Jarrett
Most Obnoxious Member 2016
Re: USALive 2013 "Cedar DisaPointed" - Trip Reports
First off, the pun wasn't originally mine, it was my cousin's, I just moved it over here because I thought it was the best thing ever.
Now, for what happened. I woke up around 4 on Saturday when my cousin and her husband arrived. We had a fun evening and had my dad's awesome barbecue chicken for dinner. Afterwards we put my stuff in their car and I went to work at 10. At 7 on Sunday my cousin's husband picked me up and we got in the interstate to get to Cedar Point. All goes well until we're almost there and I get a text from Joe. He informed me that everything was shut down due to wind. While my heart sank at the sight of the text, I was still determined to have fun.
We arrived at the park and went to go meet up with everybody in the GateKeeper queue. I got to meet a few people from the forums in person for the first time which was really cool, but since we didn't think that GateKeeper was opening up again anytime soon, we decided to head to Magnum. Heyyy, Magnum's down too! But while we were there, I asked the ride op if she would pretty pretty please with a cherry and sprinkles and gumdrops on top make an exception and open the ride for us. She laughed but said no, so then I decided to use that opportunity to ask her another important question. Sadly, she was unable to present us with an explanation for why they say that Magnum is Molly Orange. But we did get on Witch's Wheel in the area for the heck of it and that was pretty fun. Not a credit but it was stull fun.
Afterwards we caught up with some fellow CFers and decided to credit whore Woodstock Express. It was a pretty good ride, not my favorite but it was a fun little coaster. Joe had informed me that it was the same layout of the junior inverted coasters that Vekoma made but not inverted, and while I didn't know that, I instantly saw it upon hearing that. I also liked Woodstock's uncovered station, it's definitely something I think more coasters should have. It was a fun little coaster, much better than I thought a coaster of such a small scale could be. But I do think that being part of an American park, they could make the restraints a BIT more accommodating. I've never been kicked off of a coaster for my size, but that one brought me uncomfortably close.
After that, we went around the park to see if everything was truly closed and it was. Brittany, Paul, and I all left to check it out ourselves and to our dismay, all that was up was Woodstock, Corkscrew, and Wicked Twister. So on that note, we decided to go grab something to eat at Famous Dave's outside the park. We grabbed the ultimate barbecue feast for two or something along those lines, and honestly, it was some of the best barbecue I've ever had. It had barbecue chicken, ribs, brisket, beans, coleslaw, corn, and cornbread muffins. We ate at a window seat on the water overlooking the park and it was by far the best meal I've ever had on a park trip.
At Famous Dave's, we did notice that they had opened Blue Streak back up and that it was running. While I was confused how a 60-year old wooden coaster that had just been hit by a dump truck directly on the water could run but a shiny new cutting-edge B&M couldn't, I decided to just enjoy the credit. I rode in the very front and while it was just a little out-and-back, I got a lot more ejector than I was expecting. Blue Streak's old but it definitely packs a punch, and honestly, it's better than a Vekoma boomerang.
After upping my cred count to 62, we headed for Corkscrew. Despite seeing that they were launching Dragster trains from the station, it didn't look promising, so we just went on Corkscrew. There are two kinds of Arrow loopers, ones that should be preserved (Loch Ness Monster, Tennessee Tornado, Vortex) and ones that should be scrapped (Anaconda). Corkscrew should definitely be preserved as it's one of the smoothest Arrow loopers I've ridden and it looks stunning over the midway like that. Maybe I've just gotten good at bracing, but I don't remember getting my head rattled even once.
