Due to the uncertainty of how Fast Lane might impact my enjoyment at Cedar Point this year, I had planned on skipping a trip this year. BUT, when Cedar Point offered tickets for $25 last week, I thought to myself, at least if I get to ride less rides, I will have paid much less than any discount tickets I have seen. So, I figured, as long as I got 8 good rides in during my visit, I'd be ok with that.
So, not wanting to get in any long lines while waiting for friends to show up, we decided to ride Mantis first which was a walk on. So far, so good. Once we got off of that, we knew we had time to kill so we got in line for Millennium Force. The sign said 30 minutes, but from riding in years past, I knew it should be at least 45 from where the line ended. To me surprise, it took as long as I had hoped. I am not sure how long FL line was since I couldn't see it. When we got into the station, I only saw 4 people come in from that line. Our friends were parking as we got off MF. We needed to run back to the car, so we told them to ride MF.
From the time we talked to them, until the time they had gotten off of MF, we had walked onto Sky Ride, walked to car, waited 10 minutes for Power Tower Drop and ridden Mantis again. Very pleased with the amount of rides we got in within 2 hours
Next was probably the worst part of the day...Maverick. You would think after 5 years, they would have replaced whatever cause this ride to stop all of the time with new and improved parts. But, anyways, my 2 friends that joined us down there had never ridden it, so I needed to make sure they did. The sign said 1 hour and 45 minute wait. I saw the line and thought, no way is it that long. I guess they had factored in breaking down time. Because that is about how long we ended up waiting. That downtime caused FL line to grow almost to the entrance. Other than that, I LOVE this ride.
Next up was Skyhawk. Line was maybe 4 cycles long. This was the ride I rode that had the most blatantly negative use of FL I saw all day. They just let the whole group in FL line get right on. They didn't limit it at alll from what I saw. Even if they do, it's not what we saw. Fortunately, the line was short anyways and it scared the crap out of my friend so that overrode any negative experience with FL.
Next was Mean Streak. I loved this ride when it was new and up until they trimmed the first hill. I must admit, even with a 20 minute wait, this ride seemed more fun than it has been in years. The trim on the drop was much less noticeable than it has been and there wasn't that feeling that we were only going to barely make it over that first banked turn. The ride, to me, seemed to have just the right amount of roughness. All said and done, I am glad I rode it.
As far as rides go, we rode 12 good ones between 10:30am and 9pm. Plenty for me.
My cheap and pretty easy improvement to FL would be to make sure that very few empty seats leave the station. Sorry if this means ride ops might have to do a little more work, but seeing empty seats when someone is being allowed to make me wait longer is only pouring salt into the wound. This would benefit all guests, including FL users.
As far as food goes, we opted for the $10.65 online meal deal. What a bargain. We used ours at the buffet which included a souvenir refillable drink cup. Keep in mind, you get as much as you care to drink while at the buffet. As far as quality goes, I was extremely impressed. They were even replacing pans that were more than half full with brand new food. They didn't even put the old stuff with the new. The fried chicken was crispy and juicy. Most foods nowadays, on buffets, tend to lack flavor. We were totally impressed. And let's not forget the dessert bar with the many items plus hand-scooped ice cream for the sundae bar. When we were done eating, we were even offered coffee to complete our meal. I have never eaten at the buffet in the past, but, even at full price, I will go back again as long as they maintain the level of quality we experienced, yesterday.
One major reason for going on this particular day was to see Luminosity before it ended. I had watched videos of it and thought it should be pretty entertaining. I was not let down at all. It was very high energy, lots of lights and the plaza was packed. The only downside to the show is that singers who sang some songs really well also song songs that were out of their ranges. But, with all of the energy involved with the whole experience, including the main midway lighting and sound system plus the new lighting on the old rides, I would have to say, Cedar Point and Cedar Fair are heading in the right direction.
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