Coaster Mania-9/18/04-Cedar Point

I left for CP at 4am from my residence in Metro Detroit. Upon arriving at CP at 5:45am it was very windy. It was more windy than cold.

As promised again this year TTD was part of the early morning ERT. And what a thrill. A good portion of the ERT on TTD was done in the dark and with the lights off and no sound effects on TTD. It is hard to believe how quiet TTD runs. I was in one of the trains that were lucky enough to experience TTD in total darkness. I had been on TTD at least a dozen times over the last two years, this was the first time ever that I had been on TTD in the dark...and I was terrified. It was an incredible sensation. I am also going to say that being barely awake at 6:30am probably added to the "terror" that I experinced. I cannot desribe it. All I can say is that it was the best ride I had ever had on TTD. And to top it off I ended my day around 7:30pm with another pass on TTD. Even more impressive, I noticed very little down time with TTD on 09/18/04.

Unfortunantely Wicked Twister was not part of the morning ERT nor did it run at all during the visit. I was informed by a park supervisor that WT was experiencing electrical issues and would be available again for the Halloweekends. Raptor was part of the ERT and I managed 7 trips on Raptor in the morning.

I also managed mulitple trips on M.F, M.S, C.C.M.R., Gemini, Iron Dragon, Wild Cat, Blue Streak & Disaster Transport. I was able to convice a ride operator to allow me to ride Woodstock Express. I opted to pass on Corkscrew & Manits.

The only dissapointing portion of my day at CP was my single ride on Magnum. It was single ride by choice. I was very suprised by how rough Magnum has become. I had never been so uncomfortable on an attraction before. I was happiest when the ride ended. Magnum for many year has been a favorite ride for me. But the getting "jerked out of your seat airtime" that was experienced on this ride is not fun any longer. I can say that for the first time ever that I was hurting after getting off a ride.

I know that there are many of you that feel the same way about Mean Streak. Its just a matter of preference. I can tolerate the horizontal jostling better than the vertical jostling on a ride.

I must also give many thanks to the staff at the park. They treated all of the participants of Coaster Mania very well and the provided a very tasty lunch. And for those of you who want to know...chicken, pasta, italian sausage, potato salad, baked beans, beverages, and various sweets.

And I managed to return home by 9:30pm.

You will probably here this more as people respond to this thread, but you missed some of the most intense Magnum rides ever. I have been on Magnum probably near 100 times or more, and I think last night we had some of the fastest, most intense rides ever. The MF ERT was a great ride too.

Also, Is Woodstock Express not open to everyone anymore? You say you were, "able to convince a ride operator to allow me to ride Woodstock Express." I have no ridden this year, but the past two years I was able to ride it at least 4 times with no questions from any ride op. Did they change the rules so that you must be accompanies by a child now?

The best ERT ever, Friday night. 4 rides on TTD, all about 15 min waiting, each. Could've gone on it more, but Raptor (13) and Magnum (5) are way better. IMO.

I went to Magnum's ERT on Saturday, there was too many people, So I went to MF's ERT and was able to get 6 rides.

A great weekend at the Point!

I as rode MS at Coastermania, and to my surprise, it wasn't that bad. I was in the very front seat and had one of the smoothest rides on MS ever!

And about Magnum ERT. It was SOOO awesome. The airtime was great, the station was pumped up, and riding it in the dark is awesome. I got on MF for ERT, but had to wait pretty long. After the first ride on MF at night, I got back in line, and it was backed up BAD! Instead of waiting, I went over to ride Magnum, and to my surprise, no one was in line. I had a great time yesterday.

I too thought that Magnum was really rough when I rode it during the day, but oh...at nite. Those may have been my very best Magnum rides ever.

James K - You can still ride Woodstock Express without accompaining a child. I have ridden it twice this year and find it better than CCMR. It is still is hard to fit in though.

I've been on Magnum hundreds of times, and no too rides are the same. If you would've taken another spin in another seat on another train it might have been smooth as glass. It has "personality" that way.

