cedar point in one day

Cid · #1 12-10-2004, 12:38 PM

i was updating my park/ride count when i saw that you can now add thrill rides too. it reminded me of a mission that i attempted over the course of my summer at cedar point.

everyday i worked i would see families, friends, groups, etc planning strategic maps through the park. the best routes and times to take, to ride everything that they could squeeze in into one day of riding. this got me thinking. at the time i personally thought that they were wasting their time. there's more than enough time in one slow weekday to ride everyride that they will allow adults on in one day right?

well i took it upon myself to find out. i wrote up a list of everyride in the park that i would be allowed on. skyride, power tower, gemini all twice. and both legs of the train were included. details were taking as far as i could. as far as a battle plan, i didn't really have one. the only extent of one i had was to hit dragster and MF during ERT, followed by mantis, as those are some of the big mid day lines.

the day had finally come. good ol tuesday. my one day off a week for the entire summer. the date was some tuesday in july, i can't remember exactly. i woke up early, grabbed my checklist and a pen, and set off. got to dragster right on time to be the second person in line. first train front seat. not complaining at all. there's no better way to start off a day at cedar point. dragster opened just a little bit late, 5-10mins, and already i was worring about what MF line was gonna look like. i walked with the person i rode dragster with as he was a fellow worker and coaster nut, and we headed to MF.

MF wasn't as bad as i expected only about 10 mins. i went single rider on this one, back seat. the other dude wanted to ride the front. i didn't want to give up the time. so i got my 2nd ride of the day in and it was still only 9:30. the two biggest lines out of the way, and no other ride was open in the park....

to be continued after lunch...

***Chip*** · #2 12-10-2004, 04:42 PM

Haha. This is what I would do when Raptor had a line. Good show. I can't wait for the rest!

Hector · #3 12-10-2004, 05:29 PM

Hahah I remember this, I even tagged along for a few hours during one of my splits, that was fun. I remember what happened, but I don't want to ruin it for those who don't know.

Cid · #4 12-10-2004, 06:00 PM

long lunch i know. i was trying to find my list i made that day so i could remember the exact order i did things, and got tied up playing worms: armegeddon.

anyways. so realizing i had a short break i ran to the emp. caf and got a chocalate milk for an energy boost. afterwards i met up with some co-workers and we hopped in line for mantis which was testing, and not quite open yet. when it opened we managed to get on the first train, back seat though. the perfect seat to get the snot beat out of you. no matter though cause it was another terribly lond mid-day line takin care of.

after that we headed towards the lasershow midway. got on the first train (car) of wildcat, and nearly walked onto dragon. grabbed a quick ride on skyride, and started on a few rides i never thought i would ride at cedar point, nor did i think i would ever want to.

first one being the ferris wheel! yes its true. i am one of those coaster people who are more afraid of ferris wheels than the highest, fasted, most intense coaster out there. after riding it, i completely understand my fear. there is a sense of helplessness you have while your up at the top of that thing. especially when the people your riding with are rocking the car ::shudders:: and it last for like freakin 10 mins!!! anyways another ride added to my list, and one of my only amusement park fears accomplished.

moving onto the midway carousel. the creapier of the two carousels at CP, but a little bit more enjoyable. i couldn't get it out of my mind that people were laughing at me while i was on it though.

about this time is when lines started filling up. the main crowd had arrived and lines was just something that was gonna have to be dealt with. the sad truth of not being able to walk onto everyride became reality. after the midway carousel we waited 15mins for demon drop, and then 45 for raptor (the longest line of the day i believe). also my first group of wingmen backed out on me at this point. they had their fill of thrills for the day and left me on my own.

on my own i decided to start making my way towards magnum. i rode shot side on power tower as the wait was only about 10mins. while waiting i made the excutive descision to skip drop side, since the wait was about 30mins, and i'm sure would drop to near walk on towards the end of the night.

my one fear was becoming true very quickley. without a riding companion i was having trouble motivating myself to continue. years of traveling to amusement parks alone, and living the life of the single rider had faded away after being at cedar point. its hard to ride by yourself! i went for a quick walk-on on corkscrew and then was convinced i wouldn't make it. i started making my way towards magnum and then i saw, him.

yes it was. hector! the mission shall go on!!!

