maXair Media Day/Opening Day 2005

Well, I got invited to Media Day for maXair by Tony. So after I finished up all my classes, exams and assignments on Wednesday (yes, finally done with College. Graduation is Friday) and packing on Thursday, I headed off to Ohio. Stayed the night at Tony's place, and we left around 4:30 to go get some food, and then went up to Cedar Point.

Followed Tony out there, and we passed up Walt on the way. I'm sure he thought we drove like idiots :) Anyway, got to Cedar Point a little after 5, probably around 5:15 and parked. Checked into Media Day, and got into the park around 5:25 or so I guess. There were a lot of reporters, and what not. We did a couple of interviews with reporters, and I guess I made it on Channel 13 in Toledo. After awhile, they told us to get in line for a ride, but then seemed to change their mind. It ended up they took 2 people to ride, and Tony and Jeff rode.

So after a lot of standing around, taking pictures, and talking to reporters, they had opening ceremonies. The president of Huss Rides was there, and he gave a speech along with John Hildebrandt. Then they did the ribbon cutting ceremony, and it was our chance to ride.

What a ride it was. It was a lot more than I ever expected, and it wasn't nearly as nauseating as I thought it would be. I think Cedar Point has a winner of a new ride, and it was quite a cheap investment.

I got a few more rides in, and got kinda nauseous. Eventually at 11, we went to lunch at Game Day Grille. Got a plate of chicken tenders, and a steak. Our waiter was very very nice. The food was really good, and we had to be back to maXair by noon for a live shot with Channel 8. They were having troubles with it, but got it running very quickly, and then we rode for Channel 8. After that, I was pretty sick, and didn't ride again. I was also pretty much out of gas for the day, and couldn't wait for a chance to take a nap.

So I went to Bayshore Campground, and got a campsite. Chrissy(My Girlfriend) and her mom were on their way down, and I napped in my truck until they got there. We setup camp, ate dinner, and then we went and joined Mike Ott (MF ATL) and Tony and some of the other people from the MF Crew for dinner at Chilli's. Afterwards, we went back to the campsite and I fell asleep and slept until about 7 am.

Woke up, got my shower, got some food at McD's, and was at the Marina gate by 8:30. As soon as they let us in, me and Chrissy ran to Millennium Force and made it in time for the first train. Blue train. Sat second to last row, right side. The seatbelts were quite a bit shorter, and I had to get help to get mine on.

After riding MF, and getting the 6 month wait out of our way, me and Chrissy strolled down Frontier Trail and then over to Magnum. I got a couple rides on Magnum, and then we got in line for Dragster. It went down right after we got in line, and we waited it out, and got a ride in after an hour or so. Then we rode Power Tower, and ran into Tony. We looked through Speed Zone, and then me and Chrissy rode the Sky Ride up front. Glad to see a couple familiar faces from last years crew on there, and I got to talk with one of them while we rode across.

So, I met up with Chrissys mom, and Chrissy went with her mom, and I went back to the campground to sleep for awhile. I ended up sleeping most of the afternoon, and then we had dinner. Ended up going back to the park, and I rode Magnum again, and then we rode Power Tower, and Wicked Twister. Then I got a couple rides in on Raptor (Back right seat and a front row ride) and then I rode Demon Drop. Demon Drop didn't seem to really phase me much anymore. Then we headed back to the beach, and watched the fireworks, and went home.

It took us FOREVER to get out of the Soak City lot. I sat on Perimeter road for probably 30 minutes or so. I hope parking gets more efficient at getting people out of there, because once I got onto the causeway there wasn't any significant backup. Anyway, drove home from there, and got home around sometime after 2 am.

Pictures Here
*** Edited 5/8/2005 10:51:27 PM UTC by bholcomb***

Hey I'm in the picture of Tony riding maXair. I'm right next to him.

I have rode Delirium at PKI many times in a row, and have never gotten a "sick" feeling. I guess it really depends on the person. I'll be their this coming weekend for four days, and will get in a couple rides on maXair.

Anyways, sounds like you guys had fun. Kind of nice not being straped to CP for work, eh Ben?

Guess you are :) I couldn't tell easily, though, because of the blurriness of the picture.

And yeah, it's much better not having to work!

I am glad that you had a good time and was able to attend Media Day with me, Ben! It was a blast and look forward to seeing you at the Point again soon!

Hey-I know you! :)

Samantha and I were on WBNS, WCMH and ONN!
Needless to say we both had a great time! Especially Sam!

I could manage 9 MaXair rides before I had to pack it in, as for Sam, she rode it 13X and could have gone more!

It was great seeing and hanging with all of you! :)

Jo
'00 '02 '03 Raptor Crew

Jo,

I think you were also on ABC 12 (Flint) newscast. They were interviewing Bryan Edwards and you were standing right behind him.

http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/news/050605_NW_da_maxair.html

Jo -

It was nice to finally get to meet you! and your daughter Sam. It was an absolute blast hanging with all of you, and hopefully I'll see you all again sometime this season at the Point :)

I'm pretty sure I made it into a couple interviews by walking behind the person being interviewed :)