Cedarpoint 5-29-24

Our trip started with a stop at Breakers Express to pick up our tickets and meal plan vouchers. It has been a few years now since I have taken an overnight park trip and I was pleasantly surprised to find that a parking pass and the unlimited drinks are park of the hotel package.

We arrived at the park at 8:40am. Right away I had a feeling that this would be a great day! We parked in general parking and got a spot right in front of the entrance. The lot was pretty well empty. The weather was very overcast and cool. The forecast for the day said a 60% chance of storms. The National Anthem played, and the gates opened shortly before 9am.

We made our way to Gatekeeper and got on the second train of the day. I attended the park with my daughter, her boyfriend and his friend. The friend had never been to a park before and this was going to be his first coaster. He did fantastic and listening to him when he came off the ride brought back so many memories of my first ride and the high you get from the adrenaline spike. We then proceeded to Wild Mouse and walked right on. Both rides are fantastic. We headed back to MF and had a station wait, ended up back in line for a two train wait and rode again. I could see SV running so we headed back to Frontier Town. Maverick started to cycle trains as we headed SV. Five mins wait for SV! I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by SV. I don't know if it was because of the cooler weather but it ran so much smoother than my previous visit a few years ago. The ride packs a punch. Maverick had a 20 minute wait, not bad. We jumped back in line for SV and waited 15 mins.

The Farmhouse Kitchen and Grill was open by the time we got off our second SV ride. We picked up our meal plan wristband and sat down to eat. The food was delicious and the ample seating inside and on the porch made for a great lunch.

To give the kids the full experience, we jumped in line for CCMR. These family coasters are great and the kids got a kick out of it, no wait. We jumped on Skyhawk for a quick ride, and at this point I found out that the boyfriend and his friend told the truth about being scared of heights. They rode but came off not looking quite as chipper as they went on. The walk to Gemini allowed them time to settle down. We where a little disappointed to see just one side running but with a two train wait we knocked it down. The kids noticed that this ride experience was different than those we had rode up to this point. Magnum was our next stop but went down for maintenance before we could ride. Corkscrew was up next with a two train wait. I love the feel of old coasters, the kids however thought this ride was painful. Know keep in mind my daughter is 16 and her boyfriend and his friend are both 17, while I am 2 months shy of 45.

We headed toward the front of the park and Valravn. It was only cycling empty trains so we ended up in line for Blue Streak. These classic woodies are fantastic and kids again said how rough the ride was. It was at this time I told them to expect this on all the older coasters. Raptor was our next stop and had a 15 min wait. Before we could get to Maxair, the park went down for a weather delay so we ended up in Hugo's Italian eatery. Food was good and again plenty of seating both indoor and out. The weather delay must have been lighting in the area as we never had more than the lightest of sprinkles. The bumper cars where running so we took a spin with just a one cycle wait. Maxair came up and we got right on. We stopped and went through the mirror maze, it was fun but kind of short for $10 per person. Valravn was up when we got out of the mirror maze and with a 15 min wait we got our ride in.

Iron Dragon was our next coaster. Waited about 5 mins and we where off. Going under TT2's spike is a nice addition to this ride but they did not have the water misters on the water on. Rougarou had a 10 min wait. The floorless trains are a great improvement over the Mantis trains. Magnum was running again by this point so we headed back toward it. This was our longest wait of the day. We got in a what did not seem to be to long of a line and after about 5 mins realized that the coaster was only running with one train. In total we waited about 25 but got our ride. I thought the ride was running really well and I got one of my smoothest rides I have ever had but the kids still said it was rough. The station attendants said they took a train off during the weather delay.

We all the major coasters under our belt we started re-rides. The kids wanted to ride SV again so back we went. 10 mins and we got on. I absolutely love the 1st inversion and the way it transitions into the diving right hand turn over the lift hill, the feeling is amazing. We then went to the train station waited for our ride. The attendant at the station was friendly and we had a pleasant talk about park operations. I might be mistaken but it seemed like the train ride had many more Bonetown skeletons on display than the last time I rode a few years ago. From the train we got back in line for MF and waited 3 trains. It was about 7:30pm by this time so we headed to the front of the park and did a little shopping. We attempted a mad dash to Raptor but got to the entrance about a minute to late.

Other things of note. From Corkscrews lift hill I seen a piece of equipment hauling a pallet of wheels to TT2. The only train I could see from the midway was missing it wheels. The rest of the train appeared intact. The atmosphere of park and the creature comforts to the patrons all where really noticeable and made the experience so much more enjoyable. The ride crews for every ride where top notch and efficient with the exception of the Magnum crew. With the one train operation they did not seem at all interested in getting a quick turn around and they where using the automated announcement system which is not as fun as the operators who get the crowd excited.