Cedar Point: 'the Big 13 in 8 hours' 10/24/04

The Amazement Park! Took fellow managers up who have never been there. Good times ahead.

First ride of the day. Mill-Force. 3 trains, and actually the slowest line. To much stacking, but it is a popular ride. Very fast. 9.5/10. Then to Iron Dragon. 5 train wait. 6/10. Mantis, 15 minute wait. 6/10. It is a bit rough now.

The to Corkscrew. Walk-on. 6/10. Those girls could party when I worked here 15 years ago. Still smooth. 6/10. Took a break and had a $7 soft pretzel and Pepsi. I respect that. Hit Magnum. Another 5 train wait. Has some rough sections, but expected for October. CP has to tighten the road wheels, and adjust the trim brake to compensate for the cold air. 8.5/10.

Gemini. It was my favorite from 1980 until 1990. That is when I met the Magnum. Blue won. Yaaaah! 8.5/10. Mineride. Like Gemini, another 10 minute wait. 6/10. Hit the Town Hall Museum, spent some quiet time. That is a great place. Old geezer working there was making fun of giant Donkey I won and gave to one of the managers. (a Shrek thing, I am told).

Rode Mean Streak. Counted my vertebrae. All there. 7/10. I love that ride, but it is boring as **** on the second half. 7/10. Rode White Water Landing, and used my pocket digital video to record the ride. WWL is being retired after next weekend. I worked here, so I will miss it dearly. I hope it finds a good home. WWL was the king of Frontier Town from 1982 until 1991. We watched the weather for Ops, girls showed us 'tan lines', and even rode up the lift with a 5 gallon bucket of water and dumped it on a fellow operator because he was not a Steelers fan. He converted immediately. RIP WWL.

Had a Mexican Ranchero salad across from the Antique Cars while the other managers saw a magic show. I was a tikking time bomb the whole ride home. I was asked if I wanted beef or chicken. Beef, of course. 7/10. My first real girlfriend worked at Nostalgic Memories on the Frontier Trail, so I always walk that way and check the store out. You can never have enough retail. Never. Donkey got stuffed in large locker by now.

Took the Skyway back up front. Very fast crew.
Hit Raptor. 10 minute wait. I remeber idiots waiting 3 hours for the green machine. Crazy times. 8/10. Blue Streak was a walk on. It was squeeling like Martha Stewarts first day in, well you get the sound. But, smooth as glass. Its a shame about the restraints. 7/10.

Disaster Transport. Well, its still fun. But put those cars with stronger chassis under them, and you have Superman at SFMM. Cedar Point should bring back the orange jumpsuits for the girls who can fit into them. 6/10. Wicked Twister. Rode next to last seat. Wanted to get the full 20 story drop effect. Wow. Only waited for about 3 trains. 8/10. Superman at Geauga Lake is more intense, especially with the hold brake, but this is still a great ride.

Met the managers again at Johnny Rockets.(chickend out of WT). I have eaten at several JR's. Good times, but your food gets cold while they sing 'Rock Around the Clock'. Great Oreo shake. 9/10. Had more prizes to lug around. Actually kept the Large from bushel baskets, and gave away all the goblet pitch wins to some Mommy with a load of kids. I am a nice guy on my day off.

Now, off the TTD! finally. About 15 trains away, and 7:30pm, it closes for weather. Half the line empties, but since I drove, we stay. I get to board at 8:15. Several Kennywood supervisors are on the same car. If we have a blowout, 2 major parks are screwed. I guess they didn't want to work this Sunday either.

What a rush! I remember the manager next to screaming, (see Martha Stewart joke above), cold mist hitting my face, and looking down at Mill-Force. Then the spiral down, which was one big-daddy drop! This was way better than Superman at SFMM, much more intense on the launch. You can feel the force of the train vs. the single car. Yes, it is too short, but it is worth it if you have the time. 9.9/10.

All in all, hit 13 coasters by the 8pm close. Only skipped Woodstock, Jr Gemini, and Wildcat. All done in earlier visits. The foodservice was fast, and the volunteers did a fantastic job loading trains and line control. I hope someone from Six Flags takes not of this park operating at 85% in October.

Here is a breakdown of the rides. Mill-Force: 3 trains. Mantis: 2 trains. Iron Dragon:2 trains. Corkscrew: 3 trains. Magnum: 3 trains. Gemini: 4 trains. Mineride: 2 trains. WWL: 16 canoes. Raptor: 3 trains. Mean Streak: 3 trains. Blue Streak: 2 trains. Disaster Transport: 5 cars. WT: 1 train. TTD: 5 trains.

Granted, Carnival, the Fright Zone, and Werewolf Canyon were closed, but everything else was open. Kudos to CP for having walk-throughs open in the daytime. I love this park and probably will plan to spend 2-3 days here next fall. Overall. 9.5/10. Agent Johnson's award of the 2004 season to best visit.....Cedar Point, the Amazement Park!

PS. Saw the new Kalahari Falls waterpark under construction just off the turnpike exit. Quite large. Be prepared to spend time in Sandusky in the winter. *** Edited 10/27/2004 12:46:44 AM UTC by Agent Johnson***

Is the wwl thing a rumor? I havent read anything yet. Replacing it with a Peanuts themed log ride? Final drop through Snoopy's dog house!? :)

I had heard the WWL thing elsewhere, and would be very sad to see it go. It is the only water ride the sub-46" set can ride, and the only water ride you can ride if you only want to get "lightly spritzed" as opposed to "absolutely soaked". If the rumors I've heard are true, CP is about to get even less family friendly than it is already, which is an interesting contrast to the directions other parks seem to be going.

Of course, what I've heard could be totally wrong. I guess we'll see soon enough. *** Edited 10/26/2004 1:28:56 PM UTC by Brian Noble***

I haven't heard about WWl leaving. That would be a big loos. My son loves that ride.

I cant imagine them removing it and not replacing it with a modern log ride. Thats why I mention the Snoopy themed ride, IOA and Disney have my two favorite water rides ever with Dudley's and Splash Mountain. Lets see western Snoopy!

It's gotten a new coat of paint this year, new tin roof on the station, new logos painted everywhere and they've been re-finishing many of the boats. Common sense would say that it's not going anywhere.

From my views, the flume itself is FILTHY! The storage garage was a mess, and the water was a shade of dulll brown. The word on the street is that it is being removed after all the hydroplaning. Anyhow, why is not on the Monopoly game? Should not a $3.5 million ride at least be St. Charles Ave.?

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the removal of WWL. Now the games adjacent to Kiddie Kingdom......

LOL, I forgot about being a weather forecaster when up at the top on WWL. The bad part is when they don't believe you that the weather's going to hit in the next 5 minutes, and make you stay up there. Then you're stuck there as the boats cycle through and it's pouring. Good times.

Now the employees wear a harness up there. We just stood there and stayed attentive. And waived to everyone, and repeated the speil. That was good times.

[villian] And I would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for that meddling OSHA! [/villian]

I was also at CP on Sunday and had a very similar day. We hit all of the same coasters (skipping Wildcat, Jr. Gemini, & Woodstock). I'll be posting my own trip report sometime soon.

That AJ guy sounds cool. I missed a Good Time. Do you think i can got to Vegas with you. Please

That AJ guy is REAL cool. And he even knows how to make a mean funnel cake! Just don't feed him any Taco Bell.....bad.

We'll miss you at IAAPA this year AJ!!!

Good times...

The Vegas project takes priority this year, guys. The Empire will prevail.