bert joins TPR on the 2018 USA trip

[bert425]

And how was that ride on Blue Streak? Compared to the thrashing we got (and everybody else on it I remember) on it last year?

 

Night and Day. . rode in the front (with Jon). . and it COMPLETELY redeemed itself.

 

so I got one of those (spoken only in whispers) "good rides" on Blue Streak. Fairly smooth, lots of airtime. .

[Nrthwnd]

^ Cool. I hate you. And Blue Streak.

And Jon. Hi Jon! Hows life over in Eastern Canada?

Jon and I (and everybody else on that train) shared "a moment" that for the life of me,

I still can't remember... Wha'Happened? TPR 2012 China Tour. I actually believe "somebody"

on the coaster train was verbally FREEKING OUT and it was just too funny to ignore.

[bert425]

Day 10: driving and Cedar Point (Day 1)

 

I woke up on this Wed morning still hurting, but feeling much less pain than I had the prior evening. I was still stiff, but able to move after sleeping/resting my leg. We were leaving at 9 for Cedar Point . . and I was glad this was mainly a driving day, since it would continue to allow me to keep weight off my leg.

 

I popped another Prescription Ibuprofen, brushed my teeth, and grabbed my bag to head down to the lobby for the included breakfast before loading up on the bus.

 

As mentioned, I was doing much better than I had the night before, but as we drove I did start to stiffen up just a bit. . and by the time we stopped at the roadside rest area for lunch, I was feeling it and had pretty much decided that the moment we got settled into Hotel Breakers, I was gonna hit the hot tub to soak and possibly blow off the first night at CP to continue resting.

 

I wasn’t that hungry since I’d had a decent sized breakfast at the hotel (and had been snacking on the bus drive), so while most went to Burger King, or one of the other food options, I checked out the convenience store there – looking still for a cane or a tall umbrella I could use as a cane (they seemed to sell almost everything, but not that..go figure). I picked up some bottled water - which was on sale cheap – since Hotel Breakers has fridges in every room, and after a stop at Starbucks for a Vanilla Latte (my kryptonite). . parked my butt outside to warm up (I dunno what was up with it, but both rest stops we did breaks at on this trip were FREEZING cold inside) and rested / called home to chat w/ my spouse for the rest of this stop.

 

we made really good time, despite the drizzle, and I think we made it to Sandusky earlier than the itinerary had noted (thanks for some fantastic driving, Franklin!)

 

Bus parking turned out to be directly in front of the Hotel Breakers main entrance – it didn’t really look like a spot, but that’s where they said to park, so the bus sat there right along the front curb for 2 ½ days Made for an easy unloading of luggage, and we all gathered in the main lobby while Elissa and Robb went and got everyone checked in, distributed all our stuff – separate envelopes for each day containing tickets, wristbands for the Breakers Pool area, fast lane +, all day drink band, meal tickets (voucher for the 1st night, catered meals the other two days), and a wonderful surprise gift: a beautiful Steel Vengeance numbered lithograph!

 

we lucked out with room placement too. . I believe we were all on the 3rd floor, but most rooms (maybe all) were facing the park – so we had some great views of Cedar Point (I took a bunch of pics from the room, and in several, I managed to catch trains on Iron Dragon, Corkscrew, Rougarou, and sometimes Valravyn in the pics).

 

It remained overcast, but hadn’t rained, so most folks headed for the rooms to drop off things, and then immediately headed to the park. I switched to my swimsuit and slowly headed down to the hot-tubs, that were conveniently just outside the wing we were in. Unfortunately, those hot-tubs were not hot, nor blowing bubbles – they were basically tepid standing water (and full of little kids playing in them). I asked one of the employees in the area about it, and he told me that they were having trouble with those hot-tubs, but were actively trying to get them fixed. However, the hot-tubs off of the new wing (closer to the waterpark) were working . . .of course.

 

I really needed the heat on my leg, so hobbled down the boardwalk to the new wing area, and found some glorious hot-tubs with not much crowd, tons of heat, lots of bubbling. . and bar service (that was NOT from the TGI Fridays, but was from the main Breakers bar. . that they would serve to the tubs).

 

I soaked about 45 minutes, and the heat helped my thigh/leg a TON.. really, a pretty bad bruise was forming, but the stiffness had loosened up.

It was probably close to 6pm by now, and the park was open until 11 – which is when our ERT was going to start.. . and I was walking much better and feeling well enough. . . that I decided to head into the park.

 

With FastLane + the first thing I headed for (closest to the entrance anyways) was TTD, which was running consistently. I was concerned about the airtime at the top of the top-hat from the launch, but went for it anyways as I was not hurting. There was a little bit of discomfort, but nothing bad.. certainly not to the point of pain, so I hopped back in line and rode it again.

 

Then headed across to Power Tower (one of my missing rides from my prior visit), and was watching it – trying to decide if I should give it a shot, when I met up with a group of TPR folks who came by. I can’t recall if I had texted Phil that I was in the park now, or if they just saw me while they were headed to TTD, but either way, it worked out great that I had a group to hang with again.

 

I had just ridden TTD twice, so I waited for them to ride, and then we all headed across to Power Tower – which I had decided to ride, as long as I didn’t get on the “shoot up” side, and just did the drop side. I loved it, and no pain here either, and the guys even went around to ride the shoot tower (and they told me that it didn’t really jolt into the restraints since it’s so tall), but I played it safe, and stuck only the one ride on the drop side.

 

We wandered around the park a bit, I believe riding Valravn, Rougarou, the train, Maverick, Skyhawk (the massive Screaming Swing) -- which ended up being a TPR takeover, tho we didn’t realize the back side of our row was also a group of TPR folks until after we got off of it -- and then a few folks wanted to go on Steel Vengeance to try it out (since it was running) before our ERT later that night. I asked some who had ridden it and they confirmed that it has some ejector air, so I left those that wanted to ride to do so, saving SV for later. I mention “since it was running” since Millennium Force was down this entire 1st evening, with the car stuck on the lift hill.

 

Since I hadn’t eaten yet, and it was getting close to 9pm, I headed with a few folks (by train again) back over to the front station, so I could get a Mac Bowl with my voucher from the Mac N Cheese place under the skyride station. I had been told by those who also tried it, that it was nowhere near as good as the one I had gotten at KD, but decided to go for it anyways, since I hadn’t really eaten at the lunch stop and had to eat something (since I had been taking meds). When I got to the window, the Philly Cheese Steak (with bacon bits!. . LOL. . drove Russ *nuts* they called it a Philly) actually looked good, but I didn’t want the bun really, so asked if I could get the innards of the Philly just dumped on one of the Mac n Cheese bowls. The guy at the window gave me a long excuse of why he couldn’t. . and as the bugs were starting to come out big time, I just wanted to get away from the lights and just ordered the Philly, expecting to just eat the innards.

 

the cook shouted to me to come back to the window, and said to the register guy: “did he ask if we could put Philly on mac? And you told him no?”

the register guy confirmed, and then the cook said to him: “Dude’s got a meal ticket, AND it’s the end of the night, what are you planning on doing with the leftovers? just give the man what he’d like”

 

so they asked me if I wanted that, and I said, “sure, if it’s ok” and they loaded me up a Mac n Cheese bowl smothered in cheesesteak, onions, peppers, tho I asked to “hold” the bacon-bits. . . LOL

 

and of course, it wasn’t great. . and nowhere near as good as the Mac n Cheese bowl I had gotten at KD. .but big ol points to these guys for going beyond and making me feel special.

 

so took a 20 minute break to eat, and then, since we were towards the front of the park, we decided (despite the bugs) to get some evening rides on a few things.

 

After a quick stop to get a ride on Cedar Downs (of course), we headed to Raptor where I rode in the front and seeing where I was going made for a much better ride on it than I had gotten the prior year as I was able to brace myself for some of the transitions. I liked it way better than Alpengeist, and I’m glad I gave it another shot even with all the bugs that ended up on my face – like freckles. We passed a few other TPR folks when exiting, who had just come from Blue Streak and described their ride as "a bug eating contest". . . LOL

 

We also headed over to Gatekeeper, for a really good night ride . .and I got to notice that the eyes in the griffon head on the train light up. Surprised I hadn’t ever noticed that before. Towards the front, no rattle at all, and gave a wonderful floaty feel.

 

We criss-crossed back over to Valravn for another ride, before deciding it was getting close to 10:30 and we should head back towards Frontier Town.

 

Even tho I was doing much better than I had the prior night at Hershey, most all of the coasters at CP have steps to get up and down from the raised stations. Going up was slow, but I was able to handle them OK. Coming down post ride however – while not having much bend in my leg – was starting to be an issue. Though several of the coasters (in particular Maverick, and ValRavn) have elevators to exit the platforms, which I had been allowed to use. . so that helped a LOT that the coasters I rode the most let me use the Elevators instead of going down the stairs. But back to back rides on Raptor & then Gatekeeper. . lots of stairs going down. . had affected me a bit and I had started limping again, and was starting to get some pain.

 

So rather than walk, we took the train from the front station back to Frontier Town. It was on this shorter side of the train ride (no skeletons, but you go under MF) that was saw some maintenance guys working in the lift station booth at MF, so I got some hopes that it would be opening at some point during our visit. But not today, it was down the whole time since we had arrived.

 

We got off the train just as the fireworks started over Steel Vengeance. It was pretty spectacular to see – it turned out they were actually the fireworks that ended the nightly “glow party” thing that CP had going on over on the beach. . but from our location at the train station, it was pretty cool to watch the fireworks that looked like they were over the coaster.

 

we joined the rest of the TPR folks in the entrance plaza over by Steel Vengeance waiting for them to clear thru the line (which took about 40 minutes. . so ERT started closer to 11:40) – and once we were good to go, everyone put everything into a fluffy bunny, and started up the path deep inside the wood structure.

 

I absolutely felt there was no way I’d be able to ride, despite my wanting to - all my meds had worn off and I was really starting to hurt. So tho a few folks tried to “chant” me into riding, there was simply no way I was up for it.

 

However, I was determined to hang out with the group and cheer them on. Besides I loved the atmosphere by SV at night. . standing on the platform watching the trains climb that lift hill (gorgeous with the hanging lanterns lit up, keeping up the theming. . too bad no camera with me to take pics!).

 

Oh and the spiders. HUGE, honking spiders. . everywhere. Nightmare inducing. . I had to be careful where I leaned. It certainly explained why Steel Vengeance had way less bugs around it than the other coasters. . and explained why the spiders were so freaking fat and huge – they eat well at SV!

 

I knew better than to attempt riding, but I very much enjoyed watching others enjoy themselves. .really.

 

all too soon, the hour of ERT was up, and it was time to say goodnight to CP (at almost 1am) and we all headed back to Hotel Breakers – me very much at the very rear of the group as slow as I was moving. I got back to the room, carefully got in the shower (it was a struggle getting my leg high enough to clear the bathtub), and then decided that as much pain as I was feeling? It was time to switch from the Ibuprofen to the stronger, Tramadol I had brought.

 

I didn’t set any alarm, not really caring about the early admission (since I wasn’t gonna run to Steel Vengeance, and Millennium Force wasn’t likely to be open since it had been down all night). . besides, we had FastLane +. . so I planned to sleep in and relax. So I popped a Tramadol, and was out pretty fast.

at the lunch stop . . .Russ is "King of the Rest Area"

 

I had Starbucks, and sat outside - it was cold in there!

our TPR group, front of the bus

 

Photo Courtesy of Robb Alvey

our TPR group, rear of the bus

 

Photo Courtesy of Robb Alvey

we're here. . and for a pic thru the window of a moving bus? not too bad. . just missed the "C"

ok. . better. tho still cut some off

we're here. . overcast, but look at all that empty parking! it kept folks away. (and it was a Wed night)

still on the bus, grabbing pics thru the window as we go around to Hotel Breakers

ValRavn about to dive

and there it goes!

ooooo.. . .

weird angle, but hey, not blurry which is great considering I took a pic of a train on the lift hill moving, from a bus, also moving.

 

i gots skillz apparently

TTD running thru Gemini

wow.. . TTD is cycling well. . . several launches in a row! (something that would continue this whole first evening)

last pic before pulling into Hotel Breakers lot, and exiting the bus.

one of the Carousel horses in the Hotel Breakers lobby, with TPR group behind awaiting Robb & Elissa directions.

 

Photo courtesy (I think) of Phil. Could be Darryl tho.

the amazing Steel Vengeance numbered lithograph/print that we got as a bonus.

(this is a picture of Michael's print, since he opened it in the room to look at it. . I waited until I got home to open mine).

the view from our room.

the view from our room

TTD continuing to cycle. . .yay. . but i REALLY needed to go soak my leg by this point

ok. . . I've soaked, and I'm feeling way better, and moving quite a bit better than I had been. So heading up the sidewalk to go to the park tonight after all.

 

got both Gemini and Magnum trains in one picture.

 

unfortunately did not get a ride on either Magnum this trip (wasn't gonna chance it at all, with the amount of drops/ejector air I know it has) or Gemini (when I considered it the next day couldn't really bend my leg enough to get in the train car) . . .it was a good decision on my part, and at least I rode them both a bunch on my prior visit.

Power Tower. . which ones are the launch, and which ones are the drop? watched it a bit to figure out.

Waiting for the group to ride TTD. . I had just ridden twice, so waited for them to get a ride.

I honored the "no pictures of the pictures" policy, by taking a picture of them reacting to their pictures

on Skyhawk. . pic courtesy of Brad Roach.

 

(he was hanging with another group of TPR folks - who happened to be sitting on the row behind us, that we didn't realize. once we started swinging, Brad got a great pic of our side, as we swung up .as well as pics of the other side, that I don't have. . maybe he'll post em?)

at Maverick.. one of my favorite rides in the park!

we swung by SV to check out the line.. and a few folks wanted to take a spin.

 

I held off, but took some pics.

Sunset over Maverick

with James and Russ

walking back over to SV to see if those that wanted to ride, were still waiting in line

it really is beautiful as it starts to get dark

another of my favorite pics from this trip. . .really loved meeting Russ.

 

Such a great guy

the cook at the Mac and Cheese place who told the Register Guy to give me whatever i wanted. . .

the result. It actually tasted better than it looks, but was still just "OK"

Gatekeeper Train's eyes light up at night. never had noticed that!

Fireworks over Steel Vengeance.

 

just before the end of night, and while we were waiting to begin ERT.

the group and the crew after the 1st night's ERT. Photo by Robb Alvey

 

I'm way in the back, mostly blocked (you can see the tuft of my hair. .LOL).

 

but not worries, as I didn't participate in actually riding this night, but hung out to cheer the group on, avoid the spiders, and loved watching the ride cycle.

Edited September 25, 2018 by bert425

[coasterbill]

Great report! It's a shame about your leg, but it sounds like you made the best of it.

[bert425]

Great report! It's a shame about your leg, but it sounds like you made the best of it.

 

thanks Bill!

 

this is just 5 or so hours from day 1, so still 2 full days to go. . tho I don't think I have near as many pics from those last two days.

 

but really did have a fantastic time, and would/will sign up again for a TPR trip the moment I get an opportunity!

[Canobie Coaster]

Great report! I'm shocked Maverick didn't give your leg trouble considering those restraints and just how strong the airtime is, but I'm glad you were able to enjoy it. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Steel Vengeance on one of the latter days.

[bert425]

Great report! I'm shocked Maverick didn't give your leg trouble considering those restraints and just how strong the airtime is, but I'm glad you were able to enjoy it. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Steel Vengeance on one of the latter days.

 

actually, Maverick restraints hit on my shoulders, not on my legs/thighs. . so no issue other than getting in and out of the train (ie: not fast nor graceful).

 

but yep, was able to ride it multiple times -- including the final ERT on Friday Night, when I rode a good 6-8 times

[Canobie Coaster]

Ah ok! I always find Maverick's restraints tighten on my thighs by the time I hit the brake run.

 

That was going to be something I mentioned in my Cedar Point report later.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Nice! Glad you didn't let your leg stop you having fun. Just did what you had to do to keep going.

[bert425]

Nice! Glad you didn't let your leg stop you having fun. Just did what you had to do to keep going.

 

oh yeah, regardless I had a GREAT time. the entire trip. no really.

 

as I like to say, "I'm explaining, not complaining"

 

hopefully it's coming across that way.

[bert425]

Ah ok! I always find Maverick's restraints tighten on my thighs by the time I hit the brake run.

 

That was going to be something I mentioned in my Cedar Point report later.

 

This is a picture from the ERT on day three. . but the restraints on Maverick hit me just about the same as they hit Robb. . .(so you can see it's well above the thigh, more towards the waist). the shoulder restraints are where I hit with every airtime hill

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Nice! Glad you didn't let your leg stop you having fun. Just did what you had to do to keep going.

 

oh yeah, regardless I had a GREAT time. the entire trip. no really.

 

as I like to say, "I'm explaining, not complaining"

 

hopefully it's coming across that way.

It absolutely is.

[bert425]

Day 11: Cedar Point (Day 2)

Despite not setting the alarm, I woke up just around 9am on Thursday.

 

Although I hadn’t planned on utilizing the early entry, I peeked out the window and spotted a train on Millennium Force, but it seemed to be stopped midway up the lift Hill. . I watched for a moment to make sure it wasn’t moving, and when it didn’t, it cemented my plan to not rush for early entry. Besides, we had FastLane + today again.

 

When I flipped on the bathroom light to brush my teeth, I was shocked to see how bad of a bruise had formed on my right thigh. It hadn’t looked anything like that the prior night. . so it came up really quickly after 36 hours (since I hadn’t banged on anything while riding the prior evening). The bruise wasn’t really hurting, but was extremely tender if I applied pressure. I debated popping a pill and going back to bed. .but since I was moving pretty well from having been off it all night I decided to proceed with my morning plans. But first I took some pics of it (and when I showed it to some of the folks from the prior night who had tried to get me to ride Steel Vengeance during ERT, at least one of them said “ok. .you get a pass for not riding last night”).

 

So I got dressed, pocketed a Tramadol to take with food, and headed down to the Perkins in the Hotel Breakers lobby for a wonderful breakfast - that included a reasonably priced Southwestern Omelet with a side of really good (for not-in-the-South) Biscuits and Gravy. And coffee. . lots of cups of coffee.

 

We didn’t have a food voucher today, but we did have a catered dinner (as well as an all day drink wristband), so my plan was to take my time eating, and really stuff myself – seriously, the Perkins on site is a great deal. Large qty of food, and priced basically the same as one you’d find on the side of the Freeway.

 

I did start getting IMs from some of the group I was hanging out with about how much they were enjoying the early entry, so I posted back that I was enjoying my ERT at a booth in Perkins. LOL Since I was alone, and service was pretty fast, I was still done and headed towards the resort entry into park just before 10am park opening. . tho not before stopping for a pic with Lucy and Snoopy, who were in the Breakers Lobby posing for pictures.

 

I exchanged my ticket and FastLane+ at the resort entry, and since was still doing ok bending my leg, headed to Witches’ Wheel – which CP had just announced the day before would be closing forever at the end of August. I love Enterprises, and was very happy I was able to get a great ride on it (I think on the first cycle of the day, possibly), before it’s gone.

 

I heard from others that later that day, the ride was “surrounded by vomit”. . LOL. . so I’d say that folks who don’t typically ride it went ahead and hopped on it for a final ride. Luckily, I didn’t witness any of that during my ride, but I’d say that’s a fitting eulogy for an Enterprise.

 

After getting my ride, I headed down the midway, stopping to take some pics of Valravn and Iron Dragon cycling, from the nice location near Corkscrew (tho funny, I didn’t bother to take a single picture of Corkscrew over the midway this trip!).

 

To save as much walking as I could, I hopped on the Skyride, and took it towards the front of the park, snapping pictures along the way. Now that I think about it, is it odd they let me ride it solo? I know parks have rules about the Ferris wheel “No Solo Riders”. .but I just hopped on the Skyride with no issues. Just something I thought about while typing.

 

after exiting, and a quick backtrack up the midway to grab a ride on Cedar Downs (of course), it was time to check another ride off my “missed last time” list. . and this one was a biggie: the Midway Carousel

 

I had missed it on my prior visit, because even tho we were there for 3 days that trip, we only came in thru the front gate once – during the early entry for CoasterMania. And had just never made it back to that far near the front gates. So I just had TOTALLY missed it, which is so strange for a Carousel fan like myself. But now was my chance to remedy that.

 

The Midway Carousel is the oldest ride operating at Cedar Point, and per the sign in front of it: it was built in 1912 by Daniel Muller, and is one of the few remaining Daniel Muller Carousels in the world. It moved to Cedar Point 1946, and is made up of 60 intricately carved horses, and 4 chariots. It’s a 4-across, with the interior 3 rows of horses galloping. In the center is a spectacular Wurltizer #153 organ and really is just beautiful.

 

I actually waited in a line to ride this beauty, and it took 2 cycles for me to get onto it. While I was waiting, Phil texted me asking if I wanted to meet them over at Melt! for lunch. I told him I had actually eaten a pretty big breakfast not too long before, but sure, I’d come meet them after my ride.

 

So headed over to Melt! and found James, Phil, and Kody (along with another table full of TPR folks sitting nearby), and joined them to marvel at the simply HUGE sandwiches that Melt! serves. They were so big, I believe that Phil took ½ of his back to Breakers to put in the mini-fridge for the next day. It was a nice break to sit and talk to the guys, and tho I didn’t eat (only drank water), I enjoyed the conversation and hanging out with them in the A/C.

 

When Phil headed back to his room with the leftovers, I declined joining the guys – who I think were headed over to Raptor – and instead headed over to yet another ride from my “missed last time” checklist. Yet another Carousel, that was right around the corner.

 

 Cedar Point actually has 3 “Carousels”. . if you wish to classify Cedar Downs Racing Derby as one -- which I tend not to do, since it’s open air in the center and is more of a “thrill ride”. (FYI: Cedar Downs – was built in 1920, and is one of only (I believe) 2 still operating in North America)

 

But all 3 are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

the 3rd Carousel at CP is surprisingly, not too far from the Midway Carousel, over in Kiddie Kingdom area (tho honestly, I’m not really sure why, it’s not too much smaller than the Midway Carousel), and is called “shockingly” the Kiddie Kingdom Carousel.

 

The Kiddie Kingdom Carousel, was made in 1921 by the Dentzel Carousel Company – tho it didn’t come to Cedar Point until the late 60’s. It’s a 3 across, with the two interior rows galloping, and a static outside ring of horses/chariots.

Like the Midway Carousel, it too is a classic that’s filled with wooden carved figures. *unlike* the Midway Carousel, the KKC, doesn’t contain only horses, but rather a wide variety of animals one can ride.

 

I rode an Ostrich : )

 

I don’t recall an organ on this Carousel, but I do remember there was some spectacular music played during my ride.

 

As I had decided to take it easy, after checking off the Carousels from my list (and taking another spin on Windseeker – which operated all 3 days we were there, and I rode several times across all 3 days. . wish the cycle was longer, but whattaya gonna do?), I headed into the Arcade, to play some pinball.

Many of the classic games were broken, but 1 or two were working, including the “largest pinball game ever made”: Atari’s “Hercules” – which had a few free credits on it. So of course I played! And had a nice conversation with one of the techs who came by while I was playing to try to fix one of the broken games. He even took a pic of me playing, so I could send home to show how much fun I was having. Cause, you know, I was.

 

And if you’ve been to Cedar Point, you know what’s right across the midway from the arcade, right? Yep, so after stopping to hug the Snoopy figure outside of Planet Snoopy, I took (yet another) spin on Cedar Downs. Hate me all you want, it’s my favorite flat. . and despite the issues I was having getting my leg over the horse, the operator still made me get off to walk around to get back in queue to get onto the next cycle. It was weird, because she held the next cycle for me to get off and walk around. .but, eh. . whatever. . rules. LOL

 

I was on the 2nd (3rd of the day) spin on Cedar Downs, when Phil, James, and Darryl shouted out to me (of course they found me at Cedar Downs. . . I had joked on the message boards, that if someone was looking for me check there). And I was glad to meet up with folks to hang with again. I think we may have gone and taken a spin on Valravn, and while in line (with FL+ of course), we saw Millennium Force cycling. By the time we got off of our ride, MF was sending out cars with riders.

 

So we headed right there – along, with almost everyone else in the front end of the park, it seemed. The switchbacks were full! I guess because it had been down for a couple of days, everyone got excited, but at least FL+ saved us quite a bit of time in this case as it was way past the merge. It was so full, I posted pics of the queue onto TPR. We saw several TPR folks in the queue with us, and as we got close to the station, even spotted Joe and Robb – in queue waiting for the back row (sorry, Front Row lovers, MF is a back car coaster for me!). I ended up being in the ride behind them, so got a good pic of them in the train before it pulled out.

 

MF was just as great as I remember it being, and remain so happy that it opened up during our visit – I was able to get 4 rides on it overall, and loved every one of them.

And because John was in the group of TPR folks there, he was able to get everyone’s MF pics.. so the pic I have below is thanks to him (thanks John!).

 

I think it was around 3, or close to it by the time we got off MF, and we had the catered pizza/pasta dinner at 5. Since my leg had started to throb a bit, I decided to head back to the hotel to soak in the hot tub again for a while.

 

James liked the idea, so he and I headed back to Breakers, changed into swimwear, and headed down to the “good” hot tubs to enjoy the soak, chat, and people watch. During the conversation, it came up that James had been carrying with him (for years, LOL), an emergency medical kit which happened to have in it a bandage for wrapping an ankle/wrist, etc. . and he offered it to me, but couldn’t guarantee it would still be usable. I took him up on it and he dug it out for me when we went back to the rooms to change for dinner. It was perfectly usable still (still very elastic-y). . thanks again for that James!

 

So I wrapped up my thigh in the bandage, and we headed up the boardwalk to the dinner.

 

Tho the dinner was nothing particularly memorable - standard pizza and pasta & salads, if I recall - it was cool to have most all of the TPR folks on the trip together for a meal, to get updates, catch up with others I hadn’t seen, and get updates on info needed. We also got the update for the current T-shirt count from Jared’s “merch madness” contest (where those who wanted to, had placed bets on how many T-shirts he would purchase on the trip. I WAY underestimated him, and he blew by my guess by the 3rd park of the trip. . .i know better for next time!).

 

In talking to Laura during dinner she reminded me that she was planning on going to the Carousel Museum in downtown Sandusky the next day, and asked if I’d want to go with. I really, really wanted to go, but said I’d have to play it by ear and see how I was moving the next day.

 

I left dinner with James, Darryl and Phil, and I believe we hopped on Windseeker (it’s right there by where we ate), and witnessed a drunk (I think?), VERY energetic and flamboyant guy, in spandex shorts, sashaying up and down screaming encouragement (?) to the riders, and dancing along the ride perimeter. The operators were ignoring him, and/or laughing at him.. tho to me he was ruining the experience for those riding. And he was still hovering around that area of the park the next day too. . . it was . . . “odd”. He must be a regular there, or well known to be harmless there?

 

I found him to be a welcome distraction (didn’t hurt that we were sitting on the side next to the queue/lake, so he wasn’t yelling near us), from the pain I was getting from my legs dangling. . since the evening meds hadn’t kicked in yet. If I rode with my right leg not bent – ie: sticking out supported by my left leg underneath, I was able to tolerate it much better. But yeah, it was “odd”

 

The guys wanted to ride Wicked Twister after that..and I knew the launch would kill me, so I sat and chatted with some folks about Tiki Twirl while waiting for them to get off.

 

And then it was time for Troika Troika Troika! Oh, it wasn’t graceful getting in, but hell yes, I was gonna ride this classic, and we got a good cycle on it. I think we also got a spin on Gatekeeper while over here, and then the guys wanted to get on MaxAir, which is another one I knew there was no way I could get on with my injury. So I sat and took some pics – MaxAir really is very photographic – while they rode, and then I think maybe headed over to Cedar Downs, and possibly Blue Streak (which I was afraid to ride, so again waited for them, but after looking at the restraints, I DID get on it the next day and had a good ride in the front seat).

 

We walked up Frontier Trail, with my intention of going into the Frontierland Museum, riding the Cedar Creek Mine Train, and getting my last “missed last time” ride off my queue – Cedar Point’s 19th “coaster” Pipe Scream (hey, it counts it on the Coasteermania! 2017 shirt). Stopping to get some pics of Maverick in the early evening light.

 

Maverick had been down for most of the afternoon (apparently. . I hadn’t made it to the back end of the park on this day until now). And I think MF had gone back down. . .so Maverick was pulling a healthy line.

 

Even the Fast Lane + line for Maverick looked to be at least 40 minutes, but when we got to Cedar Creek Mine Train, it was down, so we decided why the hell not? We wanted to ride Maverick and just got into the Fast Lane + line.

 

Rule of thumb for FL+, is if the line is longer than 20 or so minutes, go ride something else and try again later -- as it’s silly to wait in a line that long when one has FL+ and could be actually riding something! I even joked that if anyone from the trip saw us waiting in this line, they’d be making fun of us. And right as I said it, another group of folks from the trip got right behind us in line : p. . . . so we all did something silly and waited together. LOL a silly decision is always better when you aren’t the only one doing it.

 

Shockingly, Maverick did not break down even once while we waited, but as it got more into dusk the bugs really came out.

I note this because I think we sat in the front row, and I spent the good chunk of the ride spitting dead bugs out of my mouth.

 

the restraints on Maverick really did not bother me, as the shoulder are where the restraints hit during the airtime, not on the upper thigh.. but after getting in and out of the train, I needed a short break back at the hotel to rest. So I decided I would hold off on the Museum and Pipe Scream until the next day, as I wanted to get back to the hotel for a bit. It had come up in discussion during the day, that I really should be Icing my thigh. . . and I wanted to elevate my leg a bit, and ice it before tonight’s ERT – again on Steel Vengeance.

 

So I headed back to Hotel Breakers (it really is worth EVERY penny to stay on site, as it’s so easy to back and forth to the hotel room). Added bonus to going back to the room? Charlie Brown was out hanging around Hotel Breakers front doors, so I got another character pic.

 

After relaxing for a bit, and icing, I re-wrapped my thigh as tightly as I could and was ready to try – possibly - to get a ride in on Steel Vengeance (I may have fallen asleep briefly with the bag of ice on my leg actually, but I know I was back up and headed over to Steel Vengeance for ERT by 10:15 pm).

 

I was very wary about it, but wanted to try at least. Chance kindly offered that he would ride with me, in a center row (which he said had the smoothest ride), and he would tell me when I should brace against upcoming ejector air. So that certainly tilted me towards gritting my teeth and giving it a shot.

 

It’s actually good that I hadn’t realized at the time the severity of the Quad injury, or I certainly wouldn’t have even entertained trying. . but everyone was right that I had to ride at least once, since I was there and it is the new hotness there. So once we got the all clear, everyone headed up the steps to the station, and I observed for about 20 minutes or so, cheering on the group as I had done the night before.

 

Then I started getting asked if I was gonna ride, and there were some encouraging calls. So I asked Chase if he’d really ride with me, and we got into a mid train row, and then we headed out of the station. I was greatly appreciative of the two “ski-pole” hand grips that have been added to the trains. Yes, they are in an awkward place, and if both riders in a row want to use them it’s a bit “cozy”. . but Chase was hands up, so no issue there for me. Do I wish they were a bit easier to hang onto? Yeah, but as said, I was greatly appreciative there was an option there to hang on to.

 

The ascent up the lift hill, with the hanging lanterns is brilliant, and at night the drop over the 1st hill into darkness? Freaking fantastic.

As is the first outward bank turn (2nd hill), with that intense sustained airtime.

 

Chase warned me the 1st extreme ejector air was coming, and I braced myself.. still hurt, but not terrible, and we zoomed thru the 1st barrel roll. Was still loving the ride as we kept intense speed into thru the inside of the course, when he advised to really brace, as there is major ejector air heading into the Mid Course Brakes.

