McSalsa

Based on my Cedar Point experiences, for a larger rider, I would try these rides: The B&M's (Valravn, GateKeeper, Raptor, Rougarou): As mentioned by both other posts, the 4 B&M coasters at Cedar Point do have the "Big Boy" seats. Valravn and GateKeeper should, in theory, be the same as Banshee as they have the exact same restraint system. Raptor and Rougarou have the old-fashioned OTSR's, but they also have the Big Boy seating and since you could fit Invertigo you should also be able to fit those just fine. Magnum XL-200, Gemini, and Iron Dragon: If you could ride Adventure Express and The Bat just fine, these 3 rides should also be do-able. Gemini and Magnum XL-200 both feature restraints similar to Adventure Express, and Iron Dragon is the exact same ride model as The Bat (with a different, more tame layout). Cedar Creek Mine Ride: The cars themselves are similar to Adventure Express, but it has a different T-Bar shaped restraint system. I don't know if that makes it better or worse for large riders, but it did seem pretty accommodating. Blue Streak: Same exact style of train as The Racer or Beast, only difference is the headrests have gaps in them on Blue Streak (which in terms of larger riders means nothing pretty much). If you can do those, you should be OK on this. Corkscrew: This one is a maybe, since you didn't mention if you could fit on Vortex or not. But if you could fit on The Bat, you might be able to fit on this. I don't know if Corkscrew has a test seat though. Maverick: King Ding Dong did suggest this one, I would try the test seat out front if I was you. It can get a really long line and it would suck to stand in it for a hour plus only to get a walk of shame. (If you are staying on-site and have ERT, I would use it on this if you can fit!) I would say the rides KDD listed as no-go's probably are all gonna be walks of shame, as those are not very big people friendly. I am not large at all (5'10 200lbs), and I once had trouble on Wicked Twister! They also have MANY flat rides at Cedar Point, you should be able to do a decent amount of them as well. WindSeeker may be a no-go, though, if I am correct there is a 300lb limit on rider weight on that one (read it on a sign outside the ride), though I had a friend squeeze by at 310 and ride it with me not knowing that. It may also depend on the size of the person with you on that ride. Also, while Cedar Point can get VERY crowded during Haunt, the one good thing about the rides I do think you can fit on is a lot of them, minus Raptor, Valravn, and Maverick (prepare to wait AT LEAST 1 hour for those, possibly even 2!) are older, less popular coasters so the wait for them usually will not be as bad (unless the park becomes super crowded, then expect to wait 45 minutes for Corkscrew! Though this usually does not happen until October).

^ In addition those, I would say parks have a 4th factor- operating cost. However, I don't think Vortex's operating costs are too crazy either. It's a Arrow Looper, a SUPER common model, and even though Arrow has gone out of business so many other companies make parts for this model it is pretty ridiculous. It's also a pretty simple design at its core, with no fancy extra bits like a Suspended or Flying coaster would have. I would not be shocked if Vortex turned out to be cheaper to run than Firehawk, for example, for these very reasons (since I'd imagine Firehawk is probably a lot more complex and has more parts due to its flying design). In fact, I looked up the Arrow Looping Coasters on RCDB the other day- a LOT of them are actually still operating, even a bunch of the ones from the 1970's. A few have closed, but a few of those even were because their entire park was shut down. I'd imagine the ease of getting parts, high capacity, good reliability, and the model's excellent safety record are probably why so many parks are still holding onto their Arrow loopers in spite of the decreasing popularity. Metal fatigue may eventually start to kick in enough to start their removal, but I'd imagine that will hit the older ones first, and Vortex is one of the newer Arrow loopers so we would see a few other parks (probably ones that don't have as much free land as Kings Island but want to add new coasters) remove their Arrow loopers prior to Vortex kicking the bucket. I do think new trains with vest restraints like the Vekoma MK1212 would make Vortex a better ride though, however I'd hope the airtime from the back cars on the first drop would remain intact as I find that to be a highlight of the ride. It probably would not return the ride back to 90's levels of popularity, but it would probably really help with the headbanging complaints, possibly to the point where the ride would be much less hated. It would still have its awkward transitions though, they just would not headbang riders anymore. Also if Vortex did get new trains it would probably mean it's staying around for a good while longer, as new trains are NOT a cheap investment.

Hmm. Wikipedia may be pretty off. I went to web sites for these parks, and hand counted all the rides I saw listed there (had to try and avoid dupes as some parks would list the same ride under multiple categories). This includes kiddie rides. I got these results- also, for comparison, I give the numbers I got with and without waterpark: Kings Island- 49 rides (66 with waterpark) Cedar Point- 71 rides (88 with waterpark) (I imagine Wiki's 72 was correct for main park but Witches Wheel has just been removed) Carowinds- 42 rides (56 with waterpark) Canada's Wonderland- 61 rides (77 with waterpark) Holiday World- 33 rides (52 with waterpark) Kentucky Kingdom- 38 rides (57 with waterpark) These numbers make more sense to me- Holiday World and Kentucky Kingdom are small, family parks and while they have big waterparks, they aren't gonna have as many total rides as a place like Kings Island. Carowinds, ironically, is only barely ahead of them in ride count however and if you include their waterparks, Kentucky Kingdom has more rides than them! Cedar Point and Canada's Wonderland are clearly ahead of everyone else, since both those parks have lots of coasters, big kids areas, lots of flats, and decent-sized waterparks. Also note these are the 2018 numbers so they don't count the new-for-2019 rides like Yukon Striker, Copperhead Strike, Kings Mills Antique Autos, or whatever any of these parks add for next year.

