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ok, Peter .. since you asked ...
We just got back from a trip to Cedar Point. My daughter, Sarah (10) and I both love coasters, so we decided to visit since I had July 4th week off. I got her a FF ticket using my miles and paid for my airline ticket.
Cedar Point has won "Best Amusement Park in the world" industry awards for eight years straight. It deserved it too. It's worth a visit if you love amusement parks.
We stayed on property at the Sandcastle Suites. The Hotel Breakers is more well-known, but we decided on the suites. Accommodations were adequate, expensive as you might expect for staying right there on the peninsula, but worth the extra cost to stay right there on the peninsula. Hotel guests of Cedar Point properties get early admission and generally the same four rides opened early each day. There's a pretty well run shuttle bus system. Each day we had the driver drop us at the Marina entrance for the early admission, even though the Magnum entrance is closer to the hotel.
The park itself has been around since the late 1800's. It's a roller coaster mecca with 16 coasters. You can see pictures and descriptions of all the rides and shows at www.cedarpoint.com
1. Magnum XL - 200 foot high steel coaster that never quits. This became Sarah and my favorite coaster. The operators of Magnum do a great job of loading and unloading this ride quickly giving it pretty big hourly capacity, so the lines were never very long and always moved quickly. Incredible "air time" on this ride. Sit towards the front of the train in the front row of a car for the best ride. Otherwise can be too intense.
2. Gemini - Looks like a woodie, but is actually a steel racer coaster. This also became a favorite. Never a real long line here, because of the twin racer trains, the ride has a huge hourly capacity. Arms up the entire way!
3. Mean Streak - A huge wooden coaster. Nothing good to say about it except we never waited long. A huge disappointment. When you get to the top of the first huge lift hill, even before you get going, you feel three tugs on a trim brake, and there was never a good drop or anything on it. Well, this is just my opinion on this. Visit it and make your own opinion.
4. Blue Streak - CP's oldest coaster, a small out and back wooden coaster. Nice ride, nice air time. Short ride.
5. Raptor - Steel inverted, foot dangling coaster. Fun but short ride. Opens early.
6. Mantis - Stand-up steel coaster. Lots of twists, turns and inversions. Fun coaster of this type. I hate the head restraints.
7. Wicked Twister - Unique, magnetic driven back and forth coaster that was surpringsingly fun. Sarah and I both liked it. Even though when you look at it and watch it run, you might think "why?", it was still surprisingly good.
8. Corkscrew - CPs oldest steel coaster. Sarah loved it. It was ok. Short ride. Nicely arranged as it crosses and twists its way over the midway.
9. Top Thrill Dragster - Amazing ride. 0 - 120 in 4 seconds, propelled by a catch car driven by pneumatic pressure (think aircraft carrier, but the catapult isn't driven by atomic powered steam) then 420' straight up with a 90 degree twist, and 420' straight down with a 270 degree twist. Even though it's over in the blink of an eye, it was totally amazing. Sarah tried it, but it proved to be a bit much for her. I only got to ride it twice. There's currently only one other park that has the same ride. Going up, the seat has you. Going down, the restraint is the only thing that keeps you in the car. Most everybody has this big grin on their face at the end of the ride. Don't miss it. Even if you don't ride it, watch it run from several different views. Funny thing: When the train is in position for "take off", a recorded voice blasts out "Arms down" several times. Watch how many people put their arms up as it blasts off. Everybody returned with their arms intact.
10. Iron Dragon. Sarah liked it. I didn't it. It's a steel hanging coaster with cars that dangle and twist from the top rail. I've been on similar rides, none have been very good. I think the concept looked better on paper than it turned out. This ride has two lift hills.
