Associated parks:
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5/13 Better weather for sure. Sunny and breezy. I got to the park and decided to park in the Soak City lot to get a better run to TTD for my JCC ERT. (don’t you just love acronyms?) Got into the park only to find that TTD was down this morning for a commercial shoot and that it would be that way for the next three days. Wouldn’t you figure, those are the three days I would be at the park! Oh well, different story, different argument, different thread I suppose. I raced over to MF to find quite a line for JCC folks. They let us in at 10 and I ended up getting 2nd train out. Nothing like MF to start the day off no doubt. I hit it again since there wasn’t much of a line. I meandered around the park hitting this ride, and that ride, until lunch time when I decided to head out for lunch. After lunch I returned to the Soak City lot to find that Dragster was open. It ended up being a 4.25 hr wait but it was worth it. Now here is where I’m going to be a bit critical of the ride. Yes it is tall, and yes it is fast, but it just doesn’t compare to MF. It just seems to be over so quickly. I do like the ride don’t get me wrong, I just like MF better as it lasts so much longer. Anyhow, back on track. I decided to hit TTG one more time and that would officially end my night as it would be after closing when I would actually get off the ride. I was really hoping for a night ride too so I could see how lit up it was. CP spared no expense when it came to lighting up their big gun. You can see this thing for miles no doubt! Time to go get some sleep and do it all again tomorrow.
5/14 Great weather again today. I knew TTD was going to be down for the commercial shoot so I parked in the main lot and decided head over to the Marina Gate for ERT on MF. Got the first train out and did it again since there was only a 10 minute wait for another ride. I had decided that today was going to be a day for taking pictures and video since there were a lot of school groups there. I wandered through the park and hit this and that again and finally lunch time came up. I really didn’t want to go “off-site” to eat and I really didn’t want to pay a ton of money for food and then I just happened to come up on Midway Market. I had never eaten there and I saw the word BUFFET on the window. I had to check it out. At just over 10 bucks for all you can eat this is the ONLY way to go at CP. (unless your wanting something special like the fries or dippin’ dots or something) They had several buffet bars to choose from and let me tell ya’ I got my fill in and a couple of others too! The waiter was excellent. Although he could have possibly moved a bit faster in cases, I noticed that no other wait staff was in too much of a hurry so I brushed it off as just the way things are. Didn’t bother me too much. **CP shining moment here** As I was about to leave, I noticed a table with a family seated at it. They kids had these really cute little plastic Snoopy cups. Now I’m a cup junkie and a CP junkie. I collect things that have CP’s logo on them. I asked the waiter if there was any way I could have one of those cups. He promptly brought me my very own Snoopy cup filled with ice water. What a way to go. It may seem small to everyone else but it meant a lot to me that he did that. He could have very well said, “No, I’m sorry” but he didn’t. Way to go. And I rewarded him with a big fat tip on the table. :) I decided I needed a nap and went to my truck and drove it around to the SC lot and parked right in front of Gemini. I managed to get a good nap in (as I’m ALL about a nap after lunch you see!). I got up and headed in the park to do my video taping and picture snapping. After about an hour or two of that I noticed that TTD was open so I headed on over. I stowed my “gear” in a locker and was headed for the line when a lady told me that it was down and I couldn’t enter the queue. I had to wait in another line that was waiting to get in line to wait. So I had to wait, to wait in line basically. I plopped my buns down and noticed that a LOT of folks were exiting the line. They were issuing bathroom passes and several were taking advantage of it. One incident caught my eye though; one guy got out of line with his bathroom pass, did the potty thing and came back to get in line with some nachos in his hands. That same lady that told me I couldn’t enter the queue told him he could NOT take those nachos in line with him. He had to sit there and eat those nachos at the entrance. As he was doing that, the ride got fixed and they let us into the line. Now I really don’t see why this lady (who was not dressed in CP uniform just a big flowery dress) wouldn’t let him in line with the food. Was it because he used his B-Room pass to get food? Was she misinformed? I don’t know but he sure was pissed! Since so many people left the line, the wait ended up only being 2 hours which was quite nice I must say. I called it quits after that and elected to go on back to my motel room.
5/15 Last day. :( I was really tired already and had made up my mind that this day was about nothing but coasters and that was it. No pictures, no video, just coasters. I did the ERT on MF thing and got two rides in before I knew it. **STUPID MOMENT COMING UP** I know a lot of people riding MF do the “lean out” thing. I am one of those people too. I usually sit on the left side of the train and it’s no problem. Well on my second run, I was put in the right side and thought, this will do, I’ll just do the lean out thing here too. So, I got in and got all nice and secure. No problems. We go up the hill, down the hill and then I start to do the lean out. Well, in that first big turnaround I guess I leaned out just a bit too far and I actually hit my finger tips on that cut out support. Let me tell you, for those of you who have tried to do this , DON’T. It hurts like hell, and I couldn’t feel my fingers for about an hour. I was very embarrassed of myself and I vowed that I will NEVER do such a stupid thing ever again on either side of the train. It is NOT worth the thrill of it all. Back on subject now, I walked back through Frontier Town to find the MS wasn’t open, nor was CCMR, or Gemini. I went on ahead to Magnum and saw Magnum Dan doing the ride-op thing. Didn’t want to bother him and say something stupid so I just kept my trap shut. Hit Maggie for about 3 or 4 laps as it was a walk on each time then headed on back to MS, CCMR, and Gemini for a lap each. Made my way to the front part of the park and did Wildcat, and ID. Does anybody else besides me think that Wildcat would be so ultra-cool of they enclosed it? Imagine not being able to see your way through that twisting little demon! I still say that pound for pound Wildcat packs a might wallop for it’s size. I went up to Raptor for a spin on the green beast. (15 minute wait max.) Nothin’s a thrillin’ like the sky chicken! Lunch time again so I did the Midway Market thing. After that, I watched some kids play on the DDR machine in the arcade. It tired me out just watching them! LOL Then I did my “shopping” and left for the day.
Short summary: Dragster is a hit. When the get all 6 trains on and start hitting intervals and all the small kinks are worked out with it, you will find that this will be quite the gem. Mantis’ ongoing paint job looks really good. Not sold completely on the red rails but hey, I didn’t buy the damn thing. MS was delivering a pain free ride this time around. Is DT getting some of it’s “effects” back? Seemed like it was to me. I explored more of the park than I ever did before. It seems like every time I go there I hit every place I possibly can and walk on every bit of asphalt there is but then the next visit I find out something new! The workers in the shops were all SUPER friendly to me every time I walked in as were all of the ride-ops. Just a couple of reasons I drive over 400 miles and have a season pass to one of the greatest places on earth.
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This ain't no book you can close, when the big light hits your eyes. Cropduster-Riot Act-Pearl Jam
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