Cedar Point July 26, 2009; not short (hee hee)

I was helping my dad take care of my ailing grandmother, but he felt bad that I was spending my entire vacation stuck in a hospital or in a town with absolutely nothing to do, so he kicked me out of the house and gave me money to drive to Cedar Point. Since I wasn't allowed to come back until the next day, I was forced to have some fun.

I arrived at Cedar Point at 5:30 pm. Well, I knew this was going to be difficult because the crowds had filled basically the whole front lot. It was a nice surprise to get a first row parking spot in Soak City (thank you again, Tig!), and it was also a nice surprise to find that my Dorney pass now worked at the gates and I didn't need to get a guest pass. Sweet!

After filming a little of Maggie and TTD, I decided that I would give Maggie another chance, and I'm glad I did. While I still like Steel Force better in terms of ride smoothness, sitting in the front seat of Maggie was a totally different experience than my last horrendous 1-3 ride last season. The triangular shaped bunny hops were just a little jerky, but it was almost fun with the stalling and plunging, stalling and plunging. I definitely got airtime in many spots, but it was painful airtime. However, this was my own fault. I can tell this is definitely a roller coaster that benefits from a looser lapbar, and I clicked it as tight as it would go. Perhaps better padding (any padding?) would fix this. In any case, I had a blast, and the scenery on this coaster takes my breath away. Gorgeous. I would love to ride it at sunset. I stand corrected: 9/10.

Maverick: Maverick from the front: Excellent. Maverick from the back: Priceless. Love love love this coaster. If only the darn line weren't so long. Every time I've been to Cedar Point (the whole three times), the line was out into the walkways. Plus, the whole single rider line just wastes your time if you're a single rider. I watched about 50 people I had just passed in line walk right by me again. I was getting really irritated for my extra half hour wait, but we got assigned to the very back seat, and I absolutely could not stop bouncing up and down when the ride came to a halt. I got one big neck bang, but it was unavoidable because I was all the way out of my seat with airtime and before I could sit back down and lean to the right, the restraint chopped me in the neck. No biggie. It was still awesome. 10/10

Millie: 2-1 I definitely almost blacked out after the drop and into the overbanked turn. Saw little white spots and sparkles in front of my eyes, my vision blurred, and then all I could see was a rapidly closing tunnel (and NO, it wasn't because we were in the tunnel part either, for all you wisenheimers). I experienced something similar but not quite as bad last year the first time I rode Millie, but it never happened again on subsequent rides. Don't know what's up with that, don't like it. Millie was a little shaky this time around, although she was still in fine working condition. Plus, I got the best float of airtime I've had on that ride: LOOONG sustained floating air. Felt like I was flying. Awesome ride, needed to take a break after that gray-out though. 9.5/10

Wildcat: Ahhh...I finally added another coaster after nearly a month stall. I don't know what to say about this one. I think...I think this was slightly more than harmless fun. Every little drop made me chirp "ooOO" like an owl, and the helixes had some pretty good force behind them. Plus, other than the spectacularly abrupt stops (which weren't actually that bad because the padding stops your knees from shattering on impact LOL), the ride was surprisingly smooth. However, I get SO nervous on roller coasters like this one (which looks like an old carnival coaster), all rickety and thin-tracked, that I can't ever TRULY enjoy them to their full potential. If I could've gotten past that nervousness, this actually would score pretty high for plain old-fashioned family fun with a little kick of thrill. As it is: 5/10. Okay, maybe a 5.5. In retrospect, I enjoyed this a lot.

Iron Dragon: Okay, call me a total dork, but I still really like this little guy. It's smooth, it's got a couple little stomach-swoopers you can't see coming, and the foliage is very nice. I already rated it last year, and I think I gave it a 6.5. That seems about right.

It was getting late, and I had the choice to either get in line for one more coaster ride on either Maggie, Mav, Millie, or TTD, or I could add another coaster to my count. I stuck to the plan of last season and rode TTD at night. I'm not predictable or anything. *snicker* The only stall we had was because a kid got a ridiculously bad nosebleed and they had to let him out and clean all the splatters off the car. Apparently (I couldn't see because I'm short) his face was covered in blood when he stood up from the ride vehicle. I attract these ailing people, I swear. I felt bad for the kid though. His nose wouldn't stop bleeding, so he had to give up his ride spot after waiting in line for what was probably 45 minutes (I waited for front car, so most of my "waiting" was done in the front car switchbacks. The line to the rest of the coaster was bookin' again). I gotta say...TTD KILLS KA. Hands down. While this launch is a few mph slower than Ka, and while you really can tell the difference in the extra feet on Ka versus TTD, there really is no contest. TTD's launch FEELS a million times faster than Ka's, the lapbars are so much more freeing than the OTSR's of Ka, and the airtime (yes, airtime) on TTD makes Ka's little ending hill feel like a lame hop. Plus, TTD's headchoppers are much more convincing. I said all this last year, but I feel this year, having rode Ka 5 times before it shut down, I have a lot less fear to make a more accurate judgment. TTD hands down. Oh, and TTD REEEAAAALLLYYYY felt like it was bookin this year. Maybe I'm turning into a wuss, but I actually got a little scared towards the end of the straightaway. 10/10

Anyway, I got out of the park at 11:00 or so, and traffic wasn't all that bad, so I decided to try to drive home. I made it to Elyria before checking into a hotel. *chuckle* Gettin' old is a pain.

