Trip Report: Friday 10-5-07 & Saturday 10-6-07

Hello friends, I just wanted to share the details of my trip this past weekend with everyone. Im sure a few of you were there or working. I can honestly say even despite the crowds on Saturday, this was one of the best trips I have ever had to the park. I went with my girlfriend who is a coaster lover as well but had never been to Cedar Point before. I have been going almost every year since I was 3 or 4 (roughly 1982, 83) However, this was my 1st visit since 2004.

Friday: The weather was very hot during the day, and as the sun went down it was probably around 70-75 degrees but got very humid and sticky.

We arrived at about 5:15pm, waited at main gates along side of the Sky Ride and made small talk with the gate attendant to help the time pass. At 6pm when they pulled the gate aside, my girlfriend and I went running for Maverick. We ran out of breath near Iron Dragon and decided to jump on Millie. We entered the line and were right up before entrance station. Only 2, possibly 3 trains later we were on the ride. For some reason the ride seemed not as smooth as I had remembered. We were on the blue train.

After Millie, I was pretty insistant on going to Maverick. So we headed over and entered the line. The line was fairly short and only we waited only 20 minutes in line (and that includes waiting for the very front car). I must say, I have seen the on ride video of Maverick prior to my trip and it looked alright but not really like anything special from the video. The ride experience itself is SOOOO different from video. 1stly, it doesnt look like your going all that fast on the video... You are... Maverick is insainely fast, twisty and it made a believer out of me.. I had read everyone else on heres opinion of it and found it a little hard to believe. Yes, Maverick is definatly one of my top 2 favorite coasters of all time. My girlfriend who has been to a lot of parks that I havent said the same thing. If anyone reading this hasnt rode it yet, ride it once, and you will be a believer as well. The crew was very friendly, helpful, and seemed on top of thier game.

After Maverick since not all rides were open, we walked over to the only other ride in that area open, Skyhawk. Skyhawk is another ride that is new since I had last been to the park. There was a small line for it, but when you went into the line we were on the next ride. The seating capacity for that ride is wayy better than I thought it would be. I was a little suprised by the way you sit into the seats of it. I am a larger guy in the stomach and waist area so the bar came down right on my gut. Not super comfortable to sit like that, but by no means unplesant. The ride itself was fun and thrilling, the only complaint I had about it was that it was a tad bit short for what I had expected. Overall it was enjoyable. The Skyhawk crew was good except for the guy they had at the gate letting people on the ride. I had a question about what spot I was supposed to be on, and he was more interested in hitting on a girl in line then answering me when I called his name (it was on his nametag). I had to call to him honestly 5 or 6 times before he reponded to me.

My girlfriend then said she wanted to ride Top Thrill Dragster. She had been anticipating Dragster the most since we first planned the trip however she mentioned she wanted a little bit of a "warm up" on other rides 1st. We headed over to Dragster and waited only 20-25 minutes in line. The crew was right on top of everything and did a great job of getting us on, checked, and out the gate without stacking. Very good ride and experience overall.

From there, we then headed to Magnum. They were running 2 trains and the line was just past the turnstile in the station. It was probably a few trains tops before we were on. The Crew was good and helpful. I love the ride. My girlfriend on the other hand wasnt much of a fan because of her small build and didnt care for the airtime hills. She felt like she was gonna be thrown out.. Even after all my convincing, she still isnt a Magnum fan. :(

We then decided to get some food and went to Coasters. The food was pricey (but that was expected). I got a Coaster burger, fries, and shake. The shakes there are exceptionally good. My lady got a coaster burger fries and drink. I though my food was great but she didnt feel well after the burger. I think it was just the sauce they put on it that she didnt like. The service there was Iffy at best, but as I said, good food I thought. Girlfriend didnt think so.

After eating we went to Iron Dragon. Waited only 3 trains for the very back. True the ride isnt the most thrilling, but since it was my girls 1st time to the park, she wanted to ride as many of the coasters as possible. The crew was helpful and friendly. Ride wise, it was better than I remembered. I enjoyed it.

