June 5-7. Coastermania! Weekend

I haven't written a trip report in a long time, but this weekend I tried a few new things that I would like to comment on. Myself and three friends arrived in Sandusky around 4pm Friday. We checked into our room at Hotel Breakers, relaxed, and had a few drinks.

We were in the Bon Air section and was a bit weary at first because I had heard quite a few negative comments about it. This was my first time staying in Breakers. First impressions: the hotel is very nice. Walking the hallways really has a real historical feel to it. The room was good. Big enough for four, clean, comfortable beds, and washroom was big enough and clean. The proximity to the resort entrance was also a huge plus. No complaints. It was expensive, but the convenience is hard to beat. Didn't have to move the car once all weekend.

We missed the social hour and presentation by Ron Toomer but headed into the park around 9pm. Before entering we stopped at Skyscraper and took a ride. Was one of the less intense rides I've had on it. The bugs were terrible, with every rotation it felt like we were going through rain. Once in the park we rode Dragster, Power Tower, and Millennium and then headed down the Frontier Trail to check out the Starlight experience. Overall I thought it was great. The winter section was my favourite. A definite winner. After that we took one ERT ride on both Skyhawk and Maverick before heading back to the room to get some sleep.

Saturday we were up bright and early at 5:30 and got to Millennium just as the doughnuts ran out. We got two quick ERT rides before heading over to Dragster. We got one ride on Dragster with a moderate wait. Next two of us went over and got a quick drop on Power Tower before heading back to the room to eat a bit of breakfast before the minigolf tournament.

At 9am we met up with Adam and Alan for the hole in one challenge. Going into the event I didn't think much of it. I figured it would be fun but didn't anticipate a win. We started on red course hole 7. After about 10 or 15 holes we heard that we were in or near the lead with 5 holes in one. The rest of the tournament was very intense with the team we were tied with being right behind us. In the end the winning team won with 10 holes in one, while we ended up with 9. It was a great time and we will surely take the title next year. After that my friends went back to our room and I went a took a quick lap on Magnum with Adam and Alan before I headed back.

At 11am we went to Soak City for a lazy afternoon in the sun. This was my second time visiting the water park. The weather was perfect and the crowds were low. We hit most of the slides and did several laps on Renegade River. I got very sunburnt and am still feeling the pain. At 2:30 we went to the Point Pavilion for a great lunch. After that we went back to the room for a long nap.

For dinner we went to Tomo in Breakers for some hibachi and sushi. The restaurant was great. The atmosphere is fun and the food was excellent. Prices were high, but about what you could expect to pay at a restaurant like that inside CP. Around 10:30 we went for another ride on Skyscraper. It was much better than the ride the night before. The bugs were not around and the operator gave us a couple of extra rotations in each direction. I love that ride. We went into the park and got an ERT ride on Blue Streak, then went for one on Raptor, and then two consecutive rides on maXair. Got back to the room around 12:30am and got some sleep.

Woke up around 11am today and checked out and went into the park. We were pleasantly surprised to find no crowds at all. We walked onto Paddlewheel Excursions (who had a terrible captain), Witches Wheel, Gemini, Mean Streak, and waited about half an hour for Maverick. After that we got some cheese on a stick and took the train to the Main Midway. First we walked onto Mantis, then waited about three trains for Millennium and then tried some fresh chips from the Chippery. They were pretty good. After that we walked onto Iron Dragon and Wildcat and then headed over to Dragster where we could have walked on but chose to wait the twenty minutes for the front. It was great.

All in all a great weekend. Lots of sun, rides, and friends. I really enjoyed my first Coastermania and hope to attend again next year. Our minigolf team really did a great job and I can't believe we were so close to winning. Next year we will show everyone how it's done.

Vince982 said:
Before entering we stopped at Skyscraper and took a ride. Was one of the less intense rides I've had on it.

That's because Bob was off on Friday. ;)

"The proximity to the resort entrance was also a huge plus. No complaints. It was expensive, but the convenience is hard to beat. Didn't have to move the car once all weekend."

Great TR. Breakers is the only way to go, especially having twin 2 year olds. I can't imagine having to keep getting in a hot car, going back and forth between a hotel and the park, who knows how many times a day. "Didn't have to move the car once all weekend" is pretty much the biggest selling point for me, park it and forget it!