Kings Island 1st time and Cedar Point 1st time since 2003! Part two CP

This was day two of my three day trip. The first day was at Kings Island and now the next two at Cedar Point. I got up and out of the hotel in Columbus around 9:30. It took 2 hours to get to Sandusky and then another ridiculous hour in traffic to the parking lot. I didn't bother checking into the hotel in Sandusky. When I got to the hotel later that night, I found I wasn't the only one with that plan!

To really understand what this trip meant to me I must mention my past. The most memorable amusement park day of my life was and always will be when I rode MF for the 1st time on August 21st, 2001 exactly 3 weeks to the day before 911 both Tuesdays. It was literally the ride of my life as it ended my fear of roller coasters. It really was like something clicked during the ride. It will always be my greatest ever ride as its effects were long term and it was a once in a lifetime experience. This makes it unfair for me to compare other rides to that 2001 ride. MF will always have that special place in my heart as my "favorite" coaster because of that day, but it's days as the "best" have always been numbered. This is where 2003 comes in. On this trip I was blessed with one ride on TTD as well as a couple on KK in 2005. This is probably my greatest claim to fame with amusement parks even more than having 133 credits. The first day in that 2003 trip was August 14th, 2003. That was the day of that huge blackout! Anyways in 2003, I was actually almost disappointed in MF the first few times. That was until I rode it at night in the back row and was completely blown away. I remember completely losing control of myself in pure excitement! This ride has since become my benchmark that I compare all my other rides too. In 15 years since no ride has blown me away that much. El Toro was the closest especially in 2008 at the end of the night when I got almost like a mini ERT. I wrote a TR on that trip here. What was I going to think of it now!? At the time in 2003 I was still somewhat of a newbie with only a couple dozen coaster credits and just 3 hypers(SROS@SFNE, AC@BGW Magnum and TTD once). Between getting on MF again and SV there was no place in the world I would rather be! To be the best you have to beat the best! This made planning easy. Ride SV first thing and don't ride MF until at night in the back row! With all my attention on these two rides, it made Maverick kind of a dark horse in more ways than one lol.

I finally parked the car sometime around 12:30 Sunday September 2nd. From here I grabbed everything and literally ran probably like 1.5 miles straight to SV. I only stopped to pass the metal detectors, enter the park, get the FL+ around TTD ($155! but worth it),and was forced to stop for the train where I quickly found a much needed water fountain. Right now I'm in the worst shape of my life with an office job and just getting over trochanteric bursitis caused from a mountain climb in Utah. This made it only a slow jog. If only I could have turned the clock back 12 years when I ran XC in HS and could run a mile in under 5 minutes. That would have been interesting!

Steel Vengeance
Finally Finally I was here! Like many people this was two years of hype. This might be the most anticipated I have been for a roller coaster since my first MF rides all those years ago! The whole experience of that first ride was just surreal. It was only a 30 minute wait with the FL and the whole time it was like everything just happened too fast and I couldn't believe I was actually here! When I got to the loading station, I told the operator I came from 2000 miles away(Utah so almost that far) mostly for this ride and asked for a back seat. I'm usually a quiet introvert type person, but sometimes when I go to these parks I just lose myself. By the time I was in my seat everyone around me knew how excited I was. I remember asking a ride operator if this is really better than El Toro? Even though my real number one was across the park. I just figured I'd emphasize things more by mentioning a ride in a different park. I got the "This is the best ride I have ever been on" answer. Looking back I think I was just glad to finally get on it. Yes I was blown away, but no I wasn't ready to declare it my number one just yet. If the trip ended here it would rank second. To be the best you have to beat the best, and I couldn't say that ride was definitively better than MF 2003 at least not yet. Plenty more on this ride coming!

Corkscrew
It was still sinking in that I finally was back at CP! The plan was to ride Maverick next, but it was closed. I next went towards TTD for a front seat ride. My one and only 2003 ride was somewhere in the middle. I was just glad to get on it back then. KK a couple years later proved that these rides are front seat or no seat experiences. Sure enough TTD was also closed. I then just wanted to get on anything so I quickly got on Corkscrew. I have kind of been planning a "what will happen when I return trip in my head" for 15 years now and never imagined Corkscrew would be second. This was probably the worst ride I had either day at CP. The Vortex was still worse from the previous day though. Right before I got my seat I heard TTD running and went straight for it afterwards.

