Day 1
Leaving Traverse City around 1:00, we got in out Ford Explorer and headed towards Chicago. My mom hasn’t been to Chicago since the age of 16. My brother and I have never been. So this was our first trip. I was actually excited going to The Windy City for many reasons. The generic size of the city, skyscrapers, and just the hot spots to check out in general. Our relatives grew up here as well.
Arriving in the out-skirts of Chicago we hit heavy traffic it being around 5:30. So we decided to take a ‘short-cut’ and head through down-town Chicago. Trying not to make any eye contact with the people walking down the streets we finally made it out of Chicago; and headed due west towards our hotel right outside the city.
We checked into out Hampton Inn with no problem. It now being 8:00 we decide to go eat at Lone Star Steakhouse. The last time I ate at Lone Star was in North Carolina. I was glad to fill up on cheese fries and salad. I get the steak at Outback, I’m not to fond of their ‘cheese fries’ so I don’t get them at Outback.
Finishing up our meal we decided to go downtown to try to get into the Sears Tower. It was a clear night and we thought it would be breath taking. The guide we bought wasn’t too accurate. Because once arriving at the base of the tower. The doors were locked. We then heard a voice from behind us,
“ They just sold the last ticket miss”, shouted a black gentlemen.
This man was dressed in dark clothes and crumby looking. He appeared homeless and needy. We were an easy target as he passed us each a Chicago Skyline Postcard. Each of us received one.
“ Thank you,” I smiled and said.
He then continued to walk with us and added,
“ Lets take a minute and pray for our troops.”
As we all looked at each other the black gentlemen suggested we form a circle, hold hands, and pray.
Being the kind people we are we took hands and began to bow our heads.
When a black homeless dude has you by the hand.. You listen..
He began to mumble some phrases and things we couldn’t understand. All I could think of is where this man’s hand was 15 minutes before this. Considering he grasped my hand thoroughly I was sure to was my hands 100 times before I ate again.
All this time I had my video camera between my legs hoping to god some second man wasn’t going to rob us.
For what seemed like forever, it was over. The man continued mentioning he had no home and was hungry. My mom gave him 3 dollars for the 3 postcards we have received and we were on our way.
My mom forgot to mention this scam the homeless pull on people. They usually give people flowers or such then pray and ask for money for it or general may I ‘s.
On the way home we decided that we would just hit the Sears Tower in the morning considering it would be day time and the prime time to visit. We made it back to the car and hotel ok. We used 3 bottles of Anti-Bacteria Solution on our hands and we all took showers and went to bed. Concluding our wonderful First Day… In Chicago..
Day 2
Rise in shine! Our family brushed their teeth got dressed for another adventurous day in sunny Chicago. Wait.. Today wasn’t sunny. Riding into Chicago we couldn’t even see the top of the Sears tower. No traffic though. We could see the clouds rolling into the buildings and morphing around them. We decided not to waste $30 dollars on a cloudy view of Chicago and just head to the Field Museum. Our goal was to do both museums today. Field and Science and Industry, both being the size of what seemed 3 football fields, we had our work cut out for us.
Being our luck, the regular parking was filled up. So we were ‘ushered’ a couple blocks away to the over flow parking. Parking was $10 Dollars. We still feel cheated. All these extra costs were un called for. Just to park. They act like they were renting the space to some car lot dealer.
Anyways, we ended up skipping the ‘trolley’. We walked to the museum entrance which was oh so fun. Making our way past the original place we were going to park we noticed their parking was $12 Dollars. I guess there was a 2 dollar walking discount.
Upon entering we noticed the size of the place was just phenomenal. We paid and walked across the main floor to Dinosaur Sue. It was really neat seeing a real dinosaur skeleton. Its not everyday you get to see that kind of stuff. I’ll be honest though. The rest of the museum was stuffed animals. Bison, Moose, Bears, you name it. They have a couple stuffed in that museum. We ended up leaving that place around 12:00 leading us to the ‘trolley’ outside.
I could of sworn they had more ‘trolleys’ running since we entered because it was really great. It was quick and efficient. The ‘Trolley’ Driver was really nice. Not like we had time to talk but she was sweet. Kid friendly I guess you could call it.
Leaving the Field Museum around 12:10 we drove over to the Science and Industry Museum. We had only 3 hours to view it.. Could it be done. OFCOURSE!
No kidding. We waited in line for our tickets for 30 minutes. The place seemed 3 times as big as Field. We haven’t yet to eat lunch so we went over to the
‘Brain Food Court’. I had two slices of pepperoni pizza as my family had either a Tuna Sandwich or some other dish.
Finishing up, we started on the ground level. It had some Industrial Displays. It seemed this museum was more hands on then anything. It was a lot more enjoyable than The Field Museum. Go figure, they had a couple of displays that cost extra.
We fondled around till 2:45. We finished everything except the Coal Exhibit.
I assured my family it would be interesting towards we go down an elevator shaft ‘600ft’. We waited for what seemed another 30 minutes to be coal miners.
A man dressed in a Coal Miner outfit guided us through the mine. Then handed us off from person to person. Each explaining a tool of the trade. Or just giving us an explanation on how Coal is transferred through the mountain, etc etc.
Better yet. I wasn’t to thrilled with it and so wasn’t my family. It being my idea, my family made fun of me wanting to go down in the coal mine. In my defense, hey I didn’t know. So lets recap. First day we got molested by a bum. Second day we toured 2 museums. What will day 3 bring? Read on to find out.
Day 3
Day three was a real treat, waking up to the smell of stale Dunkin Donuts, bought the previous night. We got dressed and I yelled,” WOO HOO Were going to Six Flags Great America.” My family thought I was a nut for yelling that. We hoped into our Ford and trekked out of Chicago for the last and final time for this trip. Heading up towards Gurnee Illinois. Approaching the entrance we notice its closed. So we are forced to do some weird detour around B.F.E. ( Inside ‘Joke’ ) Going through corn fields and neighborhoods; we wait in line to enter this so called GREAT America Six Flags.
The line just to get off the exit was backed up. We trailed slowly towards the Parking Tollbooth. Now lets do some math here.. If parking is $10 Dollars. Then every 10 cars equal $100. So that means every 100 cars will give them $10,000 Dollars. Now that’s enough to pay their payroll. They really rape people out of their money at Six Flag Parks.
Now if you wanted to pay an extra $5 Dollars you can get Preferred Parking. Wow what a deal. Once out of the car we walked up to the next line not in the park.
We got strip searched and entered with out Fiesta Texas Season passes. Did you really think we would pay for this six flags park? * Laughs * We instantly found it was packed. The lines for all rides were longer than any I have seen. I have new respects for all Universal and all other parks other than Six Flags Park’s. They are not even Theme nor qualify as Amusement Parks.
We spent 45 min in line for Vertical Velocity. Which broke down 5 minutes from riding. Figures that just ed us off more and that can be added to the list of why I don’t like or appreciate spending my time at their parks. I think till this day Six Flags Fiesta Texas is the only decent park of all 30 something they run. They are under staffed and the under staffed people don’t know what they are doing.
So we decided to call it a day and just leave. We all feel cheated so far on this trip. The experience has been fun but I’m sure it could have been better. We then hoped into our humble Explorer and drove out. My mom then got this idea and asked,
“ You guys want to go to Cedar Point?”
Us both agreeing we nodded our heads and we were off. I think we deserve something to make up for Six Flags G.A. We drove through Illinois and then Indiana all hitting bad traffic jams. But we were determined to get into the park tonight and some tomorrow.
Finally finding a hotel for tonight. We raced to the parks to try to ride our favorite Cedar Point thrills. We watched Top Thrill Dragster run for a couple minutes. The wait for it was ‘4 hours’ which was hard to believe and pure bull. (I’ll explain later.) It breaching 10:30 and the park closing at 11:00 we ended up in the Millennium Force line.
Till this day this is my favorite Hyper Coaster. It offers sheer thrills and nothing less. The drop and senses are maximized at night considering its hard to see where you are headed next. We ended up on the ride 11:45. We picked the second to back row. As always it was such a great ride. It was smooth and ultra fast.
