Cedar Point coaster review...

[oldkicker]

We didn't get to ride them all, but here is a review of the coasters my daughter (15) and I managed to get on....

Ranking the coasters we rode on at CP:

1) Millenium Force. Just awesome. The first drop is breathtaking - it feels like a complete free-fall! The balance of the ride is filled with surprises and thrills, right to the very end. This is the best coaster I've ever ridden! (A+)

2) Magnum XL-200. I really, really enjoyed this one. The first two hills are just great, nice air time. I love the camel backs near the end and the tunnels. This one has a nostaglic feel to it too, particularly in the launch area. That area reminded me of Space Mountain for some reason!(A)

3) Top Thrill Dragster. The mechanical problems are still an issue, but this ride is incredible. The launch is amazing. Completely smooth acceleration, the world becomes a blur. The ride to the top and the pause once you get there is amazing as is the return trip to terra firma! (A-, if they get the mechanical issues worked out, this rises to an A+)

4) Raptor. This is one of those coasters you ride with your feet hanging out. We were in the middle of the car and, surprisingly, that actually added to the thrills of this one! We really couldn't see where we were going next (we rode at night), so some of the dips and turns really took us by surprise. This is a ton of fun! (A-)

5) Mantis. A stand-up coaster. I'd never ridden a stand up coaster before and was really looking forward to this one. It didn't disapoint! Smooth as silk, a great first turn and drop and a lot of excitement packed in! (A-)

6) Wicked Twister. This is a really unique coaster. You're launched from the middle of the ride and there are two corkscrews on either end of the ride. You travel up one, pause for second and then drop back down. Then to whiz up the other one, hang for a second and then do it all over again. All in all, you're taking up the corkscrews five times. Three times up the foreward-facing one and twice up the backward one. This is a real rush!! (A-)

7) Mean Streak. A woodie. I think this ride clocks in at over three minutes. The first section of the ride is pretty good, but about half-way through, this thing kicks ito another gear and it really ROCKS!! There are some really severe banking turns that are very, very cool! (B+)

8) Iron Dragon. A hanging coaster, the car sways back and forth as you ride it. I had never ridden one of these before either. I play Roller Coaster Tycoon and had seen this type as a coaster option there. Fairly tame, the ending turn is a bit of a surprise. Fun. (C)

9) Corkscrew. Way too short. One loop, a corkscrew and then it's over. (D)

We didn't get to ride on Gemini (dueling woodies), Demon Drop, Power Tower, Blue Streak, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Disaster Transport (I never even SAW this one!), Jr. Gemini, Wildcat or the Woodstock Express (a kiddie coaster).

All in all, my I, my wife and the girls (15 and 9) were totally impressed with Cedar Point. This is a world-class park with great thrill rides and more than enough attractions to keep the little ones happy too. Very clean, nicely landscaped, very capable and polite cast members (or whatever they are called there), and a very well organized park.

The layout of the place is HUGE! Be prepared to do some serious walking!

Do take advantage of the Freeway Pass program. They give out a limited number of these passes (hand stamps) to selected attractions. You get your hand stamped with the name of the attraction and a time range to return, I think it's always a 1 hour period. Come back then and you can walk in near the front of the line. You're limited to two passes. I think they are available for Millenium Force, Magnum, Raptor and Wicked Twister. Maybe more, I'm not sure. I think they start distributing these at 11:00 am (the park opens at 10), at most rides run out long before the day is done.

We stayed at the campground on Cedar Point and we were quite pleased with that. Not very roomy sites, but the facilities were excellent and you can't beat the convenience. You can get in to the park 1/2 ahead of the general public. No rides are open, but you can get into line for the big attractions before the lines get crazy.

All in all, we really loved Cerdar Point!

 

[amid chaos]

Wow bernie..you were certainly busy this weekend!!!! LOL. Sounds like a roller coaster enthusiasts dream come true.

