On an overcast and cool day, Karen and I set off for our annual trip to Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. We’d be arriving on the park’s post-pandemic opening weekend. It was a nearly 12 hour journey, and the trip was a bit of a nail-biter as the weather got progressively worse the nearer we got to our destination. Gas prices were a bit of a nail-biter as well, topping $5 a gallon on the highway. I couldn't imagine how the truckers were surviving; diesel was $6.55 a gallon. They'd go broke just filling their tank. Outside of the bad weather, the drive was mostly uneventful. There were two major accidents near Cleveland that slowed us down, as well as flood warnings. As we got near Sandusky, we ran into a nor’easter with torrential rain and steady 40 mph winds. And to make it even more uncomfortable, the temperature hovered in the 40s. This year we booked a cottage at Lighthouse Point, at the northern tip of the park. As we traveled up Peninsula Drive, I was surprised to find that the park was fairly crowded and, even more surprising, that all the coasters were running. Usually in high winds, the park shut down their big rides. We checked in at the office across from the back of the giant wooden structure of Steel Vengeance. Our cottage this time was number 14, two doors down from the one we previously stayed at and right next to the pier. The Lake Erie waves were crashing against the rocks outside our front door and the wind made the rain nearly horizontal. The cottage kept creaking ominously as if we were on a rocking ship at sea. We slogged our luggage in from the car and then crashed for the night. The cottage was quite comfortable though the bed was a bit small for two adults. The building had a ramp, giving the impression that it was handicap-accessible. But apart from the ramp, there were few other amenities that would make the cottage work well for someone in a wheelchair. There was only one grab bar and it was located at the back of the shower, which required a step up in order to reach. For us it wasn’t an issue. But I could see how someone who was wheelchair-bound wouldn’t have an easy go of it. The next day was a bit windy but brought clear blue skies, as if the earth was asking forgiveness for the previous day. We went out to breakfast at a little local place Karen found online, The Depot. Karen had eggs and home fries, I had blueberry pancakes and we both had orange juice. The food was really good. The juice had an odd taste though, as if they forgot to rinse the soap out of the glasses. After that we went shopping for a few essentials. The we stopped by our daughter’s house. The next day would be our granddaughter’s first communion and Karen wanted to help get the house ready for the party. I was tasked with repairing their electric range, which needed new drip pans and heating elements. I spent much of the morning into early afternoon tracking down the parts at various big box stores. I couldn’t find a perfect match for the drip pans but modified the ones I found so that they would fit. After that, Karen dropped me off at Cedar Point so I could enjoy the afternoon there. By that point the wind had eased up and the sunshine made it quite comfortable even though it was only in the 50s. There had been a few changes to the park this year and I wanted to shoot another walk-thru without inconveniencing Karen. The park normally opened around Memorial Day. But I guess due to perceived pent-up demand they decided to open nearly a month early. I thought that would have put pressure on the maintenance crews, giving them less time to get everything ready. One good thing was that the infamous swarms of mayflies hadn’t yet hatched. Cedar Fair had completely renovated their Castaway Bay resort at the entrance to the causeway leading to the park. The once expansive Cedar Point sign there had been reduced to a thin blue obelisk that was easy to miss from Cleveland Road. The drive up the causeway offered its usual impressive sight of the park’s skyline, though one coaster was absent: the park had dismantled its 200 foot tall Wicked Twister coaster along the beach. The new parking gates with self-serve kiosks looked like a highway toll plaza. The concourse at the entrance to the main gate still featured the topiaries of Peanuts characters. I immediately noticed there was no typical roaring sound that usually came from Gatekeeper and Raptor, the two big steel coasters near the entrance. Both rides were completely silent. In fact, I could clearly hear the sound of the park’s Wurlitzer band organ, which normally was drowned out. In front of the carousel was the big 150th anniversary sign from two years ago. I walked along the west side of the main midway. The Jack Aldrich Theater wouldn’t open for several weeks but it was advertising their upcoming musical review with the peculiar title of "Come See About Me". Since it was nearby, I figured I’d take a ride on my favorite coaster in the park (and the oldest), Blue Streak. But when I turned the corner under the loop of the Raptor, I was stunned to find the line starting there. It turned out that the line was actually for Valravn next door which had just begun testing for the day. The line would mean a three hour wait for that ride. A bit further up the midway, the former food stand that used to serve my holy grail of cheese-on-a-stick had been converted into The Corral, which served the usual park fair of pizza, fries and chicken tenders. So it appeared that two CoaSt stands had been eliminated from the south end of the park over the past few years. That was a disappointment. I kept heading north. The midway was eerily quiet. Every coaster queue I passed had a chain across the entrance with a sign that read, "This ride is temporarily delayed due to high winds," even the relatively small Iron Dragon (which I later discovered had gotten stuck over the pond the previous day). Perhaps the park was being overly cautious because of the nor’easter when they were running everything. I continued waking, heading up the Frontier Trail. Only a few of the shops were open. The petting zoo was closed. A lonely turkey wandered around behind the fence. The Forbidden Frontier was closed, as were Thunder Canyon and Snake River Falls. The park’s one vegetarian stand, Wild Turnip, was