We planned a one-day visit to Cedar Point into our vacation. This was a great thought because:
- We had the time.
- Aside for my husband, none of us has ever been.
- Both boys are tall enough to ride most of the rides.
- I scored free tickets by using my hoarded Coke points.
We really didn’t do much research ahead of time because I figured it was a theme park and we’re pretty used to them. But I think I was wrong on this one. It’s HUGE. I think maybe a little pre-planning would have been useful. We did a small amount of pre-planning the night before, but hotel internet was so bad it was pretty hard. So we basically decided on the first ride we wanted to hit and then decided we would just float around from there. It worked out WELL, but not great.
The weather was pretty awesome. A bit cloudy in the morning with a storm moving through mid-day and then clear (and HOT!) skies after that.
We hit our first coaster, Millennium Force. This thing is maybe the most intimidating coaster I’ve seen in my life. When it opened in 2000, Millennium broke ten different world records.
It was briefly the tallest and fastest complete circuit roller coaster in the world, before being surpassed by a Japanese coaster. The ride is also the second-longest roller coaster in North America after The Beast at Kings Island, and was the first roller coaster to use a cable lift system, rather than a traditional chain lift. The coaster has a 310 ft, 45 degree inclined lift hill with a 300 ft drop, and features two tunnels, three over banked turns, and four hills. It has a top speed of about 93 mph. (Source: Wikipedia)
Brendan was really excited. Patrick started to look pale as we approached it and started freaking out a tiny bit. However, he got some encouragement from others in line and decided he had to suck it up. I think he’s happy with that decision because it was a great coaster!
The before of Millennium Force.
What is super freaky about this ride is that once you’re at the top, you realize you are surrounded by water and pretty much convince yourself that is how you will die. But it was awesome. Intense, but awesome. All three of the boys loved it and really wanted to ride it again. At this point, the wait was over an hour so we thought perhaps we would ride it again later in the day, but we were also wrong about that.
We survived Millennium Force!
You see, the park is HUGE. We are used to parks here in Orlando where you can really do one park a day. I’m pretty sure there is no way to do all of Cedar Point in one day. You can probably do it if you don’t have a big two-hour rain storm that shuts down all the rides…and only if you wanted to ride just coasters. But there were so many other rides to do, we just couldn’t get it all done. There was a whole section of the park that we didn’t even see!!!
We did get to meet up with some college friends and rode rides with them the rest of the day. We hit some of the big staples at the park like the Corkscrew – which was much shorter then it should have been. I really felt like just looking at all the coaster tracks that they overlapped and blended together. It was weird not being able to see where one coaster ended and another began.
We waited out the storm inside TGI Friday’s – because the adults needed beverages at this point in the day. Food was decent, server was good but the kitchen sucked. Thankfully we hit Friday’s before everyone else because it turned into a crazy place!
Look – another great lake! This time Lake Erie!
This was the point in the day where I realized how big Cedar Point was. I didn’t realize that it was on the shores of Lake Erie and had its own beach. I had no idea there were hotels basically inside the theme park. There’s even a camp ground?! So yeah – that’s what I get for not looking at a park map before we arrived.
After lunch we got to hit up the Magnum XL – this was a cool coaster.
The boys going up Cedar Point’s Magnum.
We hit a few smaller rides during this point and then decided to head over to the Top Thrill Dragster. Let me start by saying I had no intention of riding this one. It was way too much for me. I had been watching it all day and really not planning to ride it. During the rain, the ride was stopped and at some point they turned it back on for testing. It had no people on it and couldn’t make its way up the and over the hill. That freaked me out. But, I was talked into riding it with Brendan and we went in line. The actual line is formed in between the tracks. That really messes with you – at least it did for me. Here’s a look at it:
When built in 2003, it was the first full circuit roller coaster to exceed 400 feet in height, and was the tallest roller coaster in the world. The ride itself is only 17 seconds long. I kept telling myself I can do anything for 17 seconds. Brendan was pretty funny while waiting in line…this was basically our conversation…
B: I’m excited – let’s go….
B (two minutes later): I don’t think I want to do this…
B (two minutes later): Wow, this line is long, maybe we should go…
B (two minutes later): This looks fun…
B (two minutes later): I don’t think I want to wait this long…
B (two minutes later): Ok, let’s do this…
B (two minutes later): I don’t want to go….
B (two minutes later): I don’t want to go, and I didn’t sign anything so you can make me…
B (two minutes later): Ok, we are close, I’m excited now…
B (two minutes later and getting strapped into the ride): I think I’ve lost my confidence.
Scott was waiting outside of the launch area and was trying to take our picture we we went up…but Brendan refused to even look at him and was focused on the mission ahead. All of the sudden we were shot out like a cannon and before you know it, on top of the hill. I honestly felt like I was flying off the coaster enough to where I reached over to Brendan to make sure he wasn’t falling out. Then we were suddenly facing straight down and staring into a little pond of water or something…and it was over. Scary. Very Scary.
Brendan of course loved it and wanted to ride it again, but without the long wait. I’ll be fine if I never ride it again. It was that intense.
We hit lots of rides after that big and small. I realized I’m too old to ride wooden roller coasters. They gave me such a bad headache and were so bouncy I was convinced the cart was going to fly off the track.
We also really enjoyed some of the smaller rides. The Octopus was a big hit. The kids also loved the swings. I think Patrick actually rode the swings a total of 10 times during this day.
Patrick really, really loved the Cedar Point swings.
And we liked the old time driving cars. Kids drive the adults – always a good time.
Patrick’s driving!!!!!
The boys did lots of water rides with our brave friend Suzanne who took them on three water rides in a row before we paid for the big dryer to kind of help the wet situation.
And suddenly, it was park closing time. The boys managed to run to the Blue Streak right before park closing. I didn’t think my head was going to live any more coasters, so I sat that one out. And as I did, I realized there was a whole section of the park we didn’t even see over by the beach area. We didn’t get to ride Raptor or the new one, Gate Keeper. So we have to go back…right?
Sunset at Cedar Point.
Have you ever been to Cedar Point? What’s your favorite ride?
