Greetings from Texas!
I have been a big fan of the site for just over a year, but this is the first time I have filed a trip report. A bit about us before we get started with the trip report. Sally and I just celebrated our 10th anniversary in May. We are both in our mid 40’s and even though I have been a big coaster fan my entire life, Sally is only a year and a half into her obsession. The first coaster she ever road was the Manhattan Express in Las Vegas….and the only reason she did that was because we were on our first trip together and she didn’t want to look like a chicken sh*t. To her credit she also road the High Roller and Big Shot that trip. And almost 10 years later, on a still night in Vegas, you can still hear her scream echo throughout sin city. She lost her voice for 2 days after riding the Big Shot.
Flash forward 8 years and I had to go to Orlando for a business trip. Sally tagged along and really sucked it up – deciding that she didn’t want to be a bench sitter all weekend long while I rode coasters. We started out small and by the end of the trip we had ridden just about all the coasters in Orlando. I knew I had her hooked for good when she wanted to re-ride the Hulk immediately after we finished our first ride.
We were home two weeks when she “made” me take her to Six Flags Over Texas. Then it was off to Southern CA for Thanksgiving ’08 where we did 16 coasters in 4 days. And she was getting more and more brave, riding Tatsu (2x) and even X. Early on however, her obsession was focused on one ride. A ride we had seen on TV (& the famous e-mail that goes around every year or so) - and just 3 years ago she couldn’t believe people actually pay money to ride – Top Thrill Dragster. That is the ride she always talked about. The one she had to ride. So when we heard about Coastermania, we packed up and headed to Ohio.
I had been to Cedar Point about 10 years ago and had a blast. Magnum was the newest ride at the time and was certainly the biggest thing I had ever ridden. Besides that and riding the Raptor 2x, I don’t recall much of the first trip. We arrived on Monday afternoon and checked into the Hotel Breakers. For anyone that hasn’t stayed there, the place is ok, but the room we were in was really run down. However, the drive around the park to get to the hotel was amazing. It really builds the excitement! We were in the park by 6 pm and went straight to the Raptor. This has always been one of my favorite rides and I was thrilled to see that the line was no more than 15 min. In fact, until Friday, for Coastermania, we never waited longer than 20 minutes for anything other than TTD, MF and Maverick. It was really amazing. The weather was overcast and not too hot. The threat of rain probably helped with the crowds, but we got to ride everything that we wanted as many times as we wanted. Early June is defiantly the time to go to the Point.
We hit the park again Tuesday morning for early ride time @ 9am (the real reason to stay at one of the park’s hotels) and rode all day. On Wednesday we drove into Cleveland and went to the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame and then down to Canton, OH to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A great day except for the 2 hours we spent parked on Highway 77 because some idiot was threatening to jump off a bridge onto the highway. On Thursday we went back into Cleveland and went to the Zoo, which was really nice. We made it back to the park in time to ride Raptor, Maverick, Millennium Force and Dragster before it closed for the night.
Friday & Coastermania came & so did the heat. Because we had ridden all the rides the night before that were going to be open for ERT starting at 6am we slept in (knowing we’d be up late that night). I have to say that the park did a great job of hosting the event. They gave us all really nice hooded sweatshirts (who knew it would be the first day of the year to hit 90 degrees), cups for free drinks all day and a great lunch (with caramel apples and saltwater taffy for everyone!). During lunch we struck up a conversation with Big Mike. I didn’t know who he was at the time (I have since read his thread), but saw on the back of his t-shirt that he was headed to Oklahoma this year (where I grew up). What a nice guy.
The Q&A before lunch was fun, even though there were no big announcements made (like what/when the next big coast would be). I wish I got the names of everyone that was on the panel. It was obvious that they loved coasters and their jobs. Some of the questions were about service issues individuals had experienced and without exceptions, they said “see us after and we’ll take care if it”. They said they had a 5 year plan but wouldn’t tell us anything about it! They did hint about some things (1) they would love to build a ride that starts/goes out over the lake, (2) they love big dark rides, (3) they love big wooden roller coasters. they are not out of room to add more costers & (5) they want to retain their title of roller coaster capital.
Friday night, right at 10pm a storm came through. We had actually just been locked into seats on Mantis and were ready to leave the platform when the call came down that everything was to shut down immediately. It looked for awhile like they might actually shut down the park for the night and we would all miss out on our ERT on Maverick (a surprise last minute add), Gemini, Gemini Jr, Magnum and TTD. After about 25 minutes of some pretty heavy rain the clouds cleared and the rides started up. For those of you that haven’t been in a park for ERT at night, it is an amazing thing. No crowds, hardly any lines & everyone is a real coaster fan. It was truly magical. And a great end to our trip.
One last note, when we finished up lunch with the group, I went up to the gentleman that hosted the Q&A earlier in the day to thank him for a wonder time and lunch. There was a gentleman standing next to him that I hadn’t previously seen and not wanting to interrupt their conversation, I said my quick thanks and headed out to the park. As Sally and I were walking out I saw the 2nd gentleman again, whose name tag said “Dick” and asked him what he did within the organization. He said he was the CEO. Turns out it was Dick Kinzel, chairman, president and chief executive officer. He was the nicest, most unassuming guy. We chatted for a minute until he stopped to have his picture taken with a family. It was great capper to a great day.
Guess that’s it for the talk’n. Here are some pics from the week. Enjoy.
Tom
the first sign you see!
like a mirage!
getting close!
magnum from the hotel parking lot
doesn't look so rough from here....
