The Great Lake Escape and Steel City Adventures- silver2005's Kennywood, CP and MIA TR

[silver2005]

Today's weather looks fantastic.  Tomorrow's has drastically improved with early morning showers in the forecast and a significantly smaller chance after 9 am.  Though, that rainy forecast may make tomorrow quite dead.  Also, rain soaked Blue Streak.  

Additionally, Dragster roll back ride attempt #1 today. 

[silver2005]

Great Ron Toomer's coat hangers, Magnum is so, so, so, good. CCMR is a lot more fun than I remember.  Gatekeeper is awesome-tastic.

Also, TTD roll back #1 attempt- failed.

[silver2005]

Fast Lane Plus acquired.

Rougarou came out of left field to jump to my top 5 steel coasters.

[silver2005]

1. Just had the best run of luck on Millennium Force.  Had a short wait for the second seat, then a guy in the front seat had a walk of shame, and the attendants let me up front while the train was unlocked.

[King Ding Dong]

Provide power is restored we will be up tomorrow at CPS until 1-2ish and then hit the dry park.  

[silver2005]

Got a FLP voucher for tomorrow due to the outage, off for a CCMR night ride.

[silver2005]

^To put that in perspective, here's what happened tonight. Between 8 and 8:30, there was a power outage which took out every coaster sans CCMR and only a handful of flats. The only 'big' flat up was Skyhawk.  malem got me to walk up to guest services where I was issued a voucher for FLP for tomorrow.  Gonna grab my traditional Magnum night ride before night ERT for MF and Valravn.  The aforementioned CCMR night ride didn't happen, they closed early.  

Had a great day prior though.  Just some notes from today-

- Power Tower has a dumb FL system.  You can't access the upwards launch towers from the normal entrance.  You have to climb over the rails to access those towers (unless I missed something) 

- Rougarou was the surprise gem of the trip.  Changing it to floorless was a great change after all.  Like, near top 5 steel coaster for me good.  

- Got a MF front seat ride after the group in front of me as I was in the 2nd row had a walk of shame, it was my first front seat ride and it delivered in spades

- TTD roll back attempt #1- failure

- Raptor and Magnum are so, so, so gooood

- love that Raptor and Rougarou both still have that old school B&M roar

- Blue Streak, Iron Dragon and Gemini are so fun, CCMR is more fun than I remember

- New coaster credit early reviews- Gatekeeper- awesome, just what I expected from a bigger version of Thunderbird, for wing coasters- bigger is better, Valravn- decent but not quite what I was expecting, not enough of a weightless feeling on the 2 vert. drops, it is MASSIVE in person

Taking extra clothes for tomorrow to hit the water rides.  Also missing a few flats.  Also going to skip morning ERT since I get it on the tail end. 

[PhantomTheater]

At Power Tower's entrance, there are actually three. Left for UP, Middle for FL, and Right for Down.

[silver2005]

^The way I saw it, there are 2 entrances, right where the queue rails start, one for FL, one for non-FL.  The FL has the center one for itself and the line that goes to the upwards launch side.  The non-FL entrance only leads to the downwards side.  I'll have a camera on me today and I'll show you what I mean. 

[silver2005]

Good news- it's slightly less crowded than yesterday.

Bad news- it's a lot more humid with some rain drops.

[silver2005]

It is absolutely dreadfully muggy here at the Point. Supposed to be 91 on top of that.

[silver2005]

Glad I brought extra clothes for the water rides.  

Also, the rain was short, but it's even more humid. 

[King Ding Dong]

Just did Maverick!  I fit with room to spare! Awesome ride!  

Silver, yes it is muggy but there is a good breeze that helps.  Stay hydrated!   I brought my sodium and potassium pills.  

[silver2005]

^If you want to meet up, I'll be doing Magnum near park close.

Also, TTD, Power Tower, Sky Ride, and WindSeeker have been plagued by high winds.

[King Ding Dong]

Right after Maverick Kiefer started complaining about his foot hurting. Ryan and I did a couple coasters then bailed, already home.   Seems like half my park visits are cut short from someone not feeling well for one reason or another.  I need to plan a solo trip like you.  Relying on other people sucks.   I so wanted to ride Maverick a few more times.  

[silver2005]

I will have an epic PTR soon. Today was even more epic than my last KI trip if that's even possible.

EDIT: I may do 4 separate posts to cover everything (one for each day at the parks, 1 for the CP ride reviews).  Otherwise, it'll be an incredibly long post (yes, photos will be included). 

