Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[skyrocket010]

Great advice, I was literally thinking of that. Next time taking everything out and placing it in the locker. Thanks!

 

Lol can I request another op to push? Because I didn’t want to come off rude but it was a 110lb looking woman trying to push and I really wanted to request the big bulky guy checking the other sides restraints but I didn’t want to come off like an a**hole.

 

 

if you're close, take anything out of your pockets too. i think a wallet can sometimes make the difference of riding or not.

 

i'd also check out who's working and on what side of the train and try to sit where the big guy is working so he can push down on the lap bar.

[skyrocket010]

I took everything out my pockets and managed to fit perfectly without even having to do anything extra. OMG that ride is EPIC!!! Best rollercoaster I’ve ever been on. I wish I wouldn’t have had trouble earlier because I literally would have just rode that thing all day long.

 

Lol can I request another op to push? Because I didn’t want to come off rude but it was a 110lb looking woman trying to push and I really wanted to request the big bulky guy checking the other sides restraints but I didn’t want to come off like an a**hole.

 

 

if you're close, take anything out of your pockets too. i think a wallet can sometimes make the difference of riding or not.

 

i'd also check out who's working and on what side of the train and try to sit where the big guy is working so he can push down on the lap bar.

[coasterlvr]

I took everything out my pockets and managed to fit perfectly without even having to do anything extra. OMG that ride is EPIC!!! Best rollercoaster I’ve ever been on. I wish I wouldn’t have had trouble earlier because I literally would have just rode that thing all day long.

 

Lol can I request another op to push? Because I didn’t want to come off rude but it was a 110lb looking woman trying to push and I really wanted to request the big bulky guy checking the other sides restraints but I didn’t want to come off like an a**hole.

 

 

if you're close, take anything out of your pockets too. i think a wallet can sometimes make the difference of riding or not.

 

i'd also check out who's working and on what side of the train and try to sit where the big guy is working so he can push down on the lap bar.

 

 

that's great news!

[bert425]

that is great news! congrats!

[DorneyKid14]

Apparently I’m too fat for steel vengeance lol my first ever walk of shame. I feel like I was nearly there and if I would’ve given it a little more effort I would’ve made it. But I didn’t want to be inconsiderate and hold people up since we had already waited an eternity. Any tips you larger guys could give that may work for when you come close to fitting on a ride?? I would like to try it one more time before I leave it’s the main reason I came.

 

I had the same problem. Just needed a little push on the lap bar but they wouldnt do it. Fortunately for me, i was able to get the little push during ERT. Robb told me while we were at Hershey not to wear a belt, and it made a HUGE difference. So if you had some on, i recommend taking it off.

[mark549]

Longtime lurker here ....

 

Just wanted to briefly chime in on the Steel Vengeance praises here. I finally got to ride it last weekend, and, holy crap, I thought it was an amazing ride. For me, almost a perfect blend of airtime and steep drops, coupled with twister type runs through the structure, with interesting inversions, and completely re-rideable and perfectly engineered(for me at least -- I got 8 rides on it in one day). It just sort of did it all for me. I'm not huge into ranking but it's up there with El Toro and Superman SFNE in terms "my kind" of rides. Outstanding. So cool to see big chains like Cedar Fair willing to put in something this aggressive -- and the crowds loved it.

 

Hard to pick a favorite moment, but it probably is that high first inversion coupled with the turnaround into the second inversion. That entire high-turnaround moment just feels insane in terms of speed and movement: at times at night it felt like the train was literally jumping into the right-hand turn out of that first inversion. You can really see the stress it puts on the track up there by watching the structure sway (which it is designed to do). Interestingly, I saw a crew welding something up there with cherry picker last Monday morning -- no big deal, but I'm sure they need to keep an eye on that section. Schilke really went for it!

 

 

I loved El Toro but I liked SV far more. I was also impressed how much that turn around section sways, viewable especially from the Fast Pass line.

 

The end of that turn around into the second inversion felt like a right left right zig zag, but upside down. Brilliant!

[skyrocket010]

It’s crazy how the little things like a wallet or belt can make such a huge difference. I told myself once I managed to fit on Millenium and Dragster that there was no way I was leaving the park without getting on Steel Vengeance. And although I had to wait twice for one ride it was so worth it. Glad it worked out for you as well!

