Re: Up the Midwest- SDC/SFSTL/SFGAm/CP/KI/KK/HW- Cedar Point
Alright, so we got our two days at Cedar Point in. I got every cred in the park apart from Wilderness Run, plus re rides on the major coasters, so I have my opinions on everything and the park as a whole. Visited on Thursday, June 2nd, and Friday, June 3rd. Sorry this is a bit late… This whole trip has been long and very tiring, and I’m finally getting a chance to sit down and write this without being exhausted and wanting to fall asleep. Here we go!
We stayed in Sandcastle Suites, which I thought was very overpriced for what it was. The room was just mediocre, nothing terrible, but nothing spectacular. Anyways, we used the Hotel Breakers entrance both days to get in for early entry (staying on site didn’t matter for early entry since we have Platinum passes which include the early entry anyways). The walk from Sandcastle Suites to the Hotel Breakers park entrance is quite a lengthy walk… Not that bad in the morning, but at the end of the day, when you’ve walked 15 miles all day trekking from coaster to coaster, it is a tad annoying. Nothing they can do about that I guess, it was more so my fault because I could’ve used the entrance near Magnum.
The line to get in for early entry was long both days. The first day it took forever to get in. We didn’t get in until around 9:20. By then, Valravn had already acquired a decent queue, even for early entry. Speaking of which….
We went here first during early entry for both days. Had a long line our whole stay.
Quite a photogenic and beautiful ride. There is not much netting at all really, so trains fly over your head like it’s nothing. Nice.
Both times for early entry, I got front row. Awesome stuff (ehh luck I guess).
My opinion on the ride? A fun, graceful ride, that I found very enjoyable, but not too intense or thrilling. It’s as smooth as any brand spanking new Beemer should be. You get an incredible view at the top, truly spectacular. The step up under-flip zero g roll thing was easily my favorite element on the ride. The airtime hill gave some OK airtime, but nothing really remarkable. This thing is a people eater for sure though, and Cedar Point did a great job with operations on this one. They have a monitor in the station that shows all the seats, which ones are good to go and which ones aren’t, and how long the train has been parked in the station. The average time I noticed was about 70 seconds, so they were booking it. Great job Valravn crew.
So beautiful….
After Valravn, was a coaster I have been so excited yet so skeptical about for a long time. Millennium Force. First ride on it, I was a bit underwhelmed. But it was still a very fun and awesome ride. The airtime is pretty good, and it is a fast ride. However, I rode it at least 4 more times during the trip, and it grew on me quite a bit. Got a front row and a night ride on it, and boy each of those were awesome. The little hump before the station surprised me, as it provided some pretty awesome ejector air, didn’t see that coming to be honest. Also, I did grey out at the bottom of the first drop and first overbanked turn, twice. Not sure if that was the coaster or the fact that I didn’t drink much water or each much food the day that happened. Either way, it happened, so I guess it counts. However, this coaster is not the best steel coaster in the world. It is still an amazing ride that is in my top 10, but like a whole lot of people, I feel it is overrated. Still a great coaster nonetheless.
Maverick was a coaster I had heard nothing but great reception about, so I was looking forward to it quite a bit.
I got 4 total rides on it. 2 front, 2 back. Boy, this coaster is freaking incredible. The first drop, although it is short, is one of the best first drops I’ve experienced, so much air. The ride is very intense, and it throws you around so much with the low to the ground, rapid and quick turns. The launch is very smooth, actually the WHOLE coaster is butter smooth. Had the ability to get a night ride on it, and it is even more fun! I absolutely love this ride, and I am really tempted to give it my #2 spot, moving Goliath to #3. I’ll have to think about it, but man it is tough. Also, on one of my rides on Maverick, the ride broke down, while I was on the brake run. Those restraints are pretty painful after being stuck there for 30 minutes. But it was all good, because I was given this-
I used it to get a third ride on Valravn, this time I got a back seat ride.
Sometimes on trips like these, you have to suck it up and just get the credit…. Yeah **** Mean Streak. This ride was absolutely atrocious. One of the worst roller coasters I have ever ridden. I was in the third row, and this thing still managed to screw me up. My back was **** for the next two hours after riding this. Also, it’s such a boring and pointless roller coaster with nothing but a bunch of dumb turns. Cedar Point, please either A. call RMC and build the tallest and fastest hybrid coaster in the world (something to market) or B. burn this piece of **** to the ground and build an actually enjoyable wooden roller coaster. This ride takes up so much space, and is so unpopular and pointless.
