Coastermania - Our First Time!

Quick Ride Summary:
Maverick - 3
MF - 2
Raptor - 2
Gemini - 3
Skyhawk - 1
Magnum - 1
Wildcat - 1
Blue Streak - 1
Troika - 1
Power Tower - 1
TTD - 2

I can’t believe it’s over already! To think, just three days ago how excited I was. This was our first coaster club event, but our 5th time at Cedar Point. Normally, our trips to CP are on Memorial Day weekend and we are with 6 other people. We drive up from Indy after work on Friday, we would arrive around 1am, go to the park on Saturday and drive back on Sunday. It makes for a VERY rushed weekend. Except this time. My husband, Steve, and I were able to really enjoy more of what CP has to offer on this trip. It was wonderful!

We arrived at the Breakers hotel around 6:30 pm on Thursday. I think the guy that checked us in had worked as a ride op at some point. After giving us directions on how to get to our room I totally expected him to say, “please keep your arms and hands inside the car at all times and enjoy your ride.” He just had that tone, it was hilarious!

After we brought our stuff up to the room we headed over to Famous Dave’s at the marina to have dinner. The food was fantastic! The service could have been a little better, but it wasn’t that bad.

After dinner we played mini golf at Challenge Park. We played just the blue course because it was already 9:00pm, I wanted to get to bed so we can be ready at 5:30am on Friday.

We were out the door around 5:30am and we walked to the entrance of the park that was near Breakers. Come to find out, no one was there and we had to go to the very front of the park. So, we waited for a bus. We were walking up to the gates by 6am. We bypassed the booths where you purchase tickets, because we had already purchased the tickets, I didn’t think we had to wait in that line. They guy who was taking our tickets asked if we had our “membership card,” I said yes and started to get it when he said that I didn’t have to, just as long as I had it. So, I didn’t show him. As we walk through, we just missed a meeting session of some sort. I was upset about that. Next thing we knew people were headed towards Maverick/MF/Raptor. Some, of course, were running. I was laughing at that. We get half way to Maverick when we realize that we needed our actual Coastermania badge. Sooo...Steve and I walk aaalllll the way back to the main gates, get our hand stamped and got our cups for free drinks all day and our badge. By the time we got to Maverick it was 6:30am. Not too bad, only a half hour waisted.

The line for Maverick went really quick! They had 6 trains going. As Lord Gonchar posted in another thread, the ERT didn’t seem so ‘E’. He was right, but it really wasn’t that bad. I took note from what I’ve been reading that Maverick is a bit more rough in the back than in the front, so Steve and I hopped into the second seat. What an incredible ride! The speed it goes over the first hill is perfect. The first airtime hill is awesome. It feels much faster than 70 mph going through that tunnel Granted you still get that jerky side to side motion at parts, but it really is a great ride!

After Maverick, we went to MF and rode that two times. The line went fast on that one as well. They had all trains running and the ride ops were busting their butts. They were having fun as well. Knowing full well what type of crowd they were dealing with and knowing that we all know everything about the ride, they just made stuff up. At one point he said, “you will go up 5 million feet.” ;)

After MF, we rode Raptor twice. We found out that they videotape you on the ride as opposed to taking your picture! This was new to us, but we never ended up purchasing one, maybe next time. After the two rides on Raptor our ERT was close to ending. So we headed back to Maverick and waited for it to reopen and rode that for the second time in the same seat. As we were waiting in line, the ride was temporarily shut down. They made the “announcement,” but we waited for about 10 minutes and the ride was back up again. There were people still sitting in trains on the track to come back to the station while the ride was down. They started the wave. People in the first train would start, it would go through the second train and through the third. It was amusing. :)

There wasn’t a line for Skyhawk, so I rode that while Steve watched from the ground. Then we headed to Gemini. We sat in shade for about 10 minutes for them to open the ride. We saw someone coming down to let us through so we walk over and waited in line. There were like 6 people in front of us. But we didn’t go through right away. There seemed to be a problem with the turn style. Apparently the counter wasn’t working. He fiddled with it for a while, then called another guy down to look at it. The new guy fiddled for a while and made another call. By this point I lost it. I was laughing so hard I almost had to walk away. Can you imagine that announcement? “Gemini is temporarily shut down due to turn style malfunctions. We don’t know how long the wait will be.” ;) So, FINALLY, they just let us through. Steve and I rode in the back. OMG!!! Talk about torture!! Those seats need to be padded back there. It felt like our kidney’s were getting punched. Believe it or not, after that abuse, we got back on for a second ride, but this time we rode in the very front seat. This was MUCH better!

