WW'S COASTERMANIA PTR

[Woodie Warrior]

This trip report won't have too many photos. Turns out, the digital camera I was using had a bad memory card in it and none of the pictures I took on there saved. However, I got a few on my iPhone and a friend sent me a couple from his camera, so I have those. So here we go!

 

Overall, Worlds of Fun is a charming little theme park. It doesn't have a giant selection of mega coasters, but three of them are worth traveling for, and it has one of the best selections of flats of any park out there. It also seems to have kept most of its charm from its pre-Cedar Fair days, and they did a great job of themeing the different "countries".

 

Before lunch, the rides were all walk-ons, however in the afternoon most major rides had 20-30 minute waits. Timber Wolf was down for most of the day, but apparently opened for a small period of time before closing again. Missed credit . SteelHawk was still under construction.

 

Here is my scorecard of the day:

-Bamboozler 1x

-ThunderHawk 1x

-Cyclone Sam's 1x

-Mamba 2x

-Prowler 2x

-Flying Dutchman 1x

-Boomerang 1x

-Prowler 1x

-Patriot 1x

-Viking Voyager 1x

-ThunderHawk 1x

 

Here are my reviews of the coasters:

Mamba- Mamba, my third favorite coaster in the park, has a great beginning: the first drop and hill have great airtime, and the helix pulls some serious G’s. However, after the train hits the MCBR, the train slows down substantially and the rest of the ride is considerably boring. Even though Mamba isn’t my favorite ride in the park, I don’t see how people can relate it to a mine train. After adding all my new Worlds of Fun credits to my rankings, Mamba is #12 out of 38 on my steel coaster list.

 

Prowler- Prowler is my second favorite coaster at Worlds of Fun. It has a few nice pops of airtime, but mostly focuses on twists and intensity. I find American Thunder at my home park (Six Flags St. Louis) to be slightly superior due to the fact it has non-stop airtime, but Prowler is still an excellent ride. It also uses the terrain to its advantage. Prowler is ranked #4 out of 10 on my wooden coaster list.

 

Boomerang- I mean, it’s a Boomerang, what do you expect. All I can say is that it is slightly rougher than its twin at Six Flags St. Louis. However, it wasn’t horrible. It is ranked #26 out of 38 on my steel coaster list.

 

Patriot- Patriot is my favorite coaster at Worlds of Fun, and it was also the second biggest surprise of the visit. It is also my favorite inverted coaster I have ever been on. I know Patriot isn't as intense as the Batman clones, but it has a great balance of both negative and positive G’s. I also love how it soars over the queue line. Patriot is #6 out of 38 steel coasters on my list.

 

Now onto the flat rides:

Bamboozler- The only other Round Up ride I've been on was Revolution. Bamboozler seems to have a longer ride cycle and a far better setting right above a pond. 6/10

 

ThunderHawk- My first Top Spin, and it was pretty fun. My first ride was disappointing but my second one had a lot of spins. 8/10

 

Cyclone Sam's- This is possibly my favorite flat ride of all time, and was the biggest surprise of the trip. It was my first Wipeout, so I had absolutely no clue what was going on, but it was SO much fun. The lighting, fog, and wind effects worked perfectly. 10/10

 

Flying Dutchman- I've never been on a flat ride like this before, and it was very relaxing. Not too thrilling, but it was fun. 3/10

 

Viking Voyager- Absolutely the worst log flume I have ever been on. The boat spends the entire ride banging around the sides of the chute, and the drop is pretty lame. 2/10

 

Here are some photos:

Here is the view from the hotel parking lot. We stayed at the Holiday Inn right across the street.

Here's a view of Mamba's giant helix, which has a lot of speed.

SteelHawk was testing the night before, but it's queue area was still very much under construction.

Patriot was amazing. I was expecting it to be forceless, but it was not.

The park is themed to "Around the World in Eighty Days", hence the hot air balloon sign.

A view of the first drop and loop of Patriot.

The Boomerang beats you up, and its paint scheme is horribly ugly.

Patriot's sign is very cool.

My friend who sat next to me on ThunderHawk did not know the ride flipped, so she was more than a little scared.

[Woodie Warrior]

I hope to get caught up on trip reports in the next week or so.

 

These reports should be coming soon:

-Holiday World

-Kentucky Kingdom

-Cedar Point

-Kings Island

[Woodie Warrior]

On the journey home from an East Coast road trip seven or eight years ago, my family passed through Santa Claus, Indiana. We visited a few of the shops, but didn't stay in town too long. On the way out of town, we saw a few rides and a roller coaster (The Raven) and were intrigued, but since it was in the middle of nowhere, we thought it would be a tacky, run-down park, and continued on the road.

