My Trip to the Midwest's Best...and Worst

[CreditCrazy]

From Monday June 15th to Tuesday June 23rd, my dad and I took a trip to the Midwest and went to Cedar Point, Kennywood, Kings Island, Coney Island, Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, and Holiday World. We also saw Indians and Reds baseball games.

 

Here was our schedule:

 

Monday, June 15th: Today we were just planning on flying in to Columbus Ohio, then driving up to Sandusky and checking into our hotel (more like motel). Of course, there was some extra time, and since there was supposed to be bad weather on Wednesday and Thursday which we also were planning on going to Cedar Point on, we took advantage of the extra hour we had that night from 9-10 to get a couple rides in just in case we couldn't go on Wednesday or Thursday due to weather.

 

Tuesday, June 16th: Cedar Point all-day (Early Entry to a little after closing).

 

Wednesday, June 17th: Today was either going to be a half-day spent at Cedar Point, then to the Indians game, or a couple hours at Waldameer, and then to the Indians game. Since both areas were supposed to have bad weather, we just decided to go to Cedar Point and do as much as we could if it rained and then go to the Indians game. This actually worked out pretty well, because it did NOT rain, and I was able to finish Cedar Point, so we went to Kennywood the next day as a complete last minute thing.

 

Thursday, June 18th: Originally planned to be another all-day day at Cedar Point, but since I was able to finish everything up the day before, we went to Kennywood.

 

Friday, June 19th: A long drive from somewhere in the middle of nowhere Ohio (near WV) to Kings Island where we spent the rest of the day as planned.

 

Saturday, June 20th: Kings Island from morning to about 3, then to Coney Island, and then to the Reds game.

 

Sunday, June 21st: Kings Island in the morning, and Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom for the rest of the day.

 

Monday, June 22nd: Holiday World all day.

 

Tuesday, June 23rd: Drive back to Columbus Ohio and fly back home.

 

 

I'll start off with Cedar Point.

 

I loved Cedar Point. It is my new favorite amusement park. Some say it's overrated, but that might be what actually makes it so great, if that makes any sense. Hearing that it's the coaster capital of the world makes it exciting, all the coasters everywhere are exciting, and everyone around you is always happy and excited about coasters and talking about them. The park isn't even just about coasters either, there's a ton to do for families...I think I counted 4 kiddy areas, and tons of family rides/family coasters/flat rides.

 

From what I've heard and read, some of CP's coasters are disliked...for example, Maverick for its intensity and roughness (?), Millennium Force for its little amount of air-time and forceless-ness, TTD for the short-ness, Magnum for the painful ejector, Raptor for the rough-ness, Mantis for the rough-ness and uncomfortable-ness, etc. I enjoyed almost every coaster here! The ones I wouldn't care to keep riding would be of course Jr. Gemini, Woodstock's Express, and Cedar Creek Mine Ride which was pretty bad, Mean Streak which wasn't as bad as I was expecting but still pointless, and Iron Dragon just for the boringness, but that was also expected. Everything else was either just really fun, or great! (That includes Blue Streak, Corkscrew, and Gemini too!)

 

I love how there's coasters all around you, and most of the time you see a train going by too, because the operations at this park are amazing. Every time a train comes back into the station, the ride op will ask how the ride was which I also thought was fun because everyone was enjoying their job and there was always a lot of cheering in the station. There were several ride ops at each ride, each getting each train out of that station as quick as possible. On Tuesday Gemini was running 4 trains which I thought was great, I think TTD was running 6, and I'm not even sure how many Maverick and Disaster Transport were running. Magnum, Raptor, and Mean Streak ran 3, and everything else ran 2 except Jr. Gemini, Woodstock's Express, and Wicked Twister. Once again all the ride ops were very happy and actually cared about their jobs. Even at Jonny Rockets all the workers were dancing to the music in there which I haven't seen done at any other park yet. Sure, that kind of made me want to puke, but hey they were having fun!

 

No matter how long each line looks, they all move extremely fast. I usually use waiting in line time to film and take pictures, but it was hard to do with the lines always moving! I only experienced 3 breakdowns during my visit, two on TTD and one on MF. Even then they tried to get them back up and running as quick as possible.

 

I was able to get every credit; including both sides of Gemini and Jr. Gemini (yeah...I stole a kid). That gave my count 18 credits which made Cedar Point even better.

 

I don't think any rides were closed while I was there, definitely not any coasters.

