was Millennium Force. The line was about 3/4 of the way down the ramp which left us with a 15 minute wait for a fun ride in the back seat on the red train. After that we walked by the deserted Wildcat and rode Iron Dragon, which was a complete walk on.

We headed up the Main Midway and stopped at Cadillac Cars and had a calm ride. After that we took a ride on Cedar Down's. I hadn't been on it in a few years so it was due. It's certainly a fun ride. We went to Raptor after that and walked on to the back row for a great ride. I almost lost my cellphone during the ride but thank God I felt it sliding and grabbed it. After that we went over to Blue Streak and grabbed a quick ride and then went over to Turnpike Cars. I had the very fast number twelve car. We headed across the midway to Disaster Transport and waited about 10 minutes. I rode maXair solo after that with a one cycle wait. I'm glad it's finally open again.

After that we went over to Toft's to check out the new store. They did a really nice job incorperating that barn into the midway. The landscaping around it looks great and inside is really nice. I had a scoop of chocolate peanut in a waffle cone and they packed lots of ice cream in there for a reasonable price. Next we took Skyride back and rode Power Tower drop side with a 20 minute wait. It was my first time on it this season and I missed that drop. We grabbed a quick ride on Corkscrew and were two of four people on the train. After that we went to Dragster and ride twice, with about a 15 minute wait each time, both rides in the second row. I ran into Mark Small while waiting in line both times.

After Dragster we went and re-rode Magnum and Gemini with no wait and then headed back to Maverick whose line was only in the queue house. We waited about half an hour and had an intense ride in the back. We went up the Frontier Trail to Millennium Force and walked up to the station and rode in the same seats on the same train as we did earlier in the day, but this time only a 5 minute wait. We walked past the crowds waiting to watch the Hot Summer Lights show so we could make it for one last ride on Magnum. We rode in 1-3 and had a wild trimless ride to end our day in the park.

On the way back to the car I rode Skyscraper. I really like the buy one get one free offer with the Platinum Pass. I rode by myself because my friend chickened out. As I was riding the only thing I could think was that the ride looks a lot more scary than it is. I thought it would be way more thrilling. It was fun, but I thought it would be a ride that really scared me. Going forwards was much better than going backwards.

Overall it was a great trip. It wasn't planned at all. Me and some friends were out for some drinks last night and I mentioned Cedar Point and one of them was interested in going so I called him this morning and we went. The park was dead all day which meant lots of riding. The weather was just perfect and everything was running great so I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Nice to see you yesterday Vince.

Yesterday was an absolutely amazing day! Perfect weather and no crowds to speak of. That's probably the last of non-busy days we'll see for a long while.

Nice trip report, sounds like you got a lot of rides in with the light crowds. I've ridden a similar ride to Pigeon Forge TN, it was good. When it stops at the top you get a good view of the area.

That's weird, last season they had a fountain under the horseshoe rolls. Maybe they moved that one over by the que house.

I think you're right CPboy. But there is also a fountain in the pond near CCMR as well as the the pond near the Antique Cars so they must have bought some new ones, now they just need one for the the horseshoe roll pond because it was looking pretty nasty.

The view at the top of Skyscraper was good, but I was facing the lake and it was dark so there wasn't much to see. Had I been facing the other way I could have seen the finale of the Hot Summer Lights show. Maybe next time when I use the free pass I got with my Platinum Pass.

I saw someone there on sunday with a pointbuzz shirt that said "shades" on it. Who was it?

I'm assuming it was the user "Shades".... I haven't seen him here much recently..

That was me. I thought I would start a trend several years ago by buying the official PointBuzz shirt and personalizing it. Guess the trend never caught on. In fact I can't remember the last time I saw someone wearing their shirt. I still find it funny how the Magnum operators insist it is not sinking:)

I wish I could have been there. An empty/short Dragster line is always a good thing for us Dragster fans. And it KILLS ME that I couldnt be there. I'd really like to break 300 rides this year.

See now June 1st we got in Dragster line as soon as it opened and it was down till noon while we waited 2 hours...so we we're kind of like "F this" and didn't bother TTD the rest of the day. Instead we got 6 rides in on Maverick on top of multiple Raptor, and other rides......