 

When we got home, we realized we had made a HUGE mistake. Friends informed us of how awesome Holiday World was, and we decided we needed to go back to Santa Claus soon. We finally paid our first visit to the park in 2012. It was fantastic, and we knew we had to come back for more.

 

After begging my dad for months to take a father/son trip down to the park for its annual coaster enthusiast event, HoliWood Nights, we were finally on our way!

 

When we arrived in Santa Claus, we checked in our hotel for the weekend (Santa's Lodge, which had a great deal for coaster club members), and then had a little bit of time before we were able to enter the park, so we stopped by Santa's Candy Castle to get a cup of the "world famous" frozen hot chocolate, which is the most delicious milkshake you'll ever have.

 

Once we got in to the park at 4:30, we stashed our swimsuits and towels in a Splashin' Safari locker and headed over to Thanksgiving to catch a ride on The Voyage. I thought it was a little bumpier than I remembered it being, but not too much. However, my dad thought it was one of the roughest coasters he'd ever ridden, but he still enjoyed it. We decided to head for a calmer ride, so I recommended Gobbler Getaway. My dad got frustrated because he thought he kept hitting the targets yet the gun wasn't registering it.

 

After those two rides it was time to head up to the Hoosier Theater for the kick-off of the event. Paula warmed up the crowd before the Koch family and other park employees sang coaster-themed parodies of "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman" and "Let it Go". I'll bet they dropped a few clues about next year's addition during the songs.

 

Soon they announced that we could head down to Splashin' Safari for night ERT. We got our stuff out of the locker, changed, and then headed for the water coasters. We hit Wildebeest first. It was just as wild as I remembered, but almost a little too wild for my dad. We headed over to Mammoth and got a ride in on that, and I liked it a lot better than last time. I don't know which one is my favorite anymore, they're both great slides!

 

My dad wanted to get some hors d'oeuvres. He filled his plate, but I'm such a picky eater that I only ate the chips. As he finished his dish, I swam for a little while in Bahari Wave. It is the nicest looking wave pool I've ever seen, and I love the fountains. Afterwards we hit up Mammoth and Wildebeest again, in that order. ERT had begun on the woodies, so we got changed and left the park to drop off our stuff at the car.

 

Once we reentered, we hit up Raven. On my last trip, I was underwhelmed with Raven. This time, I definitely grew fond of it, and it moved up in my rankings, from last place to #6 out of 15. I still like Voyage and Legend a little bit better, but not my much. I got three laps on it that evening.

 

Next we hit up Legend and rode three times as well. It is pretty rough, rougher than the last trip in 2011, but it's positive-Gs are unparalleled by any other wooden coaster I've been on. It didn't go up or down at all in my rankings.

 

We headed to the pizza party next. The pizza was pretty good, and the FUDGE was delicious.

 

We decided to end the night over in Thanksgiving. I wanted to get on Turkey Whirl, but I missed the end of ERT on it by one cycle. Since Turkey Whirl was closing I took a lap on the Voyage. Soon Mayflower was open, so I headed towards it. It was probably the lamest swinging ship I've ridden. It's cycle was very short. Once it reaches it's full height it begins to stop immediately. However, all lit up it looks awesome. And I'm sure the little kids love riding it!

 

After two more laps on the Voyage I was starting to get queasy, so we left early and headed to get some sleep for the next day, which turned out to be even more awesome than the first one!

 

Here was our scorecard for the night:

Entered park

-Voyage 1x

-Gobbler Getaway 1x

Meet-up at Hoosier Theatre

-Wildebeest 1x

-Mammoth 1x

Snacks at Bahari Wave

-Bahari Wave

-Mammoth 1x

-Wildebeest 1x

Dropped off clothes at car

-Raven 3x

-Legend 3x

Pizza at Kringles Cafe

-Voyage 1x

-Mayflower 1x

-Voyage 2x

Headed back to hotel

 

And onto the pictures! (Note: I only brought my iPhone on Friday, but I brought my mom's fancy camera on Saturday, so expect some more pics in the next trip report.)

We got our vouchers out and ready.

While in Santa Claus, you MUST stop by the Candy Castle and get a frozen hot chocolate.

Holiday World welcomed us!

Before the event officially began we got a lap in on the Voyage.

Our vouchers magically turned into these tickets.

The sound of the Legend running was a sign that ERT on the woodies had begun.

The ticket booths and entrance look very nice, especially at night.

Off to ride Raven and Legend!

The Legend looks very spooky at night.

We finished the night in Thanksgiving.

I missed Turkey Whirl by one cycle.

Mayflower looks very nice all lit up at night.

The Christmas tree also looked very nice all lit up.

