Cedar Point: May 14th-15th, 2018 (100th Coaster!)

[MDMC01]

Hey all, MDMC01 here.  I went to Cedar Point on May 14^th and 15^th and had a blast! During the trip, I celebrated my 100^th roller coaster, Steel Vengeance. While the milestone was amazing and something to be proud of, the rest of the trip was fantastic and went pretty smoothly. Before this trip, I hadn’t been to CP since 2014, so Valravn, Rougarou, Tiki Twirl’s placement and other various things such as new midways and shops were very much new to me. I also skipped out on Raptor and Blue Streak during my 2014 trip, so it was nice to get to ride these coasters after so long. Without further ado, here’s day 1 of the trip:

               I got to the park a little before 3 PM and walked around the park trying to find a locker. I ended up settling for a locker near Millennium Force, and because it was nearby, I rode it first. I sat in the back and it was a good ride, but I didn’t get as much airtime as I was hoping- it was basically like a really fast version of Steel Force (at Dorney Park). Next up was Rougarou. I had last ridden Rougarou as Mantis and I was really curious to try the new trains out. I got the front and while it was ok, there was some head-banging that hurt my ears during the figure-8. I then rode it again in the back to see if it was better. There was less headbanging, but it was just a fun ride, nothing too spectacular. Personally, I think it suffers due to the layout, but oh well. Long story short, it looks cooler than it rides. After logging these rides in my phone, I headed up to Valravn, which was #99 for me. The wait wasn’t terrible and I got front seat. From the holding break on the first drop to the actual first drop, I was smitten! Unfortunately, the line was too long to go for a second round at that time. Instead, I headed over to Wicked Twister, which I had really been wanting to ride on this trip. I got the back and surprisingly, I fit (as the last train got 2 Walks of Shame and I had gained some weight over the offseason)! It was a crazy ride, especially on the backwards launches as I was thrust backwards with such force! Afterwards, I headed to the nearby GateKeeper and got left wing (I got right wing a few years ago, so I was glad to change it up). It was more thrilling than I remember, but it was still good. However, the vest restrains dug into my shoulders the entire ride, so that wasn’t fun.

                After seeing that MaxAir was down, I decided to get my stuff and go get some food. On the way to food, I stopped at the Barnyard to see the animals. The baby sheep (I think that’s what they were?) were adorable and very soft, and since the pigs were in a separate area away from the rest of the Barnyard, I asked the attendant if I could pet them (as I didn’t know if they were meant to be pet as they were away from everything else). She said I could try, but just not near the face (spoiler alert: I didn’t get to). Walking down Frontier Trail some more and into Frontiertown, I ended up getting some Pizza and a water at Wagon Wheel Pizza and it was actually pretty good (especially the dough/crust!). After my meal, I checked on Steel Vengeance, but it was closed and the ride op said it wasn’t going to reopen. I was then going to ride Maverick, but backed out as the line seemed long to me. Instead, I headed to their Dinosaurs Alive trail. The Dinos were meh, but the coolest thing by far was seeing Millenium Force fly over every few minutes. Like, I deliberately took my time and stopped in awe to watch it circle the island every time it came by. After walking on the wild side, I decided to put my stuff in another locker and ride Magnum-XL 200. I sat in the back and got clunky transitions and lots of ejector air, especially on the return trip. Next up was Top Thrill Dragster. There was a line at the entrance as it was down, but it quickly came back online. All I have to say is WOW that thing is fast! After logging my rides once more, I headed to Power Tower. Even though one side (the drop side) was open, I was treated to a glorious view of Valravn before plummeting towards Earth.

Speaking of which, I headed to Valravn next for what ended up being a 3-ride marathon. I love this ride so much as it’s just got a unique personality. Also, I’m a sucker for orange coasters, so there’s that. My first two rides were in the back (left most side and a middle seat) and my final ride of the mini-marathon was in the second row (right most side), per request. With 15 minutes to go, I got my stuff and made my Iron Dragon my final ride of the night. It was a solid ride and there was a very enthusiastic ride op who welcomed us into the station. I asked one of the ride ops in the station about VR (as Iron Dragon occasionally runs with VR goggles) and he told me that VR doesn’t start until June. After my spin on Iron Dragonite (as I referred to it during the ride lol), I headed to Valravn’s gift shop with a minute to spare, but decided to pick out/buy my T-Shirt tomorrow. I then left the park and drove back to the hotel, exhausted.