From there we decided to head to the front. Wicked Twister was walk on. We both LOVED our ride and ran back through the line another time since it was practically walk on. Once again, the crew was very professional and nice.

Then to Raptor.. The line was only to the bottom of the stairs up to the station. We waited for the very front (best spot in my opinion). Overall the wait was only about 15-20 minutes. Raptor has always been one of my favorites since it was built. They didnt have any of the trim breaks on after the cobra roll helix, and it made it more intense. Maybe a little too much in my opinion. Since my girlfriend is a smaller build, the OSTR didnt fit tight to her, and bounced her around too much for her taste. She mentioned hitting her head hard against it at one point. She said she didnt care for it that much. Shes the 1st person I have ever met that didnt love Raptor. Im still kinda in shock about that. She said it would have been different had the OSTR fit to her better. I was very tempted to buy the on ride dvd but didnt only because of what I have read about it here on Pointbuzz.

By now it was getting later (we did a bit of walking around and a little window browsing in shops too that I didnt mention). So we decided to go walk through some of the Halloween attractions tward the back of the park. 1st up was Fright Zone. I was VERY VERY impressed with Fright Zone. I loved the lighting, the fog, and all the spooksters. The Sliders were my favorite. They did a fantastic job of making Frontier Trail feel creepy. This was definatly my favorite of the halloween attractions we visited. I did think it was a bit much though when the spooksters would try to scare people as they were leaving the bathrooms. I only seen this one time, but still.

Werewolf Canyon was next. The wait was only 5 min tops. I wasnt super impressed with it to be honest. I was more impressed that I was walking through Thunder Canyon. I thought it coulda used a bit more fog than it had (like the amount Fright Zone used). and the props seems generic. Most of the wolf spooksters didnt seem to into it and only rarely would be hidden. I did like the Famous Daves tribute house at the end, but even then, there were wolves in there with the masks on top of their head in clear view of guests taking breaks.

We went through Fright Zone again since Werewolf Canyon exits back into it, and headed out into Frontier Town. We saw that there was only about 4 people in line for the Undertaker School, so we jumped in line. Moments later we were inside. Most of the scenes set up in there were cool, but it could have used more spooksters. It seemed like only half of the scenes set up had them. The spinning room was the highlight of it. There were only the four people ahead of us, and they had kinda went off ahead of the group, so when we got to it, only 2 of them were still inside seeming to have a hard time walking. I didnt realize why until halfway through. I felt like I went from having no beer in me to having about 24 in me in a matter of seconds lol. Overall it was fun, but as I said, needed more Spooksters.

We finished out Friday with a 2nd ride on Skyhawk which was still walk on, then at about 11:55 entered the Maverick line again. It was a bit longer this time, but the wait was still less than 30 min for the front of the Train. Even in the dark Maverick delivered another unbelievable ride. It was a fantastic way to end the night.

Saturday: It was very hot, probably 85 degrees and once again quite humid.

We arrived through the gate probably 12:15. We headed straight for Demon Drop since it might be the last chance we get to ride it. The wait was probably 15-20 min which isnt bad at all considering how crowded the park was. We both LOVED our ride on Demon Drop and we will both hate to see it go. The Demon Drop crew was very attentive, helpful, and very friendly.

Disaster Transport was next. The air conditioning was very comforting on the hot day, the line was probably a 40 min wait. It might not be the best ride in the park by any means, but I still like it. My girlfriend said she wasnt impressed at all, and said it was her least favorite of the whole trip.

From there we went to Mantis which is one she had REALLY been waiting to ride (her 1st stand up coaster ever). The line was roughly a 2- 2 1/2 hour wait but when we did finally get on, it was well worth it. She loved it, and I loved it as well. Riding in the back train, it did put a lot of pressure on our calf muscles and made us sore the rest of the day (on top of all the walking).

Since she had said Millenium Force was her favorite coaster thus far, we got in line for it again after Mantis. We were in line probably 45 min and then we realized we werent moving anymore, nor had we seen a train go by in a while. It had broken down. Not sure still what the exact problem was, but it was probably another 45 minutes before they were running it with passingers again. We waited in line probably another hour and 15min, we were just before the ramp and then it broke down again. A crew member came out and announced that there was a maintence issue and a part on the brakes needed replacing and it could be 15 min, up to 2 hours. We waited 15 min so at this point we had been in line for 3hrs and decided to leave.