 

I don't want to sound like a Cedar Point fanboy, but I really loved this park. I still think a park like BGE/BGW could probably beat it, but until then CP is #1. There are some parks where just everything is bad, the rides suck and the operations are terrible. Well, Cedar Point is just like that, except the opposite. I can't think of a complaint for this park, except for Early Entry which was a waste…see TTD review.

 

Btw, I thought all the trees lit up at night over in the Frontier Trail area (I think that's what it's called) looked great. It made running to Maverick right before closing to quickly get in line even more fun!

 

Now onto the actual TR. Since I can't really remember when I did what, I'll list every ride I went on, in order from my favorite to least favorite, how many times I rode it, and how long I waited for it each time (yes, I did log all of this down every night).

 

The Coasters:

 

1 - Millennium Force. 3 times (including a night-ride). 2 hours, 1 hour, and 45 minutes. The 2 hour wait was surprisingly the longest wait of the trip. It was originally 90 minutes but when I was one train away from getting on (first time too) it broke down for 30 minutes. Still worth it though, I love this ride. I knew it would be my #1 coaster and of course it was. There are only a couple rides that I can possibly see beating it, and everything else MF will always beat. Everything about this ride I love. The height, the speed, that awesome first drop, the airtime, the layout, the length, the tunnels, etc., it's just a truly amazing ride that I'd wait all day for. I can't see myself ever getting tired of it, and it's very re-ridable which is always great for me and my motion sickness.

 

2 - Maverick. 3 times (including two night-rides, one being front row). 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and 15 minutes. I know, not very long. I did my first ride on Monday night right before closing. I waited in the whole line which was 30 minutes (that's what I do for most of the rides, I wait in the full line with my dad, then the rest of the times I ride by myself or do single rider if the ride has it since he doesn't like re-rides). That's why I didn't have to wait too long for Maverick, single rider! You still have to wait in a lot of the line to get to it, but it still really makes a wait shorter. Anyway, I also loved Maverick, #2 coaster. It's a very intense ride with amazing air-time. All of those turns are insane, and the second half wants to kill you with the intensity. I love the launch out of the tunnel, and for everyone complaining about it slowing down after a couple seconds...it needs that!

 

3 - Magnum XL-200. 2 times (including a night-ride). 10 minutes and 15 minutes. I really liked Magnum. The first time I sat towards the front and I was expecting a very rough ride with very painful ejector air. It was nothing like that! The first drop and second hill was smooth with some good but definitely not painful airtime. Next I was a little worried for some bad Arrow banking turns, and while it did have bad banking, it was still far from rough. The rest of the ride was just awesome. I'm a big fan of airtime, I'm a big fan of tunnels, and I'm a big fan of smoothness, so you can probably guess how much I loved the second half. Of course I got another re-ride on it later, and I knew I had to try the back to really experience the insane airtime and real Magnum. Real Magnum meaning...very rough and un-enjoyable, from what I've heard. Going up the lift hill I was a little worried about my choice because I really did not want to hate Magnum. Fortunately, I was wrong! The back was insane! The best airtime I've ever gotten, that means it beats Maverick's, Phantom's, Jack Rabbit's, Diamondback's, Voyage's, etc. by far. It definitely was a lot rougher than my first ride towards the front, and much more intense...I think I almost blacked out at the bottom of the first drop, and I loved every second of it. I can picture someone not liking the back of Magnum though, so I'd suggest for everyone to try the front first, and if you like it then go for the back. Anyways, on my 2nd ride right as we were coming back into the station, the people in back of me asked if anyone had lost their phone...I quickly checked my pocket and found it unbuttoned with my phone missing. I turned around and saw half of my phone in the people's hand, the back half (battery) was gone. That kind of scares me, because if my pocket was buttoned (which I'm pretty sure it was) then A.) The extreme forces of Magnum unbuttoned it and took my phone out, or B.) if my phone came out...then that means my camera may be able to come out too. Long story short, I now ride roller coasters with a Ziploc bag inside my pocket holding my (new) phone and camera buttoned up. I still love Magnum, but did I really need to get you a 20th birthday present?

 

4 - Top Thrill Dragster. 1 time. 30 minutes. I wish I could have ridden TTD a second time but while in line for a second ride it broke down and I had other re-rides to get to. I went and rode WT two more times, and then I barely had any time left (we had to leave early so I could get a phone and then get to the Indians game on time). It was either wait in line for TTD and be late, or ride Demon Drop real quick, leave, and be on time. I'm glad I chose Demon Drop, I wanted to at least ride one before they’re all gone. Anyways, time for that long awaited Early Entry rant.