[Woodie Warrior]

After a great Friday night at Holiday World, we rose bright and early to head back to one of the best parks in the world for another day of riding slides, rides, and coasters.

 

We got there right around the time the park opened and decided to pick up breakfast at the Kringle's Kafe. The breakfast sandwiches and hashbrowns were pretty good and cost less than what you would pay at a McDonald's. We waited until around 9:15 and then headed down to Splashin' Safari to stash our stuff in a locker and get ready for the rope drop.

 

Instead of rushing to Wildebeest and Mammoth like most people did, we booked it to Bakuli and snagged two rides in a row with no wait at all. It's a fun ride but I almost like the enclosed portion and drop more than the "toilet bowl" section. Afterwards we cooled off by taking two laps around the Bahari River.

 

Next we chose to ride some more slides, so we headed over to Otorongo. We chose to ride the "Otto" slide. Something weird happened where we sat down and got ready to ride. But instead of the lifeguard sending us down the slide, she would send whoever sat down in the space next to us, even though we had been waiting there for a long time. After about five minutes she sent us down the slide, not saying anything to us. We had no clue what the heck was going on, maybe it was a joke, I still don't know. It was an okay slide, I guess, nothing special.

 

ZOOMbabwe, which we rode next, was a very enjoyable slide. Unlike lots of water slides, it isn't about the steep, tall drops and the speed, it's all about the length, which definitely makes it stand out. We hopped in Bahari Wave for a little while afterwards, got another ride in on Wildebeest, and then decided to take the hike over to Hyena Falls. Gosh, Hyena Falls just feels so far away from everything else. We rode Laughs and Tee-Hee (in that order), and while they were both fun, until something else is built over there or on the way over there, we'll probably just stay in main part of Splashin' Safari.

 

After changing into our dry clothes, we walked to Plymouth Rock Cafe for lunch. The fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and sweet potatoes were all great. Once we were done eating, we had time to kill before the photo walk back so I took Eagle's Flight for a ride. I was too focused on trying not to "snap" the cables to really have a good time, but it was somewhat fun. After that I took three rides on Liberty Launch, which gives more airtime than some towers more than twice its height. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the single rider's line, where you can just keep getting in line again and again.

 

We walked out to the car, grabbed our camera, and then pretty much ran to Plymouth Rock Cafe in order to not be late for the tour. We got there with plenty of time to spare, so all was good. The tour was pretty cool, getting to go back into the woods was awesome. Eating snacks in the spaghetti bowl was pretty fun, especially with trains going by every 30 seconds.

 

After once again going out to the car and dropping off the camera, we headed back over to Liberty Launch (where, thanks to the awesome single riders line, I got another 4 rides in) and I also got a ride in on the Sparkler, which is a very calm yet fun ride. While in the area we checked out the auction. There was a cool block of Legend wood with the ride's logo and an image of it burned into the wood, but it went to somebody else.

 

We took a ride on the Voyage (the final one of the event for my dad, who was overwhelmed by its roughness), and then went back up to the pavilion for dinner. The burgers and other things were pretty good. They did a live auction afterwards, which was a gigantic painting of the Voyage with a frame made of Voyage wood around it that was handmade by one of the Coaster Cats. It went for a lower price than I think anybody expected (It was in the $200 range) and my dad was even considering putting a bid in, but he waited too long.

 

The night ERT was amazing. Just freaking awesome. We got a ride in on the Holidog Express and then headed to Halloween, where we got 5 laps in on the Legend. After that I took 3 rides on HalloSwings, which is just a really fun ride to let go on, especially at night. I marathoned the Raven for 10 laps, one of which was with Tony, the director of maintenance at Holiday World.

 

I closed out the night with 24 laps on the Voyage. Yep, 24. What a great coaster. The triple down is my favorite part, especially in the dark. I didn't get any nausea like I did the night before and it didn't feel rough at all. It is by far the best nighttime coaster I've been on.

 

Overall, HoliWood Nights was the best time I've ever had at a theme park. CoasterMania (which I'll write a report for eventually ) was fun as well, but the more personal feel of the event and the fact that lines were nonexistent made HoliWood Nights the better of the two. I am looking forward to returning next year for Thunderbird! (And by the way, my dad has a new favorite theme park after this visit, which was his first to Holiday World. He absolutely LOVED the park, much like I do.)

 

Here is my scorecard for Saturday:

 

Entered park

-Bakuli 2x

-Bahari River 2x

-Otorongo "Oto" 1x

-ZOOMbabwe 1x

-Bahari Wave

-Wildebeest 1x

-Hyena Falls "Laughs" 1x

-Hyena Falls "Tee-Hee" 1x

Ate at Plymouth Rock Cafe

-Eagle's Flight 1x

-Liberty Launch 3x

Went to get camera

Voyage photo walk back

Dropped off camera

-Liberty Launch 4x

-Sparkler 1x

Checked out auction

-Voyage 1x

Buffet dinner

-Holidog Express 1x

-Legend 5x

-HallowSwings 3x

-Raven 10x

-Voyage 24x

 

And onto the pictures:

The park's very own water tower.

