Coastermania 2003: 17 hours of Cedar Point glory!
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Myself and my buddy Mike left around 6.30, a half hour later than we planned, but still in good time nevertheless. We stopped at McDonalds on the way there for some quick breakfast and by 7.30 were at the park. We walked right up to the group sales booth and grabbed 2 buttons and lunch tickets, and then we were into the park. The person at the gate told us that TTD was down but that it would be running later in the day, so we decided not to spend any time going back there, and when straight to Raptor. Due to an extremely busy spring this was my first trip to CP, and Raptor was a great way to start off the year. The line wasn’t bad at all, probably around 10 minutes, and the crew was awesome too as I didn’t see any stacking.
After two rides on Raptor we hopped over to Blue Streak for a ride. The line was around 5 minutes long, and even though it might not be as intense as some of the newer CCIs, its still an awesome old woodie. We decided next to head over to Power Tower, but when we got there we saw that they were only running 2 our out of 4 towers, and the line was fairly long. The attendant at the gate told us that Millennium Forced had replaced TTD in the morning ERT, so we didn’t even head over there but rather went over to MF. By now it was about 8.30 and when we got to MF we saw a group of about 15 people milling around the entrance.
The guy told us that Coastermania ERT had started at 6.30 and the line closed at 8.30 so they could clear out the line for Joe Cool Club and resort guest ERT. We almost decided to go back to Raptor but decided we’d rather wait the half hour since we would probably be on the first train out. As we were waiting around we were wondering if they were going to swap MF and TTD in terms of the ERTs, and we struck up a conversation with the person behind us in line. She said she’d been there at 6.30 and they were giving out 2 passes to everyone who was there. One was a skip to the front of the line pass for any ride in the park, and the other was a skip to the front t of the line pass exclusively for TTD.
Had Mike and I known about this earlier, we probably would have taken a walk over to TTD just to pick them up. I tried to flag down Janice Witherow when she came past, because I noticed she had a large stack of them, but she was busy talking to someone else. We figured we’d have to somehow get them later. Finally at 9.00 they let us into the line and we walked right into the ride and were on the first train out. Millennium Force is still an awesome ride, and until I ride TTD to compare, its still my #1. As we were sitting on the brake run we noticed the line wasn’t even halfway down the ramp so we got in line again. It took a few minutes to check everyone’s JJC passes and resort passes, but two rides in a half hour isn’t bad at all.
After the second ride we realized it was starting to get really hot, so we headed back to the locker I had rented earlier in the morning and put our sweatshirts inside. One comment I have about the lockers is that I was a little disappointed with the price. I haven’t had to use a locker in a while, but I remember when they used to only be 75 cents. I had to pay $3 for the locker and put down a $5 deposit which I wouldn’t get back until I returned the key. IMO they should only charge you if you lose the key, that way I would have had an extra 5 bucks in my pocket that I can actually spend in the park at some point in the day.
Anyway, we hopped on the skyride, which had just opened, and headed toward the back of the park. We hit Magnum which had only a station wait. Most lines had about a 4 or 5 train wait, but we headed over to the ejector seat and there were only 2 people in front of us. Gotta love the position of the line for that seat. Magnum was just as I’d remembered it, fast, a little rough, and delivering an insane amount of airtime. After getting off we went around for another ride. The line for the ejector seat was a little longer, so we settled for car 1 row 2 which only had two people in line for it. It was kind of amazing how much of a difference one row makes in terms of the amount of airtime the ride delivers.
We decided to hit the back of the park before noon, hoping there wouldn’t be lines for anything yet. To our surprise, Gemini had a twenty minute wait. The once capacity king of the park was starting to seem not so royal. I had seen them test both the red and the blue trains when we were in line for Magnum, but for some reason they were only running two trains on the red side. The ride was a little rougher than I remembered it, but that could have been because we were sitting in the back row. We headed over to Mean Streak next, which only had a station wait. Mean Streak is a ride that I never really loved, yet I never really hated. I had some of the best rides on it during last year’s Coastermania night ERT, of course, I don’t think those rides will ever be topped.
It was about 11.00 when we stepped off the ride, and we were starting to feel kind of tired. I knew it wasn’t a good idea to stay up late the night before watching movies. The second Q&A session started at noon, so we decided to head back to the front of the park to catch that and rest for a little while. We hopped back on the skyride when we got to it, and rode that back to the front. Wicked Twister had a fairly short line, I’d guess maybe 20-30 minutes, but we decided just to get a stamp and come back for it later. We ran into Nick, Dan, Adam, and Kelly over by Ocean Motion and rode that once with them.
