cparkes92

Going back to KI tomorrow. I hope and pray I won't spill any protein this time. The weather forecast looks much better than last time (high around 75 with mostly cloudy skies and rain holding off until late).

I have an Allegiant kind of horror story from last year when my sister and I flew down to Florida to meet our parents, who had flown down on Southwest a few days before us. (For those asking how we got back, we all flew Southwest together a week later.) Our flight was delayed about two hours out of Grand Rapids and they never bothered to update the info board at the airport. Also, once we got on the plane, we were on the ground for an hour before we actually took off. Two good things about Allegiant: It's cheaper than competitors (most of the time; even with all of their fees) and they fly into Sanford, which despite it being way out of Orlando (a solid hour plus to the main tourist strip) is a much more manageable airport to get around compared to MCO (within 10 minutes of getting off the plane, we had our luggage).

Going back to KI on Sunday (weather permitting)! I'm glad you had fun there.

Only Brian May's floating head can save us now!

Xbox

No, and have no real interest on going on one. Have you ridden a wooden coaster made by Intamin?

No shame in wearing a fanny pack! This year, I've been wearing a fanny pack to parks (I put my car keys and portable charger in it, as well as any spare change I get).

A few years ago, my sister and I stayed at what's now the Magnuson on the Causeway (it was still a Days Inn at the time) and it was cheap (considering we booked last minute) and run down. The last two times I've overnighted on CP trips, I've stayed at the Breakers (the first time, the Breakers was actually one of the few hotels anywhere near Sandusky to have rooms available due to it being Bike Week in Sandusky)

My full TR from yesterday is now up in my thread.

