Antinos
Slut for Spinners
I haven't posted a trip report in years. I've thought for quite a while that there's little value or interest in trip reports unless you're Gavin and you're going to some exotic, unknown park. Nevertheless, I felt that there's actually quite a bit to share with my recent trip to Cedar Point, so here are my thoughts and insights. I've also included some random photos so you guys may possibly have some interest in this report (I also recently bought a new phone so this was my first real opportunity to try out the camera's panorama and HDR settings).
Weather - We got lucky with weather. Forecasts predicted 50% chances of rain both days. Fortunately it only sprinkled for a bit on Saturday morning. It was mostly cloudy for the rest of the weekend and quite comfortable to be honest.
Lodging - This past weekend was my first time staying at Lighthouse Point and in future trips, I will try to stay here before I try and stay at Sandcastle Suites or Hotel Breakers again. The cabins are pretty much fancy trailer homes, but they're cozy. Most of them provide a nice view of Lake Erie and have a porch for relaxing. Ours could sleep six, but they do have cabins that can sleep ten. If anybody has a group that can be accommodated in these cabins, it'll save some dough in the long run.
Park Operations - Wicked Twister finally had its train on the track and started cycling. Millennium Force finally had its third train put on the maintenance track early Sunday morning. Skyhawk had cherry pickers hoisting workers to inspect or repair something near the top of the structure. Numerous other rides still had a train in the maintenance shed awaiting preseason cycling. Preparing a park to open for the season is challenging, but with Rougarou, Breakers, picnic pavilions, Maverick's and Millennium Force's trains, moving rides, and demoing the theater, it appears that the park was drowning in preseason work.
Storage bins on Magnum and Rougarou have been removed and I'm calling it a greedy move. I understand that Millennium Force's and Top Thrill Dragster's station designs don't allow for storage bins and thus lockers are required, but not having bins on Magnum, Rougarou, and Gatekeeper is just a way for the park to grab more money and ultimately causes much more frustration than there should be. The frustration starts before entering in line when one has to navigate the crowd of morons who don't understand the attendant telling them that they need to put their bag in the locker and so they just stand there trying to figure out how deep their head is up their asses. On the station platform, there are way too many people that need to figure out a way to secure a loose article or two prior to riding. This lack of preparation on the guests' part causes delays on what should be a simple task and stacked trains. There's zero reason why rides like Rougarou and Gatekeeper should experience any stacking and the fact that Magnum is stacking for any reason should be cause for concern. I sincerely hope that Cedar Point can return the bins to Rougarou and Magnum and add bins (or Skyrush style carousels) to Gatekeeper. Maverick's and Raptor's bins are still there, but I anticipate that they will become a thing of the past soon enough. It'll be a damn shame if Cedar Point is forced to go the Universal route due to their own greed and rider stupidity. If anybody from Cedar Point happens to be reading - please make it simple for the moronic basic bros and bitches who can't live without their drawstring bags, snapbacks, bro shades, and basketballs and put the bins back.
One good thing to say about park operations is that the FunTV (although not new) is a hit. The music videos shown feature really good music - I heard Led Zeppelin, Alabama Shakes, Pvris, and Cage the Elephant multiple times in addition to plenty of the usual top 20 pop songs. Everyone is also quite interested in the shuffle game, which is similar to what is played at a sporting event.
Beer! - I do not think that the Tavern on Frontier Trail is new for this season, but Cedar Point opened a tavern on Frontier Trail which sells craft beer! It is a bit pricey, but I found it a nice way to relax between rides. I had an Illusive Traveler Grape fruit, one of my comrades had a Curious Traveler Shandy, and our third member of our party had a Commodore IPA. All three beers were delicious. Cedar Point is also exclusively selling a beer called RougaBREW - it's brewed by a local Northeast Ohio brewery. It's not bad on tap, but I didn't think it was anything more than a glorified Labatt Blue or Budweiser. The park has also been advertising a soft drink called RougaCOOL which one can mix at a Coke freestyle machine - it's a combo of strawberry and peach pops.
It may simply be that I am noticing the beer because this was my first trip to the park where everyone in the party was over 21, but it seems like the park is selling more alcoholic beverages than in the past. I do not see an issue with this at all.
Maverick - The new restraints make for quite a comfortable ride. I didn't even need to brace myself in each transition - if my neck did hit one of the shoulder straps, the impact was unnoticeable. The restraints don't dig into ones shoulders during moments of airtime like the old ones did.
Millennium Force - Maverick isn't the only ride whose trains have undergone a facelift. Millennium Force's trains are sporting noticeably different body panels, a fresh coat of paint, and possibly new lap bars. Unfortunately, the ride still has a slight vibration from age, but the attention and maintenance to the park's flagship ride is clearly improving the ride experience. I am adamant that the ride is aging like a bottle of fine wine. Millie seems faster than ever and actually has decent airtime over the hills, which is something it never used to have. I am glad that the park is doing so much to maintain the ride - the ride is no longer in my top ten and the haters may call the ride forceless, but that doesn't change the fact that the ride is iconic, changed the game in the industry, and still pulls a two hour wait in its fifteenth season.
Rougarou - I know that this is the only reason why you're probably reading this, but that's exactly why I put it at the end. If that pisses you off...suck it
First, the ride looks great. I liked Mantis' three tone paint scheme, but the two tone brings it down a notch and allows the ride to blend it to its area. The bright train colors catch your eye as it operates, even from half way across the park. They did add some misters along the lagoon next to the drop and loop which provide a cool fog effect if you stretch your imagination. Surely these misters are from Shoot the Rapids, which were from Maverick, and they'll be disabled by June.
After I got over my engineering boner for the drop floor (it's three integrated four bar linkages with one link in each being a pneumatic linear actuator. These actuators fire in three steps to provide the motion of the floor.), my first though of the ride was that it was bizarre to be sitting on a ride where I've stood since I was 54 inches tall. The ride is pretty fast and even though it isn't intense as hell like Mantis, the ride is still quite forceful. As expected, the ride is much more comfortable with the new trains - the transitions that toss riders from one side to the next provide some delicious floaties instead of neck bruising and headaches.
Protip: ride the ride at night AND in the front row. I've ridden Dominator, Kraken, and Scream in the front row before, but Rougarou at night provided another terrifying element, as the darkness and aliasing of the cross ties really throw off your depth perception. At night, red, orange, yellow, and purple lights highlight high profile elements, yet the back of the ride is pretty dark. I anticipate that on a hot summer night in mid July, the ride will be blisteringly fast and provide one hell of an experience.
Now for some bigger thoughts. We snagged five rides on Rougarou - four came in the final hour of operation on Saturday. I know that the park tends to start clearing out around six, but rides like Millennium Force, Maverick, Gatekeeper, and Top Thrill Dragster continue to have hour plus waits and operate well into the night after park close. This trend was not the case with Rougarou. I actually rode the ride three consecutive times without even leaving our seats - something I have never experienced at Cedar Point before. One of the reasons why the park revamped the ride was to increase ridership, but this experience hints that ridership won't be increased as much as desired. Was the refurb worth it (short answer is yes, as they addressed numerous other issues with Mantis)? Why aren't people queuing for such a good night ride like they do with the other big coasters? Do they not realize the ride's improved experience at night? Do they realize that Rougarou is Mantis with new trains? Do they just not like the ride? I guess only time will tell.
An even bigger thought...Mantis was intense as hell and although Rougarou is still intense, it only comes close to Mantis' intensity in the back row. If B&M had a floorless train design back in '96, would Rougarou with a floorless train from that year kick your ass like Mantis did? Also, how would a floorless train from '96 behave on a ride like Hair Raiser at Ocean Park? People are often quick to bash B&M's newer rides for being forceless (with the exception of Banshee) and everyone attributes it to the manufacturer losing its touch. I disagree - like any transportation manufacturer, the company is simply developing with more refinement and providing more comfort to their rides. One can argue that their curves and splines and elements aren't as extreme as they used to be, but B&M sure nailed their 0g roll over the past ten years (those who were around the site in 2010 probably remember all the Americans ejaculating over Patriot's 0g roll which left everyone feeling gooey inside and their pants sticky). The same idea goes with their rolling stock - all of their designs have been iterated over the past number of years to provide more comfort, safety, and increased life. Gone are the days where we feel every bump and vibration (I didn't mention that Rougarou is also quieter than Mantis). This ideology is also one of the reasons why magnetic brakes are so heavily used - in addition to being fail safe, they're comfortable and seamless. So next time you ride a brand new B&M, just remember that you could be riding the nearest incorrectly engineered Arrow looper.
So yeah...that's it. I had a pretty good time at Cedar Point this past weekend. Go ride Rougarou - it's fun.
Weather - We got lucky with weather. Forecasts predicted 50% chances of rain both days. Fortunately it only sprinkled for a bit on Saturday morning. It was mostly cloudy for the rest of the weekend and quite comfortable to be honest.
Lodging - This past weekend was my first time staying at Lighthouse Point and in future trips, I will try to stay here before I try and stay at Sandcastle Suites or Hotel Breakers again. The cabins are pretty much fancy trailer homes, but they're cozy. Most of them provide a nice view of Lake Erie and have a porch for relaxing. Ours could sleep six, but they do have cabins that can sleep ten. If anybody has a group that can be accommodated in these cabins, it'll save some dough in the long run.
Park Operations - Wicked Twister finally had its train on the track and started cycling. Millennium Force finally had its third train put on the maintenance track early Sunday morning. Skyhawk had cherry pickers hoisting workers to inspect or repair something near the top of the structure. Numerous other rides still had a train in the maintenance shed awaiting preseason cycling. Preparing a park to open for the season is challenging, but with Rougarou, Breakers, picnic pavilions, Maverick's and Millennium Force's trains, moving rides, and demoing the theater, it appears that the park was drowning in preseason work.
Storage bins on Magnum and Rougarou have been removed and I'm calling it a greedy move. I understand that Millennium Force's and Top Thrill Dragster's station designs don't allow for storage bins and thus lockers are required, but not having bins on Magnum, Rougarou, and Gatekeeper is just a way for the park to grab more money and ultimately causes much more frustration than there should be. The frustration starts before entering in line when one has to navigate the crowd of morons who don't understand the attendant telling them that they need to put their bag in the locker and so they just stand there trying to figure out how deep their head is up their asses. On the station platform, there are way too many people that need to figure out a way to secure a loose article or two prior to riding. This lack of preparation on the guests' part causes delays on what should be a simple task and stacked trains. There's zero reason why rides like Rougarou and Gatekeeper should experience any stacking and the fact that Magnum is stacking for any reason should be cause for concern. I sincerely hope that Cedar Point can return the bins to Rougarou and Magnum and add bins (or Skyrush style carousels) to Gatekeeper. Maverick's and Raptor's bins are still there, but I anticipate that they will become a thing of the past soon enough. It'll be a damn shame if Cedar Point is forced to go the Universal route due to their own greed and rider stupidity. If anybody from Cedar Point happens to be reading - please make it simple for the moronic basic bros and bitches who can't live without their drawstring bags, snapbacks, bro shades, and basketballs and put the bins back.
One good thing to say about park operations is that the FunTV (although not new) is a hit. The music videos shown feature really good music - I heard Led Zeppelin, Alabama Shakes, Pvris, and Cage the Elephant multiple times in addition to plenty of the usual top 20 pop songs. Everyone is also quite interested in the shuffle game, which is similar to what is played at a sporting event.
Beer! - I do not think that the Tavern on Frontier Trail is new for this season, but Cedar Point opened a tavern on Frontier Trail which sells craft beer! It is a bit pricey, but I found it a nice way to relax between rides. I had an Illusive Traveler Grape fruit, one of my comrades had a Curious Traveler Shandy, and our third member of our party had a Commodore IPA. All three beers were delicious. Cedar Point is also exclusively selling a beer called RougaBREW - it's brewed by a local Northeast Ohio brewery. It's not bad on tap, but I didn't think it was anything more than a glorified Labatt Blue or Budweiser. The park has also been advertising a soft drink called RougaCOOL which one can mix at a Coke freestyle machine - it's a combo of strawberry and peach pops.
It may simply be that I am noticing the beer because this was my first trip to the park where everyone in the party was over 21, but it seems like the park is selling more alcoholic beverages than in the past. I do not see an issue with this at all.
Maverick - The new restraints make for quite a comfortable ride. I didn't even need to brace myself in each transition - if my neck did hit one of the shoulder straps, the impact was unnoticeable. The restraints don't dig into ones shoulders during moments of airtime like the old ones did.
