Cedar Point (Sun May 18th-Tues May 20th)

The trip started off a little on the down side, but ends AMAZINGLY well… and there’s pics of Skyscraper (which was put in place Monday night)

Sunday May 18th - Magnum, TTD

We got to the park on Sunday around 3 and tried to check in at Lighthouse Point (for a cottage on the lake which we stay at every time we go), and the room was not ready. They told us it was guaranteed at 4 so I asked if I could pick which cottage we would have since we had to wait (we like to be near the lighthouse and pier). They were very accommodating and said they could do that for us.

Since we got our season passes processed on the way in (which took a whopping 5 mins), we decided to head over to Magnum for a quick ride. We had about a 15 minute wait for the front of the back car. We only like the front of the cars due to the leg room.

We headed back to finally check in and they gave us the cottage in the area we wanted. Major points in my book for Cedar Point (AGAIN!).

After eating a little and unpacking, we headed back to the park for a Dragster ride. It was raining off and on, and it was rollback city (Mmmm, rollbacks!). With the sometimes rain and the rollbacks, you can imagine it took about 3.75 hours to get on the ride. So after the ride being down an hour, they finally let a car load. We are now 2nd in line behind a single rider (in the 5th row), and there’s a single ride in the 3rd row. You would think with an hour to figure this out, they would have thought to pair up the single riders. Our 1st year ride op, Geo, did ask the single rider in our row to join the single rider in the 3rd row, and the rider said no. Geo then walked away – good job! As fate had it, that train had a rollback (the train that should have been mine!). The train finally made it over with the 2nd launch, and then it rained again and the ride shut down. We were, um, just a *little* pissed. We were in the line on the right side of the station so the next train on the left did make it, again with a rollback. Grrr, I was jealous.

Finally the rain stopped again and they sent over a bunch of empty cars, and when they started again, for some odd reason, they had the left section go again. And that train had a rollback. AHHHH!!! Our side of the station was howling in anger at this point. And then, of course, it rained AGAIN. We did finally get on, and yes, we got our rollback too (my 2nd, my hubby’s 3rd).

Monday May 19th

(9-11:45am) – Maverick, MF, TTD, Magnum

We got to the back gate at 8:35 and we were 2nd in line (NICE), but by 9am the line stretched very far back).

We *ran* back to Maverick and rode the 1st train. It would have been a nice little ride except for those OTSRs that killed my ears (I’m only 5’ 2” and the restraints did me in). Sadly, I’m not riding Maverick again.

We then got a quick ride on MF, and saw Dragster testing so headed over there. We were still lined up outside of the entrance, but they finally let us in after about 20 sucessful runs of empty cars. They started the ride off in the morning by sending 2 people at a time, then 4, 6, 8, 10, etc. We got on pretty quick being in the station house and at the gate for a row that just opened. We were excited too since were the 1st to be riders 15 and 16. We hoped for the rollback, but no luck. We did not see one rollback that entire morning.

One funny note about the Dragster line: we were with a CP 1st timer in our group and he was complaining about the wait time. The other 3 of us in the party had to laugh and tell him that was nothing, and proceeded to tell him all of our Dragster wait times in the past.

We then got a quick Magnum ride in and then headed back to the cottage for lunch.

(1-3pm)
Disaster Transport (we brought our own 3D glasses with us) – 10mins
Wicked Twister – surprisingly a walk-on
Blue Streak – walk on
Raptor – 30 mins
Gemini – 20 mins

(5:30-7pm)
MF (45 mins)
TTD (20 mins)
TTD (walk-on)

Some brief notes on Monday:
The park on Monday was surprisingly busy, due to the bus loads of the high school kids. MaxAir was down but started testing in the afternoon and they aid it would be running on Tuesday.
Demon Drop broke down and riders had to walk down from the top of the tower (but it was in operation again on Tuesday).
As we left the park, we saw the back lot being coned off and workers with the Skyscraper parts, so I took some pics: (http://picasaweb.google.com/ltlbat/CedarPointSSkyscraper).
The park must have been privately rented out or they were doing something for the employees (anyone know?) because TTD and Maverick were running til about 11:30 pm and we know that the Dragster line was a walk on at 7 when the park closed. There were riders because we heard the oohs and aaahs, and could see the riders on TTD from the cottage.

Tuesday May 20th (partial day)

We got to Millenium Force and the rides still had the water dummies until about 9:25. Even then, when the 1st train left, only 2 of the 3 cars were usable, and the 3rd (blue train) still had the water dummies. We got on about the 5th or 6th train. By the time we got off, the line was still VERY short since it was before 10 so we did a 1st row on MF. About a 12 train wait. Bummer for us that the peeps in the 2nd row were doing something obscene so we could not get our nicely posed ride pic from the 1st row.

