Coasterbill's Alcohol, Coaster and Culture Trip Reports Land

[Invertalon]

Raptor to this day remains one of my top coasters of all time. My favorite ride at the park next to MF.

[zburns999]

Very late to the party here, but awesome Cedar Point TR!

 

As a huge fan of Magnum XL 200, I must admit with embarrassment that I had never heard of this supposed "kill seat." But, after reading your TR, I decided to give it a try. I was flying solo for the day (yesterday), so I knew that in the even that it was a little too much to handle, the only person who would have to suffer would be me. I must be honest, I was skeptical that one seat could (allegedly) be that much more nuts than the rest of the train but, hoo boy, the accounts are very true. I never thought I'd say this, but I was praying for an end to the assault at the end. It was just that violent. Totally awesome. But violent as anything. Like...actual pain type of violence. Magnum is such an odd coaster and I can't believe it actually exists. Some coasters (Maverick, Steel Vengeance, Skyrush, etc) are clearly designed to be freaking insane. What makes Magnum so outrageous is that the whole thing just feels like one big mistake of engineering.

 

Also, I've been a committed member of the Rouga-crew for years now. It is, in my humble but correct opinion, the best floorless coaster by leaps and bounds. Nothing else I've ridden is even remotely comparable. Dominator is a joke compared to this thing. The front seat is just madness the entire way. So fast, so forceful. Also, the MCBR seemed to not even be trimming speed, so the back half was a complete white-knuckler. Just another entry in Cedar Point's collection of elite B&Ms, which are the undersold stars of the park's coaster lineup. Like it wasn't enough to have three (arguably four) incredible Intamins and an RMC...they also have an elite invert and elite floorless. Then Valravn and Gatekeeper are the icing on the cake.

 

Finally, I agree with you 100% about Millennium Force. I've been riding it since 2001, and every year I expect the nostalgia sheen to wear off. Yesterday was the first time where I got off of it and just admitted to myself that this is probably the most perfect coaster ever created, nostalgia be damned. Best drop on earth. Fast, fun, relentless, and yes...even some great airtime. I kid you knot, I actually cramped a muscle mid-ride from throwing up my arms with such complete abandonment.

 

Might have missed it, but did you happen to get a back row ride on Steel Vengeance? I went front row on my first ever ride and back on my second, and I must admit that--while both were everything I could have dreamed of--the back was better. This surprised me, because the only other RMC I feel this way about is Twisted Colossus. I think the others I've ridden (Twisted Cyclone, Twisted Timbers, Lightning Rod) are front row rides. And that's not to say that the back is bad on those by any stretch haha.

[coasterbill]

A "mistake of engineering" is a great way to describe Magnum. It's weird that we use it as a term of endearment, but... yeah.

 

I could see the argument for Rougarou being one of the best floorless coasters. I quite enjoy how forceful it can be in the back (especially that whip before the climb up into the midcourse), though we usually ride up front where it's a little less snappy as part of my ongoing effort to get Brit to stop hating Rougarou.

 

As for Steel Vengeance, we didn't get a back row ride on that day but we've since ridden it there and I tend to agree that it's the best seat on the train.

 

PS: More coming later today

[coasterbill]

Our second day at Cedar Point was a much more laid back affair than the first. We're fortunate enough that we generally get to visit the park for a few days each season so we never really feel the stress of having to ride every single thing. It took awhile for us to get to that point but it does seem to make for more enjoyable visits.

 

Our plan on the second day was to take a (gasp), "eh f*ck it" approach to Steel Vengeance and not even bother riding it. We got two rides the day before which was more than we expected and we planned to hit it the next morning before leaving town so we figured we'd take advantage of the walk-on rides virtually everywhere else during Early Entry thanks to the fact that 99.9% of park patrons were trampling eachother to get back to Frontier Town.

 

If we had another storm we would certainly head over there, but one train ops and no option to skip the line if we bought Fastlane sort of kept us away on day two. We opted to spend our early entry racking up rides on the other coasters instead. I know, I know...

 

This is where we chose to start our second day at Cedar Point. Feel free to revoke our enthusiast cards.

This was as long as Valravn's line got for the duration of Early Entry on a Holiday weekend. We scored 3 front seat rides in the course of 15 or 20 minutes. Thanks Steel Vengeance!

This massive dive is symbolic of the collective interest level for this trip report when I mentioned that we had zero interest in riding Steel Vengeance on day two.

