This was my first time back to Ohio since the week before Labor Day 2010. I planned a vacation for the week of my birthday to visit some friends who live outside Cleveland. Tuesday, May 13 was the first of 2 days we'd be going to Cedar Pt. Drove in with Kyland, who was a regular Platinum Pass holder, and also his first visit since closing day 2013. We got to the parking lot at 10:30 and it was nearly empty. There is an unadvertised deal that Platinum holders can bring in a friend for $39.99. We got our tickets and decided to head straight to Gatekeeper, since we could see it had no line.
Gatekeeper - First time ever riding this! We went to the back row on the right side. This ride is awesome from the back. Excellent air time on some of the hills. I purposely avoided watching any videos in advance to keep the surprise. I heard about the "keyhole" but didn't quite know what it would be. There's also one turn where it looked like I was gonna hit my head. We went straight back around for a second ride, this time we did front row left side. The view is much better from the front, but there's less action. Would be best to split up the front and back rides in the future.
Windseeker was another ride I hadn't been on yet, but it wouldn't run at all the whole day. Disappointment. I had to stop in the Snoopy Emporium to get some sun screen, as I could tell we weren't gonna be getting that rain storm anytime soon (it finally got there at 5pm, after we were already back on the road). We were gonna head straight to Maverick next, but as we passed Dragster we saw it was running with no line at all. As we were walking through the queue, we saw an empty train have a rollback, which would be an omen of things to come. As we were getting to the ramp, we saw a full train have another rollback, and we immediately turned around knowing the ride would be down for a while. Overall we lost 20 minutes on this fail.
Maverick - there was barely any line (the longest one we encountered all day) but the line was moving slow since there were a lot of empty trains running tests. We soon got into the 3rd row. Still the best ride in the park!!! Love it. Right as we were getting off, we saw that the next train going out had a row of seats that nobody got into, so we jumped into them at the last second and got two in a row in, which made up for our luck on the Dragster. Another excellent ride. I really like how this is the one coaster in the park that never gets boring - every second of it has something happening.
Mean Streak - walked right on, front row. Kyland wouldn't even ride this last time I was here, but he built up a tolerance since last time. Another great ride. Once again, we got off and got right back on, this time the second row. Which makes a HUGE difference - definitely a front row only ride! Now that we did double rides three times, we declared today TWO FOR TUESDAY.
Skyhawk - Kyland didn't want to do this ride so I did it solo. My favorite non-coaster in the park. Constantly feeling like you're gonna slip out of your seat is part of the fun for me.
Millennium Force - It's a long walk over from Skyhawk. All of the water rides were closed down, not that I would go on them at this time. I wanted to do front row, so I waited about 10 minutes. That first drop is my favorite in the park (lean as far forward as you can!) but the rest of the ride is nothing special, which is why I feel this ride is overrated. We exited and walked right back on, this time doing the back row. While you get thrown over the hills better from the back, it just isn't the same experience not being able to lean into that first drop.
Iron Dragon - Much better than I remember it. The second half is actually pretty wild! Was gonna continue the two for Tuesday, but we saw that Dragster was running again, so we wanted to hurry over there before a line built up.
Top Thrill Dragster - No line at all. They were launching very slowly though, one every 5 minutes or so, so the suspense built up. I was hoping for a rollback, but we made it over the hill. We went back through for a second ride and there was still no wait. We were in our seats and a rider behind us was complaining that his restraints were too tight so they got released and then a danger warning came up on the computer and we were told to get back into the queue. We waited 20 minutes but by that point there were 3 mechanics on the track so we knew it wasn't gonna open again anytime soon so we left. I always thought the ride itself was cool, but it just isn't worth the BS you gotta through to ride it, and definitely a ride I wouldn't even bother waiting for.
Stopped for a lunch break and got a terrible burger and a good milkshake at the diner.
