Ohio - Day 6: Cedar Point!!

We woke up super early to start the 3 hour drive to Sandusky, Ohio. We were going to stay at the Breakers Hotel on site, so we were going to be able to take advantage of the early admission if we made it there in time. The day we went it was supposed to be a high of 95 with 90% chance of rain. We figured we'd take our chances.

Driving across water. See through all those clouds and haze, there's some coasters in there.

From 2011 July

From 2011 July

And once we reached the parking entrance, yup, it was raining.

From 2011 July

It was sprinkling, but not enough rain to close the rides. By the time we got our tickets and headed toward the park, the rain had stopped.
Chris had a list of "Must Go On" rides. So we headed for his #1 Must Ride first - Millenium Force. Cedar Point calls it a Giga Coaster. It is 310 feet high. You drop down off that 310 foot hill at an 80 degree angle and reach speeds of 93mph. Great coaster!

From 2011 July

From there we hopped on Mantis, a standing coaster. Chris wasn't too big of a fan. He thought it was too jerky. Then we hit Gemini where a girl threw up coming off (really it wasn't that bad - rather gentler than I expected), Corkscrew where a guy lost his big long rapper necklace (He really expected it to stay on when he's doing a corkscrew? Although I did almost lose my ponytail holder, so I guess I see it?), Iron Dragon, and Mean Streak.

We got in a lot before lunch. We also got in line for the Top Thrill Dragster. This is one of the newer attractions where the line is always an hour long. Cedar point calls this a Strata Coaster because it is 420 feet tall. It was the tallest and fastest coaster when it opened in 2003. It uses a hydraulic cable launch system to launch riders from 0 to 120 miles per hour in less than 4 seconds. There isn't much to the ride except for getting launched up to the top and coming back down the other side, but the thrill of getting launched so quickly had a smile on everyone's face. It was so much fun! My favorite was a sign while we were waiting. It had the usual "Keep your arms down, head back against the head rest, hold on tight" etc. Then the last line was something to the effect of "Occasionally launched cars fail to make it over the top of the hill. Don't worry, it will safely return back to the launch area to be relaunched." Oh great! That makes me feel better about this ride...

From 2011 July

After that we had some Chick Fil A for lunch. Then we decided it was time to find a place to cool off. It was SOO hot!! 95 degrees and 95% humidity. Beads of sweat were dripping off of you while you were just standing outside. So we headed for the "Everybody Loves Snoopy" show. Lucky us, it was an ice show!!
Ryleigh getting ready for the show.

From 2011 July

Charlie Brown and Linus.

From 2011 July

And Lucy!

From 2011 July

Oh yeah there were some ice skaters too.

From 2011 July

From 2011 July

From 2011 July

From 2011 July

And Snoopy!!

From 2011 July

This is what Ryleigh thought of the show.

From 2011 July

From 2011 July

Back to the rides. Here's Papa riding the balloon ride with Ryleigh. Apparently Grandma G didn't like this ride so much.

From 2011 July

Ryleigh wanted to ride the monster trucks with Daddy. They were first in line for the next ride. Linda commented to me that she was so impressed with the dad riding in the back of the pink car with his daughter. Secretly I was thinking this is the exact car Ryleigh will pick. Sure enough, pink it was!

From 2011 July

From 2011 July

With daddy in the back seat they're ready to go!

From 2011 July

Look at her concentration on driving!

From 2011 July

Now it was mommy's turn to go with Ryleigh. She picked the twirly birds nest ride. And she picked the nest that didn't spin!! I tried and tried but it wouldn't spin (well she wouldn't let me try to spin it much either).

From 2011 July

From 2011 July

Chris's parents decided to go check into the hotel and take Ryleigh back for a little while, to hopefully get her to nap. We went on Magnum a few times, and on the top of the hill the second time I noticed that it was raining on the other side of the lake. By the time we got off the ride, it had started to thunder, lightning and rain. We headed back to the hotel too to ride out the storm. It only lasted less than an hour. We could see the coasters from our room, so we waited until they were running again with people on them. Then we went back for some more rides.

Chris and I went off and rode some more rides. We went on Gemini a few more times, Raptor, Wicked Twister, Disaster Transport and Magnum which we rode at least 4 more times. There wasn't a line, so why not go again!! Basically we did all of the coasters except for Maverick, which always had such a long line. Maybe it's a great coaster that we missed? Who knows?

The one ride I was apprehensive to try, but also really wanted to go on was Windseeker. On the outside it appears harmless. It's swings. The catcher is that you spin around in the swings, as you climb to the top of a 301 foot tall tower. That's nearly 30 stories up. And it's right on the shore of Lake Erie. At the top the swings spin at speeds of 25-30mph, flaring out at almost 45 degrees!! After the storm it took a while to open again, but once it did we jumped in line. The initial part of the ride wasn't so bad. The views were fantastic!! But once it reached its top speed there was a point where Chris and I both felt like "ok I'm just going to keep my head against the back and stop moving my head to avoid getting dizzy." And as soon as we got that feeling we started to slow down and head back down. Cool ride. I'd do it again. On a clear day that views must be incredible.

Waiting in line. I'm in the magenta pink and white hat and Chris is in the blue shirt and grey shirt right near the middle.

From 2011 July

Looking up at it. Yup! It's high. We're up there somewhere.

From 2011 July

We had Pink's Hot Dogs for dinner. Quite unusual combinations, but they were really good. Even Ryleigh liked em.

Chris and I went to ride a few more coasters while Chris's parents called it a night. We stayed until the park closed. The Windseeker looked really cool at night all lit up. Maybe if you rode at night you wouldn't get as dizzy?

From 2011 July

Great day at Cedar Point. So much fun. Makes me want to go to Magic Mountain to compare the rides now. Better get in as many coasters as possible before I'm too old to enjoy em!

Chris and I noticed that we both didn't get that nervous excitement in our stomachs on any of the rides. I used to get this nervous excitement that caused butterflies in my tummy during the ride. Like during those huge drops where your stomach goes up into your throat... didn't get it anymore! Almost took some of the thrill out of it. I did get it on one ride, and it was one I'd never figure would do it. It was Wicked Twister. It's basically a horse shoe with corkscrews on the ends. So you get shot up one side and twist, go back through the middle backwards and up the other side, back through the center where your speed is accelearated and up... I only got it on the accelerations through the middle. Not sure if it was because we were near the front, or what but it was the only time I got those little butterflies in my stomach. I thought it was weird because I've had that happen for rides I know and have been on frequently, but not for ones I've never experienced, like the ones at Cedar Point. They were still a lot of fun. Chris and I chalked it up to getting too old! Figuring older we get we become desensitized to it. It was a fun family trip. Look forward to doing it again someday.