If you look close enough, you can kind of see Hyena Falls way out in the distance (I kid, I kid).

The Voyage's structure is extremely intimidating.

The Mayflower is a great looking swinging ship,

Cresting the hill...

Down they go!

Up they go!

Over the hill

Some land clearing going on back in the woods for T-Bird

Another view of the first drop

Down the second hill

I guess this is where T-Bird will come to cross over the Voyage.

Take the tunnel!

A short gap in between tunnels

Coming out of the spaghetti bowl

The break run does slow the train a bit, but not enough to spoil the...

Triple down!

Twisty

Airtime!

Headed into the twisties

Get ready for...

NINETY DEGREES!

Our schedule for the event

This is where the "crazies" hang out, including myself

Lots and lots of airtime

[Woodie Warrior]

More pics!

Coming...

and going!

Wee!

This is where the ride starts to get a bit rough.

Such a beautiful coaster, in a beautiful park.

How's the weather over there?

cough-cough-Thunderbird-cough

The Mayflower is fun to take photos of.

Down the drop.

Only rode Gobbler Getaway once this trip.

The new first aid station looks nice.

Love the statues they've added.

Especially the gorilla!

Hi Legend.

Hi Raven.

Such a great great great park

See you next year, Holiday World!

[SFOGdude25]

Great report! Holiwood Nights is always a good time!

Man I love Voyage. I haven't ridden any other coaster that comes even remotely close to its level of epicness. It may be a little rough now, but it still comfortably sits in my #1 spot. The only way it could be topped for me is if RMC or Intamin built a wood coaster in a similar style and length, like Outlaw Run but twice as long.

[Woodie Warrior]

Great report! Holiwood Nights is always a good time!

Man I love Voyage. I haven't ridden any other coaster that comes even remotely close to its level of epicness. It may be a little rough now, but it still comfortably sits in my #1 spot. The only way it could be topped for me is if RMC or Intamin built a wood coaster in a similar style and length, like Outlaw Run but twice as long.

It sits at #2 on my wooden list. It's a great coaster, but Outlaw Run takes #1 (on both my wood AND overall lists). And yeah, HoliWood Nights is awesome.

 

Hoping to have my quick report from Kentucky Kingdom up within a couple of days.

[Kyle Coleman]

Sigh, I miss holiday world. It's not may 30 and 31 yet is it?

[marth555]

I really need to do HoliWood nights next year also the drop on Bakuli surprised me as well.

Sigh, I miss holiday world. It's not may 30 and 31 yet is it?

Holiday World is still open saturdays and sundays through October 26.

[Kyle Coleman]

Would love to but I live a four hour plane flight and 90 minute car ride away.

[SFOGdude25]

Great report! Holiwood Nights is always a good time!

Man I love Voyage. I haven't ridden any other coaster that comes even remotely close to its level of epicness. It may be a little rough now, but it still comfortably sits in my #1 spot. The only way it could be topped for me is if RMC or Intamin built a wood coaster in a similar style and length, like Outlaw Run but twice as long.

It sits at #2 on my wooden list. It's a great coaster, but Outlaw Run takes #1 (on both my wood AND overall lists). And yeah, HoliWood Nights is awesome.

 

Hoping to have my quick report from Kentucky Kingdom up within a couple of days.

 

See I haven't been on Outlaw Run yet as it's a rather lengthy drive from where I live. It's one thing for me to watch videos of it online and study its layout and kind of gauge how it would stack up to rides like Voyage, but it's a WHOLE other thing to actually ride it. It's (obviously) impossible for me to judge the coaster fully until I've ridden it.

The only RMC I've done is Goliath, which I really loved, but it was pretty short and barely top 10 material for me. I tend to prefer longer coasters over shorter ones, hence one reason why Voyage is my favorite. Outlaw Run seems a little on the short side, so I was making my initial point on just that observation.

I'm just rambling at this point LOL.

[Woodie Warrior]

Great report! Holiwood Nights is always a good time!

Man I love Voyage. I haven't ridden any other coaster that comes even remotely close to its level of epicness. It may be a little rough now, but it still comfortably sits in my #1 spot. The only way it could be topped for me is if RMC or Intamin built a wood coaster in a similar style and length, like Outlaw Run but twice as long.

It sits at #2 on my wooden list. It's a great coaster, but Outlaw Run takes #1 (on both my wood AND overall lists). And yeah, HoliWood Nights is awesome.

