Coastermania 2009

My wife and I made a weekend out of visiting the Lake Erie shoreline. We started on Friday afternoon by visiting Cleveland. We visited the Great Lakes Brewing Company (a must stop for the beer enthusiast), The West Side Market (many bakeries and meat markets under one roof in a very nice old building), and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We enjoyed our afternoon in Cleveland. We were a little disappointed by the Rock Hall. The Rock Hall seems to think that rock ended in the mid 70's. There is an exhibit panel of items from the 70's Punk Era, the 80's are missing, and 90's Grunge Era. I would have enjoyed it more if there were more items from my era. To end the day, we picked up a pizza from Cameo Pizza. It was ok but not great. I still have not found a good pizza place in Sandusky. Please do not suggest Matt & Chett's or East Chicago Pizza Buffet.

On Saturday morning we made it into the park around 7am. It was a very nice day to be in the park. The weather was mild for this year's Coastermania. I took in the morning ERT on TTD and MF. As the day went on we took many other rides and even took in a few shows. We watched All Wheels Extreme & Signed Sealed Delivered (Motown themed). Both shows were entertaining. The park provided lunch at the picnic pavillion. It was a good lunch, it was a little healthier than in past years. Grilled chicken, fruit, hot dogs, potato salad, and strawberry shortcake. Shortly after lunch we left for a few hours to relax. We returned around 8:30pm. At this time the park was beginning to empty out. We walked through the new Starlight Experience. It was suprisingly nice. It was much better than anticipated. We participated in the evening ERT and departed around midnight.

MF (3 morning rides - ERT): 5 out of 5. Simply for the air time and speed. MF always delivers a good ride. It has a slight vibration now, but it does not take away from the ride.

TTD (1 morning ride - ERT): 5 out of 5. Simply for the speed and height. Has a very slight vibration on launch. But still a great ride.

Maverick (2 morning rides) - 5 out of 5. Proof that a ride does not need to be tall and very fast to be good. Small trains and constant changes in direction make this ride fun.

Skyhawk (1 morning ride) - 4 out of 5. World's largest swing set.

Gemini (1 night ride) - 3 out of 5. Just a fun racing roller coaster. Still smooth after all of these years.

Magnum (1 night ride) - 5 out of 5. A classic steel out and back coaster. This ride gets better with time and is better at night.

Wicked Twister (1 night ride) - 3 out of 5. It seems to be a better ride at night. Something kind of creepy about looking up into the night sky.

MaXair (1 night ride - ERT) - 3 out of 5. It seemed to have a very long ride cycle this time. Maybe I just do not like this ride as much as I used to.

Blue Streak (1 night ride - ERT) - 4 out of 5. A classic ride. Fun and zippy with plenty of pop.

Raptor (1 night ride - ERT) - 5 out of 5. I like the multiple inversions and this has always been a favorite ride for me.

The biggest highlight of the day. My wife won another prize playing Skee-ball after two tries. Skee-ball has haunted her for many years and now she has won on consecutive trips.

Would anyone be unhappy if Mean Streak was turned into a pile of kindling?

To end the road trip we visisted Marblehead Lighthouse on Sunday morning. The lighthouse sits in a nice park, and it has a nice view of Sandusky Bay and Cedar Point.

Yes this was our second year in a row and had a blast as well. Much more pleasant weather than last year. Big problem this year was the magflies....Man they were in full swarm by the thousands. Also really agree that the food was much better. Loved the social hour buffet food (chocolate, some kind of hot dog, chicken quesadias, chicken nuggets, veggie tray). It still would be very nice to have snacks between 8 - 9 AM so that you dont get too hungry from an early morning start. We had a team in the midway games and had a blast. We did not win this year but hope to next year. Love the ERT and will be back again.

"Would anyone be unhappy if Mean Streak was turned into a pile of kindling?"That made me laugh MotorCityCoasterFan. I agree with you. It is so sad to see such a nice looking wooden roller coaster on the outside yet when you ride it you are left wondering why is this still in the park?

MotorCityCoasterFan said:
I still have not found a good pizza place in Sandusky. Please do not suggest Matt & Chett's.

Would anyone be unhappy if Mean Streak was turned into a pile of kindling?

The ONLY thing I have against Matt & Chett's is they serve veal. I can't stand to see that on the menu. I don't eat beef and didn't touch veal (baby beef :() before I ever cut out red meats all together.

Mean Streak is a piece of crap! Your remark cracked me up! :)

Jo