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[Coaster55]

Here’s my Cedar Point trip report from July 11th to the 13th. Before this trip I had never ridden and Intamin or even a decent airtime hill, so there’s a lot of description. Good luck reading the whole thing, it came out to be over 3,000 words.

I also took over 1,000 pictures at Cedar Point and SFGAm, but I’ll post my favorites of those separately tomorrow night. SFGAm's trip report should be typed by Wednesday, including the pictures from those two days.

The trip started with us leaving Friday the 10th, driving 13 hours to a hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. The next day we woke up at 8, and left for our second day of driving. The next 6 hours went by quickly, and before long we were driving into Cedar Point. We then put our things in the hotel room, the 9th floor of Hotel Breakers overlooking the lake, and went to TGI. After that it was getting close to 6, so I grabbed my camera from the room, bought a startlight ticket and went into the park to get a few rides in.
The first thing I went to was Millennium Force. The line was 45 minutes, but wasn’t too bad because I was taking pictures of everything and watching the train fly by the constantly moving queue. Soon enough I was in the station, 6 trains from the front row when it started to rain. They ran two more trains before closing until the rain stopped. I wasn’t going to skip my first ride on MF, knowing everything else would be closed too, so I waited it out. 20 Minutes later I was in the front seat.

Never having ridden an Intamin or anything like it before, I was very excited to ride. The 45 degree lift felt very steep and got to the top quickly. About ¾ up the lift, the cable speeds up even faster, over the crest and down the drop. The first drop was the best part of the ride, the drop was steeper than I expected. The first airtime hill, and my first airtime hill other than Titan’s, had decent airtime and had a nice view of the park. The following overbanks didn’t do too much, but were still fun. The next two airtime hills had better airtime than the first, much stronger than anything at SFoT.

The thing I really liked about MF though was how smooth it was. There weren’t any spots of the ride that you had to brace yourself for, making it easily reridable. After riding that I headed for Maverick. The line was an hour, but like MF’s, was constantly moving. I waited for the front row since it was my first ride, on the second train in the station. Once the first train was in the launch, the LSM’s quickly pulled the train to the top of the lift. The train slowed a little at the crest; giving a view of MF and the lake, before taking the 95 degree drop. The drop gave strong floater in the front, before pulling out into the right turn at the bottom. Not knowing what to expect in the transition, I hit my neck on the restraint, but not nearly as hard as I expected. Already by my next transition I knew how to prevent it. Next was the airtime hill, where I was thrown up into the top of the restraint. Easily the strongest airtime I’ve ever gotten, better than SheiKra’s back seat, my original #1. The horseshoe roll was good, not much airtime in it or anything, but it was fun nonetheless. After that the train gave a little pop of airtime up into the brakes and launch. The train, still moving, was launched out of the tunnel into a quick turn to the left, then up over the pond. The brakes on this hill slowed the train a little, but not too badly. Unfortunately the water bombs were only seen by non riders, and not while riding. The first stengel dive under the lift was taken at high speeds, followed by a turn the right. The stengel dive following by the airtime hill was incredible, and happened extremely fast. Already looking forward to a backseat ride, I went to check the line, but was still over an hour so I left.

Next was a quick ride on Gemini for the credit. I rode in the back, and was stapled by the ride op, not as smooth as I expected. After this was a ride on Magnum in the front seat. I wasn’t going to be riding again. The pull in to the pretzel turn was banked before it even started to turn, and the final airtime hills were terrible. The ejector over them would have been great if it wasn’t for those restraints.

After that was a ride on Millennium Force in the backseat. The drop was better in the back, but the rest of the ride was best in the front. The second and third overbanks had some rattling that I didn’t feel in the front aswell. By now it was already getting to be 10, and the park closed at 11. I ran over the Maverick to get in the hour line yet again, this time for a backseat. An hour later I was on, Row 6 left side, my favorite seat on the train. When the train got to the top of the lift, instead of slowing and getting a chance to look down the 95 degree drop, the back car was pulled over the crest and down the drop. It was incredible. The amount of airtime in the back car was amazing, easily making Maverick my #1. I still can't believe how strong the airtime over the drop was in the back seat.
By now it was 10:45, so I headed back to the hotel.