11. Cedar Creek Mine Ride. Sarah rode this with my brother who doesn't like coasters. Looks like a decent mine ride.
12. Disaster Transport. Indoor terrible coaster. Don't bother.
13. Jr. Gemini - Kids coaster. Didn't ride it.
14. Woodstock Express - Kids coaster. Didn't ride it.
15. Wildcat - Old style individual car style compact steel coaster. Didn't ride it.
16. Millenium Force - 300 foot giga coaster with a traditional lift hill and 80 degree first drop. Unfortunately, didn't ride it. It was open the first couple of days we were there, then closed one evening and never reopened. It's supposed to be the best of the lot there with a very smooth and fast ride (depending on how you feel about Top Thrill Dragster, I suppose.) Usually this one is open for early entry. When it was closed, they opened Mantis instead.
The park itself is beautiful in a nice location. We hit great weather when we were there. We noticed that if something is dropped on the ground in the park, it's literally swept up within minutes. The place is incredibly clean.
There are about 5 or 6 shows in the park. We went to most of them and they were all great. Sarah liked the ice skating show the best. I liked Rock The House the best. All of the shows have very talented performers and very talented choreographers and writers. I was impressed by the shows. Don't miss them.
On the night of July 4th, they had a nice fireworks show. I think it was done by the Zambelli's. Every night at 10PM, they have a fire/light multimedia show near the midway, near Wildcat and Mantis. We stayed up one night because Sarah wanted to see it. I thought the live shows were better. It has some small fireworks in it, and we watched as there was a misfire and a live firework landed within 5 feet of one person sitting up front. Security was there instantly. Fortunately, nobody was injured, but Sarah was scared for the rest of it. They have some sort of liquid fire effect that makes that show unique.
Other thrill rides of note:
1. Max Air. Pretty unique ride. Lots of air time. We both liked it. Opens early.
2. Skyhawk. Think of kids compressed air driven huge kids swings suspended from a tower over 100 feet tall that propels you more than 90 degrees up and pops you out of your seat at the high points. Interesting concept. We both liked it. Opens early.
There's lots of other more traditional rides in the park, including two kids rides areas. There are three carousels. We rode a "fast" one. The one near the main gate is the oldest ride in the park, built in 1948 or something like that. There's a real small guage steam locomotive that travels from the midway (near Wildcat and Mantis) to Frontier Town and back. They actually shovel coal on it. There's at least two water rides in the park, I didn't go on either one.
The food was generally very good inside the park. Large portions. Sarah and I were generally able to share one portion that was more than enough for both of us. The chicken tenders were really good. Nice individual packets of ranch dressing available if you ask for them. We found one place in Frontier Town that served something called Macho Nachos that we both really loved. I got Sarah a Caramel covered Apple on a stick that was literally dripping in soft caramel. I don't like caramel, but this thing was pretty good. Cotton Candy was 25 cents as a promotional item, I guess. Sodas were expensive. They sell souvenir cups, but refills were not free. At any food both, you could get cups of ice and ice water for free. There's one place with Starbucks coffee and Donut Time donuts near the entrance to the sky ride towards the front of the park.
A new ride was being built on the edge of frontier town. It had all or most of the footings poured, and while we were there some steel supports were delivered on the site. Looks like they might be building a new coaster for next year. Not sure how big it might be, the area for it isn't that huge. Parks tend to keep the actual rides secret for as long as they can.
At the end of the trip, my feet were glad to be back home.
Two rides, Top Thrill Dragster and Millenium Force have overly small seat belt systems. I'm not particularly huge, but I needed their help to fasten the seat belt on TTD, then I had to manage to pull an inch of the belt slack through in order for them to let me ride. The seat belt is a backup safety on both these rides. The primary restraint on TTD is a large latching lap bar.
On every ride, each passenger's safety systems are checked twice before the ride leaves the station or starts.
For extras, there's a separate water park that we didn't go to, and a separate challenge park with what looks like great go-carts and a great track for those interested in that sort of thing. Sarah did go on the extreme trampoline at the Challenge Park for an extra $7. The Challenge Park attractions were priced separately. The water park has a separate admission, but combo tickets to the amusement park and water park were available.
If you plan to go, order their brochure online from their web site, leaving ample time for them to mail it to you. The last two pages of the brochure have coupons that were useful. There's a page on their website for coupons, but I always found it to be empty.
All in, we had a great time, and I'd recommend Cedar Point to anybody without hesitation. It's reputation is well deserved.
