aceospades1250 Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 (This isn't my first post, I had an account on here before but can't access it now for some reason. oh well.) So, over the past few years, I have almost completely fallen out of being an enthusiast. However when I got the opportunity to visit family in the Midwest this past week, a trip to Cedar Point was mandatory. I am from the West Coast, and my favorite local parks are Knotts Berry Farm (mostly for Xcelerator), and SFMM, though the latter is too far away to travel there frequently. Cedar Point turned out to be my favorite park yet, and my visit included a fun 20-minute ride on Millennium Force! More on that later Anyways, on to the trip report. I only got a few pics with my blackberry, but its better than nothing I suppose. The first thing that struck me when we arrived at the main road to CP is the sheer size of the park. Compared to my local parks, it is Massive! I understand that land is much cheaper in the Midwest compared to Socal, so this is understandable, but it still blew my mind. The skyline is very impressive as well, with Millie and TTD dominating the skyline. We waited a bit for the guards to open up the rest of the park, and made a beeline towards TTD. Top Thrill Dragster: This is a ride that I have been wanted to conquer since it opened 7 years ago. I absolutely love Xcelerator at Knotts, so its no surprise to me that I enjoyed Dragster immensely. My first ride of the day was towards the back of the train, because it had the shortest line, and thats the best area to ride on Xcelerator. The launch is incredible, and the tophat is a rush. To try to explain to someone what this ride is all about, is difficult, because it has to be experienced to be appreciated. The drop back down the tophat is the closest thing to skydiving I think I will ever feel without doing the real thing. Its that awesome. 10/10 Next up was Millennium Force:The line moved really fast, and was pretty small despite it being a Sunday. I chose the seat directly behind the very front, because of the Intamin staggered seats, it doesn't make much of a difference (this proved to be a great decision). Got on the train, and towards the top of the lift the train stops completely. The ride operator comes on speaker and told us our train was stopped on purpose, not to panic, blablabla. I am moderately afraid of heights, so the thought of having to take that tiny cart thing back down the hill made me queasy. Of course, everything went fine, and the ride continued as usual. What can I say? Its just pure speed. I would have liked a bit more forceful airtime, but the ride was definitely not boring as I have heard from some people. 8/10 After the Millie incident we were treated to a line-free ride on Maverick. I rode in the very back seat . WOW. The ejector air in this ride is incredible. I really like this ride. The first drop is incredible, and so are the ridiculously snappy turns and transitions. The corkscrew-like elements were my favorite; they remind me of something I once created with the NoLimits Elementary program (ejector rolls?). The launch was OK; fairly forceful but not as much as I would have liked. The mini stengel dives are very fun too. Overall, the ride has excellent pace and is definitely one of my favorites now. 9/10 At this point I decided to get lunch, and head over to Corkscrew. Not much to say about this ride except its not as rough as I thought it would be, and had more airtime than I expected. A fun little ride for what it is. 6/10 Now I headed back to a broken-down TTD, which I waited in line for about 30 minutes before getting a front-row seat. It's definitely worth getting a front seat for this ride, its the only way to fully experience the speed that you are really traveling at. It felt like my face was melting, and at the brake run, I was drooling out the side of my mouth . Also had a good collection of small bugs all around my face, shirt, and hands. The line was still not bad, so I went for a second round. Next up was Blue Streak. I really enjoyed it, as a good classic woodie with great airtime and some decent laterals. Not as rough as I was expecting. 7.5/10 After Blue Streak I headed over to Wicked Twisted . As said before I really like launched coasters, so this was another winner for me. I found the acceleration slightly uncomfortable with legs hanging, but luckily its not very powerful. I sat in the middle of the train, so got about midway up each spike. Spinning while weightless is a very cool feeling. Overall a pretty cool ride, but nothing very special. 8/10 Last ride of the day was Magnum XL-200. I couldn't leave Cedar Point without riding this classic Arrow megacoaster. Well, I didn't find it enjoyable at all. The best way I can describe it is the complete opposite of Goliath at SFMM. It is rough, uncomfortable, and beat the sh!t out of me. By the end bunny hops, I just wanted it to be over with, and the ejector air the ride is famous for is painful as hell. 5/10 So, thats it! My first trip to Cedar Point. It was definitely a successful day, I got on all the rides I wanted to hit before the end of the day, and some more than once. The park was crowded, as expected for a Sunday, but I still had a great time, and if I have the chance to go again I won't hesitate. For some reason I only actually got one picture, even though I'm sure I got more. Thanks for reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skycoastin Steve Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Magnum continues to be a ride you just have to know how to ride. Once you do that it's incredible. But glad you had a good time on your first trip there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Difference between rows one and two on Millennium Force...HUGE. I thought the same until I decided to wait for the real front and it was so much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OKSIRYDOC Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Difference between rows one and two on Millennium Force...HUGE. I thought the same until I decided to wait for the real front and it was so much better. He is right there is a major difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceospades1250 Posted July 12, 2010 Author Share Posted July 12, 2010 Well, if I hadn't gone in that row, I wouldn't have gotten stuck . So I'd say it was a good decision in this case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skycoastin Steve Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Difference between rows one and two on Millennium Force...HUGE. I thought the same until I decided to wait for the real front and it was so much better. It took me forever to actually wait for the front row (I usually go straight for the back), and it was worth every bit of the extra half an hour in the station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaMiTsPaT Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Agreed! MF is different no matter where you sit, as far as my experience shows. Also, I have only been to CP once, which was last month, and I too was quite overwhelmed with the size of it compared to SFNE which is my home park! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAL Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Ok then, this CP rookie wants to know the secret to a good ride on Magnum. OP, nice report - thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skycoastin Steve Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 ^It's a lot easier to show rather than describe in words, but basically the way I do it is I scoot back in my seat and lift up on the lap bar right before it apexes the bunny hills. I've gone several rides in a row in the ejector seat (car 1, row 3) with minimal thigh pain, just because I anticipate the ejections and avoid the thigh bashing. I typically only keep my hands up until the 3rd hill, and then after that it's defensive riding 101! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceospades1250 Posted July 12, 2010 Author Share Posted July 12, 2010 Row 1 seat 3 is the one I sat in! Definitely required lots of defensive riding, and even then it was painful. Whats it like in the back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcg19 Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 (edited) Deleted by user Edited December 29, 2010 by rcg19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrojack Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Everytime I ride Magnum, it's either rough or fairly smooth. Sitting in row two of any car seems to help, and pulling your seat belt tightly. I refuse to get the front seat ever again since it was way to painful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndCamSS Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Row 1 seat 3 is the one I sat in! Definitely required lots of defensive riding, and even then it was painful. Whats it like in the back? Well there is your reason for a crummy ride right there. Occasionally I will ride the "ejector seat" but it is brutal. Also, no matter what seat you sit in you must hold the bar the entire ride to prevent it from falling all the way down and stapling you completely to the seat. If you like riding with your hands up I dont know what to tell you. I got over doing that years ago (except on a ride like Dragster) because it does nothing for me except tire my arms out. I usually ride the front of the back car (3rd from the last row) this way you are not sitting on the wheels and get a smoother ride. The bunny hills at the end still give you the ejector air, just not quite as much as the front of the train does. However, you will get a more enjoyable ride back there IMO. My first ride ever on Magnum was 1.3 as well, and I couldn't believe the ride wasn't near as good as I thought it would be back then. After riding it 10 years now, it is a favorite when I visit thanks to the back car and knowing how to ride it. Those lap bars can KILL if they fall down as far as possible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millenniumfan94 Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Sit in any even numbered seat. Trust me, they are alot smoother because they are not directly over the wheel. There really is a huge difference. The second row and the second row from the back are both very amazing seats on Magnum. I was able to experience 5 consecutive rides on Magnum at night in these seats and it was really amazing!! Just be sure to brace yourself after the helix because if you are not paying attention on those air hills it is going to hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxman47 Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 All I know is that my first time on Magnum, I couldn't stop laughing the entire ride from the first drop to the brake run. I was laughing at the clunkiness, the pain, and the sheer ridiculousness of those airtime hills. One of my favorite moments on a coaster, ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooterdoug Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Difference between rows one and two on Millennium Force...HUGE. I thought the same until I decided to wait for the real front and it was so much better. Yeah, I had to quote this for sheer truth. I will only ride MF in the front, the difference is that big. My friend described it as "riding on the edge of your seat." Longer line? Yes. Worth the wait? Hell yeah! -Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceospades1250 Posted July 13, 2010 Author Share Posted July 13, 2010 haha, hopefully I can dig up this thread again when I go back. I live in socal and its very rare that I visit the midwest, so it could be years before I go back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
braztaz Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Nice! We were there the same day! Both first timers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skycoastin Steve Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 All I know is that my first time on Magnum, I couldn't stop laughing the entire ride from the first drop to the brake run. I was laughing at the clunkiness, the pain, and the sheer ridiculousness of those airtime hills. One of my favorite moments on a coaster, ever. That's the way I ride all Arrows these days. You really just have to take them for what they are and realize that when they were built, they were THE premier roller coasters in the world. I rarely ever don't enjoy a ride on an Arrow coaster, no matter how rough and uncomfortable they are. Maybe I just enjoy a good throwback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
braztaz Posted July 15, 2010 Share Posted July 15, 2010 All I know is that my first time on Magnum, I couldn't stop laughing the entire ride from the first drop to the brake run. I was laughing at the clunkiness, the pain, and the sheer ridiculousness of those airtime hills. One of my favorite moments on a coaster, ever. Same here! Those airtime hills completley took them by surprise... I loved how they were painful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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