Sunday July 12th - Day Two

The next morning I woke up at 7:45 for the hour early entry. I was outside by 8:45, and once the gates were opened, ran to Maverick again for another incredible backseat ride on the first train of the day. After that I ran to Millennium Force, and took the front seat again since the wait was still short. While waiting in line, the guy behind me, also a single rider, yelled out Single Rider towards the front of the station. I turned around to see what he was yelling for, and walking towards him was Single Rider Bob. He started talking to him, where I overhead him say he had 4000+ rides on MF, and 1000+ on TTD.

After MF I ran to TTD just as the park officially opened. By 10:05 there was already an hour wait. I waited for the front row, second train in the station. There isn’t too much for me to describe about this, being such a short ride, but it was amazing. The launch was very intense, and the view from the top was great. You also hit a lot of mist in the front seat, right before the pull up. The ride happened so quickly, I needed another ride to really judge it, but the wait was nearing two hours now.

After this I went to Mantis for a quick ride, since the wait was only about 20 minutes. The whole standup thing is pointless. I would have much rather ridden in floorless trains. There was also a lot of head banging on the second half on the ride.

Since I was near MF, I got in the 45 minute line and took a row close to the back. The rattling was more noticeable today that the night before.
After MF I went back to the hotel room and ate lunch there to avoid buying it in the park.

I decided to go up to the front of the park next to get some rides done up there. First was Wicked Twister, I rode in the back to go highest on the reverse spike. It wasn’t that great of a ride, and the backwards twist wasn't as fun as I hoped. Next was the Ferris wheel for some pictures, and then the observation tower. After those two came Disaster Transport. La Vibora at SFoT is much better, though.

After this was Raptor in the back right. This was my favorite ride last time I went to Cedar Point, so I was looking forward to riding again. It wasn’t as good as I had remembered it, though. The cobra roll snapped over the top, and the corkscrews had some headbanging in them. The transition into the final brake run was rough too. It probably would have been better in the front, but I didn’t want to wait an hour for it when I could wait an hour for MF.

Next was Demon Drop, another ride I was looking forward too. We used to have an Intamin first gen at SFoT, but it was taken down for big spin before I could ride it. Blue Streak was next, I rode in the back row but the seat belt ruined any airtime the hills would have given.

I then rode the sky ride towards the back of the park, and took the train around the park to get that over with. It was about 7 now, so we went back to the hotel and ate dinner at the buffet; the only people there.

I still needed to ride Iron Dragon for the credit, so I did that before my night rides. It was ok, the swinging of the train was only noticeable towards the end. The first half of the ride was really tame as well; it only picked up speed after the second lift hill.

I decided to go to Maverick for one last ride of the day. The wait was an hour, but it went by quickly. Again, the drop and airtime hill were incredible in the back. At this time it was 15 minutes until closing, so I ran from the exit to the entrance in hopes of the line still being open. It was, so I got in the hour line. When I got to the station I got in the line for the front row. I got in the line for the front row, just as SnooSnoo and ECG were pulling into the station. After about 15 minutes of waiting, the station started to empty out other than the front rows. The ride ops said they wouldn’t dispatch empty trains, so they would start assigning rows to fill the trains. At one point, all trains were in the final brakes, and they were only waiting for one more row to be filled. They called for a single rider a few times, so I took the second row instead since it was at least close to the front. They then took one of the ride ops to ride with me since there was still an open seat. I get the part of emptying the station, since it was passed closing and they wanted to leave, but they even took one of the ride ops to ride with me, just to fill the train. Then after that ride, they walked out to the brake run to let the ride op out, just to fill another empty seat in the next train. Finally we pulled back into the empty station, the 4th to last train that night.

The walk from Maverick back to the hotel was very quiet. The only sound in the park was Dragster, and the only person I saw was an occasional security guard. This is where I really saw the bug problem here. While walking back to the hotel I walked on the path by the beach. Under every light post the ground was covered in dead and dieing mayflies. It was impossible to avoid them.