This isn't going to be a typical trip report since I've already given my thoughts on all of Cedar Point's coasters countless times and you're probably sick of hearing them by now. This one may be a bit more photo heavy. I figure less of my endless bullsh*t and more of my mediocre photography will be a welcome change for everyone.

 

If you want to start your day off marathoning an awesome coaster with pretty much nobody else around, welcome to Gatekeeper. Just like Valravn, we scored 3 front seat rides in 20 minutes!

This is one of the best first drops on any coaster I've ridden. It never gets old.

Our initial plan was to spend the majority of Early Entry at Millennium Force but it was taking it's sweet time to wake up in the morning (I can sympathize) so after our 6 rides on Valravn and Gatekeeper we decided to make our way over to see if our favorite finicky Intamin was alive yet. Unfortunately it still wasn't, but by some miracle the even-more-finicky Intamin nearby was rolling loaded trains 20 minutes before it was scheduled to open.

 

Yeah... Top Thrill Dragster was open at 9:40. I felt like I should go buy a lottery ticket. We were playing with house money after managing to ride it the day before, so against our better judgement we hopped in line, remaining alert for flying catch cars and cables.

 

There's no way you can fit an entire ride cycle on a major roller coaster into a gif. That's ridiculous. The file size would be bullsh*t huge and it would be way too long.

 

Cedar Point: Hold my beer

 

This time we did have a slightly more typical Dragster experience. A train launched, the queue line let out an audible groan and before the train even reached the bottom of the top hat they already called JRice to controls (apparently he's the official train backer-upper and Dragster IT consultant... put that job title on your business card). They then proceeded to back all 5 trains up one at a time, make everyone get off and get back in the queue and then the wait for maintenance began.

 

Now THIS is the Dragster we all know and love.

 

Luckily we sort of knew the drill and decided to wait it out. We always get in line fully expecting a breakdown and we're rarely disappointed. Dragster aims to please.

 

Lucky for us, the issue was fixed in about 40 minutes or so and they rolled out another train. It pulled back, the lights turned green and it rocketed down the track to thunderous applause. Awesome!

 

We were waiting for the front row of the back train so we couldn't see the tower but we saw one of the ride ops (who we didn't recognize) on the opposite side of the platform crouching down to watch. A few tense seconds after the train disappeared from sight we were watching his reaction to get a gauge on how that test launch went. After what felt like an eternity (though it was really only a second or two) he broke out into uncontrollable laughter. The poor guy was literally in tears from laughing so hard and ended up covering his face while trying to hide it from the guests on the platform.

 

I feel like if you work Dragster that's really the attitude you have to have. Just embrace the fact that the ride is an unmitigated disaster. We were so entertained by his reaction that we both started laughing too, as did some other people in the station who had clearly seen this movie before. I assume the crew isn't really supposed to laugh at what a colossal piece of sh*t they're currently in the process of operating and he fought it as hard as he could but like... having a serious reaction wasn't going to help the train crest the tower any better. That was funny as sh*t. I really thought he was about to die from how hard he was laughing at that stupid ride's failure to do anything right ever. You have one job, Dragster. Just make it over ONE hill. One. That's all you have to do.

 

Much to our surprise, once the train actually managed to finish rolling back and re-set they went ahead and loaded the trains without needing to re-test. The loaded trains cleared the tower easily and Dragster was finally back in business. A few minutes later we got on the ride and (once again) were treated to an awesome front row Dragster ride. Two Dragster rides in two days? Damn. How spoiled are we?

 

After a quick stop to laugh at our photos (Dragster photos are always a hot mess), we decided to make our way over the drop side of Power Tower as it had just opened and had absolutely no line to speak of.

 

Our next stop! We normally ride this thing a ton but for whatever reason we only managed one ride that weekend. Awesome view from the top.

I'll admit that I did have ulterior motives for our Power Tower ride, and that was to scope out the situation over at Millennium Force to see if they were moving trains yet. Much to our surprise, we saw that the ride was not only sending trains but open. Obviously there was no question about where we were headed next.

 

I could get used to these short Millennium Force lines.

Coaster perfection...

We walked back around a few times and pretty much rode as many times as possible until the line finally reached the switchbacks. The ride (as always) delivered an amazing ride and we were thrilled to be able to get multiple rides in with virtually no wait. Unfortunately by the end of our second ride it finally started to develop a bit of a line so we opted to move on. After-all, Brit was chomping at the bit to get Frontier trail. She'd been deprived for too long so I couldn't help but oblige...