 

Apparently I’m too fat for steel vengeance lol my first ever walk of shame. I feel like I was nearly there and if I would’ve given it a little more effort I would’ve made it. But I didn’t want to be inconsiderate and hold people up since we had already waited an eternity. Any tips you larger guys could give that may work for when you come close to fitting on a ride?? I would like to try it one more time before I leave it’s the main reason I came.

 

I had the same problem. Just needed a little push on the lap bar but they wouldnt do it. Fortunately for me, i was able to get the little push during ERT. Robb told me while we were at Hershey not to wear a belt, and it made a HUGE difference. So if you had some on, i recommend taking it off.

[rjr19]

It’s crazy how the little things like a wallet or belt can make such a huge difference. I told myself once I managed to fit on Millenium and Dragster that there was no way I was leaving the park without getting on Steel Vengeance. And although I had to wait twice for one ride it was so worth it. Glad it worked out for you as well!

 

Apparently I’m too fat for steel vengeance lol my first ever walk of shame. I feel like I was nearly there and if I would’ve given it a little more effort I would’ve made it. But I didn’t want to be inconsiderate and hold people up since we had already waited an eternity. Any tips you larger guys could give that may work for when you come close to fitting on a ride?? I would like to try it one more time before I leave it’s the main reason I came.

 

I had the same problem. Just needed a little push on the lap bar but they wouldnt do it. Fortunately for me, i was able to get the little push during ERT. Robb told me while we were at Hershey not to wear a belt, and it made a HUGE difference. So if you had some on, i recommend taking it off.

 

It really is amazing how that works. My friend tried the belt trick for Ride of Steel at Darien Lake (we all know how tricky it is to fit in those Intamin T-Bars), and made it on, while smaller people than him, with belts on, had to take walks of shame.

[robbalvey]

Apparently I’m too fat for steel vengeance lol my first ever walk of shame. I feel like I was nearly there and if I would’ve given it a little more effort I would’ve made it. But I didn’t want to be inconsiderate and hold people up since we had already waited an eternity. Any tips you larger guys could give that may work for when you come close to fitting on a ride?? I would like to try it one more time before I leave it’s the main reason I came.

- Were you wearing a belt? Take it off.

- Did you have ANYTHING in your pocket at all? Take EVERYTHING out of your pockets.

- Did you make sure the seat belt buckle wasn't right under where the bar needed to push down?

- Pull your shirt up a bit and make sure the material on your shirt and/or shorts isn't bunching up causing that bar not to go down just a little bit more.

- Lift your gut over the bar

- Scan the crew before you sit down. Make sure you're sitting on a side where it looks like the op could put more strength into pushing your bar down.

 

These are often the most common things I see during our ERT sessions when people can't fit. 99% of the time one of these things will resolve that issue.

Edited August 19, 2018 by robbalvey

[robbalvey]

I was never aware there was a filter for the abbreviation of Steel Vengeance, that’s a new discovery for me

 

 

Although "SV" is perfectly acceptable.

Edited August 19, 2018 by robbalvey

[SteVeUrkle]

I took everything out my pockets and managed to fit perfectly without even having to do anything extra.

 

AWESOME! Hell yeah! We did it TPR!

[TurnOfTheCentury]

 

Hard to pick a favorite moment, but it probably is that high first inversion coupled with the turnaround into the second inversion. That entire high-turnaround moment just feels insane in terms of speed and movement: at times at night it felt like the train was literally jumping into the right-hand turn out of that first inversion. You can really see the stress it puts on the track up there by watching the structure sway (which it is designed to do). Interestingly, I saw a crew welding something up there with cherry picker last Monday morning -- no big deal, but I'm sure they need to keep an eye on that section. Schilke really went for it!

 

 

I loved El Toro but I liked SV far more. I was also impressed how much that turn around section sways, viewable especially from the Fast Pass line.

 

The end of that turn around into the second inversion felt like a right left right zig zag, but upside down. Brilliant!

