Photo TR: Cedar Point 7/23-7/25/2007

[sscamatt]

After hitting up Geauga Lake and Memphis Kiddie Park we visited Cedar Point. I bought a Cedar Fair Maxx Pass at Dorney Park earlier in the season. In order to use it at Cedar Point you have to sign in at guest services. While in line we overheard the person in front of us asking about early entry. To our surprise, you can enter early with a non-ohio park Maxx Pass. Sweet!

 

 

Cedar Point has an amazing sky line:

 

Got a spot somewhat close to the entrance even though most of the parking lot was filled:

 

First up was the Demon Drop. The ride had a pretty short line and we waited about 10 mins. This is a first generation Intamin freefall ride. The drop feeling on this ride is amazing, even better than S&S turbo drops and some intamin second gens. Added to the thrill is that it makes lots of loud clunky noises, and you get to watch all the mechanisms working while your on the ride. This adds to the amazing drop because there is a small fear in the back of your mind that its just gonna break. Cedar fair should reconsider trying to sell this ride:

 

 

Next up was Disaster Transport. The sign in the front of the ride said 45 minute wait. Not bad compared to what we would wait for some rides later on. The queue isn't that bad to wait in because of the theming and air conditioning. The great thing about Cedar Point is that the times that they show on the signs in front of their rides are always right on. The three days that we were at the park, we tried our hardest to prove the sign wrong, and it only happened once because a coaster closed due to weather. Kudo's to CP for doing any amazing job with the wait time signs:

 

Next we rode Wicked Twister, which was also about a 45 minute wait:

 

Iron Dragon was next. This ride runs three trains and the dispatches are almost perfect every time:

 

We rode Cedar Downs next. The sign in front says it goes 14 something mph. It was alot of fun:

 

We walked down to the Maverick area to see how long the line was. The sign said 1.5 hours. From other trip reports I've read this is about the normal and the line stays at about 1.5 hours and sometimes jumps up to 2 hours. The 1.5 hour mark is the whole queue line filled right up to the entrance sign. Anymore than that and the line starts pouring out into the midway. This is the one ride here that CP doesn't run efficiently. There are 5 trains total and they are sent out in blocks of 2 trains at a time similar to TTD. As soon as the second train in each block of trains clears the tunnel launch, the next 2 trains can be dispatches. This was not the case. Trains were dispatching about 10 seconds later than they could have been and this created alot of stacking at some points. It's only been 2 months so maybe they will work out the bugs in the near future. They still run alot more efficiently than Kingda Ka which has the same restraints and similar loading patterns. I can see why they took out the heartline roll as many people would probably have a large gash in their neck after riding. I would assume that these rough spots are the reason that the height was changed from 48" to 52". The park map still states the height as 48". There are two points in the first half of the ride (before the launch tunnel) which have a little bit of neck chopping but the rest is very nice. The ride is still a lot of run and definitely a winner among the general public. It is my favorite coaster with inversions.

 

The line:

 

Here you can see the trough from the log fume that once stood where the second half of Maverick's queue line is:

 

We got off of Maverick just in time to get one of the last rides on Mean Streak. This coaster is really rough.

 

Next morning we got to the park at 8:30am for 9am early entry. Rides that are open during early entry are Millennium Force, Maverick, MaXair and sometimes TTD? From reading previous trip reports, everyone runs to Maverick which is pretty much the case. We headed to Millennium Force because we rode Maverick the previous night.

 

 

 

 

The queue line for Millennium Force opened around 10:10am and we waited about 20 minutes to ride. They were running 3 trains:

 

We then walked over to see the Maverick line, it was already a 1.5 hour wait with just early entry people. I feel bad for the people who get in the park at 10am, run to Maverick, to find a line just as long as later in the day.