 

Yup... Cedar Point has animals. Brit was on a mission to pet all the baby goats. I was chilling with my buddy Samson.

It's always nice to run into some ride ops from Great Adventure when visiting Cedar Point

 

The best part about seeing the animals on Frontier Trail is that when you get to the end of the trail, you get to Maverick!

Awesomeness lies at the end of the trail

We had the will power to skip out on Steel Vengeance for a day, but Maverick is non-negotiable

After our awesome Maverick ride we had been on everything we really "needed" to ride that day and had entered full on chill mode. That started out with lunch at our favorite "chill spot" on the Point, Famous Daves!

 

Cheers to summer. For the first time ever we actually sat inside because there was absolutely, positively NO wind at all and it was a scorcher on the deck. No wind at Cedar Point... now I've seen everything. I can't complain though. F*ck wind. Wind is the #1 ruin-er of my happy Cedar Point fun time.

On that note, since there's no wind let's ride the most ironically named ride on earth!

Since Boldikus had booked us "Breakfast in the Sky" in Wildwood, Brit wanted to ride Giant Wheel to try to conquer her paralyzing fear of ferris wheels before she was doomed to spend 90 minutes on one. It's not a ride that we get on all that often but I'm always up for a ferris wheel ride and though it was pulling a solid 30 minute wait we decided to bite the bullet and give it a go.

 

Well... it certainly lives up to it's name.

This park is flat out gorgeous.

Brit somehow didn't die and actually semi enjoyed it which was encouraging. I was sort of shocked she ever agreed to spending 60-90 minutes on a ferris wheel that was almost always in the stopped position (which is the most terrifying part of the whole ordeal for her) but I got off slightly encouraged. Only slightly though...

 

We were sort of walking around hitting whatever at that point so we ended up making Troika Troika Troika our next stop. I have to say, I'm more than okay with Cedar Fair going on a Troika buying spree recently. They're really fun rides, and they seem to appeal to a pretty wide audience. Back in "the day" (god I'm old), before Windseeker, Skyhawk and Maxair I remember when this park used to get tons and tons of crap for their awful flat ride lineup. Even then, Troika was always mentioned as one of the lone bright spots (along with Cedar Downs). Cedar Point has some great flat rides now, but we still love Troika.

 

Next stop! Brit loves these things.

While I absolutely enjoy riding flats and slower paced rides, after Brit picked a few rides in a row she asked what I wanted to ride. Gatekeeper had a bit of a line and we were spoiled from our re-ride party that morning, but let's be honest... I wasn't headed there anyway.

 

Wheeeeeeeeeee

I can't get enough of this big green pissed off bird.

 

Seen in the Raptor line. Ohio Bike Week is certainly a sight to behold...

After our amazing Raptor ride ("Amazing Raptor Ride" should just be it's new name), we decided to make our way back the other way. This wasn't really a tough call because anyone familiar with the Raptor exit path knows that it basically points you right at the Sky Ride station and I mean... you can't be that close and not ride it.

 

I don't know if you guys know but I sort of like this ride. It's pretty good. You should probably ride it. Go say hi to Blake. Don't bring a basketball. I don't have to worry about the "no basketball" rule because in order to win one I would have to drain a 3 pointer at some point and like... lol

Valravn's line looked manageable so we decided to head over there next. Valravn is one of those rides that we usually only manage to ride once in a day (for no real reason, it just works out that way) so it was nice to get an encore presentation for a change.

 

This would have been cool if the train were framed by the sun a little, but who do you think I am Bob Ross?

Puff the Tragic dragon was next up on the list. We hadn't managed to get a ride in the previous day so Brit wasn't about to let another day go by without hitting it. While it is the weakest of the Arrow suspendeds, we really enjoy this dumb little ride. The first half through the trees is really enjoyable and the second half is an absolutely great time. Piss off, we like this thing.

 

It's always nice to see a park that still has an operating Monorail.

Following the theme of "dumb sh*t we wanted to ride even though nobody really knows why, the next stop was (what looks to be) our last ever ride on the Witches Wheel. Obviously we knew nothing about the ride's demise at the time but we ride this thing more often than not on our Cedar Point trips so it's a bit of a bummer that they're getting rid of it. The ride seems to be tremendously popular (it seems like it's always a multi-cycle wait) so we're a bit surprised but we're excited to see what's to come.

 

We'll miss the old wheel...

We had sort of given up on Gemini as it had been down for hours, but while waiting for Witches Wheel we saw a few ride ops leaving the restricted area and by the time we got off the wheel and made our way over the ride was open and racing. That was a nice surprise, and with no real line in the station we were able to sit opposite each-other and slap hands the whole way around. I don't remember who won... but let's just say it was me.

 

I forgot to take a Gemini picture, but I did get one of me enjoying a hoppy and heartlined Rougabrew in Frontier Town after our ride. So... um... yay?

We eyeballed Steel Vengeance but it's line was absolutely absurd, so we opted instead to grab another beer and make our way over to Maverick. The line was filling the queue house but not extending out to the boardwalk, so we were more than happy to wait it out. I think it only ended up being about 45 minutes or so and (as always) the ride was fantastic.

 

They need to make a Beau Brew. Make it happen Tony! Have your people call my people. Damn.. look at my dork ass hat. lol

Shout out to the "Everything you own in a bin to the right not to the left cuz Beyonce ain't here" ride op. You were awesome and gave us a good laugh.

Unfortunately after our awesome Beau ride the night was upon us (it really sneaks up on you in Ohio in May since it doesn't get dark until like 9:30) and we only had time for one more big coaster ride. We heard the train pulling in when we exited Maverick and decided to hop on since I mean... you know... let's just say it was headed to the right place.

 

The train was actually a lot of fun and I have no real excuse for not having any cool "Boneville at night" photos. Sorry about that guys, I suck.

 

That said, one thing that definitely does not suck is Millennium Force (of course of course), and we decided to get in line right around 9:30 to get another front seat night ride. Thankfully there was a bit less drama than the previous night and we made it easily as a pretty substantial line built up behind us.

 

As always, the ride was perfection. It was a great way to end a great day at Cedar Point. Unfortunately we had plans to head home the next day but before we did that we knew we'd be back for one more Early Entry and this time we were planning to join the crazies and storm Frontiertown with a vengeance.

 

Good night Cedar Point!

[bert425]

^ great report and photos, and reminds me pretty much of what I did during my last two days there. . .LOL. . almost exactly in the order you did as well!

 

I too am gonna miss Witches Wheel, tho a park representative I chatted with (while watching other TPR folks ride Steel Vengeance) did tell me what they are going to be putting in next year will "blow my mind". . so excited to see what's gonna fill that spot!

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Awesome report of some great beers. Oh and rides I guess. That Beyoncé line... CP has the best ride ops.

 

Glad Brit got over her fear of Ferris wheels. Julie won't ride one either, but fortunately for me my oldest two love them.

 

I think you guys have already done the Breakfast in the Sky (irl, not in the narrative)? Hope you enjoyed/will enjoy it.

[Zand]

I read the Great Adventure line at lunch today and let's just say I drew quite a bit of attention to myself.

[boldikus]

Great stuff as usual. I know Ive told you before but youve been taking exceptionally good photos now that you've got that new phone. Some really, really good ones recently.

[JRice92]

I feel like if you work Dragster that's really the attitude you have to have. Just embrace the fact that the ride is an unmitigated disaster.

 

[Canobie Coaster]

Great report! Cedar Point really does have amazing operators and they know how to make jokes. My favorite was the one at Magnum who was taking a giant dump on Steel Force a few years ago.

[coasterbill]

^ great report and photos, and reminds me pretty much of what I did during my last two days there. . .LOL. . almost exactly in the order you did as well!

 

I too am gonna miss Witches Wheel, tho a park representative I chatted with (while watching other TPR folks ride Steel Vengeance) did tell me what they are going to be putting in next year will "blow my mind". . so excited to see what's gonna fill that spot!

 

Thanks! Yeah, I'm definitely excited for the future of that spot.

 

Awesome report of some great beers. Oh and rides I guess. That Beyoncé line... CP has the best ride ops.

 

Glad Brit got over her fear of Ferris wheels. Julie won't ride one either, but fortunately for me my oldest two love them.

 

I think you guys have already done the Breakfast in the Sky (irl, not in the narrative)? Hope you enjoyed/will enjoy it.

 

Thanks! That's correct, but for the six people who care but haven't added me on Facebook I'll keep everyone in "suspense" about Breakfast in the Sky.

 

I read the Great Adventure line at lunch today and let's just say I drew quite a bit of attention to myself.

 

I love hearing sh*t like this. Thanks for reading / commenting!

 

Great stuff as usual. I know Ive told you before but youve been taking exceptionally good photos now that you've got that new phone. Some really, really good ones recently.

 

I got lucky with that Maverick one, but otherwise I wouldn't go that far. It's marginally less terrible at zooming though.

 

Great report! Cedar Point really does have amazing operators and they know how to make jokes. My favorite was the one at Magnum who was taking a giant dump on Steel Force a few years ago.

 

Yeah... that's deserved.

 

I feel like if you work Dragster that's really the attitude you have to have. Just embrace the fact that the ride is an unmitigated disaster.

 

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Awesome report of some great beers. Oh and rides I guess. That Beyoncé line... CP has the best ride ops.

 

Glad Brit got over her fear of Ferris wheels. Julie won't ride one either, but fortunately for me my oldest two love them.

 

I think you guys have already done the Breakfast in the Sky (irl, not in the narrative)? Hope you enjoyed/will enjoy it.

 

Thanks! That's correct, but for the six people who care but haven't added me on Facebook I'll keep everyone in "suspense" about Breakfast in the Sky.

As a proud member of that gang of six (don't care for Facebook, nothing to do with you personally), can't wait!

[Philrad71]

Puff The Tragic Dragon.

 

Reading your report has me stoked for this week!

 

Oh, and that biker week shirt has to be worse than the 'Killin' It Every Day' t-shirt that Zach mentioned in the KI thread. Not sure if I will be able to top that god awful t-shirt photo, but I am going to see if I can - and only hope that I don't get my ass kicked in the process.

[A.J.]

It's always nice to see a park that still has an operating Monorail.

Ooof. I don't know whether I should nod in agreement or walk away from that one.

[coasterbill]

As a proud member of that gang of six (don't care for Facebook, nothing to do with you personally), can't wait!

 

 

Puff The Tragic Dragon.

 

Reading your report has me stoked for this week!

 

Oh, and that biker week shirt has to be worse than the 'Killin' It Every Day' t-shirt that Zach mentioned in the KI thread. Not sure if I will be able to top that god awful t-shirt photo, but I am going to see if I can - and only hope that I don't get my A$$ kicked in the process.

 

LOL! Have fun this weekend!

 

It's always nice to see a park that still has an operating Monorail.

Ooof. I don't know whether I should nod in agreement or walk away from that one.

 

This is the confused reaction that I strive for with all of my trip reports.

[coasterbill]

We woke up Monday morning with an 8 hour drive ahead of us but also with Platinum Passes in our pockets so we knew we couldn't leave Sandusky without taking advantage of one more Early Entry. We bought these things so we might as well use them. Not getting up early again and joining hordes of crazy people rushing to the back of the park to ride Steel Vengeance would just be a waste of money. It's the logical thing to do. Yeah... I'll keep telling myself that.

 

We didn't plan to stay long but we knew we wanted one more ride on Steel Vengeance. Aside from that we didn't really have any "official" plans for the rest of the day but I was already working on a few things in the back of my mind.

 

First thing's first though, we arrived at the park bright and early and made our way back to the resort gate and through to the holding area. As usual, we encountered a sea of humanity when we got there, 99.9% of them hellbent on trampling eachother on the way to Steel Vengeance and 0.01% of them small children who just wanted to go to Camp Snoopy that had no idea that they would have to dodge a bunch of crazed adults on their way to Frontiertown.

 

[fbvideonew]https://www.facebook.com/william.mahony.92/videos/10215023649579049/[/fbvideonew]

Greetings from the sh*tshow!

 

We're not runners, so we ended up right where we did the first time at the end of the straightaway facing a wait time of about 30 minutes or so.

 

PS: Again, remember that this was Memorial Day weekend and at the time, phones were allowed in the queue and on the ride.

 

Let's do this!

This is why we love Early Entry!

I don't remember where we ended up sitting, but I do remember that (per usual) we were treated to an absolutely insane ride. It's really just a convoluted, wonderful clusterf*ck of a creation that needs to be experienced to be believed. Even though we were blown away by our first ride, I feel like this is the type of coaster that we end up liking more and more every time we ride it.

 

Such an awesome ride...