Hector · #5 12-10-2004, 06:35 PM

BWUAHAHAHAH nice intro there.

So any way, I was on a split that day (meaning I didn't have to work the middle four hours of the day) so I told Ryan I would meet up with him then, since I love playing in the park. So I brought clothes with me and had them in my bag. I met up with Ryan sometime after I changed in the Magnum bathroom. I was headed off to get something to eat at the employee cafeteria when I ran into him.

We made our way up toward the front of the park, and we actually waited for Matterhorn. i think it was like a 10 minute wait, but still. Sinec Scrambler was right there, we went on it and luckily it was like a one or two cycle wait. We decided to skip Dodgems since the line was long.

We headed over Ocean Motion and got an end seat, that ride is kind of boring. Chaos was right there, so we hit that. We skiped Wicked Twister and Giant Wheel (since he did them earlier) and went for Troika. We wanted to go on Disaster, but the line was entirely too long (I believe it was aorund 45 minutes) so we opted for Space Spiral, It was really warm that day, so it was really warm in the cabin, ugh.

So then we decided to go toward Blue streak hitting the Kiddy Kingdom Carousel, I've never ridden it before, so I'm glad I did. We hit Cadillac Cars, I love these kinds rides. We went over to Ceadr Downs, and I gotta say, I love the ride now, so I can't even imagine it when it runs at full speed.

I'm a HUGE dork when it comes to car rides, so when we got on Turnpike, I let Rayn go first, little did I know that car was the fastest one they had, I was sad. So, I'm a dork, becuase I like to yell and pretnd we're racing (yeah, I know...) so he kept slowing down a lot, while I trudged along in the slowest car.

We went and rode Calypso, then headed off to Blue Streak. I made Ryan hold my backpack, and I was sad to find out I lost one of my super cool uber fabulous buttons. Anyway, we rode in the back and it was a very fun ride, I love that ride, even more then MF, but that's not the point. I guess it was around 5 or so becuase I had to go grab something to eat before heading back to work, and the Blue streak midway is where we parted and Ryan met up with his other riding partner. Of course I'll let him tell the rest.

I'm sure if Ryan ever finds his list, and if something's not right, he'll let you know.

Montu Man · #6 12-10-2004, 08:58 PM

Sounds like fun, and you already got a lot accomplished on one day.

Cid · #7 12-11-2004, 03:35 PM

thank you hector. these long post are killing me. thanks for reminding me that i left out twister. i rode twister right around when we rode the ferris wheel. waited the length of the fence on the beach, so only about 5-10mins.

anyways, where were we. ah yes, so the time was rounding 4-5 somewhere in there, and the front of the park was nearing completetion, with the exception of skyride (front of the park to back) and disastor transport, which as everyone knows gets a huge line mid-day. going towards MF everyride was done cept for dodgems, and going towards magnum, power tower drop side, and super himilaya. the entire back of the park needed to be done.

so with hector on his way way back to work, or food, or wherever he was going the torch was past onto another one of my fellow photo employees. we wasted no time, hopped in line for another ride that i had never ridden before this day. dodgem.

dodgem is another ride i just neglected to ride, and quite honestly i was always worried i wouldn't get the hang of it and get bullied around by a whole bunch of little punk kids. i was completely wrong, bumper cars are fun! where else is it ok to purposely bump your car into people you don't know. i approve 100%! dodgem=stress relief.

so realizing there was a leg of this mission i simply could not do by myself, i thought it would be a good idea to get it out of the way. after our ride on dodgems, we started making are way to camp snoopy. stoping for a quick ride on super himilaya of course as its on the way.

edit: all right i can go on now. i couldn't remember who i rode what rides so i had to get it cleared up.

so there we were on our way to camp snoopy, after our stop at super himilaya we hit a personal favorite, paddle wheel excursions. nothing like a relaxing boat ride around the lagoon with great views, and corny jokes.

now most of the avid coaster fans would skip camp snoopy, alas adults are allowed to ride the rides in there with the exception of red baron, and snoopy bounce. so the difficult feet of riding them begins. we take in a big manly breath and get in line for the lolli swings.