Leaving the Millennium Force area we decided to check out Dragster considering they spoke of the ’4 hour ’ lines. It ended up being around 3 from what we could figure out. After 15 - 20 minutes of joy watching in the Grand Stand we headed out completing our great first day at Cedar Point. Did I get a chance to ride Top Thrill Dragster myself?
Day 4 - Today the 13th
As the sun rose on this bright and cheerful morning we all got dressed as usual. Leaving the hotel at 9:00 Approximately, we raced towards Cedar Point to be the ’first’ inline for Dragster. Cedar Point offers this deal where Resort Guests can enter and ride at 9:00 an hour prior to general admission.
We got to the ticket gates 20 minutes before 10:00 which is when it was suppose to open. The employee ended up letting us in. It seemed she let us all in. We walked down the main street towards the midway where Dragster lives. Of course the line for it was all the way near Corkscrew. We all debated and waited in line.
Announced they were having technical difficulties and couldn’t seem to get it to run. We waited 60 minutes on and off moving forward towards the Yellow and Checkered Station. People decided to leave brining us closer. After about 15 minutes of Dragster Roll Backs. It was getting amusing to place bets on if the Dragster would crest the 420 ft or rollback.
It now being 11:15 we decided to call it quits and head over to Wicked Twister. It was baking hot and wasn’t to enjoyable. W.T. was a 50 minute wait so while sitting outside Macaroni’s I noticed something just my luck. I look above the restaurant building to see Top Thrill Dragster from what seemed throwing the Dragsters over the crest. Just my luck, why would Top Thrill Dragster actually be working when I was ready. I have been to Cedar Point 5 times and never have ridden it because of these ‘problems’.
Our family decided to go check out the rest of the park to see if anything was a short wait. Some how ending up at the Dragster Grand Stand we watched Dragsters peal away from the Launch Pad, and rocket into the sky like Black Hawks. I looked over at my mom and just flat out said.. I’m going to ride Top Thrill Dragster. It was like a mission or some sort of weird fate. I just had to experience it. Either it being the worst ride in the world. Or the most exhilarant ride I have ever ridden.
I timed it, I got in line at 12:10 and got onto the ride at 1:30. I think this ‘4 hour wait’ speech is to just intimidate the people from not entering the queue. The line flowed and I started way back by Corkscrew. My family went off to ride such and such and do their own thing while I waited awhile for Top Thrill Dragster.
Raising my hand to the Ride Attendant mentioning I’m a single rider, I get put into the Red Dragster. I got sat on the left hand side in the second car from the front. The restraints are almost identical of Millennium Force. The seats are a lot tighter and a lot harder to move around. I braced myself so I wouldn’t have to be smushed as much. The Ride Attendants checked our seatbelts and restraints. Both Dragsters in Load moved forward. Ours being the second of the two, got the full shot view of the dragster in front of us Cresting the hill and being twisted.
We pulled forward towards the ‘Christmas Tree’ Light Stand. That’s the staging and other lighting on the left of us. We stopped. I knew this ride by heart. I knew when we were going to launch. I waved to my family who JUST made it to the Midway in time to see me. They waved back and smiled.
As the Safety Brakes lowered. I counted down and watched the Christmas Tree light up from top to bottom. 3,2,1. WOOOSHHH!!!
The launch is just pure speed. The acceleration is insane. It felt like everything was in fast forward. You rocket towards the sky and twist 90 degrees. You then have a split second to take view of Millennium Force which looks like a little miniature kiddie ride.
Twisting down and the ride is over. I seriously think this is my favorite Impulse Coaster. It has so much ‘Ummphh’ to it. A general rating of the ride I would rate it an 8 out of 10. I would ride again just for the launch. I didn’t get anything out of the rest of the 13 Seconds.
Raving and Ranting to my family after getting off, we spend a couple more minutes just watching it speed away and up to the top. I was explaining to my family what all parts of it felt like to me and all. We really didn’t ride anything else because of the lines. Dragster was not 4 hours. It was more like an hour and ½.
We left after circling the park once and noticed while leaving that Dragster had broken down. That really sucks for the people waiting, I’m glad I was able to ride it when I could.
We made it home safely . Thank you for reading.
