bert425

maybe.. . and hopefully I can convince my other half to come with me! (even tho he wouldn't ride almost anything in the park. . really, I think the only things I'd get him on would be Troika, Tiki Twirl, the antique cars, the carousel, and Cedar Downs). but still . . would love to go back, just dunno when / if it's in the cards.

glad you liked it

and here is the swag (CP specific) I came back with: (didn't take pics of the Dinosaurs Alive! magnets. .but they are, you know, Dinosaurs) Coastermania! Badge (Itinerary) & Pin front of badge & Pin CP "Coasters" shirt CP logo shirts. . green is a gift for Nick, Blue is mine Coastermania! shirt CP Marina polo shirt (gift for Nick) Millennium Force chunky Magnet MF magnet from the front CP colorful Metal Magnet Cleveland magnet bought at the airport

Day Six, Tuesday - or: “This is the end, beautiful friend This is the end, my only friend, the end Of our elaborate plans, the end Of everything that stands, the end No safety or surprise, the end I'll never look into your eyes, again ” Once again, in spite of how late we had stayed up, the amount of alcohol consumed, and the very little sleep I got (wont’ get into details, but it was less than 3 hours total, similar to the night before), I was up and awake by 8:45 am. We didn’t have to check out of the hotel until 11am, although we had planned to leave somewhere between 10:30-11 just to make sure we had enough time to find our way back to the airport and get the car returned. Our flights were both after 2:45 pm, and so factoring in the drive back to Cleveland that would have left us plenty of time even if we left at 11. I had already checked into my flight the prior evening, on my phone, when United sent me the link and told me I could check in early. So I wasn’t worried about that. But despite the lack of good sleep I was feeling pretty refreshed. . still feeling the Cedar Point “zest” I suppose. I debated going back to sleep, but was worried that if I did, I’d feel like crap when I woke back up in an hour, and better to just get up when I was feeling ok. So after a few moments of consideration (letting it get closer to 9), I woke up Bill and asked him if he was interested in getting up and going down to Perkins for a nice leisurely breakfast. We had both pretty much packed the night before – I had been mentioning to him during the day on Monday I was going to be doing that, and he decided that sounded like a good idea so he had packed after leaving the park on Monday evening and I had packed before coming back down to the bar after I got back from the park later. And we had planned on going to Perkins for breakfast anyways, but I reasoned that if we went earlier, we could take our time. He said that sounded good to him, and he got up too, and we got dressed and headed down to the lobby. There wasn’t much of a line or a wait to get into Perkins, but the check in for Breakers seemed a bit lengthy to me – I guess folks start arriving on Tuesdays, now that schools were starting to empty out? (Monday hadn’t seemed that crowded). And we got seated pretty quickly. Sidenote: the Perkins coffee is really, really good. Not as good as the Starbucks specialty coffees, but really good, and I enjoyed it very much both times we ate there. Along with the coffee, Bill got the full size Eggs Benedict, and I got basically a breakfast skillet with a pancake on the side. Our waiter was on top of things, and very entertaining (tho I don’t think he realized we were mostly entertained by how he was sashaying back and forth between his tables. . .let’s just say, Bill and I uttered a few “guuuuurrrrllll” s as he walked, LOL). Not a whole lot to report about breakfast, the food was good, we were both in great moods (despite the vacation being over  ), and we took our time eating, then wandered the grounds for a little bit on the way back up to the room. It was only ~10am, but after discussion, we decided that better to leave and show up early, then to get lost and be late getting to the airport, so we packed up the rest of our things. Mainly, what we packed were the leftover snacks we had from CVS that we had not eaten (tho we had eaten much of them). Bill had been kind of obsessing over how much water was going to be left, since we had bought a 24 pack, and I had kept telling him that I’d been drinking it, and there really wasn’t that much left. (besides, it had only been like $3.99). . . but he kept thinking there would be so much left! When we got around to packing the water, I was able to show him there were only 3 bottles left (two by the time we got into the car, and only 1 by the time we got to the airport). Yeah, I drink a lot of water. We went ahead and brought our stuff out to the car first (making sure we left a tip for housekeeping in the room.. rule of thumb, $2-$3 per day, per person (even tho we only had cleaning every other day). . so I think we left $26 between the 2 of us, with a note thanking them). From the parking lot, we went to the front desk to check out – and timed it such that there was nobody there, other than a couple that Bill got in front of anyways since he was walking faster. . tho they seemed to give us stink eye. . LOL. .there was no one else there, so the wait was maybe 5 mintues? And with that easy check out, we headed back out to the car, and were ready to leave Coaster Nirvana and go back to real life (ie: to the airport). Bill wanted me to “navigate”. .but really all I knew what that Cleveland was to the left, and so we headed that way. Luckily, He had kept all the stuff from the trip in, so we still had that terribly small map of Ohio, and I used that to try to follow along to make sure we were going the correct direction. Although it wasn’t the best guide, that map, along with my decent memory, got us most of the way . . . tho we seemed to be getting back much quicker than we had gotten to Cedar Point on the first day. I suppose anticipation can do that to you. We never saw the exit we had been looking for, but we passed something that sounded similar. . so I referred to the tiny map, and saw that the next major cross-street seemed to be past where we should have turned. We weren’t sure tho, and as I said, it seemed that we hadn’t been driving long enough. But then we