humiliation rising, and pride going down the toilet. to make it worse when you have two full size adults hopping onto these rides in camp snoopy, they always put you at oppisite side of the ride to balance weight. we were locked in though, there was no turning back at this point. the ride started and there we were going around in circles on the lolli swings. i don't know if it was the ackwardness or what, but the rides in camp snoopy have the longest cycle ever. you seem to go around in circles forever!

with lolli swings out of the way, none of the rest are really that humiliating. balloon race proved to be quite fun, and one of my favorite rides in the park for some reason has the label as a kid's ride, the tilt-a-whirl. camp bus would of been fine had it not been for the kid we made cry. it wasn't out fault, kid just got claustrophobic cause he was surrounded in the back corner of the bus haha.

woodstock had a pretty descent ride, so this is another ride we skipped to come back when evening lines were more generous. even after riding all the other rides in camp snoopy i couldn't bring my friend to ride speedway! so we moved onto gemini blue.

not too bad of a wait. only about 10 minutes. we were gonna hit gemini red at the same time but it broke down!!! train got stopped on the brakes right before the final strait away. it was so annoying. was gemini red going to be the ride to ruin this mission because it broke down!!! no sense worring about it though so we simply moved on.

got a cookie for another quick energy boost in the brake area on our way to mean streak. mean streak i wasn't worried about at all. it almost never has a line, and sure enough it was on the platform. quick ride on another one of my favorite rides in the park.

nearing 7, and me knowing that i had to meet a friend at 7 we only had time for one more ride. so we hopped in line for the last car ride i needed, antique cars. afterwards we headed back to magnum where i said i'd meet my friend.

nightfall was coming and there was only 4 hours left of park opening, with all but 12 rides (i believe) ridden. 3 rides an hour, this was looking pretty cut and dry. success was close enough to taste!!!

to be concluded

ChaosKristi · #8 12-13-2004, 08:11 PM

Wow Ryan, I can't wait to hear the rest of the story! I wonder what happens...

medieval · #9 12-13-2004, 08:45 PM

Stop leaving us in suspense. Thats a good doy you guys had. I guess you had fun with the little kids. You made one cry lol.

Cid · #10 12-13-2004, 09:11 PM

the kid went crazy! they had to let him off the ride before it started cycling. i think some of the adults were mad at us, but come on, if adults are allowed to ride, then i have every right to be there.

i plan on wrapping this story up in my next entry. it will probably be tomorrow.

***Chip*** · #11 12-13-2004, 09:22 PM

Wow. This is an awesome trip report. I should do this on a day off. Of course I'll just end up marathoning Raptor and maXair.

There have been days when I've tried to ride as much as possible. Boy, those days are fun. It's like being there for your first time, when you try to take in as much as you can. It's so fun.

Cid · #12 12-14-2004, 02:44 PM

so there we were just outside the entrance to magnum where one of my partners said his goodbyes and another joined the mission. my X to be exact. chaoskristi, cough cough.

so not wasting anytime we started at the obvious choice. Magnum xl-200. a classic. a must ride for anyone that ever walks into the gates of cedar point. the line wasn't too bad. on the stairs i believe, with the big annoying platform flooded with guest. annoying yes, but not too bad of a wait.

so as were waiting i show kristi my list. impressed as anyone would be, but then skeptical as she noticed the only rides left were, water rides, and kiddie rides. understandably of course as i personally hate water rides, and for some reason it takes a lot more to get someone on kiddie rides then adult coasters. didn't think to much of it at the time, got our seats, and enjoyed our ride on magnum.

afterwards we went strait for witch's wheel. then headed towards the back of the park to start working on the selection of rides back there. on our way back there a huge dissappointment and even larger concern arose. gemini red was still down for mechanical reasons!!!

so we hopped inline for the next ride we came across, cedar creek mine ride. in line we started discussing the remaining rides again, and another problem arose. kristi didn't want to ride them. she had her camera with her, and wasn't dressed for water rides, and simply didn't want to waste time riding these small silly rides. we took our spin on cedar creek only for more disputing afterwards.

i expressed to her the importance of these rides to the goal. the impossibility of me being able to ride the rides by myself. alas it was hopeless, our disputing turned into arguing and just like that my last partner and i went our seperate ways.