 

Hoping to have my quick report from Kentucky Kingdom up within a couple of days.

 

See I haven't been on Outlaw Run yet as it's a rather lengthy drive from where I live. It's one thing for me to watch videos of it online and study its layout and kind of gauge how it would stack up to rides like Voyage, but it's a WHOLE other thing to actually ride it. It's (obviously) impossible for me to judge the coaster fully until I've ridden it.

The only RMC I've done is Goliath, which I really loved, but it was pretty short and barely top 10 material for me. I tend to prefer longer coasters over shorter ones, hence one reason why Voyage is my favorite. Outlaw Run seems a little on the short side, so I was making my initial point on just that observation.

I'm just rambling at this point LOL.

The Voyage beat my dad up a lot, but I'm pretty sure it's his fave. Every time we ride Outlaw Run he says "Sure it's awesome but the Voyage is so much longer".

[Woodie Warrior]

After leaving Santa Claus after one of the best experiences I've had at a theme park, we headed next for what would turn out to be one of the worst experiences I've had at a theme park. Now, not everything about the park was bad. Lightning Run and FreeFall were awesome and the waterpark looked pretty good (although, after visiting Splashin' Safari we really didn't feel like spending any time there). However, the park's landscaping, operations, crowd, and overall feel were by far the worst of any park I've ever been to. Especially the crowds. I heard lots of interesting conversations and got plenty of cigarette smoke blown in my face in the queue lines. The park hasn't yet thrown off its Six Flags vibe and the fences surrounding the park make the whole place seem like a prison (the crowds kind of add to the prison feel as well).

 

Yeah, that entire paragraph came off so negative. So now I'll talk about the positive parts of the park in an attempt to try not to sound like a total hater!

-Lightning Run is by far one of the best steel coasters I've been on. Full of airtime and crazy twists. I LOVED it. Such a great investment for any small park that wants a world class ride.

-I also really enjoyed FreeFall as well, although honestly, I didn't feel that much of a difference between it and a second-gen Intamin drop tower. Still great, though.

-Thunder Run was very smooth, but I have to admit it didn't do anything for me. It was decent, I guess.

-The Giant Wheel was fun. I was able to take lots of pics from up there.

 

Anyways....

Here is my scorecard for the day:

-Thunder Run 2x

-Flying Dutchman 1x

-Giant Wheel 1x

-Lightning Run 1x

-FearFall 1x

-Breakdance 1x

-Himalaya 1x

-5D Cinema 1x

-Lightning Run 1x

 

Here are my reviews of the two coasters:

Thunder Run- I've heard glowing reviews about Thunder Run, but honestly it did nothing for me. Sure it was smooth, but the layout was relatively boring. It's a Dinn coaster though, what was I expecting. As of this posting, Thunder Run is ranked #18 out of my 20 wooden coaster credits.

 

Lightning Run- Like I said earlier, one of the best coasters out there. It is like Chance and RMC had a baby. So much airtime and different elements thrown together perfectly. The highlight of our day at Kentucky Kingdom. As of this posting, Lightning Run is ranked #4 out of my 58 steel coaster credits.

 

Now onto the flat rides I rode:

Flying Dutchman- Like the Flying Dutchman at Worlds of Fun, this ride isn't very thrilling. It's calm and peaceful, yet still fun. 3/10

 

Giant Wheel- This made for some great views and photos. Nothing out of the ordinary, but still a relaxing ride. 5/10

 

FearFall- It feels just like a second-gen Intamin tower, yet is only half the size, which is mind boggling. A great drop tower that does prove the giant thrills can come in small(ish) sizes. 9/10

 

Breakdance- I'd never seen or ridden a Breakdance ride before. It looked like it would be thrilling, fast, and forceful- even more so than a Scrambler ride. But it wasn't nearly as fun as it looked. 4/10

 

Himalaya- I rode a Himalaya at a fair not too long ago and was surprised by its extreme force. However, Kentucky Kingdom turned what had the potential to be the best flat at the park into a slow and rather boring attraction. And for some odd reason the minimum height requirement is 60"? 4/10

 

5D Cinema- The Rio film worked surprisingly well for an attraction like this. It's nothing amazing, but it is a nice way to keep out of the hot sun. 3/10

 

And to close off, some pictures I took with my iPhone:

I spot Louisville!

The waterpark looked nice, we just weren't up for it after visiting Splashin' Safari. Maybe next time.

The Giant Wheel gives great views of the entire park, especially Lightning Run.

Deluge opened right around the time we left. I am a huge fan of Proslide's water coasters, so I'm bummed we missed out on it this time. We'll have to ride it next time, when we visit Hurricane Bay. As for the coaster behind it, I'm not too upset about missing that one.

