Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[bonsaiisuperstar]

Agreed, Gatekeeper media day was one of the best days of life. I cannot fathom what that cost Cedar Fair that day. The fed 1,000 people all day and also opened MF and Raptor just because they are awesome like that. Being able to chat with Kim from B&M, Mr. Quimet and Mr. Decker was a real treat.

[jokey]

On Thursday I visited Cedar Point for the first time. These are my ride reviews (please not that this is all my personal opinion)

 

Maverick- My first ride of the day and I was lucky enough to get front row on the first train of the day thanks to early entry. The first drop gave more airtime than I had anticipated and it pleasantly surprised me. The turns were quick and forceful and the airtime was intense. Later on in the day I had multiple rides in the back row and it seemed to be running faster which greatly improved the ride experience. The ride ops were great also. They made waiting in the station enjoyable. My new #1 coaster!

 

Millennium Force- I actually enjoyed Millennium Force a lot more than I thought I would except I was a bit disappointed with the fist drop. I think the first drop on Leviathan is better but Millennium Force is the better overall ride. It never let up it's speed even into the brakes unlike Leviathan which goes quite slow at some points. I was only able to get 1 ride but it was a good one.

 

Top Thrill Dragster- A short but awesome ride. I wasn't expecting the launch to be as forceful as it was. I did notice that it seemed to slow down slightly near the end (there might be trim brakes there but I'm not sure). I didn’t really notice being up 400+ feet in the air but the view that I did get a glimpse of was amazing. There really isn't much to this coaster but the launch makes up for it.

 

Corkscrew- I didn't really enjoy this ride. The hill right after the lift gave me some of the most uncomfortable airtime I have ever experienced and the transition into the first corkscrew was painful.

 

Raptor- It was much smoother than I had anticipated, I experienced no head banging at all. It was a good, forceful, old-school B&M invert. I enjoyed it much more than Alpengeist and just slightly more than Montu.

 

Blue Streak- This was a pleasant surprise. It was a small but fun coaster with multiple pops of airtime. Defiantly one of the better family coasters that I've been on.

 

Gatekeeper- After reading all of the reviews online, I was curious to see what the ride experience would be like for me. I must say that I was still a bit disappointed with the ride. There was very little force throughout the ride and little airtime on the airtime hill. I noticed that the outside seats rattled a bit and the inside were considerably smoother. I also experienced the tightening of the vest while riding and it was painful but didn't leave bruises partially because I only rode it 3 times. I think it could have been a better ride but I do think that it was a good addition for the park.

 

Magnum XL 200- I thought that this was a decent ride despite the ejector airtime and slightly rough ride. The airtime hills were very different than the smooth B&M hills that I am used to at Canada's Wonderland and were more intense.

 

Woodstock Express: I just wanted the credit but it was a decent ride for younger children.

 

Gemini: I was really disappointed with this coaster. Only the blue side was running but it was a very painful ride, much more painful than I was anticipating. One ride was enough for me.

 

Cedar Creek Mine Train: I was very surprised with this mine ride. I found it to be smooth enough to be fun but with a few bumps to give it a mine train feel. The station theming also improved the ride experience for me. It was a wonderful family ride and I wish I had done one more ride on it.

 

Mean Streak- I had the lowest of expectations going into this one and I came off thinking that it wasn't the worst coaster ever but could be improved. The first drop was rough but I was leaning forward for the rest of the ride and had no problems. There is so much potential for this coaster if it does get an Iron Horse treatment.

 

Mantis- Roughest B&M I've been on. The quick transitions before the mid-course brake run and after the corkscrew don't work well with the standup trains. I didn't really experience any head banging but it was a bumpy ride.

 

Iron Dragon- Smooth ride but it didn't really stand out to me. I think Vortex is better by far.

 

Wicked Twister- I enjoyed this ride. It had forceful launches, quick transitions up the spikes and was a smooth ride.

 

Overall, I enjoyed my day at the park. The employee's were friendly, the food was great and the park was clean. There were also a few breakdowns during the day and it was nice to see the crew at TTD having fun with people in the station when this occurred. Most of the ride crews were very enthusiastic (Maverick, Millennium Force, Gatekeeper) and made the rides have a fun atmosphere. As I was leaving Friday morning, I stopped at the front entrance to take pictures of Gatekeeper. A security guard invited me over to the bottom of Gatekeeper's drop and allowed me to go through the security gate to take more pictures of the ride. It was a nice opportunity and we had a good chat about Gatekeeper and Raptor. I can't wait until I have another chance to come back as it was a wonderful park!

