For My Coaster-lovin' Peeps

[Louis85]

Went to a very steamy Cedar Point and rode the Maverick for the first and only time yesterday. Personally, I wasn't real thrilled by it. If you like dives and twists then you'll probably like it much better than I did. The first drop (which is 95 degrees) and the launch from the tunnel were cool, but I didn't dig the restraint system on it. If any of you have ridden Storm Runner at Hersheypark, this was similar to that, maybe a shade better with the effects that I mentioned here. You guys will probably dig it.

Louis

Oh and on a side note, the loop has been removed from Son of Beast and I think they are talking about new trains for it. Interesting, very interesting.

[Brian221]

Is X-Flight moved to Cedar Point from Geauga Lake yet?

[Bonkman]

I heard they removed the loop from Son of Beast due to the fatal "problem" they had last year.

Really, though, how was the 95 degree drop on Maverick? Was it "OMG...I just peed my pants" good?

[-Kosh-]

Damn glad I rode Son of Beast before they took out the loop, then.

I love Cedar Point and get there two or three times a summer (being only 2 hours away helps immensely! :D). Looking forward to trying out the new ride.

[Louis85]

Brian:

I believe X-Flight is now at Kings Island and is now called Firehawk. I don't care what name you give it--it still sux. Don't expect too much expansion for Geagua Lake--Cedar Fair doesn't want two competing parks that close, especially one that going to challenge their crown jewel, CP. Hopefully, GL becomes a mega-waterpark in the near future.


Bonkman:

Son of Beast has been a freakin' disaster ever since it was first constructed. It is/was a very bad design. The loop was the best part and now it's gone. The most painful ride I've ever had on a coaster EVER was on S.O.B. (yes it has the right abbreviation).

The 95 degree drop on Maverick was cool. When you go over the first hill you actually break inward beneath the crest of the hill. The restraint ruins the ride though for me.


Kosh:

Yes, CP is my favorite overall park. I can't imagine liking any park as much as CP. In the 30 parks I've visited it ranks number one.

My Top 10 Parks

1. Cedar Point -- Too many big coasters, too many great rides, clean, handles capacity well, food so-so
2. Holiday World -- 3 world class woodies, great food, free drinks, extremely clean, nice free waterpark, wish it were closer to me
3. Kennywood -- Hometown favorite, great food, 3 classic woodies, one great steel coaster, lots of charm
4. Hersheypark -- Great coaster collection (Best in Pa.), decent food, cool water coaster
5. Kings Island -- Nice collection of coasters, home of the Beast (awesome), crappy food
6. Six Flags Great America -- Nice & clean, decent food for 6 Flags, great coaster collection there. A complete step up from most 6 Flags parks
7. Six Flags Great Adventure -- Great collection of coasters (when they're running), Nitro is sweet, lots of tacky graffiti
8. Knoebels -- Small park, Best food of any park, free parking & free entry, 2 good woodies, lots of charm. You'll never find it unless you're looking for it.
9. Indiana Beach -- small park, 2 great woodies, decent food reasonably priced, a park on a lake, a very pleasant surprise.
10. Kings Dominion -- Decent coaster collection, okay food, not as good but close to Kings Island.

[Louis85]

Boy I guess I snubbed a lot of the other parks I've been to with this list. I left out at least 6 or 7 that are great too.

Disney World -- Particularly MGM Studios and Magic Kingdom -- Great as long as you don't run out of money, love Tower of Terror and Rockin' Rollercoaster
Dorney Park - Good collection of coasters, excellent free water park, so-so food
Busch Gardens Europe (a.k.a. Williamsburg) - Clean, great food, great coaster collection
Paramount Canada's Wonderland -- decent coaster collection, decent food, a bit expensive for entry, as good as Kings Dom
Geauga Lake -- good value, nice coasters (what's left of them), cool water park, better food, now that it's no longer a 6 Flags park
Six Flags Magic Mountain -- decent rides (when they're running), food okay, just okay for me
Six Flags America -- cool rides, love the Joker's Jinx (which is an outdoor Flight of Fear), Superman is cool, food okay

[pmFan]

We pulled the plug on our Coaster trip - gas is too much... FL to Ceder Point... :(

[Terrick]

I agree that SOB was the most painful ride ever. I always skip it when I go to King's Island.

