Parking/Toll: $5.00
Admission: By season pass
Arrival: 9:10am
Weather: Raining, but by 9:30 it looks like things are clearing up.
Burger Patio: Noticed the new railing here; it looks like last season's experiment was proclaimed a success.
Cedar Point Cinema: Showing SPEED again. That is one of the better IMAX films.
Wildcat is being test-run with sandbags instead of water tanks this season.
Scrambler is now painted shocking pink, blue, orange, purple, and yellow. It is almost hard on the eyes now, but it is a noticeable improvement over the aqua and yellow.
Troika also got new paint this season. I think the tubs are the same color they were last year, but the ride frame is much lighter.
Chaos site prep appears nearly complete, but still no sign of the ride. Also, the mechanical building (which will house the hydraulic pumps) is missing its roof.
Jr. Gemini is a lot more colorful now; the train is now yellow, orange, red, and purple. One of the ride ops also tells me the Jr. also got new squeeze brakes this year.
Swan Boats: There are eight big 2-passenger swan boats in the lagoon
beween Wave Swinger and Thunder Canyon, with the entrance next to the carousel
pavilion. It looks interesting, anyway...
It looks like Mine Ride has had a footer replaced at the downtrack end
of the helix. The footer is sitting at the bottom of a hole, with a pile of
sand [Footnote 1] nearby.
Finally, Schwabinchen got a fresh coat of paint. I think the scenery panels are the same color scheme as before, but the tubs have now been painted a bright red with yellow trim.
1. Mantis: The Coaster Formerly Known as Banshee
Yup, it now has a brake on the first drop. Riding in the front, I didn't really
notice it, but in the back, it caused a jerk that pitched me against the overhead
bar. Early off-season reports were that the restraints would be changed to reduce
headbanging. I noticed no obvious change. But my head did get pretty well battered
during my back-seat ride; up front was perfectly smooth.
The brake is midway down the first drop, and is obviously dynamic...feedback
provided by the pair of PX switches immediately uptrack of the brake.
Wait: 7:00 (front seat), 1:40 (last seat)
Note: Walking the empty queue takes about 1:35.
Ride time: 2:40
Interval: 1:08
Capacity (32): 1694 PPH
2. Iron Dragon:
After riding Top Gun a couple of weeks ago, I am more irritated than ever that
I can't seem to figure out what it is about this coaster that makes it not run
well. It just feels like it is bouncing and shuffling all over the place, and
if it would just straighten out and follow the track, it wouldbe a pretty darned
good ride. At the moment, it is almost annoying.
Wait: 2:03
Ride time: 2:44
Interval: 1:02
Capacity (28): 1626 PPH
3. Corkscrew:
It's quick, it's smooth, and up front it has loads of airtime. What more
could you want from a multi-looper? Well, perhaps a more comfortable seat...my
neck is still sore...
Wait: 4:23
Ride time: 1:50
Interval: 1:05
Capacity (24): 1329 PPH
NOTE: Only running two trains.
4. Magnum XL-200:
Possibly the finest steel coaster ever built, but it feels like it is in need
of some attention. Sure, it is running very fast. But it is also bouncing like
crazy, especially on the turnaround knot. There is also quite a bit of lateral
shuffle on that turnaround. I wonder if Magnum might not be due for new
road and guide wheels...
Wait: 5:06
Ride time: 3:20
Interval: 1:23
Capacity (36): 1561 PPH
5. Gemini:
Well, Gemini now has seat belts, much like the ones on Magnum.
And today, they were only running two trains on the red side. For one thing,
the park is very empty. For another, it is cold, and the blue side in particular
doesn't much like the cold. It was just a shade slow, but the coaster was running
smooth and nearly silent, except when the up-stops crash into the track rail.
Oh...the trim brake calipers have been moved downtrack a few feet, which should
alleviate the problem of trains getting hung up on the trims.
Wait: 6:34
Ride time: 2:50
Interval (30): 1:52 incl. 0:55 wait for train to arrive
Capacity: 964 PPH (would be 1928 w/4 trains)
6. Cedar Creek Mine Ride
This one is running very well, but kind of slow because of the cold. Ride time
should be 2:42; or 2:36 with the brakes off. Today, I rode with the brakes off
and it took 2:46! I also had a nice chat with Jonathan, Mine Ride Operator
and r.r-c contributor. Hi, Jon! 8-)
Wait: 1:42
Ride time: 2:46
Interval: 1:31
Capacity(30): 1187 PPH
NOTE: Only running two trains.
7. Mean Streak
Mean Streak is as violent as ever, but in the front seat I got a fairly decent
ride. The rule still applies: DO NOT touch the seat back. One of these days
CP will understand this and install upholstered seats n the train. Then perhaps
they can shut down those two brakes on the first drop.
Wait: 14:12 (front seat)
Ride time: 3:01
Interval: 1:56
Capacity (28): 869 PPH
NOTE: Only running two trains.
8. Wildcat
My, but this is a fun ride! The seat belt nearly claimed a victim today, though...when
the ride ended, I popped open the lap bar and nearly leapt out. Fortunately,
the Helpful and Friendly Ride Attendant quickly reminded me to unfasten the
seat belt first. Whoops! 8-)
Wait: 4:01
Ride: 1:26
Interval: 0:36
Capacity (4): 400 PPH
Note: Running 5 cars
9. Raptor
Up front, this is still an awesome ride, even with shoes on. But in the back,
this is really getting rough and hard on the ears. I wonder why...it is really
starting to bounce around a lot. Oh...Raptor got new overhead bars this
year, identical to the old faded ones except that the safety belt release now
has the little padded buckle someone was asking about recently.
Wait: 17:00 (for front seat)
Ride: 2:52
Interval: 1:34
Capacity (32): 1226 PPH
Note: Running two trains
10. Blue Streak
I'm going to leave off the stats for this one, since the crowd was light and
there was only one train running. Blue Streak is running fast and smooth
this year, and they seem to have finally worked the kinks out of the lap bar
mechanisms. Maybe. The trains got a sharp new paint job this year, and really
look good. Big hellos to r.r-c correspondents and Blue Streak operators
Jason and Brian.
11. Disaster Transport
Ride time: 2:42 (of course)
The queue theming is pretty much gone. But the on-ride theme elemets are mostly
functional. The red lift tracers were [ ON] this time. The trash that Pete mentioned
up in the "repair bay" baskets is still there. The ride runs well,
though, and that is what really counts. Note that the design of this ride makes
it difficult to take timings, so I didn't.
By 4:30pm, everything was a walk-on. And I do mean EVERYTHING. I met up with the elusive Walt Schmidt and unexpectedly encountered Pete Babic as well. We toured the park a bit, talking CP stuff, and ran into Jerry Dorf. Before long, we had formed a small mob in the middle of the midway where we were talking coasters for quite a long while. It's that oddball Coaster Nut Behavior again, I guess.
After the park closed at 8:00pm, Pete and I stopped at Frickers to get a sandwich. Shortly after we arrived, the table behind ours filled up with a whole bunch of CP crew people. Nothing odd about that; the restaurant is one of the first places you come to when leaving the Causeway. What got our attention was the fact that these people were discussing proper ride operation procedure...tricks of the trade, as it were...even on their off-hours. This leads me to believe that CP has managed to hire some very conscientious people to run their rides.
It started stormy, but cleared up nicely. Crowd? What crowd? I did notice a large number of buses in the parking lot, and I did see a number of students with inclinometers and accelerometers doing their thing, particularly early in the day. But it was a good crowd, under decent weather (if a little cool). Once again, the first Wednesday proves to be a good day to get to the Point. Things are looking pretty good up there; I think it is going to be another good season.
Footnote 1: Sand: What passes for dirt on Cedar Point. [Back to text]
Next trip: Wyandot Lake
--Dave Althoff, Jr.