Where do I begin? This has to have been one of my best vacations ever. In spite of the rain, the physics day, and the 6.5 hour drive, I can't think of any place better! I was at CP on Wed 5/16 and Thursday 5/17. Here's my review:
This is one massive park. My legs are still killing me from all that walking, but it was well worth it. The gates opened at 10 on Wed (9:30 on Thursday, with rides operating by 9:45). My first ride was on MF... FRONT SEAT! How amazing was that.. I am SO glad I started with that coaster. I was so impressed and loved every second of it. You can not see the track on that first drop from the front seat. Too awesome.
I then rode Mantis. No big deal there. It's looks impressive, but I think it would be a MUCH better ride with conventional seats. Stand-ups are just not that much fun for me. Maybe because I am a bigger guy or I just feel to restrained in a standup. I haven't found one I really like.
I then went to Iron Dragon. To me, it was just like driving on I-95. Not impressed at all, even the pretzel at the end was boring. And then it rained.. for an hour and a half. Everything closed down. I waited around until is stopped andcontinued walking around the park. MF was closed and so was MS. I walked through Frontier Trail.. very pretty area. (One thing I did notice is that the park itself is a very attractive park.) Walked back to Corkscrew and did that... Neat little coaster.. not too rough. I did like actually going over the walkway.. that's a great site when you look down and see a person under you!
I went to DT, but it was closed, so I walked BACK to Red Garter's to catch the 1pm show. I am glad I did. It was fantastic. They did my favorite song - 'If My Heart Had Wings'. The cast seemed to be really enjoying themselves and I really enjoyed watching them. I thought the electric fiddle was a really interesting looking instrument.
I went back to DT and it was open. I was the only person besides the ops in the DT building when I went in. While the seats are kinda uncomfortable, that coaster scared the hell out of me. I don't mind being in the dark, like space mountain, but I couldn't see ANYTHING. The only lit sections were the 2 trims. The rest of the ride was pitch black. I found out the next day that part of the track is actually lighted and it wasn't as terrifying once the lights were on. But I liked it enough to go back again the next day.
After that I got my first ride on Magnum... ejector seat. I must have been in the red train cause I think my spine compacted on that ride. It was a rush tho.. my butt was airborne more than it was in the seat. I continued around to Gemini. What an interesting coaster. Only the red side was running. I kept expecting a woodie and even riding it, I couldn't believe it was so smooth. Great coaster. (The next day, the blue and red were racing, so I got some handslapping in on that ride.)
I continued around to Mean Streak. I think that coaster has square wheels. I have never EVER been on that bad of a wooden coaster before. Which is too bad, because it looks so promising. The trims on the first hill ruin the drop. The rest of the ride is just painful. I was tempted to give it a second chance on Thursday, but didn't feel it was worth the 30 minute wait.
I hopped on the train to the MF. The line was too long so I figured I would try Raptor. I took the buckets. (As a side note, I think the park has something out for me.. any time I had a choice of colors for a ride, buckets, big wheel, Wildcat, etc.. I ALWAYS got orange.. I HATE orange.) I rode the buckets 4 times in 2 days.. and it was an orange bucket each time!
I got on Raptor, back row. What an AWESOME ride. It was so cool. Raptor and MF are the two best coasters in the park.. there is no doubt. After I got off I did Blue Streak... what a cute little out and back! A little jarring in the back seat, but it's a true woodie! I went back to MF for one more ride before I went home for the day. Sat in the middle.. another breathtaking ride.
On Thursday, I hit the CCMR first because MF was down for 3 hours. I liked it a lot. A smooth little kicker. The op told me he was sorry, but the bar only locks in one position so I needed to becareful. I found the ops and workers to be extremely friendly. It was a nice change from some of the other parks I have been to.
I did Gemini again - red car only in the AM and then blue in the PM. I got the back seat on Magnum. A great ride. I also managed to ride Chaos.. and now I know why I don't do whirl -n- hurls anymore. They wouldn't let me have my own car so I had to sit with a kid who REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to flip the car. We managed to get a couple of flips in so he was happy. I wasn't.. I had to sit down after that ride... bleah. But, I can say I did it!
