My trip to Cedar Point...

In case you were wondering where I was for the past three days, I was at Cedar Point. Cedar Point, for those of you who have been in hibernation for a while, is a huge amusement park located on a peninsula in Lake Erie. It houses 15 roller coasters, more than any other amusement park in the world. Anyway, I left Friday morning and just got back this afternoon. I went with my family and relatives. We all stayed in a hotel on the peninsula.

It was pretty sweet. The staff and service were great, and the rides were great as usual. I was able to get in seven Millennium Force rides, including two night rides and one freezing-cold-while-raining ride. We got to go into the park an hour and a half eariler than everyone else on Saturday because we were staying in a Cedar Point hotel. In that time, we got three of our seven rides on Millennium Force in. We also managed to get on the first train that went out that day that had guests on it. Not bad, eh?

On the other hand, the other visitors to the park were really rude. I saw countless people walk past big “NO SMOKING” signs with a lit cigarette in their hands. Once I think I saw someone smoking marijuana. I was in line for Power Tower and the girl in front of me was more or less “F-- this” and “F-- that” and “Why is this line movin’ so f—ing slow?” I mean my god, learn a new word. Then there were the line jumpers. In some lines, there are vending machines with candy and pop in them, and sometimes people stop to buy something. Whenever someone in front of me would go to one, I’d stop so they wouldn’t lose their spot in line. No harm done, we wouldn’t get there any sooner if we just walked right past them, right? That’s not what the people behind me in a certain Raptor line thought. A guy went to the M&M machine and I stopped. The people behind me had other plans. They actually pushed me forward so I’d keep moving. Haha, only the more reason to go slowly. When the guy came back, he gave me a “Thanks” and a smile. That made it worth it.

In addition to the people being total jerks, the weather flat out sucked. I already mentioned the cold/wet Millennium Force ride, yes? That was our first ride. On Friday, it was on and off rain all day until sundown, and it was blistering cold for late May. On Saturday, we had a severe thunderstorm watch. At about 5:00 p.m., the clouds in the north turned a deep, evil, shade of gray. I immediately started walking back to the hotel room. It was a strange sight on the path that went along the beach. To the north (the way I was walking), it was all dark and cloudy and there was the occasional lightning bolt. To the south, the clouds were nice and white, and you could maybe see a bird in the air. I was right at the boundary, and heading north. A few seconds later, the wind picks up. Sand is flying everywhere and lifeguards are blowing their whistles calling for everyone to get in doors. The temperature falls 5-10 degrees in a minute, and me and my cousins bolt for the door of the hotel. We walk in just as the first raindrops fall.

The storms did have a plus side, though. They kept the locals away for the most part and the storms did hold off for a good part of the day. When we left this morning, the causeway (the road that leads up to CP) was packed with cars. Probably the people that waited for the storms to go out. The lines to the rides were three times the length that we had.

Overall, it was a nice trip. I did everything I wanted to do, plus some. If you want to see some pictures of the park I took, go to my web page thingy. I just put some on today.

So, has anyone else gone to the park yet this year, or at all? Any fun or interesting stories? Any stories at all? I’m bored, and wouldn’t mind reading something as long as this post. Or maybe you want to comment on my great photography skills. Hehehe…

I’ve wanted to go to Cedar Point for a long time, but it’s a long drive from Minneapolis. The nearest major airport is still and hour’s drive away from there. Someday, I hope.

Tell me Millenium Force rocked. Geez, I want to try that ride.

I love Cedar Point, but even the Blue Streak scares me…so I usually let my kids run free and spend the day riding bumper cars, and then at night when I wait for them by the entrance, I just ride the carousel over and over and over…I am so boring. But last week my son wanted to practice some night driving, so we hopped on the highway and found ourselves at the exit for CP in next to no time. Now that he knows how close it is, I know he’s planning to head there as soon as he gets his license. He just rides the coasters all day and all night.

I’m an enormous rollercoaster fanatic, and I grew up in Akron, OH, so I would go at least once a year for about the last 15 years. I didn’t get to go last year, though.

The first time I went in 2000 was the only day Millennium Force was closed that season…I made a special trip later that summer, by myself, just to ride it…it was worth it.

I didn’t think I was going to get a chance to go this year, but I got some extra time off from work, so I’ll actually be there on Saturday! I can’t wait.

In other roller coaster news for me, I’m moving to VA soon, and I’ll be 15 minutes from Busch Gardens…Alpengeist and Apollo’s Chariot, here I come!

I’m an enormous rollercoaster fanatic, and I grew up in Akron, OH, so I would go at least once a year for about the last 15 years. I didn’t get to go last year, though.

The first time I went in 2000 was the only day Millennium Force was closed that season…I made a special trip later that summer, by myself, just to ride it…it was worth it.

I didn’t think I was going to get a chance to go this year, but I got some extra time off from work, so I’ll actually be there on Saturday! I can’t wait.

In other roller coaster news for me, I’m moving to VA soon, and I’ll be 15 minutes from Busch Gardens…Alpengeist and Apollo’s Chariot, here I come!

(sorry if this double posted…there was 5 minutes with no response.)

Hey Jman, what part of Akron are you from? Me, I was born and raised in Goodyear Heights.

Cedar Point is a great park. Unfortunatly, I haven’t been there since around 1980.

I grew up just south of Akron, actually, at the Stark/Summit county border. I lived in Jackson Twp.

Jman

So did you get to ride the Wicked Twister at all? Was it as cool as it looks?

When I was 15 my best friend and I set the park record for number of times riding the Gemini in one day. That was the scariest roller coaster there at the time (one of four, if I remember right Gemini, Corkscrew, Blue Streak and Mine Ride). I really liked Cedar Point when I was a kid, but I quit going (for some stupid reason) after I hit 18.

Obviously, I certainly haven’t made the trip there since moving to Arizona in '94. Maybe next time I’m back. I’m glad you had fun.

Shadowfox, yeah I did. Two times. It’s pretty freaky standing in line. If you look up to one of the towers, you can actually see it sway in the wind. It was a pretty good ride, I’d give it a 8 out of 10. For comparision, I’d give MF a 10 and Raptor a 9. Wicked Twister isn’t the kind of ride that you go on twice in a row. You go on it once, say “Eh, that was pretty good,” and then move on.