Those bunny hills have some major (almost ejector) air.

Green train is headed up.

Thunder Run was an okay woodie. RMC did a great job retracking it, the layout was just extremely boring to me.

A look at the Giant Wheel from below...

and another pic from the side.

Crossing the bridge back to the main part of Kentucky Kingdom.

The station gates haven't been modified since Greezed Lightnin', so they don't exactly match up with the new trains.

Enterprise was closed.

If Twisted Twins does get the Iron Horse treatment, for sure I'll give Kentucky Kingdom another visit in 2016. And even though I didn't have that great of a visit, I wish the park the best in the future.

[StuckInSD]

That last picture brings back memories of the migraine I got on Orbiter at CGA. Glad to see that the park is doing great, though!

[Woodie Warrior]

Like most enthusiasts, the one park I've been dreaming to visit was Cedar Point, the coaster capital of the world. Ever since I saw Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster in a book I had, I knew I'd have to ride them one day. After years of trying to find a time to go, we settled on going for CoasterMania and Coasting for Kids in early June of 2014.

 

We drove up Wednesday and stayed at Maui Sands Resort that night. They had a large indoor water park, but we weren't in Sandusky to ride slides. We were there to ride coasters. However, we had to get our tickets first. We were going to stay at Breakers Express Thursday night, so we went and checked in and purchased tickets, which we had a discount on thanks to CoasterMania.

 

Finally, we set off for Cedar Point. Driving onto the peninsula is an incredible feeling. The second you see the Cedar Point skyline, you can't help but smile.

 

When we headed in, our first stop was Raptor. We waited around 15 minutes, which wasn't too bad. Now, I'd heard lots of amazing things about Raptor, and I'm sad to say it was a bit of a letdown. The layout itself wasn't bad, but my head kept getting thrown back and forth. It wouldn't have been that much of an issue if the part hitting the restraints wouldn't have been my ears. Hopefully my opinion will change when I ride it next year, but as of now it's my least favorite B&M invert.

 

Raptor going through its loop

Flying over its queue line

 

Moving on, we headed next to GateKeeper. I believe we waited 20 minutes. Unlike Raptor, GateKeeper seems to be hated by a large part of the coaster enthusiast community. As for me, I loved it. It's not too forceful, and there isn't much airtime, but all around it is the most fun ride in the park (not the best, though). The one downside is that I really didn't like the vests.

 

Headed towards the sky

Soaring over it's hill

 

We took a ride on the Giant Wheel next to take some pics of the park from above. It was a relaxing ride, although the line moved extremely slowly. It was about a 20 minute wait with less than 30 people ahead of us. But you couldn't beat the views.

 

You can get a nice view of Power Tower and Millennium Force

Lake Erie seems to go on forever

GateKeeper dominates the front of the park

Raptor looks quite nice too

 

We then went to ride Iron Dragon next. It was better than most Arrow mine trains, but the only "exciting" part was the finale over the pond. The rest was just plain boring. After that, it was time to ride Mantis. It was my second stand-up coaster (after Iron Dragon at SFGAM), and overall the ride was very uncomfortable, like most stand-ups are. It wasn't horrible, but I'm glad they are changing up the trains; Rougarou should be a much better ride.

 

Mantis may not be that great of a ride, but it sure is photogenic (like most of the coasters at the park)

Speeding down the first drop

Its loop is very intimidating from below

 

Next, we headed to Cedar Point's most famous coaster: Millennium Force. With this ride, enthusiasts either claim that it is by far the best coaster on the planet, or that it is a forceless piece of garbage. I mostly side with the former group. While it may not be the best coaster I've ever been on (Outlaw Run takes that award), it is by far my favorite steel coaster. The first drop is incredible, there are some nice pops of airtime, and the speed is breaktaking, from the first drop to the brakes. I can see why it keeps winning the Golden Ticket (even though I disagree with most of their awards).

 

Millennium Force's finale comes right by the queue line

 

We took a much needed break after that and enjoyed some Panda Express. Not wanting to ride anything right away, we hung out at the petting zoo for a few minutes. They have a wide variety of animals, from chickens to llamas. It is a nice touch, and while I believe the rest of the park is a bit generic appearance-wise, the Frontier Trail was nearly as nice as Silver Dollar City, which even has its own hidden petting zoo area.

 

The animal's must love the attention

 

For our next ride, we went straight to Maverick, and had to wait around an hour. I have to admit, I am one of those p*ssies Robb was talking about. While the ride was spectacular, the restraints were a bit painful. Not only the shoulder harnesses, but the lap bar section was pushing down extremely hard on my thighs by the time we got to the station. That didn't stop us from riding again the next day though, and Maverick ranks #2 on my steel list.

