May 17 at Cedar Point

[DaveStroem]

We took our first trip of the season to Cedar Point yesterday. The weather was a little cool but it was nice and sunny all day without the first thought of rain.

Our group consisted of myself, DW, DD12 & DD10. Unfortunately DD10 woke up with an upset stomach but didn't mention this till we were nearly at the park. She was supposed to ride some of the big coasters her but ended up passing on most things till the afternoon and even then she was iffy on most.

We left the house at OMG early 6:30 AM so we could make it to the park before the 9:00 am ERT for Gold/Platinum pass holders. We arrived at the Soak City parking lot at 8:45 and only had a short wait for the rope drop at the Magnum entrance.

After the National Anthem played over the PA the mad rush was on to Maverick. I was surprised by how many people took off in a full sprint to get over there. DD12 & I (my wife does not do coasters or most anything else) speed walked over there and only had to wait for 2 cycles of trains in the station before it was our turn. Neither one of use had ridden Maverick as DD12 was to short on our last visit to the point and I did not want to make the family wait an hour and a half for me to ride by myself. This ride did not disappoint and is now easily one of my top 5 coasters.

Next we headed to Millennium Force, another that we had not ridden on our last trip for the same reason. As we approached the ride the gold train was ominously parked on the hill with no motion coming from Millie. Then as we approached the entrance the gate attendant announced that the coaster was down for mechanical repairs. This put a slight damper on our plans. Since it was still early in the ERT we headed to the front of the park and hit Raptor instead.

The queue was nearly walk on for this great inverted coaster. I love the Raptor and would have to rank it as one of my top 10. The feel is so different than any other inverted that I have been on. We thought about hitting it a second time but decided to get to Top Thrill Dragster before the mad rush of the public was let in at 10:00 am.

When we approached the TTD the line seemed quite long but I noticed that they were not letting people in the queues yet so we found the back and patiently waited like everyone else. They were not firing off the ride for tests like I expected and then the dreaded announcement that the ride was experiencing some difficulties and would not be opening on time. Since this was just the second day of the season I was willing to cut CP some slack. If I had paid full price to get in I don't think that I would be so generous though.

We decided to not wait for TTD and just ride it on our next visit. So off to Magnum for some air time on the ole girl. As we were passing Cork Screw they were just removing the closed sign so we made a brief detour her and jumped on the first train. I remember as a kid waiting nearly 2 hours for this ride. She is still pretty as she gracefully sits astride the walking paths below her. Unfortunately she doesn't yield much in the thrill category and almost seems like a kiddy coaster.

When we arrived at Maggie the queues were empty till we got to the station which was pandemonium. They were only seating the first 3 and last 2 cars of the trains. So we waited for 3 trains before it was our time. I have read that others feel that Maggie is now rough. I didn't feel that way at all. Now she doesn't compare to the brand new Diamondback at Kings Island but not much does. After Maggie we again headed toward the back of the park.

DD12 had never ridden Gemini so that was our next stop. There was line forming at the entrance for the twins but the ride attended was not letting anyone in. Since DD12 did not want to ride Mean Streak we decided to wait. After close to 45 minutes they finally let people in. They were only running the blue side even though they had done a number of test runs on both sides. We got on the second train without a wait. This ride while a classic is such a total waist of lumber. There is no air and not much in the way of thrills. I would take The Racer at KI any day over Gemini.

Next for me was Mean Streak as DD12 rode the Antique Cars. There was no wait till I got to the station and even then it was pretty empty. I opted to wait for the front of the train. I know that a lot of people feel that Mean Streak is too rough and should be turned into a large bon fire during hallow weekends but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Would I want to marathon Mean Streak, NO, but for once a trip I think it is fine. After I finished with Mean Streak, I meet up with DD12 and we hit the mine ride.

