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Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

p. 2030 - Top Thrill 2 announced!

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Yeah, GK is far from overhyped. Most enthusiasts don't care for it much.

 

I have talked about it a few times now, but opening year up until about mid-season I would have agreed. Media day, I was completely underwhelmed and I thought that until about mid-season... They ride then had higher operating condition limits for windspeed (it used to close often for wind), the ride was running faster (likely due to wheel compound change) and the vests no longer lock on you. After that, it became one of my favorite rides in the park. The night rides are just incredible, IMO. During media day, the ride would just glide through the MCBR with no slow down at all, now it actually hits with enough speed to slow the train down a bit before the ending helix.

 

Even better is the super-high capacity and minimal lines near closing on very busy nights. I only really ride stuff at CP when walk-on anymore, so its always welcome.

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To me, the only ride that would beat Gatekeeper is Maverick. Millennium Force has lots of straight track and Top Thrill is about 20 seconds long. MF only has the first drop and maybe the first over bank that are considered intense, and Top Thrill looks like it would be a great ride if it wasn't only seventeen seconds long.

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GateKeeper is actually fairly well. I know some enthusiasts who like it and the GP eats it up. However, it is definitely doesn't have a "fan club" like you'd find on some of the other major coasters in the park. It isn't the best in the park, but it isn't too bad.

 

Iron Dragon: Boring and a bit rough. Ninja at SFMM is faster, more fun, taller, longer, and even smoother than Iron Dragon. Not really worth my time. But it does look cool over the water and mist.

 

Actually, Ninja is not taller or longer than Iron Dragon. It is faster, but Iron Dragon is 76 feet tall whereas Ninja is 60 feet. Iron Dragon is also, wait for it, an entire 100 feet longer than Ninja . I rather enjoy Iron Dragon, I just like the way it runs, but, to me, it was better before TTD was built with a lot of the trees surrounding the swamp still there.

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This coming Sunday. Since the park is closed both Friday and Saturday, there won't be too many weekend-resort guests visiting. Also, the weekend before HalloWeekends has always been an amazing weekend to go.

 

In the past, this Friday has been open. In fact, CP decided to eliminate this coming Friday from the calendar just a few weeks ago (pretty lame to change it weeks out) but historically has been the best riding day of the year IMO. We go each and every year and its usually DEAD. Two years ago they let you cut from unload to load on Dragster just to get weight in the trains and there was not enough people to get the train full. Everything was walk-on.

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We spent Labor Day weekend (Friday Saturday and Sunday) at the park and had an amazing time.

 

I didn't book the trip until a day before as I never do with Cedar Point given their ridiculous weather policies. I almost decided to save the money and stay home as Friday looked great but Saturday looked very windy with a chance of storms and Sunday had an 80% chance of rain all day but I'm glad we went. As it turned out it didn't rain one drop all weekend and while it did get very windy in the middle of the day on Saturday it didn't effect us at all as the only rides that closed were Gatekeeper, Sky Ride, Raptor, WIndseeker, Giant Wheel and Magnum. Gatekeeper and Raptor were only closed for a few hours so we just rode other rides while they were closed and the wind died down enough at night that even the Sky Ride opened back up. Overall we got really lucky with the weather.

 

I don't know how to do a full report on 3 days so I'll just make some general points and then do a ride by ride breakdown of the major rides (though we rode a ton of smaller rides and flats as well). We also managed to spend a lot of time on Frontier Trail which is a great little area and we got a chance to eat at Famous Daves out in the Marina which is highly recommended. Sitting outside by the water is a great way to enjoy a nice summer day and get off your feet for awhile, and the food is great too.

 

First of all the staff at this park is exceptional. I know there are some Cedar Point staff members on this site and you should all be proud of the great job that you do. Other than maybe Universal and Dollywood I've never encountered friendlier staff at any park. Everyone we ran into seemed to love their job and the operations on all of the major rides were amazing. The Raptor, Sky Ride, Maverick and Millennium Force crews especially were really hauling a** every day.

 

Second of all I really admire the park's policy to do whatever they can to open rides if they can operate no matter what time it is. I remember Saturday night after the wind died down around 8:00 we rode Gatekeeper and Raptor and when we got off Raptor about 45 minutes before the park closed we saw a Sky Ride cabin come out of the station when it had been closed just about all day. The ride finally opened with 30 minutes left in the day with every Cabin (except maybe 2 or 3) on the cable. Needless to say we took a ride because after a few full days in this place the Sky Ride and the train quickly become your favorite rides in the park.

 

Finally, the park had ERT for pass holders on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. We got about 6-7 rides on each and the employees always let you stay on when it was possible so you didn't have to walk around. On Millennium Force they opened the gate between the unload station and the line right before the main station so you only had to walk a few feet between rides which was much appreciated. We were there from early entry to the end of ERT each night and little things like that were much appreciated. This park does everything possible to make sure their guests have a great experience and that's nice to see after spending so much time at Six Flags parks.

 

Anyway... on to the rides.