After Gemini, we rode Magnum. We just had to wait for a couple of trains to go through, then we were on. I think Magnum is getting rougher as the years go by. We were in the front seat of the second car.

By this time it was about 11am. We were getting hungry, so we went down to get a gourmet hot pretzel located near the south end of the Sky Ride (buckets). We wanted to ride Disaster Transport, but found out after waiting for about 15 minutes, it was shut down. So, instead we rode Troika.

It was getting close to noon and the Q&A session was going to start in the convention center. We had no idea where this was located so we found some fellow enthusiast with the badges and asked if they knew, and they didn’t either. Steve and I ended up going to park services and he told us how to get there. Steve and I ended up gathering a group of us who didn’t know where it was. Personally, I thought the Q&A session was great! I had no idea there were going to be some VIP’s there answering questions. It included the President of Cedar Fair, President of Cedar Point, Director of Safety, Director of Ride Operations, Director of Engineering, Director of Ride Maintenance and the Director of Public Relations. It was very informative, there were a lot of compliments on Maverick from the enthusiasts. There was one complaint about Maverick in that it is a bit of a rough ride for shorter people. Steve and I being 5’9”, we can understand that it would be for anyone who is shorter than we are. On the list of possibilities, they are thinking about a dark ride and a 4D ride. The panel mentioned that they realize that coasters don’t have to be record setters to be great coasters. Steve and I agreed. There was one guy who was talking about the Maxx Pass. Only, he didn’t call it a Maxx Pass, he called it the Maxi Pass and he also said Maxi Pass Plus. The entire room was snickering because it sounded like he said Maxi Pad. Too funny!

After Q&A, Steve and I rode Blue Streak. They had talked about how they refurbished it. They aren’t kidding! It is a really nice ride. Not that it wasn’t before, it’s better now.
We had 20 minutes until lunch started so we decided to wait in line. I was shocked to see a fairly decent line had already formed. There were brats, pasta, baked beans, potato salad, chocolate chip cookie, ice cream, soda and cotton candy. The brat and pasta was very good! We couldn’t believe the line was still there and still forming by the time we finished eating! There were definitely more people at lunch than there were at the morning ERT. As Steve and I were leaving lunch we ran into fellow CoasterBuzz members, rollergator and coasterqueenTRN. It was nice very nice meeting them both, and we look forward to seeing them again! :)

After lunch, Steve and I rode Wildcat. By that time the line had gone down, so we took advantage. After Wildcat, we headed back to our room, cleaned up from being out in the hot sun and slept for a couple of hours.

By 6:30 pm, we were downstairs eating Pizza Hut. We thought about TGI Friday’s, but it was a 30-40 minute wait and I wanted to get back to the park. While eating, there was a child screaming that she wanted her mommy and daddy. I guess Grandma was watching her for the evening while mommy and daddy were away. That went on for about, what seemed 10 minutes. Another customer actually started telling Grandma what she should do. I couldn’t really hear him over the screaming child, but it sounded like he was suggesting she take the child outside. After a while, Grandma FINALLY got the kid to shut up. (I don’t mean to offend those of you who have kids, it’s hard for us to understand, since we don’t have any of our own, and plan to keep it that way).

When we got back into the park, we checked to see the wait for Maverick. It wasn’t bad, so we got in line for the third time. We ended up chatting with a mother and her son, who seemed to be between 10-12 years old. It was their first time riding so we suggested to sit up front and hold the harness up by their shoulders. They ended up sitting behind us (we sat in the second seat, again). They LOVED the ride and were appreciative of the advise. :) The speed on Maverick this third time was definitely faster than earlier in the day!