Cedar Point 7/30/2017 My second trip to Cedar Point this season occurred yesterday. I was using the second ticket of the gift my grandma gave me. It was another fun day, but it was warmer (and busier) than my last trip to the Point in late June (but not as bad as my Kings Island day in regards to temperature). After a Waffle House breakfast, I decided to bite the bullet and take the Ohio Turnpike over, even though the Turnpike is one of my least favorite roads ever. This would come in handy later as I saw a group of gas stations just off the Turnpike with regular unleaded prices much cheaper than the rest of the stations I saw. Also, taking the Turnpike allowed me to make the ferry dock in time. Instead of driving all the way to the Point, I decided to take the passenger ferry from downtown Sandusky to Cedar Point. I almost missed it as I forgot my park ticket in my car. Thankfully, my car was parked very close to the dock so I was able to sprint back to my car and get the park ticket before the boat left. The boat ride over was uneventful. It only took about five minutes to get over to the Marina dock (and I saved $10, as parking is $20 and a round trip boat ride between downtown Sandusky and Cedar Point is $10 with free parking). I arrived at the Marina well before park opening, so I went through security at the Marina gate. Before I could get in the gate, I applied sunscreen to myself while sitting under Valravn. When 10:00 hit, the first thing I did is get my Fast Lane Plus wristband. After I got my wristband, the first stop was Raptor, which was closed last time and had a short wait this time. Raptor is a very good ride for a 23 year old B&M, which was also the first large inverted coaster built. After Raptor, I decided to put my sunscreen in a “fluffy bunny” at the very front of the park as it was taking up almost my entire fanny pack and I didn’t want to go the entire day with that. After getting a fluffy bunny, I Von Rolled to my next ride, Top Thrill Dragster. Both Sky Ride and TTD were closed on my last visit due to high winds. Thankfully, the wind was lighter, so both were running. Speaking of TTD, it looks like it was running pretty consistently most of the day (I’ve heard all the stories of people missing TTD, however, it seems like every time I’ve been to Cedar Point since 2003, TTD has been running a good portion of the time). TTD, which was about a 10-15 minute wait, is always a very fun and exhilarating ride. After Dragster, I went to Magnum, which was a station wait. Props to Magnum’s crew for running three trains this early in the morning (it was about 11am when I got to Magnum, and the middle two cars were blocked off at this point). My ride was quite fun. I was in the middle row of the back car, which gives very good airtime. Magnum might have the most airtime moments on any coaster at Cedar Point (for now, anyways). After Magnum, it was time for lunch, so I decided to try the Frontier Inn, which is basically an off-brand Chick-fil-A that is open on Sundays. The chicken I had was decent (it was very hot when I first bit in, but had cooled down by the time I finished them). After lunch, I checked out the Town Hall Museum. I had never really checked it out before, so I found it very interesting with lots of old pictures and models of the Point over the last nearly 150 years. The next stop was Maverick, which was about a 10 minute wait with Fast Lane Plus. Since the restraint change to a softer harness, I like Maverick a lot more than I used to. In fact, with the good rides I had yesterday, I am considering swapping Maverick and Hulk, which would move Maverick to #2 on my coaster list, only behind a coaster I would ride later in the day. Next on the agenda was a railroad ride to the main midway station. Following the railroad ride, I went on Rougarou. I had to wait a while here as the ride went down a few trains before I got on because of a protein spill (thankfully it wasn’t me this time). After that delay, I headed to my #1 coaster, Millennium Force, which was good as always. I also love the breeze you get while in line after a train passes by! After Millie, I walked down the Frontier Trail with plans to hit Maverick, Gemini, Magnum, Millennium, and Valravn again before leaving. It started off well with another good ride on Maverick (on this ride, I sat next to a Kings Island employee and told her about my misfortune when I went there on that near 100-degree day in mid-June and that I was planning on going back before the season ends). On my way to Gemini, I stopped by the guessing game and had my weight guessed. The guesser (who was from Michigan) was quite low on my weight, so I won a prize. I decided to get a Cedar Point pillow. With the pillow in tow, my plans for the rest of the day were altered. I dropped plans for second rides on Magnum and Millennium, but still rode Gemini and Valravn. Gemini is always a fun ride, especially when it’s racing (which it does most of the time unless it’s super slow). Following Gemini, I walked all the way to the front of the park to ride Valravn. After I put my new pillow in a fluffy bunny, I got in the about 20 minute Fast Lane Plus line. Valravn is kind of scary, but fun. After my ride on Valravn and my retrieval of my pillow from the nearby fluffy bunny, I decided that I had ridden everything I wanted to ride, so I got my sunscreen out of the all-day fluffy bunny at the front of the park and Von Rolled toward the back again. I still had time to kill before the ferry back to Sandusky departed, so I decided to hop on Cedar Downs for a fun little ride. After Cedar Downs, I left the park and waited for the ferry in the marina shop (which has some tables for people to sit at to get out of the heat). When the ferry came, I was the only person getting on, but a few groups were getting off for a night at the Point (the ferry was coming from Put-in-Bay and Kelleys Island). When the ferry got back to downtown Sandusky, I decided it was time for dinner and headed to Chet and Matt’s, which I had been to before years ago with my family. It was still as good as it was then, and I also took leftovers home for dinner. Even though I didn’t need gas that bad, I still decided to go back to that area with the stations that were in a gas war. I shunpiked by using OH 2, US 6, and US 20 back to that group of stations. The station I went to was the cheapest of the bunch, as they were selling regular unleaded for $1.95 per gallon (the other stations involved were $1.96 to $1.99 per gallon). After getting gas, I had an uneventful rest of the trip home. First things first, breakfast at Waffle House! Jetting to Cedar Point on Jet Express! First ride of the day: Raptor! A fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo. Sky Ride is open! Of course I had to take a selfie of me Von Rolling down the main midway. Raptor from the Sky Ride. Never got over to that area yesterday due to time constraints. Self explanatory TTD dominates over the park. Winner's circle! In its 15th season (!!!) of operations, TTD is still the 2nd tallest and 3rd fastest coaster in the world! RMC Mean Streak is not all that the Point is doing next year. They're also expanding the Hotel Breakers. RMC Streak's back side Off-brand Chick-fil-A is open on Sundays and much more expensive. You win some, you lose some. The sign of quality. Also passed by a huge Heinz factory in Fremont, OH on my way home. Decent for theme park food, but quite expensive. One of the models in the Town Hall museum was of the OG Mean Streak, which was the world's largest wooden coaster when it opened. 1999 Cedar Point map. I could tell it was 1999 by the presence of Camp Snoopy and no Millennium Force. Hands up on an old Gemini car! Oh, the odd machines they had in the olden days! A VERY OLD map of Cedar Point! We explored the Town Hall museum together. Susan (left) is a ginger and Brianna (middle) took my Gemini car photo. Stengel twistiness! FL+ allowed me to skip this long wait! A lot of people have offered to tame this wild ride since it opened in 2007. Schilke twistiness! It's already taller than the original height! I think RMC Streak will be over 200' tall. Construction crane! One of RMC Streak's inversions. The sign of quality when it comes to roller coasters. Boneville! More Boneville! The saloon is on fire! Loop de loop! Even though Millie is no longer the Golden Ticket's best steel coaster, it's still my #1 coaster! Millie baby! Maverick ride buddies Annabelle (left) and Michelle (middle). Both have worked at Kings Island, which will probably be my next park. MMM, good pizza! Gas war! This station had the lowest gas prices in the entire state of Ohio!