We told them we’d meet back up with them for lunch, got our hand stamped, and left the park to go to the Q&A. We didn’t get there until right about noon, so most close up seats were already taken, and we sat more toward the back. I’d have to say that I really enjoyed the Q&A this year and thought it was done much better than last year. The video was cool, and the location was nice too. One thing that got me though... it sure seemed like a lot of the people there were really easily amused. I mean, sure some of the footage of people riding TTD was funny, but these people were almost rolling on the floor they were laughing so hard.
I thought most of the questions were pretty good, and I was glad that they weren’t whiny like they were last year. I thought some of the kid’s questions though were a little dumb, as was any question that started with the phrase, ”I heard this rumor that...”. The video of Monty Jasper on the early show was really good too. I had never seen it before, and thought it was awesome that it just happened to roll back during that video shoot.
We walked down the beach after it was over and went back in the Magnum gate. The line for Magnum had gotten fairly long, so we skipped past it. We got a quick ride on Corkscrew as we were walking past. The only comment I really have about this ride is that it probably had the best crew I had ever seen in my life. I hadn’t been in my seat for more than 10 seconds before we were already off. Its awesome that they can run all three trains on this ride and not stack them at all.
Going up the lift hill we saw trains moving around on TTD, and were really hoping that it was going to open some time soon. When we got off Corkscrew we saw a line starting to form for TTD on the midway and a train was going backward slowly on the track. We probably stood there are watched the train move around for close to 15 minutes, and then it stopped and didn’t do anything for pretty much the rest of the day. There was about a half hour left before lunch, and Mike wanted to ride Mantis beforehand. I didn’t think it was possible since Mantis always seemed to have crazy lines, but thought maybe we could get a stamp for it instead. Unfortunately, all the stamps had already been given out for both Mantis and Millennium Force.
This is still one of my beefs with the freeway system, you have to get there extremely early to even get a stamp. They had given all of the stamps out already and it was only 1.30! The line looked like it would take at least an hour so we decided to come back to it later and just go to lunch. I thought we were going to be some of the first people there since we got there 5 minutes before it was supposed to start, but to my surprise the pavilion was already packed with people. The free lunch is one thing I really have to compliment Cedar Point on. I think I figured out that if I would have paid for all of that food in the park the bill would have come close to $25. I drank about $10 in pop alone ;). The food definitely wasn’t gourmet, but it was definitely good enough for me.
We didn’t see any of the guys who were supposed to meet up with us when we first got there, so we figured they just hadn’t gotten there yet. Mike ran into Nick about 5 minutes later, and within minutes the whole company had shown up. Right after lunch I met my sister at the front gate and told her I’d met up with her again later. We caught up with the guys again outside of the Blue Streak but they were on their way out. Apparently they had SATs the next day and couldn’t stay too late.
We headed back toward Iron Dragon, which had about a ten minute line, and got a ride in on that. I thought the mist had been on heavier in the morning, but it was still a fun ride nevertheless. It was about 3.20 by now and we still had another forty minutes before our freeway time on Wicked Twister, so we hopped on the skyride again and headed for Dispatch Master Transport, hoping the air conditioning would be on and we could cool off. Unfortunately, the only room with AC was the last room with the crates and stuff. It was a fun ride, but I still think the biggest problem with the it is that its too short.
We got off around 4.15 and headed to Wicked Twister for our freeway ride. We only waited about 20 minutes, and that includes waiting for the back seat. I don’t think I’ll ever ride WT in any seat other than the back again, its intense and the twistage is just awesome. When we got off we realized that we had totally forgotten about the front of the line passes we were supposed to get for TTD, so we headed straight for the Park Operations office. We explained the whole story and the guy there had almost no idea what we were talking about, so he called Robin Innes and then sent us to the Marketing Office. I had never known that the Marketing Office is where it was, probably because its kind of isolated off. We saw Robin Innes walking out as we got there, but he was talking to someone and we didn’t even realize it until he was past. The secretary in the office though had a big stack of the passes and gave two to both me and Mike.
We considered saving them for another day, but figured we probably would come back with other people and it would be kind of mean to tell them to wait for us while we cut everybody in line, and so figured we’d use them today. We headed to the arcade next for some DDR on the brand new machines which I was anxious to try out. I was really excited when I walked in and saw they had not one but two EXTREME machines right up in the front of the arcade where you could even see them from the midway. I put my quarter on the machine and patiently waited until the person in front of me failed End of the Century and then I got up and played. I played three semi-difficult songs on Standard and wasn’t paying attention to anything except for the game. When I stepped off I was amazed as there were probably 15-20 people crowded around watching. I thought DDR at Cedar Point was awesome before, but its probably twice as sweet now.
