gigacoaster2k

At CP on Saturday, some of the ride ops on several rides were saying "Enjoy the rest of your day at Cedar Point, America's Roller Coast.. RIDE ON!" The guests getting off the trains would yell "RIDE ON!!" right after the ride ops did. Apparently nobody likes the new slogan.

Bring it.

David, we never saw you! Glad to hear you had a great time though. Aside from the crowds, we had a truly amazing day too. And you will be thrilled to know that my love for Millie has been fully restored.. she's mine and you can't have her lol

Now you see why I love it so much! That little old woodie has never once left my top 10 wooden coasters!

This opening day's operations were terrific compared to last year's. Last year, Millie kept stalling on the lift, and kept going down for mechanical reasons.. at 8 pm I went to ride and was told it had a total mechanical failure and wouldn't be running for the rest of the night. Maverick was down for a few hours, Wicked Twister barely ran, Dragster rolled back over 40 times.. it may have been due to the fact that last year's opening day was very cold. I'd count your blessings that this opening day was warm enough that ride closures didn't last for very long.

Yesterday in front of me, in line for Raptor: Brunette girl: "(pointing behind herself at Raptor's station) There's one over there (points at Raptor's loop) and there's one over there too." Blond friend: "I think there's three." Kid to his friend while exiting Millie: "Diamondback was way faster than that." Guy to me and Tom while we're on Power Tower: "Have fun! I hope I don't see you guys on the news!"

Most people look at me weirdly. Some people laugh. I had a CP police officer laugh at me. I licked Goliath's support at SFOG. I don't really care what other people think.. I like being crazy. CP is only a 3 hour drive from my house, and I live about 20 miles north of Dayton OH. It's worth the drive especially if you have a platinum pass. The energy in that park is unreal, they pull out all the stops.. I love it.

TOM AND I HAVE PROOF OF OUR FIRST ROLLBACK??!!! THAT'S SO AWESOME, IT'S RIDICULOUS!

I got some photos of my Millie as we walked toward it to check the line out. Shoot The Rapids.. it looks like fun. I'll probably ride it when it gets hot later this year. People having fun on Millie (well, almost everyone)! Go Millie go! Happy 10th birthday, Millie! I like the new commemorative banners. Millie's queue was completely full, so we passed on it. This suddenly made me far more upset than I thought I would be. I turned and wistfully sighed as I looked at the lift hill of the coaster that was a turning point in my life as an enthusiast, and walked away feeling like I wanted to run back and wait in that long, long line. Iron Dragon has a bit of a wait. We headed to Dodgems and had quite a bit of fun bashing into other cars. I love bumper cars.. always have! I think Tom had sensed how upset I was about not riding Millie, so we went back to check the wait. It was posted at 1 1/4 hour, so we decided to wait. We saw a random guest change it to 2 hours, and we also managed to see Adam, Aaron (pkiVortex), and Shawn (Beast Man) in the line. Millie is still popular after 10 years. GO MILLIE GO! I had forgotten how wonderful this ride is. We rode in seat 2:1, and I did indeed get airtime. I did feel some forces through the overbanks too. I got off the ride smiling as I remembered why I love it so much. We headed to one of my favorites.. Blue Streak! Tom said we should sit in 1:3.. HOLY EJECTOR SEAT! I'm never sitting any where but that seat again! We came back to the station to see no one waiting for our seat.. so we got a reride!! We headed back to the car because I was getting cold again, and we were both hungry. After that, I wanted a ride on Magnum, but it was down. We decided to head to the front of the park and go to GR to get our platinum pass coupons, where they told us they no longer have those and that we have to order them. I saw that Raptor was down to an hour wait and immediately entered the queue. We barely waited 45 minutes.. I love that capacity monster. We headed over to Disaster Transport to see our friend Scott that works there. We not only saw him, but ALL of the effects were on.. I'd forgotten what a great ride Disaster Transport is! We saw that Wicked Twister was a walk on, so we got in line. No sooner than we got to the queue gate, it broke down. We waited a few minutes, and ducked out of line in favor of seeing if Magnum was running. We hit Power Tower Space Shot on the way. We got in line for Magnum to see Bre once again leaving to go to break. I jokingly chastised her for it lol. We saw Kelsey again, and this time when we rode, the trim was off! YES! We went to go look at our photo, and Tom bought it for me. I LOVE IT. Tom, you ROCK. THANK YOU. He knows how much I love Magnum! We went to the car to drop off the photo, where I also dropped off my camera, and then rode Magnum again. Since we didn't get to ride Skyhawk earlier, we rode that, and then decided to check the line for Millie. We were meeting up with a group of KICers at Maverick at 9:45, so I prayed that the line was short so we would get a night ride on my Millie. I saw that we were about to walk through Starlight Experience, which was spectacularly done. I saw Millie's lift outlined in the twilight sky, and told it "I love you".. a second later, a bunch of blue lights came on all around me.. Millie spoke to me, and you cannot tell me otherwise! We got to Millie's entrance to see that the wait time was 1 1/4 hours.. my heart was crushed as I realized we didn't have time for a night ride on the coaster that is the reason for my username. Forget anything negative I've ever said about Millie.. I declared right there that my love for that coaster had been fully restored that day, and that it was going back in my top 10 steel coasters. Millie has special meaning to me, and not being able to ride it at night was a huge letdown. I swallowed the lump in my throat as we walked away from that magnificent coaster and I resisted the strong urge to run back to it. Tom and I met up with Dustin, Ryan (CoasterKid), Dustin's dad, Adam, Aaron, and Shawn for Maverick's last train of the night. The ride op held our train for us so that we would indeed get our last ride. That was one amazing last ride on Maverick at night. We said our goodbyes, and left the park around 11 pm. RIDE COUNT: (+1 for Tom, he rode Tilt-A-Whirl so he has 1 more ride than I did) Magnum - 3 Blue Streak - 2 Maverick - 1 Dragster - 1 Millie - 1 Raptor - 1 Skyhawk - 1 Disaster Transport - 1 Power Tower Space Shot - 1 Dodgems - 1 As crowded as it was, that had to be one of the best days I've ever had at an amusement park. Thank you to everyone who made it such a wonderful day.

