Photo TR: Cedar Point 8/4/08

[Gordon Bombay]

When I was a kid I always wanted to go to one of those "seaside" amusement parks you see on a pier protruding out into the ocean. The ones you saw depicted in old movies, cartoons, and comic books. Cedar Point always reminded me of one of those types of parks, but on steroids. While I will always love my home park of Kings Island, Cedar Point is a favorite place of mine to visit. It's "atmosphere" just seems to have something a little more than Kings Island. I don't know, maybe I'm just too used to KI but Cedar Point really feels like a tourism, get-away destination. I remember staying at a hotel in Detroit with my dad when I was younger and picking up an advertisement for Cedar Point's "Power Tower," immediately asking my dad if we could go. While I would never actually get to CP until years later in 2006, I still view the park in the same way, a get-away destination that just has its definitively unique atmosphere. I first went to Cedar Point in 2006 with KIC member UncleHenry and had a blast, went again for 2 days in 2007 with some friends from High School after graduating. Both trips were great. My third trip to Cedar Point though was a bit lackluster. . .

We planned this trip about a month in advance so our various work schedules would not conflict. Going was me, my girlfriend, my friend and co-worker Alex, and his girlfriend. I had to work the day before, Alex had gone to see Radiohead in Indianapolis. Both of us were tired and decided getting to the park right when it opened was not too important so we planned to meet at his house just outside of Dayton at 8 A.M. I left my house around 6:30 to go pick up my girlfriend, did that, and we got on the Ronald Reagan Expressway where we got stuck in traffic and sat for a good long while on Reading Rd. trying to get to 75. Once on 75 there was another accident and yep. . . even more traffic. The driving didn't get much better as cars began cuddling together just past the 129 exit and everyone was forced to go 50 m.p.h. due to construction. As we neared Miamisburg, my girlfriend began feeling very ill. We got off the highway and decided it would be best if she skipped the trip and stayed home. I didn't mind the delay this caused because with how hot it would end up being at the Point it would have been miserable for her, I was just glad she got sick here and was able to get home quickly. So I took her back down 75 to Cincinnati and called KICentral member Mr. 3000 a.k.a. Raz.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

-"I was sleeping till you woke me up jack***"

"Wanna go to Cedar Point?"

-"Yeah, you got time off this week?"

"No, I mean like right now."

-"Uh, yeah!"

So with nothing else to do that day Mr. 3000 met me by Traders World and we eventually got to Alex's to begin the trip. . . . at 11:00 A.M, much later than we had planned.

Finally we were off along 75 North! We stopped for lunch at Wendys, and for gas in Lima where we saw this:

They were the craziest clouds I'd ever seen and shortly after taking this photograph, they let loose on us, slowing us down all the way to our exit on 75. The rain did not bode well for us as it kept raining all the way to the Ohio Turnpike. After some miscommunication from Mr. 3000 and my blackberry GPS, and a few miles in the wrong direction, we eventually made our way to Cedar Point after being slowed down by rain and getting lost. (Why can't there be a major highway straight to Sandusky? Grrr) We finally stepped foot inside Cedar Point at 3:15 P.M. We thought the rain would scare folks off and being a Monday it would be dead. . . we were wrong. First up was Raptor with a 1.5 hour wait, we opted not to ride it. So we went to Blue Streak

Blue Streak - 10 minute wait, fantastic coaster. I love old wooden coasters and Blue Streak is a great example of these. We rode back seat, a bit rough but no worse than The Beast or Racer, a great coaster and a great way to start off the day.

First thing I noticed is that apparently Cedar Point is smoke free, although they seem to be far worse about enforcing it than Kings Island and I couldn't even find the designated smoking areas, not that I needed one as I don't smoke. However, there were smokers everywhere, in the lines, on the midway, and they just flick their butts everywhere. Now, I have nothing against anyone who smokes and don't mean to start a debate, but really, is it that hard to throw that little thing away? I know plenty of people who have no problem abiding by this rule at other parks.