 

Final Ride Count (with FastLane+) :

Maverick x5

Millennium Force x1

Top Thrill Dragster x1

Corkscrew x1

Raptor x1

Blue Streak x1

Gatekeeper x3

Magnum XL 200 x1

Woodstock Express x1

Gemini x1

Cedar Creek Mine Train x1

Mean Streak x1

Mantis x1

Iron Dragon x1

Wicked Twister x1

 

Pictures:

[cal1br3tto]

^I agree with quite a few of your reviews. Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium Force are two of my favorite coasters, and I might finally move up Maverick one spot to #1 over X2. Raptor is a solid invert, and Blue Streak was a bit more lively for me this year. I really like the visual impact GateKeeper has made despite being a lackluster ride.

[rcjp]

^^Nice review! I went to CP for the first time last week too. I was really lucky with the weather as they predicted rain and thunders for both Tuesday and Wednesday (the days I was there) but it only rained for an hour on Wednesday and they kept raptor, twister, gatekeeper and some other rides on that area running in the rain. Here are my personal reviews:

 

Gatekeeper: Basically what I was expecting from other reviews, not a lot of forces a lot more floating and flying around than actually pulling some Gs. The restraints did tighten a lot during the ride but I didn't find that that bad (maybe because as they were running only two trains there was no wait time sitting in the brake run). Some floater air, some hangtime in the drop and in the inline roll thingy but I suffered from some rather nasty vibrations in the outside seats when sitting closer to the back. That is made a bit worse by the fact that you're glued to your seat so you vibrate along. I know I wasn't in my top conditions due to lack of sleep but still I got some slight headache sometimes and a brand new ride should never do that, right? Still, nice ride overall with fun elements and visually very appealing looking great at the front of the park.

 

Wicked twister: Fun ride with a significantly more powerful launch than possessed (at Dorney), some weightlessness in the spikes and nice ride time for such a short track.

 

Raptor: My favourite invert so far! Smoother than I was expecting (despite the slight snap in the cobra roll and massive one when the train enters the brake run), intense, long and loud like every B&M should be !

PS: The helix at the end pulls some nice forces.

 

Blue Streak: Very enjoyable ride with some really fun pops of airtime. Lovely short coaster which goes near my wooden top (as I haven't ridden that many).

 

Corkscrew: My first ever arrow. A bit jerky (specially in the airtime hill) but still enjoyable. I just felt like the restraints weren't made for my size but for shorter people as I had to kind of slouch for it to close properly. I don't know if anyone has experienced this but I find it odd as I'm not particularly tall at all (5,77 ft).

 

Iron Dragon: My first and so far only suspended ride so I haven't got much to compare it to. Thought that it lacked some speed at some parts and just a bit jerky sometimes (although I have no idea how these rides are supposed to be in terms of smoothness). All in all, it was a fun experience.

 

Mantis: From the reviews I'd heard I thought it would be almost impossible to ride. However, having ridden it twice in the second row it wasn't that bad, sure you get some nasty headbanging if you lean your head against the headrest but if you stick it out like I did (which actually is advised by some ride ops) it wasn't painful at all, just uncomfortable in some parts. Having said that, I had ridden Green Lantern at SFGAd a few days before and it was a lot smoother, has one more inversion and it's slightly faster and taller. I wouldn't say it was the worst B&M I've ridden, just the least good. Despite this, it's not a ride I go in for pleasure but more for the credit (and I wouldn't really recommend it).

 

Millenium Force: Great ride, very long with some nice airtime in the middle. I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed by the first drop: it just didn't feel as long and awesome as I thought it would be. Still, I have got to admire the fact that it is able to maintain some speed during the entire layout (something B&M hypers usually lack) and that last small hill towards the end gave me more than floater air, nice way to end (along with the overbank).

 

Top Thrill Dragster: Awesome ride, great acceleration, great speed and unbelievable height. Having said that and having heard many people saying how much better it is than Kingda Ka I must also say that it didn't really feel that. It is undeniably smoother than KK and has the big advantage of having lapbars. However, I didn't feel a really big difference from the restraints and, despite having trims on the tophat, Kingda ka has that long airtime hill and the launch felt more intense (wich I already knew as it goes to 128 in 3.5 seconds while TTD goes to 120 in 4, but honestly wasn't expecting to notice). Still, a genuinely pulse pounding ride which offers some intense thrill.

