Every year I have a tradition of visiting America's Roller Coast at least once a year. This tradition started in 1994 when I first visited the park and fell in love with it. Since then, I have been at least once every year. My most recent visit came this past May. ( I also managed to go to SFWoA, PKI, and SFGAm on the same trip this year.) I stayed for two days at CP, riding every major coaster at least once. The weather was nice and warm, but not hot. I enjoy weather like that because you don't get frozen but you don't get burned up either. Here is my report:
THE PARK: 11/10
This must be the best amusement park in the world. It is everything an amusement park should be. It has loads of incredible rides, it has a beautiful setting right on Lake Erie, it is very clean, the food is good, and the staff are friendly and helpful. Everything is organized and marked well and the rides are operated very well. OK, so it does not have really any theming, but it was never meant to be a theme park...rather, it is what people are calling a neo-traditional amusement park. Every coaster enthusiast needs to go to CP.
THE COASTERS:
MILLENNIUM FORCE:11/10
This is my all-time favorite ride. When I was at CP, I rode this coaster 5 times the first day and 11 times the second day, and every time I loved it. It is the fastest, smoothest ride I have ever been on. The first drop is simply unreal, it is so high. It is also really steep...I mean as in 80 degrees. The overbanked turns are great on this ride, as are the huge drops and sheer sense of speed. The airtime is not great compared to some other hypercoasters, but this ride was meant for all-out speed, not airtime. It also has several tunnels, and you go so fast through them it's scary. The trains are cool because they give an exposed feel, and the restraints are comfortable while giving good capability for airtime. This ride has great capacity, but it is so popular that it can run up HUGE lines, so go to it first if you come to CP. This ride absolutely KICKS BUTT!!!!!!!!!! My favorite coaster ever....all hail Millennium Force!!!!!!!!!
RAPTOR: 10/10
This is an excellent inverted coaster, one of B&M's best. It is not as big as Alpengeist nor as twisted as Montu, but it still packs a very intense ride throughout. I can see why so many people rate it the top inverted coaster. I have it third after Alpie and Montu, but it is still one of my favorite rides. Raptor has some great elements, like a fun Cobra roll, an intense helix, and a Zero-G roll that gives some nice float to it. It is a smooth, fast ride that is flawed in no way at all. The wild neon paint job looks really cool in real life. I thoroughly enjoyed this ride, and I rode it 8 times over the course of my visit.
BLUE STREAK: 7/10
This coaster is cool if you are a fan of classic woodies. I think it is the park's first coaster. It is not overly fast or furious, but it does provide a fun, airtime-filled ride. It is decently smooth for a woodie and much smoother than Mean Streak, but that's not saying much
. Blue Streak is a fun woodie that is good for both enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike. Fans of classic coasters will especially enjoy this ride.
MANTIS: 9/10
This is a way-cool standup coaster and is my second-favorite standup after the awesome Riddler's Revenge. Mantis provides a fast, fun ride that throws you through some great elements, like a huge vertical loop that is still taken very hard. The twisted layout provides great thrills. It is rougher than most B&Ms, but I do not find it to be the pain machine that everybody says it is. Mantis also boasts one of the coolest paint jobs on any coaster out there. My only compaint about it is the brake on the first drop...the ride would be faster and more intense without it. However, this is still an excellent ride. I rode it six times.
CORKSCREW: 4/10
This is a short and very rough ride. It was the first coaster to boast three inversions, but now it seems rather outdated. It is also very rough, with some nasty headbanging around turns. It has a small drop, like most other corkscrew coasters, and is very short. I rode this coaster twice and I was done with it.
MEAN STREAK: 6/10
This huge woodie looks like it would be an awesome ride, but in fact it is extremely rough, and is marred by a ridiculous amount of trim brakes. The first drop on this mountain of wood is outstanding, but the rest of the ride is a painful and often-slow beatfest. It is not the total peice of junk that many people make it out to be, but it is not a great ride either, in my opinion. It is long, but is in some parts actually boring. A decent woodie, but bring the Advil along with you. The one thing that CP is REALLY missing is a truly outstanding wooden coaster. Rode it once.
MAGNUM XL-200: 10/10
Great ride! The world's first hypercoaster still provides a fun ride after 12 years. This massively hyped-up hypercoaster is extremely fun, despite all the hype surrounding it and the apparent backlash it is getting on the Web. OK, so it is a little rough compared with newer hypers, but the roughness is nothing that is unbearable. The first drop is still great, and the ride still gives nice, violent, woodie-style airtime. The ride is running as well as I remember it ever running. Also, the lakefront setting couldn't be more beautiful. A must-ride for anyone going to CP. Rode it seven times.
CEDAR CREEK MINE RIDE: 4/10
This is a typical mine train ride, and not a very good one at that. It is slow for the most part and a little boring at times. It has some nice twists and turns and eould really be fun for younger riders, but those seeking bigtime thrills should check out one of the park's larger coasters. Rode it once.
GEMINI: 7/10
This is a fun minetrain-style coaster. This racing coaster is designed like a wooden coaster, but is smooth like a steel coaster. The first drop is very fun, and the ensuing ride provides some pretty nice thrills. It is much better when the trains are racing, because at certain points you can touch the outstrectched hands of the riders on the other train, which is fun. Gemini rarely ever has any lines because it has an incredibly high capacity. Overall, an entertaining coaster. Rode it four times.
DISASTER TRANSPORT: 5/10
This is one of the few themed rides at CP, and the theming is not very good. This Intramin bobsled coaster provides decent thrills, but it lacks the intensity of certain other bobsleds, like Avalanche@PKD. The ride is set indoors inside a big dome, and the lighting is low but it dosn't do a real good job of creating the dark effect. A decent coaster with some thrills, but don't expect a wild scream machine. Rode it once
IRON DRAGON: 5/10
This Arrow suspended coaster did not impress me very much, especially when compared to Big Bad Wolf @BGW. Iron Dragon lacks a good drop and is rather slow through some parts. It lacks the great intensity of BBW and is quite rough. I suppose it wasn't all that bad, just mediocre. Rode it twice
JR.GEMINI: Kiddie coaster, didn't ride
WILDCAT: 5/10
This twisted old Schwartzkopf ride provides some decent thrills, but is nothing too spectacular. Rode it once.
WOODSTOCK'S EXPRESS: 5/10
This is a junior coaster. It is okay, I guess, but is really targeted at younger riders who are making their transition from smaller rides to thrill rides. Rode it once.
OTHER RIDES:
POWER TOWER: 8/10, awesome freefall
DEMON DROP: 7/10
Overall, I had a WONDERFUL time!!!
Linear Mode
