Theme Park Discussion / Cedar Point trip

I thought I might give this trip report thing a try for the pleasure of those who have been to Cedar Point and for those who have not.
So, I visited Cedar Point yesterday (Wednesday) and absolutely loved it. I was able to hit everything I wanted to ride (except for Blue Streak and TTD) despite bad weather. After lunch, at around 1:00, a huge storm came that closed everything in the park for the next 4 hours. It was cool hiding by SkyScreamer under a tent and watching the lightning across Lake Erie. We eventually found ourselves hiding under the stadium until an employee ran over to everyone to us and told us to run inside the arcade. Apparently, a tornado hit down somewhere (according to this guy that is, or they just wanted us to spend money in the arcade during the storm). Power went out a few times, but everything came back and was operating by 5:00.
Before and after lunch, we got plenty of great rides in. Here are my impressions and thoughts of the coasters, from best to worse:

Millennium Force - 9.7/10
Incredible. 310 ft drop, 94 mph, 80 degree drop, everything was awesome. So smooth. No complaints. New #1

Maverick - 9.1/10
I expected something a little better (like easily new #1), still a great ride but only gets #4 for me on my list. Great drop, great speed, quick turns, good interaction with land and water, powerful launch, in short everything a good coaster should have while still in a relatively small footprint. I wasn't a fan of the restraints, which banged my head and neck a few times on tight turns. Overall, great ride that I regret only getting one ride on due to long lines and break downs.

Raptor - 8.7/10
Classic B&M invert, back when they knew how to make them unforgettable. Intense inversions, fast paced, good transitions. First drop could have been better (higher mainly), but still a great ride at #9 for me now.

Magnum - 8.3/10
Very impressed with Magnum. Good airtime, great speed, mediocre turnaround. I'm used to Nitro, so I might be biased to smoother and slightly taller B&M hypers.

Gatekeeper - 7.5/10
Solid addition to the park. I took the left side, last row on my first wing-rider. Love that first drop, but the bad pacing hurts the rest of the inversions and hills. No idea why they have that MCBR with only a helix before the brake run. Restraints were some of the worst by the end, though I hear they will soon be improved to be less choke-you-to-death.

Wicked Twister - 7.0/10
The launch on this impulse is great. Better than V2. Those tall spikes really took me by surprise; can't recall V2 being anything like that. Overall, underrated coaster that deserves some attention at the Point.

Mantis - 6.6/ 10
I hate standups. Green Lantern at SFGAdv is the only thing I refuse to ride again. Mantis surprised me so much. Fairly comfortable, great inversions, good forces, beautiful interaction with area. Just a good standup that I would re-ride plenty of times. Surprise of the trip.

Gemini - 6.0/10
Adequate dueling coaster, but Lightning Racer (and even Gwazi) are better. Red is so much better than Blue. Good drop, plenty of good head choppers, not very fast. Fun moments but horribly rough moments at other times.

Mean Streak - 5.3/10
Yeah, it might be a waste of tons of wood. I enjoyed the layout and, after a few practice runs, I found the sweet spots where I wouldn't die. Speed, drops, turns, just about everything could have been better. I just enjoyed my one good ride enough to give it a sort of positive review. Still, please get RMC to Sandusky for this thing.

Iron Dragon - 5.0/10
Interesting ride. I liked the interaction with the tree and water, just nothing that blew me away. Good ride, certainly re-ridable, but there are much better coasters.

Cedar Creek Mine Ride - 4.5/10
I appreciated the theming and scenery, but I couldn't get by the rough transitions. Good for a first timer, but not for the experienced. SFGAdv's Runaway Mine Train and Thunder Mountain were both better.

Corkscrew - 3.5/10
Nothing to report but head-banging and roughness. Cool to look at from the midway, not very cool to look back at the midway from the ride. On the plus side, I was the last to ride all day before the storm.

Blue Streak, Jr. Gemini, Top Thrill Dragster - ?
Didn't get a chance to ride these due to a combination of lines, rain, and closures.

Needless to say, great park. Everyone should make a pilgrimage to Cedar Point at least once I their life time to truly appreciate the incredible park that Sandusky has to boast as its very own.

It is a great park I preferred maverick over millennium.
Also if you want an even better coaster than millennium, check out intimidator 305. I don't care what anyone says it is a much superior ride.