Where do you guys usually stay (or do you?) when you go to Cedar Point? I'm planning on going in about three weeks with 2-day passes, so I need to find a cheapish place to stay for 3-4 nights. Oh, and is it farily easy to find? I didn't drive last time I went, so I was considering getting a cheap GPS because I plan on taking more trips this summer anyway.

And Louis, I haven't been to Holiday World since I was 6, although it's only about an hour and a half away from me. If it's your #2, then maybe I should take a trip there next weekend and THEN go to Cedar Point in a few weeks.

[ElizabethX]

I'm sorry, I'm looking at your recently played tracks and noticing the show Scrubs. I love Scrubs.

[Twisted.Mellow]

I love Scrubs too. Got the first three seasons on DVD, getting the 4th for my birthday in a couple weeks. :D

[Louis85]

I agree that SOB was the most painful ride ever. I always skip it when I go to King's Island.

Where do you guys usually stay (or do you?) when you go to Cedar Point? I'm planning on going in about three weeks with 2-day passes, so I need to find a cheapish place to stay for 3-4 nights. Oh, and is it farily easy to find? I didn't drive last time I went, so I was considering getting a cheap GPS because I plan on taking more trips this summer anyway.

And Louis, I haven't been to Holiday World since I was 6, although it's only about an hour and a half away from me. If it's your #2, then maybe I should take a trip there next weekend and THEN go to Cedar Point in a few weeks.


Sorry it took me so long to answer, Terrick. I've been out of town at my company's conference.

To answer your questions: There are PLENTY of places to stay in Sandusky (the city where cedar point is). The MOST convenient would be Hotel Breakers (which is directly behind the park). I think the cost is pricy. There is a Breakers Express, which is about half-way down the causeway to CP (Cedar Point is built on the end of a pennisula.) That might be reasonable but occupied. There are many other hotels from the Ohio turnpike to the park itself, Red Roof Inn, Best Western, etc. etc. Obviously, the further you go out, the cheaper some of them get.

Cedar Point is not that tough to find. I think once you get on the Ohio turnpike, you won't have any problem finding the exit, which is #118, Route 250. From there it's a straight shot to the park. U.S. Route 2 goes there, but I don't know much about getting there from the west part.

Holiday World and Cedar Point are two different experiences. HW is a small park gem. It has charm, cleanliness, a cool water park, and 3 GREAT woodies (all ranked in the top 20 in the nation). Plus, it has good food and free drinks.

CP is a mega park. It is bigger than any park you have ever been to as far as rides are concern. There are more coasters than any other park (17), and more coasters above 200 ft (4 of them) than in any other park. Wear comfortable shoes when you go--lots of walking there. If you have them send you a fun guide, I think there are coupons for 7 or 8 dollars off. The guide you can order for free from 1-800-BEST-FUN. They will send it to your house. Plus it may have coupons for stays at some hotels and food coupons for the park.

I highly recommend both parks but for different reason. Good luck bro, you'll enjoy it.

[wendyful04]

Boy I guess I snubbed a lot of the other parks I've been to with this list. I left out at least 6 or 7 that are great too.