We headed over to Mantis right after and decided we’d wait in line since we had nothing else to do. The sign said and hour and 15 minutes, and the q-line looked pretty full, but I knew it was Mantis and wasn’t going to get much better, so we jumped in line. The last time I rode Mantis was during the morning ERT of last year’s Coastermania, so I had truly forgotten how bad an inefficient this ride is. They were stacking trains just about every time and they were only running two which was disappointing. I didn’t keep track of time, but we waited no less than an hour and a half.
Afterward we decided we’d use our jump to the front of the line passes and wait for the front seat on Millennium Force. We waited about a half an hour total and it was more than worth it. I had only sat in the front seat one other time in my life and that ride definitely refreshed my memory of how awesome that seat is. Not only was the view amazing, but since there was nothing reflecting the wind it seemed like we were going twice as fast as usual. My sister called me and asked if I could meet her for a game of DDR, and since I had so much fun the last time I decided I’d go for round two. There wasn’t as big of a crowd this time, although we did play easier songs, it was still a lot of fun though.
It was going on 8.00 and Mike was hungry so we headed to Coasters for some dinner. I wasn’t feeling all that great after the last game of DDR, but I got a milkshake anyway. Afterward we hopped on the skyride again (I don’t know what we would have done without it) and got our stuff out of the locker, because I kind of wanted my 5 bucks back, and didn’t want to have to run over there at night. We left the park by Oceana and walked to the car which was parked at Soak City.
We were really starting to get tired by now, and I had just about lost my voice, since I had had a sore throat the few previous nights, but we decided to tough it out. So we went back into the park at the Magnum gate and headed toward Raptor for a nightride. As we were walking there it started drizzling, but we didn’t want a little rain spoil the fun so we got in line, which was extremely short, only about 10 minutes. By the time we got on the ride it was raining kind of hard, but the ride was still awesome, as are all night rides on Raptor.
Since TTD still hadn’t opened we figured Millennium Force was still on the schedule for the night ERT, but wanted to stop by Park Operations just to confirm that. When we got there we were told MF was NOT on the schedule for the night ERT, but instead had been replaced with Gemini and Disaster Transport with the lights on. I don’t know how they managed to come up with Disaster Transport, but I guess thats just how it goes. Now, this is the point at which I think Cedar Point really screwed up. They definitely should not have taken their top ride off of the night ERT, especially since they never really told anybody. I mean, what if someone decided they wanted to come up just for the evening ERT, not knowing that MF had been operating in the morning, and then found out it had been replaced by Disaster Transport?
I kept thinking to myself... if you can’t open MF for whatever reason, why not Raptor, or Mean Streak, or even Mantis? Disaster Transport just makes absolutely no sense. Anyway, it was about 9.30 so we headed over to MF to get a night ride in before it closed since it had gotten the ax from the night ERT. It started raining again when we first got in line and we were getting worried when a train didn’t go by in over 10 minutes, but after the rain slowed it started running again. We waited about an hour for the ride and it was awesome, I just wish I wasn’t as tired as I was.
Around 10.30 we headed over to the Wicked Twister/Disaster Transport area, and since WT had a fairly long line we walked onto DT. It was kind of interesting to ride it with the lights on, but its not like there wasn’t anything in there I wasn’t expecting. We didn’t think it was worth a re-ride so we started walking to the back of the park. We got to Gemini a few minutes later, a little disappointed to find that they were only running 2 out of 6 trains, but at least they were racing this time and there wasn’t a very long line, so it wasn’t all bad. The ride seemed to run extremely well and without trim brakes, which is always a good thing. My only complaint is that they gave the blue train such an advantage that the trains never got up next to each other so people could slap hands.
It was about 11.10 when we got off and what happened next was a little interesting. We were walking over toward Magnum when a guy with a black ACE jacket asked if anyone had just been at MF. I told him I was over there and he said something to the effect of, “is it really crowded?” I told him that it closed at 10.00 and it was replaced with DT and Gemini, and this guy just snapped and started yelling and screaming about how much he hated Cedar Point and how they’d screwed him over. We got to Magnum and I noticed something I’d never noticed before at a Coastermania ERT.
