bert425

here's a segment of us on Maverick, that Liz sent me last night: we're in front row. (this was our one ride on Friday, after the longest wait of the entire trip)

oooo. you took some good pics! I particularly love that one of MF coming back towards us in the line. nice! by the way, I think you went back to the room at 5, rather than 6:30, because didn't we meet back at 7:30? Could swear you had a 2 1/2 hour break -- cause we had time to eat at Melt, and then do a bunch of rides before meeting back up with you. . But then again, you shopped, didn't you? so that's probably why I think you went back earlier. but you could be right and it was from 6-8:30, and I'm just imagining the 7:30 re-meet time! (it's all a blurrrrrrr)

More Pics from CoasterMania! day. . I didn't want to overload with so many in one post My official CP photo from Woodstock Express (thanks Liz!) Bill's official CP photo from Woodstock Express (thanks Liz!) skeletons from the train! skeletons from the train! skeletons from the train! this is the longest line of the day.. Maverick, before it broke down the 1st time. Dianne, Bill, Liz, in line for Maverick, after it broke down. . look at all those folks who left the line! It came back up pretty quick. . this time. what is that I see over there? YAY.. running again. . . Booo.. . broke down again. This time we were in the shade, but moved into the sun, and asked the gate operator to take the pic for us. They were all very apologetic and nice, not their fault it kept breaking. closer pic OMG. . it's back up again. and we got to ride! see? here's the official CP pic (thanks Liz!) a petting zoo??? awwww. . is it a donkey or a miniature horse? dunno.. but they smell like horses too cute tho gobble gobble! little chicks! (that were hiding underneath the coop) What day is it???? Hump daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! inside the pub where Bill got his cider.. I liked the tree branch chandelier and the pubmaster was very nice. . inside Melt! some of the memorabilia includes a map with Mean Streak on it. Liz and I about to get on Cedar Downs. . for the first time (selfie) Taken by Dianne horsies! also taken by Dianne. . . how about that crotch shot? So beautifully framed by the round hand hold.. I might have to retire the mermaid to make this my avatar! MF CP official pic (thanks liz!). what's this? classic Pinball machines in the back of the arcade? why yes! I know what we'll be doing for the next hour or so! getting dark now. . this park looks AMAZING at night don't want to ride Power Tower, but it sure is purdy. . DE-NIED again.. . took the pic before we found out it was going to break down on us denied! Pretty rainbow MF lift hill. . and if you look close, there's a train stuck about 3/4 of the way up the hill. Gemini at night as I said, this park lights up beautifully at night even Monster has an amazing lighting package my purple monster. . wait. .that sounds dirty! adults on Wilderness Run? YES!!! ERT for Coastermania from 10:30pm - 12:30 am. There were a few kiddos who actually showed up to ride too a line of folks to ride.. . . . will take a while with only 3-4 per cycle. ride sign & line, which got longer as we were leaving after our ride.