Two rides I wanted to ride for the first time. . . space needle and sky ride, were down all day for weather so we nixed those and waited half an hour for Wicked Twister. While in line for Wicked Twister we were cut by a gentleman and a woman wearing Insane Clown Posee garb. Why is it that every person I saw with an "ICP" t shirt at Cedar Point was either smoking in line, or being ejected for cutting someone else, this seems to be a common theme up north.

Wicked Twister - As always, a great ride and worth the half hour wait, we thought about riding maXair, but with Delirium here we opted not to.

-Hey, I never realized that little boat ride is up here.

We moved towards the back of the park, dissapointed to see very long waits for Top Thrill and Magnum, we decided we'd just suck it up after a ride on Gemini

-In the past I have said I hate this coaster, but today it was great. You actually feel like you are racing with how the trains pull ahead of one another and are nose to nose right up to the helix finish. Only negative part of this ride is that helix ending. . . . ouch.

Next, I convinced everyone that Mean Streak was worth a half hour wait and a GOOD wooden coaster. Every year I trick myself into thinking this, so Alex and Megan agreed to ride it with 3000 and I. We got in line . . .

and waited for half an hour as trains roared by. . .

. . . General conclusion from all parties involved: MEAN STREAK SUCKS. I am sorry, I always give this coaster a chance, but this thing is worse than Son of Beast! SOB kills you in the Rose Bowl, but is decent pretty much anywhere else, Mean Streak is slow and drags out the pain on every drop and every turn. As a joke I wanted to buy a Mean Streak t shirt. . .

. . .I checked every gift shop I could, they don't sell them.

Next, we decided Maverick was worth the 2 hour wait. . .

-There were lots of smokers in this queue line.

-I just hope Diamondback's station and queue are just as nice and have LOUD WESTERN MUSIC. (sidenote: while waiting for the Diamondback announcement yesterday they played Maverick's queue music.)

-This queue house was miserably hot which lead me to my only complaint about guest service this day. . .

-Here you can see the white train, it had been sitting here for a good while before operators came out to talk to the folks on it. The ride ops were out there for about 15 minutes before they went back and the ride started loading again about 15 more minutes later. For half an hour the line did not move. There was no announcement or anything that it was broken down. I understand that they can't say exactly what's wrong but at least Kings Island usually makes a "lengthy delay" announcement and sends ops out to talk with guests.

In the end though, the wait was worth it for Maverick, my favorite steel coaster:

Could Diamondback be better in 09?

After a ride on Maverick I opted not to ride Millenium Force with the rest of the group as I wanted to get away for a bit and take photographs. I just needed a break from everyone talking and the stress of the long drive. So I went for a ride on an old favorite, Magnum, and set out to take pictures for the next hour or so:

-You have to love Magnum. I would trade Vortex for it any day.

-Alex went for his first ride on Top Thrill as last ride of the night, almost chickened out. . . yet he loved it and was breathless when he came back.

The atmosphere at CP at night is great:

I didn't ride much and was pretty stressed out with the long drive that was awaiting me to go back and how rough the trip had been. It definitely had not been my best trip to the Point ever, but my friends had a blast. We ended the night waiting for Maverick's front seat. . . the sulky mood I was in was wiped clean away after that ride. The crew there did a great job getting us pumped up and all the operators were super friendly. Nothing, except The Beast at night, beats a ride on Maverick's front seat.

