I had been looking forward to this trip for a while. It was me, my friend Evan, my sister Katie, and my dad. The purpose of this trip was to drop my sister off on an island next to South Bass because she was doing a "camp" for OSU over the summer. So I asked my dad if we could go to Cedar Point, and after some planning, he said we could. Although my friend, Dad and I all have Platinum Passes to KI, my sister does not even have a pass. So we bought her a two-day pass for $54 on the deals page of the Cedar Point website. She would be with us on Saturday, but not Sunday, and would be going again with some of her friends. Evan had not been there in 5 years, and had only ridden Gemini and Corkscrew. I was there 4 years ago and had ridden almost everything but Raptor, Mantis, Mean Streak, and Magnum (Maverick wasn't open yet).
We left the house at about 9:30, and arrived at the park at about 1:30. My friend and I had not been there for years, so we were both amazed by the skyline of the park. As we were walking towards the entrance, my dad realized that he didn't have his phone or pass. So the three of us (friend, sister, and I) went to Demon Drop, seeing as it had a line of about 8 people. I have to say, I like that ride more than I like Drop Tower. The restraints aren't nearly as protective feeling as DT's, and it felt like more of a free-fall.
By now, my dad had entered the park, and had watched us ride Demon Drop. We exited the ride and were headed straight towards Raptor. The line was about 45 minutes, so we figured "what the heck, it's our first coaster here", and got in line. After 45 minutes of what i thought would really give me a sunburn, we were on the ride. This was my first full- circuit inverted coaster, because I don't count Reptar, so I was a little nervous. I was amazed by that ride. The barrel rolls had a great feeling and the drop was speedy. I was greatly impressed with the Raptor.
Next, we split up so it was just my friend and me. We decided to ride Wicked Twister, because the sign said 15 minutes. It turned out to be more of a 25-30 minute wait. After riding it, I felt that it was worth the wait. I really liked the feel of it pushing you more every time. After riding Wicked Twister and Raptor, I confirmed the fact that Invertigo is not that good of an inverted coaster at all.
Next we decided to meet up to see how long the wait for the good old Dragster was. 50 minutes. We got in line. We waited for what seemed like a million launches, and finally we were inside the station. We decided on the second and third seats, with my friend and I in 2, and Dad and Katie in 3. For about 5 trains on our side of the station, we waited. Over the course of these 5 trains, both of the rows got someone staying on for parent swap. So finally, we entered the seats. We were in the half of the station that was closest to the hill. The two trains ahead of us had not launched yet. Then, the first one did. The second train then approached the lights. After about two minutes, we decided that it had broken down. The operator came on and told us that it was down. So, at least we got to sit down, right? Wrong. about 5 minutes afterwards, the ops told us to go back into the lines. About 10 minutes after that, the ops had to manually unlock the restraints on the broken down train, and they walked back into the station, right in front of us. After about 20 minutes, the people in front of us left. So we would be on the next train. After 35 minutes of down-time, the had manually pushed the track over to the left in order to swap the train for another. They rolled it back into the station, and let us board. We were on the first train after the break down, and they didn't even test it. Because the people in front of us had left, we were ahead of my dad and sister. My friend had not ridden it before, so he was pretty scared. So we rode, and they told us that we had been hanging up there for the longest they had seen. We had been hoping for a rollback, but the ride was a lot of fun anyway. Easily my favorite ride so far. After seeing that the line was short due to the breakdown, the four of us ran back to get in line again. This time we waited about 20 minutes and got back on easily again. I love that ride.
My sister and friend really wanted to ride the corkscrew. It was Evan's first looping coaster, so I guess it had some sort of value to him. It was about a 2 minute wait, and not worth it. It really banged up your head. But the worst part was the bunny hill after the lift hill. I got airtime, but the airtime sent my thigh right into the shoulder harness, and I still have a bruise. I will not be riding this any time soon.
