Cedar Point
Sandusky, Ohio
By Nate Kohlrusch
August 16 & 17, 2000
THE PARK: General Impressions. +4.5
Josh Wozny from this list accompanied me to Cedar Point on the 16th. The weather
was wonderful, and we even went on some water rides (something I rarely do).
We both had a great time, despite certain events I had to promise
wouldn't be repeated here. ; ) On the 17th, it decided to rain (the
first day of rain on my entire trip). It wasn't horrible, but rain makes
being at an amusement park not too fun. And to my surprise, it didn't
clear out the crowds at all! I returned to my hotel midday to take a
nap, then returned to Cedar Point around six. I stayed for a little while, then it
started pouring again. So I returned to my hotel a second time, then
went back to Cedar Point a couple of hours before closing. To my surprise, you
can only leave and return once during the day without paying for
parking! Luckily, the lady at the toll both let me in for only a $.50
"toll fee". Basically, once I complained about being charged for another
$6, she told me that if I were dropping somebody off or picking somebody
up, it's only 50 cents. Still, that made me mad.
Cedar Point, though large and often overcrowded, is a nice place. It's
obvious that the park is cared for, and the atmosphere is generally
friendly. It's a pretty park; the large flowerbeds along the midway are
beautiful, the wooded areas in Frontier Town/Trail are nice, and Lake
Erie really adds to the beauty. In my opinion, though, they have a
real problem of spacing out their rides. Certain areas, especially near
the Giant Wheel, need a significant new attraction to draw the crowds
away from the Mantis/Millennium Force area. The Mean Streak/White Water
Landing area also needs something major to release the strain on the
Mantis, Millennium Force, and Wildcat lines.
Cedar Point could also use some more flat rides. When's the last time
they got a new one? 1997 (Chaos)? What's up with that? It's time Cedar Point
pulls a Six Flags Great Adventure thing and adds several new flat rides in a year.
Now that my complaining is out of the way, we can address other things.
I enjoyed the cleanliness of the park. It's not that it's the cleanest
park in the world, but after coming from certain other parks
(Six Flags Ohio) it sure looks clean. Chris K. is certainly correct
about the overabundance of garbage cans (and yes, at times it does get
carried away). But on average, Cedar Point does a nice job. I didn't get a
chance to ride Power Tower. I wanted to compare it to the one at
Valleyfair to see if S&S has improved their launch over the years, but I
just didn't find the time. Their river raft ride, "Thunder Canyon" is
fun, but totally drenching. I was somewhat delighted to see the ride
drained so I could see what causes all the rapids; to my surprise,
it's done only by nailing large railroad ties to the bottom of the
trough. Weird.
As for food, the Midway Market is probably the best bet. I'm impartial
to all-you-can-eat buffets, but it was a great place. The service wasn't
fantastic, but better than what I received at Six Flags Ohio. The location
(underneath Raptor) isn't half bad, either.
The best way to cover Cedar Point is to proceed directly to Millennium Force right after they
open the gates. I had a Valleyfair season pass (so I had to enter
through Guest Relations) but they let me in before everyone else both
days. If you make it to Millennium Force early, you should be able to get on with
only a minimal (1/2 hour) wait. After Millennium Force, heading to Corkscrew, Magnum,
Gemini, and Mean Streak would probably be your best bet. You can throw
Raptor in there right after Millennium Force if you get there before 10am. You'll
still have to wait, but it's the shortest wait of the day. The line
doesn't even die before closing. Do this, and you'll save yourself lots
of waiting.
One last comment before I get to the coasters: Cedar Point at night is
beautiful. If you visit the park, make sure to stay until closing. The
lighting on Millennium Force and Power Tower is really cool, and the
massive lighted structure of Mean Streak is amazing. Not to mention the
lines really die down for the last few hours. It's impossible to get on
Mantis at all during the day, but it's a walk-on at night. And you can
watch the laser show while you wait. : )
Okay, on to the coasters (in the order I rode them). I will use the semi-standard Griswold rating system, which ranges from �3 to +5, with 0 being slightly favorable.
MILLENNIUM FORCE - 2000 Intamin Hyper ("giga") coaster. +4.5
My comment after the first ride: "That's it?" At that point, the rating
was about a +3. Luckily, the ride significantly improved throughout the
day. I got six rides in two days, and was lucky enough to get one in the
front seat, and one in the back seat. The extremes (front or back) are
by far the best places in the train. There's a fantastic pullover in the
back (best seat to really feel the drop). From there, though, it's a
front seat ride. I had been told Millennium Force delivers no airtime, and that's
completely inaccurate. There's nice air on the hill going onto the
island, and the air on the smaller hill going off the island is
incredible. There's great air on the hill near the station, too. The
overbanked turns, while just okay in the middle, are fun in the back and
extremely intense in the front. Millennium Force is a nice addition to the park (they
really needed a smooth non-looper). And though I think I'd prefer a
little more airtime, I liked the coaster. The night rides are incredible (don't
go and miss a night ride!). And I would suggest not riding in the rain
as I did....ouch!!!
