May 31st Report

Long time lurker, but never posted before. So here goes nothing!

Just graduated from high school! I got some friends together to take a trip early in the season in search of short lines and good times. Came in two cars and got there from Akron at 9:50 AM. I kept the group together with my general Cedar Point nerdness. Lines were very short indeed. Most rides were walk-ons or almost walk-ons with the exception of Millennium, Maverick, and Dragster. By 4:00 PM I had gotten through all 16 coasters.

Millennium X2 - Waited 10 minutes for the very back and then 30 minutes for the very front. Some of my rides on this have been very boring and forceless, and some have been very forceful. The front was surprisingly forceful. Good positive Gs all throughout the ride. While we were queuing for the front a row would occasionally come into the station with riders in it. VIPs or handicapped?

Maverick X3 - Waited 20 minutes in the morning then managed to get two laps in after dinner right before closing. Great forces all of the way through. Don't let that bar squish your thighs!

Dragster X1 - Waited 25 minutes for a row towards the back. Even letting one pair of riders go ahead of you seems to delay you around five minutes due to the infrequent dispatch times. Man, this ride is looking faded!

Mean Streak X2 - Walked on 1-2 and then the very back row. After hearing good things about this ride I wanted to see how it was this year. I swear an almost empty train going by while queuing was untrimmed, but both of my rides were trimmed the normal, heavy amount. MS is only running two trains; the green one was sitting on the side of the road near the station. My ride near the front was typical. The second hill was smoother since it was retracked, but the bottoms of hills were still rough. My ride in the back on an almost empty train was awful. Constant up-and-down jackhammering on every dip and valley and a boring, forceless ride. Taer it down.

Gemini X2 - Walked on the front seat in the morning then rode at 3-1 later. Slapping hands with my friends on every turn was quite fun. Beware, this ride quickly gets that "Arrow jerkiness" as you go further back on the train. Front is quite smooth and enjoyable.

Magnum X2 - Rode twice on the Ejector Seat (1-3) Great ride as always. First hill is boring, second is fun, third is intense, pretzel is bumpy, and then the bunny hills deliver great ejector that gets stronger as the ride goes on. That little bunny hill next to the 200 drop is probably the strongest airtime I've ever felt on a coaster.

Blue Streak X 1 - Walk-on. Rode in the middle row of the second to last car as recommended. This ride is running really, really smoothly this year! Good speed and airtime. I find it more forceful, exciting, and fun than its brother in the back.

Corkscrew X 1 - It was empty enough to close the middle two cars, so we picked the back. Has that "Arrow jerkiness" like Gemini. The vertical loop is the only part of any ride in the park that I consistently grey-out on.

Disaster Transport ("The Box") X 1 - The repair bay was dark to the point where you can't see the person next to you. The annoying "generator" noise was off though. The chaser lights on the lift are still on, but the rest of the ride is dark except for the odd thing in the middle of the double helix. The old "space trip to Alaska" theming is all gone now and its just a fun ride in the dark.

Wicked Twister X 1 - One train wait for row three. Surprisingly good in the front when I usually ride in the back.

Mantis X 1 - One train wait for row three. I always like this ride a little more each time I ride. By this point in the day I was so tired that I just sat down on the way up the lift. The first half is very intense, but fun. The second half is less intense, but has a a banked element or two that's pretty awful.

Raptor X 1 - Two train wait for front row. I almost always ride front row on this due to the four-across seating

Woodstock Express X 1 - Teenagers riding a little kid coaster is fun. What's with the ride-op with the "key" that has to come unlock your seat belt?

CCMR X 1 - Walk-on, Typical ride
Iron Dragon X 1 - Running two trains now. Still has no seat belts
WildCat X 1 - Five minute wait. Typical ride
SkyHawk X 1 - Far better than maXair
Wave Swinger X 1 - First time of my life riding this ride
Paddlewheel X 1 - Had a fun time talking to the op about going away to college
Antique Cars X 1
Town Hall Museum X 3 - My friend found a dime and made me come back and play that rigged horse racing game. The winning K'Nex coasters are on display here too.

-MaXair, Space Spiral, and Sky Ride were down all day.
-The three water rides were all running at some point during the day, but closed later in the evening when we wanted to ride.
-WindSeeker was testing throughout the day.

Lunch: Coasters Drive-in. Disappointed. They didn't have the giant fruit bowl that Michigan's Adventure had, only burgers, fries, and drinks. They had milk, but it was whole milk! How odd....

Dinner: Midway Market has become a staple whenever I go with my family. I convinced my friends that this was worth our money. $13 dollars for an all-you-can-eat buffet in a park with overpriced, bad food everywhere else is a steal. You also get free refills on milk, which is unheard of in a real restaurant. The place was empty, but the food was still hot. There's no better way to end a long day at the park than pigging out here!

After dinner we got the last two rides on Maverick before it closed. Then we slowly walked out of the park like exhausted RCT guests. Stopped at the gift shop and got a magnet for mom. We finally left at 8:45 PM after the rides had been closed for 45 minutes.

Overall, great day at the park. It's so much better earlier in the year before the lines are too long. Hope I didn't bore you with my long report! I'm going away to college in Pittsburgh so I suppose I'll be back at Kennywood soon. Thanks!

Lowkae said:
I swear an almost empty train going by while queuing was untrimmed, but both of my rides were trimmed the normal, heavy amount.

This has been discussed recently in the Mean Streak 2011 thread. Apparently they employ a photo eye to see if there are people in the train. This determines how much trim a train gets. Your account seems to be consistent with that information.

A quality post from a first-timer. Welcome to Pointbuzz, Lowkae. I'm sure we can expect great things from you. :)

Very professional TR. :)

And I hate sounding like a broken record but it's worth noting that while it appears that Windseeker is testing, it's not. The maintenance guys are using the gondola to get to the high spots to finish the modifications. That is all.....:)

What's with the ride-op with the "key" that has to come unlock your seat belt?

That's because it's for kids, and all the kids rides have seat-belts that only they can unlatch with the key. As a parent, I loathe the teenagers that think its fun to ride the kids rides. I'll give you a break on Woodstock, however, as it is a roller coaster that actually packs a nice little punch. Just stay out of Planet Snoopy acting like a moron like some of your peers.

Congratulations on losing your Pointbuzz virginity. ;) Sounds like you guys had a good time. I love the days in May before school gets out when the park is practically dead.

They are the best. :) Shhh.

Just saying...You went on my birthday (: