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We left town about 3PM and after being tolled to death through the states of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio we rolled into a very sleepy Sandusky about 2am.
Look at the Windmills...
Woke up at about 9:30, chowed down breakfast at the local Perkins, then drove out onto the causeway to Cedar Point. When we stopped to pay for parking the attendant informed us that most of the rides were closed and could be for the majority of the day due to the 40mph winds. Overnight a cold front had moved in from Canada bringing very strong winds and rain. We went in anyway, but only after confirming that they would staff the park until close.
Winds 45 MPH
Temp: 45
Feels Like: 31
We got into the park and new pretty much right away that running to anything tall was pointless and futile. The sound of the wind blowing across the park coming in from the lake procured some really funny creaks and growns from the rides.
The Intern: "Welcome to Cedar Point! Where you may freeze your ass off but die of boredom because some of our rides may not be suitable for the climate they are built in!"
Only the single operator rides close to the ground opened with the park. We started off with the classic boat ride. Thoughts: fug it's cold.
We went down the Midway and to the right towards the northern loop. Turns out that one coaster is currently operating, Iron Dragon. Built by Arrow Dynamics for the 1987 season she is starting to show her age, but I think shes worth keeping. After all it was the first ride open that day, and that means it didn't valley during the safety check unlike some other ride we know, ahem. Corkscrew.
What always gets me is the fact that Corkscrew & Iron Dragon have these great 30 foot drops into the train pen. Great for saving space, bad if your need to swap out a brake fin on the trains. Iron Dragon was a bit tame do the the cold weather, but overall it was nice to have completed the collection.
After getting off Iron Dragon maintenance and operations were still trying to get Corkscrew running. There were no other rides in the area so we decided to watch someone else put up the good fight for once in a while. Even when there isn't high winds and cold temps it still looks like it's going to valley heading into the final break run.
The novelty wore off so we decided to walk around the outer loop and see if anything else was open. Aside from the kiddy rides, the flat rides on the midway, and the gas cars, nothing was really open. The lines were getting longer.
We noticed that some people were tinkering with Mantis, and if any ride is going to run correctly in adverse conditions it's going to be a B&M. We decided to wait for the Big Bad Ball Busting Bug. Shortly there after it opened. Waited about 15 minutes for it.
By the time that we got to the exit of the ride, the line was over three hours long and extending down the boardwalk. We started walking back towards the midway and noticed that Corkscrew was opening, so we headed over to that and got in line. Got all the way up to the station, 60 seconds of sprinkles and ops shut the ride down.
It re-opened about 10 minutes later, we boarded it, were entertained for 1:36 and then left to find other things to do in the worlds largest refrigerated theme park. We guessed that the Cedar Creek Mine Ride would open next, but because everything was moist it never happened. Blue Streak did open, but by the time we got over there the line was over 2 hours long. Shortly thereafter Wicked Twister opened since it can't valley in high winds.
The line for Wicket Twister:
The weather once again took a turn and so some of the rides briefly closed again. It was getting around 1:30 so we decided to eat at Panda. Where you could eat any kind of Chinese food you want, as long as it's orange chicken. Oh, and it's $12 a plate and has no indoor seating. We ended up eating inside the flower mill next to the fort across from Snake River Falls. It started to rain pretty consistently at this point, so it was good timing on our part and we had shelter from the elements.
At this point the national weather service gave us a scare and extended the wind advisory until 6PM, up from 2PM. We knew that based on the radar and weather stations to the north that the winds would die down. We just didn't know when. The winds were calming, so we decided to just chill for another hour and see where things went.
Just before 3'oclock we noticed that a lot more staff where starting to pile up at the rides. With the little time that we had left in the day we new that we could salvage the day if we got a cheater bracelet. So we hunted down some fastlane passes. Shortly there after the park came alive.
We rode Wicked Twister real quick since it was open and was close to the place we got the cheater bracelets from. Aside from adding the +1 to the parks coaster count, this coaster is completely pointless. Our intern called it the valley simulator. We called it a waste of $9.5M.
Starting at Meanstreak. Now Meanstreak has earned a special place in my heart. After all it was built by the same group that built the old girl back in Texas, but Meanstreak was build a year later. You can tell that there are a lot of design queues that these rides share. Like the sweeping curves behind the MCBR, the loops around and in on it self. And the finally of slowly dropping in on it's structure and using head choppers to strike fear into it's riders.
The only problem is that MeanSteaks layout is too elongated, the effects of a compact layout like Texas Giant had do not come into play. You are no longer being forcefit into a profile and thrown down a track maintained by the lowest bidder and some guy named Donny, in a train that's painted red to hide the blood stains. Mean strike is like a low budget tribute to the Texas Giant. It brought back some memories of the old girl, it's close, but not close enough.
People said that they thought Meansteak was rough. I thought it was perfect for a wooden coaster. Even with the hack-job metal braces in all the corners, and the cheater braces in each corner to hold the corners in profile. The trains were built correctly, they had all the nuts and bolts in them. I was impressed with it, and I hope that they don't butcher it to make it any less that it already is.
