9:30 came, and we were finally let through running to TTD. Our run was pointless and I felt bad for my friend Jeff who had a walking cast on due to a broken foot lol. The wait time posted was 4 hours and the guy at the front said the wait would be 5 hours long, so we decided to take advantage of empty queues throughout the park.
We hit up Raptor first with a 10-15 minute wait. My god what a way to start the coaster season again. We sat in the middle, a few rows from the front and it was a great ride. The last helix is as intense as ever and the trims weren't up, at least at that time. Raptor was a little rough though, but still as always gave one hell of a ride.
After that we walked to WT. At this time it was only 10:00 and they were testing WT so we decided to watch a bit. I love Troika and Chaos' new spots in the park. Great addition to that midway.
After a few test launches, we walked on to Wicked Twister. Can anyone tell me if they were launching this thing at full power yesterday? I don't know if it was the lack of coaster riding during the off-season that made this ride even better for me lol. I swear it had to have been running at full power. We got a great ride on Wicked Twister and by this time it was 10:30 or so.
Being 10:30, we walk back to Millennium Force to check the wait time. It was posted as an hour and a half wait, but Freeway stamps were going to be distributed in a half hour so we waited and got our stamps for the 1-2 time slot. 5 minutes had rolled and Mantis was standing out, looking beautiful with it's new paint job so we decide to hit up Mantis. This thing was also running great, with no trims on the first drop! It was intense and the pacing was great, and it provided my best Mantis ride since opening year.
After our mantis ride, we took a train to the back of the park, expecting to see Mean Streak running but it wasn't so we got off and walked to Cedar Creek Mine Ride for a nice relaxing run. As always, it was a walk on. It was pretty funny though, sitting in the 2nd car. The people in front of me were entertaining like the typical GP that ride CCMR and made the ride more enjoyable, along with a few of my...witty comments....umm anyway....
After CCMR, we walked down the TTD midway. Gemini was only running the red train and we decided to pass that up. We ate lunch on the Grandstand Bleachers, my what good sandwhiches that place has lol. We watched a few launches of TTD and I was interviewed for the Sandusky Register (anyone in the Sandusky area that get that newspaper...please IM me Aznspid3rmanx lol). She was asking non-riders a few questions, of when we arrived, do we plan on riding it etc. I said we slept in the car Saturday night, and was waiting outside the Soak City entrance since 6:30. Then she asked me if we had been anticipating this ride, and I said that we have been with many others during winter, and we can't wait to ride this because we are adrenaline junkies. I hope I made it into the paper lol.
After lunch, the line was down towards the station and it was only about 12:00. We decided to hit up Magnum which had a 15 minute wait. Magnum was a bit rough, but still gave plenty of air time and it's still one of my favorite coasters. Damn trims were running before the pretzel turns.
We hit up the Speed Zone store, and looked around a few. My friends and I got the same Dragster shirts and my friend got a damn nice red polo shirt with the TTD logo. It looked sweet but I wasn't willing to pay $30 bones for it. After walking around a few, we walk to Millennium Force. On the way, we saw Wildcats new green and purple paint which looks pretty good. Better than the original fading white. 1:00 came so we showed our freeway stamps and got inline for Millennium Force. We waited about 10 minutes from the ramp up to the stations and boarded the red train. Millennium Forces drop, is still killer as is the rest of the ride. The red train ran a little sluggish but it was still a great, exciting ride like always.
1:30 came and since we did mostly everything we wanted to do for the day, we went in line for TTD. A 5 and a half freakin hour wait....well worth it. I can't wait until this thing breaks in so it can start running at near-full capacity. Walking through the queue, you would expect to get tired of the many launches that'll come during your wait but my goodness, it never got old. We memorized the sounds, and everytime we heard the hydraulics and the copper fins drop, we'd look at the break run and 10 seconds later, see a train full of excited and pumped up riders wanting to ride it again. The ride broke down twice though, but only for 15 minutes. I enjoyed the "buddy pass" system they had, where a person can leave their group, go to the entrance, get a small card to leave and go to the bathroom or to buy food, and go back to the entrance, give the card back and rejoin their group. I can't see this happening in the near future anymore, but it's understandable why they did it. Getting closer to the line, my heart was beating faster along with everyone elses. I love the sound effects before launch with the engine revving and all that other stuff.
5 and a half hours later, we finally get into the beautiful station of Top Thrill Dragster. I was shaking, I don't know if it was my excitement, my nerves, or just the damn cold weather but I was shaking. My friends board the last seats, Ben and I board the seats before that and we hear the clear signal. Over 6 months of debates, guessing, web cam watching, and anticipation all come down to this...a 20 second adrenaline inducing machine. We head onto the starting position and I look around to see the reaction of the on-lookers waiting to see us launch. With hands up, and no countdown lights to look at yet...the train catapults to 120 mph. Amazing. No one has their hands up except for my friends and I who went hands up through out the whole experience. We climb the 420 foot hill, into a 90 degree twist and crest the apex of the top hat. Everything looked so tiny, but you can't enjoy the view long. Popped out of my seat, even while stapled, we head down the 400 foot drop. The twist catches everyone off guard, even though you know it's coming. Hands up still, the support attached to the twist gives a beautiful head and hand chopper effect. Twisting down the drop, my butt still isn't touching the seat until finally, we hit the break run. My god what a rush. No words can describe this monster. 5 and a half hour wait worth it? Oh my god it is...20 seconds seem to short, although it is...it's the best 20 seconds of your life. Although, my on ride photo was cut off, I was still happy I finally got onto this ride.
After that, it was already 7:30 and the park is closing up shop. Not Dragster though, which still has 5 hours worth of rides to go through to let everyone through. We decide to leave, only to catch a dead battery...thank god for CP's awesome employees who helped us out. We had a great opening day, great rides and a great way to finish it all off. I can't wait until I go back next Monday on the 12th again.
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The Point of Cedars
Pointing you in the right direction!
http://www.thepointofcedars.tk
Sucky yeah, but hey..I don't take many pictures lol
BTW, Top Thrill Dragster, do you have aim? If so, IM me on Aznspid3rmanx
BTW, yeah, my sn is Rcjoshman.
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The Point of Cedars
Pointing you in the right direction!
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