Cedar Point

Visited: July 29, 2022

Attending: Brian and Doug

Friday morning, we got up bright and early, which was mostly unnecessary because we were only a mile away from the park, and it doesn’t open all that early. We snagged a much better parking spot than the previous day and headed on in, thanks to our passes. We had already decided to get ourselves FastLane Plus, which I’d never done before at CP, in order to make sure we were able to hit all the credits in one day. But since we’d already tagged some of the highlights the previous day, it took some of the pressure off for today. In the past when I’d done early entry, we were allowed to enter the park, but stopped on the midway until 9. Today that wasn’t the case, and although we we entered before 9, we could go wherever we liked.

Steel Vengeance

Although Steel Vengeance had been our last ride of the night the previous day, we figured it was still best to start there, FastLane or no FastLane. So we headed directly to the back of the park, where we discovered that Steel Vengeance wasn’t open yet, and wouldn’t start running until 10. However, Doug really wanted to do it first, so we waited as the park came to life around us. I’m not sure if I’ve done Steel Vengeance on a bright, clear day before; I remember my previous rides being overcast. I suggested a front-row ride for variety and for the views. It was slightly less intense and seemed a bit slower, probably because it was an early train more than the front seats. Still, I enjoyed the first drop and the inversions quite a bit from the front. Since it was still early, we circled back around and got a back-row ride. Still not as intense as a night ride, but only barely noticeable. Although we could have ridden Steel Vengeance all day (maybe), we had other credits to get.

Maverick

Maverick was the next stop because of its proximity and popularity. This was one ride where the FastLane came in particularly handy, as I could see about an hour’s worth of people in the switchbacks, but the FastLane let us go right to the station. I think Doug was skeptical about this one because of its short height, so I deliberately didn’t tell him about the second launch from the tunnel, and I was pleased by his reaction. Unfortunately, my favorite thing about Maverick is the snappy transitions, and it turns out Doug doesn’t really like those. I thought that might be because he’s taller, and therefore more subject to the whippiness, but it’s also possible that it’s just personal preference. Regardless, he acknowledged that Maverick is an excellent example of its breed, but he just doesn’t happen to like the main feature of that breed.

Magnum XL-200

Having gotten two major attractions out of the way, we decided it was time to hit some of the less popular rides as we made our way back down the peninsula. Unfortunately, the Mine Train and Gemini were closed (they often don’t open with the park, I’m told), so the first thing we met was Magnum. My experiences of Magnum have been mixed in the past, but I’d heard there was a “magic seat” that changed everything. Unfortunately, some quick research revealed confusion about where the magic seat actually IS. There seemed to be general agreement that not sitting over a wheel provided a smoother ride, so we went with the last car, center row. I found the experience to be more or less what I expected, so I was able to anticipate and enjoy it, especially the ejector bunny-hills that have no right to exist. Doug found the whole thing quite unpleasant, and was very vocal about the lack of proper profiling. Needless to say, he will not be joining the group who thinks that Magnum is the best ride in the park.

Corkscrew

Corkscrew was the next ride down the midway, and we got in line while acknowledging that we were going from one old Arrow to another. The trains have a remarkable lack of legroom, awkward positioning, and strange over-the-shoulder restraints that I can remember from when they were new. We had low expectations, and they were met. We pretty much checked it off the list and moved on.

Valravn

We were approaching the front of the park now, and stopped at Valravn. Although I’m a fan of B&M, dive coasters are among my least favorite of their designs (just above stand-ups). Worse, it was crowded, as Valravn almost always is, and even in the FastLane queue, we spent quite a while cooking in the sun before we got to the platform. We chose to just take our assigned seats this time, so we were in the back row, a bit off-center. I don’t find the “hanging” portion of dive coasters to be all that scary, and being in the back makes it even less so. There’s a bit of whip to be found on the initial drop from the back row, so that made it different than just a straight freefall sensation. There was a little bit of airtime on the hill, and the ride seemed to be running well. It was definitely better than my previous time on Valravn, but I still prefer Griffon on the whole. Doug thought at this point that he preferred the vest restraints to the chunky OTSRs, but he still thought Gatekeeper was a better ride overall.

After Valravn, we headed back toward Raptor, but even the FastLane queue was full. It seemed like it might have gone down again, so we decided to just have lunch instead. I admit this was my idea, because I know Chickie’s & Pete’s is right there, and I wanted a cheesesteak. It was still early enough that the restaurant wasn’t crowded, and although the service was slow, we didn’t mind. Unfortunately, Doug got a call from home indicating that there were various unexpected issues going on. Not to the point that he needed to cancel the trip, but it was something of a distraction thereafter.

Blue Streak

Raptor still seemed to be having issues once we were done with lunch, so we headed for Blue Streak, as it was right there. Even under conditions that probably should have drawn a crowd, the queue was nearly empty. We got assigned to the last car, against my recommendation. Turns out I was still right; the last car is absurdly rough. Doug agreed there was no point in riding that again, ever.

Raptor

After a couple of near misses, Raptor was finally running again. We went with the back row, because that’s what Doug likes, and I let him have the outside seat, for the view. As a result, I didn’t get to see very much. The cobra roll had some nice snap, although maybe not as sharp as Alpengeist’s. The double helix had strong positives, which is kinda strange on an invert. It’s pretty much what I expect from Raptor, which isn’t my favorite invert. It’s kind of middle of the pack.

Gemini

Having reached the front of the park again, we turned around to catch the rides we’d missed, starting with Gemini. There was barely any line, and we jumped right on. Knowing what to expect this time, I was able to enjoy the racing factor, and the fact that the other train is within arm’s reach at some points. (Nobody wanted to high-five me, though.) The restraints are noticeably less than everything else we’d ridden that day, to the point where I may have grabbed the bar a couple of times. Gemini may be old, but it’s still got a nice punch, and I’d hate to see it taken down.

Cedar Creek Mine Ride

Now we were really just riding for the creds, but a cred is a cred, so we got in line for this one. Ops on mine rides often take a while, given the number of small children involved, so the line didn’t move particularly fast. Cedar Creek is long for a mine train, with some rather janky helixes, and no real drops to speak of. There’s not really a ton to say about it; it’s an Arrow mine train.

By this point, it was the middle of the afternoon, and getting pretty hot. So we took a break to get drinks, sit down, and evaluate our options. We’d gotten some night rides the day before, so instead of sticking around for more, we decided to leave earlier and head to Kings Island, but we did want to get some more stops on the way.

Millennium Force (again)

Doug wanted another crack at Millennium Force, and with our Fast Lanes, it wasn’t much of a problem (although Mille’s Fast Lane joins the regular queue considerably earlier than you might expect). We went back-row again, but swapped sides this time. The experience was mostly the same from my point of view. The first drop is fantastic, and it’s got a lot of great speed, but that’s not really what I’m looking for in a giga.

Gatekeeper (again)

We checked Gatekeeper again on the way out, and since it had an unusually short line, we decided to give it another try from the right side of the train, although still in the front row. It remains quite a lot of fun, and may have risen in my rankings a bit, but I think the front row is a must.