Cedar Point 5/16 - 5/18 & Kennywood 5/18/07

We arrived at the Breakers Express at around 11:30 Wednesday night. We had planned to stay at Cedar Point until Saturday, and then drive to West Mifflin Saturday night to visit Kennywood Sunday. The trip was originally planned so that we could ride Maverick before the park got really crowded, but we all know what happened with that.

I didn’t cancel the trip because I like going to Cedar Point when the crowds are light. I have had a bad taste about crowds at CP ever since the Halloweekend I visited about 2 years back when they set some attendance records. It was horrible. I left early Saturday because to me the lines were too long and I didn’t want to wait after being spoiled on Thursday and Friday.

Our plan was to just take our time, and enjoy the park. No running around trying to ride every coaster, and not riding anything else. The older I get the more I enjoy just taking everything in. Of course riding the coasters is part of that, but I actually take the time to watch the shows, watch my daughter ride in circles on the kiddie rides, and ride some flat rides.

Being that I was visiting early in the season not many shows were open. I did get to see the Rockin Country show at the Red Garter, it was a decent show, and a good place to drink beers at $6.50 a pop. The whole family enjoyed. My 3 year old daughter wanted to go and see it again.

Rode everything without a problem. Magnum, MF, and TTD were running really well. My son turned into a major Wicked Twister fan. Surprisingly Disaster Transport had long lines. Mean Streak really sucked. Don’t care if I ride that again. They should tear it down put a GCI, and a Log Flume in its place. It was that painful.

I am a really big Skyhawk fan. That is the perfect flat ride. I just wish that the ride cycle was longer. I forgot how great that acceleration was from riding it last year. What a rush!

Maverick does look like it is going to be a great ride. When I look at it I see that all the elements are there to make it a #1 coaster. A lot of it reminds me of the 2nd half of Superman@SFNE. I am sure that it’ll give it a running as there are a lot of extra elements there. Just wish the inline twist was staying in. I was there when they were taking those track pieces out. I am sure it’ll still be good with the S turn. Here is a pic. http://s90.photobucket.com/albums/k258/emoppin/?action=view¤t=Mavericktrackwork.jpg

Everyone has been talking about Cedar Point’s food prices recently, and I am with everyone that says that they are too high. They are right up there with Six Flags. My 15 yr old son, 3 yr old daughter, wife, and me ate at Johnny Rockets and our bill was $62. We ate Dinner at Chili’s on RT250 that night, had much better food, and our bill was only $52. Reminds me why I leave parks to eat. After my experience at Johnny Rockets, and the Game Day Grille at Dorney last week Cedar Fair isn’t on my good side as far as park food is concerned.

On Friday night we were hanging out at the pool talking with a ride op from Kennywood. Being that Sunday was a cheap admission day($15,) she said that the park will be really crowded. We decided to go to CP for the early admission on Saturday, ride TTD, MF & Magnum, and then drive to Kennywood for an after 5pm admission. What’s funny about talking to the ride op is that she couldn’t understand why we were leaving to CP to go and visit Kennywood. She said, “Why would you want to leave this park to go to that place? ;)

We woke up at 8am and got in the park for the early entry. Rode Raptor, MF, TTD, and Magnum in that order, and then left to go to Kennywood. We left and then stopped at Fazoli’s to eat on our way out(much cheaper then CP park food. ;) )

We got to the Comfort Inn, West Mifflin on Saturday about 4pm, checked in, and then took a dip in the pool. We got Kennywood about 6:30, and just took our time there too. There were crowds there, but nothing like CP had when we were leaving the park. We rode the log flume, the train, the gold rusher, the T-Bolt, Exterminator, Noah’s Ark, King Kahuna, Phantom’s Revenge, The Kangaroo, Merry Go Round, Jack Rabbit(Damn I love that double down,) and Racer in that order. Of Course we stopped to eat some Potato Patch fries in between, and take the park at a leisurely stroll. As with CP our goal wasn’t to kill ourselves riding everything. We got a lot of rides in considering what time we got to park at. My daughter loved the dive show. She thought they were from the Pirates of the Caribbean. At around 9:30 it started to rain pretty heavy, so we decided to call it a day. I love Kennywood! Everytime I go there it always seems to get better.

With that we headed back to the room and were too tired to stop and eat, so we had Papa John’s deliver to our room. Again much better, and much cheaper then CP. 2 large pizzas with up to 5 toppings each for $10 a piece. That would have been $45 there. I agree with Gonch. They get the casual parkgoer that don’t mind spending the money because it’s a special occasion for them. Not everyone is as hardcore as we are.

