Phant0mF1re

Pretty much my opinion as well. We absolutely love staying at Breakers during trips to Cedar Point, but even with the addition of the Sand Bar, I still think there needs to be another option for adult-centric entertainment, especially later at night when everything else is closing. They clearly aren't shying away from the alcohol themed fun with the festivals and pop up beer gardens, so I could see a nightclub style or brewery type bar fitting in perfectly there.

Steel Vengeance at CP on Sat 8/7 right at park close. Was planned in advance as our last ride of our Summer vacation.

^ While that fight that took place is certainly unacceptable and doesn't belong at an amusement park, calling it a "huge brawl" seems to be a bit exaggeratory.

The demand for the on site hotels was insane this season. I've gone to CP for 3 or 4 night stays every year since 2015 (except last year) and we've always been able to book a room at Breakers with no problem, even only a month or so in advance during the summer. This year, when we tried to book our trip back in May (for a stay in late July or early August,) Breakers was unavailable for any 4 night stays. I thought maybe there was an issue with the online booking due to unknown capacity restraints, so I chatted with an agent online who confirmed that no, they were just indeed experiencing a big surge in demand and had no availability. Even places in Sandusky that we've been at before were much more expensive than usual. We ended up getting an AirBNB in Port Clinton for much cheaper than Breakers, but won't know how well it works out until the first week of August. Super bummed, as staying at Breakers is one of the huge charms and pros of going to CP for us...I don't know how excited we will be to drive to the park and back a couple times.

I can second what was said about Twin Oast. We always try to find new breweries / local craft beer when we hit the road for coasters, and we stumbled upon that place 2 years ago. Unreal location, and solid brews. If I remember correctly they had cornhole, chess, a few other games set up out in that yard where those tables are. We will definitely be going back there during our trip this summer.

I noticed that about the merch too. Even before getting there, I had it in my mind that I wanted to get a nice Leviathan golf shirt (kind of like the Steel Vengeance and Gatekeeper ones CP usually has.) I couldn't find anything remotely wearable that was Leviathan themed, but they did have a few decent Yukon Striker things (makes sense.) Ended up snagging a New Era / Yukon Striker hat that says Canada's Wonderland on the side. If you didn't know any better it just looks like a sports team logo hat.

I think Orion looks awesome, and I'm strongly considering changing my plans from hitting Carowinds next year to Kings Island. I could probably squeeze both in somehow though, KI isn't all that far from me in Pittsburgh...

^Yep, I was in line for it Saturday night when it had 2 rollbacks in a row (those lucky bastards.) That was after struggling most of the day with non full trains etc. I don't think it's opened since then.

^^^^ Regarding the similarities between the two, I mean, yeah, they are both B&M dive coasters with a loop after the dive. Other than that, they seem pretty different to me. To be honest, I almost thought you were joking when I watched the video you posted after the initial drop/loop sequence.

Eh, I'm actually pretty excited about this. Only dive coaster I've been on is Valravn, and only in the last 3 years have my girlfriend and I been venturing outside of Cedar Point for our yearly coaster vacation. We actually decided to choose between Canada's Wonderland and Carowinds this year (we went to KD before CP last year) and decided on CW, mainly because of the 1-2 punch of Leviathan and Yukon Striker. Drops are my favorite element on coasters, and i'm pretty sure I rate Valravn much higher than most enthusiasts. So yeah, I'm pumped, and it's basically the reason we are driving from Pittsburgh to Canada this year.

Cool pictures, thanks for the update! I was out at the Waterfront area on Saturday, and was able to catch a few glimpses of SC in the distance. The scale of this thing hadn't really hit me until I saw it from far away...that lift hill is pretty massive.

Well poop. Made our first ever trip down there this past summer for a few days, and was pretty bummed to find that Volcano was and had been closed for quite a while. Kinda told ourselves it was no big deal, and we could make the trip again in another year or two. I love Intamin launches and this always looked crazy different to me, but oh well.

The good news is Mantis is back.

Definitely hitting up Cedar Point again for our yearly vacation. We usually do at least 3 days at CP (with some beach/Shores time), and a day on one of the islands (either PIB or KI) in the summer. Other than Cedar Point, we are going to try to get to Canada's Wonderland, which will be a first for us. That seems like it would work on the same trip as CP, probably leave from Pittsburgh to CW and then from CW to CP. I would assume we will hit up Kennywood to check out Steel Curtain at some point.

Yeah...it looks like i'll be making my first ever trip to Canada next year!

Just throwing this out there...I was the weirdo that said hi to you at the Maverick station and said I recognized you from TPR, even tho I was a total lurker. I ended up running into a big TPR group with Robb inside Breakers late one night as well. I've always liked checking out your trip reports, so thanks for the somewhat anonymous online entertainment!

COTU was one of our favorite spots we hit on our trip down to Kings Dominion this year. We weren't able to get the KD beer while we were at the park, but we made it up to the actual brewery on our day back towards home and had a great time and good brews.

Ahhh yes, Kings Dominion had a pretty potent mixed drink at that weird bar out in the middle of nowhere that looked like a stage when I was there this year. I mean, it was just a splash of blue Vitamin Water, but I like to tell myself it helped after a couple

Ok...mine is pretty limited, but here's what I know for sure : 2015 - Rougarou (does that count??) 2016 - Valravn 2017 - Mystic Timbers 2018 - Steel Vengeance / Twisted Timbers

Ahhh man, I was all set to make Canada's Wonderland my big first timer park trip next summer...and Carowinds goes and does this.

Not on Twisted Timbers...it's the same policy as Steel Vengeance at CP.

^^ Famous Dave's is a pretty good lunch spot on the park peninsula, outside the Marina gate right on the water. If you are staying on property, do the early entry and head straight to Steel Vengeance. Best to get it out of the way, and you can try to come back to it later in the day if you feel like waiting. Outside the park, my favorite for the past couple years has been Small City Taphouse which is in downtown Sandusky. Amazing tap list, and very good sushi.

^ Yeah, I saw a pic of them working with a new spool of cable. Looked like a pretty typical replacement.

Might make a quick trip over to Dorney during their Halloween stuff.

Fantastic trip report. I was there for 3 days last week and echo many of your sentiments. Its been less than a week...and im already anxiously awaiting next years trip!!