Jump to content

gigacoaster2k

Members
  • Posts

    2,531
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by gigacoaster2k

  1. Every lot was full, yet Millie and TTD had hour waits or less, Raptor and Magnum had virtually no wait, but the mild rides and water rides were queueing or jam packed. Skyhawk and maXair had full queues all day, yet Blue Streak was empty, WT was queueing, and Magnum's line got shorter throughout the day. It was very strange.
  2. I had decided since I had Sunday and Monday off, I'd go to Cedar Point on Sunday. My excitement quickly diminished when I saw to my horror that it was free admission day for active/retired military (don't get me wrong, I'm all for supporting them, but my thoughts immediately went to "crowds"). Tom decided that he wanted to go with me. We both had to work late Saturday night, but tossed sleep aside in favor of going to Cedar Point. We both got about 3 hours of sleep, and headed out around 5:15 am. On the way there, I drank a vanilla Starbucks Doubleshot to wake up. This did absolutely nothing to wake me.. in fact, half of a 6 oz can of Red Bull woke me up faster than that did. I suggested Millie as our first ride of the day, and he quickly agreed. We got to the park shortly before 9 am, and arrived at the marina gate to see that Millie's yellow train was stuck on the lift. At 9 am, I crossed my fingers as my pass was scanned.. my photo came up! I yelled "YES, IT SCANNED!!" and the girl gave me a funny look. We walked to Millie to see it down mechanical, with a line back to the Red Garter saloon. We saw Single Rider Bob and chatted with him for a few minutes, and also learned Maverick was down. So we headed for Raptor.. it was walk on! Rode in the very back row.. FANTASTIC! We decided to head from there to see if Millie was working.. nope, my coaster was still down, so we went to Maverick to see an empty train sent out, and right after that, a train loaded with people! We got in the hideously long line (no turnstiles were open, so the line was wrapped around the queue). We waited about half an hour, and chose row 6 once we got to the station. We also saw a Canada steamship on the water. Maverick in row 6 is truly unbelievable.. I don't scream on coasters, but this one did it! We decided to head to Magnum, which had a small wait. I got to see my friends working the ride, which made me very happy! We rode in seat 1:2.. holy ouch airtime, and the trim was off! I LOVE IT! Tom wanted a ride on Dragster, which didn't bother me one bit. It was quickly getting very hot, so we grabbed cups of water and entered the line. It was posted at 3/4 hour, but we waited about half an hour. I absolutely love Dragster's launch, and I took a look around at the top.. astounding view. Dragster never fails to impress me. Heading back toward the front, we took a ride on Power Tower Space Shot.. nice way to cool off, and what a view! We headed to the car for some food. I also took this opportunity to put on a lot of sunscreen, and remove 1 of the 2 tank tops I'd worn, as I was sweating to death. Back in the park we went, and hit Wicked Twister.. which was queueing. This worried me.. the only other time I've seen WT queue was during HalloWeekends or on a Saturday. We were assigned to row 5, and I wondered for a second why they were assigning seats, but I blew it off. Row 5 was a surprisingly good ride, especially on the right side.. it's also one of the magic seats! We headed for my beloved Millennium Force. The wait wasn't bad.. 3/4 hour! I was afraid it would be longer. We waited about half an hour.. the capacity on this ride has improved greatly. The line moves faster than it did last year, there is a definite marked difference. We also saw 2 line jumpers removed from the line by security. We sat in our favorite seat.. 1:2. Tom and I both noticed that you definitely feel the forces in the overbanks in that seat, not to mention you feel a little airtime on the hills to and from Millennium Island, the return hill being a little stronger. A terrific ride as always.. I LOVE YOU, MILLIE!! We walked toward the very back of the park toward CP/LE Railroad, and rode the full circuit. This is by far the best railroad I've ridden at any park I've been to.. the scenery just can not be beat. Astounding views of Millie, Maverick, Mantis, Shoot the Rapids, hilarious bonetown animations, it's a great train ride that I rarely pass up. Tom decided he wanted to ride the Tilt-A-Whirl in Camp Snoopy. I passed this one up. My stomach doesn't like those rides very much, but he sure had a great time! We headed back to Magnum, and rode in the second seat from the back. The wait has diminished, but my friends were gone and it made me sad. On the way back from Magnum, we saw Shoot The Rapids testing! Not only were there boats loaded with dummies, there was one boat with ride ops! The ride looks fun, and guaranteed to get you soaked. I can't wait for it to open.. it was torture watching it test on such a hot day and not being able to ride just yet! We were getting tired and in need of food and water, so we headed to the front to ride one of