Sunday morning we got up, and I called down to arrange a late depart from the hotel. I knew I wasn’t going to go to Kennywood and deal with the crowds so we slept in and swam at the pool. We left the hotel at around 1pm, and were back home in Harrisburg around 5pm. It was a good family trip, and I am ready to go on more.

*** Edited 5/25/2007 3:02:23 PM UTC by Coasterfantom2***

Just to let you know, it wasn't crowded at all on Sunday at Kennywood, even with the $15 special pricing. They only had one train running on both Phantom's Revenge and Thunderbolt, and they didn't really need to add a second one since the wait never got more than 15-20 minutes for either ride. Most times it was only about a 3-4 train wait. In fact, the park traditionally isn't that busy on that day (at least for the one in May). The special price day in Sept is a different story where it is usually much more crowded.

Why do you insist on typing the letter "J"?

I think Kennywood is in my near future. I keep hearing great things about it.

since one of the elements were taken out of Maverick, how many upside down elements are left?

^ The 2 corkscrews

Brother Dave I should have checked Kenneywood out before we left to see how crowded it was. By that time I think the rest of the family were all ready to be back home except for me.

As far as those J's OhioStater, I didn't notice them there when I copied, and pasted the trip report from word. They just got in there somehow. Fixed. I think.

Also the dates are wrong on my trip report. Man I must have been tired when I posted this last night. ;) It should be Cedar Point 5/16 - 5/19 & Kennywood 5/19/07.

*** Edited 5/22/2007 8:07:15 PM UTC by Coasterfantom2***

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Coasterfantom2 said:What’s funny about talking to the ride op is that she couldn’t understand why we were leaving to CP to go and visit Kennywood. She said, “Why would you want to leave this park to go to that place?

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Ummm, let the word "wood" in Kennywood serve as a clue... ;)

Nice TR...if there's one area where both CF and PP were (and still are) in serious need, it's the FOOD. It's no coincidence that the same 5-6 parks in the U.S. always get mentioned for having GOOD food. :)

Yay Kennywood. My son's school picnic is Sat the 26th :)

I don't think that he is gonna make the 52" mark this year like I hoped he would... I guess the T Bolt will have to wait one more year. He can get on all the other goodies requiring 48" though.

One tradition no one ever mentioned on here, I don't think. the decades-old square ice cream in the double cone, topped with chocolate and nuts, and a cherry. The same stand has been in the same place since I was a kid (by the auto racers/Kiddieland entrance) and it has always been our last stop before leaving the park, even when I was a kid.... mmmmmm, my mouth is waterin' already! And I love the big cone (sign) that hangs on the stand. Been there forever!

Yum, the Dip Cone. It's a must-do for many of my friends.

Which Breaker's did you stay at?

• Hotel Breakers
• Breaker's Express

Breaker's Express like my TR says. Were you there at the sametime?

BTW when did they install the regular seatbelts on Jack Rabbit? I didn't make it there last season. Man I love the double down!!!

^^No, but I'm trying to decide which Breaker's I'm going to stay at this summer. They both sound awesome with the hour early admission.

I'm just going to tack this on here rather than start yet a third KW trip report post, because I really don't have any grand revelations to report here. Just a good old time at Kennywood at my son's school picnic, just as I had hoped.

He made the 52" mark.. hurrah already! It is now time for Michael's first ride on the T-Bolt, and dad's first in about a decade! Somewhere I read (not recently) posts about the T-Bolt being rough? Heck, no... it was fantastic! Even the annoying brake at the top of the drop into the woods after the 2nd helix didn't seem as strong as years ago. One thing I do miss, with the addition of the Phantom trackage intertwined, is the "woodsy" feeling of that far turn and last drop. I liked it better seeing nothing but trees in the valley... oh well. Still great fun!

The Jack Rabbit seemed slower to both of us than we remember... maybe getting to ride the "big boys" is spoiling us? The last ride of the night was Phantom's Revenge, in the very front seat. Tears streaming down our faces from the wind.... super, super ride! Seems like greased lighting at night!

And of course, the dip cone! :)

^^

Breaker's Express does not get the hour early admission.

Actually they do. I stayed there last year and got early entry. Unless something has changed this year...

Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking Josh.

Thanks for catching my misinformation.

Yeah when I was there we got the early entry. It is a CP resort. You just have to pay parking.