 

I got to the park right on time for Early Entry, but my Platinum Pass didn’t scan (but that’s for another rant). When I got in, I was wondering how they kept the general public out since they were letting everyone in the park. Then I saw that they divided the midway up into two, gp side and Early Entry side with the rides open (I thought) on the Early Entry side. That made me feel better about the Early Entry, except the dividing thing they had done just ends at a certain part in the midway, and the gp can go over to the other side and ride the open rides. I sure am glad I didn't pay to stay in one of their hotels for this “Early Entry”, my Platinum Pass got me that, along with my admission there everyday and at KI. Now ignoring the fact that the park is now as crowded as it is in the afternoon, I went to Millennium Force. It was closed, and already had a big line waiting for it. Then I went over to Maverick. It was testing, but with a line already passed SkyHawk and Snake River Falls. I went back to Millennium Force and waiting in an even longer line now circling the area and it still hadn't even started testing. Early Entry is now almost over, and I saw a TTD train go over the top hat. My final decision for the "Early Entry" was to wait for TTD. When I got there it was testing, and I was towards the front of the line. A little after the park opened, it finally opened up and about 10 minutes later, it broke down...then about 10 minutes after that, it opened back up and I finally got on.

 

While I'm ranting, might as well do one more. This is not just for Cedar Point, but for Cedar Fair in general.

 

When I went to Cedar Point Monday night, my KBF Platinum Pass would not scan. They let my dad and I in anyway, but told us the rest of the days we would have to go to Guest Relations (or Services or something, can't remember) show them our pass, and then they'd give us a ticket. We had to do that Tuesday at CP, Wednesday at CP, Friday at KI, Saturday at KI, and Sunday at KI. Of course it took less than 2 seconds to do, but it was annoying that our Platinum Passes would not scan at both parks and it made getting to the park before Early Entry to get to the "front of the line" pointless because we still had to go to Guest Relations/Services (?) to get our ticket.

 

Back to TTD, it was fun. There's not a lot to say about it, I wish there was more to it but I still liked it. It's really hard to choose which is better; TTD or Xcelerator. They're almost tied...but I'd say Xcelerator is just a bit better because it has a more intense launch and air-time on the top hat. TTD's height and how fast you're going is pretty cool though. I thought I wouldn't be able to get much of a view since you're "up-and-over" pretty quickly, but you actually can and it's pretty cool. I love how you crawl over (and I thought Xcelerator was slow over the top-hat), it seems like everyone almost gets a rollback every time. Btw, I sat in the back, and that might have to do with why I like Xcelerator's launch better. I think Xcelerator is a much better ride in the front, and I was hoping to ride TTD in the front too, but after a breakdown I just wanted to get on it and I figured I'd ride it again later and get the front...too bad that didn't happen.

 

5 - Raptor. 2 times. 50 minutes and 20 minutes. Raptor is a pretty popular ride...unlike Silver Bullet. I still find it really weird that Raptor has a way longer line than Silver Bullet, especially when Raptor is at a much bigger park and is now sort of an "older" ride, but I really liked it. It deserves the lines that it gets. I got front row and 3rd row, and surprisingly I liked 3rd row more. The front actually seemed rougher. Raptor is a pretty smooth ride, but when it does headbang you, it headbangs you hard (for example, the smack before the brakes and the cobra roll). It's my favorite invert, with Batman close behind and killing Silver Bullet and Flight Deck. It was awesome how it had the good length, layout, and "large-ness" that Silver Bullet has, but the intensity Batman has (almost). The first drop (it's like an actual real drop...unlike other Inverts), vertical loop, and zero-g roll were my favorite parts of the ride. A ton of fun.

 

6 - Wicked Twister. 3 times. 10 minutes, 2 minutes, and 2 minutes. The wait never really got bad with Wicked Twister, good thing too because it's a really fun ride. For some reason I really like these impulse coasters and they don't make me too sick either. I think I like V2 a little more because of the hang-time, but like Xcelerator/TTD they are almost tied. I rode somewhere in the very middle, 2nd row, and 2nd to last row. 2nd to last row was definitely my favorite. I prefer going backwards higher up and that was great how much you twisted and how high you went up above the beach. I didn't like the front nearly as much, just not as fun, and the middle just gave a little of both.

 

 

7 - Gemini (both). 2 times (one red, one blue). 10 minutes and a walk-on. I lucked out big-time...when I first rode Gemini on Tuesday, both sides were running and racing. I just chose red randomly. Then I never got around to doing the blue side later that day. The next day, only the blue side was running. I'll never let that happen again...but I did...in another part of this trip (you'll see). Gemini was a fun ride. I think I expected it to be a little too fun, which of course let me down. The airtime and headchopper is great in the back, but I didn't like the helix.

 

8 - Blue Streak. 1 time. 2 minutes. This has to be one of the most fun coasters I've ever ridden. Just looking at it you know there's going to be air-time, so I rode in the back and got a ton! I loved the first drop. I think I was floating out of my seat the entire time, and the rest of the hills gave a really good amount also. I am getting tired of these boring out and back layouts though, it could have been much more exciting with a few more turns and changes in direction.

 

9 - Mantis. 1 time. 2 minutes. I saw that Mantis had a really long line all day, but I caught it in the evening around 8 with no line. I rode towards the back and it was fun. I think it has a better layout than Riddler's Revenge and Chang, but comes in 3rd because of the lack of inversions and it was a bit rougher than the other two. I'm not a big fan of stand up coasters at all, so of course Mantis wasn't one of my favorites, but it was a good ride. The twisty second half is fun, but I wish it had some hang-time on the inversions (same goes for Chang).

 

10 - Corkscrew. 2 times. Walk-on and walk-on. This ride surprised me. I rode it in the 3rd row first and it was a pretty fun little ride with good air-time...so I tried the back quickly after. Same ride, just extreme ejector on that second hill! You know...there's some rides that have air-time but you're kinda like "was that air-time? Ejector? Hard to tell". That pretty much sums up everything in California (except Goliath), but here at Cedar Point (and at other places on this trip), Magnum, Maverick, Blue Streak and Corkscrew just have some true wicked air. The rest of Corkscrew was no big deal, the corkscrews were kind of hard on the back too, but a really fun ride.

 

11 - Disaster Transport. 1 time. 10 minutes. I'm not really sure how I expected this ride to be, I was pretty clueless about it. It was pretty fun! The lift hill lights were cool, it took me a couple seconds to realize what track we were on/what we were doing...the rest of the ride was nice and smooth. I don't really remember any lights but it still wasn't really pitch black dark at some points of the ride. Basically, it could be a lot better, but for now it's just kind of poorly done. Very short too.

 

12 - Wildcat. 1 time. 20 minutes. A pretty fun ride. I liked the first couple drops, they were much smoother than I expected. I was expecting a little bit of a rattle at the bottom of each one but nope, nothing. Then it got to the helices and it got a little uncomfortable and the slam on the brakes at the end was pretty bad. Decent ride.

 

13 - Iron Dragon. 1 time. 2 minutes. I almost walked right on it but it seemed before it had a really long line. I also hit this one in the evening right before Mantis so I'd suggest doing that for these two rides. The ride was very slow and boring. Its nickname fits it perfectly.

 

14 - Mean Streak. 1 time. Walk-on. It was bad, but I expected much worse. I describe it like this if it makes any sense; "it was really rough but not painful." The trimmed drop completely sucks, btw.

 

16 - Woodstock Express. 1 time. 20 minutes. I waited much too long for this, I timed it on my watch and it dispatched every 3 minutes. Pretty bad, but that could have just possibly been due to only one ride operator that was pretty slow. Yeah, another CP complaint...oh well.

 

17 – Jr. Gemini. 1 time. 3 minutes. Alright, so on Tuesday I got in a nearly full line for this. I knew adults could ride with their kids on this, so I thought I’d be fine. What I didn’t know was that this is one of those rides where if you are above 54 inches, then you have to ride with a kid. After waiting about 10 minutes and hearing that on the speakers, I left the line. I didn’t really want to steal a kid, but anyways, after walking by it on Wednesday and seeing it with no line, I just went for it. Stole a kid, got right on, got the credit, done. I’m so proud of myself.

 

Flat Rides/Other Rides:

 

1 – Power Tower (drop). 1 time. 5 minutes. A really fun ride with a really good view. Definitely beats any other S&S Tower I’ve been on, but Intamin 2nd generations…no way.

 

2 – Demon Drop. 1 time. 2 minutes. I knew I had to go on it. It’s fun, but really can’t compare to 2nd Generation Towers.

