Midwest Credding: Day 4 - Cedar Point Part 2

[Hutch]

I recently returned from a big trip (for me at least; it was probably the biggest theme park trip I’ve ever done). 4 parks, 3 new to me, and another I’d done in the past. Swept up 30 new creds, including my 100th, and no spite (except for a couple of +1’s that had height restrictions which I didn’t attempt). I had a blast and each day got better than the last.

If anyone’s read my reports in the past you may know that they can be pretty long and I like to go into detail, but I still enjoy writing them. I took a **** ton of pictures as well, each day more than the last I think.

Usually it’s one of my parents that travel with me (I’m still 17 so can’t check into hotels just yet), and this time it was my mom. She could only take a couple days off from work so some of the parks had to be done on the weekend.

Day 0 – Painful Traveling

We flew out of Boston on Friday June 17th in the afternoon. We actually had a connecting flight in Philadelphia before arriving in Louisville that evening. Unfortunately, yet somehow unsurprisingly, we flew out of Boston an hour later than scheduled, and I actually don’t remember if there was a legitimate reason why. I think it was the airline being really slow and whatnot; for example, they board the plane from front to back, which is really **** stupid because it just holds up the boarding process even longer. It’s much more efficient to board from the back first.

Because of that delay it looked like with would have a pretty tight connection to our 2nd plane in Phillie, until we realized that one became delayed because of maintenance. I wasn’t too annoyed by this, because if our first plane was on time we’d still be waiting the same time. The real annoying bit came was when we were trying to take off. We were stuck on the runaway for an hour because the airport became a traffic jam. We had to “wait our turn” because apparently flights to NYC and DC had priority over others. It was a somewhat smaller aircraft too so the actual flight was a bit longer what it normally would have been.

Okay, enough of my rant. Fortunately the travel after that was fairly simple. Our plane seats were the second row so we got off quick. We picked up our rental car, and it was just a short 2 min drive out to our hotel. There’s a road with a bunch of hotels right next to each other, conveniently right between the airport and the first park, Kentucky Kingdom.

It was almost 10 PM by then, and just for **** and giggles we decided to do a quick drive by of the park. I was actually able to see it from our airplane (rather exciting!) but I still wanted to get up close and personal, especially since the park was right there.

We drove into empty parking lot and briefly checked out the park. Tried to take a pic or two of Lightning Run, though they didn’t turn out to be that great. Ride looked pretty good though.



We returned to our hotel after that preview for the next day.

Day 1 – Part 1 – Kentucky Kingdom

As stated above, this park was really easy to get to as our hotel street somewhat borders the park. We arrived to the entrance at around 9:40 in the morning. Park opened at 10, and there was already a bit of a crowd, especially for opening.





It was a Saturday after all. I was a bit concerned for today (we also planned to do Holiday World in the afternoon), but we turned out to be fine.

So we had to wait in a bit of a line for tickets. The reason we didn’t buy them online was because of an out-of-state deal (though I’m not sure if it works for Indiana or Ohio). Admission is only $30, and it includes free drink wristbands as well as free admission for the following day! Fantastic deal if you ask me, even if we didn’t do the 2nd day.

It was also HOT out, with the temperature being in the 90s. Today was the hottest day of the trip, but it remained quite humid throughout the trip.

So the park opens and we do a brisk walk to the back of the park for Storm Chaser, passing the other rides on the way.







But when we get near the woodie we’re informed that the rides at the back half of the park don’t open until 10:30. So we had back over the bridge to Lightning Run, and fortunately queues hadn’t built up yet so we walked onto back row.



I loved it. The airtime is very strong and I didn’t find any pain at all. It’s very smooth and all the transitions work very well. The quick low to ground turns are quite fun, leading up to my favorite part of the ride: those quick bunny hops, which had the ride’s best airtime imo.

I think I can only really compare this to RMC coasters. It’s around the same size, has a steep drop, sharp a hills and transitions, and there’s even a backwards airtime hill, something that RMC likes to do.

I don’t really have any complaints with the ride itself. I just wish a roof covered the brake run. They had two trains running (which was good as I had a slight feeling they were only gonna have one), so we’d be sitting on the brake run for about 2 min in the scorching sun. Storm Chaser was like this as well.

I wish I got more than that one ride during my time there. Instead I spent some time getting in some rides in on Storm Chaser. It would’ve been nice to know about the staggered ride opening (I didn’t see any info at the entrance, and other people were confused about it as well) then we could’ve spent the first half hour getting multiple rides in on Lightning while the queue was short. But I’m glad our one ride was in on the back row, which I’d imagine is the best seat in the house. Fantastic ride. 9.5/10

After that ride I check the time and it’s almost 10:30, so we make our way back to Storm Chaser, my second RMC after Wicked Cyclone.






So they’re only running one train and they seem to be taking they’re time with getting everything dispatched. Fortunately there isn’t much of a wait for back row. One thing I noticed with this coaster is that it’s quite loud, much louder than Wicked Cyclone. I figured it must be something with the steel supports?

Onto the ride now. Fairly quick lift hill up and into the barrel roll drop, and this thing is pretty cool. There’s some weird sideways and upside down hangtime, and if your sitting in the back it whips you through the second half of the inversion.

The first airtime hill has some fantastic sustained ejector air. And there’s certainly more where that came from.



The overbank stall inversion thing (I don’t even know what they’re calling it or if it has an official name; it’s barely an inversion too imo) is very floaty, as is the smaller one next to it. They give nice pull through from the back as well. The pair of off axis airtime hills might be my favorite moments though. Your getting some strong airtime but the banking gives you some laterals, so the train throws you around for a bit. There’s another great airtime hill before the “corked roll” :roll: (it’s really just a zero g roll), which has probably the most floater of the ride.





That set of final airtime hills is incredibly fun. The POVs don’t give a good sense of the airtime they give (I think we’ve all come to learn that POVs really don’t do RMC coasters justice, if you were to chose one coaster type). It’s a great 1-2-3-4 punch that still give abrupt airtime.



The final helix into the overbank turn is perhaps the "weakest" part of the ride, but it’s still good fun and is a nice cool down before finishing off the ride.



Based off of track length and comparing it to other RMCs, it may seem like a fairly short ride. But I thought it was quite a good length and there’s a lot packed in there. I also can’t really think of many other rides that use all of their momentum from lift hill to break run without the use of any trims. The final turn before the break run isn’t even banked and the train is almost running on fumes then.

After our first ride I went around back for another one while my mom went to the bathroom and got some water. I wanted to try out the front half of the train, and luckily I saw a single rider about to hop on the front, so I move up and ride with. I realized that’s one of the best things about being a single rider when waiting in the station; it would’ve been close to another 10 min wait for the front but instead I just walk right onto the front with no wait. This happened a couple more times during the trip as well.

I got a couple more rides on this a bit later, and while I think I prefer the back, you’re pretty much getting the same amount of airtime. The middle was the only area I didn’t try out, but I’d imagine it’s still very good there.

Overall you have a set of some fantastic elements adding up to an amazing ride. Compared to Wicked Cyclone, they’re pretty close, but I think I prefer Storm just a little more because the airtime seemed to be more abrupt than Cyclone. 9.5/10

We went to go clean up the rest of the reds there, so we make our way over to the 3rd weather "themed" coaster, Thunder Run





This was, surprisingly, one of our longest waits during our time at this park. I figured it would remain pretty quiet, but I think this may have had 1 train operations (I can’t remember for sure though) so we ended up waiting a little more than ten minutes. That’s still quite remarkable that that was our longest wait for a coaster on a Saturday.



As for the ride? It’s meh. I actually had hope for this too, I know they put an effort into retracking and it sounded like it was running well. But it was still very rough and we only sat in the middle. The first turn after the drop in particular was very shaky.



It’s a bit of a weird layout I think. It alternates between turns with small airtime hops in between. And you do get airtime, but didn’t really matter as the ride is so rough. Isn’t this a Hurler clone? I haven’t heard good things about those. I’m not gonna bother rating it (or the remaining creds); all you need to know is that it’s ****. Worst woodie of the trip I think.

After that we continue over to T3, the park’s SLC.





This was only my second SLC. I’ve somehow (thankfully) managed to avoid these in recent years, not coming across them at all. And I haven’t ridden Mind Eraser (SFNE) since 2012, so when we get near the ride it all comes back to me and I start to get a bit concerned. Well, I wasn’t legitimately worried or anything, more like “Ugh this is gonna suck.”







And yeah it was the worst ride of the trip. At least it was a walk on though (it seems that the GP are aware of this ride type’s reputation). It also looks ridiculous being in all red.

I guess it could’ve been a lot worse. They installed new trains without the abysmal OTSR’s. Instead you get something kind of like the soft Intamin OTSR’s (ie. Maverick or I305), but it’s just seat belt straps. So you don’t get any sort of headbanging, but it didn’t save the ride from being **** ****! It’s just so rough and shaky and uncomfortable and unbearable. The restraints even stapled my thighs on the brake run, ruining the only bearable part of the ride.



I used to think that the layout of an SLC was a decent idea ruined by headbanging, but this ride proved otherwise.

Ugh… at least that part was over. +1 and done.



We make our way back over underneath Thunder Run to pick up the last cred.



Roller Skater!!!





It’s what you’d expect. TBH this was more enjoyable than Thunder Run or T3, making it the 3rd best coaster in the park!

We got all the creds done and were doing fantastic on time. I anticipated we’d be here for around 4 hours, but was about noon now, so we figured we could leave at 1. I wanted to have a bit of time getting a couple more re rides in and maybe doing some other stuff.

We get another quick ride in on Storm before getting some lunch at a place near Thunder. Luckily they get the 2nd train running so the queue is a bit shorter, not extending beyond the station. The ride seems to be running a bit better now that's it's been cycling for a couple of hours.



I hadn’t heard great things about the park food honestly it wasn’t bad; I was particularly impressed by the stuffed pretzel sticks!

After that I go get one last ride on Storm by myself. Was able to find another single rider waiting for back row. Then I meet back up with my mom and we make our way back to the front of the park.