Next was Maverick at Sunset. Now Maverick is one of those rides that I was expecting to be upset with because the video of it shows that it stops in the tunnel. I always thought why in the hell would you stop a train moving at 45 MPH just so you can re-launch the fuging thing at 70. What a waste.
I was wrong. When Maverick isn't trying to rip your face off in a corner/transition, or busy trying to eject you from your seat, it's misleading you as to how quickly it's really going. It's rapid transitions and layout that hides it's true height, path, and terrain make it a spectacular coaster for it's size. It was one of the few rides we rode more then once and it was even better at night.
We saw Dragster send a few trains, but based on the frequency that they were launching we figured it would be July before we could ride it. Even the locals said the up-time of Dragster was pathetic. It was ignored and written off as a lost cause, we never saw it run loaded the rest of the night. However what did come alive was Millennium Force Force.
Now Millennium Force is one of those rides that was built during the Coaster Wars of the 90s. When Cedar Fair and Six Flags got in a pissing contest to see who could drive who into bankruptcy first. Being 2013 we all know how that turned out for the companies and the industry, but we are left with some nice hardware to remind us what we are really capable of building.
I remember when we got Titan at SFOT in 2001, we got it the year after Millennium Force was built. Besides being a giant turd to operate and maintain, it was otherwise a solid ride. Other then the fact people blacked out and a water based cooling system had to be installed because components were melting and over heating. Who would have thought that going fast would generate heat.
Having ridden Millennium Force I have to say that it really is a one trick wonder. Out side of it's raw speed and sweeping corners, it lacks any real exciting elements. Al tho being blinded by the flash from camera system was a nice touch. I was disappointed to say the least, but everyone else thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.
Next we headed towards Raptor, which was closed. I assume because of noise around the areas where they have the haunts. So instead we went on Cedar Downs Racing Derby. We are still arguing over who won the race, and that song that it plays is really catching any annoying at the same time. Love how they keep this classic alive and have to give credit where credit is due.
And then the rains came. Oh, but not just rain, sleet, and ice falling from the sky. A quick check of the radar shows that a ninja storm came across the lake out of no where. It's going to be around for about 30 minutes, but no telling how long things will be down. We end up getting some food and hunkering down in the ghettoest BBQ restaurant ever. If I was Cedar Point I wouldn't even put this place on the map the food looked so bad. We imported food from another restaurant and just utilized the seating.
After 30 minutes the heavy rain stopped but a light rain still persisted. Anytime you walked under a tree and the wind blew you got soaked. Not fun. The intern decided to lead us into the CarnEVIL part of the park. After scaring some of the actors in costume, and causing general mayhem we noticed the rides were running again. So we headed over to GateKeeper.
Now aside from any number of Zul (Ghostbuster) jokes that were made in line, and the fact that the front gate constantly had loose articles raining down on it. Gatekeeper was a super cool ride, but I really feel like it's a tribute to a ride built a long time ago.
http://rcdb.com/128.htm
You see this ride really was a pioneer, but it was built before it's time. Now with Wingwalkers and better design tools and methods one can pull off that repeated banking over itself design with out bloodshed or offending the sound sensitive people next door at the water park.
You guys call it ride of the year, I call it the rebirth of Flash Back. It's not the best ride in the world, but it's a pretty damn good tribute. I sat in the front and was very impressed by Gatekeeper. It was smooth, the transitions weren't abrupt, it really felt like you were flying the entire time. I didn't even notice when we went through the slices. B & M has worked their magic once again. Rode it twice, and loved it both times.
Next up was Magnum XL-200. A ride, that for a moment, I made our intern believe was built using a type writer. (eg, layout built in words not numbers) When Magnum is running in a straight line it's a great ride, it's when there are any types of corners that need it seems to have trouble. Corners are suppose to be obtuse, not square. Right?
It's like someone decided to upscale a mine train and put fancier trains on the track. As side from slight bruising and being pelted in the face by rain, it was great fun.
Speaking of super-sized Mine Trains, Gemini certainly fits the bill. Since it's right next to big red we rode it next. It reminded me more of another racing coaster at SFMM. This night there was no racing, but at least the corners were mostly round. Lots of airtime in the back. Built in a time when people did not understand that you don't have to build a ride twice to increase the capacity. Definitely a great family ride. Needs some work on the whole gracefully stopping in the station thing.
Last ride of the night was the Cedar Creek Mine Ride. In the dark, with out any lights. Like driving a bumper car inside a washing machine that's being slingshoted through a cylinder block wall. The super yellow lights from the 60s in the station made me feel like I was apart of the Simpsons.
We finished the rest of the night by going through all the haunted houses and pointing out all the flaws in each. Overall everyone had a great time at Cedar Point. We can't wait to visit again. Altho sans sub-arctic weather conditions and on a less condensed time table when we can enjoy more things the park has to offer.
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