Disney Snob Does Cedar Point

[Luv Bunnies]

They had every character as a plush. They were so cute. There was one I almost bought for myself. He was so cute…he looked like a chubby Snoopy, but I think his name was Olef? I do not remember him from Peanuts at all. I used to be a big Fan of Peanuts too. Snoopy and Winnie the Pooh were always my favorites as a kid. When a “special” would come on…yes I grew up before cable and cartons 24 hours a day, so we got our dose of this through “specials” a few times a year…I would be so excited and watch them. But I don’t remember Olef…..I’m assuming he is a cousin of Snoopy’s.

I can give you the story on Olaf. He's one of Snoopy's brothers. He has three brothers: Spike, Olaf and Andy. Spike is skinny, Olaf is fat, Andy is fuzzy and Snoopy is........Snoopy. Spike was featured quite a bit in the comic strips. He would sometimes come to visit Snoopy from Needles where he lived. Olaf and Andy weren't featured very often, but they were seen occasionally. Gotta love those beagle brothers!

 

[jenseib]

I grew up with season passes to Cedar Point because we spent every weekend near Sandusky (we also had them to Geauga Lake because we lived 15 minutes from there during the week). My dad would never take me to Disney because my 4 brothers had no interest in it. Once I finally got to Disney at the age of 19, I've had no interest in Cedar Point anymore DH and I went once 4 or 5 years ago, but then I dragged him to Disney and then he had no interest in Cedar Point anymore. Disney wins!



Remember the big tree?? I loved Berenstein Bears land!

Yes, I have just grown I guess....new interests now.
I do remember the tree now too. My DD did slide down it A LOT that 1st trip with her.

I to havent been to CP in years! We live about 45 minutes from Kennywood so its our "go to" home park.


Maybe in a couple years we will make a trip out to CP as my son gets older he gets more "thrill seeking" my hubby is somewhat and me well I just cant do it anymore

I will go to picture take and snack!

Oh and can I say the pictures of that Wind seeker thingie... and thats just from looking at it

yeah, I'm not too excited about it either...but I never was a fan of swings (ther ride kind) ever either.

I was always so bummed out because it was never open when we went in there! I used to pray that when we went the tree would be open!!

Aww.

We had to take a flashlight with us bc our ds wanted to "see" when he slid down the tree. lol

how cute

I can give you the story on Olaf. He's one of Snoopy's brothers. He has three brothers: Spike, Olaf and Andy. Spike is skinny, Olaf is fat, Andy is fuzzy and Snoopy is........Snoopy. Spike was featured quite a bit in the comic strips. He would sometimes come to visit Snoopy from Needles where he lived. Olaf and Andy weren't featured very often, but they were seen occasionally. Gotta love those beagle brothers!

Thanks. I do know Spike. I don't remember Andy either. I'm sure they had a plush of him too and I just missed it. They had every character that I could tell.

 

[jenseib]

Somewhere along the way we had stopped for the smoke break and continued on through Frontier land.

They seemed to be on a mission to get somewhere, but I have no clue where…nor did they I think. LOL!

I stopped to take pictures of the Mill.

They just looked back at me like I was crazy and kept going.

As we walked through, I did ask Claire if she wanted to pet the animals in the farm area and she said no, and then I asked her if she wanted to make a candle, which used to be a favorite of mine, and again she said no.

What to do next?

We talked about a few options, but Claire didn’t want to do any of them. She was on the games kick again. I told her there was no way we were heading back to the front for games, or that I would be spending money on any, so to get over it. She did some pouting and basically didn’t want to ride anything then.

 

[lisajl]

Hey Jen-where do you live in Ohio? We are about 1 1/2 hours from C.P, too.
We don't go there. We have been and my kids (25, 17 and 14 now), hate it.
Well, they don't hate it, as you have said, "It's not Disney."

 

[DeluxePrincess]

Thanks for the Mineride photo! That was my first coaster ride ever. Glad to see it's still up and running. Used to love to feed the giant Koi fish that were nearby too!

 

[jenseib]

Hey Jen-where do you live in Ohio? We are about 1 1/2 hours from C.P, too.
We don't go there. We have been and my kids (25, 17 and 14 now), hate it.
Well, they don't hate it, as you have said, "It's not Disney."

I live near Swanton, which is West of Toledo.

Thanks for the Mineride photo! That was my first coaster ride ever. Glad to see it's still up and running. Used to love to feed the giant Koi fish that were nearby too!

I used to love it too. We also fed the fish...sort of.....WE taught Claire how to spit in the ater and watch the fish come up for it. Aren't we classy.

 

[Beth D]

I can give you the story on Olaf. He's one of Snoopy's brothers. He has three brothers: Spike, Olaf and Andy. Spike is skinny, Olaf is fat, Andy is fuzzy and Snoopy is........Snoopy. Spike was featured quite a bit in the comic strips. He would sometimes come to visit Snoopy from Needles where he lived. Olaf and Andy weren't featured very often, but they were seen occasionally. Gotta love those beagle brothers!

There is also Marbles, who is a bit scrambled, and Belle, their sister. She's the one with the bow in her hair and the curly eyelashes.

Jen - It's a complete different perspective isn't it when you don't ride vs. when you do, isn't it? My DS is 6, but a total thrill seeker already. He's tall for his age, and has already ridden Space Mountain, Big Thunder Railway, and Harry Potter at IOA.

He's starting on the rides here now. We're in trouble!

B

 

[jenseib]

There is also Marbles, who is a bit scrambled, and Belle, their sister. She's the one with the bow in her hair and the curly eyelashes.

Jen - It's a complete different perspective isn't it when you don't ride vs. when you do, isn't it? My DS is 6, but a total thrill seeker already. He's tall for his age, and has already ridden Space Mountain, Big Thunder Railway, and Harry Potter at IOA.

He's starting on the rides here now. We're in trouble!

B

I kind of remember marbles too.
Yes, Claire is very tall as well. She could ride Space Mountain, but chose not too...and we even had FP's.

 

[TyTysMommy]

It was fun taking shots, but I sure didn’t get the same warm fuzzy feeling I get when I do it at Disney.

I know what you mean. Tyler wants to go to Kings Island real bad and I suppose we'll end up going but I would rather be saving my money for Disney. I just have no desire to go to any of the local theme parks.

 

[jenseib]

I know what you mean. Tyler wants to go to Kings Island real bad and I suppose we'll end up going but I would rather be saving my money for Disney. I just have no desire to go to any of the local theme parks.

My sister and her family were at Kings Island today. I think they are probably driving home right now. They were going to spend an extra night, but then last minute she had to go in to work tomorrow as they just hired someone new and she had to be there.

 

[elainesj]

Real nice to read your TR! We were just at CP yesterday and had an awesome time so nice to relive the memories

We actually bought Platinum Passes for Cedar Fair this year and plan to take in as much as we can. We've been enjoying it...but as you've pointed out...it's just not Disney and my whole family says they much prefer Disney. Still...if we're lucky we can manage Disney once a year and with Cedar Fair, we can go all summer so it makes it worth it to go to Cedar Fair parks.

The biggest different with Disney is obviously theme park vs amusement park. My DH doesn't do many rides because he gets motion sickness easily. My DS8 just doesn't care for many rides. BTMR is his speed and he loves that. Still, we go because my DD9 and I enjoy the thrill rides. If we didn't, I really don't think CP would be worth it, kwim?

Also, if anyone is thinking of going with thrill seeking kids...I'd highly recommend you make sure your kid is over 46 or 48 inches. We went with another family yesterday and their dd6 is 45 inches and is a thrill seeker. LOVED EE in AK. But because she's 45 inches...she couldn't go on sooo many rides that she wanted to like iron Dragon, the Mine Ride, etc etc. The biggest rides she could go on was Woostock Express (a very decent kiddie coaster) and Ocean Motion. PLUS, better make sure at least one adult in the party can handle spinning. A lot of the bigger kids rides in the park involve spinning. All the other adults in the group can't handle spinning so I ended up having to go on with all 4 kids on most of the rides. The two little ones had to be accompanied by a responsible person (over 16) on most of those rides...even the carousel!! If I couldn't take spinning, they wouldn't have been able to go on much other than the little Dumbo type rides...and even then, many of those rides needed the "responsible person".

Because we had two kids in our group under 48 inches, we spent the first part of the day doing kiddy rides. Then the 2nd half we split off with myself, the other couple, and my DD9 going on the big thrill rides while my DH took the other kids to the kiddy lands. The one nice thing about cedar Point is they have kiddy rides spread out throughout the park so you're never far from a kids ride. Even though you're separated, you're not all that far away. In canada's Wonderland, the kiddy section is two big connected areas at the back of the park and that's pretty much it.

By the way, did you stay until dusk for the Starlight Experience? That was really cool and my DH said he felt like he was at Disney. The music and the lighting effects were amazing. Also, it stretched for a good 5-10 min walk! They even had snow in one small section. This is what I imagine the Osborne lights to be like.

All in all, CP is an awesome park if at least some in your party like thrill rides and the rest are fine with splitting up and waiting (my DH is OK with this and usually always finds something to amuse himself and my son). The thrill rides are really second to none...Top Thrill Dragster and Millenium Force are in a class of their own!

