Today was the first day this whole school year where I was actually in a good mood when I woke up. Ever since last season, I have been watching the Discovery Channel special over and over craving to be back at The Point, since I had only gone twice last year! Well today was Physics day and I finally got the chance to go. For some stupid reason, we still had to go to school in the morning and report to first period. After they had taken attendence, all us Physics and Calculus dorks got dismissed. The bus ride was hot and sticky due to the clammy weather. People were talking about Cedar Point the whole way there. "Millenium Force won't be running. Yesterday they clocked it going 104 MPH!!" and "2 people died on WildCat last week"..etc...Knowing that it was pointless to try to correct them, I simply sat there and smiled. Around Fremont, they handed us our problems packets...ugh...
We finally made it to CP. I was amazed at the sight of Wicked Twister. From the causeway, it simply looks awesome. I had that same feeling looking at it that I got seeing Millennium Force in 2000 for the first time. Full of anticipation we all crowded around the front gate, although it was only 9:30...that was an awful half hour. As soon as the gates started to raise we pushed our way through and headed to the longest line that I would wait in for the day. The locker rental line. It was insane. Once we finally got our locker, we took a quick restroom break. OH MY! Those hand dryers are amazing! I'm not exactly sure how to describe it, but I could actually see the skin in my hands folding over just from the force of the air coming out! My lab partners and I made our way to our first ride to analyze. Yes everyone, my first ride of the 2002 season was The Midway Carousel. Having never been on this before, I chose a horse on the outside. Much to my dismay, those don't go up and down!! I was very disappointed, but it was probably better that way because we needed to calculate the speed of the ride. After spending an hour working on just the carousel math, we headed over to my new favorite part of the park.
The Giant Wheel was our next ride to analyze. This was relatively simple since we just had to calculate how tall it was. The view of Wicked Twister on the Giant Wheel is awesome. Sitting there doing math while everyone around you is screaming and having fun is a HORRIBLE feeling. I couldn't help but think of all the walk-on rides I was missing.
Next up on our list was Magnum. She however was not running. Neither was Raptor, Millennium Force or any other ride I could see from the front of the park. The only one that actually had people on it was Blue Streak. Figuring we could calculate some stuff without it actually working we headed over there. Around the Corkscrew/Power Tower area, they were doing some filming, but I didn't get a chance to hang around and see what was going on. After checking out Area 51, we headed over to Challenge Park so we could get a little closer to Maggie's hill. Much to our surprise, they started running trains! They were empty for awhile but soon we started seeing people. After a mad dash to the entrance we walked straight up to the empty platform and got a ride in the front row, only waiting one train! May I remind you that we were there to do physics, so I had this dumb little contraption to measure acceleration. Let me tell you...holding a piece of paper with three little balls that roll around in it while going 72 miles per hour and trying to read the little numbers is VERY HARD. I completely missed the amazing view on the second hill. :(
Finally we were finished with the math (took about an hour per problem), now it was time for fun. They felt it necessary to hike all the way back to the front of the park to put out stuff in our locker. The Raptor and SkyRide were both closed for "weather conditions". So after meeting with a couple other people, my friend and I headed over to Wicked Twister. 10 minute wait!! We headed to the second seat from the back and WOW that was an amazing ride!! My only complaint was that I pulled the shoulder harness down too far and it kinda mashed a very sensitive area while going up the back tower. My friend also had this problem. Nevertheless, it was awesome!! I wasn't sure I would like the 3, 2, 1 countdown, but I thought it worked nicely, added a lot of suspense to the launch.
Following that, they (not I) decided to skip Disaster Transport, which made me sad, but I got over it. We took the train to the back of the park and hit White Water Landing and Mean Streak. Now I hadn't been on Mean Streak since 2000, but I don't see why everyone complains about it. Sure the brakes really kick in at the top, and it's a lot slower than it used to be, but it's so much smoother and in my opinion, a much more enjoyable ride. Maybe I like it better because I'm not an airtime junkie. After getting chicken fingers from The Stockade, we caught the train back to the front of the park. Millennium Force was open off and on throughout the day but everytime we seemed to be near it, it was closed. The few times it was running, I was amazed at how quiet it is now. Sure there is the hum of the wheels, but there is absolutely no ROAR to the trains anymore...somewhat disappointing. We saw that Raptor was still closed due to weather. We took a ride on Dodgems I in memory of Dodgems II then met up with some other people. I had a blast on WildCat! I forgot how fun that little ride is.
Taking the train to the back of the park yet again, we headed over to my future home for the next three months, Gemini: Presented by Skittles. After tasting the rainbow, we jumped in line. As we were about to board the train, the ride ops decided the ride needed to be closed because it had started to rain a little. So I decided to stay up in the station and meet some of my soon-to-be crew members. Everyone seemed really cool and I can't wait till I'm there in 10 days. It was nice meeting some of the people I have been talking to online for the past few months. My friends got bored and decided to leave me. After a little while I decided I should probably go find them. Only my friend Jill had decided to stay and wait for me, but that was alright. Soon Gemini re-opened and we got 2 laps in. I wanted to go back on Mean Streak, and this time it wasn't quite as smooth, but it was still a fun ride.
As 4:45 was rapidly approaching (our departure time), we ran to the train YET AGAIN. I rode the train more times today than I have in my lifetime. We took a quick ride on Iron Dragon and headed toward the front gate. As we were walking down the main midway, much to my surprise (and disappointment), Raptor was just opening!! However, since I was at CP for a school function and we had a bus to catch, I had to miss out on it. Now I remember why I hate going to amusement parks with an organized group.
Overall a very fun, but somewhat disappointing day. While I was thrilled just to be back, my attitude was quickly changed when I realized I was there to do math and not to play. Since the actual physics part took up much of the few hours we had at the park, I missed out on several rides. That didn't upset me too much though because all the rides were basically walk-ons, and that was very nice. I was amazed that I have only spent 35 dollars this whole day, including the price of admission. I was very apprehensive about going today since I heard the weather would be nasty and most of the rides would be down, but I was pleasantly surprised. The later the day went on, the more rides that were open. This is why leaving the park at 4:45 was definitely the worst part of the day. But oh well, I shall be back in just 10 days :)
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Brent Haley
Gemini Crew '02
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Brent Haley
Gemini Crew '02
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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
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