After Corkscrew, we tried to get on Power Tower, but seeing as they were still making final arrangements to open it back up, we decided to give into the news that Mean Streak had opened. On the way over we swung by Maverick to watch them pull it through the layout while it was stalled (I have it on both still photo and film!) The line wasn't that long, and I love how the queue structure is buried inside the support structure like that. Brittany had actually worked Mean Streak when she was in high school, and as a result knew more about the ride than I did. She said that the ride had three trains, red, green, and gold. Supposedly, the gold train was the least rough and the red one was the worst. Knowing our luck so far, it was almost expected that we would get the red train, and of course, we did. Brittany and I rode in the second row, and Paul rode behind us. All of the little coasters that day had caused me to be surprised looking up that huge wooden lift hill, but the view from the top was incredible. As for the actual ride, I see no reason why people want this ride ironhorsed. I had pulled down that restraint hearing all these horror stories about how you'll need to grit your teeth on the ride and lean forward and properly execute yoga poses to avoid getting beaten up. Yes, the ride's powerful and aggressive. That's why it's fun. I felt as if it was actually smoother than The Beast and having such a long ride packed into such a small space is great, but on a wooden coaster it enables you to have the track storming around inside the support structure. That feeling, the feeling that comes with being perched on top of that wooden structure that high up that close to the lake, and the fact that the coaster runs with the perfect texture for a wooden coaster is what made it my favorite ride of the day. Riding it with somebody who had worked it was also a plus, I feel like I got the perfect Mean Streak experience that day.
After Mean Streak, we saw that Cedar Creek Mine Ride was open again. And had a 2 hour wait!? Brittany noticed that the queue attendant had left and the sign was sitting right there for snot-nosed teenage boys to screw with, so she dialed it back to the appropriate time. In the queue, I was telling Brittany about Formula Rossa's goggle policy and how I thought Cedar Point should have something similar. And out of shear luck, there was a guy in front of us who was actually from Dubai that had ridden it! We talked coasters until we were on the ride, and then it started. From the lift hill, Brittany and I noticed that Millennium was also hooked up to a winch and was being pulled from a valley. Seeing my favorite coaster stuck like that made my blood boil, but we decided to just enjoy Cedar Creek and all it's Arrow quirkiness. Not only did this ride prove that the ride envelope wasn't as strongly stressed as it is today (we could touch the rafters in the coaster barn as well as some of the supports over our heads on the ride), but it proved to me just how great old school Cedar Fair was. It was a tad rough, but that's what made it fun. My favorite part was the dive down to the water.
Once we got off of Cedar Creek Mine Ride, we went to Power Tower since it was probably up. This was by far the scariest ride of the day for me. Aside from the little sissy Intamin drop tower at Carowinds, I had never ridden a drop tower. We went on the green one first, which had been up for debate as to whether it was a launch down or a freefall. I simply asked in engineering terms if V knot was zero or a quantity, but nobody knew. Nervous as heck, I pulled that restraint down and got ready. It was a bit scary being up 240 feet in the air exposed like that, but that's what made it fun. Those few seconds before the drop were absolutely terrifying, but the view made up for it. We were sitting on the backside of the tower, looking down the peninsula, so that made for something nice to look at as opposed to the miles upon miles of woodlands and cornfields that surround Kings Island. And then it shot us down, proving to me that V knot was definitely not zero and that they should put more emphasis on the fact that it is a launch down. That was fun, so after that we did the red one that shoots you up. I loved and hated that feeling of anticipation, waiting for it to shoot you up. But it came, and while the launch wasn't as powerful as I thought it would be, it did provide some good floater at the top. Overall, I loved how I had conquered my fear of tower rides and while I'm not getting on Drop Tower at my home park anytime soon, I liked Power Tower. Next one I ride will probably be Mach Tower.
After Power Tower, there was nothing open worth riding, so we went souvenir shopping. I ended up buying a Gatekeeper mug to remind me of the time I didn't get to ride it, and a Millennium Force hat (which I'm wearing now). That transaction was over 20$, and as a result, I was able to buy a Cedar Point 2013 limited edition t-shirt for only six dollars. It was a steal so I took it, and I'm wearing it right now. Brittany told me that they had better ones at Snoopy's Boutique, so we went there. THEN she remembered that they were all Peanuts t-shirts, and I didn't want a Peanuts one, so we went back to the pagoda gift shop and I bought a Millennium Force snowglobe keychain and a glow-in-the-dark t-shirt. While the second one I got was a small instead of the XL I was reaching for, I'm going to call Cedar Point's merchandising department tomorrow and see if they can switch it out. If not, then I'm going to sew it up into one of those t-shirt pillows and have the most epic ornamental pillow ever. After that we went to the Gatekeeper plaza to get a look at the ride we didn't get to ride. The area's so well done for something so minimalist, it's a shame we didn't get to see it full. There were a few people hanging out, but ordinarily I would expect that place to be rocking. It was sad, but I did get a picture to prove that I can fit in the Gatekeeper test seat!