I don’t know if you could tell by any of the previous photos, but there were no crowds for any of the rides. But it was a Saturday in June, how could that happen? Well here’s where almost everyone was:





And that’s just the main pool area. There’s a ton more waterslides and whatnot with queues for each of them. It helped that the bridge shoves you right into the main pool area, and that the waterpark took up like half the park’s space. Oh, and of course it helped that it was boiling out. So with the waterpark eating up all the GP, the rest of the park remained pretty quiet. And I was hoping that would happen, so I was quite pleased to see this happen, not only here, but at Holiday World and Kings Island.

We went over to do the Giant Wheel so we could get some good views of the park. Surprisingly a bit of a wait for this (actually, I think this was our longest queue for the park), but after 10 min we hop on. Pretty meh color scheme though.















The back of the park, mainly the area around Thunder Run, was probably the nicest looking area of the park imo. There’s plenty of trees surrounding the ride, making it look pretty nice.





It’s a nice long ferris wheel ride (you go around 3 times and get stuck up top a couple times), but buy the 3rd rotation I’ve had enough and I want to go get another ride on Lightning Run.



But there’s a bit of a queue, so we’re like “screw it.” It looked like it would be around 20 min, but by then it’s around 1 PM and we want give our selves plenty of time for traveling and spending time at Holiday World.



We also thought that maybe we could return to the park later that evening for a bit, as we were at the same hotel, but we decided not to. So that’s unfortunate that we only got one ride on Lightning. I wouldn’t have minded to do some other stuff, like that ridiculous inverted frisbee thing (never done that kind of ride before), or that Fab(ri) drop tower (I really liked the one at Thorpe). But I did get 4 rides in on Storm Chaser, which is the best ride of the park.

Overall thoughts then: I really enjoyed this park. The waterpark benefited us very well so we were able to get in and out in 3 hours. The out of state deal is insane and free drinks are fantastic (sometimes you don’t appreciate that until you get to a park where water bottles are 4 dollars each!). Obviously we didn’t do many flats but they seem to have a good variety of plenty of rides. And of course the waterpark is huge, which is nice if you like that kind of thing. As for the coasters, 3 are meh, but the other two are amazing and compliment each other well. It’s nice that they’re each at the ends of the park, filling the gap nicely. And aren’t they still working with RMC for another ride? Coaster selection could only improve greatly if that’s the case.

Definitely worth the visit here if you're in the area, or as a part of another large trip. You only need a half day if you just want to want to do creds and flats, but you could probably spend the entire day here if you decide to do the water park as well.

I also like how they kept the Six Flags at the front of the park:





Thanks for reading… up next is Holiday World!

 

[GuyWithAStick]

Re: Midwest Credding: Day 1 (Part 1) - Kentucky Kingdom

Nice report! It's not the best park, but at least the 2 big steel coasters are fantastic. Can't wait for Holiday World!

 

[Pink Cadillac]

Re: Midwest Credding: Day 1 (Part 1) - Kentucky Kingdom

I really love the in-depth coaster analysis, but what's a backwards airtime hill?
I'm so happy with the progress the park has made, can't wait to see what will come next.

 

[Hutch]

Re: Midwest Credding: Day 1 (Part 1) - Kentucky Kingdom

Sorry, probably should've re-worded that. Can see why that can confuse some peeps.

I don't have/couldn't find a good picture of the element IRL, but I did find this rendering, so that will have to do:

Basically the ride banks one way up a little hop before quickly banking the other way. For another example, Wicked Cyclone has a couple hidden in its layout, as opposed to a simple banked turn. I think I'd actually call it an "outside" airtime hill, but I don't think there's an official name. Hope that gives you an idea.

 

[witchfinder]

Re: Midwest Credding: Day 1 (Part 1) - Kentucky Kingdom

Great report and pics! I'm hoping to head there next year in June so it's also great to know how busy (or not) it's likely to be.

 

[Hixee]

Re: Midwest Credding: Day 1 (Part 1) - Kentucky Kingdom

I think at one point RMC called the highly exaggerated versions a "Twist and Shout", like the one on Outlaw Run (left-ish part of this image):

Don't know if this term is still used, and if it really applies to the less aggressive ones?

 

[Jarrett]

Re: Midwest Credding: Day 1 (Part 1) - Kentucky Kingdom

^Outlaw Run doesn't have a Twist & Shout, either RMC or Dollywood coined that term on Lightning Rod to refer to angled airtime hill at the bottom of Rod's ravine. That element is referred to as a 153 or an outside banked turn. So if I understand correctly, it only applies to the less aggressive ones.

Glad to see people discussing aggression, though! That's my favorite quality of a coaster and it hardly gets discussed! =D>

Loving the TR, though! Can't wait to see what you thought of Holiday World!

 

[Hixee]

Re: Midwest Credding: Day 1 (Part 1) - Kentucky Kingdom

Ah, I stand corrected. In which case I'd be willing to put the hill in question on Lightning Run under the "Twist and Shout" category.

Outwardly banked airtime hill is probably more accurate though?

 

[GuyWithAStick]

Re: Midwest Credding: Day 1 (Part 1) - Kentucky Kingdom

Actually, the "Twist and Shout" was coined on Goliath(GAm) for the final overbank before the brake run:

 

[Hutch]

Re: Midwest Credding: Day 1 (Part 2) - Voyage Cred Anxiety

Fun discussion on the LR element! Now, moving on to Holiday World...

Day 1 – Part 2 – Voyage Cred Anxiety

Picking up from where we last left off… after leaving Kentucky Kingdom we start the drive west to Holiday World. The drive should have taken a little over an hour, but it ended up taking two hours because one of the roads/bridge we were supposed to take was closed, which screws us over. It took us a little while to figure out where we’re trying to go, but eventually we find our way and make it to the park.

The best thing about this drive is that there’s a time change, so end up gaining an hour and “cut out” travel time. So it’s a good thing that we left KK early and have that time change, and we arrive at the park at 2 PM Central Time (though we could’ve arrived there at 1 PM if it weren’t for travel issues).

It was also good that we spent a brief time at KK as well, because we spent a bit more time at Holiday Park, and I’ll explain why in a bit.

The final road leading up to the park was kind of fun… you’re driving in the middle of nowhere, passing a bunch of corn fields and whatnot…

…then BAM! You creep over a hill and two big ass coasters pop out in the distance.





We arrive at the parking lot, and, it being a Saturday, there’s already a **** ton of cars parked. You can’t really tell by this picture but it was completely filled.



Fortunately we’re able to find an empty spot toward the front, so not much walking for us!





We enter the park and I realize how hilly this place is. It’s a bit of a hike from the entrance to, say, Thunderbird, as you end up going down a hill, and climbing back upward.

Obviously I was excited for Voyage and Thunderbird the most (especially Voyage), but I was also looking forward to the other woodies as well, mainly because I wasn’t familiar with the layout (unlike every other ride ).

So first up was Raven, which looked very welcoming upon entering the park. I could begin to tell how much better operations were compared to Kentucky Kingdom; it’s a Saturday afternoon, and the big coaster at the front of the park is a walk on with two trains. Awesome.



This ride was good fun, and it felt MUCH better compared to that PoS woodie we rode earlier. The start of it is rather interesting: you turn out of the station and the lift hill actually starts underneath the brake run, following the terrain for a bit as it goes up. (You can kind of see it the picture above). The ride had some nice drops and airtime… the usual stuff you’d expect. And on top of that you’re in the woods (as are the rest of the coasters)! I liked how for a couple seconds it actually exits the woods and dips down over the lake, although that turn was a little rough. There were a couple other moments towards the end were it gets a little rough as well, but overall it’s a solid woodie. 7/10

We hit the woodies from smallest to biggest, with the next one being Legend.



We enter the queue and it looks like it’s going to be another short wait. We only had a couple trains to wait until they close the ride because there’s a **** deer chilling by the track lol. They're not allowed to operate the coaster if there's wildlife nearby. Understandable. We actually decide to wait it out for 20 min until we ultimately decide to leave and move on to the next cred.

This was a common theme during our trip: there were multiple times we were about to get on a coaster until it breaks down, but it results in us seeing something cool go down. Now we didn’t actually see anything cool with this “breakdown” in particular, but the reason for the closing is actually quite funny.

Next up was the +1 in the 4th of July area, Howler. It’s one of those Zamperla models that dip into a helix. I’ve done a few of these now and they’re actually a bit more violent than they appear. The helix in particular is quite jerky, making that ride actually somewhat enjoyable and silly.

Some kid stole the front row from me, so I’m stuck in with the second row. Beginning to realize how ridiculous I look on these things. :lol:





We were gonna go do Thunderbird next but just before when we get near Voyage we see Legend testing back up. We decide to back in line for that so we wouldn’t have to walk back and forth along the park.



A bit of a queue had built up since it had broken down, but it doesn’t take too long before we get onto back row.

I love the bell that the ride ops ring upon dispatch (I actually can’t remember for sure if the bell was on this or Raven, think it was this ride), as well as the wolf howl on the top of the lift (reminds me of Banshee’s).

I enjoyed this a little less than Raven. The ride is a bigger and a bit longer, but I remember being it being a bit rougher in some places. It begins with a rather impressive looking drop (when it comes to size at least), before zooming over by the water park. The ride was fine I guess. I can’t remember exactly what places a good airtime… some of it was kind of a blur. I distinctly remember the helix toward the end being awful and lasting too long, but the ride is fine and not too rough after that (which I think is where they did most of the retracking). For me it falls just between “good” and “meh.” I’d ride it again if I went back to the park, but one ride per visit is enough. 6/10



The queue does right next to the ride though. You can touch the supports no problem.



We continue back to the Thanksgiving area, with Voyage dominating the back half of the park…



But we leave that for a bit later. Now by then I had only seen Voyage running a couple of times… but I put that at the back of my mind and we focus on doing Thunderbird first.

I’ll say that the four major coasters here appear to be quite big here. Raven actually might not be that tall as the others, but it’s still a decent sized coaster. The other three are the ones that look rather big, thanks to the hilly terrain. Thunderbird in particular is quite interesting because you’re walking up a hill and you got a massive immelmann looming above.



Unsurprisingly it’s the most popular ride of the day, but the queue only lasted around 20-30 min. A rather nice looking station as well.



During our visit they assigned you each side and row, but thankfully they gave us the left side (which has the extra near miss element at the end) and they assign us back row as well.

They have a nice buildup for the launch, a brief sound effect and steam before a pretty solid launch to 60 mph.





The rest of the ride is about what you’d expect from a wingrider. Super smooth, floaty and gentle, a fun sensation of flight. I know not many are fond of these types of rides but I personally really like them. There just really enjoyable. For me the highlights were the launch, the zero g roll (and here you actually get a bit close to the trees), and the final near miss into the inline twist. The only thing I don’t like about these rides are the restraints. I don't notice them during the ride itself, but they can be a bit tight while sitting in the brake run or station. Very fun ride though and I think it fits well with the rest of the lineup. 8.5/10







So Thunderbird was my 99th credit, and of course I was saving Voyage for my 100th. While we were walking by it earlier it seemed like it was a bit of a hit or miss; Only saw it running a few times, a couple of which with empty trains. But when we exit Thunderbird we see Voyage plowing through the woods with riders, good sign! So we make our way back there.

My first impressions upon viewing this ride was that it’s huuuuuuuge! You can’t get a sense of how big it is from pictures. It kind of puts Raven and Legend to shame, which are already decent sized coasters.







We get in line, looks to be around a 15 min wait, but we see people leaving because the ride breaks down dammit! (And supposedly it indeed was having maintenance issues earlier in the day) We stick around for a bit (a while actually). Eventually we make our way into the station we see that the problem is that one of the trains is stuck on the lift hill, a bit more than halfway up, but that’s still quite high. It was full of riders and they were stuck up there for at least half an hour before ride ops made the trek up there and got the riders down safely.





Even though we were waiting in the station for a while, viewing the escort down was pretty cool. It’s not something you see that often.



There were a couple of them that seemed pretty terrified making their way down. Lucky bastards if you ask me. The ride ops gave them all fastpasses as well. (The park doesn’t have an official fast pass you can buy, I guess only for situations like these).

Since I already got the rest of the creds, and because I needed this 100th credit, we wait in the station for a bit more to the point where it’s just the two of us left. A couple more ride ops make their way back up the lift hill; they had to close all the restraints before they try to get the train going.

Eventually one of the ride ops inform us that they don’t know when they’ll get it back open, but he really appreciated our patience. I explain to him that’s it was supposed to be my 100th coaster, and fortunately there’re goons and understand this important milestone. Because we were waiting patiently for quite a while, the ride op talk talking to us offered us a one-time use fast pass! Very generous of him (he even acknowledges that we could’ve done other things and it was our choice to wait), but he appreciates that we stayed and assures us that they’ll hopefully get it open soon for my 100th coaster. So after that we leave ride for now… hopefully no spite!

We were gonna do another ride on Thunderbird but the queue looked a bit meh. I should’ve known that most of the peeps would flock over there when they found out that Voyage was down. We could’ve used our fast pass on that ride, but we decided to save it for Voyage. We probably should’ve used it for Thunderbird, as the line for Voyage later on wasn’t too long.

After checking out Thunderbird we walk back next to Voyage to wait for it to open, and luckily on our way back we see the empty train go down the track! We confirm that it’s open and use our fast pass on the ride. A queue had already built up and it probably wasn’t too bad, but our fast passes allow us to choose any seat in the house, so we choose front row, which would’ve been a long wait in the normal queue.

The pass was really easy too, we just needed to walk up the exit and choose any seat we want. We briefly chatted with some of the ride op goons; one mentioned how he recently rode Fury, thinking it was “meh.” Alrighty then.

The staff in general were very friendly as well. Another one of the ride ops offered to take a picture of us in the train after hearing that it was my 100th.



After all that cred anxiety, it was finally time to ride my most anticipated coaster of the trip!

My thoughts? Well, if anyone’s taken a look at my updated Top 10, you might see that Voyage is mysteriously absent. Overall, it didn’t live up to the hype.

Part of the reason why I wanted to ride front first was because I wanted to start out with a smoother ride to get a good first impression. I’m glad we did that because the ride was very smooth up there, huge difference from the other woodies we had done earlier. Our first ride was very good. The drop is pretty steep for a woodie, the interaction with Thunderbird is awesome, the amount of tunnels is ridiculous, and I’m amazed with the pace it keeps throughout the ride. The only problem was that the airtime wasn’t as good in the front. I wasn’t sure if that’s normally the case or it wasn’t running well that day, but I wasn’t getting countless pops of airtime I was hoping for, like you find on Boulder Dash.

Another issue I had was that it the MCRB nearly stops the ride to a halt. Now I knew that the train used to fly through the MCRB and that they recently changed it, but I was not expecting it to slow down that much. Bit of shame because the triple down was right after that, and while that was a very fun element, I imagine it could’ve been a lot better. But somehow the rest of the ride remains fine because the train manages to regain its incredible pace in the 2nd half, but the airtime still isn't that great.





After our first ride we go right back in line. After our smooth ride in the front I figure the rest of the ride is probably fine, so we do the back. Huge difference there. It’s much more intense there, but there’s a catch. In the front, it’s smooth with okay airtime, but in the back, it trades its smoothness for much more airtime. So while I found the ride’s airtime, I thought it was a bit less enjoyable in the back. It’s not as rough as some of the other woodies we did, but there were a few parts where it gets a bit much. And unfortunately my lap bar tightened at the bottom of one of the big hills, so the ride became a little uncomfortable.

After grabbing a bite to eat I tried a third ride somewhere in the middle and it rode similar to our second. I’m wondering if one of the trains rides rougher than other? There was a big difference between the front and back when it came to smoothness, so I figured the middle would be a bit better than the back. I dunno.

I still think it’s a great ride, though it just had a couple things holding it back The first ride was the best, but after a couple more I thought I had enough (which I’m not surprised for an intense woodie like this). 8.5/10, and I think I’ll base that off our front row ride.



We had pretty much done everything we wanted to by then. It was around 6:30, which was really 7:30 EST, which meant that we wouldn’t be back at our hotel until 9ish. That’s not terribly late, but even when we got back in the car we were sweaty, gross, and simply exhausted.

Holiday World is a very pleasant park. It’s in a pretty location, the staff are very friendly, operations are great, the station buildings look great, and you got a solid line up of coasters.

Though that day I couldn’t ignore the fact that I had a better time at Kentucky Kingdom. I prefer Storm and Lightning over Voyage and Thunderbird, and our time at KK was easier and a bit less stressful. I understand that Holiday World is the “better” park, and I wouldn’t mind returning for a bit if I’m in the area, or if they get another cred.

The park seems to be lacking a nice family coaster. There’s a bit of a gap between the kiddie cred and the woodies, so maybe a Mack spinner or something? Or they could just stick with the wooden theme and go for big RMC!

Next is Kings Island, and that’ll be a longer report as we were there for a full day. Might take me a while to write it, so stay tuned!

 

[Pink Cadillac]

Re: Midwest Credding: Day 1 (Part 2) - Voyage Cred Anxiety

Hearing about The Voyage's mcbr is upsetting, the coaster sounded phenomenal before

 

[Hutch]

Re: Midwest Credding: Day 1 (Part 2) - Voyage Cred Anxiety

It didn't ruin the ride for me (I can see why others who have ridden it years ago are very upset), it was just kind of an awkward pause in the pacing. I haven't ridden it in its prime, but for me even after the MCBR it still felt pretty fast through the second half. It's just a bit violent and the restraints kept stapling me.

 

[Hutch]

Re: Midwest Credding: Day 1 (Part 2) - Voyage Cred Anxiety

Day 2 – Kings Island

2nd day of theme parks, this time at a much larger and more anticipated park, Kings Island.



With it being a Sunday with 14 creds to get (the most new creds in one day for me), we made sure to get there before opening. We had an easy drive out of Louisville which took us less than two hours, thanks to the highways being rather quiet.



We arrived at the parking lot at 9:30, plenty of time to get ready for a 10 AM opening.



Of course it being the weekend there’s already a ton of peeps here, but like yesterday many people where here for the water park. Actually, the big kiddie area was quite popular too. There was quite a large crowd headed toward that area during opening.





I’ve heard a few opinions about the park entrance here; yeah I guess it’s pretty bland. Didn’t really think twice about it though.

But the main area inside is rather fabulous.





We still have about 15 min till opening so we make our way to the left… next to the unsurprisingly large cattle herds attracted to Banshee. You could barely see Banshee from where we were but we were still entertained from the occasional Banshee scream and a single staff member enjoying/dancing during his ride on the drop tower.



But we saved Banshee for later in the day. We knocked out some of the meh and other low capacity rides first to avoid crowds.

The park opens (!), and while everyone rushes to Banshee, we take the alternate path to Invertigo.



We got on first train of the day (yay never done that before) on the worst cred of the day. The color scheme is nice, the seating arrangement is cool, and it is intense… but it’s also a boomerang. Wasn’t able to “enjoy” it as I was focused on bracing myself, but even with that it’s still shaky and uncomfortable. 3/10

At least I’ve tried all three boomerang models now! [strike]... Oh wait, I’ve forgotten about the family ones huh…[/strike] Not sure how it ranks with the others… probably in the middle. I think the best one I’ve done is the one at Hersheypark (vest restraints = no headbanging), but the worst is that vile GIB at SFNE.

Next cred was a bit of a walk, and unfortunately another Vekoma. But at least on the way I got a preview of this fantastic looking B&M.







Oh and that thing too.



Firehawk was an interesting one. First, this ride required lockers, which my mom wasn’t happy about (she usually carries around a small purse that she can strap around her shoulder and arm. She’s worn it on rides like Nemesis, Swarm, and Top Thrill Dragster no problem.) I decide to just do the cred alone so we don’t have to pay a locker, plus I figured she wouldn’t enjoy it anyway.

They have a dual loading station, which I guess makes sense considering the long load/dispatch times. But if the operations were good here, the dual loading probably wouldn’t be necessary. I know loading is a bit of a mess for this kind of ride, but they definitely could’ve got us out quicker. They were running two trains and it seemed like both trains were in the station every time one got dispatched.

The climb up the lift hill is rather slow, and it doesn’t help that it was a sunny day out. I was a bit concerned for this one. I thought it would be a bit shaky but it actually wasn’t that bad. Maybe a reride would have benefitted as I probably would’ve enjoyed it more, knowing that the ride is smooth. The loop is forceful and the inversions are fun, though the seats are a bit uncomfortable. Decent ride, though my concern and focus on bracing may have detracked my enjoyment a little bit. 6.5/10, but I’d definitely try it again if (when ) I return. Though I wasn't eager to do a second ride that day.

Some guy who sat in front of me (towards the front of the train) lost is hat going through the overbank turn. It flew by right in front of me. My mom actually filmed a video of it, but here’s just a screenshot.



The creds gradually started getting better with the next one being Flight of Fear, my first Premier (I think?). And I was pleased with this one. The queue and station are actually themed pretty decently and the ride was actually pretty fun. I almost always enjoy launched coasters and this was no different. This launch was quite good, and while the rest of the layout is a bit of a mess, it helps that it’s indoors and actually lasts for a good length. Lap bars are also always welcome (though I wasn’t too hot on those “foot bars.”) I haven’t done the outdoor spaghetti bowls but I’d imagine those are rather meh compared to these indoor ones. Very fun ride. 7/10

We skipped Racer for later. Figured it would remain pretty quiet, plus they only had one side running atm.



The next cred was another well-themed Premier, Backlot Stunt Coaster.



Kind of fun to see that this ride was mainly dominated with kids and family. The launch out of the station is fun and there’s a pretty sharp (in a good way, thanks to lap bars) transition into the helix. But that helix loses a lot of its momentum, and the ride sort of just meanders around after that. Thankfully theming and near misses make it a bit more fun. The MCBR was fun for what it was, but the stationary helicopter was a bit awkward (isn't it supposed to move around?). After that it’s a couple of dips and turns through a tunnel before it drops back into the brake run.

Fun ride for what it is, and kind of fun to watch. The theming (even if it’s a bit cluttered) makes it a lot more interesting. In the end it’s a solid family coaster. 6.5/10





Diamondback continues to loom over the distance, but it wasn’t time for that yet!









Vortex was up next, the huge custom Arrow looper (seriously, this thing is actually quite large in person).





Now, it actually has a decent layout. So it looks good on paper, but unfortunately the ride is kind of a PoS. Not quite as bad as Invertigo, but the transitions are god awful, particularly the one at the end of the first turnaround. Way too sharp. Didn’t get much headbanding thanks to some defensive riding, but it was still very uncomfortable and not very enjoyable. 4/10



After smashing through all those creds, it was time for the good stuff.



We still didn’t do Diamondback quite yet, but we stopped for a bit to check it out in action. And she’s a beauty.











Beast, who’s entrance is actually a bit hidden, was next. Obviously we’d be back to ride it at night but we figured we’d still check it out during the day.



Thanks to three trains the queue is practically a walk on. We actually could’ve spent some time riding it a few times but we only did it once for now.

Beast is a tricky one. My very first ride on it—during the day—and I still thought it was very good. Even during the day I thought it was more enjoyable than Voyage. Even though the ride itself is already quite long, I love the stupidly slow lift hill at the beginning. One of the highlights is the fly by you get of the train ahead of you. Thanks to some good timing, as you go down the first drop the other train zooms by you in the opposite direction toward the brake run. Fantastic interaction there, kinda like a dueling coaster.

Now, the ride doesn’t really have any airtime, and some of the layout is a bit awkward, but it’s the incredible speed it gets and keeps throughout the ride that makes it great. It’s very rickety, but without the roughness, making it more enjoyable. The tunnels are spectacular, love how they lost quite long tool; one of them is pitch black and last like, ten seconds or something like that?

I did find three noticeable trims which are a bit awkward as you feel the tug quite a bit. But I’ve accepted them as they’re probably for the better so it doesn’t get too rough.

So it’s a lot of fun during the day. After my first ride I thought it was great but not a Top 10er. I’ll post my final thoughts of this ride a bit later after I write about my night rides.





My most anticipated coaster of the park was next, Diamondback.





Bit of a queue for this one. But thanks to three trains and good operations we get on back row at around 30 min. I will say that the ride was definitely stacking quite a few times, but it wasn’t terrible.



And as expected the ride is fantastic. The airtime is ridiculous, some hills you’re out of your seat for around 5 seconds. The overbank turnaround had some good pull-through, and the splashdown was surprisingly fun in the back row. Unexpectedly, one of my arms got soaked. I was laughing when we got to the brake run.

For the most part, the ride met expectations. But there were a couple of very minor detractors: the train gets bit in the ass by a trim mid ride going up one of the hills. The airtime there is just as good as any other hill, but the tug is rather noticeable and distracting. There was also a bit of a rattle on our first ride in between the airtime hills, but it wasn’t too bad too the point where it ruined the ride. I actually wasn’t too surprised by that; apparently others think it’s a lot worse. During our re rides in the evening there was barely a rattle at all, giving a much better ride. I figured one train tends to be a bit more rattly than the other?

Those two very (VERY) minor issues aside it’s still an incredibly enjoyable ride. 9.5/10 This coaster started to make me love B&M megas a lot more now. Of the three I’ve ridden—Apollo’s Chariot, Nitro, now this (which are all great)—Diamondback seemed to give off the best/longest airtime. I think I prefer this over Apollo, but Nitro is still my favorite as it has the better helix and positive g forces.



After that it was time for the kiddie creds. We actually spent a lot longer in the kiddie area I thought it’d take (over an hour) due to crowds, queues, operations, and other stuff.

First we did Flying Aces, unfortunately not the amazing looking Intamin that just opened, but another Vekoma. At least it was a suspended family coaster rather than an SLC.



For the most part, the queues in the kiddie area, while not at all long time wise, moved very slow due to either one train operations and/or slow dispatches. I guess if you want your staff to take your time with every rider/seat, might as well do it on these rides. Leave your A game staff for the good/popular stuff.

Rather uneventful ride. It kind of picks up its speed towards the end but the ride is pretty much over by then. Not gonna bother rating it.





While trying to figure out where the next cred was (this kiddie area is quite huge), we got distracted by the petting zoo.

Chicken/duck hybrid thing. I have no idea.



Turtles.



Alpaca.





Goats.



Cow.



Sheep.



I like animals so that was actually kind of enjoyable.

Looking back, I like how Diamondback towers above the kid’s area. Though from this angle it doesn’t look that big.





They had one of these helicopter things…



Very debatable if you ask me. There’s clearly some elevation change there!



Might have been tempted to ride it if the queue was a walk on. Though I don’t think it’s a cred anyway. (But I definitely would’ve counted it if I did ride it )

Right, back to business.



The queue for Woodstock Express was a bit longer than the last one, but at least they had two trains going.



And hey! The restraints on this consist of a loose seatbelt and one lap bar per row that does nothing!



As a result the ride was surprisingly fun. It kind of reminded me of Yankee Cannonball at Canobie Lake (that has similar restraints). This had a couple of nice pops of airtime and it wasn’t too rough. Though not intense nor long. I actually ended up preferring it over Racer, and I’d be happy to do this again if I ever come back. 6.5/10

This Great Pumpkin Coaster cred had height restrictions. I probably could’ve attempted it, but I never tried. If it was a walk on I might’ve. The surroundings do make it look kind of nice though.



Unfortunately the Eiffel Tower was down all day. Not a huge spite, but it would’ve been nice to check out some of the views from up top. Obviously you can get views from the Windseeker, but that’s not exactly the same is it?



We stopped for lunch at La Rosa’s pizza at the main street. Thought it was rather good. After that it was time to clean up the remaining creds.



We didn’t do Delirium. While the Huss Frisbees are one of the best flats out there, I didn’t feel like I “had” to do it and I still had MaXair at Cedar Point.

So Banshee had a bit of a queue going into some of the cattle pens, but we didn’t do that just yet. Instead, I did my first Arrow suspended coaster, Bat. And it’s a lot further away than everything else.



It does look a bit nice in the trees though.



You also get a look at the second half of Banshee, which is hard to see from its entrance area.





I’m not exactly sure what I thought of the ride. I had some good stuff, like the sharp sweeping turns through the trees (which is really just about all it does), but it wasn’t anything special. 6/10.

They really need to update this area so it’s not just a long ass walk/queue to an okay coaster that’s not even popular. Add a flat ride or two, maybe even a coaster, anything really. It was very quiet compared to the rest of the park.



Now it was time for Banshee. The queue got somewhat shorter, and we were able to get on after around 20 min.











This was the only other ride in addition to Firehawk that required lockers (boo), so this time we decided to grab a locker for a couple hours.

They had three trains running, which is impressive considering there’s no midcourse break run. Of course, the catch for that is plenty of stacking on the brake run, but operations were still pretty quick.

We hopped on back row, but I was a little concerned because we were on the blue train which is apparently is known for being rather rattly. I’ll get to that in a moment.

Now I love hearing the Banshee scream it makes at the top of the lift hill when I’m not riding, but it’s actually alarmingly loud when you are riding.

The first drop is a lot better than most inverts. The dive down and whip to the right is a big improvement over the regular old curved drops.

I went on this ride with an open mind. Many love it, many hate it. I’ve heard it’s very intense, but it always seemed to me that the inversions were too drawn to have any snap. And I love me some B&M snap on my inverts. Turns out the ride is very intense (probably the most intense ride in the park), but the intensity isn’t really where I wanted it to be. My speculation about the large inversions were true; they didn’t really do anything (except for the last one). As for the intensity, it’s the positive g forces the ride gets in between inversions. The problem is, the ride gets too rattly and the forces don’t become very enjoyable (though not unbearable). I wasn’t too sure if it was because we were on that blue train, or because we were on back row. I actually think the ride in general has gained a rattle.