Top Thrill Dragster
Let me start off by saying that as someone who was last here in 2003, this ride is so much more reliable now!! It wasn't down for long. I know b/c when I ran past it earlier, it was running. It was actually more reliable than SV, Maverick and MF on this trip. They all had longer delays. I got my front seat ride. I don't know if there is a more exciting seat in the world. Once seated the ride operator actually stated it's the worlds 3rd fastest and 2nd tallest. Yea but this is better I said. The people next in line were asking me and I told them it's another 30 feet but with over the shoulder restraints. Apparently I have been watching too much youtube on this ride over the years. When in position to launch my arms were up and the loud speaker kept saying "arms down". It just went in one ear and out the other until the person I was riding with told me. The ride was fantastic. It wasn't as much of a blur as I remembered in 2003. Many KK rides might have helped that. I have to make a confession here. It's been 10 years since my last KK ride, but I think I noticed a difference in intensity. I do remember the wind feeling a little more forceful on KK. With that said I'm still in the camp that this is the better of the two with the lapbars and theming. It's a fantastic thrill, but I wouldn't put it in my top ten.

Valravn
I knew this was a mediocre ride coming in. The way I looked at it the park has added 4 major coasters since my last trip. One of them is outstanding another probably the best in the world and the other two are mediocre. Indeed this ride was underwhelming. It wouldn't crack my top 25 and I think I would put Sheikra above it. It was an enjoyable ride don't get me wrong. It just wasn't outstanding in any way. The point I want to make here is that just b/c it's mediocre doesn't make it a bad investment. Less than 1% of a parks attendance is made up of people who are into roller coasters like me. This ride is for that 99% and what's wrong with that?! I could make an argument that it was a better investment than SV. It's probably just as appealing to the 99%, but it's more reliable and has a better capacity. I was in amazement the whole trip about how clueless the average park-goer can be. I'm really not joking when I say that it seems that for many people Valravn is just as appealing to them as SV. When in line for SV I overheard many people who just didn't know anything about the ride. Some people looked at it like it was still a wooden coaster and were actually concerened if it was going to be smooth or not! This especially became apparent when I saw the concerned looks of peoples faces as the saw the whole structure sway during the 1st inversion. At the same time I saw a lot of people having the time of their life on Valravn just probably not any enthusiast haha.

Raptor
I was really impressed with this ride. I remembered it being a lot rougher. I think this is definitely both the best B@M and best ride in the front of the park. Unfortunately this was my only ride on it this trip. I don't think Banshee was much better.

Blue Steak
Why not I though? It's ok. Just nice knowing this park has at least one wooden coaster.

GateKeeper
This was my first ever wing coaster, but not my first ever coaster sitting on the outside of the track as I have been on X2. This was a front row seat left side. Just before boarding I saw a ride operator getting trained. Interesting time for that to be happening. I suppose for the Halloweekends. This ride was actually a lot beter than I thought it was going to be. The key holes were really cool actually and I would certainly take this coaster over Valravn! The ending was horrible though just like everyone says.

Wicket Twister
I got into line and quickly realized that it wasn't worth the wait. The FL barely helped. Considering it's capacity I estimated the wait to be an hour. That was as much if not more than Steel Vengeance! I got into line again later that day and left the line just as quickly. This was the only major coaster I didn't get on here or at KI. I don't blame myself though. I got on it once in 2003. Windseeker was the other major ride I didn't get on. It also wasn't worth waiting for especially considering I was on the exact same ride earlier this trip at KI. I also didn't waste my time with the VR and Iron Dragon or the Cedar Creek Mine ride if you consider those major.

Magnum XL 200
I had mixed feelings about this ride. It was horrible my one ride on it in 2001. In 2003 it was ok though. I have learned the trick. I got a back seat ride, but the middle of the train away from the wheel seat. I also tightened the seat belt as much as possible. This definitely helped. It was a very good ride. It's one of the five best rides in the park IMO, and that's really good considering this ride is only a year younger than me!

Gemini
Like the Racer the day before I got one ride on each side. On my first ride someone from the other train hung a dollar bill out as we passed by daring someone to take it. It was really funny. This ride is just plain fun and isn't that what this is all about? I definitely would put this above the Racer from the day earlier, but not MF as I heard someone say lol.