Day Two, Coastermania! - or: Walks of Shame from the first ever Intamin. As noted, the wake up call never happened. Which, while annoying, was OK – as we were up from the excitement anyways and were up before Nrthwnd’s (Bill) back up clock went off anyways. We got dressed and decided that we wouldn’t wear our Club TPR shirts (we both brought them to have in case we decided to wear them). . but despite the forecast for the prior few days saying rain, it was pretty humid and looked like it might be a hot one. . so we both went for light colored shirts instead of the Black Club TPR shirts – but we/Bill told most folks we met that we knew each other thru TPR and Bill was giving out the online address almost like a mantra “Themeparkreview.com all one word!”. . LOL, and saying we’d be doing a trip report. . . so I’d guess that TPR will see some new guests just from his outreach.. Bill wanted to take his backpack bag this first day to see how we’d fare with “FFBFWM&G” (ie: l.o.c.k.e.r.s.) throughout the park. I was just going to put everything in my cargo shorts pockets, but since he was going to bring the bag anyways, I gave him the sunscreen to put in there, and we headed down to the lobby. We went to the check in counter and asked about the shuttle to the front, and they told us to just go outside, as they had already called for one. It was maybe just before 6am, and there were maybe 20 folks out front already. The 1st shuttle pulled up minutes after we got out there, and everyone rushed forwards, tho it was obvious that we all couldn’t fit. So I asked the driver what the rules were for standing, and he said no need to bother since there was another shuttle right behind him. . and sure enough, less than a minute later the next shuttle pulled up and everyone else out front got on, and we were driven around to the front gates. We were lined up by 6:10 (6:15 at the latest), and ended up behind an enthusiast couple while we waited for them to let people in (in groups of about 15) starting at 6:30. So, of COURSE we heard all about: 1) how the event used to be so much better, but now CP has gotten cheap and the giveaways aren’t as good. 2) how we were silly for bringing a pack and we should have worn a stylish (not) meshback vest with lots of pockets to hold our stuff in 3) how Gatekeeper used to be SO much faster, but now they trim it so badly it’s so slow and not even worth riding. Yeah. . insert roll eyes here. . . I was just polite and listened and engaged in conversation (we’re in a non moving line, what else should I do).. well, Bill just ignored them. LOL Anyways, CP was incredibly organized, and the reps came up the line to make sure everyone had their club cards out, and the line moved fast and efficiently. After less than 10 minutes, we were in the front gates, Coastermania! Tixs, admission Tixs, and club cards looked at, and we were directed to 1st tent where we were given our Coastermania! T-shirt (that counts “Pipe Scream” as a coaster!. . I think not). And then to the 2nd tent where we got our Coastermania! Pins, our lanyards/itinerary badges, and our tickets for Lunch (we were first seating from 11-12), and for the Cruise (we were first cruise from 10-10:45). It was only ~6:35, and now we had all the swag to hold. . we saw a bunch of folks go out to their cars to put it away there, and some put the shirts/pins on. . but since we had the backpack bag anyways we went for a FFBFWM&G – once we confirmed the $15 cost for a “regular” one, gave us in and out privileges for the whole day. Spoiler: we ended up never going back to the front gate to go in or out of the FFBFWM&G. Bill swung by and emptied it out when he took a break and went back to the room.. but other than that, we never needed to. Many of the coasters do have bins (note: Valravn’s bins are for shoes only), but really, except for having to put hats down the front of our shirts on a couple of coasters (MF & TTD in particular have no bins because exit station is not the same as the loading station), we were able to leave anything small in the cubbies/bins with no problems on everything else. So yeah, no reason to buy a FFBFWM&G. . just wear cargo shorts, and plan to put hat down shirt or sit on it, and you’re golden at CP. Once we got the FFBFWM&G purchased, we moved up to where they had gated off for CM attendees (basically at Starbucks). Morning ERT was for: Valaravn, Raptor, Gatekeeper, Rougarou, and Millennium Force. Most of the attendees lined up on the left side of the Skyride, intending to run to MF and all the coasters there, so at Bill’s suggestion, we waited on the right side with way less people intending to head to Gatekeeper at “gate-drop” It was so quiet on our side, that I was able to get some amazing photos of an empty midway and some beautiful coasters – Raptor is SO photogenic. . too bad it hurts so much. . head bang-bang-bang Once they opened, we walked to the right, following the light crowd, and directly up the steps (Left side) to Gatekeeper, and our first ride in CP was front row Left Side of Gatekeeper ! Loved, it, and grinned like an idiot the whole ride. So unlike Skyrush (that tried to kill me), this was like flying on Falkor the Luckdragon (from Neverending Story, people!). Just a happy, happy flight, full of fun turns – those Keyhole flips!!! and, funny, it didn’t FEEL “slow”. . LOL Tho I loved, loved, loved it. . .Bill actually got a little nauseous from it, so he sat to rest and I went right back up the stairs (right side this time), and went to the back row. that was a little bit of a mistake, as the back row was way more rattle-y than the front. . It didn’t cause me to get sick, but definitely a rougher ride than the front had been. (over the next few days, I rode Gatekeeper at least 5 more times, and always in the front 2 rows, and every ride was glass smooth, so yeah, seems that the back is a little rougher). After I got off my 2nd ride, I met up with Bill, and he was feeling steadier, so we went over to Raptor. . which was not even a station wait – so everyone actually had bypassed the coasters in the front of the park, and went back to MF. We got on Raptor, and I don’t recall where, but think it was towards the front. oh good lord, I *hated* this ride. . . yes, very forceful. . no, not something I particularly like, but it doesn’t bother me. But when your head is going BANG-BANG-BANG as the coaster rips thru the course? Yeah, not fun. . . and it’s longish, I was just ready for it to be over. It actually reminded me very much of Alpengeist, which I didn’t care for either. . . but Raptor was way more head-bangy. We rode it this one time, got the credit, and then never went back to it. It sure is photogenic tho. But hey, I rode it once. The sun was really starting to come up by this point, and not a cloud in the sky, it was looking like it was going to be a beautiful day. We then headed next door to Valravn, and again, right up to station. Josh was managing the loading platform, and man is he a delight to watch! Full of energy, positivity and simple joy. You can tell he loves what he does, and his attitude is infectious. . everyone working in the station was smiling, and clapping, and just having a grand time. .they were FLYING thru loading too. . . I think they were taking less than 22 seconds between trains! It was astounding to watch. We went for front row (of course, on a dive coaster) and within moments were up on the hill and enjoying Valravn. No I don’t get why folks say this is a dull ride, yes, it’s missing the excitement of the water-landing end of Shiekra/Griffon, but I’d never been on a dive coaster that gave me floater air. The entire second half of the ride your butt is floating a good 3 inches out of the seat! And so smooth. . .. if sitting on either far end seat, it’s just like being on a wing coaster too, as you’re so far out from the track. A great ride, and one I could do multiple times (and rode a lot during our visit). . it cracks the top 5 rides in the park for me, and it’s intimidating as hell to look at. I can’t recall if Bill rode with me when I wanted to go right back on it (but I think he did), and we again went for front row, and got another amazing ride – tho this time I stopped and said hello to Josh and introduced us as bert/Nrthwnd . . he gave me a thumbs up, but we didn’t want to slow him down as they were flying thru trains. Side note: as impressive as the turn time was (and it WAS impressive), I’d say full credit goes to Josh. When we rode the next day – when the park was way more crowded – it was taking them well over a minute, and sometimes 1:30 to get the trains unloaded/loaded. . . .so some of the hustle might have been to impress the enthusiasts for Coastermania!. . but most of it was simply because Josh is that good. Tho the ERT was getting us on things quickly, we weren’t rushing at all, and it was still not even 8:30 yet. . so we headed over towards Rougarou, which was down. But the smoke effects were working (LOL). . . it LOOKED really cool, but we weren’t going to be able to ride it during morning ERT, so we continued on to MF, which had the longest line we had seen thus far. The line for MF stretched down the ramp, to just past where the FastLane merge is.. still not too bad, only about a 20 minute wait or so. As it was our first ride on MF, we waited for the front row, and had a fantastic ride. . just breathtaking when you crest the hill for the 1st time and look down on that amazing drop. WOW! We considered getting back in line to ride again, but decided that we really, really needed coffee, and headed back to the front of the park back to the Starbucks. The line was shorter than it had been earlier, but still fairly slow moving.. we needed coffee tho, so we got in line and ordered. While listening to Katie Perry being piped into the Starbucks, Bill nudged me, and I looked outside and everyone was facing the front gates, and had taken off hats. When we stepped out of the Starbucks we could hear the National Anthem (and I found out it’s something that CP does every morning at 9am when they raise the flag). . but how surreal to see the folks responding that way to Katie Perry. . LOL. The park at this point opened for Early admission, and the crowds basically doubled at the front of the park. . .but apparently the forecast earlier in the week kept people away, because despite the day ending up being absolutely PERFECT – blue skies, upper 70’s. just gorgeous. . .the park never really got more crowded. Pretty much EVERYTHING stayed under a 5 minute wait. At 9am, the ERT for Coastermania! switched to Wicked Twister, and Blue Streak. I kind of wanted to go towards WT, and maybe get another ride in on Gatekeeper, but Bill was already getting antsy for our 10am cruise, and didn’t want to be on the other side of the park from the Marina. So after finishing our coffee we headed towards Blue Streak, which was on the way to the Marina gate, so we’d be in the right area for our cruise. That turned out to result in our absolute worst ride in the park. Period. To clarify, we were NOT in a wheel seat, we were near the front of the train, and yet the ride was so bad, I joked the smoothest part was when we put the seatbelt on. And Bill said after we got off it: Burn. It. Down. Yeah. . it was that bad. I knew we were in trouble when it was so jerky just leaving the station and then was rough going up the lift hill! Terrible, and I don’t know if it was because it was just cooler in the morning, or if the ride hadn’t warmed up yet, or what. . but absolutely terrible. Another of the coasters we never went back on after the 1 ride to say we got the credit. . which is a real shame, as I like a good wooden coaster (Phoenix, Lightning Racer, Jackrabbit, Thunderbolt, Woodstock Express (at KD). . love em all. This one was awful). As my Mom would say: “Feh” After Blue Streak, we were glad that we had a break coming up w/ the cruise, so although we were about 30 minutes early, we headed out the Marina gate, past Famous Daves! (see you on Sunday) and lined up with the other folks that had already started to queue up for the cruise. For some reason, I didn’t take a single picture of the actual boat – a nice, two deck ferry type boat, that had a nicely stocked bar on the lower/entrance deck (tho not many folks I saw drinking, I did see her sell a few juices). I *did* take a few pics of the other passengers enjoying the cruise tho, and there were several folks with high end cameras taking, I’m sure, much better pics than I took with my iPhone. We went up the steep stairs to the upper deck and grabbed two chairs near the back on the right side, and then we backed away from the dock. I took way too many pictures of Cedar Point from the boat, during the ~40 minute cruise out of the Marina, and around the peninsula to the Breakers side, and then back again. As noted, the day ended up being beautiful, so the weather was perfect for clear pictures, and there were even an official CP photog taking pics from the boat that I’m sure are for the official site/brochures, etc.. Oddly, there wasn’t really any commentary, or at least nothing we were able to hear. But there were several folks videoing the cruise, and describing everything we passed, and making guesses about what was going to happen to Mean Streak in terms of transitions and what the layout looked to be moving towards. So in a way, we got commentary. . enthusiast commentary, but commentary. LOL It was close to time to go eat by the time we got back to the Marina, so we headed back into the park, and I convinced Bill to ride the Skyride over to the front of the park, so we wouldn’t have to walk so far to the pavilion for lunch. . so we got on, and then as we left the station, we noticed the food pavilion is right there (oops!). . . LOL So we got off and went around to the other side, but the line was pretty long, so we just walked back to where the line for food was. . so basically I added EXTRA walking for us. . . as I said, “oops”. The line to get into the pavilion was long, but moved at a pretty brisk pace, and we traded in our tickets and got into the lines. It got a bit confusing, as they had two lines open at each entrance, with both sides of each line open. . so there were 8 lines supposed to be moving at once, but everyone got confused and bunched up. And then of course, you got the piggies, who took whole plates of some of the options, and left folks standing there looking at empty bins until more came out (or took 20 bags of chips, and 30 cookies.. yeah, I saw some people do that. . oh well, humanity). The options were ok, even if the food wasn’t spectacular. The food offered was: Salad (didn’t have any, tho Bill found a “hidden Mickey” in the tomatoes ) Hot Dogs (ok) Boneless Buffalo Chicken wings (a bit overcooked and dry, tho the Ranch dressing and Buffalo dipping sauces helped a little, tho didn’t eat what I took of those) Mac & Cheese (pretty good) Wedge Fries (also pretty good) Coleslaw (didn’t try) Bags of Lay’s chips (didn’t try) Chocolate chip cookies (put one in my pocket for later, which I ate much later after it had been crushed to cookie dust from the coasters. . LOL). And drink choices were soda or tea. So not an inedible lunch, but as noted, not spectacular. When they asked us on the way out how the lunch was, I responded, “it was. . . food”, which the CP Supervisor got a kick out of While we were eating lunch, I had gotten a text from TBpony (Liz) asking how our day was, and telling me that MF had a station wait. . at Noon on a Friday with perfect weather. Remember, the park never really did get crowded on Friday for some reason. . . but we were in the middle of eating, and didn’t want to run out as they were making announcements during lunch. I texted back to her that we’d meet up with her later, since we had 5 hours until the Q&A, and there was no specific Coastermania! Agenda until then. We finished lunch, and decided to ride Windseeker, since Bill hadn’t ever been on one, and it was right there. It was the perfect ride to go on after eating, slow, and good for sightseeing. Tho some moron ruined whatever charm the ride does have, by pretending that it was so, so scary, and then clapping at the end of the ride from ½ way down the tower until the ride stopped. Annoying. while we were on Windseeker, we noticed that TTD had started running. . it hadn’t really been going thus far on this day, so despite having just eaten, we headed over to Dragster. . and found basically a 5 minute station wait! As we walked up, Liz and her Mom shouted and waved to us from the front row queue, and we hugged hello. It turned out she had texted me saying they were headed to TTD and we should try to come meet them. They thought we had come in response to her text, but we hadn’t even seen it. Some things are just meant to be! we took some pics of them/for them, and they did the same for us, and as I mentioned in previous update, Liz had the photopass, so she even “bought” the onride photos of us, and sent them to me (thanks so much Liz!). I really liked TTD, but it really is a one trick pony. It was fun, but didn't really feel the need to re-ride it a bunch of times (tho I think we did ride it 3 times over the trip). . . I have a bad shoulder (arthritis), and stupid me decided to raise my arms on the way back and it really wrenched my joint bad.. tho you can't really tell from the pics, I'm in horrific pain for a good 10 minutes after we get back into the station. After we did TTD together, we decided to hang for the afternoon, since we really enjoyed their company, and the park was so dead anyways, so we just started working our way around the park together. .next up: Magnum XL. We rode near the front, and did the seatbelt trick (Dianne didn’t ride, since she said that Magnum tried to kill her yesterday). . and it worked beautifully. The downward pulls were shocking when they hit – in particular that one in the tunnel, and I could see them really messing up one’s back if the belt wasn’t so tight to keep you from being jerked down. But I really liked it, and I think Bill did too (we did end up riding it several more times during the trip). . . we didn’t get a picture from this one, as the only thing the camera caught was Bill’s long flowing hair. . LOL. We bypassed Witches Wheel (I was the only one that wanted to ride it, and I did that on Monday), but when we passed Monster, I discovered that neither Bill nor Liz had ever been on one! (I think Liz said it’s always down when she’s been to CP). . so we headed over and rode it. Oh boy. . . Now. . . at first, I was a little annoyed that the flats at CP all seem to run REALLY short cycles (with a few exceptions). . but I must admit that Monster stopped just in time for me not to vomit. So I was very glad for the short-ish cycle (something I appreciated later too on Max Air). I rode in a car with Liz, and Bill and Dianne rode together.. their car spun and spun and spun.. dunno how they didn’t’ get sick! I got off feeling just short of being ill. . .think it was a combination of not drinking enough water, and the warm sun. But was determined not to mess up anyone’s fun, and I hadn’t actually gotten sick, so we moved on to Planet Snoopy, and were told that adults were not allowed to ride Wilderness Run (aka: Junior Gemini), but that we could ride the Woodstock Express – their Roller Skater coaster. That one moved pretty fast, but we weren’t really paying attention to the ride, as all of us were absolutely riveted by a beaver that decided to run across the train trestle over the river, and it was taking it’s time! We were worried about the train coming, and when that beaver started to really speed up, we were relieved! And of course, since Liz had the photo pass, she bought the Woodstock Express pictures for us. . . that one really *does* need to be Bill’s new avatar. Heh. One funny thing happened while we were on Woodstock Express is that a park employee picked up Liz’ Dasani water bottle that she was hiding in the bushes before going on rides. It was so funny.. because she got so annoyed, but it was obvious that a CP employee saw her put the bottle in the bushes and thought she had littered, and so went and took it as trash. She couldn’t believe that an employee would take her water bottle! (so we spent the afternoon sarcastically exclaiming how DARE an employee pick up trash!!! . . . . love ya tho, Liz! Next up was a walk on to Gemini. . we rode Red Side. Wow.. far surpassed my expectations, as I hadn’t realized it was basically a steel coaster in a wood frame. I really liked it, and Bill enjoyed that some of the