We checked out the Beau queue when we exited the ride but the queue house was totally full. If it were a bit earlier we might have given it a shot knowing that they would only pull from standby until 10:00 but early entry was pretty much over at that point so we opted to keep on walking, satisfied with our numerous rides over the previous two days.

 

One thing we couldn't pass up was Skyhawk which we had somehow avoided all weekend but seemed to be slowing to a stop as we approached with a nonexistant queue built up.

 

Who doesn't love this thing?

I'm not exactly sure how we had managed to miss Skyhawk all weekend but I'm glad we had the opportunity to correct it. While it's short, it's a super awesome ride and the fact that it basically never has a line is really the icing on the cake. Every time I ride this thing I wish I had one for the back yard that I could put on a 2 hour long ride cycle.

 

While it was tempting to stay all day we knew we couldn't stick around much longer but needless to say there was one more stop we needed to make on the way out. I don't even think we ever formally discussed it, we just got off Skyhawk, made a left and instinctively made the walk down Frontier Trail with a mutual understanding of how we planned to end our visit to Cedar Point. Relationship goals?

 

We were thrilled to see that queue was still on the ramp so we managed to make it to the station in about 5 minutes. Man... I really don't expect this to last but I'm going to enjoy it until it does.

 

We could have been on in 10 minutes, but this was our last ride of the weekend and we planned to do it right. The front row line was long, but it was well worth it. Millennium Force is great everywhere but there's something extra awesome about that front row.

 

Don't mind if we do!

There's nothing like cresting that first hill where you feel like you can see forever and then diving down that crazy drop in the front row. The rest of the ride is just as awesome, loaded with relentless speed from the first drop to the brakes. Millennium Force was the perfect way to end our Cedar Point weekend.

 

Such a great ride!

While exiting the park, we ran into Ryan and the gang which was always a nice surprise.

, you should go check it out. Like, comment, subscribe, all that good stuff. Unfortunately a few hours after we left they had a power outage which is a bit of a bummer but it sounds like they had fun anyway. Apparently some a**hole drove into something that caused the issue. It took us 45 minutes to get to the end of Perimeter Road from the Shores lot because someone drove into a concrete barricade. There was clearly something in the water that day.

 

We hated to leave so early but we had a long drive home (it usually takes about 8 hours). Unfortunately for us we also got lost on the way home which happens a lot.

 

There's a really confusing intersection in eastern Pennsylvania that I always manage to screw up. It's a two lane interstate highway and I think what you're supposed to do is use either of those two lanes to stay on the highway. Unfortunately that sh*t's confusing so I often get "use either lane to stay on the highway and keep going straight like you've been doing for 5 hours" confused with "Get off the highway, go like 3 miles, make a right, go like 10 miles, then make another left at the traffic light and go another 3 miles, then make a right."

 

You can see how those two things are pretty similar so it's an honest mistake. One day I'll learn how to properly navigate that intersection.

 

Are we still on 80 or did I f*ck it up again?

Not only did I get lost but I got a ticket too. Lot's of them actually...

Oh well, since we're here I guess we'll make the best of it and get Snickerdoodle cookies from the loaf

 

As many of you know, one of our favorite summer hangouts is Rehoboth Beach where they have a small, coaster-less park called Funland. Their star attraction (aside from their Haunted Mansion) is probably their Paratrooper which unfortunately had a slow start to the season where it was waiting for parts. Seeing any ride at Funland closed for maintenance (even for like 5 minutes) is shocking, and seeing an extended closure for any ride (especially the Paratrooper) is insane.

 

We were sort of bummed that we might be looking at the first summer in Rehoboth without the Paratrooper since before I was born so when we came across this one at Knoebels we knew we had to ride it. I'm not a sentimental person, especially with rides but Paratroopers are an exception. I always ride them when I see them. They remind me of summer family vacations growing up. This also gave this an opportunity to take a picture of us riding it and send it to mom who was down in Rehoboth at the time and SUPER jealous.

 

First Paratrooper ride of the year! Get your sh*t together Funland (spoiler alert: they have since gotten said "sh*t" together).

Ready to fly!

Next up was the flume which is always a special treat for us. We normally visit during Phoenix Phall Phunfest so it's rare that we get to ride their log flume. That's a shame because it's really a great flume that's buried back in the woods and features a really cool little tunnel. It also provides you with a pretty reasonable level of wetness unless someone hits you with a water gun.