was this it? was this the end of the mission? 11 rides away, with around 2-3 hours left? i told myself i could do it. only 11 rides right? but it was hopeless. i looked over at waveswinger, and realized i had little to no motivation to ride it alone. it just wasn't fun without people there to enjoy it with me.

i put my list away and started heading to the front of the park. proud that i had accomplished as much as i did. made a stop in the cafeteria for some pretzels, and soda. then continued my way.

on my way out i noticed a couple of friends in the merch office who were interested on how the day was going. so i stopped and chatted for a bit. i showed them my list, told them how i just couldn't go on alone. thats when i heard my name from behind.

it was kristi. i walked out into the brake area with her, and she asked how successful i was afterwards. i told her how i gave up, and that the mission would go down in history as being uncomplete by 11 rides. she said it was an outrage. how could i let my dream go down like that. come on there's still time.

a ray of light! the mission was still on!!!

time was definately ticking though. it was around 9:30 at this point and there was still a descent list of rides left. no time could be wasted at all. we grabed a quick ride on skyride. planning on taking the train to the back of the park to finish off back there, but the pre-laser show had already begun and the train was closed!!

let the power walking begin. we swiftley headed down the dragster midway towards the back of the park and oh happy days, gemini red was working. with no time to spare at all we quickly got in line for snake river falls, a ride i was dreading the whole day.

as we slowly ascended the lift the lasershow begun, 10 had come. even more horrorfying is i realized i had nothing covering the list!!!!! it was doomed to get drenched!!!! paniced i did the only thing i could think of, i palmed it, and clenched it as tight as i could.

the list was moist, but not ruined.

onwards we went. a quick stop at TCDG to get some plastic to cover the list, and then we hopped in line for thunder canyon. i will say this. i don't enjoy water rides. they usually are nowhere near my things to do list, but thunder canyon at night is alot of fun. its hard to tell where your going, and its really eerie. anyways, thunder canyon done!

quick trip across the bridge, and a enjoyable ride on the spin dry cycle er i mean, waveswinger followed by a long ride on white water.

white water is where the final plans of attack were layed. fireworks going off while we were on the ride indicated to us that it was near
10:30. we decided against taking the train back to the main midway as we still had speedway, monster and power tower left on that side of the park. so as the plan went.

after white water
speedway
woodstock's express
monster
power tower drop side
train full circuit
and disastor transport

looking to be near hopeless, power walking turned into a staggered jog. we made our way to speedway, followed quickly by woodstock. wasted not a wink of time to hop on monster, and then made our ways towards power tower. stopped someone for the time on our way to power tower to find out that it was already past 10:50. all hope at this time was idiotic.

we made it in time for power tower drop side. on our way up i noticed a train depart the station and knew in the back of my mind that that was the last train of the night.

the mission failed!

14 long hours and 50 some odd rides later i took a big sigh, and accepted the fact that i came two rides away from every ride at cedar point. the train, and disastor transport.

anyone who took the time to read all this i hope you enjoyed it as much as i had writing it. after trying this though i will say that this was one of the most fun and exciting days i had at cedar point the entire summer of working there. i can't wait to try it again this next summer. anyone who wants a challenge, try it. its fun.

-Cid

P.S. if there's any mistakes or flaws in the story let me know, i may of messed up in writing it. these are some freakin long entries.

ChaosKristi · #13 12-14-2004, 02:57 PM

Okay, that sounds pretty much right. The part where you were with me anyway... I feel so bad cause I just know it was my fault you didn't accomplish this... But congrats to what you did finish!

p.s. Do you remember how long it took you to convince me to ride that puke machine, I uh mean, Witches Wheel...???

SORRY!

Andrew W · #14 12-14-2004, 03:18 PM

The funny part is if you wouldn't have spent so much time wallowing in your own self misery, you could have easily done it...

Funny part is, once I've been to a park enough times, I try this same scheme too. I've been successful at SFA (not a hard task AT ALL), Hershey, and PKD...through with as many rides as CP has, I can see how it would be a much bigger challenge. I want to try SFGAdv next year, but with their rides being as unreliable as they are, the task might be near to impossible.

***Chip*** · #15 12-14-2004, 03:39 PM

Capitalization is your friend.

That's a pretty cool trip report. That presents a fun challenge. Maybe I'll give it a shot next season. Ah, the perks of working at an amusement park.