I got a couple of rides in on this later, and they did get better as the day went on. I still think the ride has some good stuff to it. It keeps a pretty good pace throughout (the speed it gains is incredible). It does begin to relax a little bit towards the end but that’s my favorite part of the ride: a great 1-2-3 punch with that fab turnaround into an in-line twist and a final downwards helix. Part of the reason I really enjoyed that part the most was because the forces began to be more enjoyable.

I think it’s a solid ride—fantastic to watch too—but sadly I think it’s the worst B&M invert I’ve ridden. I’ll take over pretty much most of the park’s line up too. 7/10



Time for the remaining creds. We looked at Adventure Express but for some reason the queue was all the way backed up on the bridge, stretching back near the entrance. WTF? That’s way too long for a mine train. We left it for now.

So Racer was the only other pair of creds I needed. And a walk on meant I got to get both no problem. I figured it would be fun, and it was for a second, but the lap bar stapled me after one or two hills and the ride became painful. On top of that it was already a little rough. If I ever go back I’d actually try this again because there’s actually some good airtime, but it’s ruined by the stapling. Oh and it races too, so that’s fun.







Falls under the meh category if you ask me. 5/10. The right side (can’t remember which color) was the worst of the two rides I got.

By then Adventure Express’s queue had died down a bit so it was time for that. I had now idea what it did, so I was quite surprised by the interesting layout. It goes through half the ride before going up the first lift hill, before doing some more stuff after that. There’s some pretty good theming too, especially in the second lift hill. I though the ride was gonna do a little more after that we I realized “oh this is probably it,” and it was. Pretty anti climatic :lol:.

It was fun for what it was, but I found it pretty jerky. Then again, we rode in the back row too (gotta get those extra League of Goon points!). 6/10

I kinda realized that, since having lunch, I wasn’t really feeling my best. I probably didn’t enjoy these coasters as much as I could’ve. It was around 3 PM by now, so we decided to take a little break and check into our hotel. I finished up with all the creds too (except Great Pumpkin cred), so I wasn’t in anymore rush to do anything else.

View of the parking lot… because why not.



View from our hotel room. Somewhat blocked by the front entrance roof but could still see the big stuff.





Took shower and a break for a couple hours, then grabbed some dinner before returning to the park a little after 6.





It was time to do some rerides on the good stuff (i.e. Big Three). But that wasn’t all we did.

And the Eiffel Tower still wasn’t open. Pretty annoying. So instead we did the other “observation” ride that is Windseeker.



I love these kinds of rides. I prefer the sketchy Star Flyers but if a park has some sort 300+ ft swing ride they’re worth doing. The views are great and there’s more of a fear in heights on these rides than roller coasters.

After that we did a couple of rides on Diamondback.







The sun was beginning to go down as well (though not exactly sunset), so we got some beautiful rides.



I think I previously mentioned this, but the rattle was barely noticeable now. But even then the rattly on our first ride wasn’t even that bad.



The queue had surprisingly gotten longer. One wait was around 40 min, but our last one took close to an hour because the ride op letting people in the station had to deal with some damn queue jumpers! Apparently some teens snuck their way into the Fast Lane queue and somehow got themselves into the station (this part still kind of confuses me, because wouldn’t they need to be checked for Fast Lane bracelets?). We were just outside the station so we got to see the rest of it go down. Witnesses in the real queue informed one of the ride ops, who was very nice went to go handle it. I don’t know if the queue jumpers actually got any consequences. But they got scared off by the suspicion and, instead of boarding the ride, they bolted across the station and got out of there.

While queue jumpers are devils and all, this was a pretty interesting situation and kept us entertained for a few minutes. It was also fun to hear peeps cheering when the teens booked it.

By then there weren’t anyone left waiting in the station so when we entered we just walked over to back row. After that fantastic ride we returned to the action zone. I wanted to try out Drop Tower: Scream Zone. I hadn’t done one of these Intamin gyro drop towers.





We got in line, but the thing decides to break down because the catch car got stuck making its way back down. That scared off literally everyone. It didn’t look like it was going to open any time soon, so we went to do Banshee. Oh well. Not really disappointed, I only wanted to do it just for the gyrodrop cred.





I as mentioned earlier, my final ride on Banshee was MUCH better than before. Since I was feeling a bit better I got to enjoy it a bit more. It’s still rattly and most of the inversions don’t really do anything, but I’m glad I got this one last ride on it. One highlight was seeing the sun set while upside down in the dive loop. Very cool.

By then it was almost 9, and we made our way over to Beast. I had no idea how long the queue would be or if they’d close it off before closing, so I just wanted to be safe.

I kind of realize now that we had been going back and forth at opposite ends of the park at this time. Not the most efficient way to spend our time, but oh well.



I’m glad we returned to Beast an hour before closing because we were able to get two rides in. The first ride was at around 9:30, the sun had gone down by then but there was still some light out. Nonetheless it was still a big improvement from our ride during the day; I could tell Beast was beginning to break free. But it wasn’t quite dark out yet.

Now, it was time for the big one. We got back in line, and thankfully Cedar Fair lets everyone who gets in line before closing have a ride. As expected this wait is much longer because of the ride closing for fireworks, but that’s good because it gives plenty of time to get darker. It was long wait, took close to an hour, but it wasn’t too bad because there were some nice goons from Virginia right in front of us, so some conversation kept us busy. At some places the queue gives you good views of Diamondback. Gorgeous.





The ride was closed for half an hour, everyone tried to make themselves comfortable.



By the time the ride actually shuts down we’re in good position to view the fireworks too.







It kind of looks like Vortex blew up lol.



Soon it’s announced that the ride opens again (followed by huge cheers). I kind of thought that they’d send out an empty train first to be safe, but no they got right to loading up the peeps.

Beast is literally a people eater too; the queue moved on very quickly. We got on at 10:30, pretty absurd that the park had been closed for 30 min now. Perfect time to ride too now that it’s dark out.

And if the condition couldn’t be perfect enough, how about a full moon shining directly above the first lift hill?



I guess one could argue that the moon did give off some sort of light, but I didn’t really think it mattered. It was just really cool to see it going up the absurdly slow lift hill. There’s also a very bright light at the top that pretty much blinds you before you plummet down into the darkness.

And holy **** this ride has become ridiculous. It’s actually crazy how the difference between a night ride and a day ride is, literally, night and day. I don’t really know how to describe it, but it was a perfect ride. Going through the forest at 50-60 mph in the dark is just pure joy. And the ride gets better when as it goes through the layout. Right after that long straight section with the roof is where all hell let’s loose, with that pitch black tunnel and other low turns. Then you get a breather on the second lift hill, thinking what the **** just happened. Then **** hits the fan again and you go through that insane helix. At first I thought it was interesting that they had lights in in the helix tunnels. But then I realized it was better to have them on so you can see how **** ing closing you are to the walls. The ride ends and I was wowed.

This thing is what, like, almost 40 years old? Isn’t it amazing how well it has aged? It’s not rough at all, but rickety enough to make it a bit more exciting.

As for how I’d rate it, I think it’s great during the day, but it’s mesmerizing at night. I’d say, at day: 8.5/10, but at night: 10/10 no doubt.

As for where it falls on my favorites list, that’s a bit tricky. The problem is that the ride is inconsistent. But after that perfect night ride it feels wrong to place it below my Top 5.

Right now I’ve placed it at No. 3, based on that night ride. If I didn’t get any night rides it’d probably still be in my Top 20 or 25.

And I know before our last ride my mom was getting pretty tired and I made her ride one last time, and she was glad she did because she loved it too.

So that’s my review of Beast and that brings us to the end or our day at Kings Island. Pretty interesting to see the park empty at night. And thankfully our hotel wasn’t too far away either.





I really enjoyed Kings Island, definitely more than the previous two parks. It’s big, pleasant park and lots to do for just about everyone. The coaster selection is great, with Beast and Diamondback (which was just shy of my Top 10) being the highlights for me. I was a bit underwhelmed by Banshee, but good enough and it’s nice to hear that others have been loving it, even if I didn’t feel the same way. Most of the of the other creds are decent enough and worth riding again. I didn’t really enjoy Racer but I’d be willing to try that again. The only stuff I thought was **** was Invertigo and Vortex.

There’s plenty of flats to mess around with too, even if we didn’t do much with them. And of course there’s that huge kiddie area and waterpark.

I love the front International Street and the food we had was pretty good.

Operations were fairly good too (though it was a bit lackluster at Firehawk and the kiddie creds). Even though it we went on a weekend we were able to get pretty much everything done no problem.

I’d definitely be up for going back here. I’d like for my dad to go because he’s been here decades ago.



That’s it for Kings Island. Next up is Cedar Point!

 

[Pink Cadillac]

Re: Midwest Credding: Day 2 - Kings Island

If I got the opportunity to ride one coaster now it would be the Beast. Glad it surpassed your expectations Roll on Cedar Point.

 

[Hutch]

Re: Midwest Credding: Day 2 - Kings Island

Day 3 – Return to Cedar Point

Today’s drive was going to be the longest, but that was okay because we were saving the best for last.

I had done Cedar Point four years ago but it was before I became a goon so I didn’t get every cred. Plus there was some new stuff that looked pretty good as well. I was a bit of a Cedar Point fanboy back then, had a wonderful time. But now that I’m more experienced I wondered if it was still just as good as I remembered.

Today was a Monday, so it with being a weekday and not needing all the creds I didn’t feel quite as rushed. But since I pretty much wanted to do almost all the coasters and it being Cedar Point, it was still fairly crowded and we had lots to do.

We had around a 3.5 hour drive to enjoy, but we weren’t determined to get there by morning as we had two days to spend time at the park. Instead we probably didn’t get inside the park until 12:30.

It’s always fun when you’re getting close to any park because that’s when the goon starts to let loose.





Then it gets real exciting as you go along the causeway and see this ridiculous skyline.





Love the drive around the peninsula. Gives you a preview of most of the coasters.





Valravn looks fantastic in the skyline and fills that empty gap nicely. It’s huuge too.













Meh.





How about an RMC instead?







We checked into our hotel, and I don’t think I could’ve asked for a better view.





Quick regroup and before long we enter the park.