Well, the full Top 50 of each list has been posted, and what I thought would be the case turned out to be true: Mystic Timbers WAS just outside the Top 10 woodies, it was #11, and was only beaten for #10 by less than 20 points. http://goldenticketawards.com/2018-top-50-wooden-coasters/

To be honest, I am a bit surprised Mystic Timbers didn't break into the Top 10 woodies, given Kings Island seems to be a pretty popular park and in head-to-head comparisons it does fare pretty well versus Beast, which got ranked #5. I imagine it made the Top 15 but we won't know that until the full Top 50 get posted.

Nope- the area is sometimes partially open for some haunts, but all Planet Snoopy rides are closed down, save for Boo Blasters on Boo Hill which is technically I-Street. On Saturdays when the park opens at 11AM, Planet Snoopy will be open but it closes around the time Haunt begins.

Based on what I have heard, RCCA was chosen because CCI overbid (charged way too much- on purpose, they actually did NOT want this project, and since they were the leader in wooden coasters at the time that should have been a huge red flag) and Intamin was not super well known for the wooden coasters in 1999 when Son of Beast was built (they had a mixed track record with their large wooden coasters in Japan and stuff at the time- Colossos at Heide Park was the first prefab and the first to get glowing reviews all around). Plus, RCCA probably offered to build Son of Beast for cheaper.

Maybe- depends on a LOT of factors. Manufacturer, Layout, etc etc. KK probably would not get a B&M Hyper since they are so expensive, but a Mack Hyper (like DC Rivals in Australia) would be something new that has not yet come to the USA and would thus be able to get quite a bit of attention.

Well, I have been to Holiday World again since I wrote this (went last July) and have some updated thoughts: Voyage was running MUCH better in 2018, in spite of being trimmed at the mid-course brake run. Still had PLENTY of intensity, the airtime was back in spades, and the ride was considerably smoother than in 2011 or 2013, I would say it beats a wheel seat on any of the Cedar Fair woodies using the 3-bench PTC's (Blue Streak, Racer, and Beast) in terms of smoothness. I also got a night ride on it, which was incredible. As such, Voyage shot up from being outside my Top 10 to being my #3 overall coaster and new favorite woodie, behind only Steel Vengeance and Maverick. The GCI overhaul also didn't affect my opinion of Legend too much, though I'd say Legend is now easily the 2nd smoothest wooden coaster I have ever been on (Mystic Timbers is #1). The laterals in the final few corners lost a tiny bit of oomph, though, so Legend pretty much stayed where it was on my rankings. Voyage surpassed it to return to being my favorite coaster at Holiday World with its huge rise, but Legend is still my #3 woodie, just edging out Mystic Timbers. Add in the short-but-sweet Raven, which was also running pretty well on my last visit, and you have a great collection of wood coasters, I'd even say the best of the 3 parks I have been to (just barely edging out Kings Island, and Cedar Point is...well...Blue Streak is good but by itself it stands no chance against the other park's collections. CP needs more woodies.). I also finally got to ride Thunderbird- it is a solid B&M, though due to the short length of the coaster, I did like GateKeeper a bit better. Thunderbird is a good ride in its own right though, and it is more forceful than GateKeeper is. I really like the slow roll at the end, it's even better than Banshee's, and the launch, while not Top Thrill Dragster, is pretty forceful. I'll put it this way: I waited in line for a HOUR to ride Thunderbird (Saturday in July) and did not feel jipped when I got off. That is a sign of a good ride. The rest of my OG comments still ring true- the waterpark is still amazing as usual, with the 2 water coasters being the stars. Though even Holiday World isn't perfect: we had some issues with food service at Wildebeestro, though the park's main guest services really were amazing. And the dispatches could be MUCH better on their coasters, Voyage was stacking its 2 trains and that coaster has a 3-minute long ride, even with bins that feels like it never happens at a Cedar Fair park unless you are talking about Firehawk. (Though I do like that all the coasters there have bins, making Lockers less of a need) And if you aren't really into waterparks, you're gonna be re-doing the same coasters and flat rides over and over because the sheer number of rides at Holiday World isn't nearly Kings Island level, much less Cedar Point. But the Pro's of this park still very much outweigh the cons, I would highly recommend this park, especially to fans of wooden coasters and waterslides. Oh, and to keep this on topic: Yes, I do think Kings Island competes with area parks- more Kentucky Kingdom than Holiday World since it directly attracts the Louisville market, but I do think Holiday World does still have some effect. Kings Island may not be first park Cedar Fair tries new concepts at, but we are still getting new rides (especially if they are hits at the other parks) and I think KK and HW are one of the reasons why. If those 2 parks did not exist, there would be far less of a incentive to improve Kings Island. Banshee, Mystic Timbers, and the rumored 2020 B&M (Giga?) would probably not happen if Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World were not tugging customers away from Kings Island. Heck, the whole reason I think Kings Island might actually get a Giga from B&M in 2020 would be a preemptive move to make Kentucky Kingdom getting a hyper look weak, and also to say "Hey. Kentucky Kingdom. Don't you dare step on our market and take customers from us, or else.".

I am not at the park, and don't know how accurate this is, but Que-Times.com has Vortex currently listed at a 30 minute wait- I have personally never seen it past 25 (Haunt Saturday 2010), and even at that, the line was overflowing to Juke Box Diner. Ironically Diamondback is also listed at 30 minutes, but a check on the webcams shows that one may be about right. Beast is also listed at 30 ATM, but Mystic Timbers is 70 minutes, Flight of Fear is a hour, and Firehawk is TWO Hours. BLSC is 40 minutes, and White Water Canyon is a hour- sounds like a lot of people are going for water rides (also given the line seen above for Congo) so I would guess that the lines in the waterpark must be insane. Yeah it sounds like the park is pretty packed for a lot of rides. If you are in the park, I dunno how accurate these are, but there are a few rides which ATM have respectable wait times: Banshee is listed at 15*, AE is also 15, Invertigo is 20, The Bat is only 10 minutes, and The Racer is only 5. If any of those are anywhere near accurate, those rides could offer some relief from the huge waits the other ones have. *=EDIT: Scratch that, just checked the Banshee cam, and from what I can see there is at least a 30 minute wait. Que-times may not have updated yet or something for that one.