 

[fbvideonew]https://www.facebook.com/william.mahony.92/videos/10215027156106710/[/fbvideonew]

Having a great time at Knoebels! Don't mind me and my photo grids. I love a good photo grid.

 

We had deprived ourselves long enough and we were running short on time (it was a quick pit stop since we still had a few more hours left in our drive) so we opted to get down to business and head over to Phoenix. We're some of those weird people that prefer the back car on this thing (yup, we exist) and as always we were treated to an insane airtime buffet.

 

In many instances after spending a few days at Cedar Point we catch a bit of burnout when visiting other parks, but that never happens here. We rode Phoenix the same day we rode Steel Vengeance and Millennium Force and Phoenix still blew our f*cking minds.

 

What a great ride...

Our next stop was going to be the flyers but we noticed that the ride op was being a total buzzkill with snapping riders so we continued on. We took Twister for a spin (which is such an underrated coaster) and then decided to grab some Caesaris, hit the Scooters and head out. That plan changed when we passed Flying Turns though where we had to do a double take...

 

WHAT IS THIS???????

We often end up skipping this ride in a time crunch but with a line like that it was impossible to pass up.

 

Flying Turns isn't on the same level as Phoenix and Twister and it's really more of a family coaster than anything but it's still an absolute blast to ride. It was hard not to hype this thing up since it was under construction for like 10 years, but once you begin to appreciate it for what it is (a fun family ride that's sort of a living museum of sorts) it's really pretty great. It's also a ride that I like more and more each time I ride it. For whatever reason it seems like that second half keeps getting more and more wild as time goes on, though maybe it's all in my head.

 

We were running short on time and tickets so we grabbed a slice (and a birch beer) and then made it over to our final stop of the night.

 

She looks sweet and innocent until you put her in a Knoebels bumper car...

The Knoebels bumper cars are so wonderfully brutal that they put all of their counterparts to shame. I honestly couldn't even tell you the last time we wasted our time riding the bumper cars in any other park. These are so good that they've totally ruined all other bumper car rides for us.

 

Unfortunately for us when the ride came to a stop it was time to go back to reality and finish our drive home (nicely... so good thing I got all of my road rage out on the Scooters). It was a late night, but it was well worth it. It's not physically possible for me to be that close to Knoebels and not stop.

 

Up next: Minnesota!

[boldikus]

Good sh*t. I really gotta get to Knoebels.

[Dombot]

Awesome report as usual. I really need to get to that park someday, I've heard nothing but good things about it.

 

And Cedar Point looks cool too, I guess.

[Canobie Coaster]

Great report! I too feel the Skooters have ruined most other bumper cars. One of the exceptions is the set at Funtown since they allow head-on collisions. I'm pretty sure you'd draw blood if you tried that at Knoebels.

[zburns999]

The Scooters are my favorite thing at Knoebels (and I love just about everything at Knoebels). As someone who has been involved in two vehicle-totalling car accidents, I'm somewhat certain that neither were able to accurately capture the bone jarring violence of a near head-on collision between a pair of those tanks (err...scooters?). I once rode five consecutive times and had bruises all over my body. It was glorious.

 

Nice TR, as per usual! A quick question about Skyhawk, as I've never ridden it. Consensus seems to suggest that it's an elite flat ride, even above the level of other Screamin' Swings. To my memory, I've only ever done the one at Kennywood and the Barnstormer at Dollywood. Are they (or any other Screamin' Swings that you've ridden) comparable to Skyhawk? Or is there something about Skyhawk that sets it apart? I only ask because the line for Skyhawk is always depressingly long, and I'd rather not wait if it's going to be the same thing as something I've ridden already, except with a shorter cycle.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Awesome. Cedar Point and Knoebels in the same day!

 

There was clearly something in the water that day.

I'm going to guess that something was vodka.

[TBpony414]

A quick question about Skyhawk, as I've never ridden it. Consensus seems to suggest that it's an elite flat ride, even above the level of other Screamin' Swings. To my memory, I've only ever done the one at Kennywood and the Barnstormer at Dollywood. Are they (or any other Screamin' Swings that you've ridden) comparable to Skyhawk? Or is there something about Skyhawk that sets it apart?

 

Skyhawk at Cedar Point is absolutely massive compared to the other installations. I personally think DW runs a shorter ride cycle on theirs (I swear it's 7 small swings compared to CP's 9 huge swings) and the fact that Skyhawk, depending on which side you're on, flies over the walkway is really insane if you're looking down at everyone walking below you. Ask to sit on the right hand side if you want that experience.

