Cedar Point 6/3/04

What I like about not working by choice is that I can do stuff whenever I feel like it. This was my fourth visit this spring, more than I've done the past few years at this point in the year because of The Man keeping me down. This time I went with the legendary Mike Freeze.

I won't go through the list of things I've been on, but here are some other observations.

Got two laps on Dragster, which increased my lap count by 40%. I'm really amazed at how consistently it's running now. The crew is really a mixed bag though. Some of them haul ass on the platform others do not. It looks like the launch reset is reasonably fast now, but it appears as though they aren't getting the returned train out of the last block fast enough. Perhaps they're still tweaking the brake sequence.

I still don't understand why people must ride Raptor first thing in the morning. Wait time at noon: 1.25 hours. Wait time at 5pm: 5 minutes. With every new ride I continue to revise my advice for visiting Cedar Point. It has pretty much been reduced to one sentence: If it's a long line, don't get in it, go to another ride.

Raptor is running as fast as ever, and the noisy wheels have apparently been removed. I noticed lots of new concrete around the base of the cobra roll footers. That's a strange fix.

The Millennium Force capacity is much better with size screening at the entrance. I still don't think it's right, but I don't see it changing. Two people plus security at entrance does help.

And for all of the crap people give that crew, here's a special moment. A girl barely tall enough to ride climbs in the seat. Female ride op (I didn't see her name) leans over and asks the little girl how she's doing and how her day is going. They share some excitement and the ride op carefully makes sure the bar is all the way down and the belt tight. The little girl says thank you and she quickly moves to my seat. That's the way it's supposed to be my friends. That's the Cedar Point away. I think the complaints about that crew can be focused on just the one jackass, because everyone else seems pretty on the ball if you ask me.

Mean Streak was especially well lubricated this day. The last drop before the mid-course actually delivered (gasp!) airtime. Who knew?

I had one of the most insane rides in the Magnum ejector seat. I know that if I had not pulled the belt as tight as humanly possible, I'd have bruises. I loved it.

One minor annoyance... the crew at the Happy Friar needs to pull their collective heads out of their rears and pay attention. Actually having cooked fries on hand would be a great start, and greeting people at the window for a line that extends into the midway would be another.

I think the park is about ready for the busy season. Here's hoping the weather cooperates.

Jeff,

It was cool running into you at the park. I had a great time and stayed until close.

Thursday was one of those days where I just decided to soak in the atmosphere the park has instead of riding a lot. I did get in 5 rides on Dragster and 2 on Millennium Force (I also agree. The crew was very enthusiastic), but I didn't ride much more. One on Mantis, Raptor, and Gemini. I really enjoyed just walking around, taking pictures, and sitting in the stands watching Dragster.

The park was pretty crowded until most of the school groups went home around 6:00. After that, the crowds were pretty light.

Here is a strange story..

I met up with Josh Wozny at 7:15. Josh had just arrived at the park and wanted to ride some things. We first rode MF, then decided to ride Raptor, Wicked Twister, Disaster Transport, and whatever else, then get in line for Dragster at around 9:45.

After our incredible ride on MF, Josh came up with another plan. Instead of riding all the other stuff we had talked about, he suggested we get one last ride on TTD, then head into town and get some grub at Chet and Matt's.

For those of you that don't know, Chet and Matt's is a food staple in Sandusky and quite popular.

It sounded cool with me so Josh and I headed over to TTD. The line was about a half hour. We would have about twenty minutes to spare after our ride to get to Chet and Matt's.

Halfway though our wait in line, Josh and I look ahead and Chet himself is standing in front of us. Chet was very easy to talk to as usual and we explained to him the weird choice to ride TTD once then head to his food joint for dinner. Out of all the times I have been to the park, I have never seen Chet there.

We just thought the whole thing was weird. After our ride, Josh and I booked it to the place and ate wtih plenty of time to spare.

-Sean

Hey,
Two questions.... (well one and a comment)

#1, Are you the one who was on the CBS segment on TTD?

and #2, Tell Josh W. that Jason Pliska from Pocono Mountain says hi!

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Jeff said:

One minor annoyance... the crew at the Happy Friar needs to pull their collective heads out of their rears and pay attention. Actually having cooked fries on hand would be a great start, and greeting people at the window for a line that extends into the midway would be another.

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jeff,

i experienced the exact same thing on tuesday afternoon. my wait at Happy Friar was around 25 minutes for a basket of fries and a water.

i was so frustrated that i ended up speaking with a food operations supervisor who expressed significant concern over the situation. he even paid me back for my food. he actually walked over to happy friar to watch how long customers were waiting. he said that there would be significant improvements.

the whole reason for the slow service was lazy employees who had no idea about food service. frustrating situation.

for me too, it was the only sour note to my entire day at the park.

On opening day I was VERY surprised at just how much better Mean Streak is running! Huge improvement from previous years.

-Tina

I must agree, a much smother ride than the past few years. 5/19-actually got 3 Mean Streak rides with a trimless 1st hill! Do to that, I believe it when the ride op's say you'll reach 65MPH. 2 trips opening week wasn't as fortunate.