Cedar Point separation anxiety

It isn't constant. It's hot like Cleveland July to September. The rest of the year is mostly perfect. Today it's sunny and 80, as it has been for weeks, and the humidity is 38% right now (lower than Cleveland). The idea that it's always hot and humid is as false as the idea that it never stops raining in Seattle.

Ok, I stand corrected. My experience with Florida is pretty much limited to Key West. The current temp there right in is 83 but the Accuweather "Real Feel" temperature is 93 because of the 64% humidity. I don't mind that for a few days, but that is a climate that I would find very uncomfortable to live in. I don't enjoy it in Cleveland either, when we have a few days of 90 degree temperature in a row.

Jeff said:

It isn't constant. It's hot like Cleveland July to September. The rest of the year is mostly perfect. Today it's sunny and 80, as it has been for weeks, and the humidity is 38% right now (lower than Cleveland). The idea that it's always hot and humid is as false as the idea that it never stops raining in Seattle.

You know how I feel about Florida, so consider this as biased and you need to, but...

Gotta disagree. Having lived both north and south of you (Jax and Miami) - Florida overall is easily hotter and stickier on the whole than anywhere in Ohio with the exception of the dog days of summer.

And it's not humidity that gives that oppressive, sticky feel - it's dew point. Even more than temperature, dew point determines the comfort of the air. Humidty has little-to-nothing to do with it. Humidity is just dew point compared to temperature. Right now the dew point in Orlando is a borderline sticky 60° while it is a very low 40° in Cleveland.

You can't fool me with your humidity trickery! ;)

With that said, comfort is a matter of taste for the most part. Once it gets above 75, I'm itching to turn the air on. At 80, it comes on. Your current 80/60 (temp/dew) with 90's in the near future is simply horrible to me compared to the 70/50 I'll be blessed with the next few days. To-may-to. To-mah-to.

With all of that said...

Florida is America's wang. America's dirty, sticky wang. Don't let anyone tell you differently, kids.

For me, the deal breaker in Ohio/PA wasn't even the cold or the snow. It was the endless slate gray skies that would cover the area from November to March. Those cold, gloomy days where it still felt dark in the middle of the afternoon and the roads were covered in filthy snow, salt, and dirt just got to me.

Florida summers are brutal, absolutely. But even during the rainy season in the middle of summer, it's pretty much a guarantee that it will be a nice, sunny morning and I can typically still go outside for a walk around 8pm after the rain clears and the heat of the sun passes. To me, that is a huge plus.

What I miss most about up north is the late September and October feeling of autumn. That said, although we don't get the colors of the changing leaves, we do get our "chilly" weather from Christmas to February, so I'll take it.

The weather on the coasts, especially the Atlantic, is not the same as it is inland. By November we have "jacket weather" and that lasts at least until March. Like I said, July to September is a little gross, but that's no different from the Midwest (though that tends to be more June to August).

Gonch has me wondering now what the difference is today. Looks like the ocean is keeping Miami a little cooler but higher humidity and dew point. 87 vs. 83 degrees, but 37% vs. 51% humidity, and dew points at 58 vs. 61. I wonder what that looks like in August. Our summer morning humidity definitely sucks, but it tends to burn off significantly by noon.

BrettV said:

For me, the deal breaker in Ohio/PA wasn't even the cold or the snow. It was the endless slate gray skies that would cover the area from November to March.

A friend of mine describes it as "living inside a ping pong ball."

Amusing thread. This is my home park. And it's an hour drive.

Jeff said:

July to September is a little gross, but that's no different from the Midwest (though that tends to be more June to August).

Is this just a warm spell for Orlando right now? The forcast for the next several days is 93, 96, 95, 94, 94, 92.

Vater said:

Amusing thread. This is my home park. And it's an hour drive.

Lots of room for expansion:)

Vater said:

Amusing thread. This is my home park. And it's an hour drive.

Nobody wants to hear your braggin'.

Did I mention I haven't even been there?

