This was my first trip to Cedar Point since Coastermania 1994. Yes, Raptor was
the last new ride I had ridden at Cedar Point and I needed to add a lot of
their new rides to my "have done" list. I believe it was the first time Janis
had been there since 1996, but she can post her report and views seperate from
mine. The weather was supposed to be hard rain and thunderstorms the entire
trip, but we had the Lord on our side as he provided dry days everywhere we
went. Some clouds and some cool air, no rain. My kind of weather !
We arrived at the park on Friday morning about 8:45am and we bought a two day
pass for both of us. We were in line for the gates to open about 10 mins till
9am and we had to wait an hour. At ten the gates opened and we headed for
Wicked Twister as I figured it being a shuttle it would get a line fast. I was
wrong, it was walk on. I had been on S:UE at SF WoA a year or so ago and I
didnt care for it too much, I figured this one would be worse being that it
didnt have the "stop" on one end. But I was wrong, I liked WT better than
S:UE. I thought the launch was faster and the twists added to the overall ride
experience a bit more. Though I am still not a fan of the impulse coasters.
There is just not enough ride there to be a "real" coaster. We rode it twice
and left that and headed over to Millennium Force. This is the ride I have
been waiting to ride for a few years. I was unsure how the overall ride would
be, but I assumed the first drop would be awesome. I was right about that,
it's the best first drop in the world. We got five rides on it over the two
days we were there. We rode the back car each ride. The lift is much steeper
than I thought. You just float the entire way down, and that's a long down !
I wasn't sure how I would feel about the rest of the ride. It's certainly not
the airtime machines the Superman Intamin megas are but it has some unique
features of its own. I loved the overbanked turns much better than I thought I
would. There was never more than an hour wait for it, and once we got on in 20
mins at the end of Friday night. I think MF may be my # 2 steel now. Still
thinking on that one. Next we went over to Magnum. I have never been a Magnum
fan. I think it's very overrated. It was about a 20 min wait. We rode the
back seat first and remember I had not been on it since 1994, so I have been on
so many hypers since then. It's my least favorite hyper coaster. I don't
think Arrow knows how to design a proper curved track. The bunny hills that
are shaped like triangles are just not designed properly. I think Morgan had
the right idea on Steel Force and his other hypers with his "rounded" bunny
hills. They provided good air without the slight pain. We next headed to
Gemini, it ran the same as I left it 9 years ago. Now that Gemini is not
trying to be the "big coaster" at CP like it used to be before Magnum and the
rest was there, I like it. Its a decent ride for what it is, but when it was
the "main" thing at CP, it was kinda weak. Next we went to Mean Streak. This
ride is now horrible. Its SLOW, BORING and stupid. I have no use for it and
this is coming from a person who once had it in his top five. First, the
braking down the first drop is uncalled for. It slows the ride down too much
and the midcourse was on VERY hard, the train almost came to a stop on it both
of our rides. We rode the front and the back once. That was enough and I am
sad to say that it just plain out stinks. It just goes to show that bigger
does NOT mean better. We next went to the Mine coaster, eh, just a mine ride,
nothing to report really. We went to Mantis next and used our Freeway
handstamp. It only had two trains running, one was under the transfer area and
not even connected. Its not ready for the season yet I guess. I am just not a
stand up fan. After waiting through a line I want to SIT on the ride, lol. It
was very similar to Chang. I think as far as the B&M stand ups I have been on
GA Scorcher is by far the best. We then left the park for an hour to go to
Steak N Shake (our fav place to eat!). We returned and went to Top Thrill
Dragster which FINALLY opened for the day. We got in line and they told us
four hours. We waited through the main cattlechutes and were about 30 mins
from the station and it broke down (we had only been in line for an hour and a
half though). Lots of people left as it was down for two hours. But I had
faith and said a small prayer and it reopened and we were on in about 20 mins.
The trains are themed well, but I do have a problem with the first car and back
car only being able to seat 2 people due to themeing (nose cone and fake engine
and fin). We loaded and I could NOT wait for it to pull forward for the
launch. The light tree starts and GREEN, this has one of the best launches out
there. It noses out the launch of hypersonic slightly and here is why.