Monday July 13th - Day Three

The next morning I woke even earlier in hopes to be one of the first to Millennium Force. I was outside at the gate by 8:30 as one of the first there. At 9 the gates were opened, and I easily beat most of the crowd. I ended up on the second train of the day in the second to last car. After this I ran around to get back on since the wait was short, and got on quickly in the second row. By now it was 9:45, so I ran to TTD before the main gates opened. I was on in the front row 30 minutes later.

After TTD I chose to ride Woodstock express for the credit. It’s not that big of a ride, but the spiraling drop was fun in the back. Cedar Creak Mine Ride was next, it’s a mine train, not much else to say. I rode it in the back.
The exit of CCMR leads right into Skyhawk, so I rode that next since it was a walk on. I still needed to ride Maxair to decide which was the best flat, but Skyhawk was really fun. The best part was on the highest forward swing, where you fall backwards a few inches before the lap bar catches you. I wasn’t expecting it, so it really caught me by surprise.

I ate lunch in the hotel next like the day before. When I got back in the park, I was tired, didn’t feel like waiting in any long lines, and just wanted to ride something. I still needed to ride corkscrew, so that came next. I knew how to brace myself on the corkscrews, but they still hurt.

Still looking for something smooth and without a line, I got in the somewhat short line for wildcat. This was the worst line in the park. The line took at least 40 minutes, and was barely moving the whole time. There was nothing to look at or take pictures of either. The ride wasn’t good either, a waste of time.

It was getting close to 3 now, and I was starting to realize my trip to Cedar Point was coming to an end. I started planning my last rides, which would involve a lot of running. My legs were hurting a lot now, and all I wanted to do was sit down, but I knew this would be the last time I come to CP for several years, so the rest of my day was spent running from ride to ride.

Gemini came next, since I still needed a ride on the blue side. The line went fast, so I took the front row, hoping it would be better than in the back. It was smoother, but the airtime was still disappointing. Next was going to be Mean Streak. On the way though, I saw a sign for elephant ears. I saw a picture of one on TPR, so knew I had to get one while I was here. Anyway, it was delicious, much better than a funnel cake. Too bad they don’t have them at SFoT.

The wait was 45 minutes for Mean Streak, but I was ahead of the little schedule I made because Gemini’s line was shorter than I thought. I rode in the front, since that’s the smoothest seat on Texas Giant. The whole ride reminded me of Texas Giant; trims on the drop, painful turns, and no airtime.

After Mean Streak I saw that the train was in the station, so I rode that towards Millennium Force, then ran from there to Maxair. The wait went by quick, since it holds 50, so I was on within one cycle. I didn’t like the ride as much as Skyhawk, though. The restraints on it weren’t as open and the air wasn’t as max as I was expecting. The only thing better than Skyhawk was the longer ride cycle.

I then took the skyride to Millennium Force, but it closed just as I was walking up. Disappointed, I ran to Maverick hoping that MF would be open after. The wait was 1-½ hours, but I needed to ride it one last time for an ORP. This was the only ride I rode in the first train in the station, because I was a single rider. I rode row 5, yet another amazing ride.

Next was a ride on Millennium Force in the front seat, a 45-minute wait. I chose the front seat because I wanted to see how bad the bugs really were at night. It turned out to be a great last ride on MF, being hit by bugs in all the pullouts. Some were even stuck to my shirt and arms when I got off the ride.

Next would be my last ride at CP, a night ride on TTD. This was the last ride I hadn’t ridden at night that I wanted to, and I still hadn’t back seated it. About halfway through the 1-½ hour wait, it broke down. Someone was walking down the launch strip working on something. About 15 minutes in I was starting to get worried I wouldn’t get to ride. Finally they launched a train, everyone cheered. To add to the excitement the ride opening, they started firing off fireworks after the park had already closed. These went on occasionally for about 20 minutes. After about 30 minutes I was sitting in the back seat. The back seat didn’t make much more of a difference from the front, other than a little more pull down the top hat. Riding at night was really fun though, flying by all the lights and looking down on MF lit up.
The park well passed closing now, so I slowly walked back to the hotel. The next morning I spent over 30 minutes standing in front of our hotel, taking pictures and videos of everything I could. We also stopped a few times leaving the park so I could take more pictures.

