Photo TR: Cedar Point (8.13.2005)

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 9:32 am Post subject: Photo TR: Cedar Point (8.13.2005)

Ok, the original plan for this weekend was to get a bunch of people together and head to the Point for some weekend fun. My friend Jason nitifed me during the week and told me that he was going to be there for the weekend and I figured, the more the merrier.

Well, pretty much everybody had backed out of the trip by the weekend and now it looked like it would just be three of us. That's OK. I have been to Cedar Point many times, and Catrina had not gone this year, so we packed up there car and headed for Sandusky.

Since, I have done many TRs on Cedar Point before, let's just get right to the photos.

After the close to 3 hours drive, we got to the Point at around 11am.

As you can see by this photo, the park was already well crowded.

TTD was running today, but thanks to the couple spurts of rain, it's uptime would be short lived.

We walked to the other side of the park to get a ride on Gemini. Jason is just happy to see that there is a coaster with near walk-on conditions.

After the Gemini, we headed to the Mean Streak (which is still giving fairly decent rides). Right as we get to the brake run, the first batch of rain starts to fall. This rain wasn't very significant at all, but it did manage to shut down the entire park (no thunder, no lightning ... I don't get it).

Another shot of the rain in the Mean Streak plaza.

While these people are hiding from the elements, we did find a ride that will actually run in the rain.

The Antique Cars must have not got the memo that everything at Cedar Fair parks must shut down in the rain. Jason said we had to get a ride because they will be history next year.

This kid is trying to convince her mom that riding the Antique Cars in the rain is fun.

It was kind of funny once all the line was gone, because there was nobody to take the cars out of station. The proved to be quite the dilemma for the people sitting out in the rain waiting to get off the ride.

The rain let up and it was now time for everybody to get back to riding. It only took Mantis a few minutes to get back to a full queue.

It was now mid-afternoon and the crowds were starting to get really insane. To beat the crowds and the heat, we decided we would actually check out a show and opted for the Snoopy Skating show. I don't think I have watched a Cedar Point show in 20 years.

After the Snoopy Skating show, we headed to the fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo near the front of the park, and then took a ride on the Anton Sky Wheel. The sun was starting to peak out and I actually got a couple good pictures.

maXair goodness from up above.

More maXair goodness.

The Raptor, maXair, and the Midway

Catrina and I posed so Jason could get a picture.

The CP Skyline.

Robb and Phishy .... this shot is for you.

Millenium Force

As you can see from the parking lot, there just a FEW people here today.

And now it is time for my artsy-fartsy pic of the day. A shot down the center of the Ferris Wheel.

This is a great shot for demonstrating the monstorous queue for maXair. I think that queue MIGHT hold enough people to fill one cycle.

A shot for all you Troika enthusiasts. Troika! Troika! Troika!

OK. Let's see here. We have been on .... Gemini, Mean Streak, Antique Cars, Train, and the Giant Wheel. What now?

TTD. Nope .... just kidding. The line was stretched back to the corkscrew. Forget it. I did, however, manage to get this super lucky shot of a train going 120 mph!

... and this one too!

Cool! now the Gemini has broken down. I am sure that a ride that pushes 3300 people/hr will have no effect on the other rides in the park. Crap!

OK then, let's ride the train again.

Since all the big coaster have crazy lines, maybe we will give the Wildcat a spin. Then again .... maybe not.

After not riding Mantis, Millie, Magnum, Wildcat, etc we decided to bite the bullet and wait for Raptor. I figured that even if the line was bad, at least this one moves at a good clip. Well, I was right. We hopped in line and after blasting through the queue in less than 1 hr, we were now heading up the steps to the station.

Naturally, as we start walking up the steps, guess what happens. You guessed it .... another rain storm. We braved the element for about 80 minutes before the ride reopened, and in the process I managed to get my longest recorded Raptor wait time. But, we did get to ride it.

After leaving the Raptor area, we talked to an employee that told us that another big storm was set to hit the area in about 15 minutes. We figured we had our fill and grabbed our stuff out of the fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo to head out to the car.

Once we got to the car, it started raining like crazy.

It takes a little of the sting out of the trip knowing that we will come back for Halloweekends, but in the end probably one of craziest trips ever to CP.

Hopefully, next the park will look more like this.

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 11:49 am Post subject:

Trokia! Trokia! Trokia! Taiko Tounge

Aww... my baby Raptor is getting soaked in the rain. For all you shutter bugs out there, if you get to see Raptor test run right after a heavy downfall, get your camera ready and point it at the first barrel roll. The heavy rain collects in the dampers, and it dosn't drain very well up there. And when the train goes through the first loop, the rain stays in the dampers. But when it hits the barrel roll it's "Raptor Spiral Soaking!" I have a photo somewhere of a shoot I got in 96'. I think it's packed away at my mom's house in Ohio. Sorry!

Raptor... my first roller coaster... I worked on.

Wally "Raptor Boy" Weiss

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 12:09 pm Post subject:

It is pretty funny to watch Raptor start back up. The inversions create this massive cloud of water.

We got on a train after it had been through the course maybe 3 times, and still got us pretty good. But probably one of the most fun runs I had ever had on the ride. It was just delivering in the last row in INSANE ways.

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 12:15 pm Post subject:

Looks like you had a some what great time! Now those queues are insane! I like your pics, nice TR.

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 12:56 pm Post subject:

Hey Ted,
and again, nice photo TR. To bad that the park was so crowded and you had a lot of rain. However, great pictures. In spite of it, it looks like you had a good day.

--Sören

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 1:17 pm Post subject:

Your experience is exactly what happened to me on the 10th (this past Wednesday). A few spurts of rain (actually, ours did have a little lightning with it... but, we ate lunch and dinner during both 15-min. downpours). It was really, really crowded. I'd never seen any park that crowded since Magic Kingdom on July 4th. But, hell, it's a day at CP. It's all good. 8) P.S. Magnum had an hour wait in midday. :shock:

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 5:01 pm Post subject:

Hey, I have a couple of questions for you CP veterans.

I'm taking my first trip to CP in a week and need your advice. First, I'm staying at The Breakers; where do I need to park for that? My understanding is you park in the theme park parking lot and they just reimburse you or something? Also, is there another enterance to the park from that hotel, or do I have to walk all the way around to the main enterance?

Second, when do I need to go to Top Thrill Dragster in order to minimize my wait. At park open, at park close, or do I get one of their fastpass type deelies?

Finally, any suggestions on what order to ride things to minimize wait?

Thanks a bunch for the info guys!

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 7:07 pm Post subject:

That parking lot looks like its not fitting much more cars in it..

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 5:35 am Post subject:

IMO, frightfest season is the best time to hit the Point. Last year was great. Almost eveything was a walk-on. I asked a ride-op if it's always this slow during frightfest, he said sundays usually are: Football season wins out over parks, he figures.
Another good TR, Ted.
Yeah, that was some storm satuday night. It hit Cleveland pretty good, and it came fast. A lot of accidents on I90, I480 and I71. Hydroplaning, bigtime.

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 7:12 am Post subject:

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