Trip report – Saturday May 19, 2007 – Letting go of my fear of tall coasters…
I’ve been a long time Cedar Point fanatic – I went there every summer as a kid, worked there in 1987 and met my current wife there (we worked together at Silver Dollar). The past few years, as my kids have gotten to the age where they can enjoy the park, my fascination with the park has been reborn. The Internet and sites like Pointbuzz.com have gone a long way to fuel the excitement…
For 2007, I decided to get season passes for the first time. I purchased the passes for my family last November for the awesome price of $95.00/ea and a parking pass for $50.00. Here it is the end of May and we’ve already gotten our three trips in and broken even! This trip report is about my 3rd trip for 2007, which I did on Saturday, May 19, 2007.
I left suburban Cleveland around 8:30AM with my younger brother. We had a great drive out, and since we had time to spare, we took the Chaussee in. My brother had never seen the Chaussee and was pretty impressed with it. We followed behind a FedEx truck from the time we got off Route 2, and I found it interesting that the FedEx driver chose to take the Chaussee to Cedar Point instead of Cleveland Road/Route 6. We lost the FedEx truck at the Cedar Point Marina.
At the Magnum gate, I sailed right in with my season pass (what an awesome feeling!) and my brother and I headed straight for Millennium Force (which I have never ridden)…
The Millennium Force queue was not bad at all and we were in our seats within 30 minutes. This is where the cool part of the trip started! Every other time I’ve ridden a big coaster, I kind of enjoyed it, but was really scared and held onto whatever part of the train I could get a good grip on, and held it freaking tight… However, this time, I decided I was going to let go of the fear and hold my hands up in the air... Going down the first hill of Millennium force with my hands in the air was nothing short of a religious experience. Definitely the most I’ve EVER enjoyed any coaster ride ever! I was pumped and looking forward to riding lots more stuff during the day!
After Millennium Force, I rode a lot of different stuff during the day. The lines were pretty bad at most rides. Here are the highlights of the larger rides I got to ride:
- Skyhawk – Hands in the air again. What exhilaration! Last time I rode Skyhawk, I was so scared I kept my eyes closed and held on for my dear life. Not this time…eyes wide open, hands in the air and loving it!
- Blue Streak – Man – this one was interesting – Every other time I’ve ridden the Blue Streak was a very uncomfortable ride, but this time, after letting go of the fear and holding my hands up, it was just an incredible ride. When you are not holding on for your dear life, this coaster is much more enjoyable. I can’t explain it, but every other time, when I was holding on to the lap bar, it felt l was certainly going to bounce out of the train on the hills. This time, with my hands in the air, I was not even slightly concerned about bouncing out of the train, and completely enjoyed the ride.
- Mean Streak – This is a coaster that I’ve not ridden for a VERY long time because the first time I rode it (back when it first opened) it scared me so badly! I tried the hands in the air method again and it worked wonders. What a completely awesome ride. I can’t wait to ride again!
- Gemini – Hands in the air again. Gemini has always been one of my favorite coasters, but it was even better with my hands in the air!
- MaxAir – Same story here – hands in the air and loving it. Hmmm, but there was a problem that started at about this point in the day. The first time I rode MaxAir, it really really scared the crap out of me - I knew it was not possible, but there was certainly the illusion that it was going to swing a full cycle all the way around. I held on for my dear life and was shaking when I got off. But this time, with my hands in the air, and screaming in the wind, I was actually kind of bored with the ride… It didn’t bother my stomach and it didn’t even seem very exciting….I was actually pretty worried that I’d gone too far and killed the excitement of large Cedar Point rides by letting go of the fear…maybe it was just the day and the company I was with.
- Demon Drop – I closed out the night with two rides. These were two very important rides. You see, I have not ridden the Demon Drop again since it first opened when I was a little kid. Back in 1983, I was there and rode it for the first time. It twisted my stomach into the most horrible wretched knot, that I swore I would NEVER ride it again. In fact, it probably is responsible for turning me off to most larger coasters until this night. Last week when I was here with my kids, they wanted to ride it, but only if I would ride it with them. I had to tell them I wasn’t up to it, as I relived that night back in 1983… Tonight was different. It was nearly closing time and the ride was a walk on. I stood there and watched it, reliving my nightmare in 1983. Then I decided tonight was the perfect night to get over that fear… I rode it twice and ended up loving it. Demon Drop was no longer a demon in my mind…it was a perfect end to an awesome night at Cedar Point…
After Demon Drop, my brother and I headed back to our car in the Soak City lot. It was a long walk, but a very good day at Cedar Point!
I’m heading back the first four days in June for a family vacation. Looking forward to riding all the big coasters with my hands in the air. The last two rides that I’ve never ridden are TDD and Wicked Twister – thinking of squeezing those two in during ERT on Sat/Sun this next weekend!
*** Edited 5/28/2007 2:44:33 AM UTC by madman***
Nice report,
You gotta keep your hands/arms/feet up at all times to truly enjoy the ride. Glad you got over your fear...
Can't wait until I get my 12 year old over her fear of TTD, PT and DD......
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