 

3 – Sky Ride/Sky Buckets/I can’t remember the name. 1 time. Walk-on. These are nice rides with good views, I wish more parks would have kept theirs.

 

4 – The Train/I can’t remember the name. This train really shows how nice the park is, good train.

 

Ride-Count for CP in a less confusing way:

Millennium Force x3

Maverick x3

Magnum XL-200 x2

Top Thrill Dragster x1

Wicked Twister x3

Raptor x2

Gemini x2

Mantis x1

Blue Streak x1

Corkscrew x2

Disaster Transport x1

Wildcat x1

Iron Dragon x1

Mean Streak x1

Cedar Creek Mine Ride x1

Woodstock Express x1

Jr. Gemini x1

Power Tower x1

Demon Drop x1

Sky Ride x1

The Train x1

 

That's all for the CP TR/Ride Ratings.

[CreditCrazy]

I had my camera out in the car for about 10 minutes waiting to see Cedar Point pop out behind the lake. Finally the 'best skyline evah' showed up.

The Cedar Point sign.

The Magnum sign.

Or is this The Magnum sign?

Who cares, you say? Good question, I say. Here is The Magnum XL-200 himself.

Back to the front of the park (the real front, not the cheater Magnum entrance) we have Demon Drop...waiting to be killed.

 

Also known as the "last survivor" in the US, but don't be sad, you could always end up like Deja Vu at SFMM, or Deja Vu at SFGAm (now Aftershock).

...although I doubt that will happen because honestly, what park will want you?

Can't forget this shot.

I didn't like this area of the park so much, it seemed really empty and out-of-place. (Yeah, I'm talking about the parking lot...what else would I be talking about?)

Raptor...with...no nick-name?

Trying to be as forceful as Batman's vertical loops but...fails.

Still has more force than other Inverts' vertical loops, though.

Sure is a nice looking vertical loop.

Alright, I am officially out of things to say about Raptor's vertical loop.

Good thing, because now we're on to another (and better) part of the ride!

Here you can see people that you are jealous of going down Raptor's great first drop and part of the Sky Cabin/Car/Ride with a not-so-great/non-existant first drop.

Finally to the best part of the ride.

The best...possible...Zero-G Roll...ever...on a B&M Invert...in Ohio. Beat that?

Actually, you can forget that awesome Zero-G Roll, Raptor is still the best B&M Invert in Ohio by far.

 

And now it is that special time for Random Raptor pictures.

 

 

Lame attempt at an overview #1 (on the trip)

[CreditCrazy]

The great Millennium Force.

Don't be scared about KD's Giga...you can still beat it.

...Maybe.

I am definitely naming my next dog Millie.

"What if it's a boy?"

You think I care?

My first "through the trees" shot caption!

Good, I thought it was a Vekoma.

I'm jealous.

Sadly MF seemed to always get the longest line.

Here you can sort of see the line for Early Entry. It went all the way around.

[CreditCrazy]

Draggin' Iron is next, with a nice color scheme.

Too bad the ride is almost too slow to make it through its layout.

Which is why it has two lift hills!...but at least I got a two train shot out of it, right?

 

Told ya Cedar Point had everything.

And Maverick just adds to that.

Maverick alone is everything.

But what's with the "typical hanging in the garden in the backyard" flowers?

 

Alright Maverick/CP fanboys, which is The Maverick sign?

Choice A:

Choice B:

For the non-CP/Maverick fanboys, enjoy this picture of Maverick's twisted horseshow roll:

Unfortunately the fountains weren't on.

Cedar Point mini fountain #1.

Cedar Point mini-fountain #2. You can find #3 next to Iron Dragon above...exciting, I know.

 

Corkscrew.

Er, Corkscrews.

The one-of-a-kind pre-lift.

This is where the real air-time in the park is!

Anyone think it maybe gets a little too close to the midway?

[CreditCrazy]

Mantis or Banshee? And while you're thinking about that...

 

Top-Thrill-Dragster.

I wonder if the park realized how long that name is.

Whoever came up with 'TTD' must be rich.

Best picture of TTD evah (c'mon admit it).

Wildcat.

It's original, yet un-original.

Clone ride with a clone name.

But it's fun, and isn't that all that matters?

I hope everyone knew that was a joke. A ride's name/original layout is way more important. Fun comes next.

I bet you haven't ever seen this picture. (Normally when someone uses that oh-so-original caption they're joking. But this is not a joke, it's very serious indeed.

Some Cedar Point midway-ness.