OK, here is mine (current): 1. The Beast 2. Diamondback 3. Mystic Timbers 4. Banshee 5. Flight of Fear 6. Vortex 7. The Bat 8. The Racer 9. Adventure Express 10. Backlot Stunt Coaster Also, since everyone did Top 10's, for fun I went and looked through each post and gave each coaster points based on where they were all ranked. A 10th place ranking gave the coaster 1 point, a 1st place gives 10 points, and being unranked or below Top 10 gives no points. Here are the results, based on the 8 posts so far: 1. Diamondback= 74pts 2. Mystic Timbers= 66pts 3. The Beast= 61pts 4. Banshee= 56pts 5. Flight of Fear= 45pts 6. The Bat= 33pts 7. Vortex= 24pts 8. Adventure Express= 20pts 9. The Racer= 19pts 10. Invertigo= 16pts* 11. Firehawk= 16pts* 12. Backlot Stunt Coaster= 8pts 13. Flying Ace Aerial Chase= 1pts NA. Woodstock Express= 0pts (Did Not Appear in Anyone's Top 10) NA. Great Pumpkin Coaster= 0pts (Same as Woodstock) *=Tiebreaker used was highest ranking. OP ranked Invertigo 2nd, no one rated Firehawk better than 6th, therefore I gave Invertigo 10th place.

Probably pretty busy, though as I am not actually in the park I can only use stuff like que-times listed above which isn't always 100% accurate. I was at Cedar Point last weekend and it got pretty packed, though we did have Fast Lane Plus on Sunday and on Monday, the park was pretty dead (Raptor had a 5-minute wait at 2pm which is a pretty good sign the park is "dead" in terms of crowds). Though even then, Steel Vengenace (which was still at 2 trains), Maverick, and Valravn were all 45 minutes plus.

Steel Vengeance is now...running all 3 trains! I can't link it, but FYE Coasters on Facebook have a video showing Chess leaving the station. A 2nd train can be seen parked on the brake run, and then a 3rd flies past overhead on one of the overbanked turns! I would still expect 60-90+ minute waits though. Even with the improved capacity, I imagine Steel Vengeance is still gonna be stupid popular and Maverick and Valravn can easily get wait times that big so there is no reason Steel Vengeance won't.

Oh...my bad. Also, that is even cooler in a way. Also, since we renewed our Platinum Cedar Fair passes, my friends and sister were looking into other Cedar Fair parks we could visit in 2019. Carowinds was already on our radar as an option. This probably just pushed them to the top.

Woah, Six Flags adding new roller coasters that are NOT RMC's for once? That's a nice change of pace. Maxx Force looks awesome, probably the new-for-2019 coaster that excites me the most so far, but West Coast Racers also looks pretty cool. I do also like the nice selection flat rides the other Six Flags parks are getting. While this is otherwise a pretty standard year for Six Flags, the 2 new coasters (not counting the S&S Free Spin) bump it up a notch. I give Six Flags 2019 a thumbs up!

This thing looks fun. Reminds me pretty heavily of Maverick, and it should have lots of airtime and hang time. The stats are not exactly the biggest or baddest, but stats are not everything, and this should be a excellent addition to Carowinds coaster lineup. Also, bigger Mack rides have finally come to the USA with Time Traveler and Copperhead Strike. I also love how the logo is a robotic snake. With Six Flags' announcements of Maxx Force and West Coast Racers, it is looking like 2019 will be the year of the launched coaster, kinda like how 2017 was pretty heavy on woodies.

I never got to ride it (closest I ever got was in 2009, we walked up to it and before we could get in line it broke down for the day and then closed forever shortly after), but Son of Beast was a very beautiful structure. I remember it looming over Action Zone on my visits from 2000-2012, even when it was SBNO, and watching it on my first ever trip to Kings Island in 2000 is one of the strongest memories I have of that day even though it was 18 years ago (I was too chicken to ride it, though). In some ways, Steel Vengeance (my current #1 coaster BTW) reminds me a little bit of Son of Beast, since it does have a wooden structure and is also over 200 feet tall, even if the ride is a steel coaster. Like how Son of Beast loomed over Action Zone, Steel Vengeance looms over Frontier Town, and it is intimidating just like Son of Beast was. It even has a super loud lift hill to boot! Granted, Steel Vengeance also has very twisted track obviously visible in places, adding to the intimidation factor. Though I did just look over a few pics of both coasters, and I would say due to the "dip" in the track at the top of the lift, I would give just a slight edge to Son of Beast still in terms of looks. Plus SOB really only had Diamondback as competition for looking huge and scary at KI, SV has to run against Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, Valravn, and Magnum XL-200 which are also all huge, intimidating-looking coasters in their own right.