Tom and I were getting hungry, so out to the car we went. It had suddenly gotten ridiculously hot, so I went from a hoodie to a tank top and applied sunscreen. I took some more photos. Magnum! Tom is a big fan of Tilt-A-Whirls, and I had told him where the one was at CP (it's in Camp Snoopy behind Dragster/in front of Gemini), so he went to ride it. I chose to stay on the bench outside the ride.. as fun as those rides are, my stomach does not like me one bit afterward. Some unexpected and very pretty scenery by the entrance to the ride. MILLIE! Tom on the Tilt-A-Whirl! He got off the ride saying that it was quite possibly the best Tilt-A-Whirl he'd been on.. so for those of you who like those rides, you may want to try it from what he told me. We walked around to check the line for Maverick, and it was ridiculous, so we passed on it. I got a great photo.. it took me forever to get this. We went to Skyhawk. I took some photos while we waited in line. Tom and I. We were about to get on when it looked like the ride had been e-stopped due to someone losing a shoe, but they announced that there was a mechanical failure, so we went around to check the line for Millie. STAY TUNED!

Tom (Tom76257) drove up to my house Friday night, and we were so excited that we slept for about 3 hours. We decided we wanted to be there around 7:30 am, as we planned on hitting Dragster first to get a rollback. My alarm went off at 3:30 am. We packed food in a cooler, grabbed our stuff, and left at 4:20 for Cedar Point! We stopped at the Speedway where I work to get breakfast for me, and a bag of ice for our cooler. Then it was back on the road! Good morning, home of America's Roller Coast! I completely flipped out (as I always do) when I saw THIS! I'M EXCITED! Cedar Point, HERE WE COME! Tom is excited too! My excitement quickly turned to irritation when I handed the parking attendant my KI platinum pass, and it came up invalid. I sarcastically said "well, THAT'S a surprise." They told me I'd probably have issues at the gate too, but waved me through anyway. Great. We got to the Soak City lot around 7:45 am.. but not before I properly greeted my Arrow hyper. MAGNUM! We were lucky enough to get a spot very close to the front gate, and went to a small GR booth by the gate. We were given tickets to get into the park, and they apologized profusely, but it did nothing to quell my irritation. My CF platinum pass didn't work at KD or Carowinds, and now it won't work at CP. I am far from happy about this. I paid the full $160 for a pass that doesn't even work.. this needs to be resolved. I got cold, and ran back to the car to get my hoodie. I came back to see that the line at the gate was going back about as far as the eye could see.. I wish I'd gotten a pic. Either way, the gates opened, and Tom and I RAN to Dragster, and when we got there, there were only 9 people in front of us! My lungs were burning, but I was happy to have beat the huge crowd! We waited.. and waited.. and waited. I took some photos to pass the time. Magnum testing! Millie testing with water dummies! Dragster waiting for us. 10 am rolled around, and Dragster was down for maintenance. I expected this, and had told Tom the night before that the latest I'd wait for Dragster was 11 am and if it wasn't open by then, I was going to Magnum. We heard something, and I looked at the track to see the catch car finally moving down the track.. several minutes later, the brake fins went up and we heard a deafening roar as a train shot past us and up the lift hill! The huge crowd cheered excitedly as we realized we may get to ride soon! I told Tom I was heading for the front part of the loading station instead of the back. The queue opened a few minutes after 11 am, and I couldn't stop dancing in excitement as we speed-walked all the way through and to the station! They test-ran the green train empty, and it rolled back! They ran it again, and it cleared the hill without hesitation. Thinking we