I'm also armed with TONS of photos from this trip for the off season photo contest (which, I am going to go to KI specifically for photography plus Kennywood later this summer).  I spent 2 hours of day 2 at CP doing nothing but photography. Hope you guys are ready for extra competition.

[silver2005]

Muskegon, Michigan's Adventure PRT

The drive up was rainy at first, but dried up after I got past Dayton.  I need to comb through Google Maps from now on because it took me on unpainted farm roads between highways in northern Ohio and Indiana.  Drove around Muskegon on when I got there including a 90 minute visit to Michigan's Adventure to get the 4 bigger coasters in.  Spent some time on Lake Michigan and ate at a place called Handsome Henry's for dinner.  Had some great pizza there.  Recommend it highly if any of you are in the area.

Day 2 was more devoted to Michigan's Adventure.  Got there at park opening, which, they let people in about 20 minutes early.  Got some shots of motionless Corkscrew before the park opened.  They don't have a lot of space opened before the actual opening, just the immediate area around Corkscrew.  

Did Mad Mouse first due to it having the longest wait I had and then meandered around and rode the other 4 coasters multiple times as well as a few flats and water rides.  Overall, it's a great little park for taking your time with the light crowds and Shivering Timbers, Wolverine Wildcat and Corkscrew have high re-rideability.

 I already posted my reviews of the coasters.  For their other rides, Adventure Falls and Grand Rapids are solid for getting riders wet, and Logger's Run is a nice flume, similar in style to KCKC minus the turntable.  Flying Trapeze was alright, and Sea Dragon was a fun swinging ship, with moments where the wheels stop pushing it and it just swings on gravity alone.

 The train is a great way of going back and forth between Thunderhawk and Timbers since there is kind of a void between the two.  The main park is mostly by the front gate on one side, and the water park, Thunderhawk, and the 2 bigger water rides are clear across the park.  Shivering Timbers became my 75th coaster I've ridden and left the park sitting at 76.  

Service was decent sans a few times where the Wildcat crew got bored, but not much of a problem.  All the coasters except Mouse and Timbers were walk on all day.  

I left about 2 hours before park close, spent some time at Lake Michigan again and ate at The Station Grill.  Good burgers, but a tad over priced.  Weather was perfect, but a bit too cool for a dip in Lake Michigan.  Temps in the upper 60s and low 70s the days I was there and quite windy along the beach. 

 

[silver2005]

Port Clinton, Cedar Point, Day 1

Left early on Tuesday and trekked through all the Michigan construction to get to my beloved town of Port Clinton.  I have 2 reasons I stay there.

1. The average hotel rate is about $20 cheaper than Sandusky

2.  Its a beautiful area

I also ate at Toast N' Jams in Muskegon for breakfast.  Pretty average place, but wasn't left with options with not much else in the breakfast department around my hotel.

It was warm enough for a swim in Lake Erie.  It is kind of a pain walking out there.  Right at the water line, there are lots of rocks and sediment being splashed around and before you get to smoother walking space, there are quite a lot of painful rocks to get across.  Spent a few hours on the beach to just sit back and relax and then headed to dinner.  Found a place called Crosswinds just east of town and wasn't disappointed.  Got a 10 oz NY strip which needed no steak sauce, a baked potato and salad with iced tea to drink.  Drove around for a few hours after before going to bed early.  

For my first day at the Point of Cedar, I went with participating in morning ERT on Millennium Force and Gatekeeper.  I held off until noon to see how crowds did before getting a Fast Lane Plus.  I had money on me with that purpose, but if I didn't need it, then I wouldn't bother.  That said, the first day was also the first day of summer, so the crowds picked up.  I got rides on Dragster (no roll back), Corkscrew and Magnum before I went for the upgrade.  During day one, it was much more useful.  Circled counter-clockwise from Magnum and rode the next big ride I came across after another.  Ate lunch at Famous Dave's near Snake River Falls and had a decent BBQ sandwich.  It was chopped pork, which felt like they took very tender rib meat and put it on a sandwich.  It was very good.  

Didn't make my way back to the front until after 3 pm and got all the bigger rides there.  I skipped the water rides until day 2 as I didn't have extra clothes on me at the time.  It wasn't that hot on day 1, not much warmer than Muskegon (about mid 70s).  After going up front, I went back towards Frontier Trail going clockwise.  Didn't need to eat anything after lunch, which, I ate later in the afternoon.  