We wanted some lunch but I wanted to do one quick ride first. Magnum XL-200 is usually pretty quiet, so we got on that no problem.



I used to like this ride, but after riding it again my opinion has changed drastically. It’s kind of okay, but there is some good stuff. The airtime on the way back is ridiculous. I braced for it too as I remember it being very painful (I was very concerned on this part). This time I lifted up on the lap bar and it wasn’t too bad. Pretty much no pain, but it’s very awkward and still very intense. The rest of the ride is fine enough, but it’s pretty bumpy. Part of me kind of wished that I did it again later or on our 2nd day to try and enjoy it more, but I wasn’t really fussed as almost all the other coasters in the park are more enjoyable than this really. 5.5/10

After that we started making our way back toward the front of the park to find some lunch.

I had downloaded the Cedar Point app during our drive up (I also used the one for Kings Island the day before, both do the same thing). It let’s you check out the wait times as long as you’re inside the park. At first I didn’t think they were very accurate but they actually are. It also let’s you know of any ride’s status. According to the app multiple coasters were down throughout the day.

TTD was ominously not running, in fact it didn’t open later at all because of the wind (not surprising, it was very windy today). Raptor was also down all day, not sure for if it was or annual maintenance or what. Valravn broke down multiple times (not surprising as breakdowns aren’t uncommon for new rides). Gatekeeper was down a couple times and Millennium Force briefly broke down.

So there were a couple rides I didn’t get to do until the second day (including Maverick because it had racked up queues up to 90 min. No way I’m waiting that long). That was okay because there’s plenty left to do and it was really Raptor and Top Thrill Dragster that were feeling spiteful.





On our way down the park we checked out Valravn. It said there was a 55 min wait; we didn’t do it until later but tbh that was one of the shorter wait times I saw for it.



Raptor’s new paint job also looks fantastic. This and TTD look like they’re brand spankin’ new.





Raptor in particular actually looks as nice as the other recent Cedar Fair B&Ms.





We had lunch at a restaurant in the area of Raptor, Blue Streak, Valravn. We settled on another pizza which was actually very delicious. It was nice to eat at a real sit down restaurant as opposed to some food court or cafeteria, and service was very quick as well.

After that it was time for some more goonery.



Gatekeeper was a new cred for me. This was probably the first coaster construction I followed and I remember drooling all over this, thinking wing coasters looked fantastic. Then I joined CF and it seemed like wing coasters received mixed reception, so my excitement wore off.

I do like the modern entrance plazas and signs Cedar Fair have been doing with their B&Ms.



This is another huge coaster when you’re there in person. It sprawls out all over the place.





Overall thoughts? We loved it. I expected to be enjoyable like the other wingriders I’ve done, but it was much better. It’s super smooth and you got a nice long layout with plenty of inversions. In addition you get some quick keyhole elements and a fab floater airtime hill, which had a lot better airtime than I was expecting; that was definitely my favorite moment. I haven’t really decided on my favorite inversion, because they were all great!

Going through those rolls and twists made me realize that wing riders aren’t about the unique drop or the near misses. They’re about the unique forces you get when going through the inversions, due to the seats being further away from the trains axis or rotation. There’s a mix of sideways hangtime, laterals, positives, and negatives through these inversions that you don’t really get on standard loopers.

We did two quick rides on it to begin with. But thanks to short waits and quick operations, we got to ride this coaster inside and out throughout our days here, trying out a bunch of different seats. We ended up liking front row on the right the most.

Additionally, we kept greying out on the bottom of the drop and through the immelmann on almost all our rides. So for anyone who doesn’t think wingriders are intense, Gatekeeper proves that otherwise.

Fantastic ride, exceeded my expectations. 9/10



I almost forgot about this next ride we did, which is often overlooked.



We actually had to wait about 10 minutes to ride this. I figured it would be a walk on, but I guess the addition of Valravn may have helped Blue Streak become more popular? They have installed a pathway behind Raptor, so Blue Streak insn’t really hidden anymore.

Blue Streak is good fun. It’s kind of short, but it’s pretty relentless with plenty of airtime. Just a little rough though. 7.5/10



After that I spent a few minutes taking some goon pics of Valravn.















We eventually wanted to make our way up and do Millennium Force, but first we did Rougarou.



I had done Mantis in the past and it was one of the worst coasters I’d ever done. So I was really glad when CP decided to convert this. So let’s pretend Mantis never happened.





The generally consensus seemed like it was just an adequate ride, but I also heard that it was not great and a bit rough in the second half. For that reason I kept my hands down and held on. I don’t know what those people were talking about because it was pretty smooth and I got no headbanging at all. I also sat in inside seats, so maybe it’s rougher on the outside? I don’t remember if the trim on the drop was on either, so that means maybe it wasn’t?

Definitely not the best floorless coaster I’ve done (and not the best layout either), but a perfectly enjoyable ride nonetheless. I thought the best part was the low to ground transition just after the incline loop, fun little whip right there. There rest of the ride doesn’t really “do much,” but I still found it very fun. 8/10





Next up was one of the big ones, Millennium Force. Even though it was on a weekday, I was surprised to see that the ride only had around a 30 min wait, and it constantly stayed like that throughout our two days there. I guess when you have other big popular people eaters like Raptor, TTD, Maverick, and now Valravn, I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that Millennium Force—a ride with high capacity and probably one of the park’s best operating crew—isn’t racking up some of the bigger queues.





I mean there’s still a queue, but it’s nice to know that I can pretty much ride this whenever I want without having to deal with some long ass wait.



I had done this only a few times years ago and remember loving the drop and sheer adrenaline. But tbh I couldn’t remember if it actually had any great airtime or if it was really intense. That, with the addition of me now being more experienced and others saying how it’s overated, made me somewhat worried that it wasn’t going to be as good as I remember.

I’m glad that wasn’t the case, because the ride was actually better than I remembered. The climb up top is quick but long enough for you to take in the view before selling your soul to the devil. It was incredibly windy up there too.



The first drop is still amazing. We’ve all done plenty of steep 80+ degree drops before, but with this one being huge sets it apart from others. I can’t decided whether I prefer this drop or Skyrush’s. Skyrush is more “what the **** is this ****!!” while MF lasts longer. Both are incredible though.



On multiple rides we greyed out from the bottom of the drop and up into the enourmous overbank turn. The first two airtime hills are similar to B&M megas and each have a good 4+ seconds of airtime. The rest of the overbank turns have some nice positive g forces as well. And the speed and turns in between are really just a lot of fun.





Each airtime hill gets better than the last, with this one next to the station having some of the best airtime there is. You’re probably hitting that bunny hop at some 50 mph, so you can imagine the ejector you get. It helps that the T-bar restraints are very comfortable (MUCH better than those tight bricks you get on Bizarro/Superman). One of the best airtime moments, almost as good as Skyrush’s (I’m finding it interesting how I keep comparing MF to Skyrush; they're not supposed to be similar rides!).



There’s an awkward but brief straight section after that, but that and the final overbank are still very fun. It also goes right next to the queue, providing some entertainment to those waiting. I do wish that they squeezed in a final bunny hop in place of that straight section, but other than that there really isn’t much else I’d change with the ride. I can understand why others don’t like it as much because there’s some long “pauses” in between the airtime. But really enjoy the speed in between and I haven’t ridden it enough times yet to get bored of it, if that’s really possible. (And it’s not like I’m a local who visits the park multiple times a year and whores the hell out of this).

Say what you want, but to me it really is a 10/10 ride, one of the more enjoyable rides I’ve done. Soooo much fun.

We went over to get another remaining +1, this time Iron Dragon. I wanted to do this years ago, but rain made it spiteful.



The wait said it was over 20 min but thankfully it wasn’t anywhere near that. It was fine. I actually enjoyed it more than Bat (as I wasn’t feeling the best when riding Bat), but Bat is better because it actually does stuff whereas Iron Dragon doesn’t really do anything. Actually, it kind of picks up a bit in that helix by the pond, makes for a nice finale I guess.

This was well before they started testing the VR, but it was around the time where we started hearing rumors about it. Might as well talk about this anyway. Now that I’ve tried VR on Superman, I can officially say that I’m against it (if you want to hear my full opinion about it, you can check out my rant in the VR Yay/Nay topic). I have heard that the Iron Dragon VR itself is better than Six Flags’s, but still… no VR at all is best. I am glad that CP had the common sense to put it on Iron Dragon. Anyother coaster, other than maybe the Mine Ride, would be a stupid choice.

Enough of that. Back to the report now. After this ride my mom decided to go back to the hotel and sit by the pool (one of the reasons why CP is also one of her favorite parks). Perfectly fine by me, as I pretty much focused on getting the rest of the creds I missed last time. I started to do the loop up and around the park.

Unfortunately this had to wait until the next morning. Lines were constantly long.



So I did Cedar Creek Mine Ride, thankfully another walk on.





These Arrow mine trains aren’t particularly good, but they’re still “fun” and decent for what they are. I remember enjoying the helix (helices?) on this one.

I realized I kind of wanted to do Skyhawk while I was in the area, and I’m glad I did. I had forgotten how fantastic this ride was. I had now done a couple other S&S Screamin’ Swings, but the others aren’t as big or long as this one. Skyhawk is sooo much better, the floater and hangtime is so good and you actually get quite a few swings at the maximum height. 8.5/10. Both sides were running as well, which was nice because I think they were having trouble with this recently.



I needed the blue side of Gemini, so that was next. I remember really liking this ride for the racing aspect, but after riding again I realized that the coaster itself is actually quite good. There’s some pretty good pops of airtime. The best part is just before the final turnaround: there’s an airtime hill that flings you into a fantastic headchopper that caught me off guard.

And of course there’re long turns so you can interact with the other train. The trains are close enough to high five the other riders (though I forgot to sit on the inside seat, so I wasn’t able to high five anyone).

For anyone who isn’t familiar with this ride, it’s actually steel coaster by Arrow, just like Arrow’s hybrid mine train coasters. So it’s actually rather smooth. And if you sit in the middle of each car you’ll avoid the wheel and it’ll be even smoother. I was in the middle of the last car and it was no problem. Very fun ride. 8/10.



