Cedar Point - 8/12 - Heat, Crowds, and an Engagement!

For my 9th trip of the season I took somewhat of a different spin on things. The purpose of my trip was not as much to get multiple laps on my favorite coasters, but rather to propose to my girlfriend of nearly 2 years, Kelly. Here is the story about the engagement as well as our day at the park! Sorry for the length, but a lot happened!

We left the South Bend area around 6:20 AM to head for the park. Before leaving, I gave Kelly a dozen red roses, which I was sure would spark her curiosity that it may not be a normal day at Cedar Point. However, her demeanor in the car made it clear that she was completely oblivious to the little box sitting in my left cargo pocket. We arrived to the park at around 9:45 and headed in the Soak City parking lot. After passing the Kodak photo people, I stopped and asked Kelly if she was interested in getting a picture taken, especially since I had bought her a CP photo frame and had told her that I wanted a "special" picture for it. She said ok, and we went over to the employee. He asked if we wanted a photo and my heart started beating. I said "Sure... is it ok if I pick the pose?". He looked a bit bewildered but quickly agreed. Kelly must not have heard me, because she was still looking at the camera as I dropped to one knee right there on the midway.

The first thing I hear as I reach into my pocket is not Kelly, but rather the photo guy saying "Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh". At this point Kelly looked over at me and her eyes got as big as 2 maXair gondolas ;) She instantly knew what was happening. She gasped for air, as I told her in a quivering voice that I loved her, and asked her to marry me. She nodded and gasped before the "yes" finally passed her lips. I placed the ring on her finger while all along the photo guy is taking picture after picture. I raise to my feet and give her a huge hug and a kiss as a few bystanders said "congratulations!". The Kodak employee, still in shock handed a whole stack of photo tickets, and I thanked him for his help. It was perfect! After a few minutes for Kelly to sit down and realize what had just happened we were ready to head into the park to enjoy our first day engaged together at CP!

We went to the Magnum first and took 2 quick rides, as the crowds had not yet reached the middle of the park. Although they were good rides, both Kelly and I were still recovering from the bigger adrenaline rush that had just taken place. From there we took a ride on Gemini, and I was pleased to notice the "Trims Open" light illuminated as we rolled out of the station. Although I thought it was fantastic, Kelly was not a big fan of the helix trimless.

Next, we headed to Frontiertown where we saw Maverick's queue stretching out on to the midway to near the RoundUp. We passed on it and I took a quick walk-on swing at Skyhawk. We then headed to MF (which happens to be Kelly's favorite). We waited about an hour for MF, however the wait would have been 15 minutes shorter if not for the ridiculous rain policy. There was literally a 5 minute sprinkle, where the sun was still shining. The crew instantly started sending empty trains and watching each one as it came into the brakes. Although I was frustrated, I didn't let it ruin my day.

We had a great ride on MF, and then headed to Coasters for lunch. Although the food was ok, the prices were OUTRAGEOUS! It was even worse than other locations in the park. 2 cheeseburgers, 1 order of Onion Rings, and 2 small malts came to 27.00. However, since it wasn't really the best day to complain I just let it go. After lunch, we met up with Jeff Tobe for a few minutes to introduce Kelly, and for her to show off her ring. I then talked Kelly into riding maXair. She's not a big fan of swinging rides, and this one wasn't much different. She didn't mind the first few swings but when we got to full height she clung on for dear life.

By the time we got off maXair it was very hot, and so we decided to ride Disaster Transport. The queue was full nearly to the entrance, but we decided to wait the full 45 minutes to ride. Nothing has changed with this ride. I actually enjoy the ride itself, but it is far too short, and the theming is horrible. I won't say anymore because it seems every review of this ride sounds the same. After DT we took around an hour to relax both outside and at Donut Time. While there we noticed the internet was down, and numerous people kept trying to use it and no one did anything to fix it. Is this normal?

After getting some energy back we rode Blue Streak and then decided to go see Snoopy's Summer Vacation. I have already seen this once, but Kelly hadn't and the AC was sounding quite nice. The show has its boring moments, but other moments are quite exciting (especially the first pairs skating number). After the show, we wanted to try to hit Maverick again, we got to the queue and it was down mechanical. After about 10 minutes it reopened with a full queue, however after running for 10 more minutes it went down again. We decided it wasn't going to work since we had dinner reservations for 7:30, and it was getting close to 6:15.

Im going to insert a side note here about Ride Operations. Yesterday was one of the roughest days as far as mechanical downtime I have seen in a long time. During the course of the day the following all experienced extended downtime: Maverick, Dragster, Wildcat, Raptor (clsoed for the whole evening), Iron Dragon, Magnum. I don't know if its because it's later in the season or what, but it was pretty amazing to see how many rides kept going down mechanical.

Anyway... after leaving Maverick we took another ride on Gemini and Magnum and then headed to dinner at Damon's in Sandusky. I had called and reserved a table facing the bay, and it was a wonderful meal. By the time we got back to the park at 8, both Kelly and I were fairly worn out so we took it easy and just took a few rides on Gemini, and enjoying the atmosphere of the park at night, while waiting for 10:00 to come.

I had made arrangements to get Kelly admitted into the Joe Cool Magnum ERT. I thought it would be a nice way to end the day, however I was unsure how Kelly would like riding one coaster over and over. Well I was amazed with both how the ERT turned out, and with what a trooper my fiancée was. After our first ride we had to walk back around to the entrance, but after that we were allowed to just sit in the train for the duration of the ERT. That meant we got 12 continuous rides in 1 hour. Of those 12 rides, Kelly stayed on for 9 of them, including one crazy trimless ride with a full train. It was fantastic! Kelly loved ERT, and I think she is becoming more of a coaster nut every day!

By the end of ERT I could have just fell asleep on a bench and slept the night away, but unfortunately I had to drive the 3 hours back to South Bend. I was exhausted, and had (have) a massive blister on my foot, but it was totally worth it. It is easily the most memorable day I have ever had at Cedar Point, and I'm quite sure it was the same for Kelly as well.

Thanks to everyone who made the day possible, and to all the people who were so accepting and friendly towards Kelly during ERT. It was amazing!

Here are some pictures from the day:
Proposal 1
Proposal 2
Kelly at MF
Kelly and I in Frontiertown
The Ring

*** Edited 8/14/2007 1:14:55 AM UTC by Josh M***

The wife and I made it out to the ERT and each scored 6 rides. We traded off watching our 18-month old son at the exit. Yeah, we take him everywhere with us, we're nuts.

~Rob Willi

Magnum ERT was really good. The sound of no trims is probably the most beautiful sound in the world. I'm really happy they did that for us.

But that lady that left her kid in a stroller with some random person for one ride... wow. She deserves the Mother of the Year Award!

;) Only kidding.

~Rob Willi

I'm glad you had a great time, and most importantly that she said yes. *** Edited 8/20/2007 4:04:41 AM UTC by Spinout***