Sky Buckets.../Sky Car.../Sky Ride.../?

Aha! So it is Sky Ride.

Blue Steak sure does prove that Blue is better than Mean.

 

Right about now you're slowly beginning to fly out of your seat...

And right about now...you're done. Blue Streak's air-time just owned you.

[CreditCrazy]

Little Wicked Twister hiding behind the big Disaster Transport...wait...

Backwards spike > Forwards spike.

I'm still very proud of myself (and no that girl is not my stolen kid).

"Wanna-be Mine Train"

...It's over a lake.

And you can see most of the layout while riding.

Gemini...the 2nd best Arrow in the park.

Who's winning?

If you said red...you're wrong.

Still wrong.

Is this a light day at CP?

Uh...Witches Wheel?

Pretty fun ride to watch. Ride? No way.

Best S&S Tower evah (k maybe Marineland's is better)

And lastly...Cedar Point boats (or boats that just happen to be right next to Cedar Point).

 

Kennywood Part 1 soon.

[CPmaverick]

Sweet pics. I'm glad you had a good time. And by the way, where you think the blue side of Gemini is winning, it's not (crazy isn't it).

[CreditCrazy]

Heheh...I knew that...wait, how?

[X2coasterfreak]

Nice pics. That is so cool you were able to get out there. Glad you had an awesome time. Oh, and how is red winning?

[Goliath513]

Awesome pictures!

 

Glad to hear you like Maverick and Millennium Force despite how many coaster enthusiasts complain about them.

 

And good to hear you got your Jr. Gemini credit as well. Has anyone else besides me got the credit without a child?

[CPmaverick]

Nice pics. That is so cool you were able to get out there. Glad you had an awesome time. Oh, and how is red winning?

It's all because of the figure eight course. It almost never looks like red is winning until after the final turn.

[Maverickrocks]

Nice pictures. I espically like the "overview" of Raptor and the Main Midway you took from Sky Ride.

 

Unfortunatly, you missed a credit.....on the oldest wooden coaster in Ohio, the Sea Dragon. It's at the Columbus Zoo in the ride area they have. Most people do though....but now you know for next time!

[CreditCrazy]

Thanks for the comments everyone, I'm glad some people actually got through the Trip Report and that's just Part 1...

 

^ I did know about Sea Dragon and for a while we were planning on hitting it, but...

 

#1 - the trip was getting too expensive (when first planned it was just going to be a couple days at CP!)

 

#2 - we were going to hit it on our last day, driving back from our hotel (well...motel) in Louisville to the airport in Columbus, but after thinking about it we really wouldn't have enough time...and we didn't.

[monsterfan99]

When I went to Cedar Point Monday night, my KBF Platinum Pass would not scan. They let my dad and I in anyway, but told us the rest of the days we would have to go to Guest Relations (or Services or something, can't remember) show them our pass, and then they'd give us a ticket. We had to do that Tuesday at CP, Wednesday at CP, Friday at KI, Saturday at KI, and Sunday at KI. Of course it took less than 2 seconds to do, but it was annoying that our Platinum Passes would not scan at both parks and it made getting to the park before Early Entry to get to the "front of the line" pointless because we still had to go to Guest Relations/Services (?) to get our ticket.

Same problem happened to me at Cedar Point and ValleyFair! with my AP from Kings Island. For Cedar Point, they just waved me on in because of the CoasterMania items. With Valleyfair, we had to sign in at Guest Services each day (after having to explain the problem to the workers.)

[Guest]

As long as ive had a CF pass if your at a park thats not the park you bought it at, your supposed to go to the pass entrance (guest relations at most parks) to sign in instead of going to the regular gates.

[CPmaverick]

^I have a CP pass and I have used it at Dorney and Kings Island with no problems.

[Cyber.Fiber]

I am glad to hear that you had a great time at the park! I went to Cedar Point for the first time last year in October on closing weekend. The park was empty and I got so many rides in.

 

I thought the same thing about the park as you did. The atmosphere is amazing. There is just something about the fact that wherever you look, there is always at least one roller coaster. Its quite impressive, and that was my favorite thing about the park.

 

Glad your having a great time with your dad, Great pictures, and I look forward to seeing the rest of this trip report!

[CreditCrazy]

^Thanks!

 

Before I get to the Kennywood PTR, here are some pictures I took at Progressive Field.