 

Raptor

I absolutely love this ride. It has a pretty unique layout that's just loaded with unique elements. The zero G roll and cobra roll are great as well as the long swooping dive of the mcbr. I feel like every enthusiast has one or two rides that they rank way higher than everyone else does and for me those rides are probably Mystery Mine and Raptor. I loved Banshee but Raptor puts it to shame. I love the intensity of this ride and it compliments Gatekeeper very nicely at the front of the park as one is over-the-top smooth and glides through the course while the other absolutely rips through every element on the course. I lost count of how many times we rode this (in the front every time).

 

Gatekeeper

I love this coaster. It may have the best first drop of any coaster anywhere (well... except El Toro) and the keyhole elements are awesome too. I know this ride gets a lot of crap from enthusiasts but we love it. We always wait for the front on this one. Getting so many front seat rides during ERT was a real treat.

 

Wicked Twister

There's not too much to say about this ride but it's a great ride. We rode it a few times, once in the front row and a few times in the back few rows. I may actually like it better in the back seat.

 

Windseeker

The view from this ride is breathtaking. This is my favorite Windseeker / Sky Screamer simply based on it's location right on the beach.

 

Maxair

Great ride, I forgot how intense this thing was.

 

Blue Streak

Nothing to write home about... it was running rougher than normal in wheel seats but in the middle of each car it was still quite enjoyable.

 

Iron Dragon

We rode this one quite a bit as I'm a big fan of suspended coasters. This is probably my least favorite of all of them but it's great for what it is and the pretzel at the end is a lot of fun.

 

Power Tower

I don't know why this ride isn't more popular but I'm glad it's not as we rode it just about every time we walked by. I put S&S towers a step below Larson and Intamin towers but they're still great fun and like Windseeker this one is helped a lot by the location of the park.

 

Top Thrill Dragster

We only rode this once as we have Kingda Ka in our home park but it was a lot of fun like always. We waited about 2 hours but only because we waited for the front and it broke down at one point. I can't decide which I like better... Kingda Ka for some reason feels faster (even though I don't know why as the difference in speed probably wouldn't be noticeable as it's so slight) but Dragster has a better view and better restraints.

 

Magnum

We usually only ride this once or twice each visit because of how violent it is. I want to like the ride more than I do but the airtime is flat out painful, especially after a few rides.

 

Corkscrew

This ride is terrible but we rode it a few times because of the short line. As bad as it is I hope they never remove it because it looks really nice over the midway.

 

Gemeni

I love this coaster, it's very smooth for an old arrow and the hand slapping element is fun.

 

Pipe Scream

This was a lot better than I expected. If the line wasn't so long we should have ridden it a few more times.

 

Lake Erie Eagles

These are hard to snap but it can be done. My girlfriend snapped the hell out of them... I don't know how she got so good at these, I didn't manage to snap them at all.

 

Mean Streak

I know the general consensus is that this is an awful ride that needs to be torn down or Iron Horsed but I can't agree with that at all. I know a lot of people feel that if you have to ride a ride in a certain seat in a specific way then it's a bad ride and you have every right to that opinion but if you grab the bar on the seat in front of you and keep your back off of the seat back this ride is very enjoyable. I actually think it's smoother than Blue Streak is when you do that and even though the layout is nothing special it's still a fun ride. It's also hard to ignore the way this coaster looks... it's probably one of the most visually appealing coasters anywhere.

 

If they ever do Iron Horse this I won't complain as I'm sure it will be great but I enjoy it in it's current state as well. I feel like people over hype how bad this ride is because of the high profile park that it's in but it doesn't deserve the hate that it gets.

 

Maverick

This may be the most intense coaster I've ever ridden. It beats i305 at it's own game of super intense, crazy directional changes and even though we rode it more times than I could count during ERT the elements kept taking me by surprise as it's extremely disorienting. This is one of the best coasters I've ever ridden... the world needs more of these insane Intamin rides. Everything about it is amazing.

 

Skyhawk

I forgot how much fun this was. With it's huge capacity it never has a line so we rode it at least once every time we passed it.

 

Cedar Creek Mine Ride

Fun little ride.

 

Shoot the Rapids

This was our first time on Shoot the Rapids and I thought it was a great ride. It got you a little wetter than I expected but it's a lot of fun.

 

Mantis

This is the only coaster we didn't ride. This ride is awful.

 

Millennium Force

The same thing always happens with this ride. I ride it and think it's amazing... then I go home and ride El Toro and read negative reviews about how forceless it is and start to think that maybe it's not my #1 coaster any more as it's getting older and there are other, more intense coasters out there that deserve my top spot. But then I ride it again...

 

I know this opinion may be unpopular but I absolutely love every single thing about this ride. It's relentless speed is flat out amazing and the low to the ground turns and elements really let you appreciate that speed. I also think the coaster has some great airtime in multiple places even though most enthusiasts don't agree and I always grey out at the bottom of the first drop and after the first turnaround before going into the tunnel. I love the ride in the front for the sensation of speed and in the back for the way it rips through the overbanks. This coaster has everything you could ever ask for in a ride and because of that it's still my #1.