 

Barnstormer and KW's version are little, relaxing rides that do nothing to scare me. Skyhawk legitimately has me white knuckling it and then immediately hopping back into line to do it again. It's SO FREAKING POWERFUL and significantly taller than the other S&S Screamin' Swings. Do yourself a favor and wait in the line next time for it! I find anywhere between 9-11am it is consistently a complete walk-on.

[bert425]

Skyhawk is terrifying, and you will love every moment of it.

 

it legitimately scares the crap out of me, and I love riding it.

 

(and thankfully the cycle is just long enough to get the adrenaline going, but short enough to not over do it).

 

here's the TPR takeover on it from 2018 USA tour (the back side of this swing was also full of TPR folks). . look at all those faces full of joy (and the row of raised hands behind us)

courtesy of Brad Roach, who took the pic.

[Nrthwnd]

I honestly didn't realize, I had ridden such a HUGE Swing ride, compared to others in other parks! (June 2017)

 

I thought most of them, were all the same size. Silly bear I am. Great shot of all you guys "up there"!

[coasterbill]

Awesome report as usual. I really need to get to that park someday, I've heard nothing but good things about it.

 

And Cedar Point looks cool too, I guess.

Good sh*t. I really gotta get to Knoebels.

 

Yes you do.

 

Great report! I too feel the Skooters have ruined most other bumper cars. One of the exceptions is the set at Funtown since they allow head-on collisions. I'm pretty sure you'd draw blood if you tried that at Knoebels.

 

I've considered it but yeah... even if it were allowed there's no way I would do it.

 

The Scooters are my favorite thing at Knoebels (and I love just about everything at Knoebels). As someone who has been involved in two vehicle-totalling car accidents, I'm somewhat certain that neither were able to accurately capture the bone jarring violence of a near head-on collision between a pair of those tanks (err...scooters?). I once rode five consecutive times and had bruises all over my body. It was glorious.

 

Nice TR, as per usual! A quick question about Skyhawk, as I've never ridden it. Consensus seems to suggest that it's an elite flat ride, even above the level of other Screamin' Swings. To my memory, I've only ever done the one at Kennywood and the Barnstormer at Dollywood. Are they (or any other Screamin' Swings that you've ridden) comparable to Skyhawk? Or is there something about Skyhawk that sets it apart? I only ask because the line for Skyhawk is always depressingly long, and I'd rather not wait if it's going to be the same thing as something I've ridden already, except with a shorter cycle.

 

I basically agree with all of this...

 

A quick question about Skyhawk, as I've never ridden it. Consensus seems to suggest that it's an elite flat ride, even above the level of other Screamin' Swings. To my memory, I've only ever done the one at Kennywood and the Barnstormer at Dollywood. Are they (or any other Screamin' Swings that you've ridden) comparable to Skyhawk? Or is there something about Skyhawk that sets it apart?

 

Skyhawk at Cedar Point is absolutely massive compared to the other installations. I personally think DW runs a shorter ride cycle on theirs (I swear it's 7 small swings compared to CP's 9 huge swings) and the fact that Skyhawk, depending on which side you're on, flies over the walkway is really insane if you're looking down at everyone walking below you. Ask to sit on the right hand side if you want that experience.

 

Barnstormer and KW's version are little, relaxing rides that do nothing to scare me. Skyhawk legitimately has me white knuckling it and then immediately hopping back into line to do it again. It's SO FREAKING POWERFUL and significantly taller than the other S&S Screamin' Swings. Do yourself a favor and wait in the line next time for it! I find anywhere between 9-11am it is consistently a complete walk-on.

 

I think they're "comparable" to Skyhawk but I prefer Skyhawk. Skyhawk is also better because it's free and a massive capacity whore. Personally I've pretty much never seen Skyhawk with a line exceeding 10 minutes.

 

Awesome. Cedar Point and Knoebels in the same day!

 

There was clearly something in the water that day.

I'm going to guess that something was vodka.

Very possible

 

(and thankfully the cycle is just long enough to get the adrenaline going, but short enough to not over do it).

Personally if the cycle was 45 minutes I'd be cool with that.

 

I honestly didn't realize, I had ridden such a HUGE Swing ride, compared to others in other parks! (June 2017)

 

I thought most of them, were all the same size. Silly bear I am. Great shot of all you guys "up there"!

Thanks!