Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[firewalk13]

In other news, Sagebrush Sue's was on fire this morning (maybe 10:00 or 10:30am ish). It's probably, pretty badly damaged but the fire was contained to the structure. It waaaaas a soft-drink and food-stand. That part of the park was closed for a little while, and you could smell it had burnt all day when you were nearby. It was fun riding Maverick in the smoke. There were not many people in the back of the park yet so it went unnoticed by many folk and there wasn't much of a hubbub about it. Kudos to CP and their fire department for handling it in stride. Here's some pics I took:

Location

Broken windows...

No drinks for you!

Smokey RMC Maverick, mmm....

Not good.

Definitely not good...

Nope

Time to clear out please.

Fire extinguisher

Edited May 16, 2017 by firewalk13

[Nrthwnd]

Mmmm, very nice tour, thanks!

I do like this shot. Not sure why....

[firewalk13]

Mmmm, very nice tour, thanks!

[RollerManic]

Hmm... firewalk13... fire and the unlucky number in your name. And you just so happened to be there?...

 

No connection, huh?

 

I'm kidding. But seriously bro, your some bad luck

 

We all know it was Guy. Guy, you better stay the hell away from Mean Streak, you arsonist!

[firewalk13]

Hmm... firewalk13... fire and the unlucky number in your name. And you just so happened to be there?...

 

No connection, huh?

 

I'm kidding. But seriously bro, your some bad luck

 

We all know it was Guy. Guy, you better stay the hell away from Mean Streak, you arsonist!

 

LOL, I promise I had nothing to do with it. That's what I get for keeping the same handle I've had since a few decades ago!

[RollerManic]

I bring presents:

 

First: holy mother of laterals

 

https://instagram.com/p/BUAU0kUAo-v/

 

Secondly, I found most of the angles missing from the update a few pages back:

 

[Apollo von Sol]

Looks like the track in the foreground in that third picture, is for after the MCBR brake run. The shape and overall pathing fits. Seems like the ride will go on a flat S curve then tilt to the left then a drop. The ledgers after the brake run seems to support this.

[CP Maverick]

Looks like there will be quite the head chopper coming off the MCBR, heading towards Perimeter Rd.

[bluestreak]

As if you need any more proof that Tony reads this forum.

[coasterbill]

 

Also, what kind of sorcery is this?

[CP Maverick]

Now it's showing ID as closed. And Raptor's line is over an hour? That's unusual this late into the day.

[MidwestThemeParks]

Webcam is zoomed in....

[Geauga Dog]

Went to the park for a few hours today and I must say that the photos of RMC Mean Streak don't do it justice. Granted I have never seen an RMC in person but all I could say as I was walking back towards Maverick is that this looks like it will be one wicked ride, especially that outward banked turn and upward twist section after the second hill.

 

Park was moderately busy today - a lot of school and choral groups in the park.

[bluestreak]

Does anybody have the exclusive ride not schedule for this year? I can't find it online.

[inlina]

So some sort of photo's and trip report from to dash to CP Friday/Saturday (I hear there's a name for that here but cannot remember what it is). Didn't get a lot of pics because it seems like my phone was chewing battery. There a few bits in my Instagram as well.

 

This was our second ever trip to CP and now as pass holders the intent was to be more chilled about getting around the park because we plan on being back a few more times and therefore did not need to ride EVERYTHING. That was good in theory but my feet suggest otherwise.

 

We left greater Detroit at about 3PM Friday after my daughter was done at school. Whoever thought shutting down the I75 south for a couple of years was a good idea should be shot. It added about 45 minutes to our journey when combined with Friday afternoon traffic as well. Anyway, stayed at Cedar Point Express hotel again. The refresh is nice. The rooms are fundamentally the same as they were before but at least it they are cleaner and have new beds. And extra USB charging points too...2 in the lamp and 2 in the alarm clock in our room...it's the little things!

Same old pictures but the refresh is nice

 

We headed to the park around 7pm Friday for a few quick rides and intended on parking in the south car park. Somehow, and this was completely unintended, we ended up driving all the way around the back to the Breakers entrance/CP Shores car park. Since we were in the area I made my wife take some pictures and some random stuff...

 

Oh look, a crane

Crane close-up

Where did the crane go?