 

Maverick rockets through an inversion

 

Our next two rides were Mean Streak and the Mine Ride, which were both mediocre. Mean Streak wasn't rough in my opinion, just slow and boring, which a ride of its size should not be. Dinn was a terrible roller coaster designer. Mine Ride was also slow and boring, and a bit rough, although most mine trains are that way.

 

Cedar Creek Mine Ride and Top Thrill Dragster (I'll get to that one later)

 

We then took a ride on the Antique Cars to make my sister happy (she absolutely adores these rides). I did enjoy the little themeing and landscaping around the ride. After that, Gemini (Blue side) was next. It didn't blow me away, but it is a pretty good ride. A surprising amount of airtime, and the racing factor adds some more excitement.

 

Next we were off to Magnum, which didn't have too much of a line. It's a fun ride, but not all that exciting. I did like the bunny hops at the end, but other than that there wasn't much to it. I don't get how people can claim it's the best ride in the park.

 

Magnum coming out of it's extremely retro station

Up the lift hill

 

Sadly, Top Thrill was closed as we walked by. Maintenance was working on it, and rumor had it that it would reopen for CoasterMania, so we kept walking. I rode Power Tower twice by myself (both times on the Shot side which was a walk-on, since the Drop one had a line). It was fun, since I'd never been on an S&S tower that was actually tall (although I do prefer their shorter versions, like Liberty Launch at Holiday World).

 

To end the day, we took the Skyride to the front entrance and took a few pics with GateKeeper going over the entrance. We were exhausted but still excited for tomorrow's big event: CoasterMania!

 

The SkyRide has lots of gondolas

The entrance to Cedar Point is beautiful

[p-sychiatrist]

This trip report makes me want to go back to Cedar Point so bad! And I'm so glad whenever I see someone on this site that actually likes Gatekeeper! It's not the intense forceful coaster enthusiasts tend to demand, but it is pure bliss flying around on it. Although I agree that the vests are uncomfortable and the one thing I don't like about it. And I like Gatekeeper more than Raptor too.

Edited March 23, 2015 by p-sychiatrist

[MagnumFreak25]

Can't wait to get back their! Did you get on Wicked Twister? It's definitely worth the ride.

[Woodie Warrior]

This trip report makes me want to go back to Cedar Point so bad! And I'm so glad whenever I see someone on this site that actually likes Gatekeeper! It's not a the intense forceful coaster enthusiasts tend to demand, but it is pure bliss flying around on it. Although I agree that the vests are uncomfortable and the one thing I don't like about it. And I like Gatekeeper more than Raptor too.

Yeah, there are a handful of people that really like GateKeeper, yet there are still a bunch that don't have a single positive thing to say about it. I don't really get it, but to each their own, I guess.

Can't wait to get back their! Did you get on Wicked Twister? It's definitely worth the ride.

I rode it during CoasterMania, so that'll be in the next report.

[Woodie Warrior]

Continuing our Cedar Point trip report....

 

The main reason we made our pilgrimage to Cedar Point was for their coaster enthusiasts event, CoasterMania. With ERT from 7am to past midnight, and an excellent lunch (not to mention an awesome cruise around the peninsula), Cedar Point really does pull out all the stops for this event. Anyway, here was our scorecard for the day:

 

-Iron Dragon 3x

-Millennium Force 2x

-GateKeeper 2x

-Wicked Twister 2x

-WindSeeker 1x

-maXair 1x

-Blue Streak 2x

-Maverick 1x

-Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad 1.5x

-Mantis 1x

-Sky Ride 1x

-Magnum XL-200 1x

-Cadillac Cars 1x

-Raptor 2x

-GateKeeper 3x

-Sky Ride 1x

-Millennium Force 1x

-Maverick 2x

-SkyHawk 1x

-Gemini- Red 2x

-Magnum XL-200 6x

TOTAL= 37.5 rides (the ".5" is from a ride around half the course of the Railroad)

 

Not too bad of a day, and the weather was gorgeous. Onto the photos and the report!

 

So we arrived early in the morning, around 5-6am, and the line for registration was hundreds of people long. Nevertheless, we got through the line fairly quickly and entered the park. CP gave us a nice breakfast with donuts, orange juice, and a few other options. Then it was time to ride! Our first stop was Iron Dragon. Being a rather tame coaster, it had no wait at all and we scored three rides.

 

Next, we headed to Millennium Force, which had about a 10 minute wait, so we rode twice. We rode in the second row one of the times, and man, it was incredible. This next year I hope to be able to ride in the front seat. That'll be insane.