When we got back out onto the midways thats when we seen how truely packed it was. The lines were extremely long for everything and it was very hot out. We walked back to see if Snake River Falls was open and it wasnt. So we went in Town Hall Museum and spent a good deal of time in there. This was also the first time I had been in there where the curator was available to take to. We spent a good deal of time talking to him and he answered all my questions about the history of the park. He also mention that he occasionally comes to this site (if your reading this, please private message me. I would LOVE to stay in contact). I think he has the best job in the entire world. Anyhow, he was very friendly, helpful.

We checked the Maverick line which was out in the midway about to the Chuck Wagon Inn. Since we had rode it 2x the day before and our feet were hurting, we decided to jump on the train and hit some of the shops and the arcade which we had missed the night before. Boneville especially impressed her, but the whole park was kinda like Boneville so it didnt do much for me.

We spent a maybe 2 hours going to the different shops and in the coliseum arcade and decided to get some food. The lines for everything were packed and we were in line for honestly around 30 minutes before we got served at The Burger Patio. The problem was that there were only 3 people working in there trying to serve a rediculas amount of people. I felt kinda bad for them, they did the best they could.

After eating we were both getting antsy to ride more rides and not waste the day away in the shops, so we went over to Blue Streek. Blue Streek had about a 30-45 min wait, but she had never been on it, and I havent been on it in probably 10yrs. I had forgotten what a good ride it really is.

From there we headed over to Corkscrew, we saw there was a hour and 1/2 wait and decided to keep walking. Onto Gemini we went. The line was out in the midway with the entrance sign saying there was a 45 minute wait from that point. Even if the wait was 45 min, it didnt feel like it. The line it seemed hardly ever stopped moving. The crew did a fantastic job of getting the trains in and out as quickly as possible.

We wanted to go to Mean Streak next and headed over that way. The line didnt look super huge from the entrance point, but then again, you cant really see the line from the entrance point. This was the first and only time I saw horrific line jumping. They had it set up so that you would be walking through a few empty ques before getting to the back of the line. We walked through everything we were supposed to, but about 10 people in front of us decided to jump ahead. A lot of people from the line yelled "LINE JUMPERS!!!" trying to get staff attention, but no one heard or was even back there to see it. After we got to the back of the line we saw probably 20 more people do the same thing as a few other guests went the actual route you were supposed to go. The line was probably a hour and 1/2. I dont really care for Mean Streak because of how rough it is. But this time for whatever reason, it seemed a lot smoother than I remembered. I actually enjoyed it and it wasnt too painful.

I wanted to go back to the front of the park and check out Lair of the Vampire. We took the train back tward the front, and when we got to Lair, the line was like a 2 hour wait. I heard a few people comming out of it saying it wasnt that great, so we skipped it. It was getting to be around 10:30 by now and we went back by the Corkscrew to check on the lines.

Corkscrew looked walk on, so we rode it quick and right after we got in line, about 50 other people did behind us. The ride op was hilarious saying: "Your ride on the Corkscrew tonight was brought to you by the movie Final Destination 3 now on dvd". I about fell over laughing along with about half the other people in line.

Then we went to the gift shops to buy the things we had seen earlier that we wanted. Ran them out to the car. Took a little break on the benches, and went through CarnEvil. CarnEvil was alright, but I would much rather go through Fright Zone again, so we headed back out to the main midway.

We rode Cedar Downs (oldie but a goodie) and by this point it was around 11:45. Both of our feet were hurting really bad from the whole trip and she said she wasnt up for the walk back to Maverick to finish the night out there. I wasnt sure if we would have enough time to get there even taking the train anyways, so we decided to end our vaction with the ride that started it.. Millie.

It was my 1st time riding it at night ever so I was pretty excited about it. It was still really warm and humid out, so I decided to grab a moutain dew out of the machines in line, every machine for any kind of drink was sold out. The line at this point was around a hour 45, but the ride was excellent. If you remember I said earlier that the ride on it the day before didnt seem as smooth as it should be. This time it seemed as smooth as it could be and gave an amazing ride.