Justin
Leaving Traverse City around 1:00, we got in out Ford Explorer and headed towards Chicago. My mom hasn’t been to Chicago since the age of 16. My brother and I have never been. So this was our first trip. I was actually excited going to The Windy City for many reasons. The generic size of the city, skyscrapers, and just the hot spots to check out in general. Our relatives grew up here as well.
Arriving in the out-skirts of Chicago we hit heavy traffic it being around 5:30. So we decided to take a ‘short-cut’ and head through down-town Chicago. Trying not to make any eye contact with the people walking down the streets we finally made it out of Chicago; and headed due west towards our hotel right outside the city.
We checked into out Hampton Inn with no problem. It now being 8:00 we decide to go eat at Lone Star Steakhouse. The last time I ate at Lone Star was in North Carolina. I was glad to fill up on cheese fries and salad. I get the steak at Outback, I’m not to fond of their ‘cheese fries’ so I don’t get them at Outback.
Finishing up our meal we decided to go downtown to try to get into the Sears Tower. It was a clear night and we thought it would be breath taking. The guide we bought wasn’t too accurate. Because once arriving at the base of the tower. The doors were locked. We then heard a voice from behind us,
“ They just sold the last ticket miss”, shouted a black gentlemen.
This man was dressed in dark clothes and crumby looking. He appeared homeless and needy. We were an easy target as he passed us each a Chicago Skyline Postcard. Each of us received one.
“ Thank you,” I smiled and said.
He then continued to walk with us and added,
“ Lets take a minute and pray for our troops.”
As we all looked at each other the black gentlemen suggested we form a circle, hold hands, and pray.
Being the kind people we are we took hands and began to bow our heads.
When a black homeless dude has you by the hand.. You listen..
He began to mumble some phrases and things we couldn’t understand. All I could think of is where this man’s hand was 15 minutes before this. Considering he grasped my hand thoroughly I was sure to was my hands 100 times before I ate again.
All this time I had my video camera between my legs hoping to god some second man wasn’t going to rob us.
For what seemed like forever, it was over. The man continued mentioning he had no home and was hungry. My mom gave him 3 dollars for the 3 postcards we have received and we were on our way.
My mom forgot to mention this scam the homeless pull on people. They usually give people flowers or such then pray and ask for money for it or general may I ‘s.
On the way home we decided that we would just hit the Sears Tower in the morning considering it would be day time and the prime time to visit. We made it back to the car and hotel ok. We used 3 bottles of Anti-Bacteria Solution on our hands and we all took showers and went to bed. Concluding our wonderful First Day… In Chicago..
Day 2
Rise in shine! Our family brushed their teeth got dressed for another adventurous day in sunny Chicago. Wait.. Today wasn’t sunny. Riding into Chicago we couldn’t even see the top of the Sears tower. No traffic though. We could see the clouds rolling into the buildings and morphing around them. We decided not to waste $30 dollars on a cloudy view of Chicago and just head to the Field Museum. Our goal was to do both museums today. Field and Science and Industry, both being the size of what seemed 3 football fields, we had our work cut out for us.
Being our luck, the regular parking was filled up. So we were ‘ushered’ a couple blocks away to the over flow parking. Parking was $10 Dollars. We still feel cheated. All these extra costs were un called for. Just to park. They act like they were renting the space to some car lot dealer.
Anyways, we ended up skipping the ‘trolley’. We walked to the museum entrance which was oh so fun. Making our way past the original place we were going to park we noticed their parking was $12 Dollars. I guess there was a 2 dollar walking discount.
Upon entering we noticed the size of the place was just phenomenal. We paid and walked across the main floor to Dinosaur Sue. It was really neat seeing a real dinosaur skeleton. Its not everyday you get to see that kind of stuff. I’ll be honest though. The rest of the museum was stuffed animals. Bison, Moose, Bears, you name it. They have a couple stuffed in that museum. We ended up leaving that place around 12:00 leading us to the ‘trolley’ outside.
I could of sworn they had more ‘trolleys’ running since we entered because it was really great. It was quick and efficient. The ‘Trolley’ Driver was really nice. Not like we had time to talk but she was sweet. Kid friendly I guess you could call it.
Leaving the Field Museum around 12:10 we drove over to the Science and Industry Museum. We had only 3 hours to view it.. Could it be done. OFCOURSE!
