Father and Daughter trip-Part 2-CP 7/26-27

After a day at HP it was time for CP. Our second trip(fist one in 2001). My daughter was going to be able to ride all the new coasters and the ones she was too short for 3 years ago(Raptor, Mantis).

We got to the park after the drive from Hersheypark and checking in at the Rodeway Inn on Cleveland Rd(don't stay there!!!!!). I had a coupon from the Getaway Guide for a free starlight ticket so we used that and bought 2 one day tickets for the following day using another coupon worth $9 each. Total of $95 for a day and a half at CP for 2 people. Good deal!!!

It was overcast and raining the whole night but we made the best of it(not hard to do at CP). TTD was down and would stay down all night so we went on Wicked Twister. It was like a monsoon by the water with all the wind and rain. Overall I'd say it has a decent launch and is a worthy coaster. We got 2 rides.

Raptor was next. Neither of us had ridden Raptor or Mantis on our last rip as my daughter was too short and we were the only 2 on our trip. Wow!! This coaster is outstanding. I've ridden some really good inverts but I'd put this one right up there. DD fire is awesome and I'd put this one at that level or higher and better than Montu. Very impressive! Probably my top invert and in my Top 5.

Mantis was a letdown for both of us and I wouldn't bother with it on a future visit. MF was awesome and remains my top coaster. 3 rides on this night.

The next day we got up and got to the park in time to walk to the marina entrance for the 9:30am opening. We ended up about 40 people back for TTD but the ride was down because of a little rain. It actually looked like mist most of the time but they still didn't open it. It tested for a while and then finally opened. It ended up being a 2 hour wait but we were so close to the front by that time that we waited for the front row. It was worth it!!! What impressed me about the coaster is the sheer size. It seems like it takes forever to go up the massive structure even though it only takes a couple of seconds. A really good coaster but I'd rather ride MF. Storm Runner was also better and had a more powerful launch, IMO.

We left and got some rides on Gemini(love it, 2 rides), Magnum(very good, 1 ride).

TTD had been down an hour or so after it opened but we noticed a lot of people had just left the line so we got in line. After 2 1/2 hours we got on. Like I said, it was raining and it would continue to rain on and off the whole day and night. The wait wasn't bad because we ended up talking to a bunch of people. That was a lot of fun and made it worth the wait. It was down for mechanical reasons for part of that time.

Up to this poin we had waited about 4 1/2 hours for 2 rides on TTD.

We ate at Famous Daves. Good food and moderately priced. I ordered the cheeseburger.

Rode Iron dragon(my daughter's idea), Power tower(down side, very fun), and Corkscrew(again, my daughter's idea).

Once again the line for TTD was real short because it was down but we got in line and waited another 2 1/2 to 3 hours befor giving up at about 9:30pm. We went to buy some souveniers and then took one last spin on raptor to finish off our trip. TTD loked like it may have opened just before closing time.

We would end up waiting between 6-7 hours for TTD all day but it didn't seem like it. I'm a person that doesn't like to wait more than 20 minutes for any ride but we were there for 1 1/2 days and may not go back to CP for a couple of years. Once we got one ride in the rest was a bonus. We may have been the only 2 people in the park that day that rode it twice. It was down for almost all of the 14 hours we were there.

Overall I'd put CP at the highest level of any park I've been to. The only other park that is at that level is IOA but that is a theme park and it's like comparing apples to oranges. CP has the better coasters but IOA is probably the better experience.

A great trip and worth the 3000 miles driven by myself. My daughter's top coaster is now Storm Runner(nearly 70 coasters in her count). My favorite remains MF(85 coasters in my count).

I was there on 7/26 also. Dragster did open back up at the end of the night, got two front seat rides in 40 minutes. Overall was a great day.

Do you mean on Tuesday 7/27? On Monday 7/26 it was closed all night but I don't know about the last 1 1/2 hours as we were in line for MF(got in line for a second ride 2 minutes before 11pm).

I didn't want to spend the rest of the night on 7/27 waiting for another ride because i wanted to buy some souveniers and ride something else.

I can't complain since so many people have been to CP and not gotten even one ride on TTD.

I meant Tuesday 7/27, sorry got my dates confused. I was there on Monday also and I don't believe it ever opened back up that night although I did leave a half hour before closing.

Interesting that you thought SR launch was more powerfull than TTD. I will finally be able to see for myself next week when I hit up all of the PA parks.

Great TR, I agree with you about the Rodeway, that place is awful, we got ripped off (spent upwards of $180 a night for that POS). Shouldn't have canceled our Breakers reservation...

I also agree with your opinion on TTD and Storm Runner. I found Storm Runner's launch very powerful, and those two airtime spots were pure bliss.

I wanted to get a head start on the drive back to Miami so I had reservations for a hotel in Canton on Tuesday night. If it wasn't for that I probably would have gone back to TTD as the rain looked like it had stopped for good.

I met someone in line that had been on SR and she was not an enthusiast. She also preferred SR to TTD mainly because of what it does after it comes down from the tophat. Other than breaking records I don't think there was any point in making TTD that high. It probably attracts a lot of people and increases attendance, though. TTD is like a gimmick...a very good one.... that works!