Cedar Point 5/24 Best trip in years! LONG!!
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The last three years my little family of four has gone to Cedar Point have been during Halloweekends, and each year the park was crowded beyond belief. Well, this year my wife comes out of left field on me and says let's buy the Platinum Passes since we are going to be going to Dorney and she wants to hit WWK a few times as well. Uhhh...ok, sure, twist my arm. :)
Anywho, we arrived at the park at about 9:35 and bought 3 adult and 1 junior platinum pass. My daughter is 7 1/2 and has cracked 48" so this is a big year for her, my son just turned 5 and is right at 42" in shoes, that's big news for Knoebels, not so much for Cedar Point. The line for passes took about 10 minutes and the actual picture process took about 30 seconds and we were done. So much for the 9-10 am for Platinum passholders, we entered at 9:59AM. :)
We were orignially unsure of how we would proceed this day, but we started with my son on the Big Rigs in Kiddy Kingdom while mom and Alex went to ride Disaster Transport. Guess again, they were told DT would not open until 11:00AM. So BOTH kids rode the Big Rigs. We then decided to just head to the back of the park, good plan. We stopped to get my daughters first ride ever on Corkscrew (she loves upside-down rides) while mom and Peter rode the Super Himalaya. We literally walked right up to the station on right onto the back seat of the blue train, my favorite seat due to the airtime being pulled over the 1st hill and from the bunny hop right after it. From there it was straight back to Camp Snoopy, or should I say Camp Empty!! We walked straight across to Woodstock Express and right on. To make things even better, we all got a RERIDE!!! YESS!!! My first repeat ride in over 15 years and first EVER at CP!!! LOL, of all the coasters...the kids loved it but the fun was over because 1 kid came up the ramp and was waiting so after 2 circuits we were done.
Next up was a family split, my wife took my daughter to Gemini and I hung with the boy for some Peaunuts Speedway, Jr. Gemini, Frog Hopper and a little Snoopy Bounce action. It took my wife and daughter a good half hour since it was only red side operation at that point.
We swung into Frontier Town where the options are limited for the little guy, and limited for those 52" and taller because Maverick was not working at that time. My daughter and I went for a spin on the Cedar Creek Mine Ride while mom and son hit the Antique Cars. We finished our back row ride while Skyhawk was testing and the line was lengthening, so we checked on mom and Peter and they were still waiting so we hit the Wave Swinger for what turned out to be a rather chilly ride! From there my wife took the kids on the train and I lugged the wagon down Frontier Trail to meet up with them at the middle of the park.
We observed the non-operational Wildcat with just one car sitting there and my wife and daughter went to ride the Iron Dragon while my son and I got in line for Matterhorn, one of the new rides that he could go on due to the 42" hight limit. We actually had to wait 3 ride cycled before boarding, but he loved it. After that we walked over to the Scrambler and waited 3 ride cycles there because mom and Alex had finished their Iron Dragon experience and we waited until they caught up to us in line. This may have been the most disappointing ride of the day because the ride barely gets to top speed and then it's slowing down again, not really worth the 10 minute wait we had. From there mom and Peter rode the Cadillac cars and Alex and I waved at them as we waited for our race to start on the Cedar Downs Racing Derby. I gave my daughter a little history lesson about the ride and the fact that we live 4 miles from the park it started at, but I'm not sure she appreciated the info. :)
It was now time for lunch, so we made our way out the exit, getting our arms stamped in the process (Nice touch, less of a chance of washing off than if it was on the back of your hand) and we went to the picnic pavilion just to the right of the main entrance. I went to the minivan which was parked 5 spots from the pavilion and fired up the propane grill. I did NOT bring the grill into the pavilion because I had read the day before that they were forbidden from the picnic areas. After a lovely repast of three hot dogs, 4 cheeseburgers, pasta salad and some cheesy poofs it was time to ride again.
The four of us took a spin on the Space Spiral and then another split. I went to Disaster Transport with Alex and Mom and Peter went to ride Troika. If you had told me at the start of the day that the longest wait I would have would have been DT I'd have called you nuts. Yup, 45 minute wait, full switchbacks all the way through. The good thing, or bad, was I went through the full line to see just how much has changed since it first opened. At Halloweekends you only go through the last room. I had no idea that they completely eliminated the middle room, and the neon gets kinda hard on the eyes after a while, and we did not purchase the 3D glasses. The AC was not on and even though it was a cool day, the sun was shining and that big tin can was pretty toasty. All that aside, my daughter still loves the ride.