Overall, the staff was as helpful and friendly as could be with only few exceptions (3 people out of the hundreds that were working isnt bad odds). If any of you that read this were working that weekend, thank you for helping to make our trip one of my best ever!! It was my first Halloweekends, and it DEFINATLY wont be my last. My only regret is not being able to stay the sunday as well when the lines would be shorter. My girlfriend fell in love with the park on this her 1st visit. She even said her top 3 coasters of all time in order are now Millie, Maverick, and Mantis. Mine at this point would be: Maverick, Millie, and Raptor. We both plan to get season passes for next year and return a few different times during next season. She now shares my same passion for the park.

-Pat :)

90 minute wait for Corkscrew?

I know its the GP so they don't know, but a Maverick line even out of the queue is only slightly longer than that...

What a waste of time. But I guess if you've never been to the park, you see a blue coaster going upside down over your head, and you think you have to ride it!

I might be wrong on that time for corkscrew, but the queue was entirly full and the the sign said over a hour for certain. That was the only time I listed that I wasnt 100% sure on. The others are all accurate to either what the posted waits were, or what I actually timed.

***edited for clarity***

*** Edited 10/11/2007 2:50:52 PM UTC by Cedar Pat***

Next time you come, be sure to check out Fear Faire. We're not quite Fright Zone, but we beat the brightly colored pants off of CarnEvil. :) Sadly, most people have no idea we are there.

I did see Fear Faire on Saturday, but the line was rediculas. Next year I plan to be there for a friday, sat, and sunday. That should be more than plenty of time to experience all the rides and the Halloween attractions.

There is no line for Fear Faire. It is a walk through just like Fright Zone and CarnEvil. Although in the time I've spent near the entrances, I overhear lots of people saying "it probably has a long line, so let's skip it," so you aren't alone in thinking that.

Isnt that the one thats right next to the "sneek peek" photo booth? If so, there was a good mob of people standing out in front of it I figured to be a line.

I love that spinning room! I remember going through it last year with friends, and we were laughing so hard after we came out of that haunted house.

It's nice talking to the people before you're let in the park for early entry, well I remember working that spot a few times during the summer and talked with people for an hour. Every time though someone would joke about offering money to let them though early. It was fun.

Haha, I asked the gate guy if he ever got bribed and what the highest he was ever offered was. He said he was once offered $100. I think thats why they keep CP police by the gate attendants. Keep stuff like bribery from happening. I wont even lie, I offered him $40 cash, but he wouldnt go for it.

I always told the people I would need at least $4,000 to pay for college and last me the rest of the summer, that way I could take the offer and not have to worry about working there the rest of the summer anyway haha. Then people would say, wow, I guess it would of just been cheaper to stay in the resorts then! I also had a lot comment on the birds how white the supports on Raptor look.

On a side note, I am making my last trip of the year next week. Saturday is out of the question, I've heard how busy it has been this year. Fridays and Sundays are not as busy, but I am looking for some input on which day is usually slower. I've read most of the trip reports, but would like some input from anybody who's been there lately.

I wasnt there sunday, but on Friday, I didnt wait more than 25 min in any line.

Fridays are better than Sundays. Then again there are limited rides to choose from.

Limited rides = limited crowds :)

Nice report! I think you made me sound like I didn't like hardly anything though LOL I absolutely loved Cedar Point and I can't wait to go next year!!!

Saturday was hell. Hot humid and extremely crowded.

You missed one Cedar Pat! The Trio Of Terror.

These Edgar Allen Poe stories are great! I think the guy doing the Tell Tale Heart has been there for 8 years!! He's fantastic!

On a Saturday night you can't find a place to sit....it becomes standing room only...people are even sitting on the steps....and when this guy tells the story, you can hear a pin drop. Well....except for the noise outside...;-) I like the front row, center. His eyes are intense!!

Cedar Point has put a little piece of true theatre in the park and it's well worth it!
*** Edited 10/21/2007 11:58:24 PM UTC by Cissy***