Here is Day 2:

                I got to the park around 9 and somehow, things were open, even though it said on the website that Early Entry rides wouldn’t start until 9:30. Before riding anything, I inquired about the Multi-Locker option, which I found out was where you pay and have your locker “follow” you around the park- needless to say, this came in handy a lot that day. I had originally planned to head to Maverick, but I was instead suckered in by Valravn, so I started the day off with that. I rode in the front and had a good ride. I then rode again, but this time, in the back. After daring to dive twice, I got my stuff and headed to Maverick. Maverick had no wait and was fantastic. However, it seemed that some of its rougher, more intense edges got smoothed out, because while it was still fun and sharp transitions, it wasn’t as violent as usual (possibly due to the new restraints?). Afterwards, I changed lockers and then got in line for Steel Vengeance. The sign said 2 hours, but I ended up waiting around 45 minutes for it. The ride op asked if I wanted front or back and I ended up getting front seat. It was a great ride and I loved all the unique transitions, such as the outer banked turns and the various inversions under all the superstructure. Afterwards, I got my picture with the sign as Steel Vengeance was my 100^th roller coaster, which is a pretty cool accomplishment. After moving my stuff to Steel Vengeance, I tried to ride again to see how the back compares to the front, but it broke down while I was in line. I then headed to the park’s other hybrid, Gemini. The red side was the only side open and I rode in the back, which gave the ride a lot of airtime- it was like a Steel Vengenace lite for those who are either don’t want to wait in line for Steel Vengeance or aren’t tall enough.

                I walked down Gemini Midway some more and decided to ride Pipe Scream. I found it to be a little more intense than Surf Dog as it spun faster and overall felt like a faster ride. Afterwards, I headed to Witches’ Wheel, which I found to be pretty fun. Also, the ride op commented on my shirt (I was wearing my Storm Runner shirt that day). From there, I went to Power Tower as I saw the “Up” side was running. Aside from the initial upward launch, the up side was not as thrilling as I expected. However, I did get some great views of TTD and Valravn! Next up was Corkscrew, which had lots of awkward and abrupt transitions. Around that time (either before or after Corkscrew) I ran into some guy from NASA who was there for Physics, Math and Science Days. He was dressed up as “Microgravity Man” and he talked about NASA’s Drop Towers in relation to CP’s rides. I told him that I had seen a sign for the Plum Brook station while driving to the park and he said that and the Cleveland site are the northernmost sites and that the other ones are out west (CA) or down south (Florida). After Corkscrew, I went to two more Math/Science booths, including one that demonstrate the effects of water and why people in space need to drain out water before when coming back to Earth and one was about creating energy to spin a fan (via a hand crank and some wires). 

Afterwards, I decided to get some food as I was starving (actually, I’d been hungry for a while, but ended up riding more rides along the way to food). I ended up going to Pink’s and got one of their famous hotdogs. It was good, but seemed kinda crunchy. I also got some chips at a food truck near Raptor. After filling my stomach, I moved my stuff to the Valravn lockers and rode Blue Streak. I hadn’t ridden it in quite a long time (I skipped it last trip) and it was a lot of fun. I rode in the back and it reminded me of The Racer, both in layout and in airtime. I then rode again in the front and that was fun too. Afterwards, I waited a little bit to see if Valravn was open, but alas, it was down. After waiting about 10-15 minutes for it to open (the ride was testing, but the ride op said just because they are testing, doesn’t mean it’ll open), I headed over to Raptor. Surprisingly enough, Raptor had like no line! I got Row 2 and it was an interesting ride, but I think I like Banshee better. One of the inversions reminded me of the final corkscrew on Flight of Fear. After Raptor, I noticed that Valravn was indeed open and ready to serve guests, so I got in line and rode in the middle and got a great ride as usual (side-note, I always see stars in that first inversion…). I then rode again in the front.

After getting a T-shirt from the gift shop, I headed over to Cedar Downs, which turned out to be the worst ride of the trip. So, it’s supposed to simulate a horse race, with moving horses and an announcer. IMO, it made me uncomfortable as it’s like you’re being watched. Also, I rode a horse once as an adult and it scared me, and this experience was unfortunately similar. After being jarred by that, I moved over to Wicked Twister, the coolest coaster this side of the new millennium. I just love the station music and Intamin Impulses are one of my favorite coaster types in general! I first rode in Row 2 and after that exhilarating experience, I rode again in Row 13. Because the back was a little more intense, I decided to ride a third time and got front row, which was really cool. My fourth and final ride was in Row 2 once again. After 4 rounds with the coolest beachfront coaster, I had to stop. I went to my locker, got my stuff out and changed my locker to Valravn again just so I could ride one more time (oddly enough, I got assigned the exact same locker!) I took the back row and it was a great ride as always.