started passing things that did *not* look familiar, and we seemed to be headed into downtown Cleveland. So I convinced Bill to exit and go back to the street that looked like maybe it connect to where we needed to have gone – and after he did so, we saw the familiar park that we had passed on our way to the freeway from the airport. Breathing a sigh of relief, we started looking for a gas station – as we had to top off the tank (we had not chosen to let the rental car folks fill it for us, by pre-paying, since we hadn’t really used the car much), and we found a Shell (I think) station where I thought we were fairly close to the airport (but no signs. . absolutely NO airport signs. .it was so bizarre. . but we knew we were on the right street as we had come this way on the first day). I might be mis-recalling, but I THINK it was $2.09 a gallon (vs the $2.38 the rental company had priced for refilling the tank), so although I didn’t know how much we needed, the cashier wouldn’t let us just fill it first and pay after. So I gave her a $10, and that filled us up to the top perfectly. What’s funny is that although the gas station was pretty dead, I got stuck behind a lady buying lottery tickets. She took so long, a crowd (and line) did form – again, wherever we go, the crowd follows. But outside, while Bill is waiting for me to give the cashier the $10 so he can fill the tank. .what pulls up next to him? A Maverick. Don’t think Bill got a pic, but I do believe he made a comment to the guy about how nice it was to see a Maverick that was running consistently. LOL We topped off the tank, and easily turned back onto the road we were on, keeping an eye out for – and not seeing – any airport or car rental return signs. But about a mile up, we passed another gas station, and the price here was $2.49 a gallon. . so I said to Bill.. we are really close! (the high prices are always right next to car return), and sure enough, the next light was the turn we had originally come out from when we picked up the car. Ended up being SUPER easy. . we followed the turn back around, pulled into the lot, Bill signed the checklist they gave him and returned the keys, and they directed us to the front of the Car Rental area to catch the airport shuttle – which happened to be there, idling and waiting for other folks, so we just hopped right on. one quick ride to the main airport terminal (and yes, we tipped the shuttle driver, and this time a few others did too!), and we went up to our respective counters where Bill checked in for his flight, and I printed out my boarding passes – since I had checked in on the phone, and wanted a paper copy. It was way early for our flights. . not even Noon yet. . but we weren’t hungry, as we had eaten such a big breakfast. I still had the 1 bottle of water, so we decided to sit by the ticket counters to people watch, I sipped my water, and played a bit on TPR (via my phone) and sent Bill’s hubby an email response (We had emailed him over the weekend to let him know how things were going and he had responded, so we responded to his email via my phone ‘speaking’ for Bill). I had a book and a couple of magazines, and tho we were still a little early, we hugged our goodbyes (it had been a very good trip and I very much enjoyed spending the days with Bill), and he headed thru the Security gate. I finished up the article I had started reading, and then I too headed thru security. .where they stopped me and actually went thru my wallet. Something that has never happened before. I have always held it in my hand when going thru the scanner, but this TSA agent said that I could have hidden a razor blade inside it, so he went thru every bit of it. (I didn’t want to cause a fuss, so just asked him to be careful, and let him do it. . but I was very clear that this had never happened before and that I always carry my walled thru the scanner, as I wasn’t going to put money on the conveyer belt. . so yeah, that was odd). As I noted on my arrival report, the Cleveland airport is way bigger than it looks from the outside, and it was a heck of a walk to get to my gate. *especially* since my carry-on was a bit heavier now, with all the swag I had picked up But when I finally did and settled in, at least I was close to the restrooms and a newsstand directly across. I finished up my magazines, and went to stretch my legs and take a look in the newsstand, where I picked up a movie magazine (Wonder Woman cover story. .which had just opened, but I hadn’t gotten to see yet), and of course I had to look at Magnets. Most of the Cleveland magnets had to do w/ the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and most of them were fugly. But I did find one I really liked, so bought that one – a stained glass type of cloisonné pin with a Guitar, and a vinyl record. It was the last one they had of this type at the newsstand and, of course, was the most expensive one at $8.99. But I liked it, so went ahead and bought it (and it looks great on the fridge). Eventually, it was time to board, and I wasn’t really dreading it even tho I knew I had a massive layover in Washington (where United has switched my flight to, instead of flying thru Houston with a 1 hour time between flights). It was going to make for a long travel day, but I figured even tho a small plane, there was only going to be one person next to me for the 1st flight, about an hour and twenty. Well, silly me, of COURSE it isn’t gonna be *that* easy. My “seat-mate” was the elderly woman, who was wearing several layers of clothing (which I thought was odd, as it was warm-ish). She also had on heavy rouge, and way (way) too much perfume. . I recognized her as she had tried to cut in the line when boarding, shoving her way up twice, after being sent back by United personnel the 1st time. She was talking on her phone when I finally made it back to our row, and I said hello, and sat down and put on my seat belt. We backed away from the gate, and I thought to myself.. wow, the perfume is STRONG, but I can handle it for an hour-ish. And then we stopped on the tarmac, and the captain said that there was weather in the area, and they were trying to figure out a re-route. So we sat there for almost 30 minutes. . me thinking, don’t get sick, don’t get