my favorite woodies.. Blue Streak! It was a total walk on! We sat in 1:3.. holy ejector air! My thighs hurt from slamming upward into the restraint.. YES!! This little old coaster has a nice wallop! Out to the car we went, and I slammed down quite a bit of Gatorade, and we ate. Going back into the park, we were still hungry, so we stopped and ate at Hurricane Hannah's. Tom got pizza and I got nachos. They gave me so many nachos that I couldn't finish them all! I suddenly realized that with all the times I've visited CP, I've never ridden their oldest operating ride, so we walked over to the Midway Carousel. I love things with historical significance, so it was really cool to ride something that had been standing since 1912. I suggested we ride Raptor. It was posted at 3/4 hour wait, but it was more like 20 minutes. This guy and 3 or 4 of his friends line jumped us because "they were in a group." Lately I've taken the attitude that if it's one person, or if someone is coming back with drinks on a hot day, I could care less.. but this was just too many people. My response to him was a sarcastic "It's OK, I understand some people are in a hurry." His entire group stood aside and let Tom and I in front of them. We chose row 6, train number 1, Tom explaining to me that this train/row was what gave him one of the greatest rides of his life. As we were dispatching, the train stopped halfway out of the station. The people behind us, obviously GP, started straight up panicking and screaming LET ME OFF. We saw a ride op frantically open the restricted area gate and RUN into the restricted area.. there were people in the restricted area! The operator announced that they were going to take us out and stop us on the lift. When it stopped, it was weird.. it jolted backward. The people behind us started screaming again. Fed up, I yelled back "The ride op said he was going to fix it, that is what they are doing." I got a scared little "shut the f**** up, I didn't ask you." LOL. The ride finally started, and Tom was right about that train/seat.. it was indeed a terrific ride! I love Raptor! I had wanted to ride Giant Wheel, but it was queueing and it was loading slowly. Mantis had the trim off on the drop, so we went to ride it. It was posted at an hour wait, but we waited about 10 minutes. We sat.. well, stood in row 2. I'd forgotten how rough the second half of this ride is.. ouch. I did get to see my friend in the control booth that worked Millie last year, though. We went to Magnum, and this time I saw one of my friends.. poor thing looked so tired. We sat in 1:2 again, W00T!! I looked at the main lot from the top of the lift to see it nearly full. This confused me, as the ride lines weren't that long. Off to Wicked Twister we went, then Power Tower Space Shot. While being seated on Power Tower, we saw a ride op bust a line jumper. He argued with her, and she made him re-enter the line. He jumped the line again when he thought she wasn't looking, and she promptly picked up the phone and called security. Their zero tolerance policy makes me smile. We had decided on Millie for last ride. On the way, Tom grabbed some cookies and cream Dippin Dots for us to share.. YUMMY!! The wait for Millie was posted at 1 hour, we waited about 45 minutes. We moved from the pop machines to the next queue in 15 minutes.. all I have to say is GO MILLIE RIDE CREW GO! We chose seat 1:2, and were on the second to last train of the night.. I'd forgotten how intense Millie's night ride is. It felt out of control, crazy, speeding through the darkness with no intention of slowing down through any overbank or hill.. wow, just wow, awesome, amazing night ride. As we came back to the station, I saw the crew getting ready to dispatch the next empty train. There was a ride op on each side, frantically fastening belts and pushing down lap bars as fast as they could while another ride op from the front yelled "GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!" That right there blew me away. I've never seen the MF crew so dedicated. Although crowded and very hot, we still had an amazing day at the Point! Ride count: Magnum - 3 Millie - 2 Raptor - 2 Power Tower Space Shot - 2 Wicked Twister - 2 Midway Carousel - 1 Maverick - 1 Dragster - 1 Mantis - 1 Blue Streak - 1 CP/LE Railroad - 1 Tilt-A-Whirl - Tom 1, me 0 Not bad for a semi-crowded day, if I do say so myself!
  3. Your opinions are by far some of the most thoughtful and realistic posts I've ever read. Thank you. :)

  4. Even after spending 14 hours at Cedar Point yesterday, I'm still feeling the itch to go to KI.
  5. I watched STR test yesterday, and I will tell you guys right now, it looks like fun. They had dummies on the boats, and everyone gasped in jealousy when they saw a boat full of ride ops. The ride ops looked pretty thrilled after they exited.. not to mention they were wringing water out of their shirts. The last drop is guaranteed to get you completely drenched.. trust me on that. It was torture watching it test and not being able to ride just yet.. it was unseasonably hot at CP yesterday. I can't wait for it to open.
