CoasterLine

The infield is currently used for maintenance and storage, along with a Halloweekends Haunt (Eden Musee), so it really isn't wasted.

The difference between Mean Streak and Corkscrew is that Corkscrew has history, and yes, takes a lot less real estate. It interacts with the midway well, and isn't tucked away in the back corner of the park so it still gets better ridership. I have never had a problem with pain on Corkscrew other than the actual Corkscrews before I knew to tuck my head to the left when entering them, and I'm over 6' tall. Mean Streak can retain it's visual and be turned into an amazing ride, where Corkscrew cannot. That's where the call for MS to get the transformation comes from. I love the look of it, I just don't like the chiropractic bill I get from riding it anywhere but front row.

^ In terms of FunPix, I definitely think it's worth it. In the past 15 years, I have maybe purchased a photo three times? In my first visit with FunPix, I got 9 on-ride photos. Already paid itself off. And you get to have some fun with the cameras knowing that you get the photo to keep afterwards. Once you get it linked up with your Platinum Pass, it's a breeze. Example: Stonewalling MF

Little mini trip report for Tuesday 5/17: Weather looked a little dodgy on the way in. Pretty overcast, sprinkling as we got in the parking lot, car said 53 degrees... Let's see how this goes. In the park at 10:10 - Man, there are a lot of buses and kids around. Yay, Physics Week... 10:20 - Valravn (45min) Skipped - Looking at the push of people at the front of the park that early, we saw it was listed at 45min, but looked more like an hour or so. We moved on. 10:30 - Rougarou (walkon) - Not a single person in line... Perfect. Walked right up and into the seat. So happy they decided on the floorless trains, couldn't stand Mantis (no pun intended). 10:48 - Millennium Force (15min) - With everyone at the front of the park, not much of a line for MF. Decided to wait a little bit longer for second seat. Definitely more rattle than I remembered, but also delivered more air than I can remember as well. 11:25 - Maverick (45min) Skipped - Nope. Only running 4 trains, and the line was crawling. We'll come back. 11:35 - Cedar Creek Mine Ride (5min) - Was essentially a walkon, but only running one train, so made it about a 5 minute wait. 11:41 - SkyHawk (walkon) - Haven't ridden this since opening year, but with no one in line we decided to hit it. More fun than I remembered. 12:00 - Magnum XL-200 (23min) - Ugh, please pull out the second train. Rode middle row (always the smoothest) in last car. Ejector air strong as ever. Watched TTD roll back in testing, and trains didn't move for another couple of hours. 12:35 - Power Tower [Red] (walkon) - No wait, so we decided to hit the red side, which normally I pass over. 12:39 - SkyRide (5min) - Great to see its running strong for another year 12:52 - Gatekeeper (15min) left side - Suprisingly long lines for everything near Valravn (Raptor was at about 1.5hr), but GK was empty. 1:11 - Gatekeeper (15min) right side - Decided to re-ride with the short lines. 1:40 - Valravn (1.25hr) Skipped - Got even longer. Nope, we'll be back. 2:11 - Maverick (1hr) Skipped - Another longer line, we'll come back. 2:34 - Power Tower [blue] (15min) - Sun finally came out, and so did the humidity. Hit the blue side this time, as soon as we got to the top saw activity on TTD, so we meandered over that way afterwards. 2:47 - Top Thrill Dragster started cycling, line opened at 3:18 3:18 - Top Thrill Dragster (20min) - Once the line opened, we got on quickly. Been a while since I've ridden it, but still love this one trick pony. 3:54 - Valravn (40min) - Finally decided it's worth it, and holy crap is it ever. Short layout, but damn it packs a punch. Drop is great, and that barrel roll gives A LOT of hangtime. Got air on the hill at the end as well. Great additional for Cedar Point. 5:11 - Raptor (15min) - The line was gone from earlier, as it looks like most of the schools have begun leaving. Always worth the wait when < 20 minutes. 5:35 - Blue Streak (10min) - Holy crap, I never remember having so much ejector air on the ride. Feels a lot smoother through the turn around. 5:50 - Millenium Force (20min) - Had to have one more ride on MF in the back row. Love the pull over the top of the hill. 6:17 - Maverick (30min) - Line died, so we finally hit it up, front row (3 train wait over any other row). 6:58 - Maverick (15min) Uh, oh... - Since the line died, we decided to re-ride, then head up front to hit Valravn one or two more times until the park closed. Me and my buddy separated from the other two in our group and went a train ahead, and while sitting in the brakes, our friends ended up stalling out in the tunnel. Ended up waiting in the brakes for about 45 minutes, while our friends in the tunnel were waiting to be launched. Finally, they launched out, they rearranged the trains, and we got off just about at 7:50. The ops handed out Exit Entry passes to any ride, but unfortunately by the time we were able to make it up front, all of the lines were closed. Even though people were still cycling through Valravn, they wouldn't let us use the passes because the "lines were closed" Oh well, have one pass to use next time. Total Rides: Blue Streak Cedar Creek Mine Ride Gatekeeper (x2) Magnum XL-200 Maverick (x2) Millennium Force (x2) Power Tower (x2) Raptor Rougarou Skyhawk Sky Ride Top Thrill Dragster Recommendation: Get FunPix and avoid Physics week. Normally, on a weekday in May, everything will be <15mins, but damn did the park stack up with middle and high schoolers. Might head back next week. FunPix, once set up, is really quick and definitely worth it. Got about $90 worth of on-ride photos on just the first day. Definitely adds some fun to the mix seeing what you can come up with for on-ride photos since you know you'll get them for "free" afterwards.