No kidding. We waited in line for our tickets for 30 minutes. The place seemed 3 times as big as Field. We haven’t yet to eat lunch so we went over to the
‘Brain Food Court’. I had two slices of pepperoni pizza as my family had either a Tuna Sandwich or some other dish.
Finishing up, we started on the ground level. It had some Industrial Displays. It seemed this museum was more hands on then anything. It was a lot more enjoyable than The Field Museum. Go figure, they had a couple of displays that cost extra.
We fondled around till 2:45. We finished everything except the Coal Exhibit.
I assured my family it would be interesting towards we go down an elevator shaft ‘600ft’. We waited for what seemed another 30 minutes to be coal miners.
A man dressed in a Coal Miner outfit guided us through the mine. Then handed us off from person to person. Each explaining a tool of the trade. Or just giving us an explanation on how Coal is transferred through the mountain, etc etc.
Better yet. I wasn’t to thrilled with it and so wasn’t my family. It being my idea, my family made fun of me wanting to go down in the coal mine. In my defense, hey I didn’t know. So lets recap. First day we got molested by a bum. Second day we toured 2 museums. What will day 3 bring? Read on to find out.
Day 3
Day three was a real treat, waking up to the smell of stale Dunkin Donuts, bought the previous night. We got dressed and I yelled,” WOO HOO Were going to Six Flags Great America.” My family thought I was a nut for yelling that. We hoped into our Ford and trekked out of Chicago for the last and final time for this trip. Heading up towards Gurnee Illinois. Approaching the entrance we notice its closed. So we are forced to do some weird detour around B.F.E. ( Inside ‘Joke’ ) Going through corn fields and neighborhoods; we wait in line to enter this so called GREAT America Six Flags.
The line just to get off the exit was backed up. We trailed slowly towards the Parking Tollbooth. Now lets do some math here.. If parking is $10 Dollars. Then every 10 cars equal $100. So that means every 100 cars will give them $10,000 Dollars. Now that’s enough to pay their payroll. They really rape people out of their money at Six Flag Parks.
Now if you wanted to pay an extra $5 Dollars you can get Preferred Parking. Wow what a deal. Once out of the car we walked up to the next line not in the park.
We got strip searched and entered with out Fiesta Texas Season passes. Did you really think we would pay for this six flags park? * Laughs * We instantly found it was packed. The lines for all rides were longer than any I have seen. I have new respects for all Universal and all other parks other than Six Flags Park’s. They are not even Theme nor qualify as Amusement Parks.
We spent 45 min in line for Vertical Velocity. Which broke down 5 minutes from riding. Figures that just ed us off more and that can be added to the list of why I don’t like or appreciate spending my time at their parks. I think till this day Six Flags Fiesta Texas is the only decent park of all 30 something they run. They are under staffed and the under staffed people don’t know what they are doing.
So we decided to call it a day and just leave. We all feel cheated so far on this trip. The experience has been fun but I’m sure it could have been better. We then hoped into our humble Explorer and drove out. My mom then got this idea and asked,
“ You guys want to go to Cedar Point?”
Us both agreeing we nodded our heads and we were off. I think we deserve something to make up for Six Flags G.A. We drove through Illinois and then Indiana all hitting bad traffic jams. But we were determined to get into the park tonight and some tomorrow.
Finally finding a hotel for tonight. We raced to the parks to try to ride our favorite Cedar Point thrills. We watched Top Thrill Dragster run for a couple minutes. The wait for it was ‘4 hours’ which was hard to believe and pure bull. (I’ll explain later.) It breaching 10:30 and the park closing at 11:00 we ended up in the Millennium Force line.
Till this day this is my favorite Hyper Coaster. It offers sheer thrills and nothing less. The drop and senses are maximized at night considering its hard to see where you are headed next. We ended up on the ride 11:45. We picked the second to back row. As always it was such a great ride. It was smooth and ultra fast.
Leaving the Millennium Force area we decided to check out Dragster considering they spoke of the ’4 hour ’ lines. It ended up being around 3 from what we could figure out. After 15 - 20 minutes of joy watching in the Grand Stand we headed out completing our great first day at Cedar Point. Did I get a chance to ride Top Thrill Dragster myself?