The Cedar Creek Mine Ride is also celebrating a birthday this year, doubling up Magnum. This ride is a fun diversion from the big coasters but the lap bar makes it a tight fit for me. Following the mine ride we went next door to the Skyhawk. DD12 chickened out on me. I don't understand this since she loves coasters and for her, the bigger the better. Oh well. Since there was no line I rode this by myself. This ride is a blast and I rubbed it in a bit about what she was missing.

It was now just after noon and over 6 hours since breakfast, so we called up my wife and meet at Magnum to head to the car for some ham sandwiches.

After lunch DD10 was feeling better so we marched her over to Maggie. This time the wait was closer to ½ hour. She was still quite nervous about this even though she rode The Beast last Sunday. Again the platform was a mess and there was no way to tell where to line up to get on the same train. DD12 was fine riding by herself so we opted to stay together in the same line and just ride on 2 separate trains. I kept my arm around DD10 the whole ride and she had a white knuckle grip on the lap bar. I think she was still feeling a bit out of it since on Beast she did everything but the first hill with her arms in the air. This was enough big coasters for her on the trip.

She wanted to do some flat rides and Iron Dragon so that is what we did. After Iron Dragon & Wildcat, DD12 & I rode Mantis. This is a very pretty coaster but the ride did not impress me. The seats were uncomfortable the view was quite limited. We will skip this one for the rest of the season.

After we got off of Mantis we noticed that Millennium Force was running. The wait time was listed at 1 ½ hours so again we decided to skip it. While we were on Mantis the wife and DD10 explored the shops in Frontier land. We caught up with them and DD12 now was ready for a ride on Skyhawk. She loved it and tried unsuccessfully to get my wife on it. After a quick check on the wait for Maverick we took the train back to the Millennium Station.

We still had a few rides that we wanted to get in. So we headed over toward the midway area and rode Wicked Twister. This was a great ride but was a tight fit to get the buckle fastened. We sat near the back of the train and enjoyed the air on this simple looking ride. After WT we hit Chaos & Maxair. When we got on Chaos, I handed my wife both DD12 & my cell phones as this is one of the more extreme pocket launching rides in the park. While we were doing these, the wife and DD10 rode the Space Spiral a couple of times. When we got off of Maxair we could not find them and of course she had all of the cell phones.

DD12 wanted to ride Disaster Transport so we did that after looking unsuccessfully for the rest of the family. After we got off DT we found them pretty quickly and only had Millie left on the list. I was ready to skip it but DD12 really wanted to get it in this trip. So off we went.

The sign at the front said 1 ¾ hours wait, but since this was the last thing that we wanted to do we decided to jump in. I first sat down in the test chair and almost gave up as it was a tight fit. The buckle was there, but I was having trouble contorting myself to get it fastened. The line attended said I would be fine, so we jumped in line with a hope of riding. The line moved very quickly and was in fact only about ½ hour long. When we got to our train I was able to get the buckle fastened with no problem. I wonder if the test seat strap is just a little shorter than the ones on the ride. Millie certainly did not disappoint and was a perfect way to end our day at the Point.

[gigacoaster2k]

Wow! I'm glad to see you guys had such a great time (aside from some of the waits, and I hope DD10 is feeling better today). Also glad to see that unlike me, you got to end your day at the Point with a ride on Millie. That's my baby.

You really should hit Blue Streak next time you go. If you like Racer, you're going to love Blue Streak.. it's an oldie but goodie that packs some serious airtime. It's a tiny tad bit rough (it has been operating since 1964), but it's definitely worth a ride.

[XGatorHead 8904]

When we arrived at Maggie the queues were empty till we got to the station which was pandemonium. They were only seating the first 3 and last 2 cars of the trains. So we waited for 3 trains before it was our time. I have read that others feel that Maggie is now rough. I didn't feel that way at all. Now she doesn't compare to the brand new Diamondback at Kings Island but not much does.

Tell that to a certain ACEr I talked to last weekend...

