McSalsa's Coaster Adventures: Amazement Park (Cedar Point August 25th-27th, 2018)

[McSalsa]

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