-David
We just got back from a trip to Cedar Point. My daughter, Sarah (10) and I both love coasters, so we decided to visit since I had July 4th week off. I got her a FF ticket using my miles and paid for my airline ticket.
Cedar Point has won "Best Amusement Park in the world" industry awards for eight years straight. It deserved it too. It's worth a visit if you love amusement parks.
We stayed on property at the Sandcastle Suites. The Hotel Breakers is more well-known, but we decided on the suites. Accommodations were adequate, expensive as you might expect for staying right there on the peninsula, but worth the extra cost to stay right there on the peninsula. Hotel guests of Cedar Point properties get early admission and generally the same four rides opened early each day. There's a pretty well run shuttle bus system. Each day we had the driver drop us at the Marina entrance for the early admission, even though the Magnum entrance is closer to the hotel.
The park itself has been around since the late 1800's. It's a roller coaster mecca with 16 coasters. You can see pictures and descriptions of all the rides and shows at www.cedarpoint.com
1. Magnum XL - 200 foot high steel coaster that never quits. This became Sarah and my favorite coaster. The operators of Magnum do a great job of loading and unloading this ride quickly giving it pretty big hourly capacity, so the lines were never very long and always moved quickly. Incredible "air time" on this ride. Sit towards the front of the train in the front row of a car for the best ride. Otherwise can be too intense.
2. Gemini - Looks like a woodie, but is actually a steel racer coaster. This also became a favorite. Never a real long line here, because of the twin racer trains, the ride has a huge hourly capacity. Arms up the entire way!
3. Mean Streak - A huge wooden coaster. Nothing good to say about it except we never waited long. A huge disappointment. When you get to the top of the first huge lift hill, even before you get going, you feel three tugs on a trim brake, and there was never a good drop or anything on it. Well, this is just my opinion on this. Visit it and make your own opinion.
4. Blue Streak - CP's oldest coaster, a small out and back wooden coaster. Nice ride, nice air time. Short ride.
5. Raptor - Steel inverted, foot dangling coaster. Fun but short ride. Opens early.
6. Mantis - Stand-up steel coaster. Lots of twists, turns and inversions. Fun coaster of this type. I hate the head restraints.
7. Wicked Twister - Unique, magnetic driven back and forth coaster that was surpringsingly fun. Sarah and I both liked it. Even though when you look at it and watch it run, you might think "why?", it was still surprisingly good.
8. Corkscrew - CPs oldest steel coaster. Sarah loved it. It was ok. Short ride. Nicely arranged as it crosses and twists its way over the midway.
9. Top Thrill Dragster - Amazing ride. 0 - 120 in 4 seconds, propelled by a catch car driven by pneumatic pressure (think aircraft carrier, but the catapult isn't driven by atomic powered steam) then 420' straight up with a 90 degree twist, and 420' straight down with a 270 degree twist. Even though it's over in the blink of an eye, it was totally amazing. Sarah tried it, but it proved to be a bit much for her. I only got to ride it twice. There's currently only one other park that has the same ride. Going up, the seat has you. Going down, the restraint is the only thing that keeps you in the car. Most everybody has this big grin on their face at the end of the ride. Don't miss it. Even if you don't ride it, watch it run from several different views. Funny thing: When the train is in position for "take off", a recorded voice blasts out "Arms down" several times. Watch how many people put their arms up as it blasts off. Everybody returned with their arms intact.
10. Iron Dragon. Sarah liked it. I didn't it. It's a steel hanging coaster with cars that dangle and twist from the top rail. I've been on similar rides, none have been very good. I think the concept looked better on paper than it turned out. This ride has two lift hills.
11. Cedar Creek Mine Ride. Sarah rode this with my brother who doesn't like coasters. Looks like a decent mine ride.
12. Disaster Transport. Indoor terrible coaster. Don't bother.
13. Jr. Gemini - Kids coaster. Didn't ride it.
14. Woodstock Express - Kids coaster. Didn't ride it.
15. Wildcat - Old style individual car style compact steel coaster. Didn't ride it.
16. Millenium Force - 300 foot giga coaster with a traditional lift hill and 80 degree first drop. Unfortunately, didn't ride it. It was open the first couple of days we were there, then closed one evening and never reopened. It's supposed to be the best of the lot there with a very smooth and fast ride (depending on how you feel about Top Thrill Dragster, I suppose.) Usually this one is open for early entry. When it was closed, they opened Mantis instead.