We got in another TTD, and sadly, no rollback.

We went to the front of the park and checked out MaxAir and they said it would be running that day, but they were not even testing it while we there. Oh well.

As we left the back of the park, I grabbed some not-so-great pics of SkyScraper now just about fully assembled (http://picasaweb.google.com/ltlbat/CedarPointSSkyscraper)

Brief Ride-Op Observations:
There were only a few “Checks” here and there (mostly on Blue Streak, Magnum, Raptor, and Maverick).
On both TTD and MF, ride-ops were actually helping with buckling people in (which I have not seen in years).
I also saw no check of the amount of left-over (slack?) on the belts on MF or TTD. Do they still do that anymore?

You sound like a Cedar Point pro, so I've gotta ask how the standup coaster there is. I've never been on one, and I'm trying to fly out to CP this summer. Is it smooth, rough--wait, it's a B&M coaster so never mind about the roughness--is the drop decent...etc. Any thoughts? Are there better standups on the East Coast somewhere?

Cedar Point's standup, Mantis, a 1996 B&M creation, is pretty average. As far as B&M standups go, SFMM's Riddler's Revenge takes the cake. Mantis, on the other hand, is a bit of a head banger. I would consider it one of Cedar Point's most "skippable" coasters, but if you've never been on it before, it's something you have to do.

And for a different opinion Mantis is hands-down my favorite stand-up. Riddler's is the very definition of mediocrity to me, just about as dull as B&Ms get.

I guess that I will have to hit Mantis and see what I think. I've ALWAYS wanted to do Riddler's Revenge, but it's a little far for me. I'll have to hit the hubby up for an anniversary gift of plane tickets if I want to get out to do RR. Thanks for the reviews! What do you all think of Wicked Twister? We just got Voodoo at Dorney and I literally live five minutes away from Dorney, but Wicked Twister is bigger and has two twister tracks instead of one, so I'm wondering if the difference would be so big that I would have to hit WT when I go to Cedar Point. Of course, the goal is to ride as many coasters as possible but....hrrmmm....

I would hit up WT without a doubt. I enjoy it much more than the Impulse coasters with the straight spike. Also, when you're at CP there will probably plenty of times through the day when the line will be pretty short.

Really if you're hitting up CP for the first time I would recommend doing all the coasters except for maybe Mean Streak if your tolerance for rougher wooden coasters is low. The park certainly has it's top tier of coasters but for me everything in the back catalog has it's merits, without a doubt. Really that's one of the things that makes CP such a magical place for me.

Matt, thanks for the advice. I'm not really a huge woodie fan, but I think that if I went to Cedar Point, I would do everything humanly possible just because they've got so many excellent rides, including the wooden coasters. Now all's I have to do is get out there! :)

I rode Voodoo when it was at Geauga Lake. Fun ride, but I think Wicked Twister is a much better ride. The taller, twisted spikes make it more exciting and enjoyable. It's one of my favorites at CP and I think it should not be missed.

Mantis is a very intense ride. It pulls some major G forces compared to some other standups. Some of the newer B&M feel pretty tame, but Mantis really packs a punch. You also have some nice hang time in the first two inversions. Great ride in my opinion.

Another ride you would enjoy is MaXair. It's another "don't miss" at Cedar Point for me and has a fun ride sensation with a lot of floating airtime and great visuals.

I would say that WT is MUCH better than VooDoo; I have ridden both. I would recommend the REAR seat on WT to get the most out of the reverse spike - I swear to God it always feels like we are going to be shot right off the top of the tower on that ride - it really freaks me out every time I ride it! It's one of my faves at CP.

^^According to some of the CP "elites" it's actually the 2nd to last row that you want (the right side/park side) that's the best since apparently on that highest up-shot with that seat you're facing straight down with NO obstructions of any kind!!

Mantis is the one "adult" coaster I skip every time I'm at CP. I've checked it off, don't need to ride it again. The only ones of the genre that I *need* to ride when I go are Riddler and Scorcher, the rest just hurt me more than they please me....

Mean Streak may suck just as bad, but it's wood - so I have to ride it.

WT - that's just insane....and yes, I way prefer either of the back two rows.

FWIW, I probably fit in with the "old-skool" types, because my favs there are still Maggie, Blue Streak, Gemini, and of course, Calypso...not that MaXair isn't crazy fun.

bunky, I highly recommend riding WT. If you've already been on Supe...er, Steel...um, Voodoo, you'll notice a big difference. WT definitely has more giddyup on the launch. Although I do really miss the 'hold' brake on the straight spike on Steel Venom.

Mantis should be called Man-Ouch. 'Nuff said. But since you're of a more appropriate gender to ride, it might not be as much of a problem for you.