DD12 had never ridden Gemini so that was our next stop. There was line forming at the entrance for the twins but the ride attended was not letting anyone in. Since DD12 did not want to ride Mean Streak we decided to wait. After close to 45 minutes they finally let people in. They were only running the blue side even though they had done a number of test runs on both sides. We got on the second train without a wait. This ride while a classic is such a total waist of lumber. There is no air and not much in the way of thrills. I would take The Racer at KI any day over Gemini.

Finally, someone who agrees with me about Gemini! I wouldn't say it's a total waste of lumber though, since it's a coaster that I do ride when there. But I always hear people tell of how great it is, but to me it's nothing compared to The Racer!

Glad to hear the rain stayed away and that you had a good time!

[AgentSoB]

Nice TR glad to see that a good time was had... I take it the wide isn't a thrill junkie? Cedar Point is truly an amazing place.

As far as Gemini goes... I personally love the ride and think it has a few good pops of air and a very effective head chopper. However, I can see how it is not some peoples cup of tea...

[DaveStroem]

No, the wife takes pictures and shops. I feel blessed that she is willing to go and put up with us.

I am trying to turn my 10 year old into a coaster girl like my 12 year old. The only problem with this is that we are now that dreaded odd number group. The 10 year old want to ride with dad so the 12 year old has had to ride by herself. I am proud that she is willing to do this. On our last trip to KI she got more coaster rides in then I did.

[markr]

Nice TR but disagree about Gemini. In my opinion, one of most underrated coasters. Since Gemini is steel and Racer wood, feel it is like comparing apples to oranges. While I am a hands -up person, I lower my hands to the top of my head when I get to that head chopper.And, unlike Racer, on Gemini you can high-five the people in the other train. Just my personal opinion.

[XGatorHead 8904]

^Normally I would agree with you about comparing steel to wood being like comparing apples to oranges. But I think a Racer/Gemini comparison is valid because both are racing/twin coasters. When talking to other coaster-knowledgeable people, I always seem to be in the minority when it comes to my opinion on Gemini. It's not a bad coaster by any means, I just never found it as thrilling as a lot of people have. It's still a must-ride on my rare trips to the Point. The only coasters there that I'm not upset about missing when I go are CCMR, Mean Streak and Iron Dragon.

[Dvo]

I have to say, while Diamondback is fun, I like Magnum better. Those airtime hills are just insane. Nice work, Mr. Toomer.

[indianapolisman]

Very nice TR. Reading this is getting really excited about my next trip.

I was also curious, did you notice any retracking or unexpected smoothness on MS?

Or any unusual land clearing?

[DaveStroem]

Very nice TR. Reading this is getting really excited about my next trip.

I was also curious, did you notice any retracking or unexpected smoothness on MS?

Or any unusual land clearing?

It has been a while since I have been to CP so I would not recognize it if I did see one.

What is MS?

[The Interpreter]

Mean Streak, the gigantic beautiful wooden coaster on the back of the peninsula...

Terpy, who said something nice about that thing...

[DaveStroem]

AH now I get it. No, I did not notice any retracking on it.

It seemed pretty much the way I remembered it. I didn't find it all that rough the first 10 times I rode it all walk on during the media day for it's grand opening.

I guess I just like them rough. I love SOB with the exception of the very bottom of the rose bowl. That is even a bit too rough for me. It won't keep me from riding it though.

[Brandon]

Very nice TR. Reading this is getting really excited about my next trip.

I was also curious, did you notice any retracking or unexpected smoothness on MS?

Or any unusual land clearing?

Yea there is retracking on Mean Streak but it's not incredibly smoother and yes there is land clearing. There used to be trees on Millennium Island(the island Millennium's track goes over) but they cleared it in the offseason.

[BavarianBeatle]

I had planned on skipping Trim Brak-- I mean--- Did I just say "Mean"?..... Let's just call it the photogenic wooden coaster at the back of the park. But when I said we were skipping it, the kids taunted me and said I wanted to skip it because I was afraid of it... LOL!!! So we rode it (Sigh). It was the same as it has always been.......