Hello and welcome to the latest (as of now) McSalsa Trip Report! I went to Cedar Point this past weekend for 2 1/2 days (all weekend plus half of Monday) and here is my trip report for it. But first off, here is my ride rating system: F- Garbage. I regret ever riding this and will not make the same mistake of ever riding it again! D- Mediocre. A disappointing, or painful ride, though there might be a little fun here. I might give a D-Tier ride a second chance but it is gonna need to be a walk-on or something. C- Average. A fun ride, but either there is enough roughness/pain to dilute it, or it just does not blow me away. Will still ride this if the wait is not too bad, though. B- Good. A ride I enjoy, but it may have some flaws, but I will happily re-ride this unless the wait is pretty crazy. A- Awesome. These rides leave me with a huge grin usually, and I will ride them over and over if there is a short wait. If there are long waits around the entire park, I may aim for these anyway, as if you are gonna wait, best to be for something worth it. Surpassed only by... S- Epic. The best of the best. I am usually giddy and my happiness meter is maxed out after riding one of these. Tragically, these are not the most common rides out there, however.  Note: If you wanna take this as a 1-10 system, S=10, A=9, B=8, C=7, D=6, and F=5 or worse. Now, since this was a 3 day trip, I have decided to try something different since my last 3 day trip report was, well, huge. Maybe a bit too huge. And I re-rode lots of stuff on this trip so I would be repeating myself a lot. So I am instead gonna cover the rides & stuff in sections, and just list how many times I rode them. They will be ordered by when I took my first ride though. The sections will be: Roller Coasters Flat Rides Food Other Note-able Stuff I didn't do any water rides or visit the waterpark, but if I ever do any of that on one of these big trips, they will also have their own sections. Also worth noting, we took advantage of the season pass renewal offer and got Fast Lane Plus for Sunday. Our group included me, my sister, and 2 friends- one of which was still kinda overcoming huge coasters (Friend A), and the other did do them but was still not 100% for some rides (Friend B). We left very early trying to get to the park in time for ERT, which was just barely did. We stayed all day Saturday and Sunday, and left around 3PM on Monday. We also stayed at Hotel Breakers again. Now, let's get to...DA ROLLER COASTERS!!! ROLLER COASTERS Maverick (4 Rides) Maverick was running GREAT on this trip. Great forces, lots of airtime, a powerful launch and lots of twisty goodness. I rode it twice at night, the 2nd night ride in particular was awesome and one of the best rides I have ever had on any roller coaster. The ride was also up and running all 3 days, which is great for this ride since it typically seems to have at least 1 issue on most of my trips to this park. We even got our friend who doesn't like coasters to try it, he normally can't do inversions but he was fine here since they go by so fast on Maverick, and he LOVED it. We rode it during Saturday ERT, Saturday Night (longest wait for this ride for me, was about 30 minutes), Sunday ERT, and Sunday Night. On Monday it had a 1+ hour wait all day, so we didn't ride then. Still, I am very happy to have gotten 4 more rides on the incredible Maverick on this trip. Rating: S+! Iron Dragon (4 Rides) We headed over to Iron Dragon early on Saturday to sign up for the VR, since I remembered Cedar Point made you do that at one point, but apparently now they don't. We rode it anyway since there was no wait, and had a fun ride swinging through the trees, though it felt very slow since I had just ridden Maverick right before. Later on Saturday we returned and got in line for the VR version, and we got in line fast enough to be on the first train. And my VR didn't work! The image I saw never began moving (though I could look around), so I essentially rode Iron Dragon blind. To my surprise, however, the ride ops were kind enough to let me re-ride (they moved me to a open seat as a single rider) with a new headset, and I got to ride Iron Dragon WITH WORKING VR! It was actually very cool, even if it wasn't the best graphics ever, and it made the coaster seem more intense than it actually was. Iron Dragon just seems like the perfect type of coaster for this, too: not too rough or intense, and it is a older ride that isn't as popular. I don't think this would work on any of KI's coasters, though. We also went back on Monday for 1 more ride, which was still decent fun. Rating: Iron Dragon- C, Iron Dragon VR (Working)- A Millennium Force (2 Rides) We rode Millennium Force after Iron Dragon, and Friend A who is still overcoming bigger roller coasters (though TBH he is doing great at it, he will ride all but the biggest and loopiest roller coasters now) went with us this time. Like my sister, he was not a fan of the first drop, but he loved the rest of the ride. I loved the entire thing though. We rode first on Saturday morning after Iron Dragon, and a storm was moving into the area, so there was a mist during the entire ride which felt great TBH. The coaster did feel a tiny bit slower than I remembered, but it was morning and it may not have warmed up 100% yet, so that was probably a factor. It was still a awesome ride. Later on that night, after our first Maverick night ride, we hurried over and managed to get in line for a night ride, and that was a great choice because the ride was incredible. It was running faster than in the morning, had stronger airtime, and the darkness of night always adds more to most coasters including this one. However, that would be our last ride on MF, as it went down on Sunday and then went down again Monday morning, and it didn't open back up. Ugh, Intaminitis strikes again! Rating: S Magnum XL-200 (6 Rides) I rode this one at least once all 3 days, Magnum XL-200 is a great coaster and it usually has little to no wait, making it IMO one of the best "value" coasters I have ever run into. Thus I rode it more than anything else on the trip! I tried a few different seats, and I think I like the back of the train a bit more as 5-2 gave the best ride I had on the coaster (6-2 was always taken so I never rode that seat) as the first drop actually had a tiny bit of airtime. The final few hills, of course, have the most and strongest airtime on this coaster as they send you flying up into your lap bar. I also love the tunnels, they add to the mayhem this coaster offers, especially at night. It is a little on the rough side, but I don't think it's too bad. On Sunday this was my last ride of the night, and me and Friend A rode it together twice in a row (he loves it too). He actually got kinda mad when the ride ops joked about us riding again but then said no because the park closed. I kinda see why, Magnum XL-200 is awesome. I actually like it a bit more than Diamondback, to be 100% honest (though DB is no slouch and I also love that ride). Also, I was shocked to see at one point on Saturday this thing had a 45-minute wait and was actually using its Ques! You know CP is packed when that happens. Rating: S Gemini (5 Rides) Here is another fun ride by Arrow with little to no wait time, thus I also rode it many times. I rode both sides, and usually either in the very front car (2nd row) or very back car (also 2nd row). I think my favorite seat is 5-2, Red Train. Red feels smoother to me than Blue does, and the back car was actually dishing out VERY good airtime, even giving out ejector air on some rides (right before a head chopper too)! I also rode very first race of the day on Saturday, as the ride did not open earlier due to rain. We rode this at night a few times as well, though on Sunday when we did that it was not racing and only Red was running, though the MCBR was off so we got some nice laterals through the final turn (trims before helix were still on, and I think that might be for safety reasons). The front seats didn't have as much air, but did offer some great views. Gemini is yet another fun coaster at a park filled to the brim with them. Rating: B Steel Vengeance (3 Rides) We got beat by the crowds on Sunday for the "Running of the Bulls", so we went over and rode Maverick for ERT instead, then came back and waited for the park to open so we could be the first few in the Fast Lane Plus line (Friend A sat this ride out every time but he held our phones and stuff for us). The ride had also had a minor issue and needed to do a few test runs, but it re-opened at around 10:05 AM, so we got in and waited about 10 minutes for the coaster. Steel Vengeance was still crazy, but didn't feel as crazy as it had on my previous rides, though it was also morning. I went back later Saturday by myself (I had broken off from the group) around 3-4PM, and waited in the 45 minute Fast Lane line (which was kinda annoying because of how little the line moved) and got rewarded with a ride that DID feel as crazy as before, as by then the ride had warmed up, plus I was in the 2nd to last car. I did