Photo TR: Cedar Point 10/14

dandaman · Oct 15, 2006

As promised last week, on Saturday I trekked about 3 hours south of here to Cedar Point amusement park, in Sandusky, Ohio. Even though I woke up to freezing rain outside my window, the day ended up having good weather… too good, even. Unfortunately, I’ve never seen so many crowds there than Saturday. I barely rode anything, and we didn’t even get to do any of the Halloweekends stuff! At least the end of the day made up for it, though.
I might as well let the pics take it from here.

We’d been making good time, right up until we got off the Turnpike. Then it took us 15 minutes to get through there, but at least I saw a sign of relief.

Unfortunately (and though you can’t tell from this), it was stop and go traffic for about an hour. We were “supposed” to get to the park around 11:30, and ended up there two hours later.

Great Wolf Lodge (indoor water park resort). There’s now 4 of these in or around Sandusky.

Almost…

Yay!

GREAT pizza buffet.

New York’s, Chicago’s, Los Angeles’… no skyline in the world compares to this.

Y’know, I really should get that now before the rush starts.

Little did people realize that Cedar Point buried all its line jumpers…

dandaman · Oct 15, 2006

OMG! It’s gonna hit that tree!

Oldest coaster in the park (Blue Streak).

Mantis (stand-up coaster) along with another ride. (We’ll get to that later.)

Here’s my second-favourite ride: Millennium Force. 310 feet of near-vertical-dropping goodness.

Due to its height, this doesn’t have a “traditional” chain lift. It uses a cable lift system to hoist its cars skyward.

Driving right by, I finally got to see the new coaster for 2007: Maverick!

That hill’s gonna be airtime heaven…

Those last few shots were driving around the peninsula, to get to the back of the park. Many people don’t realize that Soak City (water park)’s lot is also very close to the resort entrance. We always hit the back of the park first, to avoid lines. (Didn’t work this time around… those lines were unavoidable.)

My favourite coaster! The Magnum XL 200 is about 200 feet tall, and is basically bunny hop after bunny hop. It goes right by the lake, which makes this the best. (For some reason, nowadays I find myself appreciating rides more for the view than the thrill!)

Gemini (racing coaster) and that “other” one. :lookaroun

dandaman · Oct 15, 2006

Best part of the Magnum: second hill. Great view of Lake Erie… or pitch-black water, depending on when you ride. :lol:

It’s calling to me… (To give you a perspective on how much I love this ride, I logged 25 laps in 3 days last season. :lookaroun )

Ah, yes. Here we are. This was the tallest and fastest roller coaster back in 2003: Top Thrill Dragster. 420 feet, 120 mph, 1 heckuva rush.

The wait’s normally at least an hour, though, so a 60 minute : 22 second ratio doesn’t really add up, IMO. I’d rather ride Millennium Force. However, I’d never been on at night, and my friend had never been on, period. Oddly enough, the wait was under an hour, and it was likely my favourite ride of the day.

The backside of Dragster

Now, this was the tallest and fastest coaster… in 1978. :lookaroun

New for this year was an air-powered swing ride, Skyhawk. They were only running one arm (given the insane crowds, one wonders why), and so the wait was a bit too long to bear.

dandaman · Oct 15, 2006

Since I’m pretty excited about next year’s ride, more Maverick photos!

My height of 6’1” will probably make this element the scariest ever for me. :drevil:

Yep… that’s a beyond vertical drop!

This shot needs more Maverick.

Ah, there we go!

This will be quite the photogenic ride come next May.

Maverick and its sexy curves. :lookaroun

dandaman · Oct 15, 2006

Side-Hawk

Well, pretty much everyone has this shot… I went one step further by failing to even get a train in it.

Just a very small part of Halloweekends theming

*sigh*… If only it wasn’t a 2-hour wait to ride you….

If this sign ever goes up on Ebay, I’m so buying it. :lookaroun

More Halloweekends. From this shot, there’s at least 3 cars from the retired Dodgem ride, 2 go-karts, and even the Dracular from “Munster Go Home!”

He looks happy… This is one of a few walkthroughs specifically for Halloween: CarnEvil. The location kind of detracts from the creepiness, though, as it’s right by the lake. The winds pretty much blow all the fog to one side, even on somewhat calm nights. (If only thrills here cost 10 cents each!)

dandaman · Oct 15, 2006

To give you an idea of how crowded it was today… the line for this is normally 30 minutes maximum, even in the summer. My friend had never been here, and this was one of few rides that she really wanted to try. Thus, we waited an hour an a half for Wicked Twister…

Basically what this ride does: Launch forward at 60 mph. Go a bit up the front spike. Fall backwards. Travel up back spike. Then, the power really kicks in, and you’re sent catapulting up to the top of the 215-foot spike at 70 mph… same with backwards.

The following pictures are taken of the back spike.

(This was probably my favourite one)

Magnum beckons in the distance…

See, this station shot would be the Holy Grail among coaster enthusiasts. :lookaroun

dandaman · Oct 15, 2006

Next up was the new ride for 2005, maXair.

Just to prove that wasn’t a typo:

While waiting in line (blissfully short, by the way), I took a couple of Ferris wheel pics.

Here’s the ride itself, along with the Space Spiral in the background. This ride spins a bit, though it’s more a change of direction. Think “giant spinning pendulum” and that might describe it best.

Next we headed to Raptor. For being built in 1994, this ride is still awesome… and the general public knows it, as lines stretched for 1 ½ hours.

My favourite part of the ride is this. It seems to swoop over the midway like a bird of prey. (FYI, the ride is named for this, NOT a velociraptor.)

Overall, Raptor has six inversions, but this one’s the best.

Barrel roll’s pretty good, too.

Taken from this angle, it ALMOST looks like a loop…

dandaman · Oct 15, 2006

Just doin’ the Monster Mash…

…All right, so it was a bad joke. Nothing to lose your head over.

OMG! Cedar Fair buys Paramount… Universal buys Cedar Fair! It all makes sense!

*gasp*! When did Dave Chapelle die? :lookaroun

More Halloweekends vehicles

An hour wait for the timber death machine that is Mean Streak? No, thanks.

Train time!

dandaman · Oct 15, 2006

This TR needs more Maverick.

Why did I take this?

Everything looks better when it’s shiny!

There’s a Visine for that.

More Millennium goodness

The best ride in this shot is in the background.

Sorry to say, this was my final shot of the day. After this, we ate at Game Day Grille (and watched the Tigers sweep Oakland!). When we got back outside, it was dark, and my camera just doesn’t work well under low lighting.

Here’s the remaining story: my friend and I waited for a half-hour for Power Tower (two pics up), and then decided to get in line for Dragster. By this time, it was around 9:30, and it’s my tradition to ride Magnum for my last thrill of the season. (Or any trip, really.)

Overall, crowds were scarier than the monsters, but those last two rides really made up for it. Plus, any day at Cedar Point is better than an awesome day anywhere else (save WDW). :lol:

Thanks for reading!

Uponastar · Oct 15, 2006

I shouldn't have read this trip report so soon after dinner. :hurl:
Daniel, if I show George these pics we just might be making the drive up to Sandusky. :lol:
He would have a blast there!

Disnut · Oct 15, 2006

Daniel- I must say you love coasters don't you. Wow. Nice coasters. I don't ride them anymore, but they look fun for someone else. Glad you had a good time.

Fantasmic!329 · Oct 15, 2006

Someone needs to take a trip to Jersey for Kingda Ka and El Toro.

I haven't been on either, and don't plan on it, either!