I'm at Cedar Point today and I've already gotten on Raptor and Top Thrill Dragster (both of which were down due to weather the last time I went) and also Von Rolled from Raptor to Matterhorn Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Top 5 Parks 1. Cedar Point - All the coasters! In fact, I'm going back there tomorrow! Seven of my top ten coasters are there (I haven't been out a lot) and I can't wait to see how Alan Schilke's magic improves what was a Dinn and Summers disaster. 2. Kings Island - Even though my one visit there was cut short before I got to get on Mystic Timbers, Diamondback, and the Beast, I found KI to be a beautiful park. Lesson learned: Don't go to KI on a 95+ degree day. 3. Universal Orlando - I'm not the biggest fan of Harry Potter, but I find the theming in both Harry Potter areas to be incredible. Bummed that they're getting rid of Dragon Challenge, but they still have the Hulk (which is #2 on my top 10). 4. Six Flags Great America - Haven't been there since 2005, but it wasn't bad then. Even got the ultra-rare Deja Vu credit. Need to get back now that they have Goliath and Joker. 5. Disney World (Magic Kingdom) - Haven't been there since 2004, but the theming is incredible all around and I would love to go back once the new things for their 50th anniversary open up. Bucket List Parks 1. Holiday World - I've heard lots and lots of good things about this park (and their wooden coasters are likely better than any I have ridden). 2. Dollywood - Two things make me want to go there: Lightning Rod and cinnamon bread. I almost considered putting Dollywood ahead of Holiday World, but Lightning Rod's reliability is worse than TTD's. They still have several other good coasters not named Lightning Rod. 3. Carowinds - Fury 325 looks incredible!!! 4. Six Flags Magic Mountain - I've wanted to go there ever since I was a 10 year old playing RCT2 for the first time, even though I knew the recreation was somewhat inaccurate as Deja Vu, X, Flashback, Sky Tower, and Metro were all open at the same time (which never happened in real life). Also, they have Twisted Colossus and I've heard the park has improved in recent years. 5. Busch Gardens Tampa - I've heard all the praise about Kumba and Montu, yet I've never made the short drive down I-4 from Orlando whenever I'm down there. Honorable mentions: Knoebels, Hersheypark, Six Flags Great Adventure, Kentucky Kingdom, Silver Dollar City

You can never pass up an opportunity to see one of the living legends of country music, especially when it's free! Also looks like Frontier City is a beautiful little park

Just listened to it and it sounds like early punk. Now listening to Somebody to Love (Live from Earls Court) by Queen (one of very few examples of their bassist singing backing vocals live)

Time

Saw Queen + Adam Lambert on Thursday night at the Palace. It was a very good show! Adam Lambert fits in very well with them. Lambert isn't Freddie Mercury, but he sounds very good in his own right with the two remaining members of Queen (who both sound very good despite getting up there in age [guitarist Brian May just turned 70 and drummer Roger Taylor turns 68 next week]). It was a nearly full house and I was lucky enough to get moved up from the upper bowl to a seat just above floor level about a third of the way through the show. Also, the majority of people were standing most if not all of the show. I never sat down after the show started. The crowd was very interesting. I saw lots of younger people that were born after Freddie Mercury died (myself included) and some people who probably were able to see Queen (with Freddie and retired bassist John Deacon) in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Tigers have already sent JD Martinez away and a few other players are potentially on the trade block.

It goes up to 1700. It used to end at 1600 until fairly recently. The 1870 symbolizes Cedar Point's opening year.

Every other RMC conversion for the SF chain since Texas Giant has taken place in one off season. Texas Giant was the first, so naturally that took a little more time to perfect and as others have stated, Texas Giant was a much larger undertaking. Georgia Cyclone will most likely be open by, or around Memorial Day Weekend of 2018. Every other Six Flags RMC has been completed in a similar timeframe to the likely Georgia Cyclone timeframe. SFDK Roar closed 8/16/2015 Joker opened 5/30/2016 SFFT Rattler closed 8/4/2012 Iron Rattler opened 5/25/2013 SFM Medusa (wood) closed late 2013 (RCDB doesn't give exact date) Medusa Steel Coaster opened 6/14/2014 SFMM Colussus closed 8/16/2014 Twisted Colossus opened 5/23/2015 SFNE Cyclone closed 7/20/2014 Wicked Cyclone closed 5/24/2015 It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility to see the RMC Cyclone open slightly before Memorial Day (however, SF has held completed rides until that time with NTAG being an exception as it opened in April 2011)

Your TRs make me want to go to Hershey and Knoebels

The Orlando Metropolitan is so bad that rooms are going currently for $37 per night!

Was Clementon even worse 10+ years ago than it appears to be now?

Cedar Fair: Millennium Force Six Flags: Raging Bull Universal: Incredible Hulk Busch: Kraken Disney: Rock 'n' Roller Coaster

Thank you for pointing me there!

House on the Rock looks like one of those tourist traps you'd find in Branson or Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg