aallenpollreisz

Anybody want to take a stab at what the crowd situation would be on Nov. 5? Last weekend of the season, and I'm guessing that's the tail-end of Frightfest. Also, what should my battle plan be? Focus on Goliath when the gates open? I've been trying to scheduled a Great America trip for a while now. I've always wanted to go, but geography was always the issue in the past. Now that I live three hours away, I guess I don't have that excuse anymore.

In an effort to hopefully avoid the Labor Day weekend crush, I'm heading to Cedar Point on Thursday. Good plan? Bad plan?

When I was there last weekend, I was thinking about how cool it would be to see Mean Streak get the RMC treatment. Seems like it'd be a great candidate for it.

As mentioned previously, I and three others made it to CP this Saturday. We hit some bad luck. The park was decently crowded, but I think the rain kept a decent number of people away. The spill-over from the Iron Dragon line was perhaps the most-perplexing thing we saw all day. Millennium Force, 15-minute wait: Got there just after the park opened. It's not nearly as smooth as it was five years ago, but it's still tremendously fast and a butt-kicking experience. Rougarou, 50-minute wait: It should have been a 30-minute wait, but they decided to switch a third train onto the track at around 11 a.m. I'm a big fan of those old B&M stand-ups, but this ride is better with the floorless trains. Smoother, at least. Mean Streak, left line after 20 minutes: Sounded like they couldn't release the trains from the station. Gemini, left line after 30 minutes: We were next up, but the ride closed after a block violation. The ride op said it'd probably be an hour wait, so we left. At this point, and quite a bit frustrated, it was lunch time and we decided to get some food. Gatekeeper, 60-minute wait: It should have been a 30-minute wait, but stuck station gates prompted a closure. The rain probably didn't help much, either. Totally worth the wait, though. That wing-over is very intense when you're on the edge. It's paced a little slow, but the integration with the entrance is fantastic, and the keyhole elements were well thought-out. Another B&M masterpiece. Raptor, 60-minute wait: Crazy wait times for Raptor all day. We, frankly, caught it at a good time. Still one of B&M's best inverted coasters. The helix at the end is a great finish. Magnum XL-200, 30-minute wait: It's about as rough as it was five years ago, which a complement for those old Arrow hypers. Ride was fine and still features some good ejector air. Looks like they were running at least two trains, possibly all three. Top Thrill Dragster, 60-minute wait: It's a one-trick pony, but that trick is amazing. It opened mid-afternoon after the rain cleared and the wind died down. Valravn, 70-minute wait: We thought this would be the last ride of the night, but made it through the line surprisingly quick -- 8 p.m. probably had a lot to do with that. I'll get the bad out of the way now: It really seems like one of B&M's least-inspired dive machine designs. Frankly, it seems like somebody plopped down a pre-fabricated RCT2 design in the space. That aside, it's a fantastic addition and well-worth the wait. The first drop is excellent and I love the immelman. The second drop after the mid-course block is pretty good, too. I have no clue what the ride is like during the daylight hours, but it's fantastic at night with the lights. Gatekeeper, walk-on: We dashed over to Gatekeeper just before the park closed and caught an unexpected walk-on. Yep, still good.

Assuming the weather doesn't turn to garbage, I'm likely heading to CP on Saturday with some pals. What type of crowd situation should be expected? Are there any coasters not running the max number of trains right now? Also, for game-planning purposes, would it be smart to hit Valravn the moment the park opens? Looking forward to the trip. I moved back to Michigan last summer and haven't been to CP in about five years. Does Millennium Force still kick butt?

how was it after noon? primary parking lot means what? the first section? or all the way to the third section by scream? i'm guessing just the first section, but thought i'd ask. i'm thinking about going this week. i wish magic mountain had a webcam on the parking lot. lol Looking at Google Maps, except for the left-most edge, the most-recently paved lot was mostly full. After noon? It seemed like everything of note had hour-long waits at minimum. I know Superman had a 90-minute wait. (Only running the left side today.) If you wanted to hop on the carousel or take a spin on Goldrusher, that was still near walk-on territory.

I was at the park today. Very manageable crowds until around noon - then, things got busy. From Goliath, the primary parking parking lot was about 90 percent full. Everything was a walk-on until noon. Speaking of Goliath, the ride ops there were having trouble. Two trains today, but, for some reason, a bunch of cycles had stoppages on the MCBR, including mine. My first ride on Twisted Colossus was fantastic. Great ejector airtime. Absolutely relentless until the second lift hill. Colossus was always a sentimental favorite of mine - it was the first "big" roller coaster of my youth, and I'm pretty darn happy to see it get the RMC treatment. Big line, but three trains, so things were moving pretty fast. No dueling, which was a touch disappointing. Riddler's Revenge was closed, which bummed me out. Superman was open, which puzzled me - that ride is seemingly never open when I'm at the park.

So, I moved to California about three months ago, and I just had a stunning realization: I'm an hour from SFMM. If I make the trip Saturday by myself, what should I expect? Crazy crowds? Are the holiday decorations up yet? Is X^2 operational? (I've been trying to ride that darn thing for 11 years now.)

Howdy! Long-time lurker, first time poster. Anyway, I'm swinging through California in early January. Does anybody know if the park is going to be super-crowded on Jan. 2?