Then things took a turn for the not so good.  At about 8 pm, there was a power outage which took out about 2/3 of the park including all the bigger flats and coasters.  A few of the older rides, CCMR being the only coaster, kept running, but it was a huge bummer.  They never reopened, and with the advice of malem, I went to guest relations and received a voucher for a FLP on day 2.  I stayed until 10 with the hopes things would re-open.   Day 2 would remedy that and then some. 

 

[silver2005]

Cedar Point Day 2

I got a late start as I wanted to get an extra hour of sleep, so I skipped morning ERT.  It rained slightly, so I decided to go on a 2 hour photo session.   The rain did stop around 11:30, so I did get rides while they were in motion.  I didn't hit TTD until later, so I didn't get a roll back.  Never witnessed one this trip either.  Some came close on day 2 with some winds and much higher humidity.  

Started riding stuff around 12:30, and that FLP I got from the night before proved useless except for Raptor and Maverick.  Everything else was either past the merge points or walk on.  The Magnum fan in me jumped for joy.  Got in 16 laps in 2 days, most of them on day 2. I also did the train a few times, either to take a break or for more photos.  RMC Streak looks wicked in person.  I may have to break with my rule of visiting CP every few years to get a lap or 2 on it next season.  If it keeps to the good parts of Storm Chaser and puts it on steroids with the size increase, then it should be pretty awesome.  If you've seen pictures of it floating around the internet, nothing has changed recently.  RMC is really taking their time on construction it seems. 

  

Day 2 presented a different kind of problem- high winds.  I pretty much got in the last Dragster ride before it, WindSeeker, Sky Ride, Gatekeeper, Power Tower and Raptor (the later 2 only temporary) all were down.  They didn't open for the rest of that day (occurred around 4 pm).

 It was quite humid as well, at least until the sun started to set.  I did grab a few cycles on Thunder Canyon with waterfalls on and Snake River Falls.  TC's exit concerns me a bit in that its wet all the time and its a downward slope.  There was water running down it often.  Seems like a bit of a problem.  I wore my Banshee first rider shirt for day 2 and MIA.  Got a lot of reactions at both parks including a little fun trolling at Rougarou.  

In terms of added credits, Gatekeeper, Rougarou and Valravn brought me up to 79.  The first coaster at Kennywood will be #80 for me.  Even with a FLP, I often used the main entrances for rides if the walk was about the same.  It felt rather tedious to have it with the crowds not as prevalent as day 1.  Had pizza for a late lunch near Skyhawk.  I wanted something smaller with it being so humid.  I pounded fluids all day, and that paper cup plan got a work out.

Got in some decent night rides later in the day, including Raptor, and 4 rounds on Magnum, which, is a tradition for me at CP since the first time I rode it with it additionally being my first 200 ft coaster, was at night.  The nostalgia trip was strong.

That night was a Platinum Pass ERT night, featuring Rougarou and Millennium Force.  I was quite ecstatic as those are 2 of my favorites at the park.  Rougarou has a sweet lighting package and MF is very fun.  It felt like a guided tour through a dead Cedar Point as it flew around its island.  Didn't leave until 11 and the ERT was still going on at about 11:20.

As I left, I was greeted by rain and drove the whole 5.5 hours home in a downpour.  Had some Skyline before I went back home. 

Had an excellent time at Cedar Point with the FLP stuff being the cherry on top.  Its a fantastic park all around with great service, atmosphere, and ride collection.  I think I found a reason people like the park so much.  It's that it always has something to look at or do.  Everywhere you look, you see anywhere between 3-5 coasters, the paths have a lot of things going on around them including some paths that are void of rides (between MF and SRF comes to mind).  There's a lot of excitement from the staff and it all comes together well.  I still like Dollywood and Hershey better, but its still a great park.  

[silver2005]

Cedar Point ride reviews-

Non-coasters

Cedar Downs- Surprisingly, I had yet to go on this despite its fame on my previous trips.  Didn't think much of it at the time, but boy was I wrong.  Its pretty slick.  The horses going back and forth feels randomized and it was pretty exciting for what it is.  I liked the audio of a horse race radio broadcast on top of it.  Definitely added a nice touch.

Skyhawk- KI needs a S&S Screaming Swing pronto.  Great weightlessness moments and some strong g forces as it swings.  Didn't realize it released air from it, which you can see as it runs. 