I did the red pole on Power Tower.. incredible blast. If the line wasn't so long, I would have gone again. I hit the Wildcat (orange car... argh). Now there's a little spitfire of a coaster... serious airtime and some nice speed to for the little guy! I did MF after that.. it was a 90- minute wait.. center of the car. They weren't assigning seats on Thursday, but they were only letting 32 people onto the platform at a time.
I rode the big wheel to take some pictures. I can't NOT believe how safety conscious/petrified the park is. Almost EVERY ride has seatbelts. I couldn'd believe that the big wheel had seatbelts. I don't see what good they would do? While I was impressed with their importance on safety, I think they may have gone overboard. Of all things, they give the big wheel seatbelts, but the log flume didn't have anything. Infact, it 3was the first flume I have seen where there was no divider in the middle of the log.
I did DT again and I liked it still.. alhought much less terrifying when you can see some of the track. At around 5:30pm the fog rolled in from the lake. I had NEVER seen fog move so fast before. I decided to go on Raptor and you just barely make out the track. I got a picture of the first drop and the loop getting obscured by fog.. it was too cool! I had the front seat on Raptor for this ride. When I got to the top of the lift, you COULD NOT see the cobra roll. It was totally in the fog. What an experience that was! Awesome.
I got off Raptor and did some shopping.. I got a cool MF Beanie Bear, the only one I could find. I bought the mug and matching shot glass that are blue and purple. They are frosted and there's an oval etched in front so when you look through the glass you see a CP Ride Logo with Top Of The World under it. Really cool looking glasses. By the time I was done shopping, the fog was gone. How odd.
It was about 6pm. So I figured one more ride on MF before my CP Trip was over. Waited 90 minutes and got the back seat. I whooped it up from the moment we started down the hill!
The trip was amazing and just what I needed. I can't wait to do it again next year! Although I was told by a woman I met the best day to visit the park is the 2nd tuesday after it opens. She has done it 5 years in a row and the crowds have always been small to non-existant. So I might change my days :)
Word of information, if you can avoid the McDonalds on the causeway opposite the Breaker's Express hotel, do so. The service was awful, 40 minutes in Drive-Thru, the people who work there are dumber than a box of hammers, and it's filthy.
The Breakers Express hotel was very nice. A good room for a very good price. I just wish they had let us stay in the hot tub after 11pm.
Chuckers
Glad you had a great time!
A few things to say...
- Mantis can be much more fun if you know the best way to ride it - put your feet back against the train and lean your bodyweight forward into the restraints.
- That's cool that you like DT, that ride is under so much criticism from most people (although it is much different with absolute darkness).
- When we talk about assigned seating on MF, we are referring to letting in 32 people at once (as opposed to however many people the station can hold), because it eliminates lines for specific seats. So are you saying that they were not doing the 32 people at a time on Wednesday?
- Sounds like you had two very different days... an empty Wednesday and a PACKED Physics Thursday.
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Steuks!!
No, they were actually assigning seats on Wednesday... 32 people at a time and the op walked from the front seat to the back seat like the people who park cars walk down the line row. On Thursday you could choose any seat you wanted as long as it was not already filled. The thing I really liked about MF was that it really doesn't matter what car you sit in, but I do like the elevated second row feature. That's a great addition.
Wow I can't believe that they were actually showing you what seat to sit in, I have not seen that at all. That lowers the chance of either getting the front, back, or 5-1. But like you said, MF is a GREAT ride no matter where you sit (although I am sure you discovered that the front is the best).
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Steuks!!
Oops, sorry nobody warned you about that McDonalds!
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richie
Wow, they were only letting 32 people in at a time?...I'd think that they would leave 36 in instead...;)
You're right CP_bound, my bad - now that wouldnt make sense would it, leaving 4 seats empty on each train???? ;)
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Steuks!!
I was there on Thurs. I was in line when MF broke, and then I had to go home. $&#*(&$(*#&%(*#$&%(*!
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A bad day at CP is better than a good day at work.
Okay okay.. so it was 36 my bad :)