After that we swung by customer service on the way out to see if we could get a second day pass to make up for the miserable experience we had. We did get a 50% off pass for our next visit, but I don't think it was enough. However, it was better than leaving us without anything to come back with, so I accepted it. We then drove off into the sunset, planning to reschedule our Gatekeeper trip.
Pictures!
Taken of GateKeeper upon walking into the park. Making somebody walk past that without letting them ride should be a federal offense...
Zombie Apocalypse: Cedar Point Edition (seriously, seeing the cloudy skies and no rides running was actually a little creepy)
Millennium Force as seen from the Cedar Point Marina. Probably the prettiest picture of the ride I've taken yet, and I tried to make a Millennium Force calendar later on in the day!
More of Cedar Point from the marina
60 years old, just hit by a dump truck, and STILL running in the wind!
Hang Time...You're doin' it wrong!
Mini Mean Streak and Me!
:censored: Six Flags, Get it together!
Millennium Force...not working.
This is still an awesome shot, though.
Millennium, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, and Snake River Falls
Millennium through the forest
A little valleying won't stop my fun!
The ONE flat ride I wanted to ride and it was down too!
This overbank looks odd from this angle...
I want to make a Millennium Force calendar!
Mantis and Power Tower
This is creepy...
The three of us on the GateKeeper sign
Me strapped into a GateKeeper seat! I don't care if it wasn't connected to the train!
Prettiest cattlepen I've seen in a while...
This is a nice spot too.
Three B&Ms at the park and only the crappy one's running! If it had to be just one, I'd have put Gatekeeper first, then Raptor, then Mantis. But no, Mantis is the only one running! Boo!
I like this shot for some reason.
Artsy Fartsy!
Another nice GateKeeper shot
I'll be back...
First off, the pun wasn't originally mine, it was my cousin's, I just moved it over here because I thought it was the best thing ever.
Now, for what happened. I woke up around 4 on Saturday when my cousin and her husband arrived. We had a fun evening and had my dad's awesome barbecue chicken for dinner. Afterwards we put my stuff in their car and I went to work at 10. At 7 on Sunday my cousin's husband picked me up and we got in the interstate to get to Cedar Point. All goes well until we're almost there and I get a text from Joe. He informed me that everything was shut down due to wind. While my heart sank at the sight of the text, I was still determined to have fun.
We arrived at the park and went to go meet up with everybody in the GateKeeper queue. I got to meet a few people from the forums in person for the first time which was really cool, but since we didn't think that GateKeeper was opening up again anytime soon, we decided to head to Magnum. Heyyy, Magnum's down too! But while we were there, I asked the ride op if she would pretty pretty please with a cherry and sprinkles and gumdrops on top make an exception and open the ride for us. She laughed but said no, so then I decided to use that opportunity to ask her another important question. Sadly, she was unable to present us with an explanation for why they say that Magnum is Molly Orange. But we did get on Witch's Wheel in the area for the heck of it and that was pretty fun. Not a credit but it was stull fun.
Afterwards we caught up with some fellow CFers and decided to credit whore Woodstock Express. It was a pretty good ride, not my favorite but it was a fun little coaster. Joe had informed me that it was the same layout of the junior inverted coasters that Vekoma made but not inverted, and while I didn't know that, I instantly saw it upon hearing that. I also liked Woodstock's uncovered station, it's definitely something I think more coasters should have. It was a fun little coaster, much better than I thought a coaster of such a small scale could be. But I do think that being part of an American park, they could make the restraints a BIT more accommodating. I've never been kicked off of a coaster for my size, but that one brought me uncomfortably close.