Day 4 - Today the 13th
As the sun rose on this bright and cheerful morning we all got dressed as usual. Leaving the hotel at 9:00 Approximately, we raced towards Cedar Point to be the ’first’ inline for Dragster. Cedar Point offers this deal where Resort Guests can enter and ride at 9:00 an hour prior to general admission.
We got to the ticket gates 20 minutes before 10:00 which is when it was suppose to open. The employee ended up letting us in. It seemed she let us all in. We walked down the main street towards the midway where Dragster lives. Of course the line for it was all the way near Corkscrew. We all debated and waited in line.
Announced they were having technical difficulties and couldn’t seem to get it to run. We waited 60 minutes on and off moving forward towards the Yellow and Checkered Station. People decided to leave brining us closer. After about 15 minutes of Dragster Roll Backs. It was getting amusing to place bets on if the Dragster would crest the 420 ft or rollback.
It now being 11:15 we decided to call it quits and head over to Wicked Twister. It was baking hot and wasn’t to enjoyable. W.T. was a 50 minute wait so while sitting outside Macaroni’s I noticed something just my luck. I look above the restaurant building to see Top Thrill Dragster from what seemed throwing the Dragsters over the crest. Just my luck, why would Top Thrill Dragster actually be working when I was ready. I have been to Cedar Point 5 times and never have ridden it because of these ‘problems’.
Our family decided to go check out the rest of the park to see if anything was a short wait. Some how ending up at the Dragster Grand Stand we watched Dragsters peal away from the Launch Pad, and rocket into the sky like Black Hawks. I looked over at my mom and just flat out said.. I’m going to ride Top Thrill Dragster. It was like a mission or some sort of weird fate. I just had to experience it. Either it being the worst ride in the world. Or the most exhilarant ride I have ever ridden.
I timed it, I got in line at 12:10 and got onto the ride at 1:30. I think this ‘4 hour wait’ speech is to just intimidate the people from not entering the queue. The line flowed and I started way back by Corkscrew. My family went off to ride such and such and do their own thing while I waited awhile for Top Thrill Dragster.
Raising my hand to the Ride Attendant mentioning I’m a single rider, I get put into the Red Dragster. I got sat on the left hand side in the second car from the front. The restraints are almost identical of Millennium Force. The seats are a lot tighter and a lot harder to move around. I braced myself so I wouldn’t have to be smushed as much. The Ride Attendants checked our seatbelts and restraints. Both Dragsters in Load moved forward. Ours being the second of the two, got the full shot view of the dragster in front of us Cresting the hill and being twisted.
We pulled forward towards the ‘Christmas Tree’ Light Stand. That’s the staging and other lighting on the left of us. We stopped. I knew this ride by heart. I knew when we were going to launch. I waved to my family who JUST made it to the Midway in time to see me. They waved back and smiled.
As the Safety Brakes lowered. I counted down and watched the Christmas Tree light up from top to bottom. 3,2,1. WOOOSHHH!!!
The launch is just pure speed. The acceleration is insane. It felt like everything was in fast forward. You rocket towards the sky and twist 90 degrees. You then have a split second to take view of Millennium Force which looks like a little miniature kiddie ride.
Twisting down and the ride is over. I seriously think this is my favorite Impulse Coaster. It has so much ‘Ummphh’ to it. A general rating of the ride I would rate it an 8 out of 10. I would ride again just for the launch. I didn’t get anything out of the rest of the 13 Seconds.
Raving and Ranting to my family after getting off, we spend a couple more minutes just watching it speed away and up to the top. I was explaining to my family what all parts of it felt like to me and all. We really didn’t ride anything else because of the lines. Dragster was not 4 hours. It was more like an hour and ½.
We left after circling the park once and noticed while leaving that Dragster had broken down. That really sucks for the people waiting, I’m glad I was able to ride it when I could.
We made it home safely . Thank you for reading.
Justin
. As for MSI...it's pretty cool...though i haven't been there in ages. As a side note, MSI is actually a replica of one of the building from the 1893 World's Fair. 
. As for top thrill...it IS amazing! I though it was just another ride but it's seriously a class of its own.