Magnum - No line at all. The first ride was EXCELLENT. I had no idea this coaster could be so good, last time it was nothing like this. Got some excellent airtime on the 4 hills at the end. However, I was starting to get exhausted from the heat (it had been sunny weather all day and was up to 86 now) and was getting a headache, so I was slowing down. The second Magnum ride was insanely bumpy, to the point where my hat, which I was SITTING on, got knocked from the ride! I felt beat up getting off of it. Pipe Scream was still down, so I still hadn't ridden it either.
Gemini - Love this ride. First time ever doing the red coaster, since last time they were running the blue one. Still haven't been able to do dueling coasters. I couldn't handle a second ride as I wasn't feeling great.
Cedar Creek Mine Ride - wanted to do something tame next to see how much I could take today. This ride SUCKS. You spend more time going uphill than anything else. I could tell I was ready to get going. We stopped by the arcade on the way out just to cool down a bit. I played that oversized Hercules pinball game where you use a skeeball for the pinball! Decided to get one more ride in on the way out
Blue Streak - WOW! Did front row and I was hanging out of my seat the whole time. Amazing ride. Also had the hottest attendant of the day working there. Since I was gonna be back 2 days later, and Raptor and Gatekeeper were both shut down due to wind, I was ready to call it quits for the day.
Got 16 total rides in. Spent less than an hour total waiting in line for anything. If it wasn't for the weather and the exhaustion (and two of the rides I wanted to ride for the first time being down), it would have been the perfect day. Hoping to get the rides I missed on my return visit!
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Came back on Thursday with Kyland and his friend Tom, another Platinum holder. The weather forecast was calling for rain all day, but we decided to go anyway. It was a day of good and bad luck because of that - good luck because the park was DESERTED and everything but Magnum and Dragster were walk ons with no wait at all, bad luck because the weather caused many ride closures. I wasn't ever able to get onto Windseeker, Pipe Scream (which appeared to be closed due to constant mechanical problems instead of weather) or Raptor, and Gemini and Gatekeeper stayed closed all day Thursday too.
Millennium Force - Wanted to do one more front row ride, so we headed there first where even the front row wouldn't have a line right at 10am. Unfortunately a downpour started up just as we were going through the queue, and I was first in line for front row, but we had to wait 20 minutes for the rain to die down (at least we were covered!). When I finally got to ride, it was still raining and I took a POUNDING from it. I had to keep my eyes closed the entire time in order to prevent them from getting punched out. No more front row for me today. Rode it 4 more times in a row, each time had less rain until it was completely over. On the 5th ride we saw that Maverick was now open, so we headed over there. MF was running MUCH better than Tuesday, so it made up for everything negative I thought about it before. Kyland mentioned that normally the ride would be down for this level of raininess, so we were incredibly lucky we got so many rides in at all. BTW - one of the attendants at MF that day was a Jessica Alba clone! That made 7 MF's (2 in front row) for the week!
Maverick - Walked straight on. Front row had a bit of a wait, but we were able to jump right into our seats in the 4th row. Still the best ride in the park! Went right back around and this time I was 3 cars away from getting front row, so decided to go for it. Then the bad luck hit again and we had another 30 minute way while they swapped out two sets of cars. It was worth the wait, since front row makes this ride even better, especially since you can actually see the first drop. That wait caused a line to build up behind us, so we were ready to move on.
We saw the Dragster running, so we decided to give it a try. There was a bit of a line and I could tell immediately there was no chance we were gonna get on. Sure enough, after one car ran they shut the ride down and we didn't waste any time getting out of there. At least I got 1 ride in on Tuesday.
Cork Screw - no line there at all, and I didn't get on it Tuesday so decided to get it done. Kyland and Tom were complaining about how they got bad whiplash on it last year, but the ride was fine. Tame, but no complaints. I grew up riding the clone of this at Rocky Point, so it has a special nostalgia factor for me.