Jeff said:

Malibu was nice. I hung out at Jackie Treehorn's place.

Keep your ugly #@(#ing goldbricking @$$ out of my beach community!

Seriously though, congrats on the move. I've lived in Cleveland for almost 17 years now and am still trying to get out west. Once you get out west, you'll be surprised at how much more cool stuff there is to do outdoors than just ride coasters. It's one of the reasons we can stay sane living in Cleveland, there is actually a decent amount of outdoor stuff.

As for the amusement parks themselves, you'll now be in an area with year round operations. Lets be honest, Cedar Point, for passholders at least, is really only usable 4 months out of the year. July and August, you're better off not bothering, or just going to Soak City instead.

Gonch... I'm pretty much with you on Florida.

Outside stuff is a big deal. I learned this living in Seattle. There are no decent amusement parks, but you can be outside year-round in some of the most beautiful scenery in the country. Even after two years, I couldn't believe those views.

Personally I couldn't handle living in such a huge city. You can have the traffic, one year in Washington DC has cured me of that wish. Also, working in California would not be a good idea in my profession.

Also I prefer to live in a place that has enough water to sustain life and more of an east coast/Midwestern guy. For all of you folks affected by the winter permacloud the key to avoiding that one is to not live downwind from a Great Lake. Here in Wisconsin we have sun in the winter.

I also could not handle a Floridian summer, I've been down there in July and never again, I prefer to not have to have daily thunderstorms every afternoon. I'm sure I will be a snowbird in my early retirement, because I do want to be a cast member seasonally at some point. Come May though I'm going back North where I belong.

The traffic into downtown Orlando for me is no different than traffic would be anywhere else going into work. Yes, at certain times of year traffic near Disney on I4 is pretty ridiculous, but you avoid it when you can and prepare if you can't.

Tonight after dinner I took a one hour trip to Universal for a couple of rides. I was back home 15 minutes later. It's a life I wouldn't trade, even with the traffic and humidity.

I-4 is almost always terrible. Avoid at all costs.

Imagine how bad it will be in about 5-7 years when they start continuing the express lanes and other work down through the attractions area. *shudders*

When I graduated we had thought of moving to Florida for a while, but decided to stay in Cleveland... I personally don't mind winter, dig the season changes and I am an hour exactly from CP (which also has improved immense amounts the past few years with the new guy in charge). Chilling at the park late evening is just something special... It is my favorite place to be in summer. No park I can think of could be a substitute for me.

Going to Disney, Universal and the other Orlando parks just don't do it for me the same way... I actually am not much of a fan of Disney at all and typically avoid going unless friends give us comp tickets, so that doesn't appeal to me lol... My girlfriend was always for moving to Orlando, but when I ask her recently she is very happy we are in Cleveland. The city is thriving right now, plus being big beer/brewery people that helps too... Ohio has some of the best in the country. Something about Florida just feels... sterile, or something. I can't put my finger on it, but it doesn't excite me all things considered.

I am probably one of the few that really liked LAX... We stayed at a very cool pool house just outside of the city that was country like... Bridal trails, chickens, peacocks everywhere, etc... Totally unexpected. The parks in the area (SFMM, Knotts and DCA notably) are fantastic and the coast is far more impressive than the East side of the country. We had a killer week out there and only hit traffic our last day... So perhaps we just lucked out. I wouldn't want to live there, but I had a blast visiting.

We're in the same boat in that we're moving from Fort Worth (20 minutes from SFoT) to San Jose (20 minutes from CGA) this summer. The biggest concern isn't the lack of rides or the dearth of attractions but the memories and familiarity we're losing with SFoT. We raised our kids in that park and it's a fantastic weekend afternoon outing. Great kids areas, lots of places to walk and people watch, etc. If CGA doesn't scratch the same itch, it will be pretty sad and we'll have to find non-coaster related things to fill our afternoons. The super long season and giant water park next door is a huge bonus (I hate water parks, but even I see the merit when it's 100 degrees for 6 weeks at a time) that we will miss as well.