passengers in the Blue Train were up for high-fives on the turnarounds. But really liked it, and it’s probably my 4th or 5th favorite coaster in the park. Although it has two tracks, I needed to get some water, and Liz wanted to get a drink to replace her bottle, so we left Bill and Dianne to get back into line and ride Blue side, and we went to get waters. (I rode Blue several times over the next few days, so I got both credits too). Despite slamming the whole bottle of water, and refilling it, I was actually starting to feel a bit queasy. But we were right by the Mine Train, so we went ahead and got in line for that (again, about 5 minutes). It really seemed to be moving fairly slow, and I didn’t realize that it’s a little jerkier than it appears. . some of those transitions aren’t too smooth. (I liked it much better when we rode it on other days, and I wasn’t so dehydrated). So we rode it, but by the time I got off, I really WAS feeling queasy, and needed to take a break, despite being right next to Maverick and wanting to ride that. Liz suggested going to see the extreme sports show, (but that wasn’t high on our list, and tho we kept that as a “Something to do” backup plan, we never did get to see it). Maybe next time. Someone (Dianne?) made the suggestion to just take the train for a ride and that would give me time to settle down, so we all climbed aboard the train and rode that..which really did help, and I like train rides, Nick and I always do those in parks anyways. What’s so odd about CPs train, is that the section from Frontier Town to Rougarou is full of animatronic skeletons doing all kinds of fun stuff.. but from the Rougarou station back to Frontier Town? Nothing.. . at all. Odd. But the down time did the trick and I started to feel better. Maverick had a line, but it wasn’t too bad, it was only about 20 minutes per Liz’ estimation. And if it had been 20 minutes, it would have been the longest wait we had all day. Turned out it was by FAR the longest wait we had all day, since, as Liz put it (in her list of rides she kept track of that we went on): “Maverick with EPIC breakdowns”). it broke down about 10 minutes into the line, and we waited it out, and it was back up after about 15 minutes. . then we got to the bridge area just before the station (but luckily under the shade and near the fans) and it broke down again, this time for over 40 minutes. THEN, when they got it up and running again, we got up to the station and two people before us, it broke down again. This time it was only about 10 minutes.. Liz and Dianne got their ride, and then when it was time for our ride, a handicapped pass person came up the exit and was allowed to cut in (and of course they went to our seats, since we had been waiting for front row). We tried to be nice about it, since I completely understand the situation, but “someone” questioned how they were able to bypass the line. . . . LOL. . my only thought was if it breaks before we get our ride, I’m gonna be very annoyed since the 1:25 we had waited in line had allowed me to get back to normal, and I was ready to ride. But the next car came up, we got in, and we got our ride in. . finally! it was frustrating, but yeah, once we rode, it was absolutely worth the wait.. what an amazing coaster! Oh, and as we were leaving the photo station/store? It broke down again!.. . .so the universe looked out for us and allowed us to get our ride We continued to the right from the Maverick exit, and hopped on to the Wave Swinger and took a ride (which was fun, and almost a normal ride cycle). Then we headed around the corner to ride Skyhawk, since I’ve never been on a screaming swing type ride. Dianne again sat it out, but Liz rode with us, even tho she said she hates this ride, and she looked terrified on it. A very short ride cycle, which was fine with me, as I thought the ride was OK, but I could see it making a queasy stomach really start to flip over. So the short ride cycle was A-OK for me. The Shoot the Chutes ride was running, but without many takers, and we didn’t want to get soaked.. . so we bypassed that. And it SEEMED the raft ride was operating, but really didn’t see anyone on it, just some folks that were a little wet. The raft ride was *not* open on either Sat. or on Monday, so never got to ride that. We continued along the Frontier trail back towards the front of the park, and we stopped at the Petting Zoo. . how cool to have this just in the center of an amusement park! I had no idea it was even there.. I pet some horses, and a Camel! And we even took some pictures with Turkeys and some chicks. Loved this section, even if the smell did bring me right back to BGW Clydesdales. We could have spent even more time here, but again, the park was so dead, we didn’t want to pass up any opportunities. .so we continued on, stopping to get Bill some Cider in a pub (that we only saw open this one day), and for Dianne / Liz to get some Cinnebon. We came up to MF and it was station wait! So we decided to hop on, and if I’m recalling, Bill sat this time out. But the line was so short, that Dianne/Liz had to basically inhale that Cinnebon before they would let them get in line. . . we went for back two rows this time, and wow, wow, wow.. when you go over that 1st hill in the back seat? The train just hauls your ass out of the seat and it gives a great “whip”.. I never rode MF anywhere other than the back car for the rest of our visit. As tempted as I was to ride again on MF, with station wait, there were other coasters we had yet to get on, so we moved on and decided that Corkscrew could wait until the next day, but since Iron Dragon was station wait, we went ahead and hopped on. It’s a nice relaxing coaster, and reminded me of the 1st one I ever rode at Astroworld (XLR-8). . but this one has that wonderful final helix that turns the cars almost vertical. So that was a pleasant surprise. Bill was starting to poop out, and was wanting to go back to the room to rest for a bit (we had decided to blow off the Q&A at 5:30, since we figured it would be an hour of questions about Mean Streak – which it turned out not to be, we’ve heard. .but that’s OK, we still had a great time hanging with Liz/Dianne). I didn’t want to leave the park, even tho we were at Breakers, because I knew if I went back to the room to relax even for a little while, then I wouldn’t want to put my shoes back on. So we decided that Bill would go back to the room, and we’d meet in the park (by Pinks) at 7:30. So Bill headed out, to go back to front gate and get our stuff out of the FFBFWM&G, and Dianne noted she was hungry and they needed to eat. I was still pretty full from lunch, but since they wanted to eat at Melt! I said, sure, I’ll go with ya. Since I wasn’t that hungry, I just stuck with the tomato soup – which is really a thick marinara, basically so one has something to dip the famous Melt! grilled cheese sandwiches in – and I did dip a piece of Dianne’s sammich in it, but it ate well alone anyways. Liz & Dianne both said they enjoyed the meal, and yes, it’s air conditioned in there, and was nice to sit down.. but absolutely I’d recommend this place for the décor. It’s filled with old CP memorabilia from the rides to sketches of concepts. (when I was talking to the Curator at the Town Hall Museum, he told me that most of the memorabilia came from when they re-did Breakers, and that it was *supposed* to come to him for the museum, but he was ok with it all being in Melt! since it’s such a great place to go, so many people will see it. So yeah. . good food, air conditioning, and tons of history! After food, Liz brought me over to Cedar Downs, since we had talked about it (and I had taken a picture of it earlier in the day). . . I didn’t realize that in addition to the horses going up and down, they also moved forwards and backwards. . mimicking the race that was being called from the speakers. I also didn’t realize the centrifugal force on the outside horses is pretty strong. . . . almost to the point that you have to hang on so you don’t go flying! We got off it, and I said to Liz. . .”what the F** did we just ride??” I absolutely LOVED it. Easily my favorite flat ride in the park (not coaster, but ride) I ended up riding this thing at least 10 times during our visit, including many times by myself . . LOL We got off Cedar Downs and this is where Liz admitted that she had never ridden the CP skyride. . I told her CoasterBill would run her out of town if he ever found out, so we needed to fix this NOW. We also had plans to ride Matterhorn, since Bill didn’t want to ride the spinning ride, so we took the Skyride from front of park to the station right there by Matterhorn, and then went ahead and rode that. (again, short cycle. .that one I wish had gone longer, but oh well, at least it ran at very high speed). We decided that since the lines were so short, we’d go ahead and head over to the Ferris Wheel, which seemed to have a short line. Despite that line, they were only loading 4 cars from each color..so it took about 15 minutes to get on a ride that basically had no line. But we did see MF get stuck on the lift hill about ½ way up the first drop. It was still on there by the time we got off the, rather lame, ride. I mean, the lighting package on this thing is incredible, but the way they run the wheel? The ride just sucks. . . boring as sin, but at least we rode it, and got some good pics. We noticed that Wicked Twister (which is another coaster that seemed to have a lot of issues/down time) was running with just a station wait.. so Liz and I went over and hopped on (giving me 13 of the 17 credits in one day (if you count both sides of Gemini), so I still was missing Rougarou, Corkscrew, Blue Gemini, and the kiddie coaster we couldn’t ride. Really liked Wicked Twister, but wish the ride was just a bit longer, especially if there is no one waiting in line, but I guess the ride cycle is the ride cycle. In the back car, you get really far up the left twisted spike on the 2nd launch tho.. that’s the sweet spot. It was almost time to meet Bill at Pinks, but I knew he wouldn’t ride Max Air, and Liz was wanting to, so we decided to do that on the way to meet. Ok, now I’ve heard for ages, how much better Max Air is than other pendulum swing type rides. . .but I’m