Dodge-Em - Always been a fan of bumper cars, and it had just enough of a line that if we jumped in, they'd run a full set, so this was perfect luck. Handled the steering wheel way better than last time I was here. Love rides that encourage violence!
Blue Streak - I wanted to stop by the lost and found and see if by any chance my hat was picked up by the Magnum staff. It wasn't. Raptor and Gatekeeper were both closed due to winds (as they would be the entire day) but Blue Streak was open, so we did one more. It was a walk on for everything except front row, and even that only had 2 people ahead of us, so I rode front with Kyland and Tom waited for the 2nd row to ride with us. Excellent coaster for its age. My favorite attendant was there, but she was working the booth so I didn't see her until we were getting off the ride.
Wicked Twister - as long as we were over there, I wanted to get one in. Kyland sat it out and Tom rode with me. It's a fun ride, not something you need to do more than once a day.
Maxair - After the last time I rode this and half my face went numb, I swore I would never ride it again, but I was in a good mood (unlike Tuesday where I was sleep deprieved and had a headache half the day). Not as good as Sky Hawk, but still a cool ride. Felt just a LITTLE bit of numbness from the G-Force, but I think all the other riding I've been doing got me warmed up for it. Stopped at the frozen custard stand (it was just warm enough for it) to eat on our way back to the rear side.
Dragster and Gemini were both closed. Magnum was open but had a strangely long line. The ride kept breaking down all day so the lines were out of whack. We decided to come back later, since we parked in that lot anyway. Wanted to ride Woodstock Express since it was nearby, but that was closed too.
Tilt A Whirl - since we were in the area anyway, decided to jump on the only other decent ride that was running. Rode #2 the first time and got very dizzy (it's worse than Maxair, seriously!). The attendant told me that 4 and 7 were the best rides, so I tried it again in 4, which was a more balanced ride but not as wild. At this point, we weren't sure what we were gonna do, since our plan was to get a couple of Magnum rides in. Then we saw that Mean Streak was finally open
Mean Streak - had a walk on for front row, the only way to ride! When we got out, saw that Maverick had NO LINE, so there was only one sensible choice
Maverick - got two more rides in a row in, with no waiting. The second time I did my first ever back row ride, and got a bit knocked around on it, so I decided to call it day with it. 4 Mavericks that day, 6 for the week!
Sky Hawk - Meant to ride this after Maverick last time, but we got messed up with trying to get on Mean Streak and completely forgot about it. Definitely the best non-coaster ride in the park. Just wish it was longer.....
At this point we were thinking about going back through Frontier Land and doing some more MF and getting an Iron Dragon in, but saw the Dragster running again. Tom was anxious to get on it since he hadn't been on at all this year, so we went back over (on the way over, we saw that Magnum was closed again). Sure enough, Dragster broke down right as we were about to enter the queue.
Cork Screw - I was fed up with not being able to get onto half of the rides I attempted today, so I went on cork screw one more time, this time by myself. Some 12 year old kid I got behind asked if he could ride alone, and I told him to go find another row cuz I wasn't gonna wait (what is the policy on this, btw?). There were plenty of extra seats in the back, which he moved to. Again, nothing special, but brings back memories of my first ever amusement park visits.
Dragster showed no sign of reopening. I could see from Corkscrew that Raptor and Gatekeeper were still down. It was a long way around from there to get to Iron Dragon and MF. I said lets take a gamble and find out what's going on with Magnum. Still closed "we don't know when it'll be open" so we decided to call it a day. It was 4:30pm and I got 19 rides in that day, I call it a win! Of course as soon as we started driving away, I saw an in-service Magnum climbing the hill.....
35 total rides this week, including 7 MFs and 6 Mavericks. Was really bummed out about not being able to ride Windseeker or Raptor (and I was at least curious about Pipe Scream) and was especially bummed that I didn't get back onto Magnum the second day, but definitely made up for it in other places. Hopefully it won't be another 4 years before I get back again!
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