All of us were extremely hungry, so we decided to go to Johnny Rocket's. Most of the menu was pretty expensive, and didn't look very healthy, so Evan and I both got salads (he's a vegetarian). Katie and Dad both got their meals in about 5 minutes, but they were running short on lettuce, so the salads took about 15 minutes. I do have to say though, it was pretty good. Next time we come back, I will probably head to Johnny Rocket's.
We all agreed on Millennium Force. Dad, Katie, and I had ridden it twice while we were there, but Evan hadn't ridden it yet. We walked a for a while, passing some other good rides, but our goal was clear. The wait was about 20 minutes, so it was a no-brainer. We boarded the red train after about 25 minutes, and soon enough we were heading up the lift hill. The cable lift was impossibly steep and quiet. As we topped the hill, we could see Canada. The ride was very fast and tall, and the over- banked curves were cool. The hills were fun, but I didn't think they provided much airtime. The small bunny hill right after the second tunnel gave some good airtime though. Evan though that It had Diamondback beat, but after riding Diamondback and this, I do have to say that I think Diamondback is better. It gives a lot more airtime than Millennium, and I like the hammerhead on DB a lot more. Diamondback also has the helixes and splashdown, which add to the fun.
We split up again, Evan and I going to Mantis, while Katie and Dad tried to se if they could get a ride on Maverick. The entrance to Mantis said half an hour. No even close. Needless to say, we were on the next ride. A complete walk on. It was the first standup coaster for both of us, so we were excited. My family rode Mantis and said it was the worst head-banger ever, but we actually liked it. We rode it twice. Once in the second row, once in the front. This was my favorite standup coaster so far in my life, haha.
We were trying to get a ride on Mean Streak to compare it to Kings Island's woodies, and on the way we stopped at Skyhawk. The line wasn't long, we only had to wait two circuits. As we got on the ride, I was very thrilled to see the restraints here. I thought it would be OTSR, but I was excited to see the lap bars. As we started riding, I could really feel that airtime. It was great. The most exciting part is when you're the highest that the swing goes, looking down. After the ride, we both agreed that it was far better than Delirium, and had tied Demon Drop for the best flat we've ridden.
Finally, we got to Mean Streak. That queue area is probably the largest in the whole park. This was also a walk-on. I found it to be fun. Everyone says it is way too rough, but I didn't find it nearly as rough as Son of Beast, which I also like. I like how it intertwines with itself a few times. The main part that really made me mad were the brakes on the way down the hill. They are extremely unnecessary. Other than that, it was fun.
I called Dad and he said that Maverick was an hour, so they went to Magnum instead. They told us to ride it, so we did. It was pretty good. Not as good as Diamondback, of course, but still a lot of fun. The view is fantastic, and the turnaround was great. The bunny hills on the returning side were a bit weird, but still fun. It was like, you're going up the bunny hill, then it jerks you downwards, unlike on Diamondback where the airtime hills were a lot longer. There were a lot of those, and I thought that they were pretty neat.
Power Tower Space Shot was a walk on, even though they were only running one of the space shot towers. I had ridden this before, and it was pretty fun, way better than the Slingshot at the Adventuredome, but it can't even stand up before the Big Shot on the Stratosphere Tower.
We met up with my dad (Katie had left to go to a bonfire with her friends she met as a freshman at OSU) to ride Raptor before 10, the park's closing time. We rode it, and it was fun again. It was still 9:52, so we decided to head over towards Wicked Twister for our last ride of the night. When we got off, it was a few after 10, and we noticed that Chaos was still running, so we rode it. My dad asked the ride op, and he said it was open till 11. One extra hour in the park can really give you a lot!
We decided on Dragster as our last ride of the night, because our legs really hurt and we didn't want to walk all the way to Maverick or Millennium Force. The line was about 25 minutes, not too bad. We gladly got our place in line, and the guy in front of us had ridden the ride 350 times, and had gotten 4 rollbacks. We rode it, and it proved to be a good last ride.
Sunday coming soon!