Maverik
I was going to take another ride on SV, but it was down. The Maverick was open though fortunately. Like I said earlier this was the dark horse of the trip with all my attention on SV and MF. Unfortunately it didn't deliver. So much for stealing the show. I got a back seat ride and it sure was intense, but not much else. The air time hill was ruined by the fact that my shoulders hit the restraint first. There was also a lot of headbanging. The intensity on I-305 I enjoyed but not the intensity on this ride unfortunately. It's amazing how much expectations can impact our thoughts on a ride. After one ride each I would have a hard time saying the Maverick was much better than Gatekeeper. This would change the next day. Don't worry haha.

Sky Screamer
Right after Maverick I realized I forgot all about the Skyscreamer. I went on one of these at Kennywood years ago. It was a nice smooth ride, but thrilling at the same time.

Rougourou
Oddly the one coaster that I went on every day at CP on my two previous trips was Mantis. So either this ride was going to keep that tradition going or it was a new credit. I can't have it both ways. When I was one train away the ride operators suddenly told everyone to not board the ride. Someone vomited all over the place in the front seat and it had to be cleaned. I have never seen this before. The ride was ok. It was a little rough, but not as rough as I remember Mantis.

Valravn
I saw the line for Iron Dragon. It was ridiculous thanks to the VR! I still haven't wasted any time at any park with the VR. I ended up all the way back to Valravn for another ride. Just like the first time it was just OK. I got an edge seat and actually found it rather rough for a B@M. Being on the edge with such wide trains didn't help either I'm sure. I don't remember Sheikra being this rough.

Gatekeeper
This time it was a back seat ride. It wasn't quite as much fun as the front.

Maxair
With Deliruim the day before I figured it was worth one ride. The ride operators kept comparing it to other rides in the park. I was more interested in how it compared to Delirium. I think the same.

Power Tower Blue
I was on my way to SV, but took a quick ride here first. Nice but nothing special.

Steel Vengeance
It was back open and now time for my second ride! For some reason it's the second ride I had on MF in 2001 that I consider the literal ride of my life not the first. It's like everything happened too fast back then and the same thing happened here! When I got to the loading station the operators remembered me and they asked me if the trip was worth it before letting me go to the back row. If I wasn't blown away the first time, I sure was this time! I was really starting to wonder if my 2003 MF ride would ever be topped, but I think this ride did it. Topping my 2003 MF ride and having a new number one were not necessarily the same thing. I thought that maybe someday some ride will be better, but I wouldn't consider it better than MF until I literally came back and rode MF again and it just wasn't the same. The 2003 ride was just that perfect! If the trip ended here I would have rated SV higher than MF. When the ride hit the brakes most people were just yelling and cheering. I was just speechless. My head was leaning over and I was out of breath and had this look of complete shock! When I got off I kept saying OMG out loud to myself for like 5 minutes! It was late and it was now that time I was waiting for. It was time for MF!

Millennium Force
I felt like there was no way MF could match the ride I just had. Even if it was as good as I remembered. It's just completely absurd that both these experiences happened on the same day! I think these two coasters ranked 1A and 1B in the whole country maybe the world in terms of rides I most wanted to get on. SV might just be the worlds best and I really just had to get back on MF. Obviously I had an extremely strong feeling of nostalgia in the 30 minute wait. I never thought it would be 15 years! I got a seat in the back row right side and yes even red train to have the exact same seat as I did on that 2003 ride. My 2001 ride of my life was also in the red train. I just did this for a greater since of nostalgia. I have a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering and I'm very aware that the physics don't change b/c of the color of the train lol. The ride was absolutely spectacular, but no it didn't blow me away like SV did or like it did 15 years ago. Finally after 17 years I could officially say, New number one roller coaster! SV truly was better than the best at its best! Much more on MF later.

Steel Vengeance
I had enough time for one more ride. When on MF I started talking to another coaster enthusiast and the conversation continued until we both got off of SV. It's always funny having these talks and seeing the looks on other people while in line. It looked like we were talking another language! Like many people I really wasn't too happy when I heard about the MCBR slowing the ride down. On my first ride I didn't feel the train slow down at all and honestly thought it might have been completely trimmless. The person I was talking to was a local and told me they were light trimms today. This was a total night ride. Just after we finished the first inversion he yelled at me that this was the fastest he ever felt it! When we hit the brakes he looks at me, sees my reaction and says" This by far your number one now?" I was like "I had the same reaction after my last ride!". He told me the trimms hit hard and he couldn't have imagined how it would have felt otherwise. He always liked the first half more so for him this was his best ride. This meant the trimms definitely were on for my other two rides as they didn't feel that different. We found out there was an ERT afterwards. Shame on me for not realizing that before the trip! I'm almost too embarrased to put that here. Maybe it was better though as it was late and I hadn't even checked into the hotel yet.