The drive around the park to get to the Hotel Breakers is cool. It give you a very different view of several rides; Blue Streak, Millinium Force, Mavrick, Mean Streak & Magnum. One View gives a great contrast of the old & the new.
toll booth love
We went straight to The Raptor! This is one of my favorite coasters - anywhere. It was amazing that there was no more than a 15 minute waite all week - until friday and the coaster groups showed up.
the screen on the left is where they show their night time movie thingy
they ought to have a contest to see who can get the most rides in one pic!
a great way to see the park
during the q&a it was revealed that the demon drop is indeed for sale. i bid $100 dollars, which got a small laugh from the group, but no deal (i would have gone up to $350)
ever get tired of the picture guys always asking to take your pic? i started beating them to the punch. it drove sally crazy, but some of them thought it was funny. these two were great fun.
a very small crowd on a monday @ 6pm
...but we had to go to the front to pick up our season passes
the secret back gate - for hotel guests!
Hotel Breakers - nice on the outside!
sally & her obsession
a great old ride
during the 5 days we were there, the ride was down several times. they always worked as fast as they could to get it running again. usually it was down for no longer than 30 min or so.
i took easily 100 photos of the dragster...i did try to edit a few out...
the dragster is really like the eiffel tower in paris, you can see it from almost any where in the park and it is always captivating!
an amazing ride. and we did get to see a rollback! at the q&a someone asked how they could get a rollback and everyone cheered. the panel said the best chance is to get there early on a cold day. we saw ours after the ride was down for about 30 min.
the launch!
check out the two in the first row. no matter how many times the announcer said "sit straight up with your head against the head rest" she couldn't do it. bet she had a headache (or backache) when it was all said & done
the longest lines were for the dragster, but never longer than 45 minutes
it would suck to get stuck like this!
i gotta be the first person EVER to take this shot! the cork screw is an ok ride, but it really is amazing how close you can get & how much it adds to the atmosphere of the park
the best airtime in the park
amazing how smooth this ride is in comparison to magnum
i love the lift system that speeds up the climb. and that first drop is something else.
millenium force is an amazing ride. we road it 4x. we met a great couple from ohio while standing in line on friday night.
this is really a fun ride. and even better at night.
my only lift hill shot. the rules seemed to be a little more relaxed on the iron dragon.
i could swear that the last time i was at the point there were more plaques. we only saw a couple this time.
a neat view from the beach at the hotel, w/the magnum poking out at the far end
long , slow lift hill....
the first time we road magnum it was so, so rough. we swore we would never it ride again. that held until the ERT on friday night. there was no line so we gave it another shot, and it wasn't nearly as bad. infact, we got to re-ride as there was no one in line behind us. a much better ride when you know what to expect.
snoopy is everywhere....
all week long there was this white stuff falling off the trees. it was so heavy at times that it collected around polls, looking like snow. there were also the mosquito-looking bugs that came out every evening. they didn't bite, but made for tasty treats as you came down a first drop.
during the q&a it was asked if they were thinking of taking down the mean streak and replacing with a smoother bigger woodie. nope - it ain't going nowhere.
the mean streak does earn it's name. so rough sally would ride the 2nd time with me. good thing, it was even worse the second time.
sally would still be there riding the maverick (& dragster & mf) if we didn't have jobs to go back to.
smooth vs. rough. guess which is which!
the fast lift and first drop are fantastic! not the biggest drop in the world, but the angle is thrilling.
i have to admitt that i wasn't overly excited about the maverick - until we road it. what great fun. we road it 4x - all in the front row. the only way to go on this ride.
there was never more than a short line for the mantis. a fun ride, but a little rough at the end.
one last dragster pic....
and finally, a couple nite time pics.
i stopped to take this pic late one night as we were coming back from a day trip to cleveland. as soon as i got out of the car a security guard pulled in behind us. i thought i was in trouble but the guy said he just wanted to make sure we were ok & to take my time. a really nice guy.
the owner of the feet in the previous pic.
while in line for the gemini (red car), i looked up and saw this.
lot's of screaming people.
there seems to be lots of room in the far back part of the park for more coasters. it's rather quaint, but i'm not sure why there christmas, candle and china shops at a coaster park....
now she says "i wish we had ridden that"
this did look like great fun (to me. sally, not so much)
let's finish the park pics with some of the flat rides. i was amazed at how many there were scattered throughout the park. we didn't ride a one of them...except the sky ride. guess we have to go back!
it is so obvious that these guys love their jobs. and enjoy interacting with customers.
i am sorry for not having the names of the participants at the q&a. if anyone knows, please feel free to add them
the wildcat was the only coaster not open while we were there....and no one would say why. at the q&a the panel mentioned an "incident" but didn't elaborate. they did say the the ride was not going away & would re-open as soon as they could make adjustments.
i luv me some blue streak! there was never a line & we even got to re-ride once.
...so twisted.
so wicked....
there are still a number of rides that harken back to the days of an old time family park.
that same day we drove down to canton and went to the pro football hall of fame. sally loves football (but the wrong teams) as much as i do. i am a lucky man.
they wouldn't let us take pictures inside...so this is it for the hall
we went to the rock 'n roll hall of fame one day. i've been a couple times before, this was sally's first.
as soon as we got to his display, this bear walked over to the log, sat down and posed. he worked us pretty hard for a treat, but we had nothing to give.
that's it. hope you enjoyed the report. td
i have been trying forever to get a good cheetah shot. they are usually hidding in the back of their pens. i got lucky and this one was up close and i could get a good angle.
we also took a day trip to the cleveland zoo. a really nice - and spread out zoo - it was the first day of real heat, so the animals were pretty lazy.
this is a great museum. you could spend all day here. so many cool things. they had all the superbowl rings. go cowboys!
kinda creepy from the outside, really cool once you get into the room