We exited to find that my wife and son were waiting and that little Mr. Whiney wanted daddy and that they did nothing but sit and wait after the Troika ride. That's about 40 minutes of sitting and doing nothing at an amusement park with a 5 year old, nice. Off to the Krazy Kars for a slow motion version of the Dodgem. From there it was a visit to check out Planet Snoopy. After Snoopy's Express Railroad, Snoopy's Deep Sea Divers, and Peanuts Road Rally my daughter had had enough of kiddie rides and we left and I took the kids to the big people dodgem ride for some fun dodging and bumping. I did not know that they took the cars from the Dodgem that used to be back by Magnum and put them here. The last 3 years we have gone Dodgem has been "House on Boo Hill!" After that we approached The Blue Streak area. I offered to take my son on the Turnpike Cars and Calypso while my wife and daughter went on Blue Streak. Well, it took about 10 minutes to get on the Turnpike cars, my son was not allowed to drive, and those cars are just downright uncomfortable and you get a heck of a workout just pushing down that pedal!! That said we come out of the exit and I see my wife and daughter WAITING for us. WHAT????!!! Yeah, about a 3 minute wait to ride the Blue Streak, back seat no less. I said the heck with the Calypso and took my daughter back to the Blue Streak, and we walked right up into the station. I wait 45 minutes for DT and Blue Streak is practically a walk-on??!! Ok, Blue Streak has gotten a little nastier in it's 44 years, even with the dividers, seat belts, and racheters. In the back seat I experienced some serious pain, air, and a similar problem that I expect when I ride Magnum, not Blue Streak, so I was unprepared for THAT particular pain! Damn it was good to ride Blue Streak for the first time since 1999 though! :) A quick Calypso trip and it was time to head towards the back again.
I took my daughter on Corkscrew again while my wife took my son on the Matterhorn, and Corkscrew was a walk-up to the station and a 3 train wait from there. Once again we rode the back row. From there we did not see my wife or son so we went for a spin on the Super Himalaya. Still no wife and son. We walked back toward the Matterhorn and finally saw them heading our way. It took 1/2 hour for them to ride, we could have ridden Corkscrew 5 times in that span.
From there we went back by Camp Snoopy and the three of them took a Paddlewheel Cruise while I rested on a bench. In the last 3 years we had basically only been able to make one park curcuit due to lines and crowds, this was already our second trip to the back of the park and I wanted off my feet and I'd had enough of lugging that wagon!! We slid through Camp Snoopy so I could take the kids on the Tilt-A-Whirl which nearly killed me! We spun to the right non-stop for the first 45 seconds of the ride, tremendous!!! From there it was a split, my wife stayed with my son and I went with my daughter to ride Gemini for the first time since 1999.
I'm sure things have been mentioned over the years here and I know I miss more than I notice, but I didn't realize how much Gemini had changed. First off, do they still use the front of the station queue line anymore? I know they didn't use it Saturday but I was just curious as to if they still do. Secondly, no 3 train operation on both sides, ever. The bins to leave your stuff in are marked 1 and 2, no 3, no 3rd trains sitting on the massive transfer track section. Just out of curiosity when did they eliminate the 3rd trains? Other than that it was the same old ride. Blue train leads by a WIDE margin the whole race then gets the crap trimmed out of it entering the final wide turn and red BLOWS by it.
From there we worked our way all the way back to the middle of the park non-stop. My wife then took the kids for a Sky Ride while I met them at the ride exit with the wagon. We cut back through Kiddy Kingdom and were going to hit DT one more time but the line was STILL 45 minutes long. So we all rode Space Spiral again, follwed by the Troika, where we experienced the ONLY ride operator issue of the day. It seems an empty cup made it over the railing under DT next to the Troika line. This happened while we were already sitting ON THE RIDE and waiting for him to check the restraints and start it up. The operator then proceeded to threaten the people in line with calling security unless someone fessed up, and that he was not going to start the ride until someone did. Ok, wait, we are ON THE RIDE, we did not do anything, but we get to sit and wait? Finally he figured out that somebody threw the cup from the Giant Wheel. So after a phone call, a restraint check, and another phone call we had our Troika ride.
It was now approaching 8PM and 10 hours of big fun is a lot for two kids but why not finish it off with a ride on the Krazy Kars one more time? Heck, how about a RERIDE for the munchkins on the Krazy Kars??!! Woohoo!!! Two rerides in one day at CP!!!