closed. I arrived at the far north end to find very little open there. Maverick was testing, and a long line had formed in anticipation. Steel Vengeance, my second favorite ride in the park, was closed. The big change to this area was the removal of the antique car ride (at one time one of three in the park). In its place was yet another giant restaurant, Big Cedar Farm, which served standard barbecue foods. There was a stage on the grounds with a guitar duo playing ‘70s hits. Dozens of rustic tables and chairs filled the area. Most of the ground was still dirt, and much of the area was roped off until the grass grew in. The old covered bridge was still there, now converted into a simple walkway. Fortunately Sagebrush Sue’s was open and — lo and behold! — they had cheese-on-a-stick! I ordered one with a small lemonade, and that came to just under $15. Karen and I could both have had a full meal at a restaurant back home for that price. But it was tasty, and Cedar Point was still the only place to get one. After that I embarked upon another park walk-thru video. This time I wanted to demonstrate exploring the park if you were entering from Lighthouse Point. So I started at the northeast entrance by Magnum (another closed coaster) and followed a clockwise path around the park. Overall, just three coasters in the park were running: the mine train and the two kiddie coasters. When I arrived at the southeast end, the other change this season was obvious. A tall wood fence blocked off the view of the beach where Wicked Twister once was. I peered through a crack in the fence and could see another long fence by the beach side. So evidently there was still a lot of work to be done. I had no idea what they would replace that ride with. It took up so little space, especially for a coaster. Once I finished shooting the walk-thru, I wanted something a little more substantial to eat. So I headed back toward the south end. Along the way, I noticed some subtle additions, like a few colorful windmills and lots of fresh paint on buildings and rides. I decided to save myself a little footwork and hopped aboard the Cedar Point and Lake Erie railroad for a trip through Boneville to the front of the park. Hugo’s (which used to be the Midway Market) had generic Italian-American food, but also advertised salads. So that’s where I went. The salad was pre-made in a small plastic bowl. It was just some iceberg lettuce with a couple of small pieces of stale parmigiana cheese tossed in. I got a small packet of Italian dressing with it (basically oil, salt and corn syrup) and a bottle of water. That set me back about $12. I was hoping for a little more in the salad, maybe some tomatoes, onions or shaved carrots. But it was just that lettuce and pretty terrible cheese pieces. After that less-than-spectacular meal, I headed back for the cottage. Along the way, more rides began testing including the Corkscrew at which a long line was forming. The tallest ride in the park, Top Thrill Dragster, had a sign stating it would be closed the entire season (due to an accident the previous season). That must have been a blow to the park since the ride has been one of its biggest draws. As I headed out of the park, more coasters began testing, including Gemini and Magnum, but they all still had signs stating they wouldn’t operate in high winds, even though the winds had largely dissipated. The next day Karen and I traveled to Vermillion to eat at The Nest, a little local restaurant we enjoyed the previous year. It didn’t disappoint. Then we headed back to Sandusky for our granddaughter’s first communion ceremony. After that was a party at our daughter’s house. After spending the day with the family, Karen and I made a brief visit to the park in the late afternoon. On the walk over from our cottage we noticed cranes and cherry pickers surrounding Steel Vengeance. It looked like they were checking bolts on the structure. There was a decent crowd in the park but many of the coasters still weren’t running, even though it was a beautiful sunny day in the 60s with hardly any wind. Everywhere we walked, we would hear someone talking about how disappointed they were that there were so many coasters down (with their queue lines blocked by the same signs stating they weren’t running because of high winds). I imagine those people wouldn’t have been very happy if they were at the park only for a day or two and had paid full price to get in. While we were walking along the Gemini midway, we noticed an unusual game concession. It was nothing more than an adjustable chin-up bar. The steel bar itself was about 3 inches in diameter, making it really difficult to hold. The “game” cost $10 to play. The objective was to hang from the bar for 90 seconds. The attendant would set the bar so that the player couldn’t touch the ground when hanging from it. Making it even more difficult, of course, was the weather. In summer, the steel bar would get really hot, making it tough to hang on to. And the day we were there, the metal would have been really cold. We watched several guests try it, and only one young boy was able to do it and got a small stuffed animal for a prize. By then it was starting to get overcast. We walked into Big Cedar Farms but didn’t see anything much that appealed to us. So we headed over toward the Main midway. I thought of hiking over to the Tofts ice cream parlor to get a milkshake, but instead settled on one from the nearby Coasters diner. It was a small McDonalds-like drink that wasn’t nearly as good as Tofts. And it cost just under $10. After that we called it quits for the day and went back to our cottage. The next morning Karen and I went to Bob Evans for breakfast. I always used to look forward to eating there. But ever since the namesake owner died and the restaurant was sold off to an investment firm, the quality had plummeted. The wait staff, once exceedingly cheery and efficient, now seemed much less engaged. The food took much longer to arrive and it was excessively salty and otherwise flavorless. Little homey touches like jams, jellies and honey at the table were gone. Even their famous biscuits were a pale imitation of their original recipe. Surprisingly, Cedar Point was opened on that Monday even though schools were back in session. It