 

Sorry that report got a little long but I did my best to condense 3 days into one post. As always we had a great time at Cedar Point and can't wait to go back next year.

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Top Thrill Dragster

We only rode this once as we have Kingda Ka in our home park but it was a lot of fun like always. We waited about 2 hours but only because we waited for the front and it broke down at one point. I can't decide which I like better... Kingda Ka for some reason feels faster (even though I don't know why as the difference in speed probably wouldn't be noticeable as it's so slight) but Dragster has a better view and better restraints.

Kingda Ka is faster. But, yes it is slight, 8 mph faster.

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I'm aware of that... my point is that I doubt you could actually feel the difference between 120 MPH and 128 MPH so the fact that one feels faster than the other is probably due to something else like a slight faster acceleration (or it's just in my head). I know that Kingda Ka is technically a tiny bit faster.

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Well, don't you all realize that in 1 hour and 55 minutes is the big announcement? Any final guesses? I'm predicting that Mantis will get floorless trains and it will become King James: the Ride. I also predict that they will get some kind of flat ride.

Yes, I'm predicting the same. Has a stand up ever gotten floor less trains?

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Well, don't you all realize that in 1 hour and 55 minutes is the big announcement? Any final guesses? I'm predicting that Mantis will get floorless trains and it will become King James: the Ride. I also predict that they will get some kind of flat ride.

Yes, I'm predicting the same. Has a stand up ever gotten floor less trains?

Nope, but there have been stand ups (Excluding Intamin & B&M) that have added/switched out for sit down trains.

 

http://rcdb.com/1432.htm

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Raptor

I absolutely love this ride. It has a pretty unique layout that's just loaded with unique elements. The zero G roll and cobra roll are great as well as the long swooping dive of the mcbr. I feel like every enthusiast has one or two rides that they rank way higher than everyone else does and for me those rides are probably Mystery Mine and Raptor. I loved Banshee but Raptor puts it to shame. I love the intensity of this ride and it compliments Gatekeeper very nicely at the front of the park as one is over-the-top smooth and glides through the course while the other absolutely rips through every element on the course. I lost count of how many times we rode this (in the front every time).

 

 

I completely agree with your assessment of Raptor. It is the best inverted I have been on -- great first drop (especially in the back, on the right side -- although this is front seat ride overall), great pacing (even the little lull before the final helix is okay to catch your breath), and an intense finish. That said, i am not a huge fan of the cobra roll because y ou have to ride it defensively.

 

Also, i agree with your other comments on how well run this park. The operators actually attempt to dispatch a trains quickly, which is a rarity at many other parks.

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Well, don't you all realize that in 1 hour and 55 minutes is the big announcement? Any final guesses? I'm predicting that Mantis will get floorless trains and it will become King James: the Ride. I also predict that they will get some kind of flat ride.

Yes, I'm predicting the same. Has a stand up ever gotten floor less trains?

Nope, but there have been stand ups (Excluding Intamin & B&M) that have added/switched out for sit down trains.

 

http://rcdb.com/1432.htm

B&M has had a little dare devil in them lately. (Thunderbird) So we could be looking at floor less trains

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This coming Sunday. Since the park is closed both Friday and Saturday, there won't be too many weekend-resort guests visiting. Also, the weekend before HalloWeekends has always been an amazing weekend to go.

 

In the past, this Friday has been open. In fact, CP decided to eliminate this coming Friday from the calendar just a few weeks ago (pretty lame to change it weeks out) but historically has been the best riding day of the year IMO. We go each and every year and its usually DEAD. Two years ago they let you cut from unload to load on Dragster just to get weight in the trains and there was not enough people to get the train full. Everything was walk-on.

 

Thanks for replying. I'm moving to Columbus Sept 27th, so I probably wouldn't go to CP until October, I should have mentioned that. I'm assuming the Sundays in October will be alright. I might just say screw it and get a Fastlane and go all Saturday. We'll see!

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Maverick

This may be the most intense coaster I've ever ridden. It beats i305 at it's own game of super intense, crazy directional changes and even though we rode it more times than I could count during ERT the elements kept taking me by surprise as it's extremely disorienting. This is one of the best coasters I've ever ridden... the world needs more of these insane Intamin rides. Everything about it is amazing.

In my opinion, Maverick is THE most intense coaster I've been on! It does beat you up like a TOGO, but it is fast, and furious. Don't forget that airtime hill! I'm being totally honest, even though I never rode it. I'm guessing that Maverick is just 2.5% better than I305. Like I said, I haven't ridden it, but I MIGHT ride it in 2015.

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I'm guessing this is the announcement of the first non-Six Flags RMC. Just a gut feeling, but Blue Streak really needs the tender love and care.

 

There is no way in hell they are ever going to Iron Horse Blue Streak.

 

It does beat you up like a TOGO, but it is fast, and furious. Don't forget that airtime hill!

 

I find Maverick to be perfectly smooth. There's no head banging at all.

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