Disney World -- Particularly MGM Studios and Magic Kingdom -- Great as long as you don't run out of money, love Tower of Terror and Rockin' Rollercoaster
Dorney Park - Good collection of coasters, excellent free water park, so-so food
Busch Gardens Europe (a.k.a. Williamsburg) - Clean, great food, great coaster collection
Paramount Canada's Wonderland -- decent coaster collection, decent food, a bit expensive for entry, as good as Kings Dom
Geauga Lake -- good value, nice coasters (what's left of them), cool water park, better food, now that it's no longer a 6 Flags park
Six Flags Magic Mountain -- decent rides (when they're running), food okay, just okay for me
Six Flags America -- cool rides, love the Joker's Jinx (which is an outdoor Flight of Fear), Superman is cool, food okay

I'm going to Disney World this coming Wednesday....Do you find Space Mountain to be 'worthy'? I like coasters well enough, but Pirates of the Caribbean is my fave.

I went on the Sheikra and some of the other coasters at Busch Gardens last year, and the Sheikra was nothing but pain and moments of not being able to breathe. I don't plan on returning to Busch Gardens.
There were some drunk bastids, getting drunker by the minute, in line for the Sheikra that night. I wonder if they let them on the ride?????

[Bonkman]

I'll chime in.

I found Space Mountain at WDW to be worthy for an indoor, in-the-dark coaster ride. A couple of rides is all you need, though. Usually the lines are too long for repeat rides.

Pirates rocks! One of my all-time favorite Disney rides. But, you really need to ride the original at Disneyland. Longer drops and more atmosphere. So much better than the WDW version. (Just like Fantasmic! at Disneyland FAR outclasses the WDW/Disney MGM Studios version.)

[wendyful04]

I'll chime in.

I found Space Mountain at WDW to be worthy for an indoor, in-the-dark coaster ride. A couple of rides is all you need, though. Usually the lines are too long for repeat rides.

Pirates rocks! One of my all-time favorite Disney rides. But, you really need to ride the original at Disneyland. Longer drops and more atmosphere. So much better than the WDW version. (Just like Fantasmic! at Disneyland FAR outclasses the WDW/Disney MGM Studios version.)

You are the only person I've come across who loves Pirates!
I've been to Disney World like 30 times. I was just curious about his opinion of Space Mountain, since he's a coaster fiend.

[Louis85]

I'm going to Disney World this coming Wednesday....Do you find Space Mountain to be 'worthy'? I like coasters well enough, but Pirates of the Caribbean is my fave.

I went on the Sheikra and some of the other coasters at Busch Gardens last year, and the Sheikra was nothing but pain and moments of not being able to breathe. I don't plan on returning to Busch Gardens.
There were some drunk bastids, getting drunker by the minute, in line for the Sheikra that night. I wonder if they let them on the ride?????

Yes Wendy, Space Mountain is VERY worthy if for no other reason than its uniqueness and for how long its been around. I JUST rode it two years ago and I was pleasantly surprised--it was not at all what I expected. As far as steel coasters go, it's pretty subdued in terms of the actual ride, but the dark theming makes it enjoyable. On a side note, something about that long corridor queue line that made me nauseous. I got claustraphobia or something.

I haven't been to BG Africa yet, but I plan to return to BG Europe this summer hopefully. Sheikra is the same as the Griffin at BGE. Those coasters are a newer prototype (the most famous and first one being Oblivion at a park in England) I am anxious to ride one of them.

[ElizabethX]

I love Scrubs too. Got the first three seasons on DVD, getting the 4th for my birthday in a couple weeks. :D

ooh I'm jealous. So far I got nada.

[Twisted.Mellow]

ooh I'm jealous. So far I got nada.

My only prob. is the episodes are too short!

[pmFan]

You are the only person I've come across who loves Pirates!
I've been to Disney World like 30 times. I was just curious about his opinion of Space Mountain, since he's a coaster fiend.
I LOVE Pirates, too! Let us know if you ever go to WDW on the weekend, I might see you there (our family goes every now and then).

I have always liked Space Mountain because of the dark - especially when they make it *really* dark. Over the years it has gone through changes in lighting and ceiling projections (as well as queue and exit themes). In the past few years, they re-did some things to make it really dark again (like I remember it as a kid). For a while, it was bright enough that you could see the tracks in front of you as well as the other tracks near you... not as fun then.

