silver2005

Decided to go after work today and it's surprising slow for the Friday before schools start back.

Spokane is pretty sparse, but it's unexpectedly scenic, especially the river and waterfalls.

I also have a feeling with things outside the park that I can't discuss due to the TOS (one of those things begins with a T) will also have an effect where what additions we do get will be whelming.

Columbia Carousel at SFGAm- Chef's kiss.

There is one last thing I need to mention. This was my first mayfly-free Cedar Point trip.

I just realized I forgot the Cleveland portion of the trip. This was the day before CP and probably the most lax day of the trip as Cleveland is way smaller than Chicago. I kind of did a speed run of Cleveland in a sense. The knee was still sore so I took it easy. Had an inspirational tour of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, kind of a modern music history and pop culture museum combined into one. Rock is one of the genres that I was raised on and I got to take my time more than the last time I was there with my family. Also visited the Arcade, the factory of sadness, the Guardians stadium, got to see all the verticality of the bridges which is one of my favorite views of Cleveland, and went to a beach that has a Cleveland sign facing downtown. Had a Polish boy (or rather, Polish girl) at a place called Mabel's close to the Guardians' and Cavaliers' stadium which is a kielbasa sausage, pulled pork, and coleslaw all put together. Very good. I will say the lakefront isn't nearly as good as Chicago, most of an industrialized shoreline on Lake Erie for sure. Also, the coolest part of the trip happened in the HOF. There is a section that lets people try out instruments (guitars, basses, drums) and a few more seasoned musicians (don't know if they were friends or it was spontaneous) rocked the heck out of Sweet Home Alabama. Like, it felt so random, but they performed it so well and with so much passion including a guitar solo that might have partially set the guitar on fire.

Speaking of which, I need to remind myself to park at the water park when I go back. Getting to the main lot early and then having to leave at night is kind of awful. If I have to use the main lot, I also need to remind myself the chaussee exists. Love the place to death but leaving is a chore.

Other good news- the knee is feeling better. Stayed in a knee brace since yesterday and took some Ibuprofen when I got home and they both worked, so far. Glad I chose to make the last day a rest day.

I'll even go this far in speaking of Siren's Curse- while I may not want the same thing at KI, I'd gladly take a Vekoma multi-looper in The Vortex plot. Moreso if Vekoma can make one with 3 trains.

Made it back to the 513 alright.

Now we're creating threads about things all new rides go through? It ran perfectly the day I went, though I heard there was an evac on the tilt the day after, but I'm sure they got it back up and running. It's not like its closing for long periods of time when it does evac. Heck, MF and Raptor were down longer than Siren the day I went and no one batted and eye at that. It just looks worse from an optical on Siren because it's been on a section of track that ends.

CP TR Went for an open to close day. It was surprisingly busy for a Monday, probably due to the cooler temps (mid 70s, low humidity, good breeze off the lake) compared to previous days (didn't go the day after due to knee soreness, but I saw Tuesday was also busy). I made beelines to Siren and TT2 out of worry on their downtime issues (they ran fine all day actually, Raptor and MF were actually the downtime culprits but only for train removal/adding). I rode all the coasters sans Mouse and for non-coasters I did CPLERR, Skyhawk, MaXair, and Power Tower upward launch. The initial plan at night was to do SteVe and Magnum, but I sort of underestimated the FL line use and managed only SteVe with a glorious MF post-sunset ride prior. I usually grey out on MF between the bottom of the first drop until the first camelback hill but the cooler temps meant I didn't this time around. Also, every ride crew (and I mean every) was cranking out cycles. Its both a good and bad thing to me in that while I appreciate the capacity focus, I think it's not a very good approach from a humanistic standpoint (looking at you Valravn, Magnum and SteVe). While I like CP over SFGAm, I think SFGAm gets the combination of throughput and letting people be people better with their ride crews. I'm okay sacrificing faster dispatches if it means people board more comfortably. Not that this is specifically for CP, but I also don't get the thing where they tell you to let the ride ops lower the restraints. Lap bar use isn't rocket science. Siren's Cures- Got one ride in the back. The tilt section is very funky, probably more so than, say, the drop track on Verbolten. Its kind of a flat ride/coaster hybrid type of element. It's a gimmick, but it's a fun gimmick. The rest is pretty standard modern coaster elements, similar transitions to modern RMC's and Intamins albeit smoother and less snappy, butter smooth. I didn't expect the 2 high speed rolls to be so comfy. I'm impressed with the transition Vekoma has made to improve given their reputation with SLC and Boomerang headbanging. I'm interested to see where they go in the future. Top Thrill 2- While the original TTD was a one trick pony, I still really liked it. It sold the build up with the Republica station music and racing X-mas lights and the launch was incredible. Obviously they had to improve it with the maintenance costs and the accident it had, and while it had a bumpy intro year, I like what resulted. Obviously, the launches aren't as powerful as they're LSM's vs hydraulic, but it is a more comfortable experience (still a rattle when it gets up to 100 mph, but tolerable). Going backwards at 100 mph was freaky and the back spike is on par with how I like impulse coasters except on steroids, and the full 120 mph launch was great. I liked you get to spend more time at those speeds with the swing launch and I think the current version is better than the original. The downward spiral is especially better with the more comfy trains.

I may have to use my last day on the trip as a rest day instead of a 2nd day in CP or Cleveland. My knee has gotten really sore, I'm even using a knee brace at night, which helped little bits, but CP exacerbated it with all the stairs for ride stations. The most I may do tomorrow is hit up a beach in Lorain close to my hotel. I'm ecstatic how this trip turned out so I'm not at all bummed out about it that much.

Disregard post.

Night rides of choice tonight- SteVe and Magnum.

@IndyGuy4KI any complaints if I bring this back to KI and put it in the Skyflyer plot?

The one IP that I'm amazed Paramount never really utilized was Star Trek. Now that I think about it, Delirium could have done a Mission Impossible theme...

Question- there's a sign as you depart on CCMR with ride references (including Adventure Express and Yukon Striker). What is Quicksilver a reference to?

Dear Cedar Point, never add rides between Millennium Force and Thunder Canyon. Keep that part peaceful. Kthx.

To give an idea on the crowds, the average standby line is 30-50 minutes and FL are between 5 and 15 (20 for Maverick). Gemini is running red only and only 4 cars on one of the trains, it might be the 4th longest queue behind the usual culprits.

Millennium Force and Raptor are running sooooo good. Magnum is a bit jittery but still good. Rougarou is surprisingly intense in a good way.

Wait, doesn't MIA already close on Labor Day regardless?

I love that Raptor and Rougarou still have that classic B&M roar. *Chef's kiss. It is quite busy for a Monday. Rode Curse, TT2, Magnum, SteVe, and Rougarou and they all had a modest wait for FL.

Siren's Curse is pretty neat. Back seats help with the tilt sensation. Very smooth. Decent elements. TT2 is great. The back spike is fun and the trains feel more comfy than the originals.

^I will say that is the one area SFGAm could do better in is with the kid's area. Its only one small Vekoma coaster (same model as KK's) and a very small assortment of rides. Little Dipper is there, too but it's by itself next to Batman. Whizzer is a very good family/step-up coaster though (and very, very popular).