It took me about 3 rides on Maverick before I got the hang of where to place my head during the twisty bits so as to avoid the neck chopping. i305 had a similar problem.

To me I305 is like any overly spicy food I've ever had. It's so intense that the intensity/heat just drowns out any of the "flavor" the ride has otherwise. It's still an awesome experience, but honestly I prefer the sheer speed feeling of Millennium Force.

I agree with these reviews, seeing as I've lived up here for about 8 years nowm making trips every summer. I have a platinum pass this summer, finally. I've taken a recent loving to Magnum, although the back is unbearable for me. Gatekeepers harnesses didn't affect me the first few times I rode, but in the back left side seat, I was in some serious pain. It pretty much did me in for the rest of the day. Not sure if anyone else has had this problem. The rubber under harness(the one that actually sits on you) was sitting on my collar bone, and every force made it worse. At least, they should stop locking that piece of the harness, if that's safe.

Gatekeepers harnesses didn't affect me the first few times I rode, but in the back left side seat, I was in some serious pain. It pretty much did me in for the rest of the day. Not sure if anyone else has had this problem. The rubber under harness(the one that actually sits on you) was sitting on my collar bone, and every force made it worse. At least, they should stop locking that piece of the harness, if that's safe.

That's actually the exact seat I had (back-left) and it was tough with the restraints. I only had one ride on Gatekeeper and therefore I can only judge it from that ride in a bad row. Still a good ride. I know that Cedar Point is slowly fixing the restraints of each seat.

I think you made mean streak sound worse than it is. Agreed it is a rough ride, but i think that's part of it. woodys are meant to be like that. Too bad you didn't get on top thrill dragster. that's one hell of a launch

I find it very odd that everyone is having so much trouble with Gatekeepers restraints. On media day I had no problems with them no matter where I sat. Even by the end of the day I was still fine.

I'm also curious where you sat on both Millennium and Maverick. Where you sit on both drastically changes the ride(s).

I rode Gatekeeper for the first time about 3 weeks after it's opening, but last time I went, the inner harness was locking on me and causing me pain.

Maverix: for MF, I was in the right front seat of the second car. For maverick, I was in the back row, left side. Bad seats?

I'd say bad for Millie. Personal fav is back right, drop is ten times better. And Maverick my favorite is back right as well. Back row is definitely better on both.

I'm still curious as to what you thought was better about Millie tho.

I would have liked to experiment with Maverick and Millennium in different seats, but long lines, a break down on Maverick, and a tornado closing the park for 5 hours resulted in only one ride for each. But I'll bet you're right that the drop is better on MF in the back.

I'm still curious as to what you thought was better about Millie tho.

Millennium Force was awesome. Looking down from the first drop was the first time I was ever afraid on a coaster (other than my first loop on Sooperdooperlooper at Hershey). The combination of the speed, height, smoothness, and beauty of the surrounding area just make it a great ride. A few good spots of airtime on the big hills and that little hop by the queue. It's not that it is insanely intense (like Skyrush), just a coaster that has everything I like done well.
Maverick might have a little too much discomfort from tight turns and high forces. But I'm giving it an unfair opinion because I only had 1 ride and had no idea where to brace myself or shift my head. They also didn't stop the train for the launch, just accelerated it. I intend to return in a few years to give Maverick a better chance, but my experience with it does not beat that with MF. Still, it occupies #4 on my list.

Millie having airtime? Blasphemy! That is understandable though, at least after only one ride

I wouldn't credit Mavericks discomfort to the ride itself though, but rather the restraints. If they put some I305 vests on that it would be ten times better, and it's amazing as it is. Also it's not supposed to stop for the launch, unless there is a train on the final break run, you simply slow and then take off again.

Not saying you're wrong, I just always like to find out way people like Millie so much more than Maverick most of the time as I think Millie is way over hyped thanks to that stupid Golden Ticket Award. It's a great ride, just not the best in the world.(In my opinion)

Believe me, I don't like MF because Amusement Today tells me to. I just had a great time and came away from the ride with a smile I haven't had since riding Skyrush. Maverick was a little rough, thanks to those restraints. I'm not familiar with the restraints you're talking about, but from google it looks like the head is higher above the shoulder part which seems like it would do well on tight turns.

But like you said, one ride on each, so...

Heading to Cedar Point at about noonish tomorrow, is anyone wants to meet up for awhile, I'll be a third wheel in my group anyway.