Stopped by the Snoopy area to get Woodstock Express.



The ride was dead, but the ride ops took their time with this one. It was kind of annoying how you can’t get off the train on your own. They lock the lap bar in with a key, and they won’t let you out until you high five the operator. That’s fine for the kids, but I wanted to get out of there quick. Didn’t bother with Jr Gemini (or Wilderness Run, whatever it is).

At this point dinnertime is beginning to creep up. I was almost gonna stop by my hotel room to grab some of our water (I got really thirsty, but I didn’t want to spend $4+ on a water bottle). Fortunately I find a water fountain by Gemini, so I spend a few minutes at that and sit down as well.



On my way back down I decided to get another ride on Millennium. On my way over there I get an update on TTD. I’m actually pretty glad it was down because of wind instead of mechanical reasons. Probably more likely to open the next day instead if it was down for whatever reason.





Millennium Force’s queue looked to be around 40 min, but that’s not that bad when you have a queue that’s always moving and a good team working on it.

After a little while I realize the queue hasn’t moved in a few minutes. I look forward and people in front of me start to leave. Goddamn thing has broken down!

As more people leave (one good thing about breakdowns), I get closer and see that a train is stuck on the lift hill, barely out of the station too.



Here’s something kind of neat that I got so see in action. The picture isn’t great, but you see that square thing next to the front car? That’s an elevator thing next to the track. Pretty cool way climb up the lift hill as opposed to going by foot.



Some ride op drove that thing up, not sure what he was checking or if he was just updating the riders. Luckily the train didn’t stay stuck as long as Voyage did, and they get the thing running again. Inconvenient delay, but only added like 20 min to my wait. The riders who got stuck got were given a free second ride. So that’s fun I guess.

I opted for a back row ride. That’s what I’ll usually do, especially when pretty much half the people waiting herd into the front row line.

Another great ride on MF and a good one to ride before a break. I made my way over the boardwalk entrance/exit, enjoying the sights on the way.



Had to wait for the damn train though… ugh.



There’s the last cred I needed to get…







After a bit of regrouping and a nice dinner (we ate at one of the restaurants in the hotel), it was time to go back to the park.



I wanted to do Valravn at some point, but it was broken down yet again. So we decide to do some rides on Gatekeeper at dusk.



And this was fantastic.

We were in the general area for probably less than half an hour, but we were able to get a few rides in on this. The ride was a walk on. I timed them, and from the time it took for a new train to enter the station, unload, load, and dispatch, was around 60 seconds. That’s awesome. The must’ve had at least 10 staff members running the place. 3 on each side loading the peeps, 1 on each side letting peeps in the station, 1 at each exit, 1 or 2 more in the main operating booth. It was the quickest throughput in the park, and I realized it was the best ride operations I’ve seen. =D> Whatever training the ride ops go through here at CP should be at every theme park.

Because of this, we were also able to get one or two front row/back row rides. There were still a bit of people waiting for front row but it really didn’t take long. After a bit we move onto some other stuff.

Wicked Twister would have to wait until tomorrow. Didn’t feel the need to ride it again just yet.



Raptor opened up the next day, so that had to wait too.





We thought we’d just do some more rides on Millennium Force, but on the way over we see Valravn testing. I figured this was the best opportunity to ride it that day. When we got to the entrance there was still already a 45 min queue (there were probably lots of peeps waiting out the breakdown), but that’s pretty good compared to the rest of the day when it would have 90+ min waits.

I’m really glad we were able to catch the ride opening and ride it now, the queue seemed pretty reasonable and there was no way I was going wait that long earlier in the day. We could’ve ridden it the next morning during ERT, but I preferred to use that time riding Maverick.







Now, the queue didn’t seem to me moving as fast as it could have been. I realized they only had two trains running. I’m pretty sure they had 3 running earlier, but I guess they were having trouble with one of them, so now it’s in storage.



The sun has been going down for a bit too, so we end up getting a nice sunset ride.



The lights on all the creds and rides start to turn on too.





We actually ended up waiting around an hour because, just as we’re about to get on, the ride breaks down for the umpteenth time today! I realized that the problem was that two seats on the front row of one train didn’t seem to be locking, or at least it didn’t confirm on the monitor (which everyone could see). So I figured it wouldn’t take them long to get things going again.

Meanwhile the peeps in the other train had to wait it out on the break run. TBH, that’s probably the worst when you already rode the cred and just want off at that point.



The ride was probably down for no more than 20 min. They had a mechanic stop by to check out the damage.



Here’s a goon moment. This trip came with few breakdowns resulting in some interesting things, and Valravn was no different. How about some of the kinks inside of a seat?



They fix everything up, but just to be safe I don’t think they let anyone ride in those two seats (plus after seeing it all go down, I don’t think many would want to sit there).

Unfortunately this is the one ride at the park where they assign rows. That’s always annoying, but I guess it’s understandable since the ride is brand new and incredibly popular atm. Plus, pretty much everyone would flock into the front row, and they need to keep it organized. I expect they’ll let people choose in a couple years when the buzz dies down.

As a result we end up with back row. Pretty annoying, especially since front row is really the best/must do place to ride on dive machines. They’re still good in the back row, but you pretty much miss out on the hangtime up top. And that’s really something.

It was still pretty intimidating creeping slowly around that turn. The wind hadn’t died down, and that with the view of the lake not far ahead of you makes this setting a lot more intimidating than other DMs.

The ride is about what you’d expect from a dive machine. Big, fun, floaty drop, huge, smooth, swooping inversions. There’s more airtime on that second drop as well as that final hill. The second half is a bit more consistent than the first (the immlemann is big but doesn’t really do anything). The dive loop is fun, but I think my favorite moment was the zero g roll.

I think it’s a lot of fun. I only got one ride on this, I wouldn’t have minded a second ride and obviously one on the front row, but it’s great nonetheless. 8.5/10

It’s not amazing or everyone’s choice, but I like the choice Cedar Point has made here. I just think it’s kind of fun that they have another big and scary coaster that’ll eat up everyone.

It’s also fantastic to look at. They did a pretty good job with the pathways and making it easy to take pictures of.









It was close to 9:30, and we wanted the last coaster of the day to be Millennium Force.







It finally started to get dark too.



Full moon was still out as well.



Fireworks were going off at that big stage plaza near Valravn as well. We could see them go off while we were riding. Very cool.

As I’ve said before the ride was amazing, even better at night. And of course you got the bugs flying in your face as well. They're everywhere.



We arrived over at MF perfect timing too. We got off with less than ten minutes left until closing. My mom decides to go back to the hotel, but I stay for one more ride. And the sky had gotten darker completely now, so this ride was even better.

While waiting in line for my second night ride I realize that there probably isn’t another ride that’s gets everyone as excited for than this one. The station was packed and, for a little bit, every time a train got dispatched a clapping chant would start. Great way for everyone to get pumped. And it was one of the best rides of the trip!



Yes there were hundreds of bugs flying around. They didn’t bother me too much but I did get hit a couple times. They don’t hurt, but you they hit you hard.

They must have set up some nests in the queue line as well. Disgusting.



Cedar Point also has one of the best night lighting packages. Each coaster is light up in their own unique. Raptor has a green lightsaber on its lift hill (just like Fury), each row on Gatekeeper’s trains light up, Top Thrill Dragster simply has spotlights on it and dominates the place, but I think my favorite are the moving rainbow lights on Millennium Force’s lift hill.



Dare I say the best looking theme park at night?

The park was closed by now, but there was still a lot going on at the live stage (which was good because I guess that eats up a lot of GP).



I know I already took a ton of Valravn pictures, but it looks even better at night, so have some more.















And here’s another shot of our view from our hotel room.







One quick note: I don’t know if there was some special ERT or if it generated some 2+ hour queue, but Valravn was running with riders as late as midnight! That’s pretty crazy.

That was our first day at my favorite park. The next (and final) day will feature the stuff we didn’t do yet, particularly Maverick and Top Thrill Dragster.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this report!

 

[Pink Cadillac]

Re: Midwest Credding: Day 3 - Return to Cedar Point

Looks like you had a nice long day Two days seems the best idea for this place with its's size and all its ride closures. I agree about the lighting packages -have always admired Millennium Force's.

and they won’t let you out until you high five the operator

omg

 

[Hutch]

Re: Midwest Credding: Day 3 - Return to Cedar Point

Let's finish this up!

Day 4 – Cedar Point Day 2

It was nice to wake up, roll over in bed and see the skyline of roller coasters out the window.

Final day of the trip, and should be a bit more relaxed now that I’ve done all the creds I could get at the park. Despite not spending as much time in the park today than the previous day, it was arguably a bit more fun because I pretty much got re-ride everything I wanted from the previous day, as well as the stuff I missed. The only coasters I didn’t do again were Magnum, Valravn (would’ve been nice to have another ride, but queues were long again), and the family creds.

In addition to that the weather was the best it had been during the entire trip. Not quite as hot as the other days (though still very warm), with lower humidity. So it was nice to not be sweating whenever we were in the sun. Also the wind had died down from the previous day, which meant Top Thrill Dragster would definitely be running!



Valravn was actually open for the 9 AM ERT for resort residents (as well as Millennium, Gatekeeper, and Maverick), but I didn’t really want to do that again because I preferred to get some rides in on Maverick before that got slammed.

Even just before the park opened for ERT there already seemed to be lots of people, but for a while it turned out to be fine, especially considering the 4 coasters open are really spread out.

One thing that was different from my 2012 visit was that they didn’t let anyone in the park before official opening (kind of like Kings Island from the other day), so there was a bit of a line stretching out. They also didn’t play the national anthem, which I used to think was a fun buildup to the opening.

Soon the park opens and we make the hike to Maverick, and pretty much just do that for the extra hour before public opening.





I was really looking forward to trying this again. I had only done once in the past, and I didn’t love it then. It had the old, hard restraints that gave me painful neck choppers on every lateral transition. Now they’ve switched it to soft-padded restraints (like on Intimidator 305), and after riding Maverick again a few times the neck-chopping is basically non existent!