 

[Marla Hellwig]

Wicked Twister glad you enjoyed that one Bernie - let's just say I survived it - though Towncrier and family had a good laugh at me - on the other hand Kara loved it

Millennium Force - I was impressed just sorry didn't get to ride it again - we missed out on the hand stamp Saturday - just wasn't in the mood to stand in line for an hour to just get the hand stamp

Loved the Mine Ride - got in 2 rides - Dan's legs were too long

Gemini - got love the wood coasters

Magnum - I would have enjoyed it more if the person behind me hadn't been holding onto my braid - geesh

Power Tower is rather like ToT - you get to choose to be shot up and drift down or vice versa - the shooting up is rather a rush

Kara ended up riding all but 5 - she missed Raptor, Demon Drop, Disaster Transport - this ride is to the far right as you enter the park, Blue Streak - and of course Top Thrill but she was a very happy camper

All in all - a good time the whole weekend - and in my humble opinion you need 2 days to really get in everything

 

[dianeschlicht]

Great report, OK! I can see there are a couple on there I would NOT ride, but I would do most. I don't think I would like one where feet dangle. That is why I have never done Tower of Power here.

 

[TXTIGGR]

Wow!

Sounds like you put in some mileage!
Boy, I'm drooling and it isn't the bagel.
Geez, I'd love to test out so many coasters in a day.
Sounds like you had a blast, and makes Cedar Point
a definite attraction to visit.

Hope the ride out/back was fun and safe too.

 

[Indyman]

Great review of the coasters, OK. One of these days I'll get to Cedar Point. How were the lines?

 

[Marla Hellwig]

On Saturdy the lines were very managable - think our longest wait was 15 min - everyone was standing in line for top thrill

 

[Cindy B]

Well, you wouldn't have seen Disaster Transport because it is enclosed! I missed it the first few times looking for it as well.

Disaster Trasport is one of the coaster my 47 inch daughter could ride, so we rode it multiple times (I think 20 was our last count)

It enclosed in a factory type looking building right near the observation tower.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

We live close to CP and didn't even go last year, it's a shame summer runs out and I have so much left to do!
I LOVE Millenium, Raptor, Magnum, Gemini and Blue Streak (sentimental value--it's the one everyone goes on FIRST in my family when they finally get 48" tall, including me back in 1970). DH and I don't even waste our time on Iron Dragon, Disaster Transport or the Mine Ride, although we'll ride the Mine Ride if the kids are with us. I've never ridden Wicked Twister or Top thrill yet. The Mean Streak is a little jerky and tends to give me a headache, but I'll ride it if I have tylenol ready afterwards.
Mantis scared the you-know-what out of me! I felt like I was falling. Stand up coasters are not for me.
Luckily all my kids so far love coasters as well, although DS is still too short. We will all ride anything at least once.
It's very cool to have the frame of reference that I've been going there for so long, I know what's gone and what' new or missing, etc. It's like the people who have been going to WDW for years and years, since I've only been going there since 2000.
One interesting note about Top Thrill--in the early/mid 70s they had a coaster called the Jumbo Jet. You had to be 5' to ride. It was behind the space needle. I remember because one year I was only 4'11" and stopped as I was about to step into the car to ride! Childhood trauma. Anyhow, it was open for a few years but broke down a LOT, and even though it was very cool they ended up getting rid of it since it was so much trouble. Hmmmm.
Robin M.

 

[DisnutDave@work]

Great report, Bernie! And it couldn't be more timely for me, DW and I are going to Cedar Point for the first time this weekend, staying Saturday through Tuesday A.M. at Hotel Breakers there. Very excited, I've been seeing info about Cedar Point for years, and lately it seems like the Travel Channel has something about it just about every week! I will ride everything, DW will be my line companion but rides very little. She's a trooper, and just enjoys the ambiance of theme and amusement parks. I'll try to get her on Gemini JR. for at least a minor thrill!

Glad you enjoyed, thanks again for the reviews and the tips.

 

[oldkicker]

Have fun, Dave!

Cindy - now that you mention it, I do remember that building.....for some reason I thought it was a show! Ah well, another one for next time!

Indy - we blew a lot of time away waiting for Top Thrill. The wait for Millenium force was 1.5 hours, Raptor was 1 hour, Mantis was 1.5, and we pretty much walked on all the others.

Rob - the ride on I-90 reminded me of Top Thrill at times....

Vanessa - it is a dream park if you like coasters. They are EVERWHERE!! Katie and Sharon really enjoyed themselves too. They took in all the shows and kiddie stuff. They had a blast.

Robin, it must have been cool to see this great park develop!

Diane - when Erin and I were sitting on Raptor, waiting for it to start, I glanced over at her and she was swinging her legs back and forth. Then I realized that I was too.

 

[BarryHom]

Mean Streak gets an A-? That thing is painful to ride!