 

Magnum: Fun ride, even though the restraints suck as they are quite painful. A bit rough but not bad for a ride designed from a coat hanger. Those airtime hill towards the end, despite a bit painful, were great fun.

 

Gemini: Rode the red side only, enjoyable ride, not very rough (despite that massive jolt in the helix before the brakes), managed to offer some floater and, overall, a fun ride.

 

Mean Streak: Horrible. One of the roughest coasters I've ridden and I noticed they tried to make it not so bad by putting the trims in the first drop but they ended up ruining the pace of the ride which clearly felt like it had been designed to go through some elements faster than it goes now. The sheer roughness gave me some bad (although temporary) headache and I feel sorry for this ride as (like many have said) it has a lot of potential. It really is mean and it really needs an urgent RMC treatment.

 

Maverick: worst part of the trip, the goddamn thing was closed for the two days I went to the park. When I first went there Tuesday morning they said it was because of the heavy rain that had fallen before the park opened. Returned in the afternoon and then they said it was mechanical problems and the story repeated the following day.

 

I'm sorry I have no pictures but I lost my memory card for the camera and I doubt I will get it back.

 

To sum up: Really awesome trip (apart from Maverick's problems), great park with amazing collection of rides, very efficient, the lines were rather short as the weather was very unstable and I was surprised by the amount of rides they kept running in the rain (Gatekeeper, raptor, wicked twister, MF, blue streak and all the flat rides I could see from the area). All in all, awesome and I expect to return one day to CP (just a shame it is 3758 miles from home ).

[tororific]

went to the park on Thursday through Sunday. Stayed at Hotel Breakers - was expecting a horrible, worn-down room, but what I got was actually surprisingly nice (the value of low expectations).

 

Overall, I was pretty impressed with the operations of the park. The park was very clean. All the coasters were up and running all days and they ran them at full capacity on Saturday and Sunday. The dispatch times were relatively good (and light years better than what I see at Six Flags parks).

 

My runs on Millennium Force have caused me to undergo a major reevaluation of that ride. In my previous visits (about 3 priors) I always experienced it as a relatively meh-coaster, with a great drop and then a so-so remainder, generally devoid of any good airtime, particularly because I am more of a back-seat rider. I decided to ride the second-seat of the first car and the first seat of the second car a lot this weekend, and, although the first drop is less intense, I got some great floater air on the 180-foot hill and some really massive, sustained air on the return hill from the island, plus a great floater pop on the station bunny hill. Plus, I started (maybe for the first time) appreciating its relentless speed through the whole course-- there really is no let up. In any event, probably for the first time, I enjoyed it substantially more than Magnum and its rising in my rankings.

 

Maverick was fun - imagine if it had lap bars . . .

 

Raptor continues to be great.

 

Gatekeeper was fine -- I thought the second seat gave a great ride, no harness tightening, and I got some nice floater air on the air time hill (well, as best as you can get with that harness), and came off the ride relatively impressed. I then rode the back seat and encountered all the complaints I have heard -- rattling and shaking, tightening harness, and pretty forceless.

 

Magnum is still excellent, particularly at night - it's a great night ride with the tunnels.

 

Didn't bother with Mean Streak or Corkscrew.

 

I agree that Mean Streak has MASSIVE potential with a RMC conversion.

[DanM64]

^I've noticed with MF that sometimes I get "meh" rides, and other times it's great! I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed the same thing or if it's just me.

[TunaSled]

^I've noticed with MF that sometimes I get "meh" rides, and other times it's great! I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed the same thing or if it's just me.

It really is all about where you sit in my experience.

[DanM64]

^Good point, but I sit only in the last row on MF.

[Koasterking48]

^ Front row is much better IMO. The back just doesn't give much of that "yank" that you would normally get on the drops.

[coasternut]

^I've noticed with MF that sometimes I get "meh" rides, and other times it's great! I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed the same thing or if it's just me.

 

"Millie" has been delivering "meh" rides for quite sometime (multiple years) IMO. I used to ride in the last row, but too many laterals over the past few years. I've found I get more airtime in the middle or more towards the front. Bugs stop me from riding the front.

[rcjp]

^I only noticed bugs towards the night. I rode a few coasters in the front during the day and I was OK. However, when I rode Top Thrill Dragster in the front at night... well, I felt like a National Geographic documentary could be made on my shirt and face.