  6. I'm really not concerned about ride wait times. I get 1 hour ERT with my platinum pass on their most popular rides, plus most of the time I just go to visit my friends that work there, or just go because I love CP so much. I go to CP several times a season.. I'm really not concerned about crowds when I've proven to myself that I can have fun regardless. If a line is long for a ride I want to ride, I'll grab food/drink and take it into the queue with me, or amuse myself with my Blackberry. It's all good.
  7. http://www.cedarpoin...dule/events.cfm Memorial Day Weekend - Join us as we honor the men and women of our Armed Forces with special deals and discounts all weekend. Admission Discount - All active and retired members of the military can enjoy one FREE admission ticket to the park with a valid ID. Valid Sunday & Monday only. Even crazier? I'm going tomorrow. edit: the 76257 is coming along with me too
  8. yay it was nice to finally meet you! :) however, I shall never be so callous and inconsiderate as to reveal your identity to anyone.

  9. You're all right. I was just pretty much trying to say that whatever isn't considered cheap to some people is going to be their reason to complain. If park admission is low and food prices are high, people will complain about food prices when that is how the park makes its money. If food prices are low and admission prices are high, people will complain about admission prices when that is how the park makes its money. I find it hilarious how everyone always wants a park to build the next big landmark coaster, yet they flat out refuse to spend money in the park and start bellyaching when all that is built is a water ride or even nothing at all. Either people honestly don't understand marketing strategy, or they choose to ignore it and use that as a reason to complain.
  10. Not when a regularly priced HW season pass is $149.95.
  11. From what I gather, you have yet to visit CP, so I wouldn't make that assumption. I have a friend that works there that is ATL of sweeps, and he will be happy to show you how clean CP is. I'm a loyal visitor to this astounding park and I will tell you that on a busy day: Maverick, Millie, Dragster, and Raptor will have a 2 hour wait, small coasters and big flats will have a 1 hour wait. People travel for miles or even fly from overseas to come to Cedar Fair's flagship park. CP has been around for 140 years.. I doubt it's going anywhere.
  12. Yes, but have you noticed how high admission prices are at those parks? Some parks make their revenue off tickets and season passes, and charge little to nothing for food/drinks (example: Holiday World) Some parks make their revenue off of food/drinks, and keep ticket and season pass prices affordable (example: KI). What I would like to know is: What difference does it make what price we are paying if it all balances out in the end? We are complaining about a $4 bottle of water at a park that offers low admission.. yet we do not hesitate to pay a couple to several hundred dollars for on-site hotels, parking, and admission to a park that offers other things "for free." To me, this sounds like some of you are choosing to ignore business logic, and merely digging for a reason to complain. You're either going to pay a high admission price, or a high food/drink price. If you don't like how a business markets their product in order to effectively make productive sales, then it's easy: don't go. I'm not saying I agree with some of the pricing, but the reality here is that amusement parks are businesses, and they need to make revenue off of something, or they will go bankrupt.. or close their doors temporarily, if not forever.
  13. Well I noticed that at CP, the employees are also friendlier and the park is cleaner. I guess I should have expected someone to come along and ruin what was supposed to be a positive topic.. it just NEVER fails.
  14. I'm not a fan of trim brakes, but what if there were none on Maverick at Cedar Point.. I can not begin to imagine how violent a trimless Mav would be, and I'm not sure I'd want to know.
  15. You weren't at Cedar Point opening day to see the changes and the differences there too. ..anyway, I absolutely love the DB crew. They are fun, lively, humorous, do a great job with capacity, always greet me when I go to ride DB.. it's not just the coaster I'm running toward.. it makes my day to see a smile on the faces of the ride ops I'm friends with when they see me in line, and take a few minutes to stop and talk to me. To me, that is what matters.
  16. I saw you around the park Sunday. Racer was running both sides, and they were indeed racing. Blue was loading faster than Red, so the ops on Blue were jokingly harassing the ops on Red and telling them to hurry up and that they were slow/killing capacity/etc. They were even slapping the sides of the control booth like they were slapping a racehorse's side right before they dispatched the trains. I also noticed that the female ride ops were on Red and male ride ops were on Blue. It was highly entertaining.