Has anyone ridden Mt Everest at WDW's Animal Kingdom? I liked that one because it goes backwards and switches tracks!

[pmFan]

Yes Wendy, Space Mountain is VERY worthy if for no other reason than its uniqueness and for how long its been around. I JUST rode it two years ago and I was pleasantly surprised--it was not at all what I expected. As far as steel coasters go, it's pretty subdued in terms of the actual ride, but the dark theming makes it enjoyable. On a side note, something about that long corridor queue line that made me nauseous. I got claustraphobia or something.Maybe you looked too long at the bubble glass cases with the outer space things inside. They can play a number on your eyes...


I haven't been to BG Africa yet, but I plan to return to BG Europe this summer hopefully. Sheikra is the same as the Griffin at BGE. Those coasters are a newer prototype (the most famous and first one being Oblivion at a park in England) I am anxious to ride one of them.I don't know if you heard or not, but they just changed Sheikra. They cut off the floor! And I heard they were going to remove the front rail. Now the front row will get an even scarier feeling while hanging 90 degrees at 200 feet up in the air facing down - nothing but track and a hole in front of them!!!! I would love to ride it again soon - last time I rode it was when it first opened.

[ElizabethX]

I LOVE Pirates, too! Let us know if you ever go to WDW on the weekend, I might see you there (our family goes every now and then).

I have always liked Space Mountain because of the dark - especially when they make it *really* dark. Over the years it has gone through changes in lighting and ceiling projections (as well as queue and exit themes). In the past few years, they re-did some things to make it really dark again (like I remember it as a kid). For a while, it was bright enough that you could see the tracks in front of you as well as the other tracks near you... not as fun then.

Has anyone ridden Mt Everest at WDW's Animal Kingdom? I liked that one because it goes backwards and switches tracks!

I've been on Space Mountain once, and part of what got me through it was that it was so dark. Coasters can really scare me (it's the steep drops... I get panic attacks). If it's not dark, I'll have to close my eyes.

Thank you, Space Mountain, for saving me the trouble!

[Louis85]

Yes, PM That is exactly what made me sick! I looked into that Bubble thingy for too long!

Liz-My stomach used to drop on coaster hills when I was young, but somewhere along my youth that went away. Clearly, riding all the different types of coasters out there helped me get over any fear or anxiety about riding them. I have Cedar Point to thank most of all. They always had the biggest coasters going and they still do.

[wendyful04]

I LOVE Pirates, too! Let us know if you ever go to WDW on the weekend, I might see you there (our family goes every now and then).

I have always liked Space Mountain because of the dark - especially when they make it *really* dark. Over the years it has gone through changes in lighting and ceiling projections (as well as queue and exit themes). In the past few years, they re-did some things to make it really dark again (like I remember it as a kid). For a while, it was bright enough that you could see the tracks in front of you as well as the other tracks near you... not as fun then.

Has anyone ridden Mt Everest at WDW's Animal Kingdom? I liked that one because it goes backwards and switches tracks!

I was in Orlando from Tuesday through Sunday. I went on everything at WDW. Here are some highlights:

MAGIC KINGDOM
Space Mountain: badass, as usual, 30 minute wait
Thunder Mountain: awesome, you have to throw your arms up on this ride, I FastPassed it
Pirates: 20 minute wait, there are 4 Jack Sparrow "sightings" now, which are so dang realistic

ANIMAL KINGDOM
Mount Everest: 35 minute wait (should've gone an hour later when the line was much shorter); the wait was fun because you get to go through a 'museum'; I looovvvveeeed the switch up and the monster at the end, very entertaining
Kali River Rapids: don't waste your time, it's quite boring and you'll end up soaked with yucky water
Dinosaur: I was screaming, "Ice Age!"and laughing hysterically the whole time, I was actually pretty scared, terrific

EPCOT
The Big Golf Ball thing: zero wait, cool beans as usual
Test Track: felt just like a drag race, really fun
Mars Mission: 50 minute wait, they act like they are training you to be an astronaut and test your level of motion sickness and your reaction to being enclosed in a small, dark enclosure..... It was interesting enough but it kind of makes you sick. I don't want to be a lady astronaut anymore.
*We spent soooo much money, especially in Japan (Hello Kitty, Naruto, Final Fantasy).