^ Magnum was only running one train most of the day yesterday, which turned a likely 10 minute or so wait into nearly a half hour. Still worth it for ejector in the back.

Last time we strolled through the plaza Valravn was about 1.25hrs. Edit 3:25: TTD just opened.

TTD testing now. Just cycled 6 trains, line stacked back to ID pond waiting for queue to open.

At the park. Valravn area is fairly packed, with all rides.fairly long. About to hop on GK tho, only ten minute wait. TTD been down all day, tested earlier, rolled back twice. Mean Streak still down. Maverick wait was 45mins earlier, not sure what they are now. Only running 4 trains.

Tony stated in one of his Periscopes the reason for 8-across is due to vest / restraint size.

Starting to spray on the grass seed in the "infield" today. Also, judging by Tony's Periscope this morning, it gives me the impression that B&M will be finished commissioning and releasing the coaster to the park today or tomorrow. I'm assuming the test was was testing a GoPro or remote camera for broadcasting a POV as Tony was discussing that yesterday.

^ This is a Pandora station for Valravn, not Raptor

I'm sure once full-fledged testing begins, they will keep the webcams pointed at the coaster. Right now, if they are doing any sort of case testing with one train, especially on a cold day, it's easier to turn it away then get flooded with "WHAT HAPPENED?!" tweets and posts in the event that a train might valley.

Might be confusing, but if I'm guessing if it did say "now open" it was probably referring to the park itself, rather than Lightning Rod. That said, I haven't seen the commercial, so I have no clue.

Still less of a bottleneck than the train track crossover between Rougarou and MF. At least here you can go around the other side of the Sky Ride. Looks like Tony is having a little fun with the webcam.

^ Not yet, I believe they are still just backfilling the areas first with the gravel, and will be pouring everything either later this week or early next (in terms of the main pathways)

Looking at Tony's twitter, in conjunction with that photo, it looks like one train is the left bay , and the picture from the Cedar Point Instagram is showing the two other trains in the right bay, back-to-back. Notice the "short" first row behind what appears to be the third row of the train in front of it, as well as the different color backing. From @TonyClarkCP:

We could only hope no firewood, otherwise RMC will have to build from scratch later on. More than likely trains are being loaded back into transfer.

Welp, my work here is done (unless I want to update it once trains are on the track). Today's High Resolution Update Daily Constructon Progress Updates in High Resolution Valravn trackwork complete as of March 2, 2016

We're down to the last piece. Looks like Valravn will be full-circuit today.

Three segments left to go. Today's High Resolution Update Daily Constructon Progress Updates in High Resolution Construction Progress as of March 1, 2016

Technically 5 left. There is one segment on site, 4 in staging. Judging by the average, and the remaining support configuration, we'll probably see two more segments lifted today (which will span to the next support beam), and the remaining 3 pieces lifted either Wednesday or Thursday (depending on weather).

From my count, only 8 track sections left. Five in today, so if everything stays consistent, track lifting should be completed by Wednesday. Today's High Resolution Update Daily Constructon Progress Updates in High Resolution Construction Progress as of February 29, 2016

Progress GIF up to yesterday. View the High-Resolution version

Didn't get around to posting yesterday's update. Yesterday's High Resolution Update Daily Constructon Progress Updates in High Resolution Construction Progress as of February 27, 2016

That box / room has been there since the beginning of construction. Had a door on the side, likely a storage room for something during construction. Will likely be removed once lifting is complete.