 

Yeah, SV is certainly a more substantial ride and does a lot more than El Toro. It's hard to believe any ride could diminish El Toro for me because I love it's 1-2-3 ejector air hills/drop beginning, and then the low-to-the-ground turns are a fantastic ending. But, truth be told, as much as I try to avoid comparisons and enjoy each ride for its own merits, SV does, unfortunately, make it El Toro feel a bit like half a ride, just because of the sheer volume of experiences that SV throws at you (which is ridiculous because El Toro is a substantial ride in itself).

 

But, there is room for lots of different types of rides.

[TurnOfTheCentury]

On a different SV note, I am (somewhat) surprised that we haven't seen 3-train operation on SV with passengers this season?

I know some have seen them testing with 3-train operation, and so I assume (but don't know) that it was engineered to run with 3 trains?

 

Is the guess that the opening day "bump" threw off the programming plan -- hard to imagine a software fix would take this long, but it's possible?

 

I just found it odd that CP would run the ride at such comparatively low capacity (looks to be about 720pph) throughout the summer (although Maverick and TTD don't really beat that too often....) IF the intent was to run 3 trains from the get-go.

[coasterbill]

^ They wouldn't have bought 3 trains if they didn't intend to run them. The ride is programmed to run 3 and it does it all the time while testing or even transferring trains. They transferred one on a few weeks ago when we were there and I expected them to lift stop it, but they had no issue letting it drop off the lift with a train parked in the station and final brake run. I have no idea why they're still running 2 but I'm sure they have a good reason for it.

 

PS: So like... is Raptor an unofficial Early Entry ride at this point? I know they usually run it for early entry when something else is scheduled to open late, but at this point it seems like they just come in and run it at 9 regardless.

[CoasterNerd87]

Ohio has some of the strictest certifications as far as rides go. I'm sure that because of the bump so soon after certification and opening, the inspectors are putting them through the paces. The ride will need to do so many cycles with everything working 100% in order for it to count. Don't open the gates? Doesn't count. One seat belt unbuckled? Doesn't count. Make a small change in the programming for 3 trains? Will have to recertify for 3 train operation.

[coasterbill]

I highly doubt that it's a state certification issue.

[bobbie68]

Hello! Just got back from my 4 day trip. We drove 10 hours on Tuesday and got in about 6 at Breakers Express. The weather didn't look too good for two of our days so we decided to go right to the park. We had to buy two twilight tickets for two of our teens. My family of 4 has platinum passes. We checked into Breakers Express quickly. It is a nice renovated hotel. We had connecting rooms and they were clean. It is a little expensive but a nice place.

 

We got to the park about 7:00 and it was closing at 11. We got right on GK. We headed to Valraven and there was a bit of a wait. We had two teens who had never been on a dive coaster and enjoyed it. We got back to SV and rode that. We all loved it. We thought it had everything a coaster should. It was dark enough to consider it a night ride and very cool. It was just about everyone's favorite. We got on MF next and it was awesome. I haven't ridden it at night in a long time. It was an amazing ride. This is still one of my favorite there. I am glad I knew about the bug situation at dusk. I will say that it was absolutely insane how many small bugs there were. You actually walked through walls of them. With that we rode in the back of MF. There was no way I was doing the front. We then headed to TD. We got in line it was about 20 minutes and I couldn't believe the bugs. People were actually sitting on the ground to stay of of the swarms. We rode the back again and it was awesome.

 

We went back Wednesday and had great weather. We were able to ride GK 3 X, Valraven 2X, MF 2X, SV 2X , TD 2X , WT 1X and Iron Dragon 1X. We did eat at the Midway Market. The food for the price has gone down and wouldn't do it again. We decided to leave before dusk as we didn't want to deal with the bugs again.

 

Thursday we were changing to Breakers for two nights. We got there about 10 and we knew our room wouldn't be ready so we headed to the park. We got to ride GK, TD, SV, Valraven, Maverick and MF. We got back over about 1:30 and nothing was ready so we grabbed some food. There were storms coming back in again at night so we went back in till about 5:30 and rode the coasters again. We checked in and got our room on the Concierge level. We had connecting rooms again with a theme park view. We decided to just hang out at the pool and get some food. The rain was coming in again. The room was fine and had no problems.