After that, we went around the park to see if everything was truly closed and it was. Brittany, Paul, and I all left to check it out ourselves and to our dismay, all that was up was Woodstock, Corkscrew, and Wicked Twister. So on that note, we decided to go grab something to eat at Famous Dave's outside the park. We grabbed the ultimate barbecue feast for two or something along those lines, and honestly, it was some of the best barbecue I've ever had. It had barbecue chicken, ribs, brisket, beans, coleslaw, corn, and cornbread muffins. We ate at a window seat on the water overlooking the park and it was by far the best meal I've ever had on a park trip.
At Famous Dave's, we did notice that they had opened Blue Streak back up and that it was running. While I was confused how a 60-year old wooden coaster that had just been hit by a dump truck directly on the water could run but a shiny new cutting-edge B&M couldn't, I decided to just enjoy the credit. I rode in the very front and while it was just a little out-and-back, I got a lot more ejector than I was expecting. Blue Streak's old but it definitely packs a punch, and honestly, it's better than a Vekoma boomerang.
After upping my cred count to 62, we headed for Corkscrew. Despite seeing that they were launching Dragster trains from the station, it didn't look promising, so we just went on Corkscrew. There are two kinds of Arrow loopers, ones that should be preserved (Loch Ness Monster, Tennessee Tornado, Vortex) and ones that should be scrapped (Anaconda). Corkscrew should definitely be preserved as it's one of the smoothest Arrow loopers I've ridden and it looks stunning over the midway like that. Maybe I've just gotten good at bracing, but I don't remember getting my head rattled even once.
After Corkscrew, we tried to get on Power Tower, but seeing as they were still making final arrangements to open it back up, we decided to give into the news that Mean Streak had opened. On the way over we swung by Maverick to watch them pull it through the layout while it was stalled (I have it on both still photo and film!) The line wasn't that long, and I love how the queue structure is buried inside the support structure like that. Brittany had actually worked Mean Streak when she was in high school, and as a result knew more about the ride than I did. She said that the ride had three trains, red, green, and gold. Supposedly, the gold train was the least rough and the red one was the worst. Knowing our luck so far, it was almost expected that we would get the red train, and of course, we did. Brittany and I rode in the second row, and Paul rode behind us. All of the little coasters that day had caused me to be surprised looking up that huge wooden lift hill, but the view from the top was incredible. As for the actual ride, I see no reason why people want this ride ironhorsed. I had pulled down that restraint hearing all these horror stories about how you'll need to grit your teeth on the ride and lean forward and properly execute yoga poses to avoid getting beaten up. Yes, the ride's powerful and aggressive. That's why it's fun. I felt as if it was actually smoother than The Beast and having such a long ride packed into such a small space is great, but on a wooden coaster it enables you to have the track storming around inside the support structure. That feeling, the feeling that comes with being perched on top of that wooden structure that high up that close to the lake, and the fact that the coaster runs with the perfect texture for a wooden coaster is what made it my favorite ride of the day. Riding it with somebody who had worked it was also a plus, I feel like I got the perfect Mean Streak experience that day.
After Mean Streak, we saw that Cedar Creek Mine Ride was open again. And had a 2 hour wait!? Brittany noticed that the queue attendant had left and the sign was sitting right there for snot-nosed teenage boys to screw with, so she dialed it back to the appropriate time. In the queue, I was telling Brittany about Formula Rossa's goggle policy and how I thought Cedar Point should have something similar. And out of shear luck, there was a guy in front of us who was actually from Dubai that had ridden it! We talked coasters until we were on the ride, and then it started. From the lift hill, Brittany and I noticed that Millennium was also hooked up to a winch and was being pulled from a valley. Seeing my favorite coaster stuck like that made my blood boil, but we decided to just enjoy Cedar Creek and all it's Arrow quirkiness. Not only did this ride prove that the ride envelope wasn't as strongly stressed as it is today (we could touch the rafters in the coaster barn as well as some of the supports over our heads on the ride), but it proved to me just how great old school Cedar Fair was. It was a tad rough, but that's what made it fun. My favorite part was the dive down to the water.
