Photo TR: 2016 Trip To Cedar Point!

[DoinItForTheFame]

Well, it's that time of year again! It was time for our annual VIP Tour at Cedar Point. However, to break up the driving a little we drove to Six Flags St. Louis and spent a day at the park. Stayed the night near by and drove the next day to Kings Island. Spent the next day at Kings Island and, after leaving Kings Island drove to Breakers Express (yuck) spent the next day at Cedar Point, stayed the night again at Breakers Express, and made the 16 hour drive back home on Sunday! To save you all from reading one giant post, I'll break the TR up into three parts! Part one: Six Flags, Part 2: Kings Island, and Part 3: Cedar Point! Anywho, on with the Trip Report(s)!

 

Six Flags St. Louis

 

Having never been to Six Flags St. Louis before I wasn't sure what to expect. Well, I'm glad I didn't have high expectations because I would have been even more highly disappointed that I was. The park was decent when it came to appearance, but nothing worth writing home about. There were a few decent attractions, but the park really seemed to be missing a "major draw" attraction. We spent the early part of the day in Six Flags, and when it started warming up after going to the hotel for lunch, we went back and went to Hurricane Harbor. After spending a few hours in Hurricane Harbor we went back to the park to get in a few more rides before calling it a day. With that being said, on with the reviews of the rides!

 

American Thunder: American Thunder was probably my favorite ride of the theme park side of things. It was a nice, fast paced coaster with some good pops of airtime in unexpected places!! However, keeping with typical Six Flags style they were running one train with ride operators, all two of them, who seemed like they would have rather been anywhere but at work, so 5-10 minute dispatches were not un-common and the line moved painfully slow. However, just rating the ride (not the operations) it was a solid 6/10.

 

BATMAN The Ride: What can I say about Batman the ride?? . . . It's a Batman clone. Yep, that's about it. What annoyed me the most about Batman (as I posted in the SFStL thread) was their stupid way of handling the "loose articles" on Batman. We have never seen anything like it in our live's (and we have been to a lot of parks.) Keep in mind throughout all of this there was never any announcements about loose articles, or sandals or anything like that. . . The ride operators would start our by allowing everyone to take their flip flops, loose shoes, sandals, and cell phones over to the side, and set them down. Once everyone was in their seats, restraints were locked, and checked, and the train was cleared. . . The ride operators would then pick up the flip flops/sandals/shoes and go row to row asking whose shoes these were. Once they found the people who the shoes belonged to they would un-buckle the seat belt, and put the belt through the sandals, and have the people ride the ride with their shoes attached to the seat belt. After that they would go get all the phones that were on the side, and go row to row asking whose phones these were. Once they found the phones owners, they would have the riders hold on to the phones through out the ride. Explaining to them that "no loose articles were allowed to be left in the station." Okay, I get that you don't want loose articles left in the station, but forcing a rider to hold on to their cell phone while on the ride seems backwards of all the polices I have ever seen/heard of. Usually you DON'T want a rider to pull their phone out mid ride, much less make them hold onto their phone the entire ride. What happens when someone drops their phone mid ride, or their phone flies out of their hand and hits another rider?? Is Six Flags the ones who are going to claim responsibility?? (Doubtful) But they were the ones having the people hold the phones while on the ride. . . Not to mention it caused for awfully long dispatches. . . Anywhere from 8-15 minutes depending on how fast people "claimed" their items. There must be a better way to handle the situation than what Six Flags was doing. . . I mean, Cedar Fair parks (From those we have been to) never seem to have this problem. However, again just rating the ride, and not the operations, it was just a Batman clone, so 5/10.

 

Big Kahuna: While in Hurricane Harbor we were going to ride Big Kahuna, however the line was all the way down to the bottom of the stairs, and they were only using about 5 rafts, 4 of which were on the conveyor belt all at the same time. So, in order to avoid the un-godly long wait we skipped it. Which was kind of sad, because it looked like a decent slide!

 

Bonzai Pipeline: Having been on KAPAU PLUMMET at White Water Branson, which is pretty much the same slide, we skipped this slide complex as well. Mainly because again the line was all the way down to the base of the stairs.

 

Boomerang: Closed. Shock, surprise. However, I rode it when it was at Six Flags Over Texas so I'm really not missing out on much.

 

JUSTICE LEAGUE: Battle for Metropolis: Maybe I was spoiled by the "good" Justice League at SFOT. When we rode Justice League at SFOT we LOVED it. However, this Justice League just didn't seem as good. Not sure what it was, but it was just kind of... meh. Also, the "on ride photo" was one of the most "Six Flags" things we saw all day. It was seriously a Nikon digital camera strapped to the wall. Talk about ghetto looking. Anywho, it was a nice wait inside the air conditioned building which gave us a break from the heat so it had its pros! Overall, 5/10.

 

Log Flume: We were getting a bit hot, and decided to ride the Log Flume. With it being as hot as it was at the park, the Log Flume had the shortest wait of the day. We waited a painful 5(ish) minutes. The log flume was actually a decent flume! It was also one of the more fast paced log flumes I've been on! Overall, 6/10.

 

MR. FREEZE: Reverse Blast: OUCH!! The SFOT version of this coaster is by far the better of the 2. There is a weird "bump" at the base of the tower. You can tell the tried to fix whatever was there before, because there is about a 5 ft section of silver track that replaced the blue running rail on the right side of the track. I tried to get a picture of it so you all could see what I was talking about, but it wasn't showing up on the phone as well as it was in person. You can see an actual dent in the said silver running rail track, and the train makes an awful sound every time it passes over that section. It also made for quiet an uncomfortable jolt while riding the ride. We also luckily picked the "good" side of the station because the side we were on the ops were sending out 2 trains for every one train dispatched on the other side. That's how slow the ride operators were moving on the other side. Operations aside, this Mr. Freeze gets a 5/10. Down from the 7/10 of its sister ride at SFOT. That jolt really takes away from the ride, and makes it un-comfortable and not worth re-riding. IMO.

 

Ninja (The New Revolution): Well, this was our first VR coaster, and holy hell was it awful. First, I don't think it helps that we had never been on the coaster before, so we were not prepared for how rough the coaster was, but strapping a cellphone to our head blocking our view preventing us from being able to brace for impact during certain elements was not the best idea. The VR it's self was decent. I didn't really get the story line, and my synchronization was about 1 car off, so things were happening in the VR headset before they were actually happening on the ride, which was slightly annoying. Also, my partners VR headset video never left the station the entire ride. So he spent the entire ride still sitting on the launch pad in the station so he had no idea what was going on. Not to mention the ride they put it on was so rough it about ripped the headset off my face during the ride, so I had to spend part of the ride trying to focus on getting the headset back on right. All in all, it was a different experience, but nothing I would care to do again (on that ride) It made us really look forward to what we hoped would be a good VR experience later on at Cedar Point. Overall, 3/10.

 

Pandemonium: We were going to ride this, however the line was out the entrance, so we kept on walking. However, having been on the sister coaster at SFOT we knew we weren't missing much.

 

SUPERMAN Tower Of Power: Closed. Shock. However, I was hoping it might somehow open during our visit. Having not been on an Intamin 2nd Gen tower in YEARS I was looking forward to the possibility of one. . . But nope it was closed the entire day we were there.

 

Screamin’ Eagle: Having both read how rough Screamin' Eagle is, and having been told by people who have rode it how rough it is we opted to skip the coaster. I already have back problems, and we didn't want to do anything that could cause me back problems. (At least not that early in the trip.)

 

SkyScreamer: Skipped this as well. Been on several of these types of rides. I enjoy them, but the line for this one was crazy long, and the ride operators were taking their sweet little time dispatching the ride.

 

Speed Slides (Green): Oh my!! Goodbye slide, hello air!! The drop on this slide was surprisingly good! I was off the slide the majority of the drop!! 8/10.

 

Speed Slides (Red): Oh my again! This was one of the biggest surprises of the trip. The slide started out nice and slow, and then BAM!! Out of no where I was flying up on the sides of the slide, and going a lot faster than I thought I would be. It all happened so fast, I got off of the slide wondering "WTF just happened??" It was a great slide, and had the line not been so long we would have rode it again!! 9/10.

 

The Boss: Okay, so this coaster was a mistake. Remember how I said I didn't want to do anything that would upset my back, and have the possibility to ruin the rest of the trip?? Well, I shouldn't have rode The Boss. The first drop was good, and the weird drop after the first drop was awesome, and provided some nice airtime!! But after that the ride kind of just... fell apart. I have never wanted to get e-stopped on a MCBR so bad in my life. I was just hoping that we would get e-stopped and have to get evaced off the coaster just so I wouldn't have to finish the ride. Sadly we had no such luck, and I was stuck enduring the rest of the coaster. The final helix felt like someone was taking a jack hammer to the entire train. Ugh. So rough!! 3/10.

 

Thunder River: This was actually a fun, decently long rapids ride!! It also provided with some unique views of Mr. Freeze! 6/10.

 

Tornado: The only slide like this I have ever been on was Brainwash at Wet'n'Wild Orlando MANY years ago, and I'm still not sure what all happened on that slide. So I was excited to get to ride Tornado! Boy what a fun slide that is!! I was backwards going down the drop, which put me at the top of the funnel, and holy airtime!! Like, butt say goodbye to the raft, and hello to nothing! It was so much fun! Had we not had to wait an hour for it we would have rode it again and again!! 10/10!

 

Tsunami Soaker: We did not ride this ride simply because the 10 minutes it was taking them to start the ride was a bit much. They literally loaded the ride, checked everyone and made sure they were sitting the right way, or whatever it is they were doing. Then proceeded to walk around from car to car pouring water on random people. After about 8 minutes of this the ride operators stood in the middle of the ride and talked for a few minutes, and then went and started up the ride. We stood on the side, and shot water at the riders in hopes of getting wet to cool off, and not having to wait for that crazy dispatch time. The ride seemed fun from the side lines, but I think the spinning would have been a bit to much for my partner.

 

Tube Slides (Yellow): The only two of the 4 tube slides in the one complex that we went on was the yellow one. For some reason they had one lifeguard at the top for all 4 slides. He was going from slide to slide to slide talking to people, and such before allowing them to go down the slide. I sat in the pool at the top of the slide for about 10 minutes waiting for my turn to go down the slide, while he talked to everyone including the girl next to me about his life, and his wife, and how mean she is to him, and blah blah blah. The slide was fun, and the small drops in the slide were nice surprises, but yet again the operations killed the experience. Not including operations the slide rating alone is 5/10.

 

Wahoo Racer: I LOVE mat racer slides, and this was no exception! Thankfully this life guard was actually doing a decent job, and we got a chance to ride it twice! I love the airtime on the last hill!! 9/10.

 

--------------------------------

 

All in all, it was a pretty crappy day at the park. Operations were some of the worst I have ever seen, at any park, ever. We enjoyed Hurricane Harbor much more than we enjoyed the theme park. I could see us possibly returning to the park in many years, and it would probably be just to visit Hurricane Harbor. Unless of course the park built some amazing out of the world coaster. . . But then again the operations would probably be so bad that it wouldn't even make the coaster worth it. This park is now tied with Magic Springs for being the worst park I have ever visited.

 

Now, on with what few photos I took. Mainly because after visiting Hurricane Harbor I really didn't feel like keeping up with my phone, or photos. However, the photos I didn't take at Six Flags I will make up for in with the photos I took at Kings Island, and Cedar Point!

 

Thanks for reading! More to come soon!!

You know you're at a Six Flags park when there are empty airplane bottles of vodka laying in the que lines.

First ride of the day!! . . . Ouch, #BadIdea

At least it looks pretty.

You could ride this giant wheel, and get a birds eye view of the not so giant park.

What goes up, must come down.

Six Flags supports Equality?? Huh, who knew...

At least he was working!

Not going to lie, this sign made me laugh.

Through the track.

There they go! 10 minutes later there will be more people going up that lift hill.

Sorry, but you just don't ride as good as your sister.

On our way to Kings Island I saw this. . . "Wetnight RV..." Oh, really now??

Edited August 28, 2016 by DoinItForTheFame

[LiftThrill]

Nice TR! I agree with many of your points but I think you probably should've swapped The Boss for Eagle. I found Eagle to be around average for a wooden coaster and haven't heard too many things about it being rough while The Boss has a reputation for being pretty much one of if not the roughest coaster ever (Gerst trains don't help at all either). I don't think I've heard anyone talk about The Boss without mentioning how rough it is whereas Eagle has a good reputation for its amazing floater air. Anyway what's done is done and you definitely visited better parks than SFStL on your trip so hopefully you had a good time at those.

 

Anyway nice TR so far, can't wait to see the KI and CP part of it

[DoinItForTheFame]

Kings Island

 

Well, the next park of our trip was Kings Island. Having had a "not so great" visit last year, due to us letting ourselves get highly dehydrated, we were looking forward to hopefully having a better visit this year. Well, we made sure we stayed hydrated and we did NOT ride Racer. We also made sure when we were starting to get hot we rode water rides to help cool us down. Well, thankfully all the precautions we took worked!! We had a GREAT visit this year!! The park is very well maintained, with a nice mix of attractions. The park was very clean, and all of the staff really seemed to be enjoying their jobs!!! We absolutely LOVE the park!! With that being said, on with the ride reviews:

 

Adventure Express: Aside from having the most disappointing coaster ending ever, Adventure Express is still a fun ride with some pretty good theming. It's nothing major, but worth the ride. 5/10.

 

Backlot Stunt Coaster: For a family coaster this ride sure packs a punch. The helix up right after the launch makes me gray out every time. The coaster is such a small, yet fast paced coaster. The "trick track" between the police cars is fun, and smooth. The tunnel after the MCBR is awesome! All of the times we have rode it all of the effects have been working which really makes the ride that much better. Overall 7/10.

 

Banshee: After riding Banshee for the first time last season, we got off of the roller coaster wondering "That was it? What was all the hype for??" After last season we really didn't care for Banshee. We rode it again this season in hopes of our opinion changing, and. . . Well... It didn't. I still don't care for Banshee, and I'll probably get hated for my review of the coaster but (If you're a Banshee fanboy feel free to skip the next paragraph) ... I really think it is one of the most highly overrated coasters out there. Yes, I'm going to be "that" person, and I am going to complain about the rattle. Of all the rides we have had on the coaster it has a really annoying rattle, that is highly noticeable, and for us it really kills the ride. How can a ride this new have that bad of a rattle? I've been on B&M coasters 10+ years older than this coaster that are glass smooth. I just don't get how in such a short period of time it has developed such a rattle. The overall layout for Banshee It's not a "bad" layout, its just kind of... meh. The only part I really enjoy is the slow, drawn out inline twist at the end of the ride. But even that feels out of place on Banshee. The rest of the coaster is suppose to be all about positive g-forces, which it's really not. Everything is so large and drawn out that it never really feels that forceful. I'd take a Batman clone of Banshee any day, at least those have really nice positive g's. Anyway, so when you throw that slow roll in at the end of what's suppose to be a really forceful coaster... It's fun, but it just seems out of place, and it breaks up the flow of the coaster. I could go the rest of my life without riding Banshee again and I wouldn't care. Overall 4/10.

 

The Bat: By far my favorite suspended coaster, and a very good family coaster. The first drop is fun, and the amount of swinging on the trains is awesome. The ride is overall rather smooth, and very re-rideable. I wish I could have rode it with its original layout. 7/10.

 

The Beast: The Beast is amazing! It's by far one of the best wooden coasters I have been on. It just keeps going, and going, and going. . . We always avoid sitting above a wheel, and it makes for a very enjoyable ride. I love the drop off the second lift hill. You really don't realize how much speed you have picked up going down that hill until you are slammed into the helix at the bottom. It's absouletly amazing!! 9/10.

 

Boo Blasters on Boo Hill: Not sure what I was expecting with this ride, but it was kind of "meh." Not to mention my partners gun didn't work the entire ride so that took away from the fun factor of it. For sure it is one of the less enjoyable shooting dark rides that we have been on. 3/10.

 

Congo Falls: There is not much that can be said about a giant boat that goes around a turn, down a drop, and creates a HUGE wave. However, it's worth noting that the airtime that you get from riding in the back row is crazy for a ride that doesn't have a lap bar! Not only did we get a nice pop of air going into the drop, but there is awesome air on the little "bump" in the middle of the drop! It also makes the ride more enjoyable when you don't come of dripping wet. We were slightly damp, but not dripping! Overall it's a really fun ride! 6/10.

 

Diamondback: After getting countless more rides in on Diamondback this season it is safe to say that Diamondback is by far my favorite B&M Hyper Coaster. There is awesome air over ever single hill. It is smooth as glass (except for a noticeable rattle on the green train) however, if you just avoid that train it is awesome!! Not only is it my favorite B&M Hyper Coaster, but it is my favorite coaster in the park! 10/10.

 

Firehawk: Before our visit to the park last year we had heard nothing but how awful Firehawk was, so we had really low expectations for the coaster, and we ended up loving it. It became one of our favorite rides in the park. So I was interested to see if this year we would feel the same way about this coaster, or if last year was just an off year for us. Well, we ended up loving it yet again. I really don't get why people complain about this coaster being rough. . . It's really not. There is something about the "Oh god, restraint don't fail me now" moment at the top of the lift when you roll over on your stomach that never get's old. I love the flying feeling of the coaster, and I love the unique feeling of the loop. Overall 8/10.

 

Flight of Fear: Dear God!! What happened to this ride?? Last year it was a some what smooth coaster, but this year it was rough as hell. The first ride wasn't as bad, but the second ride was miserable. It was beyond rough, to the point when we got off of the ride my partner said "I really don't remember the ride being that rough last year." Not sure if we just got the ride on an off day when it needed a wheel replaced or something, but OMG. Never again! 4/10.

 

Invertigo: I still don't get why everyone says this ride is rough. It really isn't. As long as you ride in the "brace for impact" position the ride is fine!! Hell Flight Of Fear makes Invertigo feel smooth as glass! What never stops amazing me is just how forceful the coaster is. The positive g's going into the inversions are simply amazing! Much more forceful than Banshee. 8/10.

 

The Racer: Dear God, no. Never again. After last year we didn't even want to get near the ride. By far one of, if not the worst coaster we have ever been on.

 

Race For Your Life Charlie Brown: We didn't have a chance to ride this last year, and we really enjoyed it this year! It provides a decent amount of wetness, and it has a fun layout! The last drop isn't the tallest, or steepest in the world, but it's fun! 6/10.

 

Vortex: What can I say about Vortex that hasn't already been said about it?? It's a rough, POS coaster. It seriously feels like someone has strapped you to the inside of a 50 gallon metal drum barrel, and pushed you over a hill on... a dirt road that has random boulders, and pot-holes every where. It's rough, and I could care less to ever ride it again. 2/10.

 

White Water Canyon: Having not had a change to ride this last year either it was fun to get to try something new!! It was fun for a raft ride, and it didn't completely soak us. It was nice and relaxing! 7/10.

 

All in all, it was a great visit to the park! Yes, I don't care for Banshee, and yes I LOVE Firehawk. Call me crazy, but each person is different. This years visit sure made Kings Island climb higher up the "best theme parks" ladder! Can't wait to go back! Now, on with the photos! Enjoy!

We have either made it to Kings Island, or Paris France. . . Not sure which.

First ride of the day!!

A sign. . . Being photo bombed by a god awful coaster.

Firehawk!! YAS!

Noted.

My favorite part of the ride!!

My second favorite part of the ride!!

"Look at me ma! I'm flying!"

Such a great family ride.

If only it still had the water splash effect.

How can a ride that looks so good....

Be so damn bad??

Even the tree is trying to hide the ride from us to keep us away from the pain.

Way back there some where there is a lot of people going down.

At least it looks good.

BRACE FOR IMPACT!!

This might be the smoothest part of the ride.

The swinging is so much fun!

Zoom Zoom.

The "OMG. Everyone must take this photo!" Photo.

The "OMG. Everyone who is about to ride in the front row of Banshee must take this photo!" Photo.

Yep, never seen this before.

Okay, that's better.

I'm not 100% positive, but I don't think anyone is going to be riding this today.

Yeah, never again.

Next up!

There they go! Off to ride some good wood, in the woods!

These signs were...

... a nice touch.

Some of the best wood you will ever get to ride!!

I'm okay getting moist!

I guess they might be building a new coaster here or something.

Diamondback, you could use some paint. . .

Trees make everything better.

Airtime!

More Airtime!

Turntime. . .

The train to avoid.

Don't mind me. . .

. . . I'm a bit of a shooter!

Bye for now Kings Island!!

[williamj2543]

Great trip report. I haven't been to kings island but I doubt Banshee would even come close to Montu and Raptor. Especially with the rattle and the vest restraints. Montu and Raptor are glass smooth and very snappy rides. An invert without one of those "stengel snaps" (the tight corkscrews) is not an invert at all...

 

Also I would imagine we would share the same opinions with firehawk as well. I have been on the B&M flyer in SFGAV and honestly the only good part about that ride was the pretzel loop. All other parts of it were kind of meh as it wans't very forceful or high. Firehawk looks super unique and has a way better layout than Superman ultimate flight at SFGAv

[Password121]

Nice report and pictures. Glad you had a good time.

 

I'll respectfully disagree with your opinion of Banshee. No, it wasn't snappy, but I thought the pacing was excellent (perhaps the best out of the inverts I've ridden) and it had sustained g-forces throughout the ride, despite not being overly heavy on forces. I particularly enjoyed the batwing and second vertical loop, and the zero-g roll was really fun being so tall and followed up by a huge drop despite not being snappy. It was very much "zero-g."

 

I still prefer Raptor slightly, but I thought Banshee was an excellent ride and wasn't bothered by the "rattle" which I only found in the back rows (though I was able to overlook that as well as the tight vests in exchange for the positives I mentioned). Different strokes for different folks, right? Just offering another perspective. Nice job, again.

[DoinItForTheFame]

Wow, it's been longer than I thought since my last update. Regardless, this is the last part of this 3 park trip report, which brings us to:

 

Cedar Point

 

This years trip to Cedar Point was slightly annoying. I guess because before we have always had such great visits to the park, we had high expectations for this visit, and boy did Cedar Point disappoint. Correction, Cedar Point did not disappoint, our VIP Tour Guide disappointed. We got to the park for early entry, and the first thing we rode was GateKeeper. It was pretty much a walk on, so we rode it twice, and then headed back to Millennium Force. Millennium Force had about a 45 minute wait, so we skipped it and headed to Mavierck. Again, Maverick had about a 45 minute wait so we skipped it, and opted to walk around the park taking photos and then we headed over to Top Thrill Dragster. We waited about 10 minutes for the ride to open, and ended up waiting about 15 minutes in the station. We were next to get on, and the ride shut down for "rain." And by "rain" I mean mist. There was pretty much nothing falling from the sky, but they shut the ride down anyway. We continued to wait for it to reopen, but it was at this point 10:45am, and we had to meet our tour guide at 11:00am. We were just about to leave the line when they reopened the ride. We got our ride in, then headed over to meet our tour guide. Once we met the tour guide it was off to ride as many coasters as we could!! (Or so we thought.) But more on that later, on to the ride reviews.

 

Blue Streak: For Blue Streak to be as old as it it, it is truly awesome!! The amount of airtime you get while sitting in the front row is crazy!! It gives some modern day coasters a run for their money in terms of airtime. It's an oldie, but a goodie!! 8/10.

 

Corkscrew: Ugh, why did we even bother?? Honestly, it wasn't that bad. It's much more enjoyable than Vortex. However, it's still like a bad trip to the chiropractor. 3/10.

 

GateKeeper: There is something about that first drop/inversion that gets me every time! I love being that high up, and doing that slow roll into the drop! We have always only sat in the front row, so I am not sure what the ride feels like in other rows, but I love this coaster. It's got a nice mix of positive g's, and the airtime hill actually provides some nice floater time (at least in the front row,) and the keyhole elements get me every time!! 8/10.

 

Gemini: I use to HATE Gemini. . . However, now that I know not to sit above a wheel, it's actually an enjoyable ride. It's not great, but it's still fun. 6/10.

 

Iron Dragon: We rode Iron Dragon without VR so that my friend who was at the park for the first time, could experience it normally, and then later with the VR. As always, the first half of the coaster was boring. But the second half out over the water is where it's all at! A fun family coaster! 6/10.

 

Iron Dragon VR: Later in the day we got on Iron Dragon with the VR and OMG. It's like night and day. Having done New Revolution a few days prior, and being highly disappointed, we really didn't have very high expectations for this experience. Well, needless to say we were blown away! The graphics were 100 times better than New Revolution, and the story line was actually good. If you haven't been on Iron Dragon VR, and you don't want to know the story line then skip the next paragraph!

 

SPOILER ALERT: I was absolutely amazed by the level of detail on Iron Dragon VR, and I really loved the story line. I loved the second lift hill where the dragon kept coming up trying to bite at your legs. I love the way that in the video you were flying over water at the end of the ride, just like you are flying over water on the actual coaster. The way they incorporated your "boat" gliding up to the dock when you were hitting the brake run was awesome. #EndSpoilerAlert

 

All in all Iron Dragon VR was an awesome experience!! Everything was synchronized perfectly, and the story line was awesome!! The ride operators were even able to dispatch the coaster much quicker than the Six Flags ride operators. Over all Iron Dragon VR gets a 8/10!

 

Magnum XL-200: Similar to Gemini I use to HATE Magnum. It was so rough, and so painful that it wasn't even worth riding. However, once I learned how to ride it, I LOVE it! The crazy triangle airtime hills are both painful, and fun all at the same time!! 8/10.

 

Maverick: Maverick is. . . Well, Maverick. Everything about this coaster is amazing. The airtime, the launch, the first drop, the inversions, the Stengel Dive is still one of my favorite roller coaster elements ever. I wish Maverick style coasters would catch on at more parks in the US. 10/10.

 

Mean Streak: Oh. Dear. God. Why?! Why would we subject ourselves to such torture?? . . . Actually, it wasn't that bad. We did the whole "sit in the front, lean forwards, hold your breath, close one eye, lift your legs, all during slightly overcast weather, on the green train" trick and it worked. The coaster wasn't beat your brains out rough. It obviously wasn't smooth as glass, but it was tolerable. Even more so, dare I say. . . It was fun?! Before I was to busy being flung around like a rag-doll to be able to enjoy the coaster. But once I did the "trick" to riding it, it was rather enjoyable. I never noticed the amount of airtime on the ride, nor the sheer speed of the ride before! It will be interesting to see what replaces this ride. 7/10.

 

Millennium Force: Many moons ago, I thought Millennium Force was one of the most overrated coasters on the planet. . . Well, that has changed. I still don't think it is "the best coaster in the world." But it sure is fun!! I was really surprised by how much airtime I got sitting in the front row. I'd float out of my seat from the beginning of the airtime hill to the pull out!! It was amazing, and it has climbed higher up on my top 10 list. 10/10.

 

Raptor: While this may not be the "best inverted coaster ever" I have grown to like it. The ride is intense enough it makes my legs go numb, which is a fun, and weird sensation all at once. This coaster has climbed higher up on my list of favorite inverts, replacing Montu. 9/10.

 

Rougarou: Meh. It's okay. It's not the best floorless coaster in the world, nor is it the worst. It's just kind of "meh." I will say that our ride on it this year was a million times better than our ride last year. At least after our ride this year, we enjoyed it, and were okay with the idea of re-riding it. Where as last year we had no desire to ride it again after our first ride. 7/10.

 

Top Thrill Dragster: What can be said about Top Thrill Dragster that hasn't been said before?? It's amazing. It's fast. It's tall. It's moody, and likes to break down. It has been my favorite roller coaster since the first time I rode it, and it still is. That launch is so powerful, and so amazing. . . And the drop is out of this world! 15/10.

 

Valravn: After riding Valravn I can now say that I have been on all three dive machines in the US, and . . . Valravn is by far my least favorite. Mainly because of the vest restraints. For me they kill any time of airtime I could possibly have gotten on the coaster. Our first ride was in the front row, above the track and it was glass smooth!! We all loved it. Our next ride was in the back row on the right side, and it sucked. The entire ride was very "vibratingly" uncomfortable. We all got off of the ride with no desire to ride it again, unless it was in the front row above the track. Which is weird, because I LOVE Griffon and SheiKra in the back row. Maybe we just caught Valravn on a bad day, on a bad train. But it really wasn't all that great. 8/10(in the front row) 4/10(in the back row)

 

Wicked Twister: Still one of my favorite coasters in the park. I love sitting in the second to last row on the right side. It's the "magic" seat on the coaster!! 9/10.

 

Power Tower: We only rode drop side, but we rode it twice. Both times facing Valravn. The ride up is way more terrifying than the drop. Great views, and the anticipation is awesome! 8/10.

 

Skyhawk: I don't know what it is about this over-sized swing set, but I love this ride!! I love the floater time, and the positive forces at the bottom!! A great flat ride, that I wish more parks would install!! 9/10.

 

Thunder Canyon: Not sure what it was about our ride on Thunder Canyon this year, but last year we came off dripping wet. There wasn't a fiber of dry cloth on us. . . But this year we came off dry as a bone. I'm not sure how we missed every waterfall, but some how we did. It was rather disappointing and kind of boring. But regardless knowing how fun it can be after our ride on it last year it still gets a 6/10.

 

Overall it was a decent trip to the park, but our VIP Tour guide was so god awful, it felt like a waste of money. She spent the majority of the tour on her phone, or complaining to us about her job. It wasn't the best experience we could have had, and it was rather embarrassing having talked someone into spending the money on a VIP Tour when their response after the tour was "My god that tour guide was awful. We could have had just as much fun had we just had Fast Lane Plus." Not to mention, what kind of Tour Guide doesn't know where the exits to the rides are?? There were several rides where we had to show the guide where the exits were because they had no idea. Rides like SkyHawk, or Maverick. Like, really?? Come on now.

 

Anyway, it was a decent visit to the park, but it will probably be a few years before we go back. Mainly because the drive is insanely long, and now it's to the point where they need to build a really good, appealing new coaster for us to want to make the drive again. Anywho, I didn't take that many photos because lets face it, everyone has seen every angel of every ride at Cedar Point. Also, I was to busy focused on riding rides the majority of the time, that I didn't care to get my phone out to snap photos. That being said, on with the pictures.

First ride of the day!!

The weather was NOT our friend that day.

The sign makes me think of a Monster energy drink.

Looking at Rougarou's naught bits.

Much better than it was when it was a stand up coaster.

Corkscrew?? Is that you?

They look so silly with sitting there with phones strapped to their heads.

Still not "The Best." But it is good.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm... Pinks!! <3

"I mean, you know it never really gets vertical right??"

Massive Inversion.

GateKeeper doing a little early morning dance.

These people agree that the drop really is vertical.

I really want to climb the stairs to the MCBR.

Oh. God. The. Nets. NOooo! (Actually I never even noticed them while on the ride.)

Valravn sure does go down a lot.

I swear these two photos are not the same.

GateKeeper not doing an early morning dance.

Such a fun coaster.

Am I the only one who thinks this makes Power Tower look like a Power Bottom?? Guess Top Thrill Dragster really is the Top.

Getting ready to go down.

This inversion does provide some nice weird forces.

I do love the colors.

I swear these two photos are not the same.

Inversion.

Airtime hill.

Through the tree.

This was a fun inversion!

Airtimeish.

Raptors new paint looks great!!

They see me rollin'.

<3

A roll of the cobra.

Swinging out over the midway.

Through the trees... again.

Okay, enough Raptor.

Goodnight Top Thrill Dragster.

Bye Valravn.

Until next time. . .

[CoasterRench]

Great TR, I was hoping to make it up to Cedar Point for Halloween this year, however not sure I will be able to, seeing the pictures is making it harder and harder not being able to go. Kings Island is my home park, I completely agree with what you said about Flight of Fear, it used to be a smooth ride, I have only rode it one time this season, and thought it was the worst ride I have ever rode. I wasn't sure if it was due to sitting in the front row, or the coaster itself...after reading this, maybe it's the coaster itself and not just the front row.

[coasterbill]

We did the whole "sit in the front, lean forwards, hold your breath, close one eye, lift your legs, all during slightly overcast weather, on the green train" trick and it worked. The coaster wasn't beat your brains out rough. It obviously wasn't smooth as glass, but it was tolerable. Even more so, dare I say. . . It was fun?! Before I was to busy being flung around like a rag-doll to be able to enjoy the coaster. But once I did the "trick" to riding it, it was rather enjoyable. I never noticed the amount of airtime on the ride, nor the sheer speed of the ride before! It will be interesting to see what replaces this ride. 7/10.

 

Preach

[Jcoaster]

Pink's has to be a highlight of the trip.

[jynx242]

 

LMAO - "power bottom."

 

Great report! Thanks for sharing.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Pink's has to be a highlight of the trip.

Pink's is amazing. And I don't usually say that about a hot dog place that has ketchup anywhere in the building.

[Ape]

If I spent that much on a guide and they acted like that I would have been complaining to whomever I would have to get my money back or something. You are spending what $400 a person for this guide to complain about her job and play on a phone to go with not knowing what she was doing? I am typically not the complaining type but that one would do it for me.

[mpmbee]

Great report, love Cedar Point. Out of interest what is the attraction of a VIP tour over just getting fast lane plus? That's a lot of money there for skipping a bit more queueing. Are there other perks to it? I personally wouldn't want to spend the day at the park walking round with a stranger either.

[TheCoasterKid211]

Nice report, but you and I have 100% opposite opinions on Corkscrew. It's my favorite Arrow looper behind Tennessee Tornado and Loch Ness Monster.

[Nrthwnd]

Great report, love Cedar Point. Out of interest what is the attraction of a VIP tour over just getting fast lane plus? That's a lot of money there for skipping a bit more queueing. Are there other perks to it? I personally wouldn't want to spend the day at the park walking round with a stranger either.

 

Didn't you read? There is plenty more.

 

Besides jumping queues, you get the privilege of listening to someone else's complaining about their work,

and then you could be lucky enough to be totally ignored while she/he is busy taking care of "other business" on their phone.

And as a BONUS - you get the honor of helping her/him figure out exits and entry ways to.....everything!

 

 

I would go for the Fast Lane Plus, just because. And nobody telling me which way to go, either.

 

Sorry to read you got a lousy tour of the park.