Stairway to heaven

Found the crane

She's artistic

Crane ballast

I've run out of captions

Here's the number of a good crane company

I love that bit of Maverick

If you break down on your way to/from Breakers there is a port-a-loo about half way alond the road in case you need to go whilst waiting for AAA

I don't like heights

But I found a way to overcome that on Millennium force - look straight at the seat in front of me.

Yay, Valravn

 

The school groups were starting to leave so the park was thinning out a bit. The queue times really shortened up nicely for us.

 

So from memory on Friday night we rode:

• Gatekeeper - Yeah, it's fun. From the two rides over the weekend I decided I like right Twix more that left Twix. My daughter agrees. My wife does not.
  
• Blue Streak - Always good for a laugh
  
• Valravn - It's fun. I'd ride it again. I did on Saturday.
  
• Magnum XL - I seemed to remember not liking this last year but this year I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some weird design decisions were made on where to start banking, where to place banking and the angle required, but she rides pretty good.
  
• Gemini - this was the only coaster that I rode this year that I had not before. It's not bad. Nothing super exciting but it does the job.
  
• Millennium force - I actually don't like heights. I'm not that fond of drops really either, so I guess I'm weird in liking roller coasters. I got through the lift hill by focusing on the seat in front of me. The drop was not as full on as I remember it. Overall I enjoyed it much more than I remember from last year.
  
• Maverick (x 2 in-a-row) - It's hard for me to pick a favourite in the park but this one is up there. It's just good clean fun.

 

I had also splashed out on All Season dining plans. We were struggling to find something worth eating with it on the main Midway and my wife is vegetarian so that makes it a little harder. We ended up with hot dog on a stick/cheese on a stick. It was meh. I also keep forgetting that chips means a bag of chips here. In Australia both a bag of chips (or crisps as the Brits call them) and fries are called chips. If you go to a place the sells 'hot food' and order chips you expect to get fries of some description. I need to reset my brain to expect to get a bag of chips handed to me....anyway, back to the trip.

 

Went back to the hotel. Still a little hungry so walked over to DQ. It's inconsequential but I just thought I'd point that out. Actually, is that DQ new? I don't remember it and clearly CP has an interest in it given the staff all wear CP badges. Anyway went back to the hotel to eat it since DQ apparently closes at 11pm and they were closing up...seems early to me but whatevs. It meant I could turn on the TV and watch the Preds v. Ducks. Got told to turn the TV after the third...missed out on the OT winner. Wait, I'm in Sandusky for coasters, not hockey...good point wifey. [This entire paragraph was pointless and poorly written, I just want to see who is actually reading].

 

Suturday morning - I'm ready to go...so why aren't the females in my life. OK, I'll go get breakfast to fill in time. Decided to break the streak of having never gone to McDonalds in the 10 months we've been been in the USA. I was also told the McDonalds breakfast is better than Tim Horton's (I love's me some Timmy's)...I beg to differ. I was fascinated by the local's (OK CP seasonal staff's) fascination with the new look. Maccas have mostly looked like this in Australia for about 5 or 6 years. The ordering screen have only been in oz for about 2 years or so but still, why are you guys here so behind. [Another paragraph to test your resolve]

 

Anyway, back to the park a bit after 9AM. I'm OK with being a little late. Some people take getting in first way too seriously. From there it was:

 

*Valravn - Wanted to ride front but the dude said we had to fill other seats as the front queue was too long. Yeah, I'm OK with that I guess. Still haven't had a chance to ride front though...am I missing out?

I like how steep the lift hill seems to be.

 

* Top Trill Dragster x 2 - Always get a little nervous on my first ride of this for the day. Given the bug situation that rolled in overnight I was concerned about unintended protein ingestion as the riders on the front all seemed to be coming back with. Turns out it was just a front seat issue. Ride was great further back and bug free.

Mmmmmm, tall

 

Then it was back to Magnum. Yeah, it's still fun. Some banks still seem weird....I will not get over it.

 

Stopped for lunch early. Went with Stockade Refreshments as they had a vegie burger. I had chicken tenders. The staff were still somewhat confused on the process with the computers and pick-ups. My accent apparently didn't help the conversation progress. Still got food and somehow ended up with a larger than normal drink for my all season drink plan....small bonus. Food rating here overall = meh.

 

An angle that we've all seen before. Just thought I'd show it again.