Few general observations: No one was buying food. NO ONE. The food vendors all looked at you with sad, hopeful eyes, and not one of them was doing any business. Of course, when you go up to the cart and see that a large Dippin Dots costs 7.00, if you're like me, you'd rather starve (and I LOVE Dippin Dots, so it made me sad).

Anyone else like the Ride Warriors slogan and theming? Am I the only one? With all the Ed Hardy stuff out, I think it's pretty timely and a little badass. I bought two shotglasses with the tattoo lettering of Ride Warriors in front of a heart with wings. Plus, I got some other people souveneir shot glasses and I also got a T-shirt in my favorite color (aqua blue). My total was less than 50 bucks for all that stuff, which I thought was pretty reasonable. Unlike the food. LOL

Also, the Millenium Force lockers and TTD lockers are 2.00. Weren't they a dollar last year? I tried to get dollar bills at the change machine, but the only thing the change machine was doing was changing dollar bills for dollar coins. Above the change machines, there was a sign that said, "If you need assistance with the lockers, please see the attendant at the Millenium Force cart." Okay, fine. I go over to the Millenium Force cart and tell the girl I need dollar bills for my quarters. She says she cannot open her drawer to give me quarters. I say that the sign says I am supposed to see HER for assistance. She says, "There no sign say dat!" I'm a little irritated. Whatever. I say, "Yes, there is. See the little blue sign above the lockers over there? It says that if I need help with the lockers, I am to go to the Millennium Force cart. Is this the Millennium Force cart, or is there another one I don't know about?" She says, "I can't open drawer to give you money." Now I'm a tad MORE irritated. I ask, "Well, who helps me then if you're not supposed to open your drawer and the signage directs me here? Maybe the photo place?" I'm still calm about it though, although I'm sure she could tell I was irritated. She decides that it is not worth the hassle and she's not really that concerned about the whole situation and goes to unlock her drawer. Then she stops mid-key-turn and says, "I give you my money because I can't unlock drawer." She goes through her wallet and only has a five. This does not help me. Finally, a manager comes over and gives her more money to put in the drawer, so she HAS to open the drawer and give me the ones. Then the manager puts in a few words that almost made me put my fist in his mouth. He said (in a voice that I reserve for children under five), "Next time you really have to just bring ones or break a larger bill somewhere". Thank you Captain Obvious for stopping by! Had I HAD bills, wouldn't I have used them? I had a 100 dollar bill that no one seemed able to break, and besides that, I needed it for my hotel room. I told the guy (through my teeth, since I really don't like to repeat myself after being held up from riding for an additional 10 minutes), "Look, I only have a hundred dollar bill and two dollars in quarters. I came over here because that's what the sign above the lockers says for me to do." The guy said, "That sign says THAT?! Oh...well, we gotta do something about that because she's really not supposed to open her drawer to give people change." I had already left the conversation mentally and just said in a quiet, bored voice, "I got that. Thanks for your help." And I walked away. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, was it a big deal? Absolutely not. Still, when you've got 4.5 hours to hit as much as you can in the park, and when you've driven 4.5 hours to GET there, it's really annoying when you get the dollar nazis giving you a hard time for following the instructions that are clearly posted above the lockers. Okay, dead issue. Sorry. Ranting. Although, on a more positive note, I found a hotel on my iphone with cheap rates a little further from Cedar Point, so I broke my 100 at the nearby TTD store and got me some Ride Warrior gear and still had enough for my room, a Dunkin Donuts iced latte, and turnpike fare. So it was okay. Sweet!

Bored yet? I am! Good night all!

Could you supply me with the cliffnotes version? ;)

Coasterphan, sure!

Cedar Point: Crowded.

Maggie: Best from front seat. I stand corrected. All pains coming from said coaster were my own fault. Awesome ride and scenery.

Maverick: This coaster is so much fun, and it seems like it rides even better in the back. Be prepared to wait...and wait...and wait.

Millie: Almost blacked out but got beautiful airtime and a pretty great ride. Loved it as usual.

Wildcat: Made me nervous from carnival ride appearance but is a great family coaster.

TTD: Much better than Ka. This thing hauls major a** but is as smooth as silk. Awesome.

Iron Dragon: So much fun. Call me a dork, I don't care. For a walk-on, this is good times!

General observations: Food is ridiculously priced for some things, reasonable for others considering portion size. No one was buying any food anyway. I enjoy the Ride Warriors theming. Had moronic staff members question me multiple times about my ability to read signage for locker assistance. I was irritated about locker price. And isn't the customer always right?

In any case, CP=good times! :) Sorry if I rambled.

Who are these wisenheimers you speak of? Are they from Kutz-tahn? :)

Nice TR, bunky. You got me psyched for my trip next week-- first visit to CP since Raptor was new!

RGB,
That's the same summer i was there last (well, the last time i rode anything there, long story)...pick me up on your way ;)

Me too! Me too!

Actually, I have vacation after next week, so I'm either heading out to BGE or Kings Island. Haven't decided yet. Also making a quick stop to Agawam to ride Bizarro.

I wont impart my biased opinion on that question :)

Well, not directly anyway. ;)

I was going to suggest KI.. so there.. ;)

Lol, ya got me. :)