Sorry I have been so "out of pocket". The vacation was FANTASTIC!! I will update this post with a BLOG when I have time. I need to get some extra rest for work tomorrow. I will blog in the next week. It will be a big un!
Ahhh...some time...where did I get this time? Well...I pulled it out of my...well...let's just say...the kids and I are watching twilight and as I've already seen it, I can do two things at once...woo hoo!!
Cedar Point was simply phenomenal. One of the best family vacations ever. There are 17 Roller Coasters in the park. We rode them all. Many of them multiple times. The 17, in my order of preference, are:
1)Maverick - The first thing you notice, which makes this ride interesting, is that you start up going up the hill towards the first drop and you hit the magnet propulsion system about 1/8 of the way up and you actually pick up speed and you charge up the first hill! After you credit the hill, a 95 degree drop, which is more than 90 degrees which means that it actually dips back on itself, which throws you out of your seat, awaits you. From the moment you crest the hill, the ride charges at 70 mph and through loops and twist and turns, it never slows down. Actually, I'm wrong...it slows way down in the middle of a tunnel...right before a 2nd launch!!! Loved it!
2)Top Thrill Dragster
The biggest THRILL in the park...imagine a race car theme and a launch of 0-120 in 4 seconds. From there you charge straight up the track and crest the hill. You then head straight down 420 feet spiraling 270 degress as you do so. Absolutely an adrenaline rush.
3)Millennium Force - Millennium Force broke TEN world records when it opened in 2000. Riders climb the 310-foot-tall lift hill smoothly and quickly and dive towards the earth at an 80-degree angle at 93 mph! Another huge RUSH!!! This coaster looks HUGE!
4)Magnum XL-200 - One of the BIGGEST coasters at the Point. Magnum opened in 1989 as the tallest, fastest roller coaster in the world at 205 feet tall with top speeds of 72 miles per hour. This coaster was the first ever to exceed 200 feet and the first drop of 195 feet is only 60 degrees, but it feels like more. This coaster is RIGHT on the coast of lake Erie and has many tunnels that it rockets through. Such a fun ride...the breeze off of the lake as you fly through this one make it awesome!!
5)Raptor - Kick the sky while hanging below the steel track as you fly through six inversions and multiple twists and turns on this bird of prey. Since its debut in 1994, Raptor has been one of the top 10 steel roller coasters in the world several times. Imagine a Montu (Busch Gardens) that isn't quite as good, but darned close! Enjoyed it!!
6)Wildcat - Individual cars travel throughout the coaster's figure 8 design. Rise 50 feet above the midway and feel the breeze as you experience airtime hills and quick turns. Not the tallest or the fastest, but definitely one of the smoothest roller coasters in the park with enough thrills to make me want to go again...although I didn't find the time to go twice.
7)Gemini - Get ready to race. Choose your color, Red or Blue, and enjoy one of Cedar Point's record setters. Gemini opened in 1978 as the tallest and fastest coaster in the world. The fun is that the race is pretty even the whole time with red taking the lead for awhile and then blue taking it back...when you have family on the other coaster, as we did, it is a real blast!
8)Wicked Twister - It's the tallest and fastest double-twisting impulse coaster in the world. It's two twisting towers reach a height of 215 feet and the coaster careens down the track at a top speed of 72 mph. A very unique coaster where you eventually twist a full 450 degrees while flying toward the sky RIGHT off of lake Erie.
9)Blue Streak - Rise 78 feet above the midway before enjoying hill after airtime-filled hill on the oldest coaster at Cedar Point, celebrating 45 years of ups and downs! This is an old wooden roller coaster...BUT it's smoother than most wooden coasters. In fact I'd rather ride this than Gwazi at Busch Gardens...! I'd ride again fer sure!
10)Disaster Transport - Riders on Disaster Transport board unique bobsled-type cars and plunge into the darkness on Cedar Point's only indoor roller coaster. The coolness here is that as it's in total darkness, you don't really ???see??? that you are actually sledding on this ride...you FEEL it. It's a neat experience the first time you ride...but...it's one I might save for when it's raining.
11)Ceder Creek Mine Ride
A runaway mine ride. It's minor fun...no need to ride multiple times.
12)Iron Dragon
Yawn...stretch...try to wake up...this coaster doesn't hurt...but it's in a weird car type thing that rocks as you fly through the ride...it's meant to be exciting...but fails. Would I ride again...? Yes...before I'd ride any of the coasters below this on the rankings.
13)Mantis - At 145 feet tall, Mantis is one of the tallest coasters at Cedar Point and was the tallest and fastest stand-up coaster when it opened in 1996. I enjoyed the uniqueness of the stand-up experience, but it left me feeling nauseous, thus the poor ranking. I had a chance to ride it a 2nd time, and let Wendy take the ride instead.
14)Woodstock Express
A roller coaster in Camp Snoopy for the kids. Nothing more. Had to ride it to get my 17.
15)Jr. Gemini - A roller coaster in Camp Snoopy for the kids. Nothing more. Had to ride it to get my 17. But this one shares the name Gemini. There is no 2nd coaster, there is no race...so what's the point here?
16)Corkscrew - Riders turn upside-down three times, crossing over the midway while guests watch directly underneath. It's cool that you are that close to the onlookers, but this ride gave me a headache. My head is NOT a ping-pong ball.
17)Mean Streak - The structure is menacing. 1.7 million board feet of Southern yellow pine. 161 feet tall. 65 mph. 5,400 feet of adventure. As with any wooden roller coaster, you get the CRAP beat out of you. Did not like it. Rode it once, but never again. Pain and I don't like each other.
Of course that's not all..there were many, many not-to-be-missed attractions like MaxAir, SkyHawk, Power Tower, Demon Drop, and some bumper cars that were so fast that collisions actually were painful...it was a fantastic time...
We also stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge...awesome accomodations!! Kids had their own beds, an indoor waterpark in the hotel...it was heaven.
