myfootitches

IE 7......can only see one video, the first one.

I've been on the Mean Streak many times from 95' through this past monday. I remember back in 95', the ride was good. Not great, but it had decent speed, a few bits of airtime, and the turns weren't overly rough. I took a courtesy ride on it on monday.....my kidneys still hurt. I like a rougher ride(Villian, Rattler, and Shivering Timbers are faves of mine), but the ride was really painful. The turns were jackhammering like crazy and on the bottoms of most of the hills there was a wicked bouncing of the train. I expect a little side to side on the turns, but when it feels like you're bouncing over rumble strips at 65 mph(allegedly), there's a definite problem. I certantly won't be going it again until I forget why I shouldn't be going on it.

Luckily, they did change their rain policy this season. The only rides that closed in the rain were Maverick (still don't understand that) Gemini, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, and Disaster Transport (the roof leaks), Wildcat, and TTD. I'm not sure if Raptor closes or not still, it was broken down already when the park opened that day. So, the rain wasn't really as big of a problem this time as opposed to on the MidWest Trip, where the park would shut down and they would have to wait for the track to dry.... I was at CP on Monday, any hint of rain and EVERYTHING was down. The quickest to start back up.....Gemini. Go figure.

I got lucky and was over at CP on Monday....if I wasn't a passholder, I would probably have been a little more irritated. Mav wasn't open all day, Dragster was open for about an hour before it took its nap, and everything else was closed on and off all day. Apparently now if it's cloudy at CP, they just figure it's going to rain and shut everything down just for the fun of it.

If you're going to pay over a hundred more just for the option of staying "on-site", I'd suggest just renting a car then and staying at Breakers Express. You'll still get in an hour early, and you'll have the option to drive around if you want it.

Just a little bit of news from a lurker... From Reuters

That "Stingray" slide is great! That and Black Thunder were my faves there. Jose

Out of the ones I've been on: 1) Superman Krypton Coaster 2) Dominator 3) Medusa West 4) Scream And SKC only wins because of its awesome setting.....

I've been on rough coasters before ( Rattler at SFFT, Psucklone at SFMM) ...this was beyond rough. Even the straight portions had jackhammering (moreso up and down). I ended up with bruises on my ribs, legs and arms. I can't imagine ever bothering to go on either of the Beasts ever again......