 

[charming23]

Thanks for posting this. I have not been to Ceadr Point since 1999 when I graduated from 8th grade and our whole class went. My friends and I are thinking about taking a trip up there later in the summer and this is helping me see everything again.

I too remember when the Bernstein Bears had their little area and I loved it. I still have pictures of my Aunt and I on many of the rides together.

The mine ride was also my very first "big Coaster" and am so happy to see it still there.

 

[jenseib]

Real nice to read your TR! We were just at CP yesterday and had an awesome time so nice to relive the memories

We actually bought Platinum Passes for Cedar Fair this year and plan to take in as much as we can. We've been enjoying it...but as you've pointed out...it's just not Disney and my whole family says they much prefer Disney. Still...if we're lucky we can manage Disney once a year and with Cedar Fair, we can go all summer so it makes it worth it to go to Cedar Fair parks.

The biggest different with Disney is obviously theme park vs amusement park. My DH doesn't do many rides because he gets motion sickness easily. My DS8 just doesn't care for many rides. BTMR is his speed and he loves that. Still, we go because my DD9 and I enjoy the thrill rides. If we didn't, I really don't think CP would be worth it, kwim?

Also, if anyone is thinking of going with thrill seeking kids...I'd highly recommend you make sure your kid is over 46 or 48 inches. We went with another family yesterday and their dd6 is 45 inches and is a thrill seeker. LOVED EE in AK. But because she's 45 inches...she couldn't go on sooo many rides that she wanted to like iron Dragon, the Mine Ride, etc etc. The biggest rides she could go on was Woostock Express (a very decent kiddie coaster) and Ocean Motion. PLUS, better make sure at least one adult in the party can handle spinning. A lot of the bigger kids rides in the park involve spinning. All the other adults in the group can't handle spinning so I ended up having to go on with all 4 kids on most of the rides. The two little ones had to be accompanied by a responsible person (over 16) on most of those rides...even the carousel!! If I couldn't take spinning, they wouldn't have been able to go on much other than the little Dumbo type rides...and even then, many of those rides needed the "responsible person".

Because we had two kids in our group under 48 inches, we spent the first part of the day doing kiddy rides. Then the 2nd half we split off with myself, the other couple, and my DD9 going on the big thrill rides while my DH took the other kids to the kiddy lands. The one nice thing about cedar Point is they have kiddy rides spread out throughout the park so you're never far from a kids ride. Even though you're separated, you're not all that far away. In canada's Wonderland, the kiddy section is two big connected areas at the back of the park and that's pretty much it.

By the way, did you stay until dusk for the Starlight Experience? That was really cool and my DH said he felt like he was at Disney. The music and the lighting effects were amazing. Also, it stretched for a good 5-10 min walk! They even had snow in one small section. This is what I imagine the Osborne lights to be like.

All in all, CP is an awesome park if at least some in your party like thrill rides and the rest are fine with splitting up and waiting (my DH is OK with this and usually always finds something to amuse himself and my son). The thrill rides are really second to none...Top Thrill Dragster and Millenium Force are in a class of their own!

No, I don't know what the starlight experience even is. I'm guessing it wasn't running the day we were there. We were in early season when a lot is still not open.

 

[jenseib]

Thanks for posting this. I have not been to Ceadr Point since 1999 when I graduated from 8th grade and our whole class went. My friends and I are thinking about taking a trip up there later in the summer and this is helping me see everything again.

I too remember when the Bernstein Bears had their little area and I loved it. I still have pictures of my Aunt and I on many of the rides together.

The mine ride was also my very first "big Coaster" and am so happy to see it still there.

I ahte to say how many years I was already out of high school in 1999!

We did go for our 8th grade trip though too!

 

[jenseib]

Skip decided to go ride Gemini. Claire and I went to the Camp Snoopy Area.

I pointed out all the rides to Claire and she said no to everything…she was still on a game kick…but I told her no. So we kept walking.

We made the decision to go on the paddle boat.

We licked out and were the last two let on the boat.
It has been a VERY long time since I have rode this. It was nice and relaxing, but nothing great. Claire on the other hand LOVED this ride. I think she really thought all the little characters along the way were real and she talked about them a LOT!

 

[jenseib]

Claire loved the ride…so much so that we rode it twice in a row. And the 2nd time we again were the last 2 on the boat. It was good fun, with lots of corny jokes along the way.

As we were about half way through the 2nd trip, Skip called and asked where we were. I told him and he headed over in that direction and took a seat and waited for us.
As soon as we were off Claire wanted to ride AGAIN! So Skip took her this time around and I sat down and waited…and took some pictures as well.

Here they come!

We decided to work our way back up front.

Claire still wanted to play some games, and I think Skip was caving.