wouldn't get a rollback, I was still excited to get the first train of the year. That's when Tom excitedly said "IS THAT THE BLACK CHERRY TRAIN we're going to be on??!!! That train is the king of rollbacks!!" I couldn't help getting excited when he said that! They finally opened the station to load the trains half full, and we ran to our seats! I jumped through the opening queue gate and was the first public person to touch Dragster's first train! We screamed wildly as we slowly made our way out of the station, and we looked to the right to see Adam (pkiboy) on the midway! He knew we were going for our first rollback.. he smiled to us and said "You got it." This made me scream with joy.. I was so excited by this point that I was shaking! Our train launched, and off we went.. shot straight up.. got to the top of the hill.. it sat up there for a few seconds and suddenly we were going BACKWARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE GOT A ROLLBACK ON THE FIRST TRAIN OF THE YEAR!! I was screaming and screaming in absolute utter joy as we flew at an extreme speed backwards and straight down from 420 feet in the sky! THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! Tom and I both now have 1 rollback.. that was THE best Dragster ride I've ever had! The ride op walked the track and asked if anyone wanted to get off.. the answer was a collective and resounding "NO!!" She laughed, we were launched again, and this time it cleared the hill. We met up with Adam and shared our rollback joy for a little bit, and then Tom and I decided it was Magnum time! My friends Bre and Kelsey work on that ride. We got in the queue to see Bre leaving for break. She saw me and gave me a hug. We saw Kelsey in the station too. I've missed my Magnum girls! STAY TUNED!

If I'm with say, a group of 8, and they all head to a coaster I'm not particularly fond of, I will get in line with them and ride it with them to spend more time with them.. it's not always about the coaster.

We (Tom76257, rotag, pkiboy, gnomeprisoner, Beast Man, DropZone99, and I) actually heard that the night of April 1 while we were on our way to Kings Dominion from people that rode it on media day. It spread like wildfire!

I like the Festhaus, where they have LaRosa's Pizza and Panda Express. I'm also fond of Stunt Crew Grill in Action Zone, and Chick Fil A. Oh and you must get ice cream from Graeter's. I don't eat at Outer Hanks.. I'm allergic to seafood, so I wouldn't know how the food is there.

I'm glad I got to ride I305 before they added Cedar Fair's inevitable signature trim brakes. Why is it always necessary for this chain of parks to trim the everliving crap out of a coaster that is supposed to be intense and thrilling? There was nothing wrong with I305.. people black out on Millennium Force all the time but there are zero trims on it. Thank heaven for Holiday World where they don't tame down their coasters for the sissies that can't handle them. And no offense, but (I'm really going to go off here): Everyone who hasn't ridden I305 really needs to stop thinking that because it's modeled somewhat after Maverick and because they watched the POV and because TPR's infamous Robb Alvey "blacked out" on it and because your friend of a friend of a cousin that works there said so, that there is awful head banging. No. I rode I305 twice on KD opening day. I did not get 1/4 the head banging on it that I did on Maverick, nor did I black out. I saw gray dots for like 2 seconds. Everyone is different and every coaster has a different effect on each person. Stop with the assuming before you ride something. This is the exact same thing as judging a book by its cover, which many of you tell others not to do. /rant I'm not going to assume that the trims will kill the ride. I'm not happy about it seeing as how other CF trims operate, but I'm not going to jump to conclusions about how good or bad the ride may be before I go back to KD and ride it and see for myself.

