First Time at Cedar Point Impressions

After months of meticulously planning my maiden voyage to CP, I arrived in Cleveland on Friday morning, Aug. 29 with some trepidation. After all I had been told about the bottleneck traffic on the causeway, the 2 hour waiting lines, the unpredictable weather - I was told to expect both the best and worst days of my life! As we checked into the Residence Inn at Westlake I cursed myself for using my two free night stay coupons. "We're 60 miles from the park and we'll be stuck in traffic," I thought to myself. "We should have stayed at the Breakers". Then off we went. The traffic was so light! Were we going the right way? Where's the bottleneck? Still, the sky was awfully cloudy and it looked like the doomsayers might still have their way with me.

Photo courtesy of Julie's Coaster Pictures!

It was 10:30 a.m. as we entered the causeway. "I wonder what we'll be able to see of the park?" I said to my friend. No more than 10 seconds had passed when I got my answer: "Oh my God, EVERYTHING!!!" We squealed with delight as we came upon the sight of all those coasters towering before us. It had only taken us 50 minutes to get here from our hotel. Not bad at all, I thought!

We decided to go against the advice of our respected RRCers and ride the Raptor first. After all, what if it rains and they have to shut everything down? The wind in Las Vegas shut down the coasters for hours when we were there. It could rain for days here! We want to at least TRY to ride it once! And even if the treacherous sky should clear, we could be trampled on by the heaving masses rushing to get back in the 2 hour line! Why, there could be millions of them! So no sooner had we stepped 10 ft. inside the park than we made a mad dash for the Raptor line. Wow, what a pretty park, this line doesn't look so bad. Well, maybe they have a slow loading crew.

Photo courtesy of Julie's Coaster Pictures!

So we waited, and waited, and waited...... 25 minutes. Okay then, an extra 10 for the front seat. Jeez, what's going on here? I've waited longer in the on ramp trying to get to work! This is NO BIG DEAL! Well, the Raptor is just awesome. We screamed our bloody heads off and loved every (two) minute(s) of it. Neither of us had experienced the thrill of an inverted before and it will be a memory I shall never forget. All of the critics who say this ride bores them and that ride is nothing special..... they should never ride another roller coaster again. May I never get so smug in my "enthusiasm" that I forget to be thrilled.

Photo courtesy of Julie's Coaster Pictures!

Next we went to Mantis, but first a look around at the immaculate grounds and spacious landscaping. This park is absolutely huge! And what a nice wide promenade to walk down. Wow, Mantis looks kind of scary. And what is that roar? My God, do they do that on purpose? B&M certainly enjoys making a statement, don't they? Okay, nice touch with the music video box, country music notwithstanding. Now this line looks longer than Raptor's, we're gonna be here for......20 minutes. We'd never ridden a stand up before either and I must say, after straddling that "seat" and knowing full well what was ahead of me I feared for the General and his army!

Again we opted for the front seat and again we were rewarded with a not-soon-forgotten experience. I screamed like a girl - not, it turns out, because of some "army" rebellion, but because it felt great to just let it all out and roar! The Mantis WAS a little bit of a head banger, though. I really think those ear pads do more harm than good. I figure it's gonna take a few times to learn how to ride this mutha. But just like Aahnold says, Ah'll be back.

We decide to backtrack a bit and ride the Blue Streak. This coaster is fast and fun. But I come equipped with the knowledge that this classic's cars have been updated and it takes some of the pleasure out of the ride. The Wildcat is close by so we take the car for a spin. The couple in the backseat are pretty cool so me and the guy spontaneously start screaming through the entire ride while the women slump down in their seats as far as they can. Ah, vacation! Well, after that much fun it was only fitting that we experienced the one true disappointment of our trip. The Iron Dragon, a/k/a Draggin Iron. I'm a pretty nice guy, though, so nuff said.

Photo courtesy of Julie's Coaster Pictures!

A walk through Frontier Trail is next. Wow, what a quiet part of the park! I feel like I'm in Branson, Mo. Some of the storefronts are empty or closed though, including my planned BBQ stop. This is kind of a sad little area, the only part of the park that doesn't thump it's chest with a "we're the biggest and best" attitude. And unfortunately it's quite a long trail so I have a long time to pout over no BBQ in the park. Oh well, as long as they have a good snow cone stand. God, this is like a death march.

Frontiertown is pretty nice, actually. A breath of fresh air after emerging from the poverty stricken trail. We stop for some french fries and I'm just about fully recovered when I spot the one ride that never fails to send fear throughout my entire body: the antique cars. I always tell Susan I'm going to climb in the back seat and scream my head off out the back window while she's navigating that treacherous track. Needless to say we make a quick exit from Frontiertown. I'm shaking like a leaf.