We browsed more gift shops for Mean Streak t shirts, to no avail, and headed home. Using the GPS on my blackberry (and not Mr. 3000's directional advice), we made it to I-75 in a timely fashion. However, the end of the trip was not going to go that smoothly. As we neared Bluffton, OH the wind and hail picked up and my car was blown so hard that I swerved into the other lane where thankfully there were no cars. Chicago had experienced rough storms and tornado warnings that night and now the storms had moved East to us. Hungry, we searched for a place to stop and eat food and wait out the storm, but the high winds forced us to take the next exit. The only open place was a Marathon/Circle K gas station. We parked, could hear tornado sirens, and the gas station attendant came out beckoning us to come in and take shelter. We purchased gas station hot dogs, pizza rolls, chips, and powerade for dinner. The employee brought us out some stools and let us camp out in the store for a little bit with some truckers till the warnings passed. We still had awhile to go:

-The crosshair is where we were, the end of the purple line is Alex's house, and Cincinnati is where 3000 and I live. We killed some time waiting for the storm to let up by playing scratch off lottery tickets:

At about 1 A.M. we got going again, still heavy rains forced us to move slowly. We made it safely to Dayton then back to Cincy where after breakfast with my dad I finally got a shower and crawled into bed at around 7 A.M. 24 hours, a few rides, a few pictures, gas station hot dogs, crappy weather, and a friendly gas station attendant. Definitely not the best day at CP and not the best trip, but some good memories and good times none the less. Thanks for reading!

[Guest kwindshawne]

I have come to the conclusion the only way to truly enjoy Cedar Point is to make it a 2 prefereably 3 day trip. I drove one day, dodged rain storms the next, and still did not get to see a fraction of the place. Yes, mean streak sucks-I waited 2 hours for it and it had to be the lamest coaster I have ever been on (next to one at knotts that I can't remember the name of). My trip will have to wait til next year-I'm out of time.

Hell of a day-with all that, I think i would have rescheduled.

[DropZone99]

Excellent PTR. Your a really great photographer. I really liked the night pictures, and the one of MaXair!

[XGatorHead 8904]

Good TR, sorry to hear about all the things that went wrong. But there's no way I could pass up MF

like you did!

BTW, I have a Mean Streak hat I could sell you! Just kidding, I couldn't bear to part with that. I just had to have a souvenir of one of the roughest coasters I've been on. Now if only I had bought a Manhattan Express one as well...

[welchce]

I have come to the conclusion the only way to truly enjoy Cedar Point is to make it a 2 prefereably 3 day trip. I drove one day, dodged rain storms the next, and still did not get to see a fraction of the place. Yes, mean streak sucks-I waited 2 hours for it and it had to be the lamest coaster I have ever been on (next to one at knotts that I can't remember the name of). My trip will have to wait til next year-I'm out of time.

Hell of a day-with all that, I think i would have rescheduled.

Yeah, definitely agree. The best situation might be to drive in the morning the first day, spend the night in a cheap hotel room, and spend a 3/4 day at the park the next day and drive back.

Great photos by the way.

[tigellinus]

I have come to the conclusion the only way to truly enjoy Cedar Point is to make it a 2 prefereably 3 day trip. I drove one day, dodged rain storms the next, and still did not get to see a fraction of the place.

OR....you can go on a day like Wednesday, May 21st!! In ONE day with really short operating hours (and perfect weather) I rode MF 5 times (line never went past the ramp), Maverick 12 times (with morning Early Entry and PP Ride Night), TTD 5 times, Magnum 8 times, Raptor 6 times, Skyhawk 5 times, the list goes on!!

Seriously, late May/early June is the BEST time to go as Memorial Day weekend was good, and the first few weekends in June as well. Unfortunately, since the end of June I've only been one weekend (July 18-20), but I'm kind of CP'ed out for this season...

[Dvo]

Or go on opening weekend. Opening day was a bit crowded this year, but Sunday and Monday were DEAD! I got 21 MF laps (18 of those in the 2nd and 3rd days) in one weekend. I was walking on every ride except maverick on the Monday. Also got 2 TTD rollbacks, and the 1st train of the year

[Avatar]

Ronny excellent report as usual. I always appreciate that you take an ordinary blah day trip report and add extra emotions of how things where going, who was doing what that really makes your reports fun to read.

I’m like you I like to get away for a bit and take pictures or to watch the park at work.

-You have to love Magnum. I would trade Vortex for it any day.