Bring an empty Pepsi can with you to the admission booth. You will get $7 off your ticket. Raven is their small wooden coaster. It's a bit short, but it has great speed and a nice surprise second drop that IMO is better than the first one. Don't take your cell phone out in the station, or they will take it from you and put it in a locker. Legend is a great wooden coaster with lots of lateral Gs. Ride on the left side for the full effect. Be prepared to have a PTC train imprint on your left side. LOL Voyage is their star wooden coaster. It's the #1 woodie in the world.. ride it and see why. It will blow your mind. If you enjoy rides like Boo Blasters, go to Gobbler Getaway over by Voyage. There is also a tilt-a-whirl called Turkey Whirl. I'm not fond of tilt-a-whirls, but Tom is, and he loves that ride. Liberty Launch is a short but extremely fun S&S double shot that gives such a great pop of air that your shoulders will hit the restraint. If you like water rides, hit Pilgrims Plunge if it's running.. it's the world's tallest water ride. I get drenched every time. Splashin' Safari is a fantastic water park.. definitely bring bathing suits, towels, flip flops, etc. And there is free SPF 30 sunscreen available to you in the park! The bumper cars are pretty awesome. DO NOT leave without going to Mrs. Klaus' Kitchen and getting some fudge. They also have caramel apples, cookies, Christmas ornaments, it's a place not to miss if you have a sweet tooth. A certain violakat03 and I also love funnel cakes from the Funnel Cake Factory. XD The pizza at Kringle's Cafe is great. I hear Plymouth Rock Cafe has some fantastic food.. they serve Thanksgiving dinner every day. I haven't eaten there yet, but I plan to. Don't worry about saving money in the park, they worry about that for you. Their food prices are far more reasonable than most other parks. If you wear cargo pockets regularly to parks, I suggest you do. Their wooden coasters are nothing short of intense, and you WILL lose your loose articles. Make sure everything is secure before you ride any of their coasters. They have Eagles Flight (flying eagles) too, but don't try to snap them or the ride ops will yell at you. One mile away from HW is a place called Santa's Candy Castle. They have frozen hot chocolate, gourmet candy canes, etc., and they stay open an hour after HW closes. I haven't been there yet as Tom and I got lost along with 2 other KICers lol, but I plan to go. I'd tell you to have fun on your first trip to HW, but that's a given. You may want to end up staying there for a second day instead of going to KI.. trust me, if you don't fall in love with that park, I don't know what's wrong with you.

One of my customers asked me the other day that they heard KI removed The Beast. I laughed and said oh trust me that is far from true, I've been there 3 times already and I've ridden it. His response was oh ok, good, it's the world's longest wooden coaster, it holds that title you know. ok.

I assume that would be quite a large amount of nickels for someone to carry into the park.

Last Saturday when Tom and I went to Holiday World, we were in Voyage's station when we noticed that the kid next to us was bawling and telling his mom he didn't want to ride. She pretty much dragged him onto the train anyway, and he started crying even harder. The ride op came up and politely said, "Ma'am, I can't let him ride if he's going to be that scared." The mother reluctantly agreed, and the ride op let him out and opened the exit for him. I quietly told the ride op thank you. I can see trying to get your kid to ride Raven, but DRAGGING THEM ON VOYAGE?? Are you serious? As someone that was dragged on Drop Tower long ago when I still had a paralyzing fear of heights, I absolutely do not believe in doing that to anyone. You guys have no idea what it took before I could finally get on Drop Tower and enjoy it. To this day, I rarely have a ride where my palms aren't sweating at the top.. I don't blame anyone for chickening out/not wanting to ride it.

"Line jumping is when you leave the line to go ride something else and then come back. It's not line jumping if you come back after leaving to use the restroom or going to get a drink of water."

Thanks for posting those, Amy. It makes me a little wistful to see parks like that, knowing I never got the chance to go (of course in some cases, I can't help that I wasn't born yet!).

I remember when it went backward.. *sniffle*

Good point, but look at parks like Holiday World, Dollywood, and Stricker's Grove. They are certainly doing well. Dollywood is the only park I've ever visited where I know I could not ride a coaster for an entire day, and still have a great time. Holiday World may be a small park in the middle of nowhere, but they work VERY hard to make their customers happy. They are consistently voted cleanest and friendliest park. Plus they have the world's tallest water ride, the world's #1 wooden coaster, and are soon debuting the world's longest water coaster. They also offer their customers drinks, SPF 30 sunscreen, and parking all without additional cost. Holiday World certainly does not need a lesson in marketing strategy, and they are proof that dynamite comes in small packages. Not every small park is doomed. You don't always have to have a 300 foot coaster to keep your customers coming back, because that's not what everyone wants.

The blue side does jackhammer me a bit, but I ride it anyway. I got a reride on Georgia Cyclone, and rode Voyage 22 times in 8 hours.. I can certainly handle Blue Racer.

Saturday while Tom and I were on Voyage's lift at Holiday World, I excitedly yelled that it was my 11th (?) ride of the day. This 10 year old (?) girl in front of us turned around and smugly said "This is my 5,000th ride." My response was a sarcastic "uh huh." kids