Theme Park Discussion / CP advice.

Gee- Going to a family reunion in Morgantown, it'll be a two week trip. We'll hit up all the major cities on the way. Unfortunately, CP is the only park in the plans.

Disaster transport? Guessed I missed that one.

they tore it down for gatekeeper. it was an indoor bobsled coaster that i'm sure was themed at some point but in the last years of its life you were basically just riding a roller coaster through an empty warehouse. it wasnt exactly a thrilling coaster but it was really spooky and im sad it's gone

Are you goin through Mammoth Cave NP? Looks kinda like it. Worth a half-day visit at least.

I'm sure I won't be able to say anything that others haven't already said, but since I've been to Cedar Point quite a few times, I figured I'd throw in another opinion on things...

Basically, you're gonna run in to some huge lines. I'm too lazy to read this whole thread to see if you planned on getting the fast pass thing, but I'm just gonna assume that you're like most people who would be unwilling to pay an unholy amount just to bypass big lines on like 5 or 6 rides, especially when you have two full days in the park. I guess I'll focus my "advice" around how and where to ride each of the bigger coasters. After all, if you're gonna wait 90 mins, you would never just hop in the middle of the train. Gotta make it worth your while.

Millennium Force: Both the front and back are awesome, but if you're gonna do the front seat, do it at night. Not much beats flying around Cedar Point at 90+mph in the dark. Back seat gives some crazy floater air time on the camel backs and the final bunny hop. Also, the feeling of getting whipped through the over banks is great. This is my favorite coaster of all time. If you are the kind of person who can enjoy a coaster even if it doesn't have thigh bruising airtime, you'll love this ride.

TTD: I don't understand people at all who say that TTD is worthless, nor do I understand how it is ranked so low in coaster polls. Wait for the front seat, throw your hands up, and I promise this will be one of the most memorable coaster experiences you've had. Such a powerful and smooth launch. Such an adrenaline rush.

Maverick: I prefer the back on this one. Front didn't do much for me compared to the back, which happened to be balls to the wall insane. Never had a problem with the restraints because I'm 6'4" and my head is way above the contact points, but if you don't have that luxury, I'd suggest some defensive riding by grabbing the shoulder straps. Those transitions get crazy.

Magnum: I love this ride more than 99% of enthusiasts. To me, a coaster that beats the hell out of you is not necessarily bad. Magnum will bash up your legs pretty good with those medieval restraints, but the ride is so worth it. Sit in the back for some nuts ejector airtime over those triangle hills. I've heard that Magnum has some sort of a "magic" seat somewhere in the last car I think. I don't believe I've ever tried it out, but it prob would be worth it.

Mantis: THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT!!! I just noticed that you have never been on a B&M standup, so I'll give you a tip to make your ride enjoyable. Stand straight up. It sounds obvious, but so many people, including myself on Green Lantern at GADV once, stand with their backs straight, but their legs slanted forward, leaving their feet a few inches out in front of the rest of their bodies. DO NOT DO THIS. The forces get super strong on most B&M standups, Mantis included. If you let yourself get pulled down into the car through your feet, you'll be fine. But when those forces are going down through your calf muscles, it's a whole different ball game.

Raptor: It's awesome anywhere. Don't be discouraged by the always huge line. It goes fast.

Wicked Twister: This is always my go-to first ride. Get it out of the way before the lines get out of hand because of the low capacity.

Gatekeeper: Never been on it. Looks fun.


One cool thing about CP is how "fun" the lines are, if that makes any sense. I've never been to a park where there is just so much excitement and energy, which really makes the big lines go by quickly and painlessly. Also, some of the bigger coasters have DJ booths in line, which is cool.

Also, if I were to give one bit of strange advice, it would be to save the big rides for the middle of the day. You're gonna have to wait for them anyway. What you don't want to do is have to wait 30+ minutes for things like Iron Dragon or Mean Streak, which aren't really worth it. Get those done early if you can, before there are any lines. You don't want to waste time in line for things that don't deserve to have a line.

Hope that helps in some way or another. Have fun, man. I'm totally jealous. My first trip to Cedar Point was one of the greatest experiences of my life. And every trip since has been just as awesome.

TTD: I don't understand people at all who say that TTD is worthless, nor do I understand how it is ranked so low in coaster polls. Wait for the front seat, throw your hands up, and I promise this will be one of the most memorable coaster experiences you've had. Such a powerful and smooth launch. Such an adrenaline rush.

This.

holy shit that is a long drive. i would just take a plane...unless you plan on hitting up a ton of parks on the way

My family and I drove to Oklahoma once (basically Austin's trip, in reverse). The drive isn't that bad, really. As long as you are prepared for it.

Well we drove from Dallas, to Charleston (WV), to Sandusky, then Chicago, St Paul and then back. I had the whole backseat to myself because I'm a big boy.

