1997 Trip Report index
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"I know they're here somewhere..."
Well, once again, I phailed to attend the Phabulous Phoenix Phall Phun Phest. I had a prior committment phor Saturday night. So on Saturday morning, knowing that I have two extensive road trips planned phor the near phuture, I decided to perphorm some preventive maintenance [Footnote 1] on the car.
(Ah. Apparently that minor PPPPP-related keyboard phailure is about to phix itself...)
Anyway, on Saturday morning, I opted to replace the spark plugs in my car. The first five were easy. Given the layout of the engine compartment in the Taurus, the last should have been easy, but it wasn't...it was stuck. And when I pulled hard on the wrench, the plug snapped. Out came the center electrode, the ceramic insulator, and the wrenching-surface. Meanwhile, the threaded casting remained embedded in the cylinder head. Suddenly a 45-minute job had become a weekend project, and my Sunday trip to Cedar Point was in jeopardy!
(melodramatic horrified gasps and cries from the audience)
Fortunately, I was able to extract the recalcitrant plug from the engine on Sunday morning, which meant that my Cedar Point visit was saved.
(whoops and cheers)
I was running late, though. I had planned to meet up with CP Irvine and Sean Flaharty at their Magnumificent meeting point, but I was far too late for that...I wandered into the park at about 1:30pm.
I began by walking past the crowded Raptor and Blue Streak queues, heading instead for Iron Dragon, pausing briefly on the midway to make a small-talk comment about Power Tower to Jack Fletcher (CP's maintenance boss). He noted that there is another 40-some feet of arch to go on the tall towers, along with a big sign, as shown in the PR drawings.
Iron Dragon was running better than usual, by the way, except for one rough spot in the pretzel that feels like the whole train is about to come crashing down. From the lizard, a quick trip on Wildcat was in order. It's interesting how easy it is to scare the crap out of the GP while waiting in line... Perhaps the sign I saw on a bank in Bucyrus on the way home was right: "Some people read just enough to stay misinformed." By the way, this guy's version of the Magnum Rumor was merely that the ride had been sold.
I walked past M:TCFKAB, due to the long line. Unfortunately, I didn't make it back there again. I retraced my steps, then headed down towards Corkscrew, then took a ride on Magnum (in my favored ejector seat, of course).
HORRORS! One of the seat belt buckles on the "blue" train is broken. Why is that so horrible? Because it is in that third seat! I had to wait an extra train due to a roped off seat. I hope that doesn't happen on 10/12!
By this time, I was progressing in an orderly fashion, so I walked down the back midway. Remember the rule: Don't walk past a running Gemini, particularly when it is racing, in this case four fully-loaded trains.
Gemini was running remarkably well. How remarkably well? Last week, I argued with the platform spieler. Gemini's ride time has always been 2:42, but her script says 2:40. And last Saturday afternoon, I clocked it at 2:42. Now, in an effort to solve our disagreement, I clocked the ride last week in the evening, and it proved us both wrong by running 2:53. So there you have something of a baseline. My first Gemini ride this trip, though, was spectacular. I knew it was fast, I knew it was smooth, I knew it was wonderful. And I was shocked and suprised when the ride time was 2:36! And it was a noticeable difference, with loads of airtime, and a whole lot of fun.
Next in line, of course, were Mine Ride and Mean Streak. Both
rides were running quite well. Yes, Mean Streak was running well. As
well as ever, anyway. Well, of course...the drop trims were OFF. This lets the
train run faster, which also makes for a smoother ride. Watching and riding,
I also noticed that part of the problem seems to be banked curves. The coaster
handles straight track just fine, and it handles flat turns OK, but when the
track banks, the wheels start hopping. I'll bet PTC failed to include a longitudinal
pivot on those cars... [Update: This comment is actually exactly backwards.
See "How Coaster Cars Work (or don't)"
elsewhere on this site.]
Once again for those of you who missed it the first 128 times: Don't touch
the seatbacks when riding Mean Streak. Cedar Point: Switch to upholstered
seatbacks. PLEASE!!!
As for Mine Ride, it simply runs better when the train is full. The same can be said for most coasters.
By this time, I had ridden most of the coasters, and had seen no sign of Sean or CP. I headed for the main midway, figuring that Raptor and Blue Streak would be walk-on at this point. At the Cadillac Cars station, I was interrupted by a familiar coaster nut and r.r-c lurker Mike Schulte. "Raptor is a walk-on," he commented, and since I was heading that way anyway, that is what we rode. And indeed, it was a walk-on. The third row was just fine. We could tell it was the end of the season, though...Raptor was running rough...and slow. I say that only because I timed it at 2:56 floor-down to bar-open, which I have repeatedly clocked at close to 2:42 (no kidding!), and on this occasion, we stopped on the runway at the 2:42 point. Be that as it may, Raptor is still a darned good ride, well paced, but not as coaster-like as Mantis.
