Park Review
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Sandusky, Ohio June 19, 2001 Many thanks to those who supplied advice on how to make the most of Cedar Point in a limited timeframe. Here is a brief report on how we did. Since most of you on this list are already very familiar with Cedar Point, I will spare the gory details on each ride, and just give you a first timer�s impressions. Weather: 95 degrees; hot and sticky We left Detroit about 3:00 and made it to Cedar Point at 5:45 pm. (Damn that Detroit traffic....) We went straight for Raptor. Twenty-five minutes later I was in the back seat, right side. Raptor was everything I expected from a top notch B&M - fast, forceful, and dizzying. Great ride. Next we headed for Magnum. That line was also 25 minutes, but had only half the number of people in line and three trains running. I took the back seat again and enjoyed the ride. It was a little bumpy and jerky but not painfully so, except for my knees, which were jammed up against the back of the seat in front of me (I'm 6'2"). A few more inches of legroom would help greatly. I would certainly ride it again, but I was not overly impressed. After Magnum we rode Gemini and Mean Streak, both of which were walk-ons. I thought Gemini was very fun, and our come-from-behind victory through the last helix made it even better. I took the train on the left, in the back seat. I enjoyed the smoother feeling of riding on steel rails while weaving through the support structure of a wooden coaster. I also really liked Mean Streak, though it made some pretty load noises in some spots and felt like it needed some TLC. Was that a brake I felt as we crested the hill of the first drop? Nevertheless, I really liked it and would have ridden it again, except they shut it down right after we got on. I think it was down for about 20 minutes or so, but don't know why. It was now about 7:30 and I had four down, two to go on my list of must-rides (Raptor, Magnum, Gemini, Mean Streak, Mantis, and Millennium Force). We grabbed a chili dog and fries, which were quite unimpressive. Since we were making good time, took a quick ride on the canoe/log flume and the Cedar Creek Mine Train. Neither of which were very exciting, which was exactly what I expected. The mine train would be great for my four-year-old daughter though. From there, we headed back to Mantis. The line for Power Tower was not as short as I wanted it to be, so we passed it for now. The line for Mantis was about 45 minutes, but they had music playing and the scenery was quite entertaining. I did not realize that Sandusky, Ohio was the body piercing capital of the world. Mantis is another great ride - very intense, and made even more so with the stand up trains. By the end of the ride, I think all of my blood was crammed into the bottom of my legs, which was a little painful. But of course, I loved every second of it. After exiting Mantis, we had enough time to run back to Power Tower before we got in line for the finale, Millennium Force. By now it was about 9:30, it was starting to get dark, and the line was down to ten minutes. We took the drop, because I have ridden the shot at both Valleyfair and the Stratosphere. The drop was good and the view was great, looking back towards the entrance of Cedar Point at dusk, with all the lights on. Gee, it really is a point that sticks out into the lake. I still love these rides, but none of them compare to the Big Shot on top of the Stratosphere. I thought I was being launched into outer space on that one. Then it was back to Millennium Force, where we got in line with about 10 or 15 minutes to spare. The line was 50 minutes long, and by the time we got on it was very dark outside. Thunderstorms were rolling in over the lake to the north, creating a nice lightning display to complement the laser light and fireworks show behind us. Luckily the storms stayed north, but the cloud cover made it very dark. This ride is simply awesome. After climbing way up into the night sky, I was dropped into a dark abyss, and from there on out I was lost in a very fast sequence of high banked turns, even darker tunnels, and air-filled bunny hops. Experiencing it for the first time in the dark was very interesting, because I was unfamiliar with the layout, and we were going so fast through the dark that I couldn't really see where we were going. It was almost like riding it blind. Overall impressions: Cedar Point really packs it in there, with a lot of great rides in not all that much space. I really enjoyed how many of the queue lines were right in the middle of the layout of the coasters. It was great for an engineering geek like myself to be able to observe the structures of the rides so closely. In many parks it feels as if the designers intentionally keep the fast moving rides at a very safe distance from the guests around them, but at Cedar Point it is just the opposite. It makes waiting in line or even walking down the midway much more exciting when you can see the coaster go speeding by at such a close range. Since I grew up in the L.A. area, it was inevitable for me to make comparisons to Six Flags Magic Mountain. I think the two parks match up rather close. Those of you who live near either one should be counting your blessings. Hmmm, I guess that wasn't such a brief report after all. -Tom
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