With the ride only being open for a few minutes we were able to walk onto front row to kick the day off. And the ride was amazing! The launched lift hill was good fun to get things started, but then the ride gets ridiculous.



There’s some awesome ejector airtime on the first drop and two other airtime hills. Now that the restraints are much better I could actually really enjoy the transitions, especially those two overbanked turns (the second of which looks close enough to be an inversion tbh). The twisted horse roll is fun, and I love the main launch halfway through.

The only little nit pick I have is that there’s a little trim on the hill just after the launch. So not only do you get that slight tug, but you barely get any sort of airtime. Doesn’t matter too much because it’s a very minor complaint and the rest of the ride is near-perfect anyway. 10/10. This deserved to move back up into my Top Ten, just after Nemesis (which IS a perfect ride).



After our front row ride we went and did two rides in the back, and it’s a lot more ridiculous here. The beyond vertical drop caught me off guard with the airtime. It’s absurd, and I don’t remember other beyond vertical drops feeling like this. The first drop in the back and the “big” airtime hill are the two WTF highlights of the ride. Soo good.

The queue started to build up during our 3rd wait. It only took 15 min but by the time we get off the line had stretched into the cattle pens. That’s fine anyway, because it’s getting close to public opening and the rest of the rides are beginning to open. We see TTD testing, so we head over to that before it breaks down again or something.

I’ll briefly talk about Mean Streak here for second (because I that’s the next picture I took). We were almost gonna do it later in the day, only because its days seemed limited (and it definitely is now), but we decide not too. I’m not disappointed I didn’t get to ride again before they close it, but I already have the cred and the ride is pretty meh anyway. While we were in the area again I’m pretty sure we walked toward it but the train came and I was too lazy to wait a couple minutes, so I was like **** it.



Time for some Top Thrill Dragster.



The ride had only just opened and there’s already a somewhat of a queue brewing, but nowhere near as long as it usually is during the day. So I was able to get 2 back-to-back rides with waits of around 15 min each. That’s pretty good!



Unlike Six Flags and Kingda Ka, Cedar Point actually takes advantage of their loading stations and do a pretty good job loading two trains at once (same with Maverick as well). Both lines for the front row are absurdly long, would probably be an extra 30 min wait at least, so we settle for somewhere in the middle. Obviously I’d love to try front row on this, but I’d rather not wait that long. Other than front row, I don’t think any seats/row ride any differently on this ride, so we just went for the one with the shortest wait!

This was actually a former No. 1 coaster of mine. When I first rode it I had only done one other launched coaster (Rock n Roller Coaster), but that launch wasn’t nearly as intense as this one. With this being my first Intamin accelerator by far the craziest ride I had done, it blew me away and I came off with a huge wow factor. And me being a Cedar Point goon back then I was obviously more excited for Millennium Force, so TTD wasn’t my most anticipated ride of the trip back then.

Now that I’ve ridden several more creds and more accelerators, it was time to see if TTD was as good as I remember. Long story short: it is. But after riding it again, I realized the wow factor wasn’t quite up there as it was when I first rode it. It’s still a holy **** ride and does its job perfectly, but I’ve decided to knock it down a few spots. Other rides, like MF and Maverick, are simply a bit more enjoyable because there’re more to them. TTD’s only real “problem” is that it’s too short, whereas MF and Maverick last a good while and retain that excitement.

I’ll go into more detail about the actual ride itself now. The launch is still as amazing and very smooth, by far the best one I’ve done. The vertical spikes are fun and quick and going over that top hat and plunging down 400 ft is spectacular. 9.5/10

I also love the whole atmosphere and setup of the area. Obviously the theming isn’t the best but there’s a lot of excitement surrounding the ride, especially around the bleachers that are actually usually filled up. And of course the actual anticipation of waiting on the track before the launch is awesome, yet still nerve wracking!

My mom sat out on my second ride. Luckily I didn’t have to wait much longer and I snagged a spot in the second row with another single rider. I remember some 8 year old kid sitting behind me who was having a tantrum while we were waiting for the launch. Pretty hilarious.

After that we worked our way towards the front half of the park to so some other stuff we skipped yesterday. And despite it still being the morning, the queues weren’t too long, at least on the stuff we did.



Here’s a shot of Corkscrew. It’s pretty meh so we didn’t bother. Unfortunately I didn’t take a classic pic of the train going through the corkscrews.



We decided to hop on the Skyride, and we actually rode this a couple more times later in the day.







Good to seem Raptor running after being constantly down the previous day.











Not sure if we really needed to do the Skyride, because there was still a bit of a walk to Wicked Twister from the entrance. But either way it’s a pleasant ride.



I had done this a couple times in the past, but had mixed feelings about it. I thought it was fun but I remember the forces going up and down the spikes being pretty gross.



My mom had actually never done this but she sat out again. After riding Invertigo, she didn’t like the idea of going backwards.

I always admired the setting of this ride. It’s pretty much built right on top of the beach, and you get nice view of the beach and ocean when walking through the queue.

Luckily the wait was almost a walk on. Only had to wait for one train in the station before going on the back row.

I’m glad I did this one again because I enjoyed it a lot more than last time. I forgot that you actually get some pretty nice floater as you go up and hang at the very top. The launches are fun, and the forces weren’t a problem at all (but they were still a bit intense). Even though I sat on one of the ends of the train, I only remember getting significant lateral movement once going up the spike.

Very fun ride, would like to try front row next time (even though I probably could’ve for a second ride while the wait was short). 8/10



Couple a flat rides up next. Don’t think I have any pictures of them but first up was Windseeker. As I said in the Kings Island report I really enjoy these rides. They’re worth doing if you have plenty of time at a park.

MaXair was next, another one my mom sat out on and another one of my favorite flats. I had to wait around 20 min for this I think, but I chatted with a nice family, and one of the kids was around my age and was huge Legend of Zelda goon. Love me some Zelda.

This one used to be my favorite flat, but I think prefer Skyhawk now, mainly because you don't spin (although I don't mind the spinning). But I still prefer MaXair over the smaller Scremin’ Swings like Rush, which don't last as long as Skyhawk.

The only other coaster I wanted to do was Raptor, but I think the queue line was like 45 min so we saved it for later. So at that point it was time to do some rerides.

But first we went to go check out the main entrance and see Gatekeeper in action.



















We then rode the Skyride back up the park to head towards Millennium Force.





At that point my phone ran out of camera space. That’s fine, it’s not like I didn’t take hundreds of pictures of everything else! I guess that means I can begin to wrap this up.

Like the previous day, Millennium had a pretty reasonable queue at around 30 min. Glad I got to get a few rides on this throughout our time here. I think this last ride we did on MF confirmed my feelings that this was the most enjoyable ride in the park.

We a little Rougarou after that. The line wasn’t that long so why not? I enjoyed it more this time knowing that I can put my hands up and not worry about headbanging.

Then we went for a walk up and around the park (Maverick had a long ass queue by now) and checked out Gemini. We did the red side this time (just to confirm that I definitely had both sides now ). We did it in the very back but it was a little bumpier than my ride the day before, probably because we were on a wheel. Gotta make sure to sit in the middle of the cars next time. On top of that the trains didn’t synch up that well so there wasn’t much interaction.

At that point we were thinking about heading home soon, so went back toward the front of the park and ate some Johnny Rockets (good timing too, as soon as we left it had gotten pretty packed there).

After that we did Raptor. Here’s a pic I took earlier.



And we got in in less than 10 min too. Awesome.

This was another ride I thought was okay when I first rode it. I actually thought it was the worst B&M invert I’d ridden, up until this trip.

We did back row of course, and again, like a lot of the rides in the park, I thought it was much better than I remembered. Pretty intense ride with some good inversions and nice positive g forces. The MCBR does mess up the pace a lot, and there’s a bit of a rattle, but not as bad as Banshee’s and there’s no headbanging either. I think my favorite moments we the zero g, the corkscrews, and the final helix. Solid ride. 7.5/10

After that we thought a good way to finish off the entire trip was with Gatekeeper. We got a couple rides in in less than 20 min, and stuck with the right side towards the right.

It was after 3 PM by the time we got off. We were in a good position to drive out to Cleveland for an evening flight back to Boston. Luckily this was the day after the Cavaliers’ arrival back in Cleveland, so the airport wasn’t a **** show!

Unfortunately we faced another delay, but it was a direct flight and it was nice to arrive back home.



Overall thoughts on Cedar Point: it’s still my favorite park. The theming isn't the best, but it’s the location and appearance that make it really nice.

I know not everyone loves the coaster selection here, but to me you got 3 world class Intamins, Gatekeeper and Valravn are couple of fantasatic, and there’s plenty of solid supporting coasters. The only real meh coasters imo are Magnum, Corkscrew, and Mean Streak. The family creds are meh too but that’s expected.

Then you have a various amount of flats, with MaXair and Skyhawk dominating that lineup. And of course you have other stuff to do at the resort like the water park (which actually might be separate entry fee though) and other activities to do at the resort and beach, if you’re in to that kind of stuff.

The ride operations are the best I’ve personally seen at any theme parks, and I had multiple friendly encounters with staff members.

As for what coaster they could have next? Well obviously they need to do RMC Steel Streak, but I also noticed that they have some space at that site where Shoot the Rapids once was. Would be nice to have some sort of coaster interacting with Millennium Force. Who knows, maybe they’ll actually add a GCI in that spot.

That’s the end of my trip! Even though it was only a few days and not nearly as long as some other big goon trips, I had a wonderful time and got to visit some awesome parks.

Thanks for reading this PTR… I know I took a while to get each part out but it’s done now and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading!

 

[DelPiero]

Nice report, with some great pics, thanks for sharing. These always bring back memories from my own trip so like reading others thoughts. I'm sure everyone who visits gets held up by that damn train lol.

 

[Hutch]

^Thanks!

You're spot on about the memories. That's one thing I enjoy when reading other people's reports on parks I've visited.

 

[DelPiero]

^I also like the report writing style, plenty of pics of the park thoughts of the rides. It makes it a lot nicer to read. So keep it up