From Raptor we were off to Blue Streak. I got the first indication that Sean and CP actually were in the park, when Duane recognized but misidentified us (no, I don't do the B&M shirts...). He then proceeded to offer us an unexpected courtesy. Thanks, Duane!! 8-) My, but it was a wild ride, though!
It isn't possible to ride all of CP's coasters without riding Disaster Transport, so we did. No audio at all in the queue this time, but the flashing lights on the platform robot were working, as was all of the "in-flight" audio. No smoke on the lift, though...I guess it all migrated to the Magnum tunnel. Or perhaps CP realized that their rides are supposed to be "Smoke-Free Environments". 8-)
Mike and I wandered the park, stopping at all the coasters, when hunger became apparent. A stop at the Chuck Wagon for a plate of stew would fix that. It is probably the best food value in the park. Knowing this, Pete Babic dropped in for a Fajita sandwich. Nourished and refreshed, the three of us set out to ride more coasters. We took over a car on Mine Ride; we took advantage of Mean Streak's brief wait and brakeless first drop...I even felt airtime on the first drop!
Naturally, we ended at Magnum, and for the last train of the day, I was in the fourth row, due to the roped-off third seat. Unfortunately, an unpleasant situation developed right behind me, which actually prompted a brief ride set-up. Magnum flew, as usual, but when the ride was over, I stopped and chatted briefly with the lead operator about it. In the process, I met a former Kennywood operator in a Sandcastle shirt, and we began swapping notes on big Arrow coasters. Meanwhile, Mike and Pete were getting impatient; in fact, Pete had to take off. And I was thinking that I had better hurry if I even hoped to meet up with CP and Sean as they exited Raptor. So as the Magnum crew put their ride to bed, the three of us...me, Mike, and...uh...Ooops! I didn't get the guy's name! Oh, well, maybe next week. Anyway, the three of us sauntered up the main midway, where Raptor was still running. I looked up. Yes, Raptor was running, but it was running empty. "Oh," I thought. "They must be just getting off right now." With that, I booked it for the Raptor Hot Shots booth. Vacant. So was the exit queue. "$%&!!," I thought. "I missed them entirely."
Fortunately, I didn't give up just then, as I heard a trainload of riders grind noisily up the lift. So they WEREN'T done yet. And I knew that CP and Sean would be on the very LAST train of the night. Knowing this, I waited a few minutes. Sure enough, there was the gang, bounding down the ramp, CP in the lead. Imagine her suprise when she found out that Pete had been with me all evening. Introductions were made all around, and I suggested that, since we had missed meeting ALL DAY LONG, perhaps a stop at Friendly's would be in order. Colby, Mike, Sean and the Sandcastle Stranger all cited a long drive home and opted out, so it was just me and CP's clan. Which reminds me, Friendly's often has very good chowder...
Anyway, the Cedar Po!nt portion of the story is finished, but it deserves a postscript. I had started the day with about a 10-mile bicycle ride (to buy the tool I needed to fix the car), and I had experienced a full day of roller coasting, I deserved a bananna split with five scoops of ice cream. Everyone else had smaller sundaes, and CP opted for a plate of fries. I about died laughing when she asked the waiter the difference between the "small" order and the "large" order and he responded, "The size." I don't thnk that is quite what she wanted to know. Ah, the joys of eating...or trying to eat, anyway, in Sandusky. For a more comprehensive list, I suggest visiting DejaNews and searching the "old" database for "miserable north coast experience", which was my story of trying to get a late breakfast one Sandusky Sunday. [Update: DejaNews is gone, though the story is in groups.google.com. But it's easier to just click here and read it from this very site.]
We talked coasters, we talked Cedar Point, and then it was time to go, so we paid our bills and said our "goodbye, see you next week"s. CP & Co. departed, and I committed an error. Knowing I was about to make a 2-hour drive, I decided that it would be a good idea to visit the "necessary" before leaving. I conducted my business, then on my way out of the restaurant, I encountered Ritchie and Melina (former Blue Streak operator and current Iron Dragon operator, respectively), who were, with a couple of their CP friends, having an after-work dinner and discussing their trip to the PPPPP. In fact, I hear that they were prizewinners in the costume competition. Well, that got my attention, and we struck up a conversation. I suspect that if Friendly's hadn't wanted to shampoo the carpets, we might still be sitting there.
Remember, the park closed at 8:00 pm. I left the restaurant at about 11:30, and got home at 1:30am, ready to be at work in a mere seven hours.
Is this a great weekend hobby, or what?
Footnote 1: Prevenive maintenance: Service performed
on a mechanical system BEFORE it breaks. Includes lubrication and replacement
of worn components. Some parks seem to be a bit unclear on this concept. [Return
to text]
Next trip: Adventure World
1997 Trip Report index
Dave's Adventures
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--Dave Althoff, Jr.