was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the 60s, but it felt a lot warmer. There were quite a few bus loads of kids there for the park’s "science day". There were small tents set up on the midway with various physics demonstrations, as well as a teacher on a stage attempting to engage a handful of onlookers. But most of the "tents of learning" were vacant because the students preferred to ride the coasters. And so did I. But the first order of business was cheese-on-a-stick. So we headed over to Sagebrush Sue’s. It was closed. Disappointed, we boarded the train and headed toward the front of the park. When we arrived at the south station, I decided to queue up for Millennium Force while the line was relatively short (for that ride, anyway). Karen waited patiently. It took a little less than an hour to get to the front seat. I sat with a guy who first rode the coaster when he was in grade school. And he’s been riding it every year since. It was hard to believe it was built nearly a quarter century ago. The park was running all three trains, which helped speed things along. One of the ride attendants was discussing with the others which ride was better: this one or Orion at Kings Island. He felt Orion was far superior. I mentioned that this coaster was designed as a one-trick pony. It was built for speed. But IMO it had a really nice view. And he agreed. The ride was its reliable self, ridiculously fast and smooth, with just a couple pops of airtime. I met back up with Karen and we decided to get a cheese-on-a-stick. I had heard that they were still sold at the front of the park, but at a different stand. So we boarded the Sky Ride’s north station for a picturesque ride high above the midway. The empty expanse that once held Wicked Twisted was clearly visible. Once we disembarked, we took a look at some of the merchandise in the gift shop under the station and then headed over to the Fresh Cut Fries stand, which advertised cheese-on-a-stick. Karen wanted one too, along with some fries. So I eagerly placed my order, only to have the attendant tell me they didn’t sell cheese-on-a-stick. I pointed to the sign, and the attendant said that would be later in the year. I didn’t understand that because obviously the park had the ingredients. So instead we walked toward the one concession stand I knew would have it: The Happy Friar over by Gemini. So we made our way back north. Along the way, Karen had noticed what appeared to be a new rest area by the Corkscrew. It was a large circular mulched area with a small tree in the middle surrounded by little bushes and ringed with metal chairs all facing outward. I guess 20 years down the road the area would be nice and shady. Until then people would be sitting in the blazing sun. We made it to the Happy Friar and I queued up. When it was my turn, I confidently place my order for two cheese-on-a-sticks. The attendant looked at me, puzzled, and said, "I don’t think we got that." "What do you mean you don’t have any," I said, none too happy. "This is THE cheese-on-a-stick stand!" He told me to hold on while he called his supervisor. For some reason he asked if I was from this area. I told him I was from Massachusetts and that I had come all this way for cheese-on-a-stick. The supervisor appeared and asked what was going on. After the attendant explained, the supervisor said they wouldn’t have any cheese-on-a-stick until later in the year, but I could go get one at Sagebrush Sue’s. I told him that stand was closed. The supervisor was surprised and said to wait while he called over there. Meanwhile I ordered some French fries for Karen and drinks. The supervisor returned and said that Sue’s just opened. I thanked him, took the French fries and went over to the big ketchup dispenser. It was empty. I went back to the window to tell them that. They said they’d take care of it right away. They didn’t. Karen had her fries with a tiny smattering of ketchup. We then headed over to Sagebrush Sue’s. There was a line there and quite a few bees, but finally I was able to get us some cheese-on-a-stick. Mine was a little burnt, but it was okay. We sat on a bench under a porch roof and ate. I noticed that the Steel Vengeance trains were going through their circuit, but with the weighted dummies in them. Nearby, Magnum was still silent and Gemini was still testing. Once again we hopped the train back to the Main midway. One ride that definitely was running was the good ol’ Blue Streak. There was hardly anyone in line and I was able to hop into the front seat in about ten minutes. It gave a smooth ride filled with sweet airtime. After three days, I had ridden just two of the sixteen coasters in the park. At that point, I got a text message from our daughter’s in-laws. They were in the park and wanted to meet up with us. I had planned to get in line for Iron Dragon, another of my favorite coasters, but instead we met them by the Blue Streak and chatted for a while. Eventually we made our way toward Iron Dragon. But when we arrived, the wait would have been over an hour. Since I had to catch a train at 4:00 the next morning, we called it s day. I’m not sure what to make of our trip to Cedar Point this year. It always advertised itself as the roller coaster capital of the world, but you wouldn’t know that from our weekend there. I think they simply opened up too early in the year. I didn’t understand their reasoning. Obviously, they simply weren’t ready. When I was at Mountain Park, we always opened on Easter day, whenever that fell. So that was really early in the season, occasionally with snow still on the midway. But Mountain Park had one third as many rides as Cedar Point, and only a few food booths and game concessions. So there was much less prep needed. Lighthouse Point had a decent amount of occupancy and (except for Monday) the park's midway was crowded. I’m glad they didn’t get rid of more cheese-on-a-stick stands, but it seemed that way anyway with only one stand having any stock. I suspect, as with so many other businesses, they’re having trouble getting help. We saw four food trucks on the midway to give the park more options. When parks get so big that they can no longer open their rides or staff their concessions, perhaps they’re getting too big.

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