Millennium Force - Maverick isn't the only ride whose trains have undergone a facelift. Millennium Force's trains are sporting noticeably different body panels, a fresh coat of paint, and possibly new lap bars. Unfortunately, the ride still has a slight vibration from age, but the attention and maintenance to the park's flagship ride is clearly improving the ride experience. I am adamant that the ride is aging like a bottle of fine wine. Millie seems faster than ever and actually has decent airtime over the hills, which is something it never used to have. I am glad that the park is doing so much to maintain the ride - the ride is no longer in my top ten and the haters may call the ride forceless, but that doesn't change the fact that the ride is iconic, changed the game in the industry, and still pulls a two hour wait in its fifteenth season.
Rougarou - I know that this is the only reason why you're probably reading this, but that's exactly why I put it at the end. If that pisses you off...suck it
First, the ride looks great. I liked Mantis' three tone paint scheme, but the two tone brings it down a notch and allows the ride to blend it to its area. The bright train colors catch your eye as it operates, even from half way across the park. They did add some misters along the lagoon next to the drop and loop which provide a cool fog effect if you stretch your imagination. Surely these misters are from Shoot the Rapids, which were from Maverick, and they'll be disabled by June.
After I got over my engineering boner for the drop floor (it's three integrated four bar linkages with one link in each being a pneumatic linear actuator. These actuators fire in three steps to provide the motion of the floor.), my first though of the ride was that it was bizarre to be sitting on a ride where I've stood since I was 54 inches tall. The ride is pretty fast and even though it isn't intense as hell like Mantis, the ride is still quite forceful. As expected, the ride is much more comfortable with the new trains - the transitions that toss riders from one side to the next provide some delicious floaties instead of neck bruising and headaches.
Protip: ride the ride at night AND in the front row. I've ridden Dominator, Kraken, and Scream in the front row before, but Rougarou at night provided another terrifying element, as the darkness and aliasing of the cross ties really throw off your depth perception. At night, red, orange, yellow, and purple lights highlight high profile elements, yet the back of the ride is pretty dark. I anticipate that on a hot summer night in mid July, the ride will be blisteringly fast and provide one hell of an experience.
Now for some bigger thoughts. We snagged five rides on Rougarou - four came in the final hour of operation on Saturday. I know that the park tends to start clearing out around six, but rides like Millennium Force, Maverick, Gatekeeper, and Top Thrill Dragster continue to have hour plus waits and operate well into the night after park close. This trend was not the case with Rougarou. I actually rode the ride three consecutive times without even leaving our seats - something I have never experienced at Cedar Point before. One of the reasons why the park revamped the ride was to increase ridership, but this experience hints that ridership won't be increased as much as desired. Was the refurb worth it (short answer is yes, as they addressed numerous other issues with Mantis)? Why aren't people queuing for such a good night ride like they do with the other big coasters? Do they not realize the ride's improved experience at night? Do they realize that Rougarou is Mantis with new trains? Do they just not like the ride? I guess only time will tell.
An even bigger thought...Mantis was intense as hell and although Rougarou is still intense, it only comes close to Mantis' intensity in the back row. If B&M had a floorless train design back in '96, would Rougarou with a floorless train from that year kick your ass like Mantis did? Also, how would a floorless train from '96 behave on a ride like Hair Raiser at Ocean Park? People are often quick to bash B&M's newer rides for being forceless (with the exception of Banshee) and everyone attributes it to the manufacturer losing its touch. I disagree - like any transportation manufacturer, the company is simply developing with more refinement and providing more comfort to their rides. One can argue that their curves and splines and elements aren't as extreme as they used to be, but B&M sure nailed their 0g roll over the past ten years (those who were around the site in 2010 probably remember all the Americans ejaculating over Patriot's 0g roll which left everyone feeling gooey inside and their pants sticky). The same idea goes with their rolling stock - all of their designs have been iterated over the past number of years to provide more comfort, safety, and increased life. Gone are the days where we feel every bump and vibration (I didn't mention that Rougarou is also quieter than Mantis). This ideology is also one of the reasons why magnetic brakes are so heavily used - in addition to being fail safe, they're comfortable and seamless. So next time you ride a brand new B&M, just remember that you could be riding the nearest incorrectly engineered Arrow looper.
So yeah...that's it. I had a pretty good time at Cedar Point this past weekend. Go ride Rougarou - it's fun.
