That same, good old Cedar Point trip

Even though I've grown up near the Metro Detroit area, I've only gone to Cedar Point 7 times including this trip. (And still have yet to go to other parks with good coasters which is quite sad especially after all these years.) This particular trip was pretty great though, but I can't even remember the order I rode everything.

Block of text warning. I didn't get any pics on this trip so there's nothing real fancy to show. Just the report itself recounting some of the day's most memorable details.

We went on July 15th, Thursday. Good for short lines, and I had a way of getting discounts to $38 so we only lost $3 for not getting the Summer/July Saver. (Now extended to August 18th!) In turn, a friend who had work on Wednesday was able to come so we had a group of 4 instead of 3.

I jumped the gun a bit on the wake-up time; we ended up arriving at the park around 8:40am, but apparently they were letting people in at 9.

Clueless, we try to avoid the crowd and follow the less populated side, and that was the side we were supposed to go in anyway. It was the Platinum Pass vs. regular admissions; I haven't even been to the park in the past 3 years so I was completely clueless to how that was being done. We got in and there were no security guards stopping us from hopping over to the Platty side, but by the time we figured that out, the guards were populating those blocks. We had to wait until 10. Actually, someone in our group had the Plat Pass so he took a few rides on Raptor before returning.

First order of the day? Take a run to Maverick. When we got there, it was broken down; problem was something on the last brake run since someone was seen walking up the catwalks' spiral stairs. After 40 minutes or so we got in line which went by pretty fast.

I rode the front for the view and it was a nice wake-up for the day. It seemed less intense than I remember, maybe because it's so smooth. Launch and the turn after it was amazing, as well as the high turns at the end. I was disappointed that the water jets fired almost a second after the train passes, so none of it hits the riders. It was already very hot even though it was only around 10:45 so it would've been nice if those water jets were timed to hit the riders. The banking transition that replaced the heartline roll was rather dull too; I would've loved to have ridden the roll, but the high turns after made up for it.

Next up, I just about couldn't stand the heat anymore already so we went to Shoot the Rapids. The two drops were fun, as well as the misted tunnels, but the soak factor was a huge letdown. The difference between the soakage on STR and Snake River Falls is like the difference between getting shot at with a small Super Soaker vs. jumping into a pool. Still, I guess I should be thankful that the ride was even running as it was having many problems before.

I think we went up to MF after that. I actually found MF to be quite exhilarating despite the weak g-forces. The overbanks were fun. Long lengths of floater air and incredible speed made it a ride that was much more fun than I gave it credit for in the past. In the second tunnel where the camera is, I made a face and held the horns up on my hands, but my hands were cropped out of the on-ride photo. On the other hand, my friend who was sitting on the left seat (where the camera mostly picks up) did the classic shirt rip. It was pretty hilarious and he bought the photo.

Around this point, I start to get confused and unable to remember what we rode afterwards. We circled around the back portion of the park two times and re-rode several rides so there's a lot I can't remember. I couldn't even recall our ride sequence at the end of the day since it was so exhausting. However, I recall riding Mantis around noon, so that's probably what we rode.

We took the front row and I specifically insisted on riding on the edge for stronger banking transitions and rolls. I rode the right edge which is a great seat for the curve after the lift. My feet were getting sore of walking already (I wore sandals) and my seat ended up snapping to a low position so I had to stand completely. Still, it was a fun ride. My favorite part is, by far, the part past the MCBR when it goes through the cork and the fast banking transitions. One of my friends hurled after this though; apparently he has had a hurling problem w/ amusement rides in the past but still enjoys them. I wasn't aware it was so bad until today, so next time we'll probably find something to do for the hurling.

After that, I'm pretty sure we rode Power Tower. Another friend tried to count off the drop but was off by 2-3 seconds.

Next up was TTD. The line was ridiculously short from what I'm used to and ended up being only 15 minutes. It didn't even wrap at all.

The three rules of TTD: arms down, head back, and hold on! Unless you stiffen your neck well enough, you're supposed to break only the first and third rules. I broke all three without being aware of where my head was, which resulted in a headache that started after the ride was over and persisted for several hours/rides. Nonetheless, it was nice that there weren't any trolls/idiots holding up the ride by keeping their arms up before the traffic lights went off.