 

But first you might be asking yourself...why did we go to a baseball game on a coaster trip? Well, kind of like how I'm a coaster enthusiast...my dad is a baseball enthusiast. His goal is to go to every baseball stadium in the US, so we also go to baseball games on our trips. On this trip, my Dad was able to knock off two more baseball stadiums on his list; Progressive Field and Great American Ball Park.

 

 

 

(firework smoke)

[atem122]

^Damn you took pictures from all over that place, where did you actually sit?

[CreditCrazy]

^We moved around a lot, it rained a little before the game so it wasn't crowded. We started out waay up high and made it down to great seats!

[CreditCrazy]

Kennywood, the 2nd park of the trip.

 

Kennywood was a decent park, but not really what I was expecting. What was I expecting? Well, I was expecting a really nice and traditional park with friendly staff and nice atmosphere. Unfortunately, I was wrong. While the park did have really nice trees, flowers, etc. in some areas, the rest seemed very old (but not in a good way) and run down. Every coaster ran one train except Jack Rabbit and I'm guessing Exterminator (which I did not ride because of my motion sickness) ran more than one car too (I sure hope it did). Some of the staff did not seem to care about their jobs, including one operator that was SLEEPING at Log Jammer. It didn't really seem like anyone had uniforms or much to tell that they actually worked there either. I saw a lot of people with random colored shirts on that said "Kennywood" and some others had nothing on. The people that DID have the random colored Kennywood shirts on blended in with the crowd, and the only way you could tell that they were staff would be if they were facing you and you saw "Kennywood" on their shirts. There wasn't anything I needed to go up and tell/ask staff about, but I can see this being a problem with other people. It just seemed very unprofessional. I don't expect to see big bright yellow shirts that say "PLEASE KEEP THE PARK CLEAN BECAUSE MY FAMILY COMES HERE TOO" or other uniforms at larger parks, especially since Kennywood is in a small chain and is "smaller" but maybe something so you can tell the difference between staff and general public?

 

I did think the rides were good. Phantom's Revenge was awesome, and Thunderbolt and Jack Rabbit were also a ton of fun. The park had what looked like some great/old/rare flats (the Kangaroo looked like a ton of fun, but I didn't ride because of spinning), water rides, and dark rides, but overall the park was pretty small (not that that's a bad thing, I just expected it to be bigger). I don't know the exact size of the park or anything, but it seemed smaller than KBF (another small park in terms of size). Also, I'll probably regret saying this, but I rate Kennywood just behind Knott's Berry Farm (so that means it comes in 7th). It was better than parks like CGA and SFKK, but parks like KBF, SFMM and KI still beat it. Basically, I think because everyone likes this park so much, I was expecting too much out of it, and it let me down. I bet that if people thought of this park like SFA or SFKK, I would have thought it was better. It is a good park. There.

 

Like I did with CP and what I will do with the rest of the parks, I'll post the rides that I rode in order from my favorite to least favorite, how many times I rode each ride, and how long I waited for it each time.

 

The coasters:

 

1 - Phantom's Revenge. 4 times. 2 minutes, 10 minutes, 10 minutes, and 10 minutes. Phantom's Revenge is a pretty insane ride. The first drop is pretty tame but the second drop is awesome, definitely one of my favorite drops. I love how you just go right into it, and you're not going slow because you just got off a lift hill. There are two things that make this first drop amazing. One, because it has one of the best head choppers evah under Thunderbolt and two, because on top of the second hill there is a very rough jolt turning into the drop. That jolt catches you off guard and then while dropping you get even more air-time than you would normally because of that "surprising" jolt. The ride is very unique with that bigger second drop andas you can see I can't get over it. Watching the ride you see a "small-ish" first drop and a "small-ish" hill. What you don't see is how far down that "small-ish" second hill goes! Unfortunately, I knew how big that second drop would be, so it wasn't as exciting as it would be for the general public. Man, doesn't being a coaster enthusiast suck? Anyway, the rest of the ride consists of extreme air-time. This air-time just wants to launch you out of your seat. Just picture taking small little bunny-hops at very high speeds. Sitting towards the front of the train your head gets flung back over and over again! I love it!

 

2 - Thunderbolt. 2 times. 2 minutes and 0 minutes. Thunderbolt is kind of an odd ride. They have to fill up each train, meaning you have to ride with a partner; no single riders. Yet there's no single riders line which would really help fill each train up faster if there's a party with an odd number. It is a very fun ride though. It's not very rough at all, and has an extreme ejector air spot going up the hill to the lift hill (don't hear that every day about a coaster, do ya?) Also, just like how Phantom's Revenge has a great head-chopper diving under Thunderbolt, Thunderbolt has great head-choppers diving under Phantom's Revenge. Thunderbolt gets my vote for one of the best pre-lifts evah...if only it had a tunnel at the bottom of one of those drops.