get trimmed a little at the MCBR, but to be honest only the first hill after that felt different, the rest of the ride was the same. So much airtime on this thing, it is crazy! And then we as a group (Me+Sister+Friend rode again at night, finding a 15 minute wait (crowds had gone way down), and got a even crazier ride thanks to the darkness of night, a full red-looking moon, and the fact the train was right below us during our ride so we got a face full o' steam. What an amazing ride- even if it is so violent and forceful at times it kinda hurts! It ran well both Saturday and Sunday, but it did have issues at opening on Monday, though it did open around 11AM. We only rode on Sunday because that was the day we had Fast Lane Plus, and without that we would be looking at a 90+ minute wait every single day. Still, I loved my rides on Sunday, and in spite of a great push by Maverick, Steel Vengeance remains my #1 roller coaster. Rating: S+! Top Thrill Dragster (2 Rides) We waited until Sunday, when we had Fast Lane Plus, to ride this one but when we did, I was for once not alone (also due to rain it was down most of the day Saturday). My sister decided to suck it up, face her fears, and ride with me and because of this Friend B did the same (Friend A still sat out). We got on pretty quickly, and the ride was running well, so no breakdowns this time (at least on Sunday). The ride launched, it was very forceful, and we went over the top and dropped 400 feet to the ground with a twist. I loved it. But what did my sister and Friend B think? They actually loved it too, and felt stupid for being scared of this ride! We went back and rode it again Monday morning with about a 10 minute wait, and the launch on that day felt even more powerful. Also I am proud of my sister and our friend for facing their fears, and conquering Top Thrill Dragster! We actually wanted to do it again later on Monday, but it went down (it did the same near the end of Sunday as well). Ugh, more Intaminitis. Rating: A GateKeeper (2 Rides) This was the first of Cedar Point's B&Ms I rode and I did not even ride it until Sunday! (Saturday I rode nothing but Intamin and Arrow rides) My Fast Lane Plus was worthless here, besides getting me to the merge point a few seconds faster, as the wait was under 15 minutes for both rides I took (one solo and one with my Sister and Friend B, Friend A cannot do slow inversions). Both times I rode the left wing, since I enjoy flipping upwards on the first drop. Actually got some weak airtime again on the hill, and the inversions were good fun. GateKeeper isn't very intense, but I still really enjoy this roller coaster, it is just fun. We could have probably easily rode a 3rd time on Monday, but we were tired and ready to head home so we didn't do it. Rating: A Wicked Twister (1 Ride) Only 1 ride on this on Sunday, but it had a very short wait (Fast Lane was useless) and it was a fun ride. I also was the only one in my group to do it, as I was going solo at the time. Wicked Twister is good, twisted fun and a lot more intense than it looks like from afar. You essentially get Maverick's launch, and go up and down the giant spires over and over. I rode pretty far back so going down the 2nd spire looking straight down from high up was pretty crazy. Rating: A Raptor (2 Rides) I rode this once solo on Sunday (5 minute wait with Fast Lane- Regular Wait was 75!), and with my sister and Friend B on Sunday (Also a 5 minute wait). Raptor is a solid ride, very fun and pretty intense. It is a little rough, mostly due to some rattling though, there really is not much headbanging however save for maybe 1 or 2 spots. I also realized said rattling is what made me and my sister to think our restraints were coming undone, but in reality this ride gives you some wiggle room and locked about 1 inch off of me, so when it rattled the restraint would wobble and shake, making it seem like it was loose but it was really locked. The final turn after the helix is really abrupt, and I did get headbanged there. I still prefer Banshee out of the 2 B&M inverts I have been on, but this is still a very fun coaster I would like to ride more. Rating: A Blue Streak (4 Rides) Ahh, Blue Streak. Cedar Point's 1964 wooden classic. It is a fun ride, though as I ride it more and more, I do think I like The Racer a bit better now as the 2 rides are very similar, but Racer has the racing element and is larger. I got about the same amount of airtime on both coasters (I remember Blue Streak having more on my first few rides but since then it has seemingly declined), and both can be a little rough if you sit on a rear wheel. Blue Streak does have a better turn-around, though, since it has some actual laterals there. There was no wait at all on Sunday or Monday whenever we came back to this ride's area, so I ended up riding it 4 times total. Also, it is just us, or does it feel like the cars on this ride flex and bend on the way up to the lift hill? No other woodie I have been on, PTC trains or not, seems to do that. This was also the last thing we rode before we left on Monday. Rating: C Rougarou (2 Rides) My solo ride on Rougarou on Sunday was fun, and was decently smooth, only 1 or 2 small headbanging moments which is not bad considering this ride's bad reputation most give it. We went back on Monday, and it was a bit rougher then, I was headbanged around 3 times which is not too bad (and none of them were super hard) but my sister who is shorter got it a lot worse and hated the ride. It also didn't help we sat in the big boy row, so she was pretty deep in the seat to boot. I like Rougarou, it is a fun ride to me, but I can also kinda see why some may not like it as much. I do like how it never has a wait though, so people who do like it like me can go grab a ride when everything else has crazy long lines, and it is almost always open due to B&M reliability. Also on my Sunday ride, I got to see Physics in action because a kid in the row in front of me lost his quarter on the lift hill and it landed on the back of his seat, and I had a clear view of it, and I thought it would fall out on the loop but it stayed in place! It did drop off later on, somewhere just before the MCBR. Rating: B Valravn (2 Rides) During my solo run on Sunday, I checked Valravn's wait time and found it had a 30 minute wait...for Fast Lane! I decided if I was gonna wait for a ride even with Fast Lane, I would do Steel Vengeance, and then come back later when the wait was reduced. So, around 7PM with the group re-united, we did just that and found a much shorter Fast Lane wait. Friend A sat this out due to the slow inversions. The first drop on this coaster is epic, due to the size and the fact it dangles you for a few seconds before you drop, and then you get some nice g-forces. The 2nd drop is also pretty fun, and the final few inversions pack more of a punch than you may expect. On our Monday ERT ride, we didn't get any airtime on the airtime hill though. That was a first. Anyhow, yet ANOTHER great roller coaster. Rating: A Cedar Creek Mine Ride (1 Ride) Friend A really wanted to ride this, and it had no wait, so we did. This ride doesn't have much in the way of big drops, but it does have some nice laterals that can be surprisingly strong. The scenery around the coaster is also nice, and you can get a great view of Maverick and Steel Vengeance from the first lift hill. But IMO, Adventure Express is still the far superior mine train coaster. Rating: C- And that does it for roller coasters. I did not ride Corkscrew this time (have the credit), or the kiddie coasters. Now, onto...FLAT RIDES!!! FLAT RIDES Ocean Motion (1 Ride) This ride is smaller than Viking Fury, but for some reason it felt a little more intense. Maybe because the lap bar seemed higher up? It was also the only flat ride I rode on Saturday. It was decent fun. Rating: C MaXair (2 Rides) I didn't get to ride this one on our May trip to Cedar Point as it was down for some reason, but this time it was open, and I did ride. It was kinda hot by Sunday, when I rode it, so MaXair was a great ride to cool off on. I love the spinning and swinging aspect of the ride, and it kinda feels relaxing to me, though you do get strong G-Forces at the bottom. This one also has a longer ride cycle than Delirium, thus making this the better frisbee. One of my favorite flat rides. Rating: A WindSeeker (1 Ride) These make me nervous (as you are held up nearly 300 feet by a single bolt essentially), yet I enjoy them at the same time as I like swinging rides and the view is usually awesome. I rode Kings Island's version earlier this year, and this one felt identical other than the fact the view was very different. Due to that, I liked this one a little bit better as you get awesome views of the many giant roller coasters and Lake Erie. Rating: B Giant Wheel (1 Ride) Another ride that actually makes me nervous. In 2014, I rode the Indiana State Fair Giant Wheel, and hated it as it wobbled around and creaked when loading/unloading and left me dangling in the air. I agreed to ride this one only because my sister had