MaXair- While its the same model as Delirium, the ride visuals felt different as it isn't in as close to other rides like the KI ride.  It felt like a longer ride cycle as well with more swings at full tilt.  I like MaXair's colors better though.

Power Tower- S&S rides always amaze me with the power of their compressed air.  It really gets you to the top of the tower quickly regardless of tower mode.  It didn't feel completely like free fall though.  I could feel a bit of resistance as it descended.  Drop Tower is better.

Thunder Canyon- The water falls are the only part that gets you wet.  The rapids barely get water over the bow.  I wish it had some geysers.  If the waterfalls weren't on, it'd be pretty dull.  It does move pretty quick towards the end.

Snake River Falls- These kinds of flumes always get me nervous.  The lap bar only comes down so far, and SRF is nearly as tall as Racer.  No lap bars or lap bars that don't come all the way down kind of freaks me out on those big shoot the shutes rides.  Its great at building tension with it being in that covered building and just dropping into daylight from there.  

CP&LE Railroad- standard train ride mostly, but it one ups KI&MVRR with the fact that it kept the animatronics.  I like how CP has kept little things like that through the park.  I think Rivertown could learn a thing or two from Frontier Trail.  Those whistles are loud.  They keep the locomotives looking amazing as well. The brass, cabs and boilers are pristine.  

Coasters in alphabetical order

Blue Streak- Still in great shape for 53 years.  I appreciate that CP keeps it well painted and love the chaser lights (coughRacerrehabcough).  The turn around actually has some laterals as well.  The anti-roll backs used to reduce speed don't take too much off, and it scoots along pretty quickly.  Great airtime as well.  

Cedar Creek Mine Ride- This was a lot more fun than I remember.  The small hops had pops of air, the drop by the lake and by the station were good. It's also very quiet as most of the Arrows at CP are sans Magnum.  

Corkscrew- I like MIA's version's trains better.  CP's has a raised floor to allow its 42" height requirement vs MIA's 48".  Its a lot more restricting of movement, and my elbows banged around the chassis a lot.  I'm glad the drop into the corkscrews was gradual or else I wouldn't like it very much.  The hop before the loop is pretty good.  Strong G's in the loop which is difficult to get a good picture of. If CP ever decides to get rid of it, I hope they keep the corkscrews over the midway, lights included.  

Gatekeeper- I had high expectations having previously ridden Thunderbird.  In the case of wing coasters- bigger is better.  The first drop is funky, I preferred it in the back.  The near misses over the front gate were intense, had great pacing throughout which surprised me given how it must create a lot of drag.  I liked it on the right side better.

Gemini- Super smooth for its age.  More great airtime to be had.  Its such a cool ride aesthetically as well, with the wooden supports the decals on the trains, and a cool looking station.  Heck, most of the coasters at CP have cool stations and signs.  I like the way the figure 8 layout lets the trains go back and forth before the mad dash to the finish.  The helix wasn't as jarring as I thought it would be, at least compared to the likes of Vortex.

Iron Dragon- Very underrated ride.  Also super smooth.  Unfortunately, they didn't have the misters going in the lagoon section.  Pretty strong g's in the 2nd helix.  Not quite as good as Bat, but fun.

Magnum XL-200- Still my favorite coaster at CP and #2 among my favorite steel coasters behind Diamondback.  I found it, Gemini, CCMR, and Blue Streak all share that with the 3 row trains, the middle row is the smoother ride.  I finally rode the ejector seat, and its a bit overrated.  I found it rather rough.  My ideal seats are the 2nd row of cars 2-6.  2-2 and 5-2 are probably my go-to rows.  The tunnels are intense, especially the one after the 2nd drop which is a great moment.  The turn around is a bit rough.  Glad it has trims there, with the Ron Toomer style transition.  The return run is great, especially if you learn not to fight the train as it crests.  Not quite as hard on the legs, also a benefit of being in the middle rows.  Love, love, love it. 

Maverick- This requires rider participation and some upper body strength to ride comfortably which is why its not quite my favorite.  Its very intense, very smooth, very quiet, has insane ejector air even on the Stengel dives, but the snappy transitions are a turn off, especially the one after it launches you to 70 mph (which, is an extremely powerful launch).   I'm dreading riding I-305 and taking those transitions at 80+ mph.