 

We tried to visit Raptor next, but it was down for some reason, so we hopped right over to GateKeeper, which is one of my favorites. It's smooth, fun, and always enjoyable. After that, we went straight to Wicked Twister.

As you can see, it's very photogenic.

It's also very fun to ride.

And it may be fun, but when compared to other attractions at the park its sort of boring. We still rode it twice. Then it was time for Windseeker.

For some reason, this ride scared the crap out of me. I mean, I felt more secure on SkyScreamer at SFSTL, which seems strange. Maybe it's because of WindSeeker's habit of breaking down? I don't know what it is, but I was genuinely terrified, which has really never happened to me on a ride before.

 

Our next stop more than made up for it.

MaXair is probably my favorite flat ride ever. It's like a Screamin' Swing knocked up a notch. My sister was nauseous afterwards, so I didn't ride again, but it was an extremely fun ride. I can't wait to ride it again this year!

 

Finishing up our morning ERT was Blue Streak.

I heard so many things about this ride, and it did not live up to the hype. The ride felt very bumpy and I really didn't get that much airtime. For a ride from the 60s, it's not that bad, but it's certainly not the amazing ride everybody makes it out to be.

 

After our first ride on BS, it was getting close to the time for them to open the gates to the public, so we were planning on heading to Maverick to be the first in line. However, I wanted to take a second ride to try and see if maybe I'd like BS better if I rode it again (I didn't), so we ended up behind the crowd.

 

We still ended up waiting only 20-30 minutes, which is pretty good for Maverick, which has relatively low capacity. It's sort of rough IMO, but still a fun ride with lots of twists and airtime hills. We then took a trip on Cedar Point's railroad.

There are plenty of interesting characters along the way, like this horse.

And the picklers.

And this fireman... who doesn't seem to know where to point his hose.

 

We got off the ride near Mantis and took that for a spin.... yeah, Rougarou should be a much improved ride when I experience it this year.

 

We then took the SkyRide to lunch, which had a decent line. The food was more fancy than I was expecting from a theme park, with lots of meats and other dishes. Everybody in attendance got a "Survival Kit" with a CoasterMania sweatshirt, a CP tshirt, an eyeglasses holder, sunglasses, and a CoasterMania pint glass. CP really went above and beyond with the event.

 

After that we went to check in at Hotel Breakers and took a nice nap. Our room had a nice view of Magnum and Soak City.

 

We awoke from our nap and then headed back in, stopping at Magnum for a quick ride. Are the airtime hills that painful? No. But the ride itself is pretty boring. Just like with Blue Streak and Raptor, I don't get the hype.

 

Then we headed over to the Marina for the cruise. CP actually hired a boating company to take us on a photo tour around the peninsula. I'll just let the photos do the talking from this point.

As you can see, CP really is gorgeous, and it's awesome they let us get photos that would be very hard to get. This was especially great for my mom, who can't ride hardly anything, but loves photography.

 

After the cruise, we took a trip on the Cadillac Cars, and got another ride on Raptor (I still got plenty of headbanging).

 

Lines died down at that point, so we got another 3 rides in on GateKeeper, which really looks awesome at night.

 

We took the Sky Ride back into the center of the park right in time to grab some seats for Luminosity.

 

The set looks like absolute crap during the day, but it's very cool at night with all its lights and screens turned on.

The singers and dancers were very talented. It was a great show, much better than anything I'd expect from a non Disney, Universal, or SeaWorld park.

They even flew out over the audience!

 

After that, night ERT began!

 

We started out with a single ride on Millennium Force, which replaced TTD in the line-up. Sadly, TTD was down our entire visit. Hopefully that isn't the case this weekend! Millennium is incredible at night, and really blew me away. Then it was on to Maverick, which is also awesome at night.

SkyHawk was next, and it is another awesome flat ride. It didn't seem much different than the Barn Swing at Silver Dollar City even though its supposedly bigger and faster, but it was still very fun.

 

We then closed out the night with 2 rides on Gemini and 6 on Magnum. Gemini really is a hidden gem, with lots of airtime and the fun racing element, and even though Magnum may be over-hyped, it's still a nice and enjoyable coaster.

 

We then left the park, eager to come back the next day. But we never got to.

 

But I'll save that for the next report

[JJLehto]

I love Cedar Point, so mad I had to miss Coastermenia the ERT is pretty much the stuff of my dreams, but glad you had a rocking time! Makes me excited to go later is all

 

Yes, MForce front seat is one helluva experience!

[CpBluestreakCp]

Maybe you got a bad ride on Blue Streak because whenever I ride, it's packed with airtime. And Maverick rough?! Maybe we both have different definitions of rough.

 

Great TR so far, though! Can't wait for CoasterMania this weekend.