BigDipper 80 Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 (edited) Links to photos: The Beach, Magnum XL-200, Soak City - Scroll Down Millennium Force (day and night shots) - Page 1 Night Photos, and AMAZING Windseeker photos- Page 2 Even More Night Photos (Luminosity, Frontiertown) - Page 3 Maverick and Cedar Creek Mine Ride - Page 3 Mean Streak, Boneville, and Frontiertown during the day - Page 4 Raptor and Mantis - Page 4 The Main Midway - Page 4 Top Thrill Dragster, Corkscrew, and Blue Streak - Page 5 Wicked Twister Midway, featuring Disaster Transport - Page 5 When one spends two months at Cedar Point, he is afforded with plenty of opportunities to take photos. I took nearly 1500 photos of whatever I could as I scoured my way through this massive park bit by bit, day by day. Even if I had taken 1500 more, I probably wouldn't have covered everything, or have gotten all the shots that I had hoped to get! It's obviously impossible to post every single photo of mine, so I'll be including some of my favorite shots I took this summer. I've tried to group them by ride or section of the park in order to create some semblance of order. Let's start in a place that few Cedar Point TR's begin, at the place that gives the park its reason for existence: If it wasn't for this beach, it's unlikely that the peninsula would have transformed into what it is today. If you look to the north, you see Hotel Breakers... ...But to the south is this lovely cluster of rides. This part of the skyline will look much different next year. I love how Hotel Breakers sprawls out along the beach. She's the grand old lady of Sandusky. This is the Bon-Air section of the hotel. I was messing around with the settings on my camera. I'm glad that CP has these history plaques throughout the park. So much of their storied past has been paved over or just ignored outright as each new incarnation of the park has paved over the old one. The rotunda is lovely. The guestrooms, not as lovely. This was in the lobby. It's a pretty nice painting of the resort during the Boekling era. A lovely view from one of the windows in Breakers Tower. Everyone says that CP needs a beachfront wooden coaster, but Magnum has that job pretty well covered. Do yourself a favor and ride in 1-3. I've never actually felt that a roller coaster was going to throw me out of it before, except in that row. Easily the most violent airtime of any ride. Magnum is just a fun coaster to take photos of. It's easy to get some good facial expressions as guests fly over the triangle hills! This one is cropped pretty unusually, but I wanted the train to be easily seen, and the full-sized photo can't be uploaded to TPR's servers. But look at that airtime! Bliss. No coat hangers were harmed in the construction of Magnum XL-200. Let's take a look at the newly-repainted Soak City slides. This, my friends, is one of the best airtime hills of any coaster. It throws you up out of your seat and holds you there for what feels like an eternity. I love it. And one more shot down the beach. It really is amazing how quiet the beach is compared to the rest of the park. I'd say that's quite a few shots for today, but there's still a lot of ground left to cover! Edited November 14, 2012 by BigDipper 80 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkdcoaster Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Awesome pics! keep them coming JEFF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schotj Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Awesome pics yo. Was able to make a trip out to the point last summer and really enjoyed. Love the atmosphere and collection of rides they have. Keep it up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomNick Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Those are some absolutely fantastic pics you have in there.....thanks for sharing them!! I love all the different views of Magnum that you have. Looking forward to seeing more of your trip(s)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yankees15 Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Great pictures, I can't wait to see more! Makes me wanna go back and ride Magnum right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster_Fanatic Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Those photos make me sad that I have never been to Cedar Point . Looks like a fantastic park! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDipper 80 Posted August 30, 2012 Author Share Posted August 30, 2012 Let's continue along with what most people consider to be Cedar Point's star attraction: Whether you like the ride or not, it's hard to deny that Millennium Force is a good-looking coaster. That's pretty steep. Two trains and a Power Tower car! Though multiple-train shots aren't that difficult at CP... One of those obligatory "everyone must take this photo while at Cedar Point" shots. The new lights look fantastic. In fact, the entire park looks fantastic at night now. But we'll save some of that for the next update Gay Pride MF, as seen from the marina. A slightly different angle. Hopefully all these night shots of the hill haven't gotten too repetitive! A similar shot to the one above, but with a bit more focus on Mantis this time. I think it's one of the photos I like the most. MF from Camp Snoopy. It's a *bit* too noisy, but it came out decently, I think. You can expect more night photos from around the park in the next update! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1badgmc Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Do yourself a favor and ride in 1-3. I've never actually felt that a roller coaster was going to throw me out of it before, except in that row. Easily the most violent airtime of any ride.[/qutoe] Best seat in the house. Back in '01 I was at the park with my (now ex-) wife. We were leaving and she wasn't feeling good, but I wanted one last ride on Magnum. There was basically no wait so I walked up and went straight for the Ejector Seat (1-3). There was a group split among the front 2 rows that was trying to get situated and they offered for me to go in front of them for the first row, which would have meant one less train for me to wait on. I politely declined. They looked really confused. I explained to them that this was the absolute best seat on the train, but they still looked lost. As I was telling them that, one of the ride ops walked by and overheard me. She looked at me with a huge grin on her face. She knew what was up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDipper 80 Posted September 1, 2012 Author Share Posted September 1, 2012 ^ I honestly hadn't believed that the ejector seat would make that much of a difference, but the ride experience in that seat and any other seat is like night and day. It's incredibly violent, and completely spectacular. Although Gemini is still my favorite Arrow at CP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geauga Dog Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Awesome photos! With CP being a day trip I haven't been to any of the areas around Hotel Breakers or have had any desire to go inside though I've read that the rooms are not all that great. Maybe Matt will change that. The view of Gemini from Breakers Tower is