sorry, Black Widow at Kennywood kicked Max Air’s butt. Not only more forceful, but I think BW swings higher too. And Black Widow didn’t hurt my testicles. . which Max Air absolutely did. The seats are designed with a big “hook” that comes up in the crotch. When the harness comes down and locks? It kind of “smashes” everything. . . .Funniest thing (and I was sitting right next to Liz, so she saw/heard this too. .and can confirm I’m not making this up). . is that the attendant, when he checked the harness was locked, . . LIGHTLY tapped on it, and as he did, he gave me a look and said “I’m sorry to do this”. . . . . LOL. Again, the ride was just long enough that it didn’t make me nauseous, but yeah, I was starting to fade out, it had been a long day. But I was determined to make the evening ERT. Liz and Dianne wanted to go ride Gatekeeper, but I just wasn’t feeling up for it, so told them to ride, and I’d go meet Bill and come back to meet them at the exit. Bill was at Pinks when I got there, and we went back to Gatekeeper to sit and wait for Liz & Dianne. It was starting to get dark, and Liz was wanting to go back to Maverick and MF for evening rides, but as noted, it had been a long day and both Bill and I were slowing down. . .so we sent them off on their own, and we decided to explore the giant Arcade across from one of the kids areas. We played a little bit of skeeball (won some tickets, wOOt) and then discovered along the very back wall a row of classic pinball machines (including two giant HERCULES! Machines)..so we spent a bit of time playing classic Pinball in the arcade. . . a quarter to play, and 5 balls. Old school! Liz had texted that they had ridden Maverick and were headed to MF if we wanted to meet them, but we decided we’d try Rougarou, which had been up and running since the afternoon. We had heard it was a bit head-bang-y, and when I mentioned that in conversation to the ride Op, she said, “ride in row 3, that’s the smoothest” There was no one in the station other than waiting for front row, so we went to row 3, and climbed into the coaster, and they gave the all clear, and my ½ of the floor disappeared, and Bill’s stayed up. Then Bill’s ½ went down, and came back up, and my ½ stayed gone. Bill and I looked at each other, and we sat and watched the operator in the glass booth get on the phone and talk animatedly for a short while. . and then they did some sort of reset and the entire floor came back up. . . . and they announced the ride was down. So no Rougarou for us on Coastermania! Day ! I texted Liz to tell her that we were denied Rougarou for the 2nd time in one day, and she said they were in MF station, and that the train had gotten stuck on the lift hill – yes, again, but this time 3/4ths of the way up the lift hill! They were going to stay in the line, because although the park was about to close (at 10), they had been told that they would be able to ride when they got it up again (and I think they let them ride around 11:20 when they finally got it fixed?). So yeah, there were people sitting on the MF lift hill for almost an hour and 15 minutes in the dark. Could be fun, but I don’t think it would be if one had to pee. Evening ERT was about to start, so we headed towards TTD, which was closed for technical issues, and we had no interest in Power Tower (yeah, we skipped that), so we decided to head over to Maverick. When we got there, the line wrapped all the way around the outside of the station all the way over to the wave swinger. Now, I realize that they hadn’t opened the front of the line yet, so really this was a 25 minute or so wait, really. . but that was a LONG line.. especially for a ride that would have shorter lines for us tomorrow (we had Fast Lane +), and I heard from several folks that the enthusiasts had started lining up outside the gate to wait for ERT at 9:30, when the ride had been a walk on anyways! I just don’t understand enthusiasts sometimes. So we decided it’s not worth the wait, and besides, the coaster to “get” from the ERT was Wilderness Run, the first Intamin coaster – a kiddie figure 8 – that the park won’t allow adults to ride during the day, so the evening ERT is the place to do it. The ride wasn’t ready to open just yet, so while we were waiting, I convinced Bill to get in line for the flyers, and he seemed to enjoy riding those. While he was on the flyers, TTD started running, and had two rollbacks. But we didn’t head over that way, yet. . . By the time he got off the flyers, Wilderness run had started operating, and the line quickly got a bit long. Mainly because they were only allowing 4 riders at a time due to the weight. as noted in the title of this day, there were a lot of “walks of shame”. . tho really nothing to be ashamed of. Wilderness Run is a kiddie coaster, and the seatbelts are lengthed accordingly – meaning that anyone over a size 34 waist likely wasn’t going to be able to get the seat belt closed. . and they would NOT run it if your seat belt wasn’t on (these are the belts they have to use the tool to unlock). . so yeah. Many folks did not fit. (I wanted to say something to several folks who had lined up behind us, but there’s just no polite way to say something that amounts to “you’re too fat to ride this” so I kept my mouth shut and minded my own business!). CP was funny, and they allowed everyone to go around twice, but of course they had to follow the rules, so between the short laps, they checked the seat belts on the riders again. . LOL. . . on the plus side, the seemed to be running in without the mid course brake. . . it popped over that bunny hop hill and gave a little bit of airtime (something I noticed it wasn’t doing on Monday, when it SLOWLY went over the bunny hop hill). .. . and CP is also smart, they left the gift shop and camera open, so that folks could buy the pics of them on the ride. Brilliant. Our pics didn’t come out well, otherwise I would have bought them. . but oh well, we know we rode the first Intamin, and it’s a hard credit to get. .. We were drained by this time, it was just past 11pm, and I had been in the park for 17 hours (we got there at 6am ish). . so I was ready to go, but was willing to do some ERT on TTD. But as we walked up to it, we watched it roll back a 3rd time, and they took the ride down.. you could hear the enthusiasts shrieking out in pain. . LOL It was late, and we were tired, and we knew we had FL + on Saturday, so we called it and decided to head back to the room, bypassing Magnum too.. we’d ride that tomorrow. We slowly made our way back to the room by 11:30 pm, watched out the window as TTD rolled back again, and then just turned in.. with a wake up call for 9:30. (yes, we could have gotten up at 8:30 and gone into park at 9 for early entry, but the truth Is we were exhausted, and it was OK to just go in before the park opened to the public. But all in all? A great day, and I loved going for Coastermania! . . even with the mechanical issues on several rides, we still got a TON of riding in, and it was great weather as well. We had conquered the vast majority of the park, and we knew we’d be able to hit what we had missed on Saturday, even if we were sure we’d need the FL+ to re-ride certain things (and we were not wrong. .it was PACKED on Saturday). . . but that’s for the next update. For now? Coastermania! Is done. bright and early, sun barely coming up. .but we're here! see? proof. . I was there! in the short line waiting to get checked in looking up at Gatekeeper track from entrance line Gatekeeper, and the morning sky. . . lovely. one of my favorite photos I took today. . . love this shot too. . 5 coasters in one pic, sitting quietly, waiting to make folks scream Coastermania! T-shirt swag.. . yes, they do count Pipe Scream as a coaster. . no, i don't know why. and no, I did NOT ride it. Coastermania! pin, and back of lanyard (Itinerary) Coastermania! pin, and front of lanyard (badge) such a photogenic coaster. . too bad it's all bang-bang-bang such a photogenic coaster. . too bad it's all bang-bang-bang such a photogenic coaster. . too bad it's all bang-bang-bang so stunning when you are standing under it, looking up. still wish it had the water landing, but I'll take the floater air over that look at those clear skies! twisty! Cedar Downs intrigued me early in the day. I had NO idea how F-ed up and amazing it is (yet) but I still stopped to snap a picture and of the plaque on it at pinks they have a cut out to pose. . I'm a Hot Dog! wOOt! morning ERT out of the way and time for the Cruise! (and shocking. .I didn't take a pic of Blue Streak.. LOL. . neither did Bill. . we hated it so much we didn't bother, tho I think both of us got a pic in the museum of the model of it) on the dock, with coaster nirvana behind me oh wait.. NOW there's nirvana behind me actually on the boat now, and getting ready to head out into the harbor I wanna be back there . . . I'm smiling because I'm there.. . . sad now, because I'm not. how can this picture be from only 6 days ago?? feels like a lifetime. Me and Nrthwnd on the Coastermania! cruise. . ready to take a lot of pics, that others will take that will all be similar. . LOL love this because I got Skyhawk doing a full split. showing how full our cruise was. . everyone behaved and ooed and awwwed at the amazing scenery the shoreline on the Breakers side pic thru the ship, on the way back to marina on the skyride. . again, look at how clear those skies are! Gatekeeper, I love you. MaxAir?. . my testicles will forever throb when I think of you. BANG BANG BANG.. . but so pretty to photograph, no? Even Windseeker is pretty to photograph, but much more fun at night. . . the Seagulls were hanging out waiting for us to eat lunch. . . Enthusiasts lining up to eat. . took a pic of this, but didn't think to take one of the actual buffet line. . . D'oh! we met TBpony (Liz) and her Mom (Dianne) at TTD. . and took pics. close up and it's going up over down back! and here's Bill and I coming back from our first ride on TTD and the "official" CP pic Liz and I on Monster, taken by her Mother who was spinning like crazy one arm over. awwww.. I got to meet Sally! (Bill is there too) She got all shy when I told her I was glad I met her and not Lucy, because Lucy is a bitch. (that got a laugh out of her "handler" too).