Anyway, you missed on some of Cedar Point's more classic ride. Blue Streak is a great out and back with some great airtime. Gemini is a fun ride. Cedar Creek Mine Ride is a nice mine ride coaster (not as good as BTMRR, though). Disaster Transport is a unique bobsled coaster that has looked (and smelled!) better than past years. Wildcat is good minus the hard end brakes. I've never been on Woodstock Express or Gemini Jr. No kids to borrow.

 

[Towncrier]

Barry - You wouldn't fit in the seats of the Gemini Jr. Sarah was all set to ride with one of Glo's daughters when she realized that at 5' 10" she could not get her legs under the safety bar.

I disagree about the comment that the Mantis is a smooth ride. I always feel like someone has boxed my ears when I come off of that one.

The Magnum does offer lots of air time, but my poor back doesn't like the resulting landings. Being somewhat afraid of heights, I really dislike the LONG first lift. It seems like it takes forever to scale the 200 feet.

Mean Streak - It's called MEAN for a reason. Another ride that my back and I avoid at all costs.

I managed to get three rides on the Milennium Force on this visit to CP. It's by far my favorite ride at CP.

 

[#1 Disney Fan]

Sounds like you packed in a lot of torture, er, I mean... <b>fun </b>this weekend Bernie! You were a busy bunch! I would have been on the sidelines a lot, that's for sure! (What.... no thrill ride review of my carosel, Bernie?! )

 

[dizneenut]

Glad you got to ride so many of our great coasters, OK!

We always swing our feet on Raptor, too! Just can't help myself.

My faves. are MF, Magnum, Raptor, & now TTD!

 

[Doctor P]

I've got to agree with Bernie: Millenium Force is by far the best coaster I have ever ridden. I rode it first thing, and then got off the ride and got a hand stamp to come back in the afternoon and ride it again. Totally Awesome!

 

[AspiringCindy]

We'll be heading out that way next week. Do you mean to tell me that I can get in 1/2 early, but the rides are all closed? How fair is that? I was hoping to ride Millenium Force and Magnum before the park opens! Oh well!
Glad to hear... you liked the park! Any strategy suggestions to a Cedar Point newbie?

 

[December99]

I had a very disappointed experience that I was debating about whether or not I was going to bring it up. If you are a larger sized female - you will not get on most of the coasters. This upset me greatly. All of the coasters except one or two have seat belts and then lap bars. The lap bars would have fit me fine - it was the seat belts that I couldn't get on. They are very short and are set for very small people or people with at least thin legs. Very disappointing that Cedar Point hasn't redone the seatbelts and made them more extended. I waited in 3 lines only to be disappointed after entering the coasters. I finally got wise and asked how you were "strapped" in before I got in line. I was able to ride ONE coaster - Iron Dragon and I could have ridden one more but they wouldn't help me with the over the head bar - my arms were too short to get it closer to my body after I sat down because I'm so short and I had plenty of room to move it closer to my body. Next time I will have a family member or person riding with me push it down because the staff can't. And I only needed one notch and I could have gotten it but I couldn't get my arm up any further to pull it down one more.

This in my opinion is a very discriminating park. There are things they can do to allow larger people to ride but they haven't done them yet. I will be writing to Cedar Point letting them know of my displeasure. I enjoyed being in the park and seeing the joy in my dd and dh and Ranatra's riding. I am such a coaster freak and I was at the point of tears after the third time of not being able to ride.

 

[oldkicker]

I'm glad you mentioned it, Chris. Your experience will certainly give some of our DIS friends a heads up. I did notice warning signs, but they were always at the ride entrance. You wouldn't even see them until you had waited in line, sometimes for quite a while.

I'd be interested to hear what Cedar Fair might have to say....

I'm sorry that your visit went so poorly there.

 

[December99]

And the sad thing is - I'm large but I'm not THAT large. I fit in the seats just fine. It was just the belts were for tiny people. I did see some MUCH larger people trying to get in the rides and I have no clue how they fit in some of the seats. They had to have been incredibly uncomfortable and then they weren't able to ride either.

Another warning - if you have backpacks that you take, be prepared to shell out some money for lockers and you need to plan your time in the area that the locker is. Unlike Busch Gardens in Tampa - the lockers are in a central location around several rides at a time and they are a dollar for smaller lockers and $2 for larger lockers. If you are unsure if you can take the pack on - ask. Some rides will let you but very few. If you have a person that isn't going to ride then you are safe. They do tell you before you enter the ride. Some people with fanny packs could ride because of the way the ride was structured but backpacks weren't allowed on.