Late summer Cedar Point trip 8/25/22

[DoomPlague]

Opted to go to Cedar Point for the first, and possibly only, time this year.  Last year I went the final week of weekday operation (which would be next week) and had very light crowds. I knew this week wouldn't be quite that good but I might have other plans next week.

Got in the park just after 10 and got two hop-ons on GateKeeper including the front. I've warmed up to the ride. In fact, I think I like it more than Raptor. Everyone is kind of down on wing coasters but that's probably because B&M loopers are so common now. They give you actual visibility outside the front row and that's a big plus to me.

After a ride on Tiki Twirl (trying to check off rides I haven't done), we skipped across to Raptor and went front row. Aimed for front row on a number of rides because I usually go to the back or middle and don't know when I'll be back. Anyways, Raptor is definitely not as smooth as it used to be but still fun enough. A little overrated, imo.

Got in line for Valravn and it was probably 40 minutes. I knew it would probably lighten up later in the day but because of the park's long, narrow layout, I didn't want to come back to it. It's a fine support ride either way.

Had one of my better rides on Blue Streak. There is so much play with the up-stops on that thing. It felt like the cars were coming up several inches off the track.

Waited maybe 25-30 minutes for Millennium Force. Again, I had one of the better rides I've had. I felt legitimate floater airtime which often escapes me on it.

Opted to eat at the new Farmhouse restaurant because they have steak on the dining plan. Not sure what cut they use but the steak comes in strips and you get a decent amount. It was brown and fairly tender. A bit heavy on the steak seasoning but overall it was good. Got it with the red-skinned potatoes which had a tasty, crispy skin to them.

Had a 45 minute wait on Maverick. I'm not sure I've ever been on Maverick without waiting 40-60 or so minutes even on light days. Again, I aimed for the front and Maverick continues to be my favorite ride in the park. Those quick transitions and the second launch are just a lot of fun to me and it doesn't punish me the way certain other rides do...

Steel Vengeance's line was surprisingly short but there was a maintenance delay. They announced they were taking a train out of rotation, so I decided to stay knowing that wouldn't be too long. I did notice they were letting way more people than I've seen in the past in to the locker/station area, so that added to the wait. After my rides last season, I've been torn about SteVe. Honestly, I understand why people rave about it but find it just too painful to love. Bad restraints and the boarding process don't help. Before getting to the station I saw an extra couple in the front line queue who clearly asked for the front and decided to do the same. But when I asked (for 2 people), the attendant insisted on row 4. I don't like to fuss and just went to row 4 but I saw no reason to not accommodate the request. Don't want to whine about it but I wish they were more consistent. Like I said, they had clearly let two other people ask for the front. Anyways, the ride is wild for sure but those small ejector hills really hurt me and the restraint makes it worse. Near the end of the day, I was riding alone, so understandably the attendant wanted me to stick with another single rider in row 2, but seconds later he said I could go to the front because another single came behind me. I appreciated that considering what happened earlier. And I think I enjoyed the front more than the back.

Got a quick ride on Cedar Creek Mine Ride (not a big fan). Then I continued down Arrow Alley and went to Gemini which for some reason had at least a 20 minute line. Skipped that and went to Magnum which was a walk-on. Not a huge fan of Magnum because it often feels like someone is smacking my lap with a steel pipe. But we did row 17 twice in a row and I decided that was kind of fun. We then rode Corkscrew which...is what it is. I miss Vortex.

Continuing to check off flat rides that I either haven't done or don't remember doing, we did Matterhorn, Lake Erie Eagles, and the train. I forgot how much of that skeleton scenery the train has. Wish KI would up its game in that department. We eventually hit Gemini when the line shortened. It's a decent ride but it is weirdly overrated by some people.

For supper, we considered Back Beat Q but we do BBQ all the time at KI. Took a hike to Hugo's instead. Got the Pepperoni Piadina which is a flatbread wrap filled with pepperoni and cheese (so similar to Stromboli and calzones). It was pretty good but I wonder if the caesar salad I got as the side is what gave me food poisoning by the time I got home.

Got in line for Iron Dragon but it had a delay and we bailed. Not a fan of that one anyways. Didn't bother with Rougarou either.

Took the sky ride to save our feet a little bit. Got a reasonably quick ride on Millie (10-15 minutes maybe) and a decently short wait on SteVe and called it a day even though Maverick had, for once, a shorter than usual wait.

In all it was a pretty good day. The lines were unpredictable but most were short. The crowd there seemed to be mostly vacationers. One thing I noticed is that many rides were running with one train in storage including Magnum and Corkscrew. Gemini was running one side. This wasn't the case on my trip on a lighter day last year but the extra trains clearly weren't needed.