[coasternut]

^ Yes, you are correct, but it depends on the time of year too.

[tororific]

Lots of bugs at night at this time of year, but I found that as long as you don't sit in the front car on MF, you largely avoid them.

In my view, MF is absolutely a second or first car ride -- and this is from a devoted back seat rider.

[coasterlover420]

This is how I would describe MF.

 

-If it's cold out or if it's early in the day...DON'T RIDE IT.

 

-The first drop, like any other coaster, is better the further back you sit.

 

-The airtime throughout the ride is better RIGHT in the middle. Most MF single-riders who have ridden literally thousands of times will tell you this. Car 5 row 1 is the best because the air isn't inconsistent like the other seats. You don't get yanked over (back seat) and you don't get the initial pop (front), but still you don't get the lame lag while you're waiting for the rest of the train to get over the top (except for the last hill which is good no matter where you sit)

 

If you're there on one of those days where it's so hot you can barely move, THOSE are the best rides on MF, especially at night.

[TunaSled]

Car 5 row 1 is the best

Going to put this into practice. Will report my findings.

[singemfrc]

^ ^^ I will also take your advice and test this next weekend. Ill try to ride front, back, and 5/1 and see which is best. I should also get a chance to do both a night ride and a morning/afternoon ride.

[DanM64]

^^^Thanks for the advice! I'll be sure to try out 5/1 when I visit on the 13th and 14th of this month. I'm a backseat rider on every coaster except TTD and Kingda Ka- I prefer those 2 in the front row.

 

As a sidenote- what sort of crowds should I expect? I went to HalloWeekends 2 years ago in October and crowds were heavy. Will the 13th and 14th be any lighter since it's the first weekend for it, or will they be busy?

[rcjp]

This is how I would describe MF.

 

-If it's cold out or if it's early in the day...DON'T RIDE IT.

 

If you're there on one of those days where it's so hot you can barely move, THOSE are the best rides on MF, especially at night.

 

I actually noticed that. Got 3 rides on MF in two days, two of which were in the morning and the other one was in the afternoon (and it was rather hot that day). I definitely noticed that there was more consistent airtime as it went a bit faster in the afternoon ride.

[Invertalon]

I usually avoid Millennium Force during morning ERT because it runs so sluggish. When it warms up it really runs so much better with great air on the third and forth hills.

[tororific]

I usually avoid Millennium Force during morning ERT because it runs so sluggish. When it warms up it really runs so much better with great air on the third and forth hills.

 

Yup, later in the day and night was definitely much better than the morning ERT times.

I was shocked by how much air the return hill from the island was giving at night in the front couple of cars.

[ECZenith]

Have any of you recent visitors to Cedar Point seen Gatekeeper statix models for sale? The webstore stopped selling them, and they aren't able to send me one from a gift shop inside the park, my only shot is someone picking one up for me. Please help if you can, I will tip well!

 

 

http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=66085

[singemfrc]

Have any of you recent visitors to Cedar Point seen Gatekeeper statix models for sale? The webstore stopped selling them, and they aren't able to send me one from a gift shop inside the park, my only shot is someone picking one up for me. Please help if you can, I will tip well!

 

 

http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=66085

I'll be there this Sat and Sun, if I see one I will get it for you.

[cal1br3tto]

I've always had good luck with airtime on Millennium Force (morning, midday and night on fairly hot days). I like to ride in the middle or towards the back. I've heard before about an unexpected ideal row in that area; may have been 5.1. While it's way too popular to be at all underrated, I think MF doesn't always get the credit it deserves.

[TPDave]

I don't think I've ever ridden it outside of an energised ERT session so my view might be slightly skewed! I find the ride really "fun" but not too much more. It's a great laugh and the airtime is better than what you get on B&Ms (and most Morgans!) but once you've done Plun n Play's, RMCs, mega lites and the new Intamin giga's I can't take it as a serious "airtime machine" contender. Up until 5 or 6 years ago I totally get it, but the industry is by no means standing still!!

[coasternut]

I've always had good luck with airtime on Millennium Force (morning, midday and night on fairly hot days). I like to ride in the middle or towards the back. I've heard before about an unexpected ideal row in that area; may have been 5.1. While it's way too popular to be at all underrated, I think MF doesn't always get the credit it deserves.

 

I disagree, it gets more credit than it deserves. It's just okay IMO. It's voted in the top 5 steel every year. It's overrated. There are a lot better rides out there. I used to really love it, but times and rides change.