BURN IT DOWN.
Cedar Creek Mine Ride was a pretty damn lame ride, even for a “mine train” coaster. Whatever, +1.
Time to be a whore.
OMG THAT WAS SO INTENSE SLKFSHFPJDFLJLSDFJKL!!!
Gemini was an enjoyable coaster with some good bits of airtime. Got both sides, so +2. Also I liked how close the two tracks are together. Easy to high five riders on the other track, although I’m sure Cedar Point doesn’t want people to be doing this….
The coaster that started the Coaster Wars itself. Magnum XL-200.
We sat in the famous ejector seat (3rd row), and boy is it insane. I personally found it not enjoyable, as the airtime was actually kind of painful, because those restraints blow ass. Rode it in the back row later on. I loved the lake view that this ride provided.
I had heard bad things about Corkscrew, so I wasn’t really excited, just wanted the cred.
And honestly it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. However we were in the front row, so maybe that has some effect. It was shaky, no question, but I didn’t find it unbearably rough.
Wicked Twister was up next. Never really cared for these Intamin Impulses, but I do find them enjoyable. Also, I know it is the ride itself, but I love the “scream” noise the ride makes when it launches. Kind of adds an effect I guess. Anyways, even though this is the tallest and fastest Impulse, I do like Steel Venom better because it has a holding brake.
Blue Streak I had constantly heard was very underrated with some good airtime. Now being completely honest, it was a letdown. Not like I had much hype for it, but I just found it boring and it didn’t give really any airtime at all.
Up next, Not Mantis! Actually Rougarou. My bad, I guess.
It was my first floorless coaster. And it was decent I guess. The first half is fun, but after the MCBR, it goes downhill. Gets pretty rough afterwards and the head banging is there for sure. My least favorite Beemer in the park.
The last credit I needed, Iron Dragon. It was my first Arrow Suspended coaster. It’s a pretty damn boring and uneventful ride, however it was nice to just relax and settle down on a relaxing, forceless coaster. Those cars are roomy but those seats are uncomfortable.
So now that I’ve wrote about all the coasters, I’ll briefly talk about the flat rides. I didn’t get any pictures of any of the flats, but I did ride all the big ones.
MaxAir- This ride was really fun. Honestly I was always kind of nervous about these Giant Frisbees, but riding one for the first time made me realize that they’re more relaxing and graceful than thrilling. That’s just me though. It gave some pretty good air.
Windseeker- I loved this one. I’ve ridden the one at WoF, but this one I enjoyed a lot more, being that is right by the beach and you get magnificent views of the lake, beach and the rest of the park. Relaxing ride.
Skyhawk- I’ve been on the S&S Swing at Valleyfair, so this wasn’t anything new to me. Fun ride that provided good air.
Power Tower- Typical S&S Drop Tower. Nothing special.
So now that I have talked about all the roller coasters, here are some nice pictures I took while in the park.
The Hotel Breakers beach at night was really fun and enjoyable. They had Game 1 of the NBA Finals playing on a giant inflatable projector screen on the beach. Awesome sauce. Also, they have light up frisbees, footballs and soccer balls which made for some fun and competitive on the beach sports.
Ducks were everywhere near Sandcastle Suites.
Brew and BBQ was going on, so we had some good BBQ. I’m not 21 so the alcohol and brews I didn’t have any so I can’t speak on that matter. The BBQ was OK, living near Kansas City, I obviously had some of the KC BBQ. It was pretty good, the BBQ sauce tasted heavenly.
Valravn is absolutely massive in person.
The immelmann is absolutely MASSIVE.
Millennium is absolutely gorgeous all lit up at night. So pretty…
Drove on Perimeter Road and got out of the car to take this shot.
Leaving Cedar Point was definitely a challenge. Even though it is 16 hours away from where I live, I will be back for sure at some point or another. I got every credit (minus Wilderness Run for obvious reasons) plus rerides on most of them. On some of the main coasters, I got too many laps to count on them in the 3 days that I was there, so that’s good I guess.
(posted this picture on my Instagram)
So my final thoughts on the Roller Coaster Capital of the World? It was a surreal experience that I will not soon forget. I will miss this place a lot, but I will be back soon. So many quality roller coasters, it really is an incredible park. I had been waiting to visit this park for a LONG time, and it for sure lived up to the expectations and hype. Call me a basic bitch if you must, but it is my favorite park I have visited, no questions in my mind.
Stay tuned for reports on Kings Island, Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World! Got Holiday World tomorrow and then this trip is done.