 

Wow.. yeah, that one hurt.. . pops you up hard out of your seat into the restraints. Didn’t have much time to fret about it, as I didn’t notice the MCB slowing us down much at all, as we continued on thru the remainder of the course (that 4th barrel roll, buried deep inside the structure? *loved* it. So many wave turns inside, and passing so fast, it takes your breath away.

 

then I was warned that we were coming up on the final run of bunny hops. Yeah. . those were pretty painful even braced for them as much as I was. But I joined the rest of the train applauding as we got back into the station.

 

Stepping out of the train, my legs felt like jelly. . and it actually took me a good 10-15 minutes to recover from that – but note: that was NOT due to my injury. . . that was totally due to the intensity of the ride. I wasn’t the only one affected that way either, a few others joined me on the exit ramp area to get their “land-legs” back.

 

I knew enough not to tempt fate with my injury and ride again, but I was very proud of myself for getting on it to ride it while there. .and really appreciated the enthusiasm from the others to get me adrenalized enough to get on (and again, appreciate Chance “play by play”ing me thru our ride. LOL

 

I absolutely will ride it again next time I’m in the park, I liked it a lot, but man is it intense. A- ride for me (losing just a bit of points for that ejector air into the MCB.

 

So I enjoyed watching folks ride it thru the rest of the ERT – I only saw a couple of people attempt every ride – it’s so intense that Mgmt asked people to get off between rides and go down the exit stairs, cut under the track, and back up the other side. .so no real “marathoning”. . .but most folks took a train or two break between rides that I saw.

 

I stayed and posed in the group shot at the end of the night – I rode it, damn right I was gonna be in this pic : ) And then day 2 at CP was over, and we all made our way back to the hotel (again, close to 1am) to get ready for the last full day of the TPR USA trip.

Enjoying my ERT at a booth in Perkins

 

(tho for some reason, didn't take a picture of the food)

Lucy and Snoopy!

ah. . lovely, hate that it's gone

but I got a ride on it!

see? the operator even took a pic for me.

Valravn doing it's thing

I like this pic, even if Valravn isn't quite at the drop yet

on the skyride. . which reminds me, I actually did hop on the Matterhorn behind me before getting on the skyride (since my leg was still pretty bendable 1st thing in the morning).

pics from the skyride

Raptor doing it's thing

on the steps exiting skyride. Cedar Downs is over there on the left

the Midway Carousel. it's on the National Historic Register

and, as always, being on a Carousel, is my happy place

the operator saw me taking a selfie, and asked if I wanted to a full picture. .so of course, I said yes.

then over to Melt to meet the guys -- this is Phil's "snack"

and James' small lunch

and Kody's

 

It's a lot of food, but it all looked great, and smelled fantastic. (I was just still full from breakfast)

 

It was weird the place wasn't packed tho.. it was sorta early, but still lunch time.

after eating, it was time to go to the Kiddie Kingdom Carousel!

once again, selfie by me. . .

full pic by . . actually, wasn't the operator, think it was just a nice person on the animals in front of me (since the operator is walking by behind me).

 

and Laura asked me, but no, nothing against Ostriches. . . LOL. . just was posing with my hands around it's throat.

then it was into the arcade, where I found a working Hercules machine

and had a nice conversation with a games tech - who had been trying to get the pinball machine near me working. But took this pic for me to send home.

after playing some pinball, it was time to ride Cedar Downs (again). . but first? hugging Snoopy.

 

no, like with the Ostrich, I'm not sure exactly WHY I grabbed Snoopy's schnozz, instead of putting my arm around him. LOL

Cedar Downs! (and yes, it does move fast enough that I turn my hat so it doesn't blow off)

I didn't win my race this time

Holy Crap~ look at this FL+ line at Millennium Force

thru several switchbacks! You can tell it had been down and lots of folks wanted to ride it.

including us! (me, Phil, Darryl, James)

but the passengers are coming back happy! and it's operating steadily.

hey! it's Joe and Robb. . . waiting for back row

and I ended up right next to them in the line. . not sure why many folks prefer the front, MF is a back car coaster for me. . and as you can tell from the angle, my preferred seat is 2nd to last row, Bay side.

 

Thanks to Liz (TBPony) for turning me on to that magic seat

and thanks to John for grabbing all the ride pics for us!

after dinner, it was time for Troika Troika Troika

 

(and no, I'm not sure why I didn't take a pic of the sign)

we each got our own car, on different arms. .too far away to high five, but could wave at each other when passing by

Wicked Twister from Troika Troika Troika

MaxAir really photographs well. I didn't ride, but took pics of it.

swings so high

the guys on MaxAir

possibly my favorite pic from this day: MaxAir swinging, Raptor hitting the loop, around a centered skyride car, and Blue Streak heading up the lift hill.

early evening shot of Maverick's water cannons. . which you don't notice while on the ride, since you zoom by them so fast.

since Cedar Creek Mine Ride was down, we decided to just get in line to wait for Maverick. This is from FL+ line, on the stairs. . but look at that standby line!

 

Shockingly, it didn't go down for issues even once while we were in the line.

Headed back to Hotel Breakers to ice my leg, and found Charlie Brown!

End of night picture on the Steel Vengeance Station after ERT.

I rode it. only once, but I rode it!

 

Pic courtesy of Robb Alvey

absolutely lovely evening Steel Vengeance pic, I think from Brad Roach

 

(someone please correct me if I'm mis-crediting)

 

(Hi Chuck!)

Edited October 1, 2018 by bert425

[Philrad71]

I could only imagine that thigh after hitting the bunny hops at the end of SV.

 

Glad that you got to ride it tho!

[bert425]

I could only imagine that thigh after hitting the bunny hops at the end of SV.

 

Glad that you got to ride it tho!

 

 

I had Chase to give me warning to brace as much as possible

 

(but yeah, wasn't . . ."pleasant"). Think it's a great ride, and look forwards to riding again when not going into it injured.

[PKI Jizzman]

I would have thought the vivid description of your leg would be enough but there it is again. That's just unnecessary

[bert425]

I would have thought the vivid description of your leg would be enough but there it is again. That's just unnecessary

 

that's actually the only pic I have of the quad injury (and the only time I posted it). . the other pics were just random bruises from the other coasters.

 

I can remove it, if it's making folks uncomfortable ?

 

trying to give the full experience, and tho yes, i was injured, dind't complain about it - just did what I needed to do, and enjoyed myself.

 

EDIT: removed the picture.

 

not sure when I'll finish the TR. .but I guess folks can feel free to skip it, or just look at the pictures, since yeah, I'll be talking about how things swelled up and it impacted the final day for me.

[PKI Jizzman]

I'm sure if people wanted to see the pictures after reading/hearing about it they'd ask. It was gross when you showed it off while we were eating lunch and it's still gross. Focus on the other parts of the trip! You do such a good job writing about it that the picture isn't necessary, but hey it's your report.

[bert425]

I'm sure if people wanted to see the pictures after reading/hearing about it they'd ask. It was gross when you showed it off while we were eating lunch and it's still gross. Focus on the other parts of the trip! You do such a good job writing about it that the picture isn't necessary, but hey it's your report.

 

fair enough - tho some people actually have asked me if I had a picture of the injury (so I included the picture since I only showed it to some that were on the trip with us on the last 2 days).

 

Zach : I do wish you had said something to me at the time I showed the pic on my phone to you (in the BBQ place right?), as I would have apologized immediately, since i didn't even consider someone might find a bruise "gross" and that's totally on me.

and if you *did* say something, and I didn't immediately do so? Then that's also on me, as I simply didn't realize.

 

So I will apologize for that now, and i am sorry if I offended or showed you something you feel was not appropriate.

 

I appreciate the comment on the writing, I really do enjoy reliving the trip while writing up my reports.

 

best,

bert

[RCjunkie]

. . .not sure why many folks prefer the front, MF is a back car coaster for me. ..

 

Just by looking at pictures of you I could tell you were smarter than most people.

[Nrthwnd]

...I really do enjoy reliving the trip while writing up my reports.

 

I love it that you can really remember so much more, than I ever could, of our trip, Bert!

Cedar Point last year went by really fast for me. And I don't do short, long-distance trips,

as often as I used to, in earlier, younger years.

 

But once you posted, I immediately remembered the incident, episode..."thing that happened'.

 

 

Here's our trip to CP in 2017. http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=74913

[Canobie Coaster]

Fantastic report!

 

The flood of people into the Millennium Force line sounds exactly like what happened in my trip in late August. The ride had also been down for a few days and when it reopened in the last hour of the day, everyone went there. Even Steel Vengeance was a walk-on!

 

And I'm definitely team front row on Millennium Force. I'll wait the extra 20 minutes.

[bert425]

. . .not sure why many folks prefer the front, MF is a back car coaster for me. ..

 

Just by looking at pictures of you I could tell you were smarter than most people.

 

YEAH!

 

Fantastic report!

 

The flood of people into the Millennium Force line sounds exactly like what happened in my trip in late August. The ride had also been down for a few days and when it reopened in the last hour of the day, everyone went there. Even Steel Vengeance was a walk-on!

 

And I'm definitely team front row on Millennium Force. I'll wait the extra 20 minutes.

 

thanks!

 

and you front row people are nuts. . . oh, it's a good ride in the front, but it's GREAT in the back. I think I rode only in the back on my rides this trip.

 

I love it that you can really remember so much more, than I ever could, of our trip, Bert!

Cedar Point last year went by really fast for me. And I don't do short, long-distance trips,

as often as I used to, in earlier, younger years.

 

as I noted earlier, I look at my pictures before I start typing, and that usually triggers my memory. Doesn't hurt that i tend to have a really good memory regardless (not photographic of course, but very good.. it's why I'm so good at my job in the tech industry, cause I can remember all the planned processing and can reschedule things very quickly).

 

but yeah, looking at the pics, helps me remember. I get into lapses, when I don't have pictures - such as the 1st food stop at HersheyPark, which I only remembered when James reminded me where we stopped - then the whole lunch came back to me.

 

 

 

Still need someone (Coasterbill)? to advise on if I got lucky they let me on Skyride alone? or if it's typically ok at CP?

I'm still wondering about that

[scottiemon]

I have really been enjoying this trip log. I followed your Coastermania last year too. You do a great job! I so wish I could have went on this trip.

[bert425]

I have really been enjoying this trip log. I followed your Coastermania last year too. You do a great job!

 

thanks, appreciate it. hope to finish it up this weekend, and then I have SFOT and SFFT to work on. . . .!

 

(I"ll likely just add those to my last Fiesta report, and just keep a "Texas Six Flags" thread, similar to how others do trip report threads, as I mainly go to the Texas parks).