Hypersonic's is more sudden; jumping from 0-80 in 1.8 seconds is more sudden
than 0-120 in 4. But XLC's is too short and you don't maintain speed for any
length of time. TTD's launch is VERY long, I mean you get to 120 very fast,
but you go straight and are maintaining your speed for so much longer. I liked
having time to enjoy the launch for a while. The climb up was faster than I
thought it would be, but then again, 120mph is nothing to sneeze at. It slows
at the top for a brief time to crest the hill. You have a quick moment to look
around. MY GOODNESS, I could NOT believe the view. Being up 421 feet was
incredible. The dive was good and I do believe, as I posted about a month ago,
that the twist does take away from the drop slightly. I would love to do it
without the 270 degree twist and see what it's like. I thought M. Force's drop
was better. But I will say that TTD is fast the entire way through the ride.
Is it a top ten? No way, it's a one trick pony for sure. It is a must do for
every coaster enthusiast though. I will ride it maybe once every visit to CP,
but I will give most of my time to M. Force without a doubt. We next went to
Blue Streak. For an old out and back, it's still fun. Not much of a wait, I
think we may have even walked on it. It ran just like I remembered it 9 years
ago. I liked it better than Mean Streak. Now onto Raptor. After having
Alpengeist here at home, nothing else compares to me. I loved Raptor in 1994
as it was my first inverted. But it was slightly rougher than I remember. I
do like the climbing turn into the midcourse and the diving curve out of it.
It was only a 15 minute wait. We then returned to M. Force and stayed there
for 3 straight rides until the park closed.
The next morning, Sat the 24th we got there at 10 AM and entered the park right
away. We went to Disaster Transport. The themeing is nice but Intamin sleds
stink compared to MACK ones, so we didn't need to ride that again. We hit
Wicked Twister again as it too was walk on. Then we rode the wheel to get some
photos of the park from a new height and area, the last time I was there it was
over near where Mantis is now I believe? Next over to Corkscrew for a quick
spin and then to Magnum again. We also took a blast up on Power Tower. I
don't like S & S tower rides as they bore me to tears. The blasts are weak and
the blasts down are nowhere near as good as a genuine freefall. The Big Shot
on top the S. Tower in Vegas is good, but only because you are already a 1000
feet up in the air. We then took a spin on Cedar Downs as a trip to Cedar
Point would not be complete without one. Then another run on M. Force as we
had to say good bye to that wonderful drop. On the way out we took a ride on
Demon Drop. I am sorry, but PKDs Drop Zone has completely spoiled me !
Overall I really enjoyed this trip to Cedar Point, but I don't like some of
their policies. They would not let Janis carry her bought cup of Pepsi into
Gemini's line. It was a 20 min wait and a small drink, I didn't get it at
all... They stopped us from taking pictures of Mantis from the other side of
the platform, telling us that cameras aren't allowed in the queues at all. I
understand not allowing them on the ride, but in the line? But overall I like
their operations. Yes they are crowded, but they can really move trains in
that park. I think I liked this trip to Cedar Point better than my last one so
many years ago. Then, CP was very overrated to me. Magnum and Mean Streak
were avg at best and they were the "big draws". But now with M. Force, I will
be there a bit more. I really like Intamin mega/giga coasters. Oh, I almost
forgot, we took a spin on Woodstock Express, I really liked the downward spiral
first drop !
In a grade school scale I will give this Cedar Point trip a B+. I would have
given it an A - if TTD had been running the whole time and running
consistently. But that's Intamin for you... Why can't Intamin get it right
the first time ever?
Next report: SF WoA
CoAsTeRDaN
PKD 4 ME
Http://members.aol.com/coasterdan/index.html
Http://hometown.aol.com/revolutiongoal/revolutionhome.html
# 1 Wood, The Legend, # 2 Knoebel's Twister
# 1 Steel, Mindbender at West Edmonton Mall, # 2 Superman: ROS at SFNE
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