After our final ride on Maverick, we took our third ride on Gemini. We had about 45 minutes until our evening ERT would begin, but we decided to hop on TTD anyway. The line wasn’t long at all. I always get so nervous waiting for it to launch, but oh what a ride!!! Steve and I like to ride that one in the back. The air time you get is incredible!!!
Once we were done with that, we waited in line for Power Tower ERT to start. I rode this while Steve waited for me. I ended up sitting next to another guy that didn’t seem like he was having much fun. I’m not sure if he was there by himself or not. Oh well.

Steve and I took one more ride on TTD, then headed back to the hotel. While waiting in line for TTD’s ERT we heard that Magnum was down, so they opened Wicked Twister. After a while, Magnum was back up and stayed open until 12:30 am when it was originally going to close at midnight. So that was cool that they extended the time on that due to it not being operational right away. Also, while waiting in line, we heard some people in the crowd shout to the ride ops that they wanted a roll back. As far as we know, it didn’t happen. We ended up leaving about 30 before ERT ended. It was a long day, but VERY fun!
I forgot to mention, during the Q&A someone suggested if they could turn off the lights on TTD’s ERT. But they didn’t. It was funny to watch the girls that would ride dragster in the front seat. When they returned to the station, they would see all the bugs that splattered on their chest during the ride. LOL!!! ;)

Steve and I checked out this morning and headed over to Friendly’s for breakfast. We drove through downtown Sandusky and took pictures of the park across the street from the Carousel Museum. After that, we went to the Firelands Winery then headed back to Indy. It’s a nice winery. Didn’t really care for the way they had the tasting set up. They had a selection of 6 that you can try as opposed to being able to try anything on their list. Not bad, just different. Very nice people and beautiful winery.

Steve and I were talking about it today, it would have been cool if there were meeting times specifically for CoasterBuzz so we could have had the opportunity to meet more members. We’ll just have to wait for the next CoasterBuzz trip! ;)

*** Edited 6/17/2007 4:10:08 AM UTC by coasterlover325***

What an awesome TR! It sounds like you and Steve had a great time! I think everyone I talked to had an awesome time! :)

It was a pleasure meeting you guys and I am glad you found me. :) Bill, Jeff, and I got to the buffet right before the running of the bulls as well. ;) That was definitely the LARGEST crowd I saw all day. :)

The best thing I like about Coastermania (besides getting to hang out with my peeps) is it's free with the MaxPass, AND you get a meal on the house. :) In other words you don't have to pay a dime except for parking. And you don't even pay for that if you stay at one of their hotels/properties. :)

The ERT Friday night was kickass. Bill and I got a front row ride on Dragster first thing, and in my favorite train. Well, I just like the color red. ;) I am a huge "visuals" type of person when it comes to certain coasters, and Dragster is one of them. ;) It was worth being smacked in the face by a few (hundred) muffleheads. ;)

I was there both Thursday and Friday. I thought Maverick ROCKED OUT! It was SO me. Some of my friends thought it was a little rough but I had NO issues whatsoever, which is RARE! I thought it was fun, fast, and I laughed and nearly cried with every ride. :)

I was surprised at how low the crowds were on Friday. I think I saw more people at the buffet than in the park itself. ;) Usually Coastermanias are PACKED. I think the longest I waited in line for anything was an hour for Maverick. Well, we waited in line for Dragster Friday morning until they announced it was down. Oh well. ;)

It was a great trip and I was happy to hang out and see everyone again soon.

Thanks again for the kickass TR! Glad to see you guys had an awesome time!

-Tina

*** Edited 6/17/2007 7:42:17 AM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***

Great Trip Report. :)

Before people go nuts on the idea of a 4D coaster, I have to say I think yu mis heard. I though they were talking about the 4D movies like they have at Geauge Lake.

Great Report.

My group and I also had a great time. We did alot more than we thought we were going to do. it was not as bad as some were Making it out to be. The only problem I saw was when TTD ERT started the poeople would not fill the trains they would only want the front and that held up the dispatch of the trains for like 5-10 mins. except for that I had a really great time.