BLIZZARD BEACH
Summit Plummit: I met the challenge and it was like a giant spanking.
I recommend anything that you ride with a tube.

MGM
Tower of Terror: 35 minute wait through the haunted hotel, it was really fun but I was screaming for mercy with the up-and-down bit
Rock 'N Rollercoaster: FastPassed it, fucking awesome and exhilarating, Aerosmith was blasting, upside down and inside out, no straight drops :) , fun, fun, fun, perfect last ride to go on

DISNEY QUEST
This is an interactive, multi-level gameroom in Downtown Disney. We were just too exhausted to enjoy this place and my son was PISSED because they didn't have Dance Dance Revolution (they had some other dance games)

PLEASURE ISLAND
Pretty lame, as usual. We ended up going to eat at Bongo's Cuban Restaurant. The food was very authentic and delicious. The service was very good, except the dumb beast forgot to bring me my Mojito but tried to charge me for it anyhow. She apologized and put on a good Cuban act of pretending to care, so it's all good.

LEGO STORE
It's in Downtown Disney. I got some good pieces but they really need to add more variety to the wall of random pieces. I got rims that didn't fit with any of the tires, and all of the door pieces swung in the same direction, among other things. I got a nice, pink, baby tee with the LEGO symbol on it. That made me happy, since it is on my wishlist on lego.com. Hmmmm, I should have gotten the new french cafe while I was there - now I have to order it online and pay S&H.

[Louis85]

Yeah, the Tower of Terror is great. I've got to get to the Animal Kingdom.

Sounds like you had a lot of fun there, Wendy!

[wendyful04]

We were out of Animal Kingdom in about 4 hours. (Plan to park-hop that day, for sure.)

Good times. Good times.

[pmFan]

Sounds like you had a blast! We usually do AK in 1/2 a day as well... Glad you had fun! :cheers:

[Bonkman]

Unfortunately, my family and I didn't see anything in AK to warrant more than half a day, anyhow. Everest was just being built when we were there.

Only spent one day in Disney/MGM Studios.

We spent more than a day in Epcot & the Magic Kingdom.

[pmFan]

Unfortunately, my family and I didn't see anything in AK to warrant more than half a day, anyhow.I agree. We like to plan to get there early and go straight to the back and ride the safari. The animals are usually quite active first thing in the morning. We usually plan the second half of the day at one of the other 3 parks. Many times it is MGM, because with a 3 & 5 yo, you can hit the kids shows in half a day or less as well. The motorcycle/car stunt show is awesome, though! The Indiana Jones show never was the same after we saw the one cast member plunge to his near death on the concrete...

[wendyful04]

In AK, we ran straight back to Everest first thing in the morning. We should have waited an hour.
We rode the safari ride around 11:30 or 12:00, and it was as hot as ballz, and the line took fo' eva', but the animals were pretty much up and about. We should have gone first thing upon entering the park (at 9:00). Actually, that's what we should have FastPassed (instead of the stinky Kali River Rapids ride).

My sister uses this service from tourguidemike.com, which helps you plan out the best times to go to each ride in each park. She says she's never waited more than 20 minutes or so for a ride. It costs $15. I didn't use the service because I wasn't bringing any young children so I figured we'd play it by ear.
We did all right.

I thought that I was all parked-out but tonight, after watching 10 minutes of Hook, I started to think about Pirates of the Caribbean which made my Disney Fever come back full force. I want to go back to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom the most. Maybe we'll go on an overnight trip before the summer's over.....