The park itself is beautiful in a nice location. We hit great weather when we were there. We noticed that if something is dropped on the ground in the park, it's literally swept up within minutes. The place is incredibly clean.
There are about 5 or 6 shows in the park. We went to most of them and they were all great. Sarah liked the ice skating show the best. I liked Rock The House the best. All of the shows have very talented performers and very talented choreographers and writers. I was impressed by the shows. Don't miss them.
On the night of July 4th, they had a nice fireworks show. I think it was done by the Zambelli's. Every night at 10PM, they have a fire/light multimedia show near the midway, near Wildcat and Mantis. We stayed up one night because Sarah wanted to see it. I thought the live shows were better. It has some small fireworks in it, and we watched as there was a misfire and a live firework landed within 5 feet of one person sitting up front. Security was there instantly. Fortunately, nobody was injured, but Sarah was scared for the rest of it. They have some sort of liquid fire effect that makes that show unique.
Other thrill rides of note:
1. Max Air. Pretty unique ride. Lots of air time. We both liked it. Opens early.
2. Skyhawk. Think of kids compressed air driven huge kids swings suspended from a tower over 100 feet tall that propels you more than 90 degrees up and pops you out of your seat at the high points. Interesting concept. We both liked it. Opens early.
There's lots of other more traditional rides in the park, including two kids rides areas. There are three carousels. We rode a "fast" one. The one near the main gate is the oldest ride in the park, built in 1948 or something like that. There's a real small guage steam locomotive that travels from the midway (near Wildcat and Mantis) to Frontier Town and back. They actually shovel coal on it. There's at least two water rides in the park, I didn't go on either one.
The food was generally very good inside the park. Large portions. Sarah and I were generally able to share one portion that was more than enough for both of us. The chicken tenders were really good. Nice individual packets of ranch dressing available if you ask for them. We found one place in Frontier Town that served something called Macho Nachos that we both really loved. I got Sarah a Caramel covered Apple on a stick that was literally dripping in soft caramel. I don't like caramel, but this thing was pretty good. Cotton Candy was 25 cents as a promotional item, I guess. Sodas were expensive. They sell souvenir cups, but refills were not free. At any food both, you could get cups of ice and ice water for free. There's one place with Starbucks coffee and Donut Time donuts near the entrance to the sky ride towards the front of the park.
A new ride was being built on the edge of frontier town. It had all or most of the footings poured, and while we were there some steel supports were delivered on the site. Looks like they might be building a new coaster for next year. Not sure how big it might be, the area for it isn't that huge. Parks tend to keep the actual rides secret for as long as they can.
At the end of the trip, my feet were glad to be back home.
Two rides, Top Thrill Dragster and Millenium Force have overly small seat belt systems. I'm not particularly huge, but I needed their help to fasten the seat belt on TTD, then I had to manage to pull an inch of the belt slack through in order for them to let me ride. The seat belt is a backup safety on both these rides. The primary restraint on TTD is a large latching lap bar.
On every ride, each passenger's safety systems are checked twice before the ride leaves the station or starts.
For extras, there's a separate water park that we didn't go to, and a separate challenge park with what looks like great go-carts and a great track for those interested in that sort of thing. Sarah did go on the extreme trampoline at the Challenge Park for an extra $7. The Challenge Park attractions were priced separately. The water park has a separate admission, but combo tickets to the amusement park and water park were available.
If you plan to go, order their brochure online from their web site, leaving ample time for them to mail it to you. The last two pages of the brochure have coupons that were useful. There's a page on their website for coupons, but I always found it to be empty.
All in, we had a great time, and I'd recommend Cedar Point to anybody without hesitation. It's reputation is well deserved.
-David