Hey Tina! I agree, I think there were more people at the lunch. ;) It's funny you mention the red train, because Steve and I swear up and down that the green train is faster! We managed to get that one on our second ride. I forget which one we had first but the green one was definitely faster!

Jason - I apologize, I probably should have clarified. You are correct, they were talking about a 4D movie type ride and NOT a ride like X.

Alexx - It did take them a while to get that ride going at first. Silly people who HAVE to ride front seat. ;)

Thanks for stopping by! :)

If Bill, Jeff, and I were not the first 6 or 7 waiting to enter the Dragster queue Friday night I would of jumped into ANY spot. I think we were the second or third pair to get in the front row (on the right side.) :)

It's quite typical that people RUN to the front and back rows right away during ERT. Usually the parks run the coasters anyway with the exception of Dragster (at least from my experience.)

I usually grab ANY available spot/shortest line. THAT particular ride was too good to pass up though. :) Yum!

-Tina

*** Edited 6/17/2007 7:22:01 PM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***

There was definitely an "E" in the Raptor ERT--while everyone went running for Maverick and MF, hubby and I were one of the 1st 4 people on Raptor's line.
Got 27 ERT rides, then 4 Joe Cool rides.

Now that's what I call ERT! It was a blast! TR on CM and CExt later..trying to recover from all the fun!! :)

Jo
Lifetime Raptor flights: 1207 :)

I also skipped Maverick, having gotten my ERT a couple weeks ago. I instead went to Millennium Force, which for the most part was walk on if you didn't mind skipping the fron and back seats. A regular to Cedar Point (Bob) got 25 rides I belive. I only got 9, but I waited for back a few times and also headed back to get a couple Skyhawk rides.

This was my first Coaster Mania, and it will not be my last. What a BLAST!! I was also very surprise that the crowds were so lo for a Friday. You could honestly tell when lunch was because the lines were noticeably smaller. The longest wait for the day for me was maverick at about 50 minutes. I also decided to get my Woodstock Express Credit, which I had to wait at least 20 minutes to get on. :)

I stuck with the big four coasters for the most part. I even skipped Magnum this trip, only because I had numerous rides earlier this season. Maverick was totally running amazingly, and IMO is the best ride in the park now, with the front seat being my favorite since its not as rough (even if I still love the back). I just love that hose blinding me and then hitting that quick element under the hill, it gives me just gives me such a rush (I'm bing totally honest about that water hose).

Total Ridership is as follows after 26 hours in the park (THURS Night - SAT Morning):

Maverick - 11
Millennium Force - 9
Top Thrill - 7
Raptor - 5
Skyhawk - 3
Blue Streak - 1
Mean Streak - 1
Woodstock Express - 1

Average Rides: About 1.5/hour

WHAT A GREAT DAY!

I was planning on being there, but my car decided otherwise. :( Hopefully next year. Wow 25 MF rides, thats what I'm looking for! Did they make you go around and get back in line for ERTs, or could you stay on if no one was waiting? any CoasterEXT reports?

coasterlover, it was nice meeting you and your husband - I trust this won't be your last event... :)

4D movies, dark rides...is this the same CFwe've grown accustomed to, or has the boardroom been hijacked?

I don't know if 5'11 is "short", but I got my neck knocked into the OTSRs on Mverick a few times, same place every ride. Still fun and enjoyable, but not something I'd *marathon*. Good fun ride, LOVE the Intamin-style airtime, and all of the elements save the one.

Now if only *I* could be as convincing to get people to ride Dragster's BACK seat... ;)

This year was my thrid straight visit for coastermania. Me being a runner myself I was a little disapointed that there wasn't any competition as far as the morning run went. My cousin and myself were the head of the pack. We choose MF first knowing that a good majority of folk would head toward maverick.

My ERTfor the morning totaled out to be

Maverick - 2

Force - 5

Skyhawk - 2

Raptor -1

We left at 12am friday morning coming from Buffalo, NY and arrived in the parking lot at 4:10am. So after our ert by 8:30, I went back out to the car to take a nap until the park opened at 10 I was pretty exhuasted to do anything else and resting was the only thing on my mind.