Cedar Point/ Kings Island 6/20-6/21/09

[KI Kevin]

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!

[KI Kevin]

We went back to the hotel, all of our legs feeling sore, and went to bed.

When we woke up, we got ready, and headed to the park, arriving at about 8:20. We were the first guests by the entrance. While waiting, the employees had to sweep off all of the mayflies from the gates. While we were waiting for them to let us sprint to Maverick, we met a man who held the record for the most rides on Raptor. 183 less than 6000. When they let us go for ERT, he ran straight to Raptor.

When we finally got to Maverick, the line was about 10 minutes. Evan and got in the second row, and Katie and my dad got in row three. The launch up the hill felt very powerful. I was surprised with the drop. The corkscrews were also pretty cool. I really wish they would have left the barrel roll in. Though definitely, my favorite parts of the ride were the overbanked turns. Those were awesome. While we were getting off, there was one seat open, so my dad immediately shoved me into the seat. While waiting for me at the exit, my dad was feeling bad about Evan not being able to ride again, was looking for an open seat for him. The employee letting people into the station was not feeding the people in fast enough, so, much to his surprise, the back row was completely empty. A ride op saw them looking over at the back row, and waved them over. We all got to ride twice without waiting twice. The "out of control" feeling made Maverick my favorite ride at Cedar Point and favorite ride ever.

We got another quick ride on Millennium Force. Again, this was fun, but I still think that Diamondback is better. On the way out, we caught a short wait on Demon Drop, so we rode it.

Overall, I was extremely impressed with the park as whole. It was not nearly as crowded as I was expecting. Most of the good rides were 45 minutes or less. Last time I went, Top Thrill Dragster was 4 hours. The park was also clean, and the free water tasted pretty good, unlike KI's. They have two good inverted coasters, while we have one mediocre one IMO.

After that, we went to Put-In-Bay for a couple hours to drop my sister off for the OSU camp on Gibralter Island.

Where does Kings Island come in? Well, on the way home, my dad and I decided to go to KI. It was Father's Day. Why not?

When we got there, we looked at the parking lot, and the park was completely packed. The crowds inside the park were enormous, and the wait for Diamondback was longer than we wanted to wait. We decided to ride The Beast.

The line was backed up to where the turnaround is by the on-ride photo booth, so it wasn't too bad. We got in line around 9:20, and we knew that they would shut down at 9:45 and open back up later. So we knew that it would be close. We had five minutes left when we entered the station, and had already figured out the shortest lines. It was the second row, surprisingly. We passed a couple waiting in line for the front row that looked like coaster enthusiasts. The man had an Apollo's Chariot shirt with a Top Thrill Dragster visor, and the women had a Diamondback hat. Well, we got in line for row 2, and right as the people in front of us were boarding the train, the dreaded phone call arrived. We had to take two steps back, and the people had to get back into the rows, giving me a perfect flashback of Dragster the day before. While we were waiting, my dad told the couple about how we had just been to CP and other things about parks. I eventually went over there and started talking to him too. We told him about the guy with Raptor and they said that they knew him. Small world! Anyway, they went on to talk about all of the parks that they've been to, which was quite a lot. He also said that Diamondback was his 180th coaster, and that Apollo's Chariot was better. They were currently on an amusement park trip, and were from Chicago. They were both extremely knowledgable when it came to coasters and parks. Finally, they had started the ride back up, and the line was moving. We waited a few more rides because we had moved back to talk to the couple. It was time to ride.

This ride on The Beast, was hands down, the best ride ever on The Beast. This has made me like it more than Son of Beast, but i still like Son of Beast. It was also probably the smoothest ride I've ever had on it. The Beast has earned it's place as my second favorite ride at KI easily.