I had a fantastic time at CM as well. This was only the third one I have done but was easily the most fun.

I didn't find Magnum to be any rougher or smoother than it usually is but perhaps the reason you got a rough ride was because the trims were off. I hadn't gotten a trimless ride in a few years and forgot how violent the ending can be.

The Millennium Force ERT was probably the most fun I have had during an ERT at the park. The whole cheering "thing" as people exited the ride was hilarious. The ride itself was running in fine form.

I met quite a few Buzzers at the park. Everyone was very cool.

-Sean

Everything was excellent, the lines were pretty short all day and the ERT was great.

DragsterForce I'm suprised that you had a good ride on Mean Streak because my single ride was one of the worst I've ever had.

Magnum didn't seem any rougher than normal, and the night-time ERT on it was amazing.

I thought Magnum gave the best rides of any ride there this weekend. It didn't take too long to figure out the blue train was a bit rougher then the other two, and then just stay off the axle. The ERT was phenomenal - I hated leaving it, but alas, there were others in our party who had to go to MF.

The cheering thing on MF was funny. It was started by a few girls on the ramp yelling down that the line was closing and the people exiting would have to run to make it, and just kind of spread through the line.

This was my personal favorite CoasterMania ever. I'd love to see the event on this weekend every year. *** Edited 9/20/2004 2:02:44 AM UTC by Chaindog***

Rather than create a new topic I'll just post here:

This was my first Coastermania, as well as my first enthusiast event. I had a great time and can’t wait to make it to another one in the future.

I stayed at the Quality Inn right at the enterence to the causeway. I got a good deal at 59 a night online with AAA, because the sign said 79 a night. The day started out early, made even earlier by not leaving the park Friday night until 1100. It was odd walking through the park at 6 in the morning with no lights, and maintenance trucks driving around.

I was probably 200 people back in the line for Dragster when they opened it at 630. Due to a couple of roll backs I didn’t get a ride until about 715. I guess I should have woken up a few minutes earlier.

After that I decided to get a ride on Mantis. They were having people take off their pins because they already had someone lose it. I waited one train for the front row. There was no one in any other row. I’m not a big fan of stand ups. The dive loop is great, but I don’t think it is a ride that I could ride over and over again. Raptor on the other hand was.

I got over there about 8 and rode it non stop until 930. The only wait was for front row, every other row was a walk on. One on ride, some kid I was riding, lets just say, did something really stupid for the on ride photo. I decided on not saying something to him, you think he would know better, but I guess not.

Raptor was running great, except they had the mid course trim on. One time I almost thought we had stopped. I ran to dragster to get one more ride before the peeps got in at 930. I finally got a front row ride on Friday night. I could really feel my face getting pulled back.

At ten the line for M F was a half hour, I got a ride and then got a free way stamp. You can always count on hearing Funky Town, This Kiss and I Do by Lisa Loeb a few times when you are Cedar Point. Can’t they add a few new tunes to the mix ?

I rode Mean Streak, and it still disappoints me. Someone during the day said a few years ago during some ERT on it they ran it without the midcourse stop and the second half was great, I’ll have to take their word on it. Because of that ride on Mean Streak, I missed a stamp for Top Thrill by about 15 people. Oh well.

The lunch was better than I thought it would be. I got to meet Mr. Dave Althoff Jr. who was very nice. I spent some time just walking around the shops and arcades.

I really liked the MTV Drumscape set up they have there. The little booth makes it much easier to hear everything as opposed to the open air one other places have. I also got a couple great rides on Gemini, with much hand slapping to be had.

I decided to get one least ride on Dragster before 8 so I got in line about 645. I met some cool people who were also there for Coaster Mania and talked a lot about Disney World, among other things. There was a small break down, but I got on right before 8, then got a quick ride on Power Tower before they closed the lines.

