Trip Report - Cedar Point
Author - Luke Powter

I first came across Cedar Point on a “Coasters of 2000” special on Fox 8 (Foxtel) which featured Millennium Force, at the time the tallest and fastest coaster in the world. I had never heard of this park before but I was instantly drawn to it. I would have to wait until 2006 before I would get to live my dream and ride the rides, rather than imagine the experience from trip reports and watching on ride videos. This is my trip report.

Being situated on a peninsula, there are only two ways to get to the park and from both approaches guests are greeted by the landscape of steel, and wood, of coasters, rides, and buildings. It really is a sight to behold and the Cedar Point Website does not really do this justice. Top Thrill Dragster in the middle, surrounded by towers and lifts hills all around it. A foreboding view, it whets an already salivating appetite for thrills, making the walk from the parking lot even more of exciting.

Like all enthusiasts, and park officials say, Cedar Point is best tackled over a few days and I agree with this advice, with scheduled, or unscheduled downtime, spending more than one day at the park means a less stressful experience to ride all the rides and experience everything in one day, is impossible given the huge crowds. Whilst the park is well equipped to deal with huge crowds, with waits of upwards of one hour, planning the day was important, but onto the coasters!

The first coaster I raced for was of course ‘Millie.’ I was worried that by choosing Millennium Force first would in some way set the bar too high for other coasters at Cedar Point, but it was here that I realized that size does matter, but it’s not everything. The queue wasn’t as bad as I expected, sure it was somewhere between 40mins to and hour, however a DJ kept the crowds entertained, and the shade and water mist helped reduce the effects of the hot summer sun. A great feature of Millie is that the final over banked turn takes place at the queue area which definitely helped keep the crows pumped, and as I snaked my way closer to the loading station, I could hear the reactions of the riders after unloading from the trains.

The lift hill and first drop was mind bending, the steep incline was fast and steep and, due to the open construction of the coaster trains, was quite unnerving for a first timer. I loved the lap bar configuration and silently lament the way of the over the shoulder restraints on many new Intamin rocket coasters.

The layout of the coaster was fun, the middle section, which took place on an island in the middle of the park, was mostly hidden from the rest of the rides and made for a somewhat private ride. The hills, and over banked turns made for an intense but very fun ride that I wanted to do again, and again, and again, but for the long lines, and heat. Feeling somewhat of a veteran, I still think Millennium Force is worthy of its number 2 spot as world’s best steel coaster. It’s aging a bit now; however the airtime, the speed is still great and explains why Cedar Point has gone with Intamin for their last three coasters.

Am I stating the obvious if I note that Top Thrill Dragster is tall? I must admit I put off riding for a day or two wanting to get as many other coasters under my belt before I rode this beast, a beast that would be the tallest coaster I would ride whilst in the USA as I did not get to ride Kingda Ka.

In the past, TTD was heavily criticised for its poor reliability, however it is obvious that Cedar Point have worked hard with Intamin to break the coaster in and get it to a consistent and reliable operational level. I was surprised to note that Millennium Force had more downtime with a snapped cable than TTD did.

The efficiency of the station crew was impressive; they kept the trains moving at a reasonably fast rate, and before too long I was in the station waiting for my ride. I had watched many launches while queuing and was keen, nervous, and excited about riding TTD. Once the all clear was given, the coaster proceeded from the station to the launch area, I’m all excited again as I write this, ready to be launched for the sky. I was slightly embarrassed to be on display to all the onlookers nearby, not wanting to look too nervous. I put on a brave face and resigned myself to my fate as the lights lit up signalling the launch was imminent. We launched, 0-120mph is fast, however I was conscious that the acceleration was not as intense as I expected, watching the world blur by, I had my hands in the air like I just don’t care (ignoring the instructions to keep my “hands down, hands down!”)

I had a blast on Top Thrill Dragster, not at all disappointed that the whole ride lasted less than 18 seconds. As many have said, it’s a one trick pony, but it’s a mind-blowing trick.

Moving onto Magnum XL-200 “Maggie,” the view from the queue line for Magnum gives a great view of Top Thrill Dragster, making for a fun queue experience, watching the odd train launch up the tower, whilst reading all the silly but clever shirts many people were wearing.

My initial experience of the ride was somewhat disappointing; with many restraints broken meaning waiting guests would have to wait at their gate for the next train to arrive with a working seat in the row. The ride is old, and it felt like the trains hadn’t been replaced since the ride was constructed.

I’ve got some advice, if you’re on Maggie for the thrill and a scary experience; I suggest you ride on the left of the coaster, which is the side closest to the loading gates. Otherwise sit in the train on the right side which is closest to the exit. There’s a nasty over banked turn at the pretzel turn around which gives a clear view of the ground below.

The slower lift hill makes for increased suspense, the first drop feels as steep as Millie, and the second hill provides a little reprieve before turning to head down into the tunnel and onto the turnaround. The tunnels are a great feature of the ride and add to the out of control feeling. With only a rickety lap bar and seat belt, which I think does more of a job keeping you in the seat, makes the airtime really fun because you really do leave your seat.