done TTD earlier in the day. Thankfully, the Giant Wheel at Cedar Point is much more stable, even if it is even bigger. The views from this ride are very nice, though I still became slightly uncomfortable when near the top at load/unload. Thankfully the ride cycle began soon, and I was disappointed we only went around once. I did enjoy this much more than the State Fair Wheel though. Rating: C- Witches Wheel (1 Ride) Here is another wheel ride- and sadly this one is going to close soon. We rode this on Monday, our last day in the park. This was my first HUSS Enterprise style ride, and I found it pretty fun. It is pretty disorienting and has some nice G-Forces. Though I can understand why it is being removed, given how expensive parts must be getting and stuff. Considering Witches Wheel opened in 1977, though, I would say it has had a very good lifespan for a intense flat ride. Hopefully, its replacement is another ride that will be around for 40+ years. Rating: C+ Pipe Scream (1 Ride) Friend A suggested we ride this on Monday, and it had no wait so we did. And I am glad he did- we actually got a LOT of spinning on this ride this time, and it felt faster and more intense than usual- I thought we were gonna bump the edges and get a E-Stop a few times! Though my sister actually felt a tiny bit sick after riding it, she recovered after getting a drink. This was pretty fun. Rating: B- Lake Erie Eagles (1 Ride) It has been a little while since I had been on a Flying Eagles type ride, so when the group wanted to ride this I was not opposed. I had some fun experimenting a bit with steering my eagle, but I also was careful not to snap since I had heard Cedar Fair was yelling at people for doing that and I didn't wanna get yelled at. I did go sideways for most of the ride though, which I found fun. I called it "Driftin' Eagles", LOL. Rating: C+ Skyhawk (1 Ride) Ahh, Skyhawk. This ride is fun and the restraint isn't as serious as MaXair's, but I think the spinning aspect adds a bit more to that ride. I still really enjoyed Skyhawk though, I got some nice pops of airtime at the top of the swings, and looking straight down is still a bit scary. Rating: A- Cedar Downs Racing Derby (1 Ride) The last flat I rode, we hit this up on our way to ride Raptor on the final day. This high-speed carousel is good fun, and "simulates" a actual horse race. I actually didn't come in last for once, but I did come in 2nd to my sister. Rating: C And that does it for flat rides. Onto da grub! FOOD Dairy Queen Wait, wut? Why am I reviewing a off-site food place? For 1 reason: it is actually, I have learned, owned and operated by Cedar Point. Thus, I will include it in the trip report! We came here on Saturday after riding Millennium Force as it began to rain, closing down many of the rides (my friends needed to get some cigarettes too- hence why we went off site). It was also MUCH cheaper than the in-park food options, as the prices were normal for a Dairy Queen. You could get a Steel Vengeance Ice Cream Cake here, though. I got the $6 Chicken Sandwich Lunch combo, which came with sandwich, fries, a drink, and a sundae. The sundae actually came out to us first, as the food was taking a minute to make, but once it did come out it was all fresh and tasted good. The Sundae was the highlight, of course since it is DQ. If you are willing to go off-site to save some money, I would say this Dairy Queen near the Express Hotel is a good option. Rating: B Melt Bar & Grilled When I went solo, I was kinda hungry, so I stopped in here not realizing it was table service. There was no line though so I just went ahead and ate here, plus I had plenty of time. And I am glad I did eat here- this place is full of old CP memorabilia, like old ride logos, ride pictures, etc etc. I ordered the 2018-only Chicken Vengeance Sandwich, because it looked good and I do enjoy Chicken and Bacon Sandwiches. It took a minute to get to me, but it was VERY fresh, and came with nice hot fries. The sandwich was AMAZING, it tasted so good and was very filling, so I ended up having to take half of it back to the hotel (where I ate it later). I would even say it was probably my favorite amusement park food item I have eaten in 2018, beating out Sidewinder Sue's BBQ Loaded Fries! I am so glad I stopped in at Melt and ate there, even if it was a slight mistake. Rating: S Chicken Coupe (Food Truck) The Ohio vs. Michigan food truck festival was also underway when we went to Cedar Point, so we ate at a few of them on Sunday. We just got the $5 sampler at this one, since I was not starving, I thought I would get a chicken strip on a bun but it came on waffles! I have avoided chicken and waffles since I thought those 2 would not pair well but, in a random decision, I decided to try them. And to my shock, IT WAS GOOD! The chicken was very well cooked and breaded, and the waffle was soft and delicious. Even dipping the chicken in maple syrup was not bad at all, I thought it would be gross but I was way off. You actually don't taste both the chicken and syrup at the same time, they feel like the tastes occur separately (first I tasted syrup, then came chicken). I am happy to report, I was pleasantly shocked at how good chicken and waffles can be. These guys got my vote for best food truck, due to extra points for making me try something new (and me liking it). Rating: A+ Forest Fun Food (Food Truck) This food truck was serving Asian food, so my sister got some Asian Tacos, and she gave me one. It tasted very good, and was kinda spicy. Kind of like Asian Chicken but on a soft Taco Shell. I was still more impressed by Chicken & Waffles, but this was still great. Rating: A Firehouse Grilling Co. (Food Truck) 2017's Food Truck Festival winner, my sister decided to get a brownie from this truck and split it with us. It was delicious, soft and chocolatey. While I voted for Chicken Coupe, I think these guys will probably win 2018 just because they are local and usually show up at Cedar Point all the time, so there may be some bias. Rating: A Bosco Sticks (Food Cart) Our final food item at Cedar Point was some Bosco Sticks we got at a food cart in Frontier Town, near Frontier Trail. They were only $5 for 2 of them, so why not? These were pretty good, but tasted like regular Pizza. Which is good, but I didn't think these really stood out. Good snack though. Rating: B- That does it for food. Now onto the final category, OTHER STUFF!!! OTHER STUFF As I stated near the start of the trip report, we stayed at Hotel Breakers, which was a great choice due to the convenience. The room was clean when we arrived in it, and it gave us a great place to go back, snack on stuff we brought, and relax when the park got too busy. So Breakers was great, as usual. There was ONE major screw-up Cedar Point did on us, though. When we were coming back into the park from Dairy Queen (because our room had become ready) on Saturday there was a car accident, and so they did some weird stuff and blocked off the main entrance to Perimeter Road, making people drive through the main lot...WHICH WAS AT NEAR CAPACITY DUE TO CROWD LEVELS. Thus, it caused confusion and madness, and they were lucky there were not more accidents (at least as far as I saw). It took us a half hour just to reach Perimeter Road, which was crazy. Luckily, this did not happen again, but it was a bit of a issue when it did happen on Saturday. Also, the bathrooms could have been cleaner in the main park. In Breakers, our personal bathroom was great, but sometimes you just had to go and were far from the Hotel. There were also TONS of spiders in the Millennium Force and Steel Vengeance ques. Not really the park's fault, and I realize spiders and gnats are things, but worth mentioning I feel. And that will do it for this trip report. In spite of some of the gripes I listed in "Other Stuff", I had a blast. Even though we renewed our passes, we will probably not be returning to Cedar Point for Halloweekends, so it will be May of 2019 at the earliest we will return. But between now and then, we will be visiting Kings Island for Haunt, and Winterfest. So I will still be able to get my coaster fix at KI. And now, finally, the overall Pro's and Con's of the trip... PROS +Amazing Roller Coaster Collection +Great Flat Ride Collection +Good Food, and even some GREAT Food +Most of the staff was very nice +Park looked very nice and scenic all around, and the outside was clean +Maverick shockingly staying open the entire time CONS -Mayhem in Parking Lot on Saturday -Some of the bathrooms were kinda dirty -Huge crowds on Saturday and big crowds on Sunday (though we had Fast Lane+ on Sunday to kinda negate a bit of that, and Monday was not busy) -Millennium Force only working on Saturday, and then breaking down the next 2 days. TTD, Gemini, Steel Vengeance, and even Valravn went down a few times as well. And that will do it for this trip report. Did you like the new format for huge trip reports (regular single day trips will probably use old format still)? Also, questions and comments are welcome. And finally... RIP Witches Wheel 1977-2018