                By that point, I was exhausted, so I decided to take a break on their train. Before boarding, I ran into @harmony29 and her crew as they got off the train and were headed for Millennium Force (IIRC). We caught up as bit and I boarded the train just in time. It was a good ride to Frontiertown and I saw that there was some land available for future expansion- anyone who says CP is running out of room needs to ride the train lol. I stayed on for the trip back to Millennium Midway, which was entertaining as we entered “Boneville”, which featured animatronic skeletons doing various things like fishing and playing in a country band. After the train, I decided to tackle Rougarou once more. I got Row 2 and it was front half of the ride was good, but the back was not due to the headbanging and the quick transitions. Upon riding again, I asked the greeter where to ride and she recommended the back. I got the very back row and while there was less headbanging, I preferred the slower speed and views of the front. I know the layout suffers due to  its past life as Mantis, but still… I really, really, really want to like this ride, but I just can’t. I love the Haunt maze-esque “beast on the bayou” theme, it looks super cool with the orange track, dark turquoise supports and lime green accents on the trains, but I am not impressed with the ride experience, especially the back half. If anyone has any tips for enjoying this cool looking ride, let me know…

                After surviving The Beast on the bayou, I got my stuff and headed to Iron Dragon. I rode in the back and really enjoyed it more this time than on Monday. The thing was, since I had my stuff on me, I had to pin my newly purchased T-shirt between my legs so it wouldn’t fall into the lagoon below. After riding, I made my way to Frontiertown to go ride some things I hadn’t ridden (and possibly Maverick) before calling it a night. On the way, I ran into two former coworkers and we talked. They were surprised to see me up here and I told them that I was also at CP (Monday) and that I’d be a KI Thursday and Saturday. They also told me Maverick was down. After we parted ways, I moved my stuff to Skyhawk and rode the nearby attraction. I picked Seat 19 and got a harrowing experience. Unlike the other times I rode this ride, I legitimately thought I was going to fall out as I was pushed up so much in the seat during the swings. After that, I decided to take a spin on Cedar Creek Mine Ride. I ended up getting a Zen Ride as there was no one there. I asked what they did for Mystic Mine Ride (for Halloweekends) and they told me I had to come back and find out…). IMO, it was one of those “so bad it’s good” kind of rides, but maybe I’m not the target audience lol. Oddly enough, when I pulled into the station, there was another single rider that would board for his own personal Zen Ride. I then got my stuff and walked down Gemini Midway. I had planned to ride Dragster, but Monster caught my eye with those adorable faces on the cars, which sadly, I didn’t get any pictures of them. It was a good ride and very spinny, which took me a second to get used to. Also, the ride op loading me recognized me from Witches’ Wheel earlier in the day, which was cool. After spinning around, I put my stuff in the nearby locker for what would be my final ride of the trip, Top Thrill Dragster. I can only do this thing once a day because its so intense. I got second row and we got launched a little after closing as There were some technical delays. It was fun and a good way to end the trip (and seemed to be not as intense as it was on Monday). While headed toward the exit, I took plenty of pictures along the way, most of them including Valravn. I even took a picture of the mascot for Team Valravn for the AR game The Battle of Cedar Point (also, if anyone has played it, how is it/what do you do in that game? Let me know!) as he looks pretty cool with his fur (feather?) coat and his gold claws. I was going to get some pics of Wicked Twister on the way out, but decided not to head that way. Though I was exhausted, it was another great day at the park.
 

Final Thoughts:

Overall, the trip was fantastic and I basically did everything I wanted to do within the span of 2 days (including riding my 100^th coaster!). I actually rode every coaster at least once as well as enjoyed some of the lesser known rides and hidden gems of the park such as Dinosaurs Alive, the train, and the flats I enjoyed. I hope to come back in a few months just to ride Valravn, Wicked Twister, Maverick and hopefully get one more ride on Steel Vengeance. I’ll put my final ride count below.

See ya,

-MDMC01

 

Total Ride/Attrction Count:

Barnyard- 1

Blue Streak- 2

Cedar Creek Mine Ride- 1

Cedar Downs- 1

Corkscrew- 1

Dinosaurs Alive!- 1

GateKeeper- 1

Gemini (Red)- 1

Iron Dragon- 2

Magnum XL-200- 1

Maverick- 1

Millennium Force- 1

Monster- 1

Power Tower: Up side – 1, Down Side - 1

Pipe Scream- 1

Raptor- 1

Rougarou- 4

Skyhawk- 1

Steel Vengeance- 1

Top Thrill Dragster- 2

Valravn- 7

Wicked Twister- 5

Witches’ Wheel- 1

[Tera Ryzing]

Great report.

[JudeHoward]

I was actually there those days! Only complaint was rain and the second day Steel Vengeance went down 3 times while I was in line. (one train operations didn't help)

[MDMC01]

Cool! What did you think of Steel Vengeance?

[JudeHoward]

I think it's my new number one. When a ride makes me out of breath and crying of laughter by the end every time I rode it, I'd say it's my favourite at that point.

[MDMC01]

Nice. I thought it was really awesome, but I don't really know how to rank it in terms of the other CP coasters as I only rode once. I should cone to a decision by the end of summer lol