 

Headed over to see if Top Thrill Dragster was open, on our way we saw no line for Jr. Gemini and figured it would be the only chance of ever getting on. Got up and asked if we would ride. The operator said that we couldn't unless we had a child to ride with. We told her we really want to ride and she told us to wait. We got on the next ride and made random kids sit with us. (I would assume so she doesn't get in trouble). This ride was Intamin's first coaster and was very smooth:

 

Next up was Top Thrill Dragster, the whole queue line was out in the midway as they were still test running. The line started moving quickly and we waited 45 minutes to ride. TTD is much better than Kingda Ka because there are no over the shoulder restraints, you have a sense of freedom as you crest the hill and spin 270 degrees downward:

 

 

After TTD we rode the Blue side of Gemini, they were racing but the dispatches were off by a few seconds so it ruined the effect. Waited about 15 minutes, this ride is one of the highest capacity rides at CP, so there is almost never a line:

 

It has a very retro station:

 

We then rode the Cedar Creek Mine Ride, the wait was about 10 minutes. Nothing special here:

 

 

Next we rode Mantis, CP's B&M stand up. The sign in front said 1 hour, it would turn out this wasn't the case. The ride was running 2 trains. After waiting for about 15 minutes, it started to rain. When it rains, CP brings their coasters down to one train of doesn't run some at all. Mantis is one ride that they bring down to one train. I'm not sure what the reasoning behind this is, but other B&M's can run in rain so I don't think it has to do with the ride itself. Between weather and switching to one train, we ended up waiting 2 hours and 15 minutes to ride. It is an OK ride, but the trim on the first drop ruins it:

 

 

 

 

Now it was raining a bit and there were some lightning storms in the area so a few coasters were closed and others were running one train. Rides that we saw closed were: Raptor, Wildcat. Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster. Rides that we saw running one train: Mantis, Iron Dragon.

 

We saw that Blue Streak was running so we headed over that way. The wait was about 20 minutes:

 

maXair was open and had a line of about 15 minutes, we decided to wait and it was worth it. The HUSS giant frisbee is way better than the small one and doesn't give you the sickness feeling that the smaller one does. The only problem is that it has horrible dispatch times. I don't think it's really anything that CP is doing wrong, but rather the design of the ride itself:

 

We then rode the space spiral and I snapped some photos:

 

Raptor:

 

Raptor:

 

Parking Lot:

 

Wicked Twister:

 

 

 

 

Rode the Sky Ride over to the other end of the park and snapped some more photos:

 

 

 

 

Next up was the Wildcat. This ride usually has a very long line due to its location and low capacity. We got there right after it rained so they have to do 45 minutes worth of test runs including an inspection from maintenance.

 

Raptor was next, we waited 1.5 hours for this ride. They were running 3 trains. This is the best inverted coaster I've ever been on. The ride is pretty intense near the end:

 

 

Next we rode the Corksrew. This is one of the best Arrow corksrews I've been on, you even get a bit of airtime. The ride has manual restraints, but with this girl working, they are just as fast as automatic ones. And here is a link to a video that I took of why Cedar Point is the park with the best capacity: http://www.fragsouth.com/video/CPCorkscrewEfficiency.wmv

 

We then rode the Woodstock Express. They have onride video which proves to be very popular with the families. There also are a lot of geese under the ride:

 

 

We then headed over to Millennium Force to take a night ride.

 

The next morning (Wednesday 7/25) we headed to Maverick for early entry. Like I said earlier, this is where everyone runs. Even though we were one of the first ones through the main gate, all the breakers people beat us there and we still had to wait about an hour. Maverick is better during the day because you know when to brace yourself for neck chopping and the tunnel effect proves to be better:

 

 

 

The line:

 

 

 

Rode the train and got some pics of around the park and some more Maverick:

 

 

Millenium Force cable tensioner:

 

More Maverick

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rode the Sky Way back over to the front and got this shot:

 

Then rode Demon Drop 4-5 times before heading out early to Chili's and the hotel to rest up for the rest of the trip. We had a lot of fun at Cedar Point and a lot of other parks management should visit this park and take notes. I'm not sure what they are doing with line cutting, but it is working because the entire time we were there, we got cut once. Waiting in line at CP isn't that horrible because they have upbeat music in their queue lines.

 

For larger pictures or some I didn't include in the TR: http://www.pbase.com/sscamatt/cedar_point

[bulldogmom]

Great pics, especially from the Space Spiral. I never get tired of looking at CP pics!

[Guest]

CP brings their coasters down to one train of doesn't run some at all. Mantis is one ride that they bring down to one train. I'm not sure what the reasoning behind this is, but other B&M's can run in rain so I don't think it has to do with the ride itself.

You can thank Magnum for that.

[sscamatt]

Magnum was still running 3 trains which is the funny part.

[Groteslurf]

Great TR and pics !