I drove from North Carolina to Washington (state). Do I win?

you should come back by way of branson

silver dollar city may not be the most spoken about park out there, but it is actually amazing. probably my favorite theme park... ever. and now they have an amazing woodie to boot, I wish I could get back there... sigh

i did kings island on the same road trip i did cedar point on (like you, but from kansas city, and we went all the way into quebec). felt very 'meh' about it. don't feel too bad about missing it, especially after cedar point. its good that they now have diamondback, otherwise there was no standout ride there.

I also drove past geauga lake on that trip... probably should have stopped there, as it turns out

Yeah, a few years ago I did Kings Dominion, Kings Island, and Cedar Point in one trip a few years ago. KD to KI was an insane drive, not as long, but very crazy going through all of WV on the way (which I'm pretty sure took a few thousand miles off the life of my car) but yeah CP is awesome, but I have to say Kings Dominion was my favorite (probably because the lines there were the shortest, and Volcano and I305 were amazing)

Millennium Force: Both the front and back are awesome, but if you're gonna do the front seat, do it at night. Not much beats flying around Cedar Point at 90+mph in the dark. Back seat gives some crazy floater air time on the camel backs and the final bunny hop. Also, the feeling of getting whipped through the over banks is great. This is my favorite coaster of all time. If you are the kind of person who can enjoy a coaster even if it doesn't have thigh bruising airtime, you'll love this ride.

There are usually copious amounts of bugs starting at dusk on Millennium Force though. If you want to ride front, ride front, but be ready to get stained with the insides of a thousand gnats and mosquitoes. Unless I'm the only one who's had this problem(on many occasions)?

Double post, my apologies.

Day one was a huge success! Only rides I haven't hit are Gemini and Dragster, due to battling weather and breakdown issues. Some big surprises and some disappointments.


Few new questions though! Blue Streak and Magnum, do they have any particular "magic seats"? They both seem like they would be a lot of fun and airtime filled, if I wasn't holding on for dear life and trying to keep my spine from collapsing.

Alright thought I'd post some of my thoughts because why not.

First of all, CP as a whole is great. There's no theming basically, but it's just got the perfect theme park atmosphere. Everything is very colorful and clean, staff is mostly good (though the people working in the restaurants don't seem to understand English, I ate at the park 3 times and not once was ordering a simple task)but yea, it's CP so everyone knew that.

The shows are very cool. the Snoopy on Ice show is really quite good, and the action wheels or whatever show was as exciting as most coasters.

On to the coasters.

Wicked Twister-1x ride
Rode in the front early on the first day, really cool ride! Front seat is the bomb, open view and very unnerving coming so close to the end on the track... The huge boost the second time through is a lot of fun.

Corkwcrew-1x
Looks awesome, a classic ride, but out. There's a lot of airtime on the hill before the loop, but it just hurts. Airtime in OTSRs usually does. The loops not so bad, and the corks will bang you up a bit.

Gemini-1x on either side
Fun! Little bits of airtime everywhere, and the whole racing concept is new to me, and really made the ride more exciting. The Trims suck the life out of the end though.

Blue Streak-1x
DEATH BY AIRTIME. Ouchhhhh. Rode in the back, which resulted in spending more time out of seat than in it, but the transitions from butt on seat to thighs in lap bar was painful. Incredibly short wait though, probably shoulda tried out the front.

Mean Streak-2x
Who says this ride sucks? This ride is awesome. Get on my level. 10/10. Not nearly as rough as many of CP's steelies.

Magnum-1x
Also death by airtime. Very painful. Rode in the very back. Big mistake. I hated it. ouch. I still hurt, a week later. wtf is Arrow doing.

Maverick-2x
Honestly, left me disappointed. This ride is overhyped I guess. ohh look at me I can change direction fast and have a steep drop. Still a fun ride but I simply wasn't impressed, maybe should have had lower expectations? I dunno.

Raptor-1x
Very fun, not as good as the BTR's like someone else said. Had some B&M rattle and headbanging which really took a way from the ride. Still pretty good.

Mantis-2x
I actually loved this ride. The layout, size, comfort, everything seemed just right. Next to no wait either. Didn't crush anything important, and riding standing up was really a lot of fun to me. I liked this a lot.

Gatekeeper-3x
The front, inside seat resulted in the best ride for me. I rode in the back outside the first time and was terribly disappointed, very rattly. However, the front's uncompromised views, additional airtime, smoothness of the inside seat, hangtime on the drop, and exaggerated near misses really pumped this thing up. Definitely my favorite B&M outside of Montu. Forces? I didn't even notice any. I was having to much fun flying.

TTD-2x
Yea, what the hell just happened. Incredible ride. Huge line. 25 million well spent by CP IMO. 0-120 is nutty. 400+ feet up is crazy. I definitely got a tad bit of airtime on the top hat to. Airtime at 420 feet is terrifying.

Millenium-2x
Pure bliss. As I said elsewhere, Millie took my number one spot on my list. It's just fantastic. Everything a coaster should be. Maybe a few additional bunny hops would've added to it, but idc. Amazing ride.

I love every single one of your reviews.

Austin = <3

To me, Millennium Force was kind of like my first kiss. It was fun while it lasted, but when it as over I was like "That was it?"