agreed completely.

hehe. . the pics take forever to upload.. . but I'll have Coastermania! day up before i go to bed.

dude. . I'm working on the report.. you're posting pics before I can get the report up! (I have that same pic, I'm going to post)

that's awesome! so glad Bill quoted you, i hadn't realized you posted. . LOL no longer a lurker! one of us, one of us, gooble, gobble, gooble, gobble!

except it's not a Hyper. you, yourself admit this. so the solution is to adjust your description. don't say: "it's my top hyper" say: "it's my top coaster that's closest to a hyper" there. . your problem is solved.

everyone's got their own tastes I suppose. tho two of your "top 4" make my list of "worst 4" coasters in the park: 4) Corkscrew 3) Rougarou 2) Raptor 1) Blue Streak

I've been so focused working on my TR from Coastermania! that I missed you had started this one. it's great so far, and loving the pics! this is exactly the type of trip we love, with "culture" stops mixed in with the Amusement/Theme parks. can't wait to read the rest!

I thought the site "scales" them. . . I've never adjusted my pics, I just upload in batches of 25 (as suggested in the posting of multiple option). . . and then they simply come out to 800x600 adjusted. I just checked several in the report so far, and all of them scaled to that, and look just beautiful (ie: no degradation when scaling).

oh. . I guess Maverick is a gimmick coaster then, since it's got a beyond vertical drop. oh, and it also has only 6 cars (that dual load at the same time). shaking my damn head. . the thing is a people eater (if it didn't keep breaking down). . . . some folks just don't have a clue what they are talking about.

thanks! and I just realized that I totally forgot to mention that when we were in bar on Thurs night, I texted TBpony (Liz) and told her we were there and they should swing by when they got back from CP, since we had chatted on TPR about both of us being at Breakers, even tho she and her Mom (Dianne) were not going to do Coastermania! (they aren't ClubTPR members, but I think she's going to join now) Bill had been a little concerned that we were going to be so busy it was going to be hard to meet up (and that proved to be the case with the folks that reached out to Bill to try and meet -- we never saw them!).. but the folks I had talked to we managed to meet up with. anyways, I should have mentioned that Liz and Dianne came by the bar and visited with us for about 25 minutes before they headed out to eat in the only place still open at Breakers after the park closed (TGI Fridays. . we didn't join them as we had eaten there for lunch). But it's important that we met and really enjoyed each other's company, because we ended up spending a lot of time together on Friday during the "non-exclusive" Coastermania! hours, and due to that (and Liz showing me the trick to quickly share photos on iPhones, and her being an angel and buying OUR ride pics on her photo pass, then sending them to me). . .I ended up with some great photos that I otherwise would have never gotten. of course, that was just the icing. . spending hours with Liz and Dianne (along with Bill, of course), made the day extra-special great! love my co-TPR members! working on CM! day.. hopefully will have that day's report up late tonight or tomorrow.

we met a couple at the bar the 3rd night (Gina, and .. . "robbie?". . can't recall his name). We met them the night Aimee brought out the cheese plate. . LOL we ended up hanging with them at the bar every night we went down there. Anyways, they were staying in a room just a few hundred feet from the bar (just behind the hallway door on the left of it), and I helped her bring some drinks to their room one night -- and was SHOCKED at how tiny it was. Seriously, it was just slightly larger than a walk in closet, and the bed barely had clearance from the opening door. now i don't know if this is a solo or "inside" room, like they sometimes have on a cruise ship, but she told me it wasn't discounted at all. If that's true, i'd have been pissed beyond belief to have been in that small a room. as to Bill not having a phone? nope. . and he's proud of not having that tether. here's me and Gina out by the firepits/bar on Monday night.. . yeah, we were a little lit. (she took the pic on her HUGE tablet phone. . it was like holding up a laptop!)

ok. . report started. just day one posted, and it might take me a while to get to Day 2 (Coastermania!). . but will do my best to get it done http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=74913

Nice pics. that enclosed coaster sounds like a blast.