 

Wandered around Dinosaurs Alive to let lunch settle. Dinosaurs could do with have the spider webs brushed off them as the Friday night bugs were now on display as well. Got some nice views of TTD and Millenium though. Much more interesting than the Dino's (sadly).

 

A different angle

Track

 

Got on the train. Took some picture of some scenery along the way. Not really sure why the animatronics along the way are skeleton themed. Should that be reserved for Haloweekends or whatever it's called?

Looks like the new Breakers hotel deck will have a lovely view of the inlet.

I hope there will be a bar on the new deck

Might need to re tile the roof on the new sun deck as well

I hear the new deck won't be opening until the colour of the new wood weathers to math the old wood. Might be a while I guess.

What is that, baltic pine? It may never match.

I wonder what the number is for their deck builder is? I need some work done on mine.

And I could use a generator too.

 

So we got off the train and got some stuff out of a metal box with a coded door that we had stashed and went over to the Lakeside area and put it in a different metal box with a coded door. Then my daughter and I attempted to ride Max Air because the tester seat said it was all good. The people ahead of us didn't understand instructions and could not seem to comprehend they were assigned a seat number. Did not matter in the end because, just like what happened last year, someone had barfed the cycle before and they had to clean it up and run 3 empty cycles. Well, just like last year, we chose not to wait around. I think I'm not meant to ride Max Air. Off to ride Gatekeeper again. It's actually the longest I've ever waited for Gatekeeper...A whole 30 minutes. Yes, right Twix was better IMHO.

 

Contemplated Wicked Twister. Tried the tester seat which indicated it was time to lay off the DQ and McDondalds and did not ride it. Wandered around for a while in the area Lakeside/Main Midway. Tried to convince my wife to ride Windseeker. She dislike heights more than me so that discussion was short. Ended up wandering around the area aimlessly for a while. Had a little look see inside Melt. Looks cool and considered it as a dinner option instead of the dining plan options.

 

Looked for a t-shirt in the Pagoda gift shop. Felt that the building's styling was out of place and it put me off buying anything...well that and not being sure if I really want to be identified as a theme park/coaster nerd. Got in the line to get a beverage from a place on the Midway on my all season plan. After some shenanigans caused by some people stepping out of line causing me to lose my spot in the queue not once but twice I wondered why it was taking over 15 minutes to get through a not that long queue. There are 5 drink machines but only one being used at any given point in time. Seems over-capitalized and under-resourced from a business case perspective, but hey, I came here to get away from my day job so I should be thinking about design optimization right now.

 

Wandered into the arcade while I waited for my wife and daughter to do something else. Played a coin dozer because I have no issues with throwing dollar bills in the rubbish. Got token totalling 30 points outs of 2 dollars. Turns out 30 points gets you nowhere. Wandered around the arcade wondering why people pay to get into a theme park to then pay to play arcade games...what don't they have a Dave and Busters where you're from? Came to the realization there are classic games in there and they are only a quarter or two to play. I'll be back next visit! I am disappointed there was no Superchexx Hockey though. CP...buy a Superchexx already. I won't even hold it against you if you make one of the teams the Blue Jackets (I like what Torts did this season).

 

Anyway, removed our stuff from the metal box with the coded door. Decided we wanted to have a good view of the park so lined up for the Ferris Wheel. Did not realise just how slow they are at loading an unloading. After waiting almost 30 minutes to get on we then slowly froze our way to the top as the clouds moved in and the load cycle seemed to get longer. It took about 20 minutes to do one complete cycle along with the load/unload cycle. Seems rather slow compared to other wheels I've been on. Anyway, some pictures.....

 

It was a lovely day

Wondering if I should have shaved

Weighing up my drive to ride Wicked Twister vs my love of food. Could exercise be the answer? Nah

My daughter seems so happy to be hanging out with her parents

 

Once our captors released us from the round jail we wandered over to Raptor. We seemed to get a rain delay as they shut down the coaster when we were half way through the queue. Then there were some shenanigans in the queue because some boys wanted to stay under the cover of the station entry so they didn't get their hair wet (yes boys, not girls). The same groups then decided it was funny to start randomly yelling out 'penis' randomly. I don't get it but they seemed to think it was hilarious. Thankfully it Raptor started back up and we move through reasonably quickly. It was good, but I like Banshee better.