sick, don’t get sick. I wasn’t worried about the connection because my layover was long enough that wouldn’t be an issue even if we were over an hour late. When we finally were given clearance, the woman immediately crossed her arms, resting them on the armrests, and poking me in the side with her elbow. Now, I’ve lost weight, I fit in the seat very easily, thank you very much, even with a smaller plane. But I figured she was nervous about take off, and would move again once we were in the air. Nope. She few the entire time that way, with her elbow well into my seat, and me having to lean into the aisle so I wasn’t getting poked. and you bet I asked her to move her arm, several times, while she pretended not to understand. I informed her that I had HEARD her speaking English when I first sat down, so I knew she was pretending she didn’t understand me. Eventually, I just shoved her elbow out of the way. It crept back several times, and she pretended to be sleeping now. . so I just didn’t want to deal with it. I leaned into the aisle and red my book. And yes, the Steward noticed and actually mouthed “I’m sorry” to me when bringing by the drink cart, but there was nothing that could be done, since it was a full flight. At least it was a shorter flight, and we didn’t get to Washington too much later than expected. Of course the connecting flight was in a completely different terminal – one that you cannot walk to. So I waited to take the shuttle with a lot of other folks, and we made it to the other terminal, and I found the gate for my upcoming flight. the connecting flight out of Washington wasn’t for almost 2 hours still (even tho we had been delayed) but I noticed they were flashing on the screens some openings in the front of the plane. . and since there was a guy at the counter, I went up and asked how much it was to upgrade? It ended up being $159, and even tho he told me it was not a “full” flight to Austin, the idea of having to sit next to someone like what had just happened was just too much, and after thinking about it for about 10 seconds gave him my credit card and upgraded. Like magic, I was boarding group 1 (instead of 4), and I sat down to read my book and try to relax, knowing I now had a larger seat for my longer flight (billed as 3 ½, but really closer to 3). People started lining up almost 40 minutes before the scheduled flight, so I went ahead and got in the line too, as group 1 & 2 combine into 1 line. . but it turns out I could have just waited, as he called the 12 seats in Group 1 first, so I could have just stayed comfortable and then gotten up when he called just my group. Oh well, live and learn. I was the last row in 1st class (no idea they even called it that. .I just upgraded. . and took it for the more comfortable seat), but we had our own steward for our 4 rows of 3, and he brought us cocktails, while the rest of the plane was boarding! (I was IMing w/ Nick and told him I had upgraded, and he looked it up on United’s website and told me that not only are cocktails included, but so was a meal! (honestly, again I had no idea, but I wasn’t gonna argue, and was glad I hadn’t stopped to eat anything in the Washington airport, instead just picking up some nuts for snack on the plane). So yeah, I had a couple of Bloody Marys - that came in glass (not plastic) glasses. I felt so fancy. I also had enough leg-room that I could actually cross my legs in my seat without going into the aisle, or bothering the person next to me! I had felt a little out of place, but adapted pretty quickly. . by the time the steward brought out the warm, spearmint scented towels (handed out with little tongs), I did just like the others in the section did and laid it on my face to steam my pores, and then used it to rinse my hands. This was followed by a small glass bowl for each of us filled with nuts (and not just peanuts. . .almonds & cashews). oo. . no little bags of peanuts for us. . . . fancy! The steward then came by to take our food orders. .choice was a beef salad or a chicken wrap (I went for the chicken), followed by more cocktails. Now the draw for me was the more space after the nightmare 1st ½ of my flight home. . but as I told Nick? Best $159 I’ve spent in years. Worth every penny, and if I ever have another 3+ hour flight, I will again look into upgrading. The flight absolutely flew (since I was so comfortable), and other than a slight annoyance at the gate in Austin (seriously? People ran up the aisle and were standing in the front of the door, so we couldn’t even get out of our seats. . .the Steward almost had to physically push people back, so the first few rows could get our stuff from overhead and exit the plane!). . . other than this slight annoyance, I was soon out at the curb – no checked bag for me – and hopping into my Husband’s truck, as he had come over from the cell phone lot when he saw we landed on the screens there. I think we stopped on the way home to pick him up something for dinner, and then I told him all about my adventures at Cedar Point (even tho I had talked to him every night on the phone anyways). . of course, he really wanted to know what I bought him. But what I brought back for me? (other than some great shirts/magnets) were a ton of memories from a bucket list park, I had never thought I’d get to go to. And who knows? Maybe I’ll be back next year again for Coastermania! After all. .there will be a new RMC to ride, and I’ve never actually been on one! Thanks for reading, I had a great time typing it up, and it brought back some incredible memories (that work stress is already threatening to overtake). Best, bert Nice weather for our final day. Looking out the stairwell on the 3rd floor to Lake Erie Bill relaxing in the room, post breakfast, while discussing going ahead and getting on the road early. OMG. .the leg room. best $159 spent in years! on my 2nd flight, after upgrade, in my big chair! (row 4). sheesh. . look how tired I look. (a couple of night of drinking and very little sleep, and full days at an amusement park will do that to ya!) a warm towel, that was scented to Spearmint! Bloody Mary, sparkling water, and fancy nuts in a glass bowl. wow. . 1st class is nice! my full meal (that I hadn't been expecting) on United, in 1st class.