 

[elainesj]

No, I don't know what the starlight experience even is. I'm guessing it wasn't running the day we were there. We were in early season when a lot is still not open.

I think it just opened 1 or 2 weekends ago. They light up Frontier Trail and play atmosphere music. A beautiful walk! I was excited as when I went to the park in May, it wasn't opened yet.

 

[jenseib]

I think it just opened 1 or 2 weekends ago. They light up Frontier Trail and play atmosphere music. A beautiful walk! I was excited as when I went to the park in May, it wasn't opened yet.

We were there in May, so thats why it wasn't open yet then. I did see lights on the trees in Frontierland and wondered why though.

 

[jenseib]

As we made our way up front, we started talking about getting some real food. Skip had never heard of Johnny Rockets, though we have 2 in our area, but we decided against it, since the line was HUGE.

We decided to go to the buffet place we had gone to a few years ago…Midway Market.

I took a few shots on the way.

We got seated right away with no wait. This place is just OK. Nothing spectacular, but decent food and better than the junk I had been eating all day. I got a salad from the bar to make sure I had some healthy food in me. LOL!
It had some basics, like pasta and meatballs, chicken, potatoes, etc. And of course dessert! I think that was the best…well the ice-cream was. I got a bowl of Vanilla (I believe they sell Tofts there, which is pretty yummy) and put some strawberry sauce on it. Claire declined any dessert, but she then helped herself to more than half if mine! LOL!
It didn’t take long to eat and we were back out again.
It had cooled down now and we all threw on sweatshirts.
We also knew it was raining at home and from my phone radar, we could tell it was on its way here, but we still had time to play a little longer.
Skip wanted to stop for a Smoke break again and knew of one near the bluestreak, so we headed there and had a seat.

Anyone remember the old Pirate Ride they used to have here? I can see why it’s no longer there. As teens, we would jump out of the cars and trade vehicles, and stupid stuff like that. Towards the end it really became quite a tired, beat up looking, crappy ride. I think you used to be able to run up top and pretend to shoot the cannons or something like that.

I wonder what they use the building for now?

I think I was fiddling around with my phone, or something, and Skip and Claire went on ahead of me. I was going to catch up with them in the games area.

Claire ended up winning a few more new friends. She was pretty good at the squirt gun games and actually beat some adults.

It was starting to get a little dark, and we were getting tired, but Claire didn’t want to leave. I knew we would need to soon to escape the rain though. Skip and Claire did one last ride on the Matterhorn, and then we headed back to Troika again.

Now there is an hour between this picture and the last picture I took. I don’t know what we did. I know this was the last ride and we left....OR maybe we hit the Matterhorn after this one. I just know I had stopped taking pictures. I sometimes do that when I am getting tired.
I know we also hit the not so clean bathrooms one last time before the rode trip home.
Skip waited with our stuff while we went, and then he went in and Claire and I headed off to the car in front of him. It was starting to sprinkle and Skip is a slow walker with his hip replacement, so we said we would just meet him out there.
We found the car and I popped Claire in right away to avoid getting wet. It wasn’t bad, just an annoying sprinkle.
I took one last picture and Skip was at the car before I even had the stroller loaded in.

Lots of people were leaving at this time since it had started raining, but the traffic wasn’t too bad to get out. I just took it slowly. It was enough that it made it hard to see with glaring lights and it being dark.

We decided on taking Route 2 back home. We tried to see if we could see the lights off in the distance, as you sometimes can when going home that way, but no luck for us. Well I couldn’t really see, because I was driving, but Claire and Skip saw nothing.
Our drive time was almost identical to our drive time on the way in (minus the little stop on the turnpike). So we determined that neither way is really any faster for us. Claire stayed awake part of the trip home, but we did stop at gas station about 20 minutes from home to get a pop and Claire was out then.
She woke up and said something hilarious…and for the life of me, I can’t remember what it was. But we laughed so hard about it the rest of the way home.
We arrived home and all went to bed. It was a fun day, but we were tired.
I have to say this is when I really realized how much of a Disney Snob I am. I enjoyed the day…but in my mind I was doing a LOT of comparing of things. I also have found that going to Cedar Point no longer excites me like it used to. I can do a day trip here and there, but I no longer have that urge to run from ride to ride like I did in my younger years….and my body can’t take it either. LOL! I think if my neck and shoulders weren’t acting up so much at that time though, I may have done a bit more…like the Gemini, blue streak, and my old favorite, the Raptor.

Thanks for reading along and sharing my experience.

 

[OrlandoMike]

I saw this guy. I have never seen him here before. I’m not sure if he is new…or if I am just not observant.

That "dragon" has been around the point for probably over 100 years, it was moved to its current location when they built Iron Dragon.

Also, the old Pirate Ride building now is storage for halloween decorations.