 

We headed back to Melt thinking we were over meal plan dining. The wait was quoted being an hour to an hour and a half. The list of names seemed short and I thought it might be much less. Then I realised with it being early in the season only part of the restaurant was open. Decided that despite it being the best chance at decent vegetarian food for my wife we would skip it and go with Panda Express instead. We will make time next visit. Fortunately Panda Express was not the worst meal of the trip. It was above-meh.

 

Headed to the back of the park for Maverick. Turns out the bugs had moved in again. Everyone front row was picking good protein out of their teeth. Their harnesses looked like the front of my car after I got home...so much bug guts. We rode back row. I wear glasses and kept my mouth shut as much as possible to I survided. My wife and daughter however claimed they were inundated.

 

Had to make a call of one last ride for the trip. Went with Millenium Force even though I had been on the hunt for Tilt-A-Whirl all day. Another good ride even with the occasional bug in the face.

 

Decided that as much as the Pagoda felt out of place I would buy a t-shirt from there. Today I am not sure I made the right decision on showing the word I like roller coasters and theme parks. Might be a very expensive rag to wash the car with....just kidding. Still think I bought the wrong t-shirt though.

 

Left the park after 10pm and then with tracking down a coffee and getting stuck behind some slow vehicles we made it safely home a little after 1AM.

 

All in all a good day. I plan on going back when the family can string together a few days and stay and Breakers rather than off the point. I want to run a study on the effects of alcohol on the coaster riding experience. Look out for my findings on the exit path from the rides (or a seat on Max Air per the findings of others).

 

That's enough of my stupidity for now. I'm going to soak my feet

 

CG

[djcoastermark]

^ love your description of the round jail. (and lots of other descriptions, made me chuckle quite a bit ) My partner fell asleep on the wheel last year, enough so that he began snoring and I had to wake him when it was time to get out of jail.

[Superbatboy]

Awesome trip report, thanks for posting

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Great report, and great pictures! Mean Streak is really making me want to get back to Cedar Point next year.

[Samuel]

I enjoyed the report, Inlina! Loved your description on the Ferris Wheel.

 

I chuckled at your noticing teens shouting "penis!", only because that's a developmental phase in groups of teens that won't go away any time soon, and I know exactly what you're talking about. I'll always love parks nevertheless, but I've spent a few days at a couple of different ones where swarms of those overconfident teens have swamped the culture and suffocated the fun right out of a queue, midway, or even the whole day. Hormones, ahoy! There's a teen-geared mall not far from my house that I simply pretend doesn't exist in order to keep my sanity intact.

 

Otherwise, I'm glad you had a pretty good time!

[ZeroGravity55]

Every time I see a new picture of RMC Mean Streak, I can't help but think of all the people who said it wouldn't be a good ride to convert because it had a boring or terrible layout. I almost feel like Alan Schilke read those posts and said "hold my beer".

[MiABeta]

I just received a tiny bit of future nostalgia, thinking about when I'll remember the good ol' days. When I'll tell my children and grandchildren about how we used to brace ourselves because a ride was so rough. Tell them about the CoasterBill method. In all honesty though I'm super happy for the RMC treatment but a deep part of me is going to miss that death trap.

[CP Maverick]

Every time I see a new picture of RMC Mean Streak, I can't help but think of all the people who said it wouldn't be a good ride to convert because it had a boring or terrible layout. I almost feel like Alan Schilke read those posts and said "hold my beer".

Really? I thought Mean Streak had enough potential to be saved by GCI or GG. RMC is a different ride altogether.

[Vonni]

^ But at least the majority of the structure is remaining.

[KPfan]

Every time I see a new picture of RMC Mean Streak, I can't help but think of all the people who said it wouldn't be a good ride to convert because it had a boring or terrible layout. I almost feel like Alan Schilke read those posts and said "hold my beer".

 

LOL, that's about right. The work is being done in a way that I almost hope the ride name doesn't change. Mean seems like a fitting word to describe how it looks and it's not even done yet.

[AndrewRnR]

Gonna to make a bold prediction - because speculation is fun.

 

Has anyone else noticed the whole second lap of track around Mean Streak is gone - supports, ledgers, track etc? Or how after the mid course the ledgers appear to head up a small head then turn under the lift to where the brake run previously was? I'm going to say what we are seeing here is the entire layout.