So here's my ride count for the weekend:

Demon Drop: 2

Raptor: 2

Wicked Twister: 2

Top Thrill Dragster: 2

Corkscrew: 1

Millennium Force: 2

Mantis: 2

Skyhawk: 1

Mean Streak: 1

Magnum XL-200: 1

Power Tower Space Shot: 1

Chaos: 1

Maverick: 2

Beast: 1

My ranking for the Cedar Point Rides were:

Maverick

Top Thrill Dragster

Raptor

Millennium Force

Magnum XL-200

Mantis

Wicked Twister

Mean Streak

Demon Drop

Skyhawk

Chaos

Power Tower Space Shot

Corkscrew

Just so you guys know, I liked all of the rides I rode except for the Corkscrew. That was the only one I disliked. This was my first TR, so I hope I did halfway decent.

[DaveStroem]

We were at KI on Sunday and it was packed. We still managed a great ride count though. We must have been on The Beast shortly before you as we made it over to DB for 2 laps including front row on the last train of the night.

[Tomkatt7]

Hitting 2 parks in one day must have been a blast!

My sis and I did a weeklong marathon, WAY back in the 80's.

We hit Cedar Point, Geauga Lake, Sea World, Kings Island, and THE Ohio State Fair, all in one work-week.

Traveling home to C-bus after each day. It was fun, but pretty tough on the ol' body!

I enjoyed your trip report. I like that your ride ratings are so much different than other peoples are.

Shows you that lot's of people just prefer different rides.

[The Interpreter]

...The "out of control" feeling made Maverick my favorite ride at Cedar Point and favorite ride ever.

...While we were waiting, my dad told the couple about how we had just been to CP and other things about parks. I eventually went over there and started talking to him too. We told him about the guy with Raptor and they said that they knew him. Small world! Anyway, they went on to talk about all of the parks that they've been to, which was quite a lot. He also said that Diamondback was his 180th coaster, and that Apollo's Chariot was better....

I completely agree about Maverick. I completely adore that ride in its front seat!

As for Apollo's Chariot being better than Diamondback....the things thoosies say!

(Apollo's Chariot = giant simulator with fans...at least to Terpy, and that's being nice!)

[KI Kevin]

Hitting two parks in one day was a lot of fun. I went to THE Ohio State Fair a couple years back and it was a lot of fun. The couple I mentioned said they had gone to KD, BGW, and Six Flags America all in one day.

[The Interpreter]

Oh, my. I now know who you saw, almost certainly.

Terpy, who has been known to pull similar stunts...when he was a younger pup...

[KI Kevin]

Wow, you're not the one with the record on Raptor are you?

[The Interpreter]

Raptor? No...nice ride, but not one I'd do over and over and over and over...

Now Magnum XL-200, I wish I were the person with that record!

Terpy, who wishes he could and did get to the Point more often than he does...

[KIfan1980]

Terpy, who has been known to pull similar stunts...when he was a younger pup...

younger pup by how much ... a week or so?

[KI Kevin]

That's extremely interesting that everyone in the enthusiast world seems to know eachother. They both said they loved The Beast. They had been to KI 4 times and had ridden it about 50 times.

[The Interpreter]

Terpy, who has been known to pull similar stunts...when he was a younger pup...

younger pup by how much ... a week or so?

Shhhh.....

Terpy, who now wonders who knows what!

It's a small world, after all....

[KI Kevin]

I don't think I'll go on to describe the man, but I think I have it figured out. It was you! Nah just kidding. Just a guess.

[The Interpreter]

No, it really wasn't. I only wish it had been!

[KI Kevin]

How many people on this site have you even met, anyway?

[The Interpreter]

More than one, less than all!

[KI Kevin]

I almost forgot to tell you. Saturday night was the very beginning of mayfly season. I personally didn't mind them too much (except for being pelted in the face by them on the launch on Wicked Twister), because I had been up to the Lake Erie region many times during mayfly season (my dad races catamarans), but Evan did not like them at all...

[The Interpreter]

Did you perchance get any front seat rides while those things were a buzzin? Can be quite the unpleasant experience. SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!

I once got off Top Thrill Dragster with some of those dern things stuck to my teeth. Ugh.

[KI Kevin]

Yeah I sat front seat on WT with those things flying around. Those are pretty obnoxious. They were everywhere.