[verticalzero]

Great photo's, brings back the memories of my trip in 2000.

 

I enjoyed my time so much when I visited CP, it is such a lovely place and I am envious of the people who live about an hours drive away.

 

I'll have to plan a trip to return to CP and KI when I can afford it.

[spaceace12]

Was the handicapped parking pretty close? My family is going in Sept. and my mom is disabled.

[edboxer]

Incredible photos. This has to be one of the best Photo TRs ever! Excellent job!

[sscamatt]

Was the handicapped parking pretty close? My family is going in Sept. and my mom is disabled.

 

Handicap parking is right next to the front gate, but so is the regular parking if you get there early.

[CoasterFanatic]

Nice TR. I must say that CP is probably the best park at handling crowds like that. The accurate wait times probably are directly related to the fact that each entrance has a staffed member assigned to it. This way those crazy kids don't muck up the wait times.

 

The only thing I really take issue with in your report is:

 

This (Maverick) is the one ride here that CP doesn't run efficiently.

 

Trains were dispatching about 10 seconds later than they could have been and this created alot of stacking at some points.

 

While Maverick is certainly not operated to it's full potential, it is still pretty good. The stacking makes it look worse than it is, but is inevitible due to the fact that they send two at a time. Millennium Force is MUCH worse.

 

Nice catch on the WWL trough. Never noticed that before.

[Adrenaline_Rush]

CP is extremely photogenic. Those photos look amazing, and I dont know why but I really like the Mantis Iron Dragon photo, theres just something that catches my eye in that photo. Great shots, Ive always wanted to visit CP.

[Xtremecoaster]

You missed to shot:

Magnum XL-200

Mean Streak

Wildcat (I don`t see a pic of Wildcat itself)

[FeelTheFORCE]

Great photo TR! I can never get enough of CP PTRs!

[Little Coaster Girl]

Ok i have a few questions, because i want to go there next year. Which road did you come into the park on ? Cedar point road or drive ? and was it the same coming out or a different way ? Also if you know does the road have a bridge ? I think the drive is a bridge between the mainland ohio and the island of cedar point but not sure. Also are they tall bridges if there are any ? Sorry for sounding so stupid but i have problems dealing with driving close to large body's of water like that, i hope i can handle it.

[sscamatt]

Ok i have a few questions, because i want to go there next year. Which road did you come into the park on ? Cedar point road or drive ? and was it the same coming out or a different way ? Also if you know does the road have a bridge ? I think the drive is a bridge between the mainland ohio and the island of cedar point but not sure. Also are they tall bridges if there are any ? Sorry for sounding so stupid but i have problems dealing with driving close to large body's of water like that, i hope i can handle it.

 

We took Cedar Point Drive into the park. This is the main way that traffic is routed. It brings you over a bridge sort-of. It really isn't a bridge, more of a bunch of dirt dumped into the water until they could build a road. The first night, we took a back exit out of the parking lot and we ended up taking Cedar Point Rd. I would suggest not taking this way because it is a small road and somewhat out of the way. As long as you are within a few miles of the park, there will be plenty of signs directing you in the right direction, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

Here is a pic of the "bridge" on Cedar Point Dr:

[Little Coaster Girl]

Thanks for the help. I will avoid the road. The directions yahoo maps gives you is in and out on cedarpoint drive, so we should be ok. I plan on staying there for 2 days at one of there hotels. I wasnt sure by your pic of the road which one it was, thanks for letting me know it was the drive. I am glad its land and not a bridge, all i kept thinking of was the florida keys.

[SFOGdude25]

Hey, I was there the 24th, 25th, and 26th. I was one of the people to get on Maverick first, and on the 26th, I was the first train of the morning. I thought that was really cool.

 

Those "Running of the Bulls" crowds are crazy! The first morning I wanted to walk, but too many people were running so I ran. The next morning, I ran from the start, and almost died from exhaustion. The next morning I jogged (which is running, just not sprinting). It's a much better idea to jog than sprint. I had to stop sprinting halfway there.

 

Nice photos!

[RaptorBoyASU]

^^Yah, not tall bridges, and you don't even really notice it's a bridge in the few spots that it goes over water.

 

I enjoy the drive up Cedar Point Rd, especially in the morning, so if you're not in a rush, its a nice drive that passes by some neat houses.