^ The official name for that ride type is Screamin' Swing. They are made by S&S rides. http://s-s.com/rides/screamin-swing/

Well, this document is very interesting. I would say I am about 90% sure we are getting a B&M in 2020. Is it the long-rumored Giga? Possibly. Could also be... Dive Coaster: These things are GP magnets, Valravn at Cedar Point is crazy popular (it drew a ton of people away from Millennium Force when it re-opened on a Friday when I was there, Millie's wait dropped from 90 minutes to 45 almost as soon as Valravn when up) and they are not as expensive as other B&M models, so I would not be 100% shocked if Kings Island got one, though they did just announce Yukon Striker for Canada's Wonderland and Valravn is in the same state and is still pretty new, and they may not wanna undercut Valravn's long term legs. Floorless Coaster: This is another option, though they would need to make it huge and do stuff Banshee does not do to keep the 2 from feeling too similar. However, it would not be much cheaper than the Giga, and since so many people seem to want a Giga, why not just go for that? Wing Coaster: The craze for these seems to have died down slightly in recent years, but this is still an option. They could also pull a Thunderbird on this (TBH Floorless too) and have it be launched, though Kings Island is pretty close to Holiday World and I imagine people would notice if KI ripped off Thunderbird. Also, this would also be fairly expensive and not too much cheaper than a Giga. B&M's other models are options, save for a Hyper and Invert since KI already has them, but the chances for any of those seem VERY low to me. There is also the option that KI gets a brand-new model of B&M, such as the rumored 4D coaster, but we would have nothing to speculate on that until construction started. If I was gonna bet, though, I'd go Giga. There have been enough requests for it, it was speculated for BOTH Banshee and Mystic Timbers by fans (some of whom got annoyed when it turned out those were a Invert and GCI Woodie) and it would be a HUGE draw to Kings Island. Millennium Force no longer needs protected, it will be 20 years old in 2020 (off-topic: I see MF becoming a ACE Landmark in 2020) and CP has new draws like Valravn, Steel Vengeance, and possibly their own new 2020 coaster. If KI and CP both get huge new coasters in 2020, it could draw people to BOTH parks, meaning even more money for Cedar Fair. It would also be a warning to Kentucky Kingdom not to step on KI's toes, since there are rumors about KK getting a hyper coaster. It just seems to make sense- though if we do get a Giga in 2020, I would not expect another big coaster for at least 4-5 years after, so not sure what the park would do for its 50th in 2022. Probably bring back Phantom Theater or something?

