Muffleheads, bugs at Cedar Point?

Got to ask this. Now is the common every year at Cedar Point? This is the first time I experinced this. Why so many bugs at Cedar Point? I was there for 3days. They were crazy everywere. They got so annoying. Do they only come out at the end of May and first week of June or is this common all summer? Just wondering..

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Valleyfair Security 2002! 8Years working at Valleyfair :)!

They are there even during the day? :(

Well last year I went, I went later in the year and there were hardly any. I heard at coaster mania that they last only a few weeks and then they're hardly there.

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You can hear the laughter, you can hear the mighty roar. From the brickyard down in Indy to the white Chicago shore. It's a rollin', twistin', turnin' and might we both suggest. You get you fanny ridin' on the Cornball Express!

I was watching "Worlds Largest Amusement Park" and they did a test run on MF. There were at least 4 bugs on the camera in one test run. That must get so annoinging.

I ate one mufflehead the entire time...:(. The funny part, however, is that it happened while running to Gemini....being a veggie, Jill didn't eat any....LOL.

Well when do they start to go away?

They're midges. They only appear in the flying form the first few weeks of June every year. They swarm because they're getting ready to mate. Once they lay eggs, the ones you see die and the eggs take a while to hatch, then the young are aquatic until the daylength next May triggers them to molt and emerge as Muffleheads. If you go in August you see none at all.

I hope they are gone by June 21-25... I really dont feel like swallowing one

*** This post was edited by GhettoCoaster on 6/11/2002. ***

Yea I've seen them alot at CP they tend to get annoying when they swarm in que houses. But I love to run into themwhile riding rides like Gemini, CCMR, Maggie, and Mean Streak. Durring ERT at CM, 02 the operators at MS had to turn off part of the quehouse lights over the entry way but made the exit even more buggy (Proballythe main reason why they run ride at nightime without lights at ERT is because these bugs get in the way of the riders too much). I am just glad these bugs a friendly and they don't bite.

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Chris Knight
Man, did you see all those Sea Gulls at CP? All Your Base are belong to us
That's not roughness that intensity

It's odd, last year I went June 8 or something for 2 days, and I didn't notice them. However, when I got to my hotel one night after riding Mantis and Raptor in the dark, I had bugs all over my shirt.

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rollergator said:
I ate one mufflehead the entire time.... The funny part, however, is that it happened while running to Gemini....being a veggie, Jill didn't eat any....LOL.

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Did you know the average person eats 8 spiders in their lifetime? (in their sleep)

I'm not a big fan of annoying bugs, but that wouldn't stop me from going to CP, just maybe a minor inconvenience.

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My two favorite coasters are named Superman.

mmmmmmm. *MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH* I love those muffleheads! LOL. Yes, they are usually out all over at Coastermania. I had been going to that for years (till 2000) so I got used to it. The only thing that is really annoying about them is that they make a big mess when you try to squash them. Hint- Don't squash them while they are on your clothes. :-P

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Off to CP in August, first to IB in late June though!! YEA!!!! :-D It will be a good summer!
Questions:
smles@ilstu.edu

why is my post about the status of WT deleted, yet a post about bugs kept?

There are two major swarms that happen every year, and you can read these short pieces about them that Stephanie wrote:

Muffleheads (non-biting midges)
and
Mayflies

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

I was at the park for a couple hours on Monday night (June 10th) and they were pretty much gone. It was very warm and humid, but even after the sun set we didn't notice them. Hopefully we can say goodbye to them for a while. They definitely made our morning ERT at Coastermania quite interesting. ;)

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BuzzCon '02 Frequent Flyer: Having fun on the flyers is a snap!

*** This post was edited by KicksTheSky on 6/12/2002. ***

Only on the 'buzz do we have a resident biologist to explain which annoying bugs are at the park.....too cool.

So was I seeing some other bug last August? There were so many flying bugs that it looked liked a haze was over the midway by Magnum. That night we had a thunderstorm and the next two days we didn't see anywhere near the numbers. Just a few buzzing around the lights (and a lot over the bushes near the cobra roll on the Raptor). When I went to ride Raptor the next day, I wore swim goggles and tied a bandanna over my face. The op with the mic cracked up during the loading intructions when she got to our group.

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Jeff-Jeff
Wood - Raven
Steel - Millennium Force
Generic, isn't it?

When my husband and I were there for CM '02, he actually bought a shirt that said "Mufflehead Swat Team". Of course, it was on the clearance rack for $4.95. What a bargain!

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rollergator said:
Only on the 'buzz do we have a resident biologist to explain which annoying bugs are at the park.....too cool.

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I do my best - you can always send me your questions via email (and your bugs via snail mail) and I'll try and answer them. I enjoy the challenge.

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-Stephanie
Moderator and Wife to the self-contained Freak Show

I can't send in bugs via snail mail.....have to feed 'em to the hedgehog!

Good meeting you, and thanks for all the work you put in....I think it's safe to say all attendees at CBCon had a great time, and the PKI folks seemed to enjoy us wreaking our own particular brand of havoc on their park....