Cedar Point in the SNOW! 5-15-16

[Joncars05]

I took a trip up to Cedar Point with my wife and toddler on Sunday May 15th. The weather looked like it was going to be perfect about a week out it said it would be partly cloudy with a high of 71. Well as we all know weather can change quickly and this trip it changed drastically. On Saturday night, the Sunday high was forecasted to be 48 and had sustained winds around 20-25mph. There was a freeze warning and possible rain later that day. So as most of you know almost everything was shut down in the park.

We still entered the park with hopes that most coasters would be operating. There was no such luck. In fact it actually started sleeting/snowing the first 30 minutes the park was opened. Basically everything was shut down for the first 3 hours. The only rides operating were Wicked Twister and Cedar Creek Mine Ride. Around 1 pm Valravn opened up but the line was well over 2 hours so I skipped it. We ended up letting our daughter ride her first rides ever at Cedar Point. Surprisingly she had a really good time. She rode until about noon and then left the park to take a nap. I ended up taking out my camera and started to shoot photos at the park. The weather conditions were really awful for shooting but I think I was able to take some really good photos. One thing that I did get a really good shot of was a valleyed train on Maverick. That will be included in the photos at the end of the TR. After my wife and kiddo returned to the park they decided to ride more kid rides. Again my daughter really enjoyed the rides. I was pretty surprised at the amount of stuff she could ride due to her only being only 20 months old.
It turned 4pm and it was finally my turn to ride so I ended up getting on Magnum, Wicked Twister, and Gatekeeper. I saved Valravn for last. I ended up in line around 7pm and only waited 30 minutes to ride. Since I was a single rider I got really lucky and was able to sit front row for my ride. I ended up on the left side, in the far outside seat. The lift hill is very fast compared to other dive coasters. Once at the top the view is outstanding. The pause seems to be pretty short but the drop is very solid. The Immelmann loop was fun as well. The second drop into the dive loop was actually really good too. The Zero-G roll was okay as I felt like the train wasn’t going fast enough to really pull negative g’s. The turn around into the final airtime hill was a good transition and the airtime hill had a little pop of airtime. I thought the ride was pretty good. Definitely good enough to get into the top 5 at the park but I really don’t think it is all the media has hyped it up to be. I know that later in the year it will be running even better after it fully breaks in and it will be definitely faster in better weather. The cold and wind made Valravn sluggish. I hope next year when I make it up there the weather will be a bit warmer so I can fully experience Valravn. After my Valravn ride the family and I headed home.

Despite the weather causing extremely limited ride time for myself I really had a great time watching my daughter ride her first amusement park rides on her own. I think having a toddler with me in the parks has changed my outlook on what successful park trips can be. Now instead of ride counts I slow down and enjoy the little things a little more. Thanks for reading! My TR photos are below!

 

Ride Count: 

Gatekeeper: 1

Valravn: 1

Wicked Twister: 1

Magnum Xl-200: 1

 

 

Valleyed Maverick train getting pulled through an inversion:

 

Wicked Twister

 

Blue Streak

 

Raptor vs Valravn

 

Valravn in the sleet/snow

 

Gatekeeper Keyhole

 

 

Valravn!

 

Getting a peace sign from a Rougarou rider

 

Corkscrew

 

Gatekeeper with a photobombing seagull

 

Millennium Force Vs Top Thrill Dragster!  

 

The new paint job on Raptor is stunning! 

 

 

[rcwizard13]

Woah, fantastic pictures dude.

[Hoeter]

Thanks for sharing! Beautiful pictures as well!
 

Me and chugh43 were up there the day before you and part of that Sunday. Easily one of the best trips I've ever had to the park, other than Coastermania 2014.

 

We saw sunshine for a little bit on Saturday. Only things I saw not running were Top Thrill Dragster, Gemini, and Mean Streak. Supposedly TTD opened for about a half hour on Saturday and was down the remainder of the day. Got in rides on all coasters but Rougarou (came dangerously close to being able to ride, plenty of slack in the belt- must have been an issue with the OTSR), Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Wicked Twister (was never able to fit on this one, but Volcano at Kings Dominion I fit with room to spare), and Millennium Force (it was close to buckling at the test seat, didn't try waiting in line). Gatekeeper went down for winds after waiting in line about a half hour for it and after it went down due to technical issues- ended up riding on Sunday before leaving.

 

Valravn is an amazing ride in the front row and a fun ride all around. I was kind of sweating bullets going up the lift hill- I've never ridden a dive machine before up until this point. The hang time at the drop took me by surprise as I didn't think it'd hang you over that far. The 270-degree roll is amazing as well. I was very impressed by the ride itself and the improvements Cedar Point made to the Blue Streak/Marina gate area. 

 

Thankfully the sleet held off until I was off of Magnum! Couldn't imagine a ride in those conditions.

 

Longest wait of the weekend was for Maverick on Saturday, about 40 minutes or so.

 

I'm gonna try to get back up there in July possibly.

[electricsun]

Joncars05 - those pictures are amazing! Thank you for sharing.

While the weather may not have been the best, it sounds like it was still a great trip, especially with your daughter being able to ride rides. Start them early!

[Joncars05]

Thanks for sharing! Beautiful pictures as well!

 

Me and chugh43 were up there the day before you and part of that Sunday. Easily one of the best trips I've ever had to the park, other than Coastermania 2014.

Once everything opened up it was a really nice day. I think the combo of me being with the wife and kiddo that couldn't ride and the weather in the morning caused me not to be in a rush to ride. I should've ride more because the lines were perfect! But since I didn't start riding until 4pm I just sort of conceded that I wasn't going to ride much.

Woah, fantastic pictures dude.

Thanks!

Joncars05 - those pictures are amazing! Thank you for sharing.

While the weather may not have been the best, it sounds like it was still a great trip, especially with your daughter being able to ride rides. Start them early!

Thanks! It really was a great trip. My little one is a daredevil so she jumped right in and had a blast. I'm sure she will be a coaster nut as soon as she hits the height requirements!