That document is actually exactly what I meant by "leak". It is very interesting, being honest- though I will post my speculations over in that thread, not here. Also Ginkgo Trees would be a awesome thing to bring back.

Yup- I knew about that, I imagine that was probably from people who work at those local news stations looking at sites like this and seeing people post about the "teasers" (which were really probably just easter eggs) and going "Wow, this will make a great story for our news site!". And they just interview some random people and stuff, and bam, quick news story based on rumors. If the 2020 "leak" is true (or whenever the next big coaster comes), I wonder how these guys are gonna respond to/cover ACTUAL teasers the park puts out. I expect it will probably get pretty crazy.

I like this addition. Antique Cars really aren't my thing, though if this set has nice scenery added that could be a different story, but this will be a great ride for older people and kids outside Planet Snoopy. The removal of the original cars in 2004 was one of Paramount's biggest mistakes, and it seems Cedar Fair wants to fix and undo as many of Paramount's mistakes as they can. If they are putting ALL of it on one side of Racer though, that is gonna be pretty cramped, I would think. I was kinda hoping Racer would get a re-track and stuff though, which I guess it still can (they wouldn't really need to even announce that) but I'll still ride it as it is for now. I never really bought into "ZOMG SON O' BEAST IS RETURNING!!!" because that was based on 1 poster at Cedar Point (WTF why would they even tease a new KI ride there and not at KI!?!?) and some Son of Beast logo symbols Mystic Timbers has had since 2017. Kings Island does not tease new coasters that way. Now, if a big construction fence pops up, there is actual land clearing, and there are posters on said fence (if the "leaked" documents are true, we may see this next year) then you probably have a new coaster coming. This is how Diamondback, Banshee, and Mystic Timbers all were.

I don't think so- Son of Beast still had its loop, and was running, on June 6th, 2006. Its accident happened on July 9th, about 1 month later, and that's when it shut down for the season (Re-Opening in July 2007). I think the "something was missing" part is because in 2006, the Antique Cars were gone and had been replaced by BLSC.

While I have never even been close to Canada's Wonderland, and the only dive coaster I have ever been on is Valravn, I'll say from the video of this ride: it looks fun, and it has a few elements like the old school loop that make it different from other dive coasters. Canada's Wonderland is a park that needs more good roller coasters (since the reviews on most of them are mixed, at best) and this ride looks like it will help that category come next year. It is probably gonna be a smash hit with the public, if Valravn's popularity at Cedar Point is any indication.