Sounds like RMC is still trying to perfect those launched woodies... [youtu_be] [/youtu_be]

not really. . just a basic figure 8, I'd say. but historically? the 1st Intamin, and a hard credit to actually get . . . and it did have a little pop of air over the mid course hill.

it really doesn't have anything to do with how much money you have. I'd recommend checking out this thread from the "Ask Alvey" forum: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=27861 if you think it's worth it, one finds a way to make it happen. period. it's all about budgeting. Edited to add: and keep in mind, I've already responded that I personally never buy them (two weeks ago excepted, and Bill bought them because I said i'd do whatever he wanted for our CP trip)

that's not true *at all* if one thinks the pass is worth it, then you SAVE to afford it and budget it in. it has nothing at all to do with "disposable" income and everything to do with whether or not one thinks it's worth it.

as others have said, it really depends on the park. when my Husband and I travel, we *never* buy fastlane/fastpass etc. . . but we always budget 2-3 days for parks we really want to spend time in, so take it very leisurely. of course, we also consider waiting in lines part of the experience and use that time to slow down, enjoy people watching and chatting. We're not "multiple re-rides in the same day" people either, so for most things, we ride it once, then move on to next thing, and if we liked it, we'll go back later (or on a different day) for additional rides. For example: we spent 3 days at BGT and got multiple rides on Cheetah Hunt over those 3 days, (most often two rides per day, once in morning once at night) but never bought a fast pass, or similar, instead we just waited in the lines and took our time. even at a park we only spent one day in: Seaworld Orlando, we didn't get Fastpass, but managed to get on everything except for Journey to Atlantis (a sad miss), but we were absolutely ready to get into the hour+ wait, and we were actually headed to that line when everything went down for storms and after 2 hours (and it was obvious nothing was coming back up) we just gave up and left. so yeah. . for ME? I tend not to buy. as Bill said, we did FastLane+ at CP a few Saturdays ago. Would I have bought it if I were there with my Hubby? no, likely not, ESPECIALLY since we were there the day before and it was so dead we got on everything, and we were going to be there the Monday after as well. So did it help cut the lines and we got to ride things much quicker on that Saturday? absolutely. And if we were only going to be there one day, then yeah, I'd buy it again. But since we were doing multiple days, if I had been with spouse, we woudln't have gotten it and would have spent Sat riding mostly flats, and things with not long lines, and maybe waited in a couple of long coaster lines as breaks. . then would have gone back on Monday for re-rides. it's really up to the individual. .but as a standard, we do not buy them.