Are you trying to get a new long thread rumor started? – Be Careful

I am glad you have been able to get so much done over your break this summer and I see you soon.

[flightoffear1996]

I heard an employee talking about The Vortex sinking.

[The Interpreter]

Great pictures, great write-up...and I couldn't agree more about Maverick in the front seat!

On the other hand, I have made MANY trips to Cedar Point when I stayed less than two hours once I got there! I'm funny like that.

Terpy, who was once known for doing four parks in one day (and not in Florida, either..though he has also done all the Florida Disney parks--except Buzzard Beach or whatever they call it--in one day! <got to upset Avatar somehow!>)

[Avatar]

…and I thought I would never see the day I could clue Interpreter in,; Interpreter it’s called Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park.

It’s not my favorite but the thrill seekers tend to like it better than Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon. I like heavy themes and both offer it but Typhoon is more relaxing and tropical.

I think in Ronny’s report he describes CP has an old Board Walk type feel to it and peeks my attraction in going as riding the super thrill coasters.

[The Interpreter]

Oh, I know what it is called.....my idea of a water park is Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk!

[Guest kwindshawne]

Oh, I know what it is called.....my idea of a water park is Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk!

Now you're talking!!! That has a nice little atmosphere all it's own-and that little coaster really kicks!!!

[The Interpreter]

Ah yes...the Loof/Prior & Church Giant Dipper...only one of the bestest wooden coasters ever built.

Darn if I wouldn't give most anything to ride The Cedar Point Cyclone, though.

[ClevelandRocks10]

WOW! Those are some sweet photos you took, Great work!

[iChase]

My God man, I love your PTRs. I have several questions, but first I will say, nice trip report. It sounds like you had a good time despite your mood paralleling the weather.

My questions: do you carry a tripod everywhere? My reason for asking is the long shutter on the carousel.

Also what settings (F, shutter, ISO, so on) did you use for the Maverick silhouette?

CP is a very photogenic park. Especially Painfu...Mean Streak. It may not be a great ride but it sure looks nice in pictures.

Great job Ronny.

[markr]

The next time you go to CP, I wouldn't go I-75 to Ohio Turnpike. You are really going out of your way. I would go I-71, get off on Rt. 36, the Delaware exit. Turn left on 36 until you get to Rt 23. Take23 north and get off at Rt 4. Take Rt 4 North all the way to Sandusky. Or if you do take I-75, get off at Rt. 6 at Bowling Green. Take Rt 6 east all the way to Sandusky.

Great trip report.

[BavarianBeatle]

The day will come when you and your friends will talk about that trip and LAUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My wife and I got married in Las Vegas and got diverted to Detroit on the flight back. We spent the night in those hard plastic airport chairs and talked all night....And we ended up cherishing the memories of that night we spent together with sore backs . The sunrise when we finally landed in Cleveland (we were originally scheduled to land at 11:00p.m, but landed at around 6:30 a.m.) was BEAUTIFUL......

[Kawana]

Great Jeorghb on the photos. Sorry the trip wasn't as fun as you'd hoped, but there's always next time, right?

[Gordon Bombay]

Thank you for the compliments on the photos Kawana and everyone! I'm glad you guys like them!

Markr, thanks for the advice on directions, I will have to try that next time!

Ronny excellent report as usual. I always appreciate that you take an ordinary blah day trip report and add extra emotions of how things where going, who was doing what that really makes your reports fun to read.

I’m like you I like to get away for a bit and take pictures or to watch the park at work.

-You have to love Magnum. I would trade Vortex for it any day.

Are you trying to get a new long thread rumor started? – Be Careful

I am glad you have been able to get so much done over your break this summer and I see you soon.

Thanks Avatar! I'm glad you like the reports, can't wait to see you this saturday!

My God man, I love your PTRs. I have several questions, but first I will say, nice trip report. It sounds like you had a good time despite your mood paralleling the weather.

My questions: do you carry a tripod everywhere? My reason for asking is the long shutter on the carousel.