Now, granted this is only my second Coastermania, but the 3 other ERTs I’ve been to seemed to be high energy, everyone was really excited, cheering and clapping and the whole shebang. Magnum had a longer line than it did that morning when I rode it. A lot of the enthusiasts were angry and disappointed about what had happened. Not so much the fact that TTD had never opened, but the fact that Millennium Force wasn’t open for the night ERT. The person standing behind me even went so far as to say that tomorrow on Cedar Fair’s website, there should be an appology, and an invitation to all enthusiasts who had come on June 6 to come back on x date for 4 hours of ERT on Top Thrill Dragster. What happened next was even weirder... I I rode Magnum in dead silence. Nobody was cheering, nobody was yelling, and nobody was screaming, it was a dead silent ride.
After we got off we decided we didn’t really want to stay for the rest of the ERT since lines were long, we were tired, and there was a lot of negative energy being emitted from a lot of enthusiasts. We pulled out of the parking lot at 11.30, about 2 hours earlier than planned.
Now, I’m not going to go out and say that it was a bad trip and that Cedar Point screwed up big time and that I got screwed over, because really I didn’t. Morning ERT was awesome, Q&A was really cool, free lunch is always great, and plus I get to skip the line for Dragster next time I go to Cedar Point, so it wasn’t all bad. My two complaints are that they never did get TTD open, which I understand was because of mechanical beakdown, not because they just never felt like opening it, and that Millennium Force, although originally scheduled to be open until 1 am, closed at 10.00.
It seems to me thought that TTD being down for CM was definitely not good publicity for the park. I saw about a 5 minute story during FOX8 news at 10.00 while I was typing this about how TTD was down and the story really did make the park look kind of bad.
This year’s even may not have been nearly as cool as Coastermania 2002, but it was still a lot of fun and I definitely don’t regret going.
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Rob - Who believes it is possible to like both Cedar Point and SFWoA...
"A gun is not a weapon Marge, it's a tool. Like a butcher knife, or a harpoon, or... or an alligator" ~Homer J. Simpson
Out of the kindness of their hearts, CP did this for the enthusiasts. They didn't have to, they weren't required to, but this is the one time you could say thay catered to the enthusiast.
I guess the REAL definition of an enthusiast is one that belongs to some kind of coaster club, complains about the park not being perfect, doesn't cheer on a coaster they cheered on earlier in the day, and I could go further. I am happy to say that I like coasters, but not obsessed as some members of coaster groups.
Funny how when a coaster closes early, no one bothers to think it could have been extenuating circumstances. Just another way to screw the park-goer.
I'll be sure to avoid CP on these days. I can hear people complain all day at work, why would I want to hear people complain when they are supposed to have fun. I walk through the gates at CP and every little problem I have is forgotten. Nothing could ruin my day, except for some whiny enthusiasts maybe.
CP doesn't owe them anything!
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WW is fun. CP_M @ TN and Perfectbowler @ SFN.
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-Sean Newman
The reason I was told for why MF was not running at night was due to the fact that it had been running since 6:30am.
I wonder what the official count of Coastermania attendees was.....sure seemed like MUCH more than in previous years, which isn't surprising due to TTD.
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YOUNGSTOWN 2010
*** This post was edited by jkpark 6/8/2003 10:37:45 AM ***
edit: spelling
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My knex coasters
GOCC member # 671
*** This post was edited by BeccaRaptor 6/8/2003 11:02:54 AM ***
As to what Millennium Forced said, there were a lot of angry enthusiasts it seemed like. Hardly anyone was happy or energetic like they had been at last years ERT. I remember last year, people were clapping leaving the station. I didn't hear much of that this year, at least at night time. I think by night time though, people were tired, dissapointed that TTD wasn't open, nor Millennium Force, and just weren't in a good mood. Oh well, it was still really fun, and I enjoyed my time at the park, even if TTD wasn't open.
Cameron Parker
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Beast-Crew 04'
RCT2 Wizard: TheBeastMaster
Millennium Forced said:
...this guy just snapped and started yelling and screaming about how much he hated Cedar Point and how they’d screwed him over....and...
The person standing behind me even went so far as to say that tomorrow on Cedar Fair’s website, there should be an appology, and an invitation to all enthusiasts who had come on June 6 to come back on x date for 4 hours of ERT on Top Thrill Dragster.
Good thing I don't work for CP's publicity department, because I'd be tempted to post an invitation on their website for coaster enthusiasts to come back on x date and kiss my rear end for 4 hours...that probably wouldn't be good PR.
Seriously, though, what is wrong with people? A lot of people put in extra long days to make Coastermania work, from ride crews to PR people to food service workers, just to have a bunch of ungrateful people whine? CP didn't have to give exit passes, but they did (in fact, they gave 2!). In fact they don't even have to hold Coastermania every year. Let's get pissed because they try to do something nice for coaster enthusiasts. How many other events do you know of where season passholders get in for free? Yeah, I understand being frustrated because TTD was down (outside the park's control) and ERT was changed (just trying to offer enthusiasts ERT on a variety of rides), but taking it to such lenghts as flipping out in line really suggests a need to get a life.
