Midwest Coaster Trip (SFGAm., CP, KW) - 5/29/2026 - 6/1/2026

Thanks to everyone who helped me plan the trip and gave me tips for navigating the crowds, especially at Cedar Point. This trip report will be in "observations" form rather than play-by-play. I took the red eye from CA on Thursday night, did SGAm. all day Friday. Drove to CP on Sat. and did the afternoon and all day Sunday (with FastLane+). I haven't been to CP in 23 years, so there were a lot of "new to me" rides that I had been looking forward to trying. Monday I drove to KW and spent a few hours before flying out of Pittsburgh.

Observation: I'm too old for this $#!7

I was struggling with motion sickness all trip. Inversions in particular and hang time/stalls really started getting to me pretty quickly. Any ride with inversions probably got a lower opinion from me and left a bad taste in my mouth (sometimes literally).

Observation: Great America is a great park.

The lines never got too long. The ride selection is good and the operations were decent. I didn't stay for the fireworks, but I guess I was there on the 50th anniversary of the park (the actual day), so I think they were celebrating that. X-Flight was running one train, which was annoying, but everything else was running at least two and there were headlines that were less than 30 minutes all day. Goliath in particular had less than a 15 minute wait the entire day, which is crazy.

Observation: Dive coasters are pretty much all the same.

Don't kill the messenger. I've ridden Sheikra, Griffon, Emperor, Wrath of Rakshahahah, and Valravn. They may have a few unique elements, but pretty much you're just there for the drop. Tormenta may change my mind, but right now I couldn't care less about the differences between them all.

Observation: Wing coasters can be cool.

Somehow I had never ridden a B&M wing coaster until this weekend. X-Flight was quite good and wish it were running more than one train so I could've gotten more than one ride on it. Gatekeeper was...boring isn't the right word, but it just kind of slowly lumbered through the course without much intensity and the second half was really uninspired. Maybe boring is the right word.

Observation: Maxx Force is the best launch since Hypersonic XLC

The launch on this ride was truly elite. The rest of the elements were just kind of there, but I haven't been that impressed by any of the hydraulic launches. Xcelerator comes close.

Observation: Goliath should have a longer line...and a longer ride time

I don't get why this ride doesn't command longer waits. Maybe it's got good capacity? Or people don't like it because it's such a short ride? But it was less than 15 minutes when Raging Bull was over an hour. That said, it could use another element or two.

Observation: Raging Bull is way better than I remember

I last rode this in 2001 and it was "good but not great." I got one ride in the back with the MCBR off and I was incredibly impressed. The air on the first drop, off the MCBR, and on some of the medium sized hills was really strong.

Observation: Cedar Point needs to do something about lines. And correctly estimate them.

When I got to the park on Saturday, even having low expectations, I immediately got a bad first impression. Everything of remote interest was 90+ minutes. Thankfully, Steel Vengeance dropped to 45 briefly (I ended up waiting about that long) and I was able to ride it, but aside from that, I spent the first 5 hours of the park day, wandering around not wanting to wait for anything. I attempted to use my single-use prestige fast lane on Maverick (claim was 30 minutes), but after 20 minutes, I had only gotten through a quarter of the Fast Lane line, so I aborted mission. After dinner, I got in a "35 minute" line for Gatekeeper which ended up taking 60 minutes. Thankfully, I was able to use my fast lane on Siren's Curse just as it was coming off a breakdown and got on within 15 minutes. Ended the night with a walk on of Rougarou and two night rides on MF (~20 minutes) which redeemed the day. Thankfully, Sunday's lines were quite a bit shorter. For most of the day, the major headliners were around 60 and it wasn't hard to find a 30 minute or less line every now and then.

Observation: Steel Vengeance is for real

I'm sure this is not news, but my goodness is this ride good. Big air, small air, great setting, good operations, and minimal nausea inducing inversions. I can see why everyone raves about this coaster. It is just that good.

Observation: Maverick didn't do much for me. Nor did Siren's Curse. Nor did TT2.

The pacing on Maverick just seemed all wrong. I appreciated the first half, but the brakes-launch-brakes and the layout of the second half involved more bracing for impact than enjoyment. Siren's curse felt like a dive coaster with a slightly more interesting drop, albeit much shorter, and a much more interesting course, but I didn't feel like I needed to ride it on Sunday after my one ride on Sat. My first ride on TT2 had a really unenjoyable vibration. It felt like the wheel was mismanufactured or something, but it completely ruined the ride. My second ride was in the front row, which was much better and smoother, but I still didn't get the ride. For such impressive stats and imposing presence, the ride experience didn't feel that much different from an impulse or Pantheon.

Observation: Millennium Force and Phantom's Revenge are both still elite rides

Bugs aside (yech), front row rides on these two coasters are still some of most fun I've had. Millennium Force has that feeling of speed and power that a lot of the RMC's lack. And there's good to great airtime on the two big hills and the bunny hop. Just a really good ride with a lot of sentimental value. Phantom's Revenge, on the other hand, feels janky but in the best possible way. The transitions, especially on the bunny hills, feel like old Arrow transitions (straight to fixed radius curve) but that results in super sharp pops of air followed by downward slams. It's almost like the train is trying to bounce you off the seat and out. Great fun!

Observation: Steel Curtain is way better than I thought

Super smooth and not terribly nausea inducing, even with the big stall on the return trip. That said, it's still a mega-looper so it was one and done for me.

Observation: I'm too old for this $#!7

I hadn't done a solo coaster trip in a long time and those days may be behind me. Not only do I have a lot more responsibility in family and work, making it hard to disappear for a weekend, but I just don't enjoy power riding coasters alone as much as I used to. I'd much rather have a more diverse experience with shows and different kinds of rides (see: Disney) and I'd much rather share the experience with family and friends. When I took my kid and friend to King's Island last summer we probably got on half as many rides, but simple things like power riding Racer and trying to beat each other were highlights of the trip.

In summary, I'm glad I did it, but I probably won't do it again.