CORKSCREW - 1976 Arrow Loop-Screw. +0
Arrow rough/jerky/bumpy/shaky. Enough said? It's in a nice location.
Arrow was stupid to put in an airtime hill after the first drop with those
horrible OTSRs. And this one is missing the helix I'm used to at Valleyfair which is, by the way, a much better ride.
MAGNUM XL 200 - 1989 Arrow out and back hypercoaster. +2.5
Um.....this is the coaster I hear great things about? Okay, so it's not
that bad. There's just little to no airtime. Even on the first drop in
the back seat, I experienced very minimal airtime. It's a complete ramp.
And the airtime hills don't do it for me. As others have stated, the
return run is all too repetitious, and provides very little airtime.
It's rough and the turnaround is boring (and painful). Nice location,
so-so coaster.
GEMINI - 1986 Arrow racing double out and back steel coaster with wooden
structure. +4
Nice! This was a pleasant surprise. Arrow? Smooth? Who would have
thought? There is some great airtime here, and some wonderful
headchoppers. The racing aspect is nice only on the turns, but that
doesn't bother me in the least. This is a great ride. I really wish
Arrow would have made more of these. Their "mine trains on steroids"
(Gemini, Excalibur) are hands down their best work, and the only work of
theirs I really enjoy.
MEAN STREAK - 1991 Curtis D. Summers wooden twister. PTC trains. +2.5
Okay, it's not horrible. But it's not great, either. I didn't find it
overly rough, but I didn't find it overly interesting, either. I would
rather have rough and exciting than semi-smooth and boring. Even the
large drop is so over braked it's pathetic. It's nice to look at and I
think it's worth keeping around, but could use some improvements.
DISASTER TRANSPORT - 1985 Intamin enclosed bobsled coaster. +4
Pleasant surprise #2. Though short, I loved this ride! It was my
first bobsled coaster, and though the lift is slow and the theming is
virtually nonexistent (or at least incredibly confusing), the ride is
smooth, fast, and disorienting. I can't count the number of times I rode
this. I know I wouldn't like it as much if it were outside, but having it
enclosed is very nice.
BLUE STREAK - 1964 John Allen/PTC-designed single out and back woodie. PTC
trains. +3
My first ride on this was rough, but the next day it was running better.
There's some nice airtime on both the out and back runs, but the ride
isn't anything special to me.
CEDAR CREEK MINE RIDE - 1969 Arrow mine train with two lifts. +1
There are a few nice points to this ride. The setting is neat, and the
ride does get going in the final helix. But the rest of the ride feels
like a pinball machine, as the train bounces around the zig-zagging
course like it's trying to decide where to go. True, this is what mine
trains are supposed to be like, but the bouncing is a little too
painful. I'd rather see mine trains focus on helices and quick turns
after one large drop. But that's my opinion.
RAPTOR - 1994 B&M 6-inversion inverted coaster. +4
Nice ride. It's smooth, fast, and intense. The zero-g rolls are my
favorite B&M element, I think (besides their quick transitions). I like
raw intensity in my coasters. A good inverted coaster is one that has so
many positive G's in the elements that it feels like your legs are being
ripped off. There are a few places (cobra roll, final helix) that do
that, and I love it. I don't like how they put Raptor in the front of
the park (lines!) but it looks nice there. Overall a good ride. It's
not enough to shoot way up on my top ten, but it's on there.
MANTIS - 1996 B&M 3-inversion standup coaster. +3.5
Overall it�s a nice ride. A few gripes: there's some serious roughness after
the brake run, making the second half of the ride much less enjoyable.
In fact, the flatspin and figure 8 verges on being downright painful.
And the trim on the first drop is sooo frustrating. Still, I like
Mantis. I rode at night both times, and I believe B&M night rides are
one of the greatest things on earth. One particular spot on Mantis that
I absolutely love is the transition from the �inclined loop� into the helix that brings you into the brake
run. That transition throws you to the right without any pain at all.
This is what B&M is about; I wish there were more of those wicked
transitions. And, in case you haven�t noticed, I don�t consider the �inclined helix� an inversion�sorry. :-)
WILDCAT - 1970 Anton Schwarzkopf portable steel twister. +2.5
After Valleyfair removed theirs at the end of the 1998 season, it was
nice to ride one of these again. They're nice rides, probably my
favorite of the portable coasters. There are some nice airtime spots,
and the helices are quite fast. I miss having one at VF; now all we
have is that POS Arrow Mad Mouse.