Sorry if this sounds ranty, but after the incident at Holiday World last weekend, it is already easy for parks to hate enthusiasts, and reports of this kind of behavior make it that much easier.
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- Chris
I put the "D" in DDR.
*** This post was edited by MooreOn 6/8/2003 1:28:04 PM ***
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-Bubba
HTTP://community.webshots.com/user/cpbubba
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CBClub member #30 and #364 (renewal)
It was a fine event and the park did everything within thier control to make the best possible.
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Without the chaindog, you'd never get up the lifthill...
Personally, I and everyone else in my group was quite pleased with DT being added as a replacement. Not everyone thinks DT is a waste and quite frankly CP didn't have to add DT and Gemini.
I think CP went above and beyond trying to make up for the fact that TTD was not going to be open. They didn't have to give out 1 exit pass let alone 2.
It was a beautiful day, the food was good, MF was the only ride that had a long line during ERT, we got 2 exit passes and we had good company all day. What more could you ask for? If you can't accept it for what is was, I suggest you stay home next year.
Mooreon said:
Good thing I don't work for CP's publicity department, because I'd be tempted to post an invitation on their website for coaster enthusiasts to come back on x date and kiss my rear end for 4 hours...that probably wouldn't be good PR. easier.
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OMG that was the BEST thing I have EVER read!!! Right on!!! :)
Jo
2000/2002 Raptor Crew
Lifetime Raptor flights: 752 :) (goin for 1k in '03!)
Who is NOT an enthusiast!
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It's all about getting around the barrels or over the fences, right leads, no faults, fastest time and still looking pretty when done. What's so hard about that? :)
loriu said:
Millennium Force replaced TTD in the morning and had TTD been able to open, it would have been open for the night ERT. Basically they swapped MF and TTD. Since TTD was not ready, they substituted DT and Gemini. What's so hard to understand?
Its definately not hard to understand how it all worked out. But the question that still bugs me today is why it worked out that way. I mean, its just hard for me to understand why they wouldn't run Millennium Force, their top ride, during the night ERT. And on top of that, how the decided to go with Disaster Transport over any of their other rides.
I completely agree the fact that Cedar Point didn't have to do any of this stuff for us. I just think that once you commit to something, you should stick with it.
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Rob - Who believes it is possible to like both Cedar Point and SFWoA...
"A gun is not a weapon Marge, it's a tool. Like a butcher knife, or a harpoon, or... or an alligator" ~Homer J. Simpson
I only have about a 1lb of cheese in my fridge, not nearly enough for all the whine on here!
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YOUNGSTOWN 2010
Millennium Forced said:Its definately not hard to understand how it all worked out. But the question that still bugs me today is why it worked out that way.
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The park notified people well in advance before moring ERT that Millennium Force would replace TTD for ERT. Had they not opened up MF for us, I have the feeling that a lot of people would have complained. They didn't have to open up anything for us, but they got the MF crew in with little notice just so we could ride.
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I mean, its just hard for me to understand why they wouldn't run Millennium Force, their top ride, during the night ERT. And on top of that, how the decided to go with Disaster Transport over any of their other rides.
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Remember, the park had originally tried to have TTD for us at night instead. Why keep a crew on MF if there wasn't going to be any ERT on it if TTD did open? Personally speaking, I am very glad the park opened up Disaster Transport and Gemini because those are fun rides during ERT. Had you shown up at the event earlier, you would have heard Mr. Innes announce the ERT's had been changed around.
While I am sure you were upset that MF wasn't on the night ERT, please try and look at this from the view of the park. They did what they could with little notice. I was surprised they could get a MF crew to be in that early with little notice in the first place. They really were hoping the problem with TTD would be fixed before our scheaduled ERT so they really had no choice but to get what crews they could for whatever ride they could, just to say they were sorry. They didn't have to do that.
As for the enthusiast that complained to you about switching around the ERT, he obviously didn't understand how these things work or he would have not been upset.. To be honest, after what happend at SRM, I am really amazed Coastermania still went on at all.
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I completely agree the fact that Cedar Point didn't have to do any of this stuff for us. I just think that once you commit to something, you should stick with it.
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If they would have "stuck" with their original plan, then we wouldn't have had any ERT until Blue Streak and Raptor opened. I am sure that would have went over real well wtih those in attendance.-Sean
*** This post was edited by Sean Flaharty 6/8/2003 8:03:46 PM ***
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