The line was already former in front of Magnum. I got about six rides, and they were great. No trims in the turn around and some great air on the return trip. I kept saying one more than over to Millennium Force about four times.

By 9, there was nobody in the cue at Magnum, as I found out they were all at MF. I waited 30 minutes for my first ERT ride and in 90 minutes got four rides in. The atmosphere was great. Near the end were were cheering the people on to get back in line before they closed it. I got the second to last ride in the back row and had a great ride.

Luckily I only had to drive a couple minutes to get back to the hotel, as I was wiped out. I had a blast, thanks Cedar Point! *** Edited 9/19/2004 11:54:52 PM UTC by ChiDan1972***

Magnum was freakin ROCKING last night!!! I never wanted to leave! I think I got about 15 rides during ERT. AMAZING airtime, or should I say "floatime" in some areas.

This past weekend was AWESOME! After braving the WV and Southern Ohio flooding from Ivan it was awesome to enjoy the clear, Sandusky fall weather.

Dragster was running better than I had ever seen before, and managed to get 5 rides between Friday night and Sat. SWEET!

The whole weekend was just special.....look for a TR later on!

I couldn't have asked for a better weekend.....great friends, DDR, cheese fries, awesome ERT, the staff, the weather, the good times......just amazing. It was one insane, crazy weekend that I will never forget.

Now I am trying to catch up on sleep.....:-)

-Tina

How were the lines midday? I always remember hearing it was really crowded.

The first part of the running/cheering was kind of interesting.

However it wasn't nearly as funny when the entire train did it. I was standing right next to the unload station when an entire trainload of people bolted from the train, and took off running. At that point the line was probably closed. But what made it worse was that the ride-op said nearly 2-3 times "walk, don't run". I didn't notice anyone who actually did what she said.

Running on a midway is one thing. But having 32 people run as fast as they can out of MF's station it's crossing the line.

But other then that one minor gripe it was a great day.

I gotta agree with Carnage. The cheering/clapping stuff, that's just annoying. It's a rollercoaster fanclub, not a drumline. I enjoy seeing people pumped, but clapping and chanting throughout the entire ride is ridiculous. We actually left Magnum's ERT to go to MF instead thanks to people who were calling themselves the "ACEholes". Very appropriate!

And to SFgadvMAN, the lines during midday weren't too bad. Much less than a normal CP day, and still a tad less than a normal Halloweekends day. So it worked out great!

Friday night the park was DEAD and my last Dragster ride before closing was WALK-ON! :-D

Saturday the park wasn't too crowded but had it's moments. I left the park right after lunch to chill out for a few hours. When we came back about 7pm it started to clear out quite a bit.

There for a while Magnum was my favorite coaster, no, my favorite *gasm* over the whole park! I did manage to get a ride on Millie during Sat. night ERT and it was running just as blissfully. Millie is THEE *after dark* coaster. It's almost surreal.

-Tina

I got the *Best Rides Evar* out of Magnum and MF during the ERT. Millennium Force was just throwing the airtime into my face like it was mocking all the times I claimed it was never there. I was really blown away by the end of the night and getting the final MF ride up front (well, in 1-2, =p @ J&K) was joygasmic.

Magnum was running in brutally insane mode (exactly how I like it) though on Saturday. The middle seats (just like a woodie) tend to be smoother, so I usually go for those if I'm being overbashed or vibrated. Trimless rides on Friday were kind of sad since the wind was blowing so hard, so my expectations weren't that high on CM. ERT turned out to be a butt-slappin', leg-bruisin' good time though and those 8 or so Magnum rides had to be the most incredible rides I've ever had on a coaster at the park. By my last ride on it, it felt like the wheels were really angry with the hardcore airtime abuse from the trimless rides. Doing "other things" with friends on the coaster kept it really interesting as well. ;)

Hanging out with old friends and meeting new ones was the best thing about the whole CoasterMania experience. I'll definitely make plans to come back. Thanks to the park, coasters, and friends for another high point this season.

+Danny