From there it was back to the minivan, hit McDonalds on Rye Beach Road and finish watching Alvin And The Chipmunks. Movie ends while travelling through Cleveland's western suburbs. By the time we hit downtown both kids were OUT. It was cute though, they both crashed towards the middle of the car so their heads were right next to each other.
All in all it was a tremendous day at the park and my best day in years. The crowd was light and from the Space Spiral I could see that the parking lot was nowhere near full. With a trash can every 20 feet the park was VERY clean and all the ride ops were friendly and efficient. We only stacked on Corkscrew but why that ride has 3 train operation (red white and blue?) I don't know.
You may notice that two MAJOR rides were left out, Magnum and Millenium Force. Even though my daughter is tall enough to ride them, my wife forbade it. I tried to reason with her, but I failed. My daughter has been riding Phoenix and Twister for almost 3 years now, both of which pack a good wallop, but Maggie and Millie were off limits? I'm not seeing the logic here, but I have all summer to convince her otherwise. Heck, by October she might hit 52" in shoes, the fur will fly then! :) The other thing you may have noticed, once we purchased the passes we did not spend ONE SINGLE PENNY in the park. No games, no refreshments, no food, nothing. We did check prices though and figured it would have cost AT LEAST $40.00 for the 3 hot dogs, four hamburgers and 4 drinks we had for lunch, not to mention the pasta salad and cheesy poofs!
Tom
You have disturbed the forbidden temple, now-you-will-pay!!!
LdScotsman:
You may notice that two MAJOR rides were left out, Magnum and Millenium Force. Even though my daughter is tall enough to ride them, my wife forbade it. I tried to reason with her, but I failed. My daughter has been riding Phoenix and Twister for almost 3 years now, both of which pack a good wallop, but Maggie and Millie were off limits? I'm not seeing the logic here, but I have all summer to convince her otherwise.
All you have to do is tell your wife that Gonch's daughter first rode MF when she was 5.
That should work. ;)
Nice TR.
Lord Gonchar said:All you have to do is tell your wife that Gonch's daughter first rode MF when she was 5.
That should work. ;)
Nice TR.
Yeah, that's like telling your wife that Ozzie Ozbourne's kids can do since they were five. ;)
Honestly, have you seen some of this guys earlier profile pics? ;););)
Certain victory.
Definitely reminds me of my early childhood visits to KI! Your drive back also reminds me a lot of the back of an early 90's Ohio Best Fun catalog where a car is driving away from CP and there's a shot of two kids in the back seat, both asleep with their heads together with the CP skyline at twilight (I think the boy is wearing a Demon Drop hat!....love that photographic memory!!)
Anyway, I'm not married (I'm only 26), but why would it have been a problem to take your daughter on Magnum anyway without telling your wife?! Would you have gotten in trouble or would your daughter have let the "secret" spill? Sorry that I'm failing to understand this dynamic!
But I really hope my trip to CP with my future kids is similar to yours, and you should have sold cheeseburger, pasta salad, and cheesy poofs meals for $5...I know I would have bought one...or two!!
tigellinus said:
Anyway, I'm not married (I'm only 26), but why would it have been a problem to take your daughter on Magnum anyway without telling your wife?! Would you have gotten in trouble or would your daughter have let the "secret" spill? Sorry that I'm failing to understand this dynamic!
It would have been difficult to pull off considering that we were never far apart. When I left her and my son by Camp Snoopy, we went to the Gemini, which was to the left. She just happened to be by the Jr. Gemini when we came back, and if we'd have come from a different direction that Gemini it might have been a problem. Yes I would have gotten in trouble, yes, my daughter is a bit of a blabbermouth, and it's not worth it to get her upset, it just isn't.
eightdotthree said:Depending on how small she is I personally would probably not let her ride those rides until she was a little bigger and a little more mature. With you in the train with her making sure shes secure I am sure she would be fine however.
In shoes she is almost 50" tall now. Keep this in mind though, she rode BOTH Phoenix and Twister TWO YEARS AGO when she was 5 years old and 42" tall and my wife had NO PROBLEM with that. I think both of those rides pack more wallop than Magnum or Millenium Force. Twister can be a nasty slap around sometimes and Phoenix's ejector air made me hang on to her like you wouldn't believe, yet my wife has absolutely no trouble with it. Not worth it to argue though no matter how good my logic is.
Tom
You have disturbed the forbidden temple, now-you-will-pay!!!
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