Millennium Force- I don't find it as forceless as some claim it is.  Its mostly got positive g's, but nothing that strong as the turns are spread out. I grayed out due to the sustained g forces, mostly on the first overbanked turn.  The first drop and the 3 other camel backs have some nice floater air, near the front its a bit more poppy.  I have it just below Magnum as it relates to my coaster tastes.  The way it keeps up its speed is  great factor of why I like it.  It's fantastic at night. 

Raptor- Another ride I really like at CP.  It moves like a fighter jet- very deliberately, precisely, and snappy.  The 0g roll, cobra roll, and corkscrews really fling you around.  Solid speed through the ride, very smooth.   Also my favorite helix of any steel coaster I've done.  The main reason I like Banshee better is that it's transitions are spread out and flow better.  Even with a MCBR, Raptor's pacing is superb. Love the lift at night.

Rougarou- The floorless transition took me by surprise in how it improved the layout.  It's enough of an improvement to make this my favorite CP B&M.  If it had a 0g roll, it'd be pretty near perfect.  The light package at night is awesome to see, love the red lights and mist machines they added.  It eats lines very well.  

Top Thrill Dragster- A pretty simple premise, but its great at what it does.  That launch gets me every time, as you ascend, the moment after it makes the twist kind of got to me not seeing the track curve over the top.  All  you can see is sky.  A nice disorientation at 400+ ft.  The twist on the plummet is a great bit of added intensity as well.  May be a 2 trick pony, but they are great tricks. The station music, x-mas lights, and engine sounds complete the package (they need to make the station music louder on the rides that have them).

Valravn- This was my first B&M Dive Machine.  It is my least favorite B&M at Cedar Point, but it had some good moments.  Getting a good look down the drop was built up well, but only the back row delivered any kind of weightlessness on either vertical drop.  Took the elements gracefully, all of which are a bit better being on the outside seats.  Coming off the top of the Immelman on the far right is a great moment.  I feel the newer restraints hurt it in suppressing weightless feelings.  Should have used the old restraints on this.  

Wicked Twister- This ride is better either at the very front or very back.  At the very front, the top of the track spire comes up faster than you want it to.  In the back, you don't have the perception to know how far you're gonna keep going.  You get the maximum twisting motion at either end as well.  Very run ride. Another with a powerful launch.  

  

[silver2005]

I should also mention I took 2 mayflies to the face, one on my Raptor night ride and one Magnum night ride on day 2.  

Its becoming a theme...

[silver2005]

On 6/22/2017 at 2:33 AM, PhantomTheater said:

At Power Tower's entrance, there are actually three. Left for UP, Middle for FL, and Right for Down.

I eventually did find that 3rd entrance.  I guess from certain angles, you can miss that there are 3 entrances.  

[silver2005]

Well, time to start planning the Pittsburgh trip.

I'm very nervous about the weather in regards to Kennywood. 

[silver2005]

Gonna wait until the credit card clears from June before I make a final decision on Pitt. 

It'll be a toss up between Thunderbolt and Phantom on which one I will choose for #80.  I may do a coin flip.  I have extremely high hopes for both. 

[Creed Bratton]

Just know you need a rider with you for Thunderbolt or a ride op will join you more than likely. No single riders allowed.

[silver2005]

^Got it covered, malem will be with me for that. 
 

Also, just out of curiosity, I've never been on a spinning coaster before, so what kind of experience can I expect from Exterminator?

[Creed Bratton]

It's an interesting ride....I quite enjoy it. It's a spinning mouse inside a box. Expect jerky turns and spinning should your car be loaded right. Note that the car is pretty much in continuing motion while loading. Expect to be a bit disoriented. 

[silver2005]

Probably gonna ride it early and get it out of the way. 

I'm also surprised by the ticket prices being lower than I thought.  This trip is looking to be less expensive than I first thought, though, the hotel rates around Pittsburgh will make up for both Pirate and Kennywood tickets being lower price than I expected.  

I could use tips about downtown Pittsburgh (mostly involving dining and parking).  Gonna spend the day exploring downtown before the Reds/Pirates game.   

Additionally, how much is parking at Kennywood? 

[PhantomTheater]

Upper level is Free!, lower is preferred and is $7.

[silver2005]

I'm slightly behind financially, but only enough where I'll probably be cheap in eating this trip.  The raise I got at work should make up the difference.

Just booked my Pittsburgh trip!

And yes, I'll proudly be wearing Reds gear to the Pirates game.

EDIT: Am I seeing this right that Kennywood's entrance is on the other side of the road from the rest of the park?