Once we got off of Cedar Creek Mine Ride, we went to Power Tower since it was probably up. This was by far the scariest ride of the day for me. Aside from the little sissy Intamin drop tower at Carowinds, I had never ridden a drop tower. We went on the green one first, which had been up for debate as to whether it was a launch down or a freefall. I simply asked in engineering terms if V knot was zero or a quantity, but nobody knew. Nervous as heck, I pulled that restraint down and got ready. It was a bit scary being up 240 feet in the air exposed like that, but that's what made it fun. Those few seconds before the drop were absolutely terrifying, but the view made up for it. We were sitting on the backside of the tower, looking down the peninsula, so that made for something nice to look at as opposed to the miles upon miles of woodlands and cornfields that surround Kings Island. And then it shot us down, proving to me that V knot was definitely not zero and that they should put more emphasis on the fact that it is a launch down. That was fun, so after that we did the red one that shoots you up. I loved and hated that feeling of anticipation, waiting for it to shoot you up. But it came, and while the launch wasn't as powerful as I thought it would be, it did provide some good floater at the top. Overall, I loved how I had conquered my fear of tower rides and while I'm not getting on Drop Tower at my home park anytime soon, I liked Power Tower. Next one I ride will probably be Mach Tower.
After Power Tower, there was nothing open worth riding, so we went souvenir shopping. I ended up buying a Gatekeeper mug to remind me of the time I didn't get to ride it, and a Millennium Force hat (which I'm wearing now). That transaction was over 20$, and as a result, I was able to buy a Cedar Point 2013 limited edition t-shirt for only six dollars. It was a steal so I took it, and I'm wearing it right now. Brittany told me that they had better ones at Snoopy's Boutique, so we went there. THEN she remembered that they were all Peanuts t-shirts, and I didn't want a Peanuts one, so we went back to the pagoda gift shop and I bought a Millennium Force snowglobe keychain and a glow-in-the-dark t-shirt. While the second one I got was a small instead of the XL I was reaching for, I'm going to call Cedar Point's merchandising department tomorrow and see if they can switch it out. If not, then I'm going to sew it up into one of those t-shirt pillows and have the most epic ornamental pillow ever. After that we went to the Gatekeeper plaza to get a look at the ride we didn't get to ride. The area's so well done for something so minimalist, it's a shame we didn't get to see it full. There were a few people hanging out, but ordinarily I would expect that place to be rocking. It was sad, but I did get a picture to prove that I can fit in the Gatekeeper test seat!
After that we swung by customer service on the way out to see if we could get a second day pass to make up for the miserable experience we had. We did get a 50% off pass for our next visit, but I don't think it was enough. However, it was better than leaving us without anything to come back with, so I accepted it. We then drove off into the sunset, planning to reschedule our Gatekeeper trip.
Pictures!
Taken of GateKeeper upon walking into the park. Making somebody walk past that without letting them ride should be a federal offense...
Zombie Apocalypse: Cedar Point Edition (seriously, seeing the cloudy skies and no rides running was actually a little creepy)
Millennium Force as seen from the Cedar Point Marina. Probably the prettiest picture of the ride I've taken yet, and I tried to make a Millennium Force calendar later on in the day!
More of Cedar Point from the marina
60 years old, just hit by a dump truck, and STILL running in the wind!
Hang Time...You're doin' it wrong!
Mini Mean Streak and Me!
:censored: Six Flags, Get it together!
Millennium Force...not working.
This is still an awesome shot, though.
Millennium, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, and Snake River Falls
Millennium through the forest
A little valleying won't stop my fun!
The ONE flat ride I wanted to ride and it was down too!
This overbank looks odd from this angle...
I want to make a Millennium Force calendar!
Mantis and Power Tower
This is creepy...
The three of us on the GateKeeper sign
Me strapped into a GateKeeper seat! I don't care if it wasn't connected to the train!
Prettiest cattlepen I've seen in a while...
This is a nice spot too.
Three B&Ms at the park and only the crappy one's running! If it had to be just one, I'd have put Gatekeeper first, then Raptor, then Mantis. But no, Mantis is the only one running! Boo!
I like this shot for some reason.
Artsy Fartsy!
Another nice GateKeeper shot
I'll be back...