I have a few mini tripods, but usually do not carry one in a park. It seems tripods generally aren't welcome in parks and I usually don't have room for the mini ones, in the case of this trip I just used a trash can by the ferris wheel, on the carousel I set the camera on the rail surrounding the ride and tied the strap around the rail to hold it in place, set a 2 second timer and the settings and let it sit there.

Also what settings (F, shutter, ISO, so on) did you use for the Maverick silhouette?

f/8.0 800 ISO and 1/4000 shutter.

CP is a very photogenic park. Especially Painfu...Mean Streak. It may not be a great ride but it sure looks nice in pictures.

Great job Ronny.

Thanks Chase!

[indianapolisman]

First of all, WOW. The level of excitement one can acheive while reading your TR (all of them) is great. I really felt as if I just left the park myself. The hard time you had will easily be forgotten, and the pictures and memories will last. I almost find it impossible to have a bad time while at the point, but then again it's a 5 hour drive for us. Even after staying awake for 40 some

hours my last trip I found it hard to fall asleep because I could not stop thinking about going back the next day. I'm glad you took the time to enjoy BS it really does have the power to make you

feel as though you've taken a trip back to the days of care free fun we all enjoyed as a kid. As for MS I'm just one of those crazies who loves it. Don't believe me?

looks like I Love this ride actually

Thanks for sharing this trip with us, I always look forward to reading everyone's good times on this site. It's something other sites lack, and know this is the place for the best.

Keep up the great work.

P.S. I really enjoy the ones of now defunct parks. Have you vistited any recently?

[gnarkiller]

Lucky I love Cedar Point. I hope you had great time.

[iChase]

Nice idea with the trash-pod. I love the pictures.

[gigacoaster2k]

Those photos are simply amazing.. but why no tornado pics??

Seriously, nice TR. Glad to see you guys made it through the bad weather without a scratch, it was cool of the gas station attendant to let you hide out there.

I'm not a fan of Pain Streak either. Aside from The Beast, I prefer free fall towers and crazy steel coasters over woodies any day.

[mplebanon]

Absolutely impressed by your photos. Great job.

Can't agree enough about Mean Streak. Boringest coaster I've ever ridden. Blue Streak was far better and half the size.

[The Interpreter]

Interesting side note...when built, Blue Streak was the tallest wooden roller coaster in the world!

[markr]

Interesting side note...when built, Blue Streak was the tallest wooden roller coaster in the world!

I thought Shooting Star at Coney Island was the tallest and fastest at that time.

[The Interpreter]

And according to this you would be right:

http://www.coaster-net.com/speciallistings...&catid=2#S1

Oh, well...I fully remember Cedar Point claiming Blue Streak was the tallest wooden coaster in the world...it wasn't. It happens!

Thanks for the correction.

I learned something today.

[Gordon Bombay]

^Ha, remember when you learned that B&M did not build Millenium Force?

Those photos are simply amazing.. but why no tornado pics??

Seriously, nice TR. Glad to see you guys made it through the bad weather without a scratch, it was cool of the gas station attendant to let you hide out there.

I'm not a fan of Pain Streak either. Aside from The Beast, I prefer free fall towers and crazy steel coasters over woodies any day.

Thank you for the compliments, that gas station attendant was awesome, I made sure I wrote to Circle K and told them about how he helped us.

Absolutely impressed by your photos. Great job.

Can't agree enough about Mean Streak. Boringest coaster I've ever ridden. Blue Streak was far better and half the size.

Thanks for the photo compliments, have to agree about Blue Streak, that is a true gem in that park and always has a short wait. I love the trains on it too, like Beast, it has individual ratcheting lap bars, yet they seem to have a bit more room and less of a seat divider.

[The Interpreter]

I didn't learn about Millennium Force...I had a brain spasm...and a half!

Terpy, who still don't much care for the thing, no matter who built it...great coaster for Granny and Papaw, if you can just get them on it! Give me Diamondback anyday!