We then drove about 5 hours to our Grandparents/Cousins in Illinois. Thursday and Friday were spent at SFGAm, but the trip report for that still has to be typed and should be up soon.

Cedar Point: 39

Blue Streak: 1
Cedar Creek Mine Ride: 1
Corkscrew: 1
Demon Drop: 1
Disaster Transport: 1
Gemini: 2
Ferris Wheel: 1
Iron Dragon: 1
Magnum: 1
Mantis: 1
Maverick: 6
Max Air: 1
Mean Streak: 1
Millennium Force: 7
Observation Tower: 1
Raptor: 1
Skyhawk: 1
Skyride: 2
Top Thrill Dragster: 3
Train: 2
Wicked Twister: 1
Wildcat: 1
Woodstock Express: 1

[Rollerboaster]

Sounds like you had fun. You gave Maverick and MF quite a few spins. ha ha.

[NitroDude319]

Sounds like you had a hell of a time. You also rode alot of rides for the time you were there. Was the park empty on both days?

[CP-ephY]

Nice ride count. I think you're a little too critical of some of the rides there, which are better than you make them seem.

[Coaster55]

Sounds like you had a hell of a time. You also rode alot of rides for the time you were there. Was the park empty on both days?

I'm not sure what the park is usually like, but the main rides all had over an hour waits, with the rest from 15 minutes to 45 minutes. Corkscrew, Gemini, and a few others only had waits in the station though. I was constantly going from ride to ride, though.

Nice ride count. I think you're a little too critical of some of the rides there, which are better than you make them seem.

Like which ones? I agree that I made Mantis and Raptor, and probably a few others, sound worse than they were, though. Mantis' first half was fun, but the standing made it uncomfortable at times. Raptor was also great besides some headbanging in the spots I mentioned, especially that amazing helix at the end, and remains my favorite invert.

[Coaster55]

Here's my favorites of the 1000 pictures I took at Cedar Point. I can get full size pictures if anyone wants one.

Posted in order of how they were taken. This is only 1/2 of the total pictures, part two will come later tonight or tomorrow. They're already uploaded, but the post was long enough with only half the pictures.

In picture 5 and 6, does anyone know what the things are for on the back of Mavericks train? They're on TTD too, but not Millennium Force.















































































That's all for day one and two. Day three will come tonight, along with my favorite pictures of the trip.

[TripleHelix]

Those things are to discharge static electricity during their launches so it doesn't fry the system or something.

And nice pictures! TTD and Maverick look nice at sunset.

[pkiknex25]

Wow, some of these pictures are amazing. Can't wait to see more.

[Coaster55]

Here's pictures from day 3 and from the morning we left. My favorites from the trip will be posted later today.

Day 3,

















The next morning,

[NitroDude319]

Nice pictures.... I like the one with the cookie on it.XD

[rollercoasterfanatic919]

Those pictures are great. I love the 4th picture of TTD in your first post with pictures. Man I want to go there again!

[Coaster55]

^,^^ Thanks

I still have to type the trip report from SFGAm, but I might get time to do that and post it tonight. I also have to upload 3 off rides videos, and two other park videos I took at CP, so those will come later this week.

Until then, here's my favorite pictures from CP,





Taken from Mean Streak


Very similar to Rollerdude's picture, even has the same train on the brake run.


4 Trains; TTD, Iron Dragon x2, and Mantis
















Early entry TTD,




While it was raining,


Sunset at CP makes for amazing pictures,

[NitroDude319]

Great pics again. I really like the one of Raptor. The picture of the little pond with MF's track in it had me wondering for a while.

[SFMMCrazy]

Are you going to SFGAm next