Cedar Point: The Good, the Great, and the Ridiculous

Let me begin by saying that those of you who still live near enough to CP to go more frequently should count yourself lucky. Over six years ago, I moved to New Hampshire and the last time I visited was 2000. Back then, it had been relatively few years since I had visited and other than a phenomenal couple of rides on MF, it seemed like the same old thing.

The last two days I spent at CP made me remember how special a place it is. The park seemed busy, but I guess that should be expected for the middle of July. After gawking at TTD for a bit, we decided we needed to start with something smaller, Magnum. That's still weird to say. Magnum gave us a wonderful ride and reinforced my opinion that, at sixteen years, it is still the best ride in the park.

Without going into too many details, I was dazzled by Gemini and Mean Streak also. I don't believe they braked us at all on Gemini until the station. It ran fast and furious and was wonderful. Mean Streak was actually a nice ride and even had some moments of slight airtime.

We made our way back through the Frontier Trail toward MF and huge dissappointment. I was very anxious about the test seat thing and warned my brothers and dad about what had changed. We had all ridden five years ago fine, but as we all know things have changed. After I had tried the test seat and was barely able to get the slack, my father and one brother decided not to even try as they are both larger than I. After waiting 45 minutes for the ride, I found that the seatbelt on the ride train was not as long as the test seat and I could not even get it clasped.

Now I have to say, that while I am no fitness freak, most people would not consider me fat either. I'm 6'3" and weigh about 260. I walk, golf, play softball, work on my house and yard and feel I get plenty of exercise. I don't drink and have a limited sweet tooth. So those of you who assume that anyone who cannot ride must be just fat should keep it to themselves. I watched plenty of healthy people be refused at the entrance that were posing no danger to themselves or the park by riding that ride. There are plenty of things I could blame all this on, but I'll sum it up to say that I mostly blame lawyers and a society that automatically assumes that anything that happens is someone else's fault. (*steps off soapbox*). I am planning on writing Cedar Point a letter, even though I am not sure how much good it will do.

Anyway, after that dissappointment, I continued to have fun riding the many other rides that I fit easily on (including Wildcat, funny, I can ride a 30 some year old coaster, but not a six year old one). Of those, Wildcat is still fun, Mantis was fun, but painful, Blue Streak was great but a little rough, Raptor was great and the ride crew seemed to be the best in the park (honorable mention to the Magnum crew).

After several attempts to MaxAir due to breakdowns, we finally were able to get on. What a wonderful addition to the park. We absolutely loved it. CP really should invest in more of these so-called flat rides.

Unfortunately, Wicked Twister was down both days, so I have yet to ride it. Which leads us to Top Thrill Dragster. Luckily, I was able to ride this one. Still, while the test seat yielded almost 2 inches of slack, I found I had to give a good yank to get the 1/2 inch needed in the actual train. This was a great ride and I had to ride it twice to really experience it (I have to admit I was a little nervous the first time).

To sum it up, CP is still the best park in the country. The coasters that I think many people take for granted are the real stars. Magnum, Gemini, Raptor. Best in the park. Despite my problems with the current policies on MF and TTD, the park employees were all very professional and very helpful. Those of you who still live in the area, lucky.

Did you tell the ride ops that you fit into the test seat on MF. I have seen them let people who fit in the test seat try a different seat on the next train. You would think that they would all be uniform in length, but they are not. I am about your size, 6' 3" and 265. I can get 2" of slack in some seats and others I can hardly get fastened.

You can write CP a letter, but all of us larger people have been doing that this year and I don't think it will do much good. CP has to follow the rules and Intamin is the one that writes them. I thought that CP would have lit a fire under Intamins behind to get something changed, but that has not happened. :(

Nice TR and I'm glad you enjoyed everything else. Sorry WT was down.

Good trip report.You are right people who live around CP are lucky.I have season passes but have to travel the 3 plus hours to get there a few times each summer ,but it is worth it.

When I was there a couple of weeks ago a ride op tried telling me that they measured the seat belts and that they are all same length. I know this is not true (he wasn't fooling me). I way 200 pounds and all the seat belts vary on me too. Some fit alot snugger than others(about 1 inch of slack), and some have plenty of room(about 2 or more inches of slack).

The WT was down the hole 3 days when I was there too. *** Edited 7/14/2005 2:52:29 AM UTC by Coasterfreakfromeriepa***

Hey, Wicked Twister was down both days I was there on June 30th & July 1st... go figure?

Has it been up at all this year, or at least within the past month... and if not... what's the down time? I don't remember anyone mentioning it (although it is probably on Point Buzz somewhere)

Wt has been up this year. I really dont know what is wrong with it. They might have had to replce LIMS again, but they just did that and it would seem a bit wierd but who knows.

Dont worry it isnt the best thing in the park to worry about anyhow.

I went on WT in May, as well as at the beginning of June. Not sure when it went down, but yeah, it's been up this year.

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CP ismyhome said:
Did you tell the ride ops that you fit into the test seat on MF. I have seen them let people who fit in the test seat try a different seat on the next train. You would think that they would all be uniform in length, but they are not. I am about your size, 6' 3" and 265. I can get 2" of slack in some seats and others I can hardly get fastened.

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I can total agree. I rode MF 5 times over a two day period. The first two times I had maybe 1 inch, to 1 and half inch. Then the third time someone had to help me pull it. The fourth and fifth time, I bearly had an inch. And I visited a week before that, and had a 2 inches. Odd

I did mention that I was able to sit in the test seat, but was simply told that if I could not buckle the belt, I would not be allowed to ride.

Still, I had a great time. Its great when you can almost walk on to rides like Gemini and Magnum. These rides would be marquee attractions at most parks but seem secondary at CP.

Also, it seems like TTD has gotten over its kinks. There were no problems while I was there and the crew seemed to have the trains launching at a decent interval, with the only problems being people having difficulties with the belts.