After that was Magnum XL 200. It was a walk-on as always and once I got there I promptly directed the group to the third row which is almost always the shortest to wait for. I didn't notice any changes on the 20th anniversary in terms of smoothness, but I guess the paint was a bit shinier than before. (In particular, the rails weren't as worn out on the colors.)

Now, I've been shouting random obscenities and comments while riding the coasters so far, forgetting most of what I said, but I clearly remember one for Magnum; "Arrow's transitions suck but it's ok!" The bankings produced a lot of lats and the turns were banked too far, a sharp contrast of design style to ride after riding the best Intamin coasters in the park. I actually liked Arrow's crude design style afterwards; the lats on the pretzel turn and the 3rd hill after the pretzel. Some of the hills after the pretzel (and after the 3rd hill from the pretzel) were pretty brutal. They produced very strong ejector air very suddenly, which tossed us up pretty badly. The problem with this is that the damn lap bars were already tightened after all the positive verts on the ride, so slamming up against the lap bar was quite painful on the thighs. Next time I'll probably use actually put the seat belt to use and strap my legs in to reduce the painful contact with the lap bars. My friend took a POV here and almost lost his phone, which I presume was from one of the hills. He hasn't uploaded it yet though, for whatever reason.

Gemini was after that, and rode very much like a less intense version of Magnum. This ride was particularly interesting as I raced two of my friends. (The other guy who hurled had been following us but sat out on Power Tower, rode TTD and Magnum w/ us if I recall correctly, and sat out on Gemini.) Anyway, I rode the blue side and they rode the red, so they beat us to the lift hill. As we were going up the lift, my train stopped to my sheer dismay while their's continued. Of course, I gave them the finger as they continued up. After they got to one of the turns below the lift hill, I gave them the finger again. My friend was taking a POV again though I doubt he got a few frames off me when passing the turn below the lift hill. Later on, after getting pissed for waiting so long, I spat out of the train which landed on one of the supports. Good thing it didn't hit the return chain which was pretty close by.

Finally we (well, the stranger riders who observed my bizzare antics and I) get moving again. It was awkward since I was in the front right seat and almost everyone could see me. (I took that specific seat to give some high-fives along the turns; never got to the whole day.) The red train was still sitting on the brake run and we ran our course. Gotta love the support headchoppers on some of the drops; they made me flinch several times.

We hit the trims, rode up the helix, and hit the brakes. There was red train to our right, and the brakes released for us to go into the station. (While I rubbed it in their face how they had to sit on a brake run.) Apparently, the blue train's brakes released first, and I passed into the station about a foot in front of them. I officially won.

We took a long walk to the back of the park. No one wanted to ride Mean Streak (of course), and Maverick's line was too long to be worth it so we walked all the way to Snake River Falls.

While SNF is great in any seat, we took the front which was simply phenomenal. When we made it up the lift and splashed into the river-tunnel suspended in the air, a good splashing of water made it into the boat, drenching our legs and feet. Finally, we make it to the drop. The splash was classic as always and was worth taking the front seat for. Of course, we honor the tradition of standing on the bridge at the exit, but since we couldn't get to a good position, I decided to wait out for a second splash. I may have waited out for a third or fourth if I recall correctly. The high for that day was 91 and the soaking was very well needed.

After that was Skyhawk. Nice fun ride; it reminded me of those swingsets on the playground. The high angle swinging was pretty nice too and it looks like I'll never ride Ocean Motion. (Never did and after Skyhawk, probably never will, though I've ridden the local Pharaoh's Wrath at my local carnival several times.)

We re-rode MF after Skyhawk. I was getting tired and sleepy by then, so I ended up closing my eyes most of the ride trying to relax and didn't make a sound the whole ride. It was rather... blissful and relaxing. Ironically, I was wide awake after the ride and never got sleepy again for the rest of the day.

After that, we headed for the front of the park. We had some pretty amazing lemonade on the way there, mixed with crushed ice. Obviously a well needed refreshment even for $4.