Connor002 · Oct 15, 2006

Yay... for being hurled and thrashed around in steal beasts of hell's domain. :lookaroun

diddy_mouse · Oct 15, 2006

Just looking at those pics made me dizzy! I like a roller coaster from time to time, but certainly not any of those scary death machines. My brother would love to go to Cedar Point...it's one of his life goals, the coaster freak that he is. He is dying to ride Millenium Force.

coasterphil · Oct 15, 2006

Those were some big crowds. I've heard that Saturdays during Halloweekends can be as bad the busiest summer days, and this report shows that. I really need to make a trip up there next summer to ride Maverick before heading off to college. If I don't go next year, I don't know when I'll make the trip.

jesserin · Oct 15, 2006

Great pics Danny! I <3 CP. and you made me miss it...

LOL Is it bad that my personal favorite is the 1978 record breaker? :lookaroun Although Magnum is a close 2nd. well no raptor's second magnum's next... but you get the point.

p.s. where's my pic? Did you not try it?! *gasp* :lookaroun

dandaman · Oct 16, 2006

Uponastar said:
I shouldn't have read this trip report so soon after dinner.
Daniel, if I show George these pics we just might be making the drive up to Sandusky.
He would have a blast there!

Anyone would.

Disnut said:
Daniel- I must say you love coasters don't you. Wow. Nice coasters. I don't ride them anymore, but they look fun for someone else. Glad you had a good time.

CP is more than coasters.

I just choose to take pics of them instead of the smaller rides. :lol:

Fantasmic!329 said:
Someone needs to take a trip to Jersey for Kingda Ka and El Toro.
I haven't been on either, and don't plan on it, either!

Kingda Ka is wannabe TTD, with twice the breakdowns. It's developed a reputation in the coaster world as "Kingda Krap". :lookaroun

El Toro, though, I would love to ride.

Connor002 said:
Yay... for being hurled and thrashed around in steal beasts of hell's domain. :lookaroun

Hooray! :drevil:

diddy_mouse said:
Just looking at those pics made me dizzy! I like a roller coaster from time to time, but certainly not any of those scary death machines. My brother would love to go to Cedar Point...it's one of his life goals, the coaster freak that he is. He is dying to ride Millenium Force.

Trust me, it's worth it.

Not the dying part, though. :lookaroun

coasterphil said:
Those were some big crowds. I've heard that Saturdays during Halloweekends can be as bad the busiest summer days, and this report shows that. I really need to make a trip up there next summer to ride Maverick before heading off to college. If I don't go next year, I don't know when I'll make the trip.

I'd thought I'd known all I needed regarding crowds/times to go. I was wrong by a longshot. Try a May weekend or weekday, the park is DEAD. :wave:

jesserin said:
Great pics Danny! I <3 CP. and you made me miss it... LOL Is it bad that my personal favorite is the 1978 record breaker? :lookaroun Although Magnum is a close 2nd. well no raptor's second magnum's next... but you get the point.

p.s. where's my pic? Did you not try it?!

Regretfully... no.

I didn't have enough time to walk back to the cheese-on-a-stick place before park closing.

P.S. All coasters are pretty good, and eveyone has their faves!

P.S.S. Thanks for reading!

Fantasmic!329 · Oct 16, 2006

dandaman said:
Kingda Ka is wannabe TTD, with twice the breakdowns. It's developed a reputation in the coaster world as "Kingda Krap". :lookaroun

El Toro, though, I would love to ride.

I've heard. :lol:

PSU_Princess · Oct 16, 2006

Definetly not the park for me....I don't do big, tall coasters with near vertical drops.....but glad you had a good time!

coasterphil · Oct 16, 2006

dandaman said:
I'd thought I'd known all I needed regarding crowds/times to go. I was wrong by a longshot. Try a May weekend or weekday, the park is DEAD.

The two trips I've taken to Cedar Point have been the 2nd weekend of operation in May. The parks have been empty both times, but it was also 45 degrees and raining both trips. On my second trip our first two days were pretty much useless as everything was closed due to the rain and high winds.

Photo TR: Cedar Point 10/14

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