Wicked Twister was great; I had ridden Steel Venom at Geauga Lake and found the taller spikes, and both ends having a twist to be an awesome experience far superior to the back end break of Steel Venom. Whilst I am a little cautious of heights, I had a much better experience in the rear of the trains. The front spike going head first was ok, but it was so much more exhilarating to shoot up the rear, spin around, all the while seeing the ground spin around too.

I must say, Bollinger and Mabillard make a far superior inverted coaster, and Raptor was the trend setter. I rode the rear of the train and enjoyed getting whipped around, on such a smooth coaster. I could see why this coaster was a crowd favourite, however had to wait for so long to ride this coaster that I only tried it once and had enough. My legs were getting sore by the time I got to Raptor so couldn’t be bothered returning for another. I particularly enjoyed the Cobra Roll; I think an inverted Cobra Roll is a more intense experience than on a normal track like Demon at Wonderland before it closed.

Aside from the ride, I think the Raptor colour scheme was the best in the park, the yellow of TTD, the red of Maggie, the Blue and Silver were up there, but the greens and purples were original and somewhat different to the colours of the other coasters.

Mantis, a stand up coaster, was in my mind, a different experience and not as bad as the reports I had read on trip reports prior to riding it. The bike seat configuration was not as uncomfortable as I anticipated, I used my legs to keep much of my weight off the bike seat restraint and this may have helped my situation. Yet, even if the bike seat was uncomfortable, going through a loop, corkscrews, and other twists and turns while standing up is an awesome and unique experience that I really enjoyed. I found the novelty value of the ride intriguing, but yet worthy of re-rides. Obviously it was not high up on my all time favourite ride count, but I did find stand up coasters to provide a unique experience that I really enjoyed.

Gemini was an experience, the racing concept was new to me, the first drop was big for a coaster older than me, and more intense than I imagined off the one ride video I had watched. The head chopper beam halfway through the ride did catch me by surprise, and yes it will hurt your arms if you keep them in the air as you go under it. From memory my red train won, but I think the blue train actually beat us, we just shouted out to the ride attendant that we won and he announced the result in our favour. A really fun ride, for the whole family, the interaction between both trains was fun, the competition, the yelling out to each other made the experience all the more thrilling, whilst going down drops, and up hills, and around bends.

The 70s style station gave away the age of this coaster, but it was nevertheless a fun coaster to experience and hope it stays on for a few years even though attendance is dropping somewhat. It’s a good introduction to the thrills that coasters can deliver without being too daunting and too intense.

Mean Streak was not mean; the break on the first hill set the scene for a disappointing wooden coaster. I really wanted to feel out of control, but left the coaster thinking it was too tamed, overly trimmed, and altogether safe. I agree with a comment made on an enthusiast board regarding this coaster, that it should have been slightly shorter to reduce the strain on the entire ride, and this do away with the need of a break on the first drop. I didn’t get much air time and spent most of my time trying to avoid squashing into my friend beside me.

Having ridden Top Gun at Paramount’s Kings Island, another suspended coaster, Iron Dragon was a total disappointment. It was far too tame, great for a first coaster, however did not take a lot of advantage of the swinging nature of the suspended cars whilst going around the circuit at full speed like Top Gun. Apart from being closed for no reason at various times of the day, I could have fallen asleep like Mr Bean on the coaster and had more fun in my dreams. It was at this reason that I realised that I was a thrill seeker and no longer cared for safe, slow coasters – I wanted speed, thrills, intensity.

Disaster Transport was far too short for the huge queue it attracted. I suspect it was the air condition, which I must admit attracted me to the ride. When I finally got on the ride, the indoor, dark nature of the ride was quite fun, but was really short, somewhat detracting from the excitement of the ride. I blame Millennium Force for setting the bar too high! Whilst I am critical of the shortness of the ride, what I did experience of the coaster was very fun and in need of some praise.

Corkscrew is worthy of one token ride, it consists of a loop, and two corkscrews and that it, the corkscrews over the main midway is what keeps it in is place, and this is fun, but in this environment of thrills, speed, and intense elements, corkscrew is no longer the thrilling coaster it used to be, but still fun to speed over the midway, and watch the people below.

Blue Streak and Cedar Creek Mine Ride were both very old coasters. I found CCMR to be a great family ride, not my cup of tea of course; however everyone else on it had a great time, and the two lift hills made for a somewhat long ride which made you feel like the time spent queuing was worth the wait. The position near the main pond area added to the excitement and was a fun coaster to ride. Blue Streak was the best wooden coaster I went on at the park, it gave some great airtime and made me realise that Cedar Fair really need to work on their procedures for maintaining wooden coasters as they need to give an out of control feeling, which does not come across whist riding the coasters at Cedar Point (Geauga Lake another Cedar Fair Park was ok, but a little too rough).

The whole atmosphere of the park, with all the coasters and rides dispersed throughout the park made for an electric atmosphere, the gardens along the midways were beautiful, and all made for an enjoyable experience. All the coasters were to a degree thrilling, it was great to see some coasters for the kids, some for the older kids who may not be willing to go for intense coasters, and of course the intense and thrilling coasters. I was a little disappointed that the park did not meet all my expectations, however I definitely had a great time and was for the most part impressed with the presentation of the park, and the collection of coasters it had. I definitely intend to return to Cedar Point sometime in the future.