IRON DRAGON - 1987 Arrow suspended coaster with two lifts. +1
(*see the update at the bottom of this review for a more recent opinion*)
If you don't look at this as a coaster, it's not bad. Consider it a
gentle ride, and it's actually quite enjoyable. I like flying through
the woods in the first half, and the pretzel knot over the lagoon is
neat. If not for the location, this ride would be horrible. As is, it's
enjoyable but far from thrilling.
WOODSTOCK EXPRESS - 1999 Vekoma family twister. +1
I found it humorous that there's a height limit (as in, "you must be this
tall") on this thing - I saw them tell one little girl she couldn't
ride alone because she was too short. Her parents didn't want to
ride so, being the nice guy that I am, I took her for a ride. And I
decided that having a child beside you screaming in delight makes the
ride much more enjoyable. I think these "family coasters" are the only
thing Vekoma that I really like (except maybe the Invertigos). But they
really have something in these coasters. It's funny that the only Vekoma
ride Cedar Point has is a family coaster, a wise choice.
Thanks for reading!
UPDATE: October 5, 2001 visit
We pulled onto the causeway just at 6pm and drove over to the Soak City
lot. We planned to hop on Magnum first (get it out of the way!) and then
head over to Millennium Force. Apparently Cedar
Point is the only park on the planet that cannot run rides in the rain,
as the Wave Swinger, Iron Dragon, Cedar Downs, Power Tower, and two
haunted houses were all we took in all night (they were the only thing open!). I'm not going to give the
park a rating for the night, as it'd get an extremely low rating, which
isn't representative of a usual visit to the Point. Here are my
observations on the rides we did get on:
WAVE SWINGER: After riding this, I decided that swing rides are just not
for me. Rarely do I get dizzy on flat rides, but I was praying for this
ride to be over before long. Hopefully I'm not getting too old for these
things. ;-)
CEDAR DOWNS RACING DERBY: I didn't get a chance to ride this on my last
visit, so I was extremely pleased to get a ride during this visit. I was
surprised at how fast this thing is - and I hear this is slow for a
racing derby ride. It sure felt faster than 15mph! I really enjoyed
this ride, and my enjoyment was heightened by the fact that I won the
race. At least, I think I did (and will stick by that claim!).
IRON DRAGON-1987 Arrow suspended coaster with two lifts. +2
Still as boring as ever. We got a seat near the front of the train and I really
enjoyed threatening to spill the hanging bag of water above us onto Josh
and Brian on the lifts. The very first drop is actually quite fun, but
from there the ride becomes slow and boring (glad those OTSR's are
there!). The rain did seem to help - either it sped it up a bit, or the
lack of anything else open helped us to enjoy this a bit more. The
location of the ride is really neat - if only the ride ever got going.
Near the end it seems to when it enters the pretzel helix over the pond,
but I don't really find that thrilling either.
POWER TOWER: I didn't get on this tower on my last trip either, but I
wasn't missing much since I've ridden Valleyfair's too many times to
count. S&S towers are really a lot of fun, but we had some incredibly
cold rides. The Space Shot isn't as good as others since it's too tall
to really have a nice pop of air. And while I enjoy Turbo Drops, I
prefer the Intamin Drops. I know - picky, picky...
PHARAOH'S SECRET: Not a bad haunted house, but nothing special either
(especially with the Disaster Transport theming at the end!). The
theming throughout it was pretty cool, and I would have enjoyed it a lot
more if not for the extremely annoying girls in front of us. One girl
thought it would be appropriate to A) bang on all the walls and windows
throughout the attraction, B) scream at all the monsters, "You're not
scary!", C)Actually threaten to kick one of the monsters if he touched
her, and D) then run right back to the entrance to do it all over again
after it was over. People like her are the ones you wish would fall out
of roller coasters (or be beaten with tons of CHOST).
TOXIC TUNNEL OF TERROR: Great! While Cedar Point needs to take a lesson
from Six Flags on Halloween theming throughout the park, Six Flags needs to take a lesson from Cedar Point
on free walkthroughs. There were quite a few places where people jumped
out at you, and there was a really nice rotating barrel effect. The
monster rave at the end earned it lots of bonus points, as well. And the
employees working this attraction were great - especially the woman who
told Josh that the rotating barrel effect works best if you lay down face
first on the floor, then laughed at him when he did it and said, "I can't
believe you fell for that." :-)
We left Cedar Point at some point between 8 and 8:30pm, all of us soaking
wet and pretty pissed off. George has since gotten the money back for
his admission ticket to CP (check is on the way!) but I didn't get to
ride Millennium Force this year. I suppose that's more of a reason to
return in 2002�hopefully they�ll actually open the rides next time.
-Nate
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