Day one - or: Time for these virgins to become men! So, after months and months of planning, the day was finally here. Well, “day” is not really accurate, as I had to get up at 3am to get to the airport for my early, early flight that connected thru Houston. My flight was showing it was on time, and Nick was going to take the dog to boarding later that morning (I had reasoned with him that if we were going to have to pay for boarding the dog (so he didn’t have to give her the insulin shots and eyedrops she needs twice a day), then I didn’t want to also pay to park the car at the airport, and he needed to drop me off and pick me up. So we got up way too early, and headed to the airport, where after waiting for a while, I got on a packed flight to Houston. We arrived in Houston a little early, which was good, as I then had to run from terminal D to terminal B (typical for connecting flights in Houston airport. . I’ve *never* had a connecting flight in the same terminal) to make my flight to Cleveland – which was on a much smaller, but just as packed plane. Luckily I was on the side of the plane with the single seat (opposite) the row of 2 seats, so I didn’t feel too cramped, but yeah. . small plane. There was some weather coming into Houston, but we loaded up and backed away from the terminal, and pulled out to the runway. . . and then stopped. And sat. for about 40 minutes. (the Captain even turned off the engines to conserve fuel!). I was getting a bit concerned because although we didn’t have to be at Breakers until 4pm for check in, I was supposed to meet Bill at the Baggage Claim in Cleveland – his flight got in ~ hour and ½ before mine. Bill doesn’t have a cell phone, so I had no way to contact him to tell him we were running behind. I had pushed to get his flight info (and he had mine), so at least he could look and know we hadn’t landed yet. So I did what I could do to not worry, and just read magazines until we finally got cleared for take-off. The pilot made up a lot of time in the air, and before I knew it, was looking at Lake Erie out of my window. The Cleveland airport looks TINY from overhead, but once you land? Sheesh. . walking and walking forever to get to the baggage claim! I got down there and looked around and didn’t see Nrthwnd (Bill), but I did see a display about Superman (so took a picture of that). I went to the display of arrivals, and saw that his flight was on the same luggage carousel that ours had – even tho I just did carry-on, we had agreed to meet at Baggage Claim. I still didn’t see Bill, but per the arrival screen, his flight had been delayed too, so he hadn’t gotten in that much before me. So I stood around for a few minutes, and then materializing down the hall was Nrthwnd – someone I’ve known online thru TPR for years, but had never met in person. We hugged hello, did some quick complaining to each other about both of our flight delays, and then headed to the shuttle to get to the rental cars. The rental car pick up was easy-peasy, we were in and out of there in less than 10 minutes, and on our way by 11:40 to CP! Of course, it was so easy, neither of us thought to ask the desk clerk for any actual directions, or a map even, LOL. And remember, Bill doesn’t even have a cell phone we could use for GPS! Luckily, we asked at the last booth when you drive out with the car, and they gave us the generic “Cleveland” and on the other side “Toledo” maps. So we kind of had an idea of what the highway numbers were – tho Bill was a little concerned about tolls. I reasoned that the clerk would have pushed a “toll tag” at the counter if we really needed one, since we mentioned we were going to CP for Coastermania!. . so if we hit any tolls, we’d just pay cash. (turns out there are NO tolls between Cleveland Airport and CP, by the way). Luckily, Bill knew that CP was West, and I knew it was Sandusky. . so once I found it on the map, we sort of followed the best we could tell to get to 90, then 6/2 and we just followed the signs to go that way. We had originally planned to stop at a Walgreen’s to pick up snacks and Saline (for my contacts), but the one time we pulled off 90 to look on side streets, Bill got concerned that we’d get lost. . . so we just hopped back on the freeway heading to Sandusky figuring we’d find something along the way. We discussed getting something to eat too, but decided we’d just get to the hotel first, and then figure something out. other than giving the general direction, the maps truly were not a whole lot of help. . . luckily we’re both pretty good about following signs, and before we knew it, we were on the 2 heading into Sandusky and CP specifically, and started getting giddy once we saw TTD peeking thru trees behind some of the many nurseries. Apparently it was Biker Week, tho we really didn’t see ANY motorcycles. . so that was a bit odd. Once we hit the causeway.. it was like Nirvana staring us in the face and I actually couldn’t believe we were looking with our own eyes at a bucket list park for both of us (Bill for longer than me, as he collected the pamphlets and booklets from CP without ever thinking he’d actually be here). As we paid the toll to go onto the peninsula – which Breakers would reimburse - and drove around to get to Breakers, I took a bunch of pics, I’m sure everyone has seen similar versions of. . >LOL. Bill was driving, so I took pics on my iPhone. It was only about 1pm, but I told Bill they might let us check in early at Breakers, even tho check in time is supposed to be 4, so we went ahead and drove over that way. For a place that is so close to the park (waterpark too), they seem to be VERY trusting.. there was a booth that we stopped at, but once we said we were staying at Breakers, they just waved us thru without asking for any confirmation number proof or anything. There weren’t any signs near Breakers either.. so we weren’t quite sure where we needed to park to check in. .so we just picked a lot, and went into the main entrance. There was really no wait, so we got up to the counter right away, and mentioned we were there for Coastermania! (the check in folks showed no indication at all they had a clue what we were talking about). . . and that we knew we were there early, but maybe the room was ready? While she was looking up the reservation, I mentioned that it was our first time to CP, and if we could get a room that faced the park, how awesome that would be. . . . she gave me a wink, and said they have a room ready for us – on 2nd floor, facing the park (which turned out to have quite the view of Valravn, corkscrew, power tower, iron dragon, TTD, Millennium Force, and two (not one, but TWO) Cedar Point water towers. . LOL. But Uh-Oh. . then we hit a snag! They would not let Bill check in until he paid off what was still owed on the room. One cent. (I shit you not). He’s Canadian. .he didn’t have a penny. I didn’t have any change on me – we hadn’t stopped for lunch or at a store. . so we all just kind of stared at each other, with Bill and I thinking she was kidding. She was not. She really said she could not check us in until the room was fully paid. So as Bill was about to authorize her to charge one cent on his Credit Card, the other counter person, ran into the back and found a penny from someone’s desk, and used that to pay the bill difference so we could get into the room. Sheesh. We told her where we had parked (which wasn’t in the correct place), and she directed us where to move the car to, and how to get to our room from outside. Then we popped into the onsite general store to see if they had anything like saline I could use for my contacts. Although they do offer a few contact lens things in their small sundry section, there was nothing I could use. I told Bill that I thought I could get by with the small “one dose” drops I travel with, and let’s give that a try, but first we needed to get into the room and then get something to eat. We move the car, and got up to the room, where Bill said he *must* do a ritual when we arrive – which turned out to be shots of Jagermeister. . LOL. . I never did ask him where he had been keeping that, as I never saw a bottle. . but it was nice and warm, and then he unpacked some gifts he had brought for me (awwww) – including light up candy-corn necklace (SO COOL!), a pin from Disney, a pin from Playland, some Playland postcards, and some yummy salted caramels – I felt terrible I hadn’t brought him anything from Texas. . other than myself of course!.. but he’s just that sweet of a person. The room is pretty standard, about what you’d get at a Comfort Inn level. Not what I’d consider a “resort” at all, and I totally get that you’re paying that price for the location – which is stunning (the view from our room, could not be beat unless we were a floor or two higher). But yeah, really a very, very “basic” room, tho it was very nice that it included a safe, a fridge (with a freezer section!), and a microwave. The clock in our room was off for about an hour, and there was no way to reset it – it was hardwired in, and it was simply “off” ..so I ended up using my cell phone and watch to know what time it was (Bill, in the bed closer to the wall, could see the clock on the microwave which was sorta close to accurate). We went down to look at the options in the Hotel, and there honestly are not that many. For a place that bills itself as an onsite property “resort”. . really, the only options on-site were Perkins Restaurant (decent food, but crowded, and closed at the same time the park did every night. . so that would be by 8pm or 10pm on the days we were there), a Teppanyaki place (which looked decent but expensive), a TGI Fridays, and a Starbucks (that also closed rather early). The bar has a food menu, but it’s fulfilled from Perkins, so even if the bar is open late, once Perkins closes, no more food. . .. we figured that we’d save Perkins for dinner (tho didn’t get the chance, as it closed by 8), and there wasn’t anything we really passed on the way into CP other than a Dairy Queen near Breakers Express. (Famous Daves is there, but we were doing that Sunday). We didn’t really want to move the car to go out to Sandusky so soon after arriving, so we ended up going to TGI Fridays – which is just across from the Indoor pool, and therefore the whole front dining room and bar area just *reeks* of chlorine. So we ended up sitting out on the patio looking at the beach. . oh I should mention the weather was gorgeous this day too. So it was lovely to sit outside and eat lunch (overpriced, but that’s true of any TGI Fridays, so that had nothing to do with the location at Breakers). We had drinks there too, and despite the bartender telling us how good she was on our way into the restaurant, both Bill’s and my drinks were not “quite” right. . can’t recall what he asked for, but the color was “off”. Me? I asked for a Mai Tai, and they brought me a rum punch (and when I mentioned that to the waiter, he insisted it was a Mai Tai, and they knew it because, because they had to look it up to make it since the bartender didn’t know what that is. . .but yeah. . it was NOT a Mai Tai). LOL But the food was decent enough, and we ate everything, as we had been hungry. Highlight was the youngish waiter spilling an entire tray of drinks (tho he saved the beer!) on the table just behind us. After we ate/drank, we explored the hotel a bit, and peeked into the arcade (no pinball, booo!), We checked out the beach/boardwalk area and the outdoor pools and hot tubs (FULL of kids every time, no adults in sight, and no one to enforce to wear the colored bands they had given us at the front desk to wear at the pool to prove we were staying at the hotel). We peeked into the ice cream parlor on site (tho never ate there) and I found out that Dominos has a kitchen onsite (attached to the convention area. . which explained why the entrance over there always smelled like pizza). . . at the end of the day it’s Dominos, but at least they deliver to the hotel and the beach. There also is a workout room, but didn’t use that either since we did so much walking. Surprisingly tho, no computer room! I’ve not stayed at a place that doesn’t have computer access (at minimum to check in for flights) in many years. We were sorta by the room at this point, and Bill had flown red-eye and wanted to lay down for a bit. If I laid down, I knew that would be it for me since I was on very little sleep too. . and I knew we were getting up at 5:30 am. It was only ~4:30pm, so I figured I’d explore a bit more while he rested, and went to sit out by the beach to people watch. I realized that since we hadn’t stopped at a Walgreen’s that I didn’t have any sunscreen since I had planned to buy it there. So I went back to the onsite store and looked at what they had to offer. The selection was OK, but the price gave me sticker shock – but it’s an onsite store, so of course going to be expensive. I went to front desk and asked them if there is any Walgreen’s close, and he told me there’s a CVS about 25 minutes away. . and then said, oh wait, there’s one about 15 minutes away: Just go across the causeway, turn right on First st, and then go about a mile. I thanked him, and then let Bill nap until about 7pm and woke him up and asked if we could go hit CVS to stock the fridge in the room, get me sunscreen, and since we’d be in a pharmacy, some saline for my contacts. The trip the CVS is actually about 8 minutes from Breakers parking lot. . . and with your receipt, in / out at the toll-gate is a breeze, so if you stay at Breakers, I recommend a trip to CVS to stock up. It’s close, and if you sign up for their card (free) you can get some good cheap food for the room. We loaded up w/ much cheaper sunscreen, a 24 pack of water, and assorted chips/snacks for the room and headed back. We got back to the Hotel just before 8 (we had taken our time shopping) and headed down to Perkins to eat dinner even tho we weren’t that hungry. And at 8:05, we realized the place had closed at 8. yes, really. A hotel full of people, and the coffee shop type restaurant closed at 8pm. We had eaten TGI Fridays for lunch (they were open until 10), and we didn’t want to eat at the Fancy Teppanyaki place. . . so one of the hotel folks directed us to Starbucks/Bar area which they said had food. The bar did have food, but as mentioned, it’s supplied by Perkins, so even tho the bar menus are out, you can’t order if Perkins is closed. So we just got drinks. I got my Go-to, Midouri Sour, after the bartender confirmed they had ONE bottle left in the back, and she went and got it. And then presented me with a brown drink. I was like. . ummm? Midouri is neon green, I’ve never in my life had a brown Midouri Sour. . I took a sip and yeah. . despite is supposedly being a “double” it was more sweet and sour than Midouri. The bartender actually says to me “oh. . well I guess maybe because I don’t like Midouri I poured heavy on the sweet and sour” So I took a big gulp and asked her to please top it off with more Midouri (which to be fair, she did pour in, but it didn’t lighten it up much). But yeah. . two drinks on site, one at the actual bar, and one at the bar in TGI Fridays, and both drinks made wrong by the person acting as BARTENDER. . . .and she was not the only Breakers employee who seemed a bit lost and didn’t know exactly what was going on. Early in the season? Or a training issue? Not sure, but not that impressed, despite every one of them being pleasant and friendly and trying to help out even if they didn’t know the answers. As mentioned in Andy’s TR, I asked at front counter for info on how the Coastermania! Shuttle works and they told me just come down and tell them we need one and they will call the shuttle, even if early morning. Bill wanted to walk to the front gate, and I pushed back on that with the reasoning that we’d be doing a lot of walking, so I’d rather ride if that was an option (and ended up being a good call, as no way would we have made the full day on Friday if we had walked to front gate!) Credit where it is due tho, when the other bartender came on Friday night? The Midouri Sours were all just fine every time. We sat inside at the bar for a bit, then moved outside to the fire-pits, and eventually walked all the way down the boardwalk to where Windseeker / Wicked Twister are. there were some folks out there smoking and they offered to move out of the way so I could take some pictures, and then she says “hey, are you bert from TPR?”. . and it was Aimee and her Hubby Gordon. (she had an account on TPR, but was a lurker, and had seen my trip reports. . I say *was* because she promised she’d start posting, and she has in the CP thread ). So we hung out and visited with them for a bit, which was fun, and commented on how after hours CP has absolutely no gates up! Seriously, anyone could just walk into the park. . . I know they have cameras *everywhere* but still very odd to see such open access into the park if someone wanted to wander in. It was getting close to 11, and we’d had a long day, and Bill needed to go the bathroom (and was a little tipsy). . I only mention this because as a guy, nature is our toilet. . but I would NOT let him pee off the boardwalk onto the beach. As I said, cameras everywhere, and I told him he’d get us banned from the park before we even got in for our first day! LOL. . . so he let me convince him to get back to the room and go there . . . heh. We got back to the room, put in for a 5:30 wake up call (and I don’t think it will surprise anyone that the 5:30 call never happened. . but thank goodness Bill had his travel alarm clock – which died after the 2nd day, but it did it’s job for us on Coastermania! Day, so it’s duty was fulfilled. . LOL). And with that we watched the lights on Power Tower for a little bit (we never turned on the tv in the room, really), then turned in for the night. . tomorrow was a big day for us Virgins! from the window of the plane. . I see Lake Erie! and there's Cleveland. . . the closest I'll get on this trip, tho a friend will drive down to meet us for lunch on Sunday. the Superman display at Baggage claim in Cleveland airport. I'm a comic book fan, so yeah. a pic. and I found Nrthwnd -- or he found me! look at that arty selfie pic. hmmm. . maybe we should go HERE instead of Cedar Point? what do you think, Bill? hmmmm?? hard to see, but there are coasters on the horizon here! we're here, we're here! (this pic is actually when we were leaving. . but on the way in a big truck was parked in front of the sign) OMG. . . OMG . . . OMG OMG. . . OMG . . . OMG um. . I think we need a clean up in the front seat? what is that in front of us. . it's amazing. . . last quick stop, and then we're actually ON the Peninsula with Cedar Point!!! a shot no one ever gets. . right? Bill was driving, I took pictures! straight down on Valravn. . and Raptor is so pretty. . yet so, so painful! Gatekeeper is GORGEOUS I do not know how I'm going to sleep tonight! I'm in awe. . seriously, mouth agape, in stunned silence so, so beautiful. Rougarou, Valravn, TTD, & Power Tower Rougarou & TTD Millennium Force on the lift hill. Maverick, and some woodie they are tearing down behind it. seriously, you would NOT believe how many people in the park told me they were "tearing down" Mean Streak.. . they don't even notice the new track! going around back to Breakers.. . I'm sure similar shots have been posted, but these are better, because *I* took them ohhhhhhhhhhhh ohhhhhhh Gemini Magnum is gorgeous and you pass right under it to get to Breakers and we're here! proof I was there in person. . . damn, I look happy. and the other side. . . it's so tiny, it fits in your hand attempting a selfie. . . the view from our room the view from our room the view from our room the view from our room the view from our room here's the actual room. . . and the beds. Nice enough, but basically the level of a Quality Inn. . . the beds were very comfy, and I like the headboard. gorgeous day and the beach is beautiful. the hotel grounds look beautiful. . dunno what it looked like before, but it looks very, very nice now. the hotel grounds look beautiful. . dunno what it looked like before, but it looks very, very nice now. gorgeous day and the beach is beautiful. we asked the "dippin' dots" guy for information on Mean Streak. . but it wasn't giving up anything! (this was in the arcade at Breakers) and here's the actual nest Bill showing off his cocktail at the bar Gin and Tonic?.. I can't recall.. I know he tried his 1st Sex on the Beach on Saturday look. .it's a brown Midouri Sour.. something is wrong with this picture the bar doesn't get very crowded, but it's right under the tower atrium, which is beautiful. and the hotel lights up fantastic at night a bit blurry down the beach hotel from the water line walking down to the end of the pier. That's TPR member Aimee on the right, and her hubby Gordon on the left (tho i didn't know it was them when I took the picture) OMG. . no gates? we could walk right in if we so wished. this is the entrance next to Windseeker NO BILL! you cannot go in tonight. . not until tomorrow!