Photo courtesy of Julie's Coaster Pictures!

We reach the back of the park and Mean Streak. This thing looks absolutely awesome! And it's got a nice mean roar, too. But the walk through is even more frightening. It's like a mugger's paradise when you walk under that thing! Don't look around, just keep walking. Finally I exhale when we reach the steps to the loading station. There's a rusty mounted TV monitor that now apparently serves as target practice for people with chewing gum and good oral skills. Up on the loading platform, I see a crew member cleaning up a nasty looking accident. Green train. Fitting, but not a good sign.

We board the Red Train, taking the back seat. We hit the first drop and the screaming starts. I'm waiting for that infamous brake to take hold but I can't feel it. That's probably because I'm being thrown around like Robert Shaw in Jaws. I'm grateful blood isn't spewing from my mouth, but the rest of my body feels like it's being put through the garbage disposal. This is not a fun ride, it's a challenge to get through it. I'm reminded of my first-ever ride on a roller-coaster (can you guess which one?), looking back and seeing my poor mother with her glasses all askew, clinging to my little sister, screaming "Hang on, Dee Dee, hang on!" Where is the air time? Where's the magic carpet ride? As we exit the ride I have that same determination that I had at SFOT when I was a little kid - I'm gonna lick this ride and I'm gonna love it! I rub my neck and vow to come back.

We stumble into the Gemini. Two trains, no waiting. I've never ridden a racing coaster before and have no idea what protocol is involved. Do we yell at each other, is it face-making time? As we round the lift hill I get my first taste of the ritual hand slapping. Oh!!! This is fun!!! And the hill is long too, this looks like a pretty good.....wait a minute, this track is steel! Doggone it, why do they do this? Oh well, enjoy the ride. And did I ever. The Gemini is absolute pure family fun. It's fast, long, steep, and has a great upward spiral at the end. But the one thing that really surprised me was how smooth and quiet it was. If you can apply the word "charming" to describe a coaster, this is it. A pure delight.

Photo courtesy of Julie's Coaster Pictures!

Photo courtesy of Joyrides

Finally, we're here. Dum da dum dum. Magnum (say the word slowly) XL-200. What an incredible looking monster. I see the cars have no OTS or head restraints, so I'm assured of a good view. The wait sign is posted and it says 30 minutes. Hey, they have a live DJ here! Oh my God!! What a great idea! I'll tell you what, this place rocks. I've been continuously blown away almost the entire day. The park is clean, beautiful, the employees are extremely courteous and efficient, the landscape is wonderful and the rides are great.

And now we have Big Brad the DJ playing.... oh no, don't play that.... oh, come on, things were going so well.... no, Susan, I'm not going to do it..... oh, okay.. it's fun to stay at the...

We board the last car and we're off. My God, the view. My God, the lake looks so pretty. My Gaaaaaahh!!!!!!! We get whipped down the first hill, second hill, tunnel, up and whoa!! falling out the side, oh my God, what a bank! Heading back, and UPsidaisy, out of my seat, UUP we go again... and UUUP one more time, through the mist. Wow, great air time, really throws you out of your seat! The ride ends and almost everyone in the train is applauding. I must say this beats Wild Thing, and every other hyper (call me a labeler) hands down. Ties with Raptor for best steel coaster I've been on.

Well, we rode the Corkscrew and Disaster Transport after that, along with Chaos and the Log Flume. I liked Disaster Transport, I thought it was kitschy! All it really needs is a good drop, camp it up some more and you've got a funny, scary roller-coaster! And the Log Flume was easily the best I've been on. The front literally lifts off the water after the final drop and you skim the top for a good 50 feet or so.

Well, we rode every coaster plus 2 other rides and it's..... 5:00. Three hours to spare. I was led to expect maybe 4-6 rides the entire day. Saturday was certainly more crowded, but we never waited longer than an hour. Big Brad moved to the Raptor on Saturday night and he is an amazing DJ. He even surprised a woman waiting in the queue with a proposal from her boyfriend. It was an amazing scene. The fireworks went off while we were in the Raptor line and that finale tops anything I've ever seen. It must have lasted 5 full minutes of continuous bombs and explosions. The crowd cheered through the whole thing.

I left Cedar Point completely awestruck. Well, not COMPLETELY. How a traditional amusement park can not have one lousy snow cone stand is beyond me. And where are all the XXL shirts? Haven't they heard baggy is in? But those not-so-minor quibbles aside, I had an absolutely wonderful time. And all of the naysayers with their predictions of doom were wrong, none of what they said came true. Cedar Point brought out the little boy in me, and I think that's all a really great amusement park can do.