fantastic. Having just been there yesterday it was the first time in a long time I've stayed into the night and I agree that the park looks great. It was nice to see Power Tower and Millennium Force look more vibrant than they have in a loooong time. I also like the new lighting on the Main Midway and the dance music. Adds a bit more vitality to the area. Thanks for posting and I'm looking forward to the rest of your photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDipper 80 Posted September 4, 2012 Author Share Posted September 4, 2012 (edited) ^The park really does come alive at night now. I wasn't able to get any great shots of Luminosity, but I managed to snag quite a few other nighttime photos from around the park. I really feel that how a park looks at night is very important to the overall experience, and although Cedar Point doesn't have much "classic" lighting like you'd see at Coney Island at the turn of the 20th century, I'm quite impressed with the thoroughly "modern" approach the park has taken with its nighttime offerings. But enough my ramblings, and onto the photos! The sun sets, and I play around with panorama shots. This was taken from the Lighthouse Point Pier, for anyone who may have been curious. Black and white is fun to toy around with. I took a shot in color from the same angle and the ferris wheel looks great, but I prefer this shot over it. For those who were curious, yes, the Ferris wheel's lights make fun LED patterns just like Windseeker. Unfortunately, because of the slow load times and short period that the wheel is actually spinning enough for the effect to show up, I only got one decent shot of it. Speaking of Windseeker... Let me give a special shoutout to Real, who "discovered" the amazing long-exposure patterns this ride makes. I'll leave you hanging with one more long-exposure shot, this time of Troika Troika Troika. There's still a LOT more to come, including nighttime photos of the CP&LE Railroad and Mean Streak, as well as many more daytime photos of the rides, attractions, and midways! Edited September 4, 2012 by BigDipper 80 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECZenith Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I love the photos, especially the ones of Windseeker with the long exposure, very cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCF Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I like the Troika shot. Would be interested to see how it looks with GateKeeper in the background. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geauga Dog Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 The black and white of maXair and Space Spiral is stunning. Absolutely love that shot. The LEDs on Giant Wheel are fantastic. A huge improvement indeed. With Windseeker and Giant Wheel now sporting bright colored LEDs I wonder how they'll get Gatekeeper to fit in, lighting wise, on that end of the former Oceana Midway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 Very nice job with some great angles not previously seen from the GP....keep up the good work! On the 1-3 on Magnum, I assume it's first car, row three...does it matter if it's right or left seat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDipper 80 Posted September 4, 2012 Author Share Posted September 4, 2012 ^I honestly never noticed a difference between the right and left seat. Both provide plenty of airtime . ^^I'd love to see some LED chasers going up the lift and maybe even through the immelman. That whole side of the park will absolutely shine at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CpBluestreakCp Posted September 4, 2012 Share Posted September 4, 2012 I agree, they really did a nice job getting Cedar Point to come alive at night. The midway is great and so are all the new lights that have been added on some of the rides. Great pictures, can't wait to see more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Thriller Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I love this! -- James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sspaz1000 Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Fantastic pictures! I love the night shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastercrazy 9 Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 That first panoramic photo of magnum on the first page would make the most awesome facebook cover photo... I have always been a huge fan of the windseeker shots. I'm curious to see if anybody has taken any photos of Max Air with that method. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDipper 80 Posted September 5, 2012 Author Share Posted September 5, 2012 The black and white of maXair and Space Spiral is stunning. Absolutely love that shot. That first panoramic photo of magnum on the first page would make the most awesome facebook cover photo... If either of you (or anyone else, for that matter) would like a full-sized copy of any of my photos, just shoot me a PM, and I'd be happy to send it your way. I have always been a huge fan of the windseeker shots. I'm curious to see if anybody has taken any photos of Max Air with that method. As a matter of fact, I did try to get some Maxair shots using long-exposure. Unfortunately, I never managed to get the timing right, so the photos either ended up washed-out or just part of the arc, like this: ...So not the best. But I do have a lot more night shots that actually turned out that I'll be uploading soon. Thanks for all the comments, everyone! I'm glad you are enjoying looking at these as much as I enjoyed taking them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skycoastin Steve Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Windseeker produces some of the coolest night time photos I've ever seen. I loved the ones that Real did last year, took some myself that I thought turned out pretty damn well, and now these are awesome, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamez Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 These are beautiful. Thank you for sharing. The panorama of Magnum is my favorite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDipper 80 Posted September 6, 2012 Author Share Posted September 6, 2012 Let's continue on with a few more evening photos: ...And that's all I've got for Luminosity. For whatever reason, I don't seem to have very many photos of Starlight Experience. Although it isn't marketed as such this year, and the Peanuts balloons are gone. Let's go for a ride on the train, shall we? Welcome to Frontiertown, ladies and gentlemen! I know how much everyone loves Mean Streak... ...But you have to admit she looks mighty pretty at night. Thanks to the strobe flash from the onride photo, I was able to capture a "ghost train" using long exposure. One final shot of Mean Streak from Maverick's exit bridge. Still many more photos of Frontiertown (and the rest of Cedar Point) to come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpengeistfan1 Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Those last two photos are pretty amazing! Were you trying to time the picture with the on ride photo, or did you just get lucky? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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