  17. I have noticed this year that: - the landscaping is absolutely beautiful and I think KI did a fantastic job - most employees are friendlier, more understanding, more lively, more apologetic, more interactive with park guests - more employees are enforcing park rules - employees are working harder to keep the park clean - operations run better/capacity has improved (Racer has actually been racing too, which is awesome!) I absolutely LOVE Kings Island. I just wanted to take the time to point out the positive things.. so many of us focus on the negative that we overlook the reasons why we love the park so much. To the employees of KI: Please keep up the great job. Your efforts are not going unappreciated or unnoticed.
  18. I have new respect for Dragster after it.. oh I don't know.. ROLLED BACK WITH ME ON IT ON THE FIRST PUBLIC TRAIN OF 2010??!!! ok, I'm done, promise
  19. I supervote and choose Millie, Maggie, TTD, Blue Streak, Maverick, and Raptor! And Skyscraper and maXair and Skyhawk and Power Tower and Dodgems and the view of the lake, the frozen custard, and the history of the park.. GAAAHH can't choose, can't do it! I LOVE Cedar Point!
  20. I had a tornado come within 1/4 mile of my house when I was still in grade school. Most of us are aware that psychologically, fears that start during childhood are difficult if not impossible to break. I've been trying to shake that fear for the last 18 years since that happened.. I can't do it. I've tried everything. The last time I was in the path of an actual tornado, I had a full blown panic attack. To me, this is a very rational fear (and my only fear, mind you), and being taken to shelter when the sirens went off at KI would have been great. Tom saw me in such a petrified state that I was sure I was going to freak him out.. I was about one step away from completely losing it. He was finally able to calm me down, but I think the situation could have been handled much better by those who were working.
  21. NOOO!! Don't make me choose!! As much as I love Millie, I had to choose Magnum. I had 1 friend working on it in 2008, who came back in 2009 and I made friends with 4 more of the ride ops, and now 2 of them including the one that worked there in 08 and 09 are back this year. All of my CP friends seem to end up working on Magnum, so I ride it countless times a day just to see them, they text me and keep telling me to come back. It makes closing day VERY difficult with saying goodbye.. they live several hours away and I literally never see them during the off season. Oh and I also chose it for the epic thigh-bruising airtime on those bunny hills at the end Magnum is a terrific ride, and it has REALLY grown on me.
  22. 1. My thread was not unnecessary. If it was, it would have been deleted by now. 2. If you're "nice," you sure have a funny way of showing it. I've had several members PM me applauding me for telling you off. You have not been here long enough to decide who does and doesn't need a reality check. Leave the moderating to the moderators. 3. Speaking of reality checks, you are way off topic. Your deplorable attitude toward everyone on this site is not necessary, and post count proves nothing, so you can stop trolling. I'm done arguing with you. I'm not wasting any more energy on your cries for attention because obviously, that is all you are here for. Back to the original topic, please. Any other hateful/off topic posts from you will be reported immediately.
  23. If that is true, then that probably only applies to KI. I heard reports of waterspouts around Cedar Point on a few occasions last year, from the ride ops I know that work there.. once the weather passed, rides started testing and operations resumed normally. Then again, the weather at CP is significantly more unstable than the weather down here. As far as it being a policy to take people to shelters: When I heard the tornado sirens go off, all FOUR Racer ride ops working just looked around and asked "Are those tornado sirens?" When I saw on my Blackberry that there was a tornado warning for Mason, I showed one of the ride ops as I was holding back a panic attack (tornadoes are the one thing in this world that terrify me). Her answer was "We have shelters if something happens." I heard one of them say to another ride op "She's like freaking out." DID NOT appreciate that comment, much less not being taken to shelter when I had proof that there was a tornado warning. Yesterday made me very upset.
  24. I just realized that I didn't see that the weather was clear last night. I went with Tom (Tom76257), Nick (DropZone99), and Zach (UnrealSk8r) to LaRosa's in Mason, and we didn't leave the restaurant until after 11 pm. We were nowhere near a window.. I suppose I lost track of time. My bad on that one.
  25. OHHH I have a cute idea If it isn't busy, you should go up to the ride op and tell them your plan, and then let just the two of you up in the tower. Then you can propose to her at the top! Or.. you could propose to her right in front of the KI sign in front of the Royal Fountains.. or.. you could wait until Starlight Experience is all lit up at night, and then pick that moment Personally, I'd be ecstatic if my guy whipped out a ring on the lift hill of one of my favorite coasters, but that's just me, I'm crazy! Good luck and congratulations!
×
×
  • Create New...