 

3 - Jack Rabbit. 2 times. 5 minutes and 5 minutes. Jack Rabbit is a pretty fun ride, but I was definitely expecting more air-time. The first time I rode it I was assigned a seat towards the front (yeah, assigned seating...) and got pretty much zero air-time. The second time I rode it I got somewhere towards the middle and still didn't get an extreme amount, but a good amount. I wish I could have tried it towards the back.

 

4 - Racer. 3 times. Walk-on everytime. Pretty boring little ride. It was racing, but it still wasn't very exciting.

 

5 - Lil' Phantom. Nothing special kiddie coaster.

 

Other rides:

 

1 - Pit Fall. 4 times. 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 5 minutes, and 2 minutes. Alright, so just a couple months ago I was scared of Drop Towers. I finally got over my fear and rode Supreme Scream, hoping to ride Demon Drop and Drop Tower at KI. I rode Demon Drop the day before (a bit scared), and then of course knew I had to ride Pit Fall if I was ever going to ride Drop Tower. I liked it. The drops are a lot of fun and the view is always good. Everyone is always scared of the drop towers so it's always fun to listen to everyone screaming on the way down. The best part is (or the worst), they don't even scare me anymore. Yet another ride that doesn't give me much of a thrilling rush. #2 reason being a coaster enthusiast sucks. One more thing about Pit Fall/Kennywood though, the ride already can't hold the biggest amount of people, but to make it even worse they only had 2 cars running for part of the day. 1 car = 4 people, 2 cars = 8 people, 8 people MAX. (you always have groups of 3...) meaning a slow moving line. Luckily it never got too long, but still, c'mon Kennywood.

 

2 - Ghostwood Estate. Decent shooting dark ride but nothing special.

 

3 Log Jammer. Lame log ride. There's two drops but no scenary except a sleeping ride op at one of the lift hills at the top of a drop.

 

4 Garfield's Nightmare. Really-really-really dumb.

 

5 Olde Kennywood Railroad. It's pretty short but kind of nice because it tells you about the park's history during the whole ride and there are posters in the middle of the ride showing pictures/facts.

 

That's all for the Kennywood TR/Ride Ratings.

[CreditCrazy]

 

Now we're onto Kennywood.

 

Yep...still onto Kennywood.

But is it Kennywood that people care about or just Phantom's Revenge?

Maybe the nice-ness?

Or the flats?

(Including the Turtle!)

Nah...

Just Phantom.

Don't look him in the eye.

See how small that drop looks?

And that hill?

Surprise!

And now, I present to you, one train op. stacking! (Fortunately that's not true, but it sure would help my Kennywood bad-staff statement...hmm...)

Best view of Exterminator...well...evah! (It really did look like a decently themed ride...too bad .)

 

Pit Fall in the stormy night sky...(I think it was about 5 PM when I took this, btw).

 

No, no...the Carousel is on the other side of the park.

Right.

[CreditCrazy]

Kennywood does have some great logos, though.

90 Degree vertical drop!...on a woodie!...

Another example of a great Kennywood coaster logo.

 

Now for the "tall stuff" in the park.

 

(Just had to.)

Some more Kennywood nice-ness.

And the turtle!

If only Racer\'s logo was better.

You know that scared you.

Like a horror film...

OooOooO

[CreditCrazy]

This looked fun.

If only Kennywood History was taught in school unlike other boring history.

 

Just like Beast-Son of Beast, daddy is better.

Although I have to admit, wicked ejector right there.

How original. (This caption is very original too.)

Sorry.

Saving the best for last!

 

That's all for Kennywood. King's Island is next!

[jslim39]

Nice pics! You seemed really harsh, but I'm just a KW fanboy.

 

But really, the lines never tend to get horribly long on ANY of the rides, so usually there's no need for double train operations, and in the times I've been there, (I've been there LOTS of times), when the Phantom line gets past where it crosses under the lift hill, they almost ALWAYS put the second train on.

 

But I'm glad you enjoyed the park, but I think the things you critisized were minor and really wouldn't affect the average park-goer's day, especially the lines, as you stated yourself, you didn't wait too long for anything.

 

Either way, great pics!