Raptor was the next ride. I took the front right seat again. Unlike Mantis, I don't really have a favorite part of Raptor in particular, though the cobra roll and the corks are quite nice. The brake run decelerates pretty abruptly. Oh, and there was seagull poop all over the supports today. I think most of it is old as it was there in the morning and still there while we rode. I haven't seen the crap on other rides though.

After that there were some group split-ups at this time. We rode Wicked Twister together though but the back seat was closed so we took the car before it. Getting shot up the back tower is as amazing as it's always been, twisting fast and giving a great view. The line was almost a walk on; we waited about 5 or so ride cycles before getting onboard.

Next was Maxair. Nice air and high swinging, but very disorienting to inexperienced riders. I've actually gotten pretty good at anticipting flat rides so I don't get the slightest bit dizzy after.

After that we split up. My friend who hurled wanted to ride Disaster Transport and so did I, but the others didn't want to. Despite being a tame ride, it was pretty fun with the dark and theming, though some of the queue props were rather cheesy. The ride was pretty fun though, particularly with being unable to see a damn thing. Of course, I noticed a few holes in the building while going up the lift, where light from outside seeped in. Looks rather cheap but I guess it works lol.

Later the group splitting changes again and I rode Blue Streak with my other friend. Excellent airtime on the bunny hops after the first hill. The hills get toned down as the ride looses speed, but it was still a good ride. On my first trip to Cedar Point, I got to ride it without the headrests and with the liberating lap bars. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite an airtime aficionado at the time so I got scared shitless instead of enjoying my first ride on there. I was about to fly out of my seat on the bunny hops too. (To be honest, it was scarier than Raptor, which was the first ride I took on my first trip; first "real" ride I ever been actually.) Now I don't know what I'd give to ride Blue Streak as it was again.

We went to the back of the park again after that. My feet were feeling like absolute poop by now because of the sandals and walking. We went around to the MF side of the park to check up on Maverick, but it was still too long so we continued and re-rode Gemini. They only ran the red train this time so not as many jokes were being cracked. After that, TTD apparently had a rollback with riders onboard but I didn't even see it since I was in the bathroom. After being jealous of the TTD riders, it was time for a re-ride of Magnum XL 200, third row again, and thighs getting busted again.

Later, we got onto Power Tower for a second ride but the tower we were on broke down apparently. The ride ops had us wait for the other tower to finish, then we were transfered to it. (Rather disappointing; we had a great view of TTD and had to switch, though we still had a good view of the front end of the park; the same seats we took on the first ride.) This time, my friend got the countdown PERFECTLY, which was rather scary but all the more exhilarating at the same time.

The TTD re-ride was after. It was getting dark and time was running out so we had to decide whether to wait out the front seat, or take a middle row and take a shot at MF afterwards. We went with the latter and by the time we got on, it was pitch black. It's been so long since I've seen so many city lights at once. And yes, I remembered to follow rule two. My headache was long gone and I didn't want to start another one.

After we raced for the sky, we had to race for MF. The park was going to close in less than 4 minutes so we had to hurry. We got in line with 2 minutes to spare. Later, they started the light/screen show near Iron Dragon, and a few fireworks lit the way for some riders who flew by the queue we were standing at. Apparently, even 5 minutes after official closing time, they were still letting people into the line. Kind of a waste of energy to run, but at least we knew we wouldn't miss out.

This time I rode the 2nd row of the first car. The view is almost as good and you don't have to wait a ridiculous queue for it. (Plus the announcer/operator was making warnings about the possibility of the front seat being unavailable.) The 2+ minute journey through the dark was quite great, though apparently it wasn't pitch black like people kept saying it was. I was still able to see the track's outline. When we got off, my friend who hurled on the Mantis hurled again, and we all needed some time to drink water, cool off, etc. before taking the hike towards the front of the park.

This is the first time I left the Point at closing time. Previously, I went with school and other groups who leave so damn early, some even leave as early as 6:30-7:00 to eat dinner outside of the park. Now I finally got to spend my ticket's worth at the park and experience it as it was meant to be. This was by far the best trip I've ever taken there.

I think I'll be going again with some of the same friends sometime in August. I'm planning on getting the Summer Saver tickets and going on Wednesday, but I'm not sure if the park will be more crowded that day due to the discount. Does anyone have an idea on that? If it's a problem, I may go on Monday or Tuesday.