May 13-15 *first rollback, great trip*

My first trip of the year was excellent. Myself and 2 others (was supposed to be 3 but one backed out last minute) left Windsor around 4pm on Sunday. We got to Sandusky around 6:30 and went right to the Season Pass Center so we wouldn’t have to Monday morning. The whole process took about 5 minutes, so I went into the park for some quick riding while my friends waited in the car. My original plan was to ride Raptor since it was close, but I wanted Magnum. I got there around 6:45 and went right into line for 1-3. It was a great first ride of the season. I had enough time for another ride and had the honour of riding in the front seat of the last train of the night with Jerry (Magnum "Candy" Man). After that I rejoined my friends and we went for dinner at the Olive Garden and checked into the Super 8 (a good hotel, would recommend it to others).

Monday morning we were up bright and early. We got to the park around 8:30am. We went to LHP and checked into our cottage. Luckily cottage 2 was ready so we went and put our stuff in and got ready for our early entrance. We got in the park around 9 and went to Skyhawk. I love walking through an empty Frontier Town in the morning. We got a quick ride on that then went to Millennium. We got 3 rides in a row with no wait, one ride on each train. After that we hit walked onto Mantis, Iron Dragon, Wildcat, then got on Skyride. Our intention was to ride Raptor but it was down so we went over and rode Wicked Twister and Disaster Transport. After that we headed over to Blue Streak and then took a nice drive on Turnpike.

At this point we left the Point and went to Meijer to get some groceries. After that we went back to our cottage and ate some lunch. We relaxed and then went back into the park. We rode Magnum, CCMR, Mean Streak, then two of us rode Thunder Canyon twice. We got soaked both times, which was good because it was hot out. After that we took a spin on the Antique Cars followed by a complete circuit on the CP & LE. Next we headed towards Gemini and had a good ride. After that we rode Dodgem and Cadillac Cars, noticing that Raptor still wasn’t running.

By this time we were pretty tired so we were going to ride Magnum to finish our night off, but noticed people were running to Dragster, which had just re-opened, so we joined in too. We got in line and went right into the station. We were in line for the back seat. The train that launched 3 in front of ours rolled back so we didn’t think our chances were good. One they were back on track we noticed they were loading two of the trains with people coming up the exit. Luckily the train that pulled up to us only had the front few rows filled. We got strapped in and were ready to go. The launch was so fun, probably because it was the first of the season. When we got to the top I looked to my right and saw that we were nearly stopped and were not where we should be. When I realized were going to roll back I just shouted out in excitement. It was so much fun. When the ride op came and asked if anyone wanted to get off 2 women did so we had to back up into the station which added an additional 10 minutes or so and killed our chances for a final ride on Magnum. Our second launch was successful, then we got off the ride and went to the cottage for some much needed food.

We ate our microwavable dinners and enjoyed the view of the bay from our deck. We walked out on the pier at sunset and got some good pictures. After that we changed into our bathing suites and relaxed in the Camper Village hot tub. After that we all showered and took a walk on the boardwalk before returning to the cottage for a good nights’ sleep.

One of my friend’s and I got up and 8 to take advantage of our early resort entrance while our other friend used that time to sleep. It was a windy morning so we knew that some rides may be closed. As we headed towards Millennium we saw Raptor running so we ran up there only to find out that it was just a test run and was down due to weather. We went back to Millennium and got one ride with about a 10 minute wait. After that we went and got 2 consecutive rides on Skyhawk, which was deserted. By this time it was 10 so we got a ride on CCMR. Gemini wasn’t open yet so we rode in the back seat of Magnum and had a sweet ride. At this time we went back to the cottage and gathered our other friend and went back to the park.

We rode Power Tower Space Shot followed by Wildcat and Iron Dragon. We walked down the Trail and were going to ride Mean Streak but it was down. Instead, we rode Antique Cars and CCMR. Next we rode Woodstock Express, Tilt-a-Whirl, and Paddlewheel Excursions. At this point we had to go back to the cottage to eat lunch and then check out.

When we got back in the park we went and rode Snake River Falls twice, followed by Thunder Canyon. After that we visited Earl the goat at the Early Petting Farm. We went up and were glad to see Raptor running after that and got a great ride in with a wait of about 20 minutes. After that I rode maXair while my friends sat in the shade. It was about 3:30 and we were all tired and hot so we went to Magnum for our last ride of the trip. As usual, it was great. After our ride we went and played some mini golf in the Challenge Park. Before we left I stopped at the Season Pass Center and upgraded to a Joe Cool membership because I like the ERT. We left the park and got home around 7:30.

I had an excellent time over the three days of the trip. Maverick looks like soooo much fun and can't wait for it to open. One thing I noticed is that so many of the employees were so friendly. On at least 5 occasions we were greeted and asked how our day was. That was really nice to see. All of the ride crews were doing a great job and I hope they keep it up. I'll be back in the park on Monday (may 21) and plan to take full advantage of my season pass this year.