Ok, I’m going to have a go at my first trip report, I’m sorry about the lack of pictures, I am the anti-photo(plus I hate toting a camera around all day) Sorry about the length too, I apparently had more to say than I thought... 5/23- Cedar Point I was really surprised how well the “early entry” pass that resort guests receive worked. We got into the park at 9:00 am, and went to Raptor. As always, a great ride (9/10). Now the dilemma…..to ride Mantis….or get in line for TTD. Considering I was the only one out of four to get on TTD, we decided to pop their 120 mph cherry. Wait in line for 40 mins, see a couple rollbacks, and zoom, we’re off. Intense launch, creep over the top, 270 degree twist…now if was just a bit longer. Still fun (8/10). Millennium was down, so it was off to the back of the park, Magnum time. I can’t decide what’s more fun, the bunny hops, or the hour it takes to get to the top of the lift hill. Still one of the best (9/10). Over to Mean Streak, ummm…..OWWW! It’s slow, and painful (2/10). A ride on the Woodstock Express (whore, 5/10), then over the ancient one, Gemini. Still smooth, and has a couple of great headchoppers (8/10). Had to take a wander over the construction site, it’s dirt and concrete. Nuff said. Over the new Skyhawk, check out the Screamin Swing. It’s a fun ride, but there’s one small complaint. Handles. Yes, that’s right. You’re swinging around, and no handles. Just some little one that does nothing for ya. Ok, done with complaining. Take a courtesy ride on Iron Dragon (4/10) and Wildcat (4/10). Power Tower, nope….only running two towers. To the front of the park, over to Wicked Twister. Fun ride, great view of the lake (7/10). Maxair courtesy ride, then over to my favorite….Disaster Transport. What! It’s Closed! NOOO!! It’s such a bad ride, you can’t help but laugh and have fun on it. Over to the Blue Streak (6/10), then a couple re-rides on Raptor. Other than 3 coasters being closed (Millennium, Mine Ride, and Disaster Transport), it was a great day. Perfect weather, no lines, and the best cheese fries in the world. Luckily, we got done with the park by 6pm, since we had a 4 hour drive to the next stop….PKI! 5/24 – PKI So, I’ve never been to this park before….and now I know why. Pain was the name of the game all day. Get into the park at 10am, head over to Face-Off. I’ve never been on one of these before, surprisingly not a bad ride (7/10). Back to the second worst capacity ride, IJ:ST. Once again, a nice surprise. Fun ride, nice theme (7/10). So….what to ride next? Vortex. Looks painful. Great first drop (back row)…..then….THE PAIN! Head, meet Mr. Harness. I figured it would hurt, so I can’t complain too much about it (4/10). Head back up to the front, over to Drop Zone. It’s Drop Zone..good solid ride (8/10). Now, I get daring. Son of Beast time. Rumor was that the re-tracked some of the ride. Well, if the “some” of the ride was the lift hill, then yes, it’s smooth ride. I don’t think I’ve ever jackhammered as much as I did on that ride. I bruised my spleen. I walked off that ride, and pretty much couldn’t figure out what happened to me (1/10). Delirium courtesy ride, then over to the Racer. Forward only, reminds me of the Blue Streak (5/10). Grab some grub, then over to Nickelodeon land, to the Runaway Reptar. I’m such a whore (2/10). The Scooby –Doo dark ride was fun, Avatar was as well. I figured I’d wait until I had been on everything else to ride the Beast, so here it comes. Ouch. Ouch. Kidney. Knee. Ribs. Apparently I was wrong. The Beast jackhammered more than the SOB. At least the SOB, you knew where the pain was, with the Beast, it was random pain. Turn right, turn left, up, down…..ouch all around (-1/10). So, you noticed I missed a few rides? Yep, I noticed that too. Top Gun, Flight of Fear, Adventure Express, Tomb Raider. CLOSED. No notice of this until I showed up at the park. “Most of our employees are in High School, so some of the rides have been closed due to understaffing”. Ummm, ok. So why not open up some rides from 10-3, then the others from 3-8? Nah, we’ll just close some, and tell you when you get there. Overall, the weather was perfect. Considering the time of year, the parks were dead and it was nice to be able to move around. However, I was really disappointed with the closings of several rides. I understand the “break downs”, they do happen. But to not have something open just because you don’t feel like paying someone to operate it….I don’t play that game. Here is someone who is definitely happy to see Cedar Fair buy Paramounts parks. Hopefully the operations at PKI will improve. Thanks for reading my first ever trip report! Jose

Thanks for the info everyone, I got the good news that the SOB opened up this weekend, so I'm not going to miss that credit.....

I figure I've got to ride them all at least once for the credit, so I'm going to get abused either way. I do hear that the Beast gives great night rides, but if the Beast is uber rough, then at night wouldn't it be even worse? Looking at their website, it also looks like PKI has a good selection of flats, along with Drop Zone.

ah...that's a bummer on the SOB(aptly named)..... I don't mind my coasters rough(heck, I even ride the mean streak), but a minimum of jostling is always appreciated. The Italian Job looks fun, but I have heard that it's not an "overwhelming" coaster by any means. And I've got four people total, two of which are flying out here to the midwest from Cali. They're enamored with Magic Mountain, so I had to introduce them to Cedar Point. I'm hopeful that we may make a wander over to holiday world as well. Thanks for the info! Jose

Ok, a new post from the veteran lurker... I'm planning on going to CP on May 23rd, followed by PKI on May 24th. I've been to CP many, many times. However, this will be my first trip to Kings Island. Considering the time when I'm going, I don't expect huge lines or hot weather. The questions I have concern the lines/rides at PKI: What rides have horrible "volume"? I'd like to know so I can hit them early before any line exsists. What rides should I be wary of?(I hear about the SOB being horrid) Any unknown gems that I should definetly hit when I'm there? Any comments/advise would be greatly appreciated. Jose

Hi everyone! I'm Jose, a long time lurker....finally decided to get more involved in the craziness that is TPR. I would guess that my home park would be Michigans Adventure by default, but I'm closer to Cedar Point, so I'm taking that one! I've ridden a little over a hundred coasters, planning on making it about 125 by the end of this year. I started riding coasters to overcome my fear of heights.....now I ride them a ton...and am still scared of heights... I'm an accountant by trade, and keep busy playing hockey and spending time with the GF(who is gradualy becoming a coaster fan herself). I also spell check my posts, and generally make sense when I decide to comment on something(I know...amazing). Ok, I'll stop with the babbling now... Jose