I took it off in the hotel

just to point out, I spent the whole trip at CP, wearing my Alpina Blitz hat, that i got from a "TPR Bag o Crap" I won a couple of years ago. so tho I had my Club TPR shirt with me on the trip (didn't wear it tho ). . TPR was with me in spirit the whole time.

that looks like a fairly nice Aquarium (and as we are "Aquarium" folks.. I notice things like that). how many hours did you spend there? which of course, translates to : should we put it on our list when we finally make the Dollywood trip?

it's a great idea. . . would have been nice to be able to ride it during this (from last year, a storm that lasted and was this heavy, for a while):

to be honest, I didn't need the shade, I was enjoying the mild weather. the theater looked a bit abandoned too.. . how weird that it used to be a Dolphin show, you said? still a bit sad we didn't see any advertising for some of the shows. ..would have been fun. Oh well, maybe next time if I get to go back. (by the way, working on my Tuesday, short, flying-home update. Likely will get that up tomorrow, and then my TR will be done. .tho I think Bill might have some pics from Monday still to add).

The pictures are amazing, and I envy you got to see so much "culture" stuff in the museum, and in London. (not to mention the shows). Kidzania looks neat, but as someone without kiddos I think it wouldn't be a stop for me. . but great that Kristen has a good time, and the concept is very cool. my biggest take-away (ha!) from the report was this: after so many years of hearing comments from friends/relatives/comics about how "awful" the food is in the UK? this looks so damn good. I'll have to go look up the menu at this place, just to see what I'm missing! can't wait to see the next update. edit: oooo. . I looked it up, and they have opened a restaurant in Boston, and one in Manhattan!!! (still far away from Texas, but a closer trip than to London). . on my bucket list! https://www.wagamama.us/

Thank you, exactly!! The BMX show is awesome. It's not just bikes, scooters, and roller bladers... they have incredible trampoline artists, tumbling, and aerial acts too. Bert if you know what's good for you, next year you're coming with us to watch it! If for no other reason than to stop me pestering you about it haha! It's only 20 minutes long anyway and is in a nice shady arena with Wicked Twister's back spike directly over the middle of the stage. Pretty cool setting. Gotta run, will comment more on this latest installment later. not sure I'll be able to make it next year. . . but who knows??. . . maybe you can talk me into it

You can go ahead and say what we're all thinking, Bert...she's a spoiled lil' bitch! I actually told Sally, and the next day I told Snoopy, that I "didn't want a picture with Lucy because she's a bitch" I think it may have been the same actor in the suits on both days, as the reaction was the same. . LOL (and yes, I made sure there were no kids around when I told them this). I was so excited to see Franklin, that I didn't mention Lucy to him.

we really did. the Monday in the park was just "cake" to pick up anything we missed and/or wanted to re-ride. but crowds were so light on Coastermania! day (and we/I rode so much with Liz and her Mom), that I didn't feel the need to "rush" any of the rest of the time. highly recommend Coastermania! (and stay the next day and get FastLane +).

great start to the trip. eagerly awaiting reading more.

we liked the food options in Hershey Lodge. granted, we were staying there, but there's a shuttle to and from front gate, so I'd assume you can likely leave the park, shuttle to the lodge to eat, and then shuttle back to the park. (the sports themed American food place . . in a dining room themed to an Ice Hockey Rink. . was very good burgers).

Bill framed this one so well, it's worth a repost (from our first night). (probably should put this in the "Coasters at Sunset" thread too)

Liz and her Mom talked the heck out of that BMX bike show. but it's not really the kind of show I think either of us were up for. . (tho the Western Themed (?) stuff. . "Red Garter & Lusty Lil's" I probably would have enjoyed.. tho I can't recall seeing ANY advertising for them, or show times listed). . . .hummmm. I would have loved to get a Peppermint Patty picture (tho what is that thing she has on her head??. . .looks very. . . "familiar"). or Marcie too, but I was thrilled to get Franklin, and Snoopy and Sally on prior days. the only one I bypassed was Lucy, but not a fan of her. . .

^ yay! great update, and tho loving the rain/beast story (reminds me of when we ran to the car in pouring rain from BGT, and *then* remembered in the car that we both had ponchos in our back pockets (D'oh!)). . . not any alcohol consumed during the day? not that y'all needed it, and I'm jealous as all hell that y'all are able to just book and go on short notice. but I can't help but think a nice rum punch (or Midouri sour) would have made the day that much more special. (and I like how you divide up your text w/ pictures. . . I don't seem to be able to do that. . my brain won't let me. . LOL. . so my reports always end up w/ big block of descriptive text, followed by pics).