 

Friday was going to be lots of rain in the afternoon. We did EE and got on all the coasters again we wanted. About 1:00 the rain started and headed back to Breakers. The club lounge was open and we hung out. The rain got so bad the rest of the day we were not able to get back in. The parking lot was flooding. There was lightning and the park closed early. We just hung out at the pool and the lounge. It was too bad this was our last day and it was cut short. We checked out Saturday morning and drove home.

 

We do not do much of the flat rides. We go for certain coasters and were so happy we got to ride every one of them this trip. I had two teens who were never there and loved the coasters. We ended up riding SV, Maverick, MF, TD, GK and Valraven 6 times each. We were happy with that. I will say that I felt the cleanliness of the park has gone down. The bathrooms were gross and there was a lot of little trash around. The ride attendants were great and were moving the trains out.

 

Breakers club lounge is no longer worth it to us. They have cut out quite a bit of offerings. I have been going there the past few years and became friends with the associates. They said the new CEO is all about cutting things to save money. They feel this is going to hurt the resort and the parks. They had their usual guests say they wouldn't be back because of it. We are going for Columbus Day weekend and that will be our last time at Concierge level.

 

Overall it was a great trip with minimal problems. I thought the crowds were low but I think the weather really played a part here. We are looking forward to Columbus Day weekend.

Edited August 20, 2018 by robbalvey

[bluestreak]

Nice report but uh... The park didn't close early Friday. I was in the park and yes the rain didn't stop till like 10:30 but as soon as it did everything reopened even though there was like nobody there. Got two rides on SV, a ride on maverick, magnum, millennium and rougarou in that time.

[coasterbill]

Yeah I thought that too, the park never closes early and a quick glance at Queue times shows that everything was open from about 7:30 to midnight after the 2 hour weather delay.

[TurnOfTheCentury]

^ They wouldn't have bought 3 trains if they didn't intend to run them. The ride is programmed to run 3 and it does it all the time while testing or even transferring trains. They transferred one on a few weeks ago when we were there and I expected them to lift stop it, but they had no issue letting it drop off the lift with a train parked in the station and final brake run. I have no idea why they're still running 2 but I'm sure they have a good reason for it.

 

Yeah, I figured it would be pretty unusual to buy an "excess" train -- I don't think they have ever done it, although they figured out on a ride like TTD running 5 trains is (apparently) as efficient as 6. It's just confusing why that third train has never come on board with passengers 3 months down the line . . . .

[bluestreak]

Yeah... There was a quicker storm that blew through after that but I'm fairly certain most rides stayed open in it. I know Millennium was running in it since there wasn't any lightning with that storm. Then like I said by 10:30 it was dry and the park got everything open.

[TurnOfTheCentury]

Cedar Point is so great about handling weather and keeping open.

I still remember driving from Chicago to attend Raptor's opening day and there was a TORRENTIAL rain storm in the evening that cleared out the great majority of guests, but they still ran Raptor right into the teeth of the storm for another hour, despite there being literally no line. Amazing experience to ride that thing soaking wet with the rain in your face -- sounds unpleasant, but it was actually super cool.

[southpuddle]

^ Well, that specific scenario wouldn’t fly now, although they’re significantly better about running some coasters in the rain now than they were a decade ago.

[coasterbill]

Since I have never ventured out alone before, this trip is going to make me jittery. Screwing up my itinerary can mean a homeless night in Sandusky, I'm a little too careful for that.

 

I feel like you need some reassurance here so I wanted to comment on this one. It's not physically possible to screw up your itinerary so much that you spend a homeless night in Sandusky.

 

There is never ever EVER going to be a time in Sandusky where you find yourself with any less than (slight exaggeration) 8 million different hotels with rooms available on any given night. Trust us, we pretty much exclusively go to Cedar Point on holiday weekends and we're pros at reserving hotels on the fly. You'll be fine. There are a million different lodging options in Sandusky. If I walked off of a train in Sandusky at midnight with absolutely nothing booked on the busiest day of the year I would have zero concerns whatsoever that I'd be able to book something and be in a hotel room within 30 minutes (with tons and tons of options to choose from).

[Ape]

We only ever struggled once to find a room. it was Mid july of 2009. I think they had a bike week or something going on as well. after a couple hours searching we found one room and piled 8 of us in to sleep on the floors lol.

 

I can't wait we are going back up Friday for the weekend.