Arrival
Day two at CP started off the same way with me running straight to SV. The park opened at 10, but I got there just a little after 9. When I got to the gate they were already letting people into the park which I found odd. I asked and the park attendant said they are letting people in and I hadn't missed much time. When I got to SV I was in the FL line and everyone was just standing there. Many people were going through with the regular line and I was contemplating doing the same, but I stayed put. About ten minutes went by until they let the FL proceed. I'm still confused over this whole thing. This sure didn't seem like early entry. They were not checking people entering the normal line and why were they letting everyone in before 10 to begin with?

Steel Vengeance 4x
On day two at CP I was taking mini marathons on the rides just like I was doing during the second half of my KI day. Like almost every ride this ride is a little slower in the morning, but I was still blown away every time! I quickly realized that I could easily just spend the rest of the day here! Before this trip I really thought I was going to have a new number one roller coaster. I was about 90% sure. That's an expectation that shouldn't ever happen. Literally if this ride was anything but the best, it was going to be a disappointment. I thought MF had about a 9% to maintain the title and that El Toro and Maverik had a combined 1% chance. El Toro if everything was somehow a disappointment. With that said SV somehow actually exceeded my expectations. What I didn't see coming was a beatdown. It destroyed MF, El Toro and I-305. Those were the three rides that always stood out to me. My two previous RMC's were Twisted Colossus and Wicked Cyclone although you could add in Tremors. Twisted Colossus was just this past christmas and wouldn't make my top 20. Wicked Cyclone was built after I moved from MA to the West. When I went back for my sisters wedding I got two rides on it. It wouldn't make my top ten. I must admit though that I was hungover(it's wedding week) and that may have influenced my opinion. My point was the more I thought of my previous RMC's actually the less I thought of SV going in. I'd definitely take an Intamin Pre-fab over one. I thought it would have a lot of airtime, but none as powerful as El Toro. I was wrong! The beginning was just as powerful if not more! I'd guess that 20 seconds of the 27 seconds of airtime is at least -1g's!! I thought very little of the finale of the ride coming in. It honestly looked weak in the animations and real POV. Wrong again! That finale put any other finale I've experienced to shame. If you were suddenly taken by a tornado and started spinning that's what the inversions felt like. In other words it felt completely natural. All the inversions felt more natural than any other inversion I've ever experienced! The best part is that there really is no best part and there really is no worst part(other than the MCBR). If I had to I'd pick the outward banking turn as the best, but really it's the WHOLE RIDE.

Maverick 3x
I definitely needed another ride on this after the disappointment from the earlier day. I first got a front seat ride and immediately things went better. The ride was a lot more enjoyable this time and much less painful. My other two rides were in the back. It was an improvement from the day before, but still not quite the ride I hoped. I was expecting a top ten maybe top five ride. I'd place it right outside my top ten and the 3rd best ride in the park.

Magnum XL 200 3x
I didn't even need the FL for this. It did me no good as it was a walkon. The crowds in the park were half that of the previous day. These were three enjoyable rides. On my second ride I took a chance for a bumpy ride and went for the very front row. It wasn't that bad at all! My other two rides were in the back.

Witches Wheel
I have never been on a ride on it's final day before! That really was all the motivation I needed. How sad.

Top Thrill Dragster 3x
I got two back seat rides and one front seat. The FL made it nearly a walkon to the station at least. The front seat wait took more time than the two back seat waits combined. It was a really hot day outside. When entering for my second ride some guests alerted an operator that someone passed out! I'm not sure of the outcome. I sure hope everything was O.K. Like I said earlier this ride is running so much better now! The only time I saw it down(other than weather delays) was when I first went for it on the first day! I miss some of the old theming it had it's first year though.

Dinosaurs Alive!
This was my first time ever seeing it at any park and probably will be my last.

Power Tower Red
Quick ride

Rougourou
It was now time to mini marathon MF, but it was down! It was really scary thinking that after all this time I might only get one ride in. Rougorou was nearby and I decided to keep the tradition going or have my second ride on a new credit. I still haven't decided if it should count or not. I have decided though that Riddlers Revenge(my other giant stand up coaster) is way better than this ride either way!

Valravn
I was in the station nearly on the ride when it closed due to lightning. I stayed knowing everything else was also down. The wait ended up being about 30 minutes. It was a mediocre at best ride again. When I was at the top of the main drop and second drop I actually had more focus on MF and if it was running then the drop I was dangling over. I had the left edge seat making things easier! MF was running!

Gatekeeper
When in line I looked at the Wicked Twister and it seemed down. The only way I was going to get on that coaster at this point was if it was a walkon. There wasn't much time left. I made sure this was a right seat ride as my first two rides were on the left. Just like before it was just an average roller coaster. Looking back this is probably the biggest regret I have of the entire trip. What was I doing in the front of the park wasting my time on these average roller coasters when I could be on either, Maverick, MF or SV? I got two rides on Valravn and GK the first day and really that was plenty. The park was closing at 8 so there really wasn't all that much time left.

Millennium Force 3x
It was now open and it was time for three straight rides. I wanted a front seat left side, but the wait for the front looked like an extra 30 to 45 minutes. It only took like 20 minutes to get to the loading station with the FL. Due to that wait I took advantage of the Intamin trains and went for the elevated back row front car left side. It was almost as visible as the very front, but with practically no wait. This was my 8th total ride on MF, but my first left seat ride actually. In 2001 I was too afraid and my sister boarded first taking the left. In 2003 and the day earlier I wanted things to be exactly the same as they were in 2001. My next ride ended up being the exact same seat as it oddly had the shortest wait. My final ride was in the back. People were getting onto the ride in the same place that the trains unload and I was wondering why. On my final ride I asked one of these people. He told me that he was literally in the exact same seat when the ride broke down earlier and he was allowed one ride without waiting. Somehow in all my years I have never seen this! In short I'd put MF as either my #2 or #3. I can't decide between it or El Toro. The two biggest surprises on this trip were Firehawk surprisingly being fun and smooth and the airtime on MF being totally legit! From the past I just remembered the 100 ft hill providing good airtime. At the time it was my favorite moment of airtime. The only other airtime coasters I had been on back then were AC at BGW, SROS at SFNE only 2x and Magnum. It probably lasted as my favorite airtime moment until El Toro. This time I found all 3 airtime hills to be enjoyable. Now that I've ridden Superman@SFNE more times than any other ride(Homepark until recently), I can say that I found this airtime to be 90% as strong as Superman on it's best day. People have been bashing this coasters airtime for so long now that I had very low expectations for it. No it's not El Toro or SV, but there is nothing wrong with this airtime..Nothing at all!!

It's now that I start writing this 4 weeks later that I realize that aside from it's airtime, MF was about exactly what I thought it was going to be. If I was going to be blown away, It was going to be at night just like in 2003. I wasn't blown away, but it still was spectacular. I wonder what would have happened if two SV rides didn't surround it. I feel like those 2 rides may have diminished my MF ride a little. If it wasn't for that I'd definitely put El Toro(still might) above it. The only thing that I know was different than my early 2000 rides on it was indeed a rattle it has developed. I had heard about this and definitely noticed it on all my rides. It took very little away from the ride though. I used to think that rides were all about intensity, but it's this ride, perhaps more than any other, that tells me otherwise. Don't get me wrong I still do consider MF intense. How can't you when the sustained G-forces notoriously cause grey-outs? MillenniumForceless is a ridiculous word. MillenniumSnapless is more appropriate. The snap-less is actually what makes it great though. It's a ride of "epic scale". I-305 is more intense, but on MF "you feel like your going somewhere". I-305 is not my most intense ride of all though. I have been on an airplane upside down before. My old boss flies airplanes for air shows and competitions and he owns a 2 -Seater. At one point he had us upside down at -3.5 g's. The biggest difference in G-force intensity between it and any park ride was the transitions in G-forces! With all that said; while it was more intense than any park ride in existence; I wouldn't call it better than any park ride in existence. There was no substance to it for lack of a better word. There is so much more to a ride than just the G-Forces and that's exactly where MF excels!! I used to be the type of person who cared about others opinions on rides. Go on some random website or youtube video and you can probably read me defending MF from years ago. In 15 years though I have matured out of that. If you think a SLC is better than SV that's your opinion. Why should I care? I can certainly see why many perhaps most people choose SROS @ SFNE(the ride I've ridden more than any other) over MF, but I don't.

Steel Vengeance 2x
Sadly the trip was now almost over. Each CP day started and ended with SV. The good news was that I was about to get two of my best rides in. Just like the other seven rides I was blown away every time. The trimms seemed to be hitting at their lightest on these two rides. The drop off the MCBR was just as awesome as the main drop and the following double up seemed to be going a lot faster. This is also unfortunately where the biggest let down of the entire trip happened. I was in line for a tenth ride. I was almost at the foot of the stairs when lightning came. Over the course of 30 minutes people started leaving the line and I ended up in the station where I meet people who had traveled all the way from Germany to get over here. I was going to wait until the very end. I'd wait all night if I had too. After all my flight wasn't until 3pm the following day(ended up getting delayed almost an hour too). Yes that was on purpose! After some more time the operators announced that it wouldn't be opening back up. It was a letdown, but I really can't complain about getting 9 rides in. Looking back in 2001 I got 2 rides on MF, in 2003 1 ride on TTD, in 2005 2 rides on KK, in 2007 4 on El Toro, in 2010 5 on I-305 and just this past Christmas break 3 on X2. I actually was expecting one more ride until the very end. The way I looked at it. There was a thunderstorm. We are safe watching it from the station. By the time it's safe enough to walk over a mile to the car they might as well open the ride back up. I guess that's not how the park viewed it.

Yea the walk back to the car was a little interesting. It wasn't raining hard if at all. The storm was mostly in the distance. I suppose there is no park I'd feel safer walking through in a thunderstorm than one with 6 roller coasters over 200 feet. It was well after 8 and I was surprised that I couldn't even find one store open. I had been too busy on the rides to buy even one souvenir both days. Same goes with food and drinks besides water fountains to keep me alive in the heat. I'm sure I lost a few pounds. Anyways, This is where I grabbed a park map at the last second to at least bring something back with me. I have since gone on the CP website to find nothing. This past weekend I asked them about buying souvenirs as a question on their website with no response. This weekend I'll probably call them. Don't they want my money!?

It goes without saying that this was one legendary trip! Like I said in my KI TR.That day alone would have been worth it. As I left KI I wondered how CP could be any better. It was! I feel like I could write one TR on SV one on MF and one on everything else. MF was my number one roller coaster for 17 years! It still is my favorite though for sentimental reasons. If I ranked rides based on my single greatest ride then it would always be number one(from my 2001 almost life changing ride), but SV is a much better ride. I sure don't expect that much time to elapse until I ride something better this time around! It's almost scary to think of something better honestly! I think overall it's good that KI and CP are sister parks. It's interesting how the holes in CP's coaster line up KI excels in. It's like they complete each other. The two things CP most needs are a flyer(well at least KI did have one haha) and a great GCI wooden AKA Mystic Timbers. I remember the drive back to MA after my 2003 CP trip and telling myself to be back in five years(never thought 15). Now I'm giving myself two. A lot has happened since 2003. That summer was between middle and high school. I'm now 30 and much more in control of things.

I still find a lot of fun in ranking rides. I think I'd rank my top ten CP coasters like this 1.SV 2.MF 3.Maverick 4.TTD 5.Magnum 6.Raptor 7.GK 8.Gemini(this one is hard almost a different kind of fun) 9.Rougorou 10.Valravn (doesn't include WT since my only ride was in 2003). My overall something like this: 1.SV 2.El Toro MF(haven't yet decided)) 4.I-305 5.Kumba 6.Superman@SFNE 7.X2 8.Nitro 9.Cannibal(eats all dive type coasters) 10.Diamondback or Tremors. Wicked Cyclone, Maverick and Phantoms Revenge are probably the biggest names on the outside. I also really can't rate the BGW coasters since it was too early on (2000).

Thanks for reading!

Major update:

Just called the park up and was told that they don't sell merchandise online and that you can only buy merchandise from inside the park. Anyone have any logical explanation for this? I know they did it in the past. It's like the park did everything in it's power NOT to sell me something after I left the SV line once we knew the ride was not going to reopen. All the stores were closed even the ones in the front of the park. Here is something I didn't put in the TR. One store in the very front had a sign saying it closed at 10 not 8. It looked closed, but I knocked anyways. I was told the sign was incorrect. So yea I got totally shafted. Don't get me wrong I really don't regret anything I did at the end of this trip. Lets put it this way. If the choice was between buying something and one more ride on SV. I would pick SV. That's a no brainer. This has me laughing more than anything else! It's their lose as much as it is mine. Don't they want my money!