I was talking to the Curator at the "Town Hall Museum" in Frontiertown. . right next to Skyhawk. and mentioned during our conversation that it was our first time, and he went behind the counter and handed it to me! (he also told me some interesting things. . .but that has to wait for Monday report) . . Heh.

working on day one (travel day and explore . . no CP itself yet). hope to have that up in the next couple of hours. .it's a LOT of pictures. . LOL. but to get started, here are the two guys (gays), the gull (Seagull), and the Pleasure palace! a momma protecting her babies! just under our room at Breakers we meet at last ( [rockyhorrorpictureshow] NO! We meet at first!! [/rockyhorrorpictureshow] if you ask at the Museum in Frontiertown, they will give you a button! (I discovered this when chatting with the curator, and mentioning it was our first time at CP. . . got one for Bill too).

yeah. . pretty much everyone was talking about how rough it was. the smoothest part of the whole thing was when we put on the seat belts. thank goodness it was short, as it was BRUTAL. the only other coaster I wouldn't get on again was Raptor (too much headbang for me). .although we only rode Rougarou once, but that was not due to roughness (tho once was enough). . more because it was down a bunch of times we tried to ride. everything else got multiple rides!

Bill. ..we were NOT in a wheel seat. and yes, it SUCKED and we hated it and one and done.

and actually. . he was just waiting for me to post this one, so he could snag it. . . .THIS has simply *got* to be his new Avatar:

wait for my Trip report. . . . . this subject came up when I was conversing with the curator of the museum in Frontierland

oh. . I have a better one. . just wait until I get my trip report up. let's just say, that when you ask someone to take a picture, maybe specify not to make it so . . . "crotch-tastic". . . LOL. . she wanted to delete it and re-take it, but I said NO WAY!! (TBPony's Mom, Dianne took it).