Karen and I headed out to Ohio to visit our daughter and her family. While there, naturally, I had to stop by one of the largest amusement parks in the country, Cedar Point, in Sandusky. Initially, the week didn't look to promising with severe thunderstorms forecast for most days. But as usually happens with weather forecasts, the grim predictions weren't correct and Wednesday, June 25, turned out to be a clear and sunny day, albeit with temperatures approaching 100 degrees. Karen was going to babysit the grandkids, so she dropped me off at the park at 9:00 in the morning. My season pass allowed me early entry. As we drove toward the park along the causeway, the long profile of the park came into view. It contained one new addition that very few guests would have noticed. She dropped me off just as the National Anthem was playing. Approaching guests were respectfully frozen in place like broken androids. When the song ended, I passed through the security checkpoint and lined up at one of the ticket gates. I ended up behind an elderly gentleman who had two separate passes, none of which seemed to work. The elderly woman who was trying to scan his passes was getting increasingly flustered. "You have the wrong type of pass. We don't take gold passes." The man tried to explain that he just got his passes renewed. While I was stuck in that line, every other line was moving quickly and people were flooding into the park. A supervisor was called over and the supervisor told the woman that his pass was fine. When she saw my pass she said, "We don't take platinum passes anymore." Once again the supervisor intervened and said the pass was fine. Finally I entered the park. There was a brand new sign in front of the Midway Carousel. It replaced the 150th anniversary sign that had been there since the pandemic. For early entry, season passholders were given a chance to ride a couple of rollercoasters before the general public. For the day I was there, the coasters were supposed to be Millennium Force and Iron Dragon, two coasters I liked. So I headed down the midway toward Millennium Force. But then I saw something I didn't expect: Top Thrill 2, the park's rebuild of their Top Thrill Dragster coaster, was running. And interestingly, Millennium Force was not. Top Thrill 2 opened last year and ran for just 8 days before closing for the rest of the season, so I never got to ride it. And this year it ran fine early in the season but then closed because of the extreme heat which caused havoc with the ride's launch system. So I fully expected to miss out on riding it this season as well. But there it was, flying through its course with unexpected efficiency. I headed for the ride's entrance. The queue had been extended with temporary stanchions that followed north alongside the midway. In a rule was becoming more common, the park didn't allow you to take anything on the coaster; no hats, no phones, no cameras, no wallets. Everything had to be stowed inside lockers that they provided at the queue line entrance (and which thankfully were free). So I dropped off my items there and hoped I'd remember my locker number when I got off the ride. Then I proceeded into the extremely long queue line which thankfully had hardly anyone in it. It was also covered, which kept the sun off my head. The final accident that sealed the fate of Top Thrill Dragster was when a piece of the train dislodged and flew into the queue line as the train entered the brake run, injuring a woman in the queue. So the park made sure that couldn't happen again by essentially wrapping the entire queue line in steel fencing. It made the wait more claustrophobic but ostensibly safer. The park was utilizing only two of its three trains on the ride but even so the line moved along quickly. In about 20 minutes I was at the station. The ride attendants were assigning seats and I ended up in the middle of the train. I had heard that the back seat was the best seat on the ride, but I didn't get to find out. The seats were very comfortable, as were the simple restraints. We were dispatched efficiently and rolled out of the station and onto the S-curve track that lined up with the launch area. The old Dragster used a cable system with a hydraulic launch that catapulted you from zero to 120 mph in 3 seconds. That was pretty severe. But TT2 used linear induction magnets to provide a more gradual launch. While we sat on the launch track, a section of track behind us switched so that we'd bypass the station. The red lights in front of us counted down. A deep descending bass note rumbled over the sound system and then we were launched. It was surprisingly gentle, just a gradual acceleration that pushed us about a third of the way up the tower. We briefly paused and then rolled backwards toward the launch track. Then I could feel the power of the ride kick in. We were blasted back towards the rear spike with intense force and reached nearly 100 mph. The train peaked about 20 feet below the end of the spike. We were looking straight down at the ground from nearly 400 feet up, briefly hanging there weightless. Then we rolled back down the spike. When we hit the launch track again we were thrust forward to 120 mph. But because we already had a lot of momentum, it didn't feel as severe as Dragster did. We flew up the "tophat" tower. I was shocked by the strong force of the track twist before we crested the top. I was flung to the side like a rag doll. We slowly rolled over the top with strong air time. I still wish that moment was longer to be able to take in how high we actually were. But before I could, we began our decent down the other side, into the twisted helix that felt like it would chop our heads off. The train straightened out along the brake run as we felt the power of the magnetic brakes kick in and slow us to a crawl. What an exhilarating experience! It was intense and yet not punishing as the original ride was. I could understand why so many people were raving about the ride. The original was just 17 seconds long. But TT2 was almost 2 minutes, a much more satisfying ride experience. I was going to get a ride photo from the kiosk on the way out, but the image was blurred. Perhaps the park needs to invest in faster photo equipment. I went back to the queue line and by then it was filling up. So I passed on riding it again and instead collected my stuff out of the locker. I took the picturesque Sky Ride back to the front of the park. Then I set off to make another walk-thru video. That took me about an hour. Along the way I discovered that the park's newest ride was running for a publicity day. Siren's Curse looked really imposing on the midway, even though it was one of the smallest coasters in the park. Cedar Fair (the owner of Cedar Point) merged with Six Flags last year and inherited all the Six Flags parks. Six Flags Mexico had already purchased this coaster but couldn't erect it because of zoning problems. So it was just sitting there in pieces. So Cedar Fair hastily shipped everything up to Cedar Point and erected the entire ride in just a few months. The placement seemed odd, right next to Valravn, a similar type of coaster. The park also had to reroute Peninsula Drive to accommodate the ride. But there it stood overlooking the midway. This type of ride was known as a tilt coaster, and only one other in the world was operating. The gimmick was located at the top of the lift hill. a stretch of track the length of the train stuck out horizontally and just ended in mid air. The train would stop on the track inches from its edge and just sit there for a moment. Then the entire track would slowly tilt down, connect with track underneath, hold the train in place for a minute and then drop it. I was impressed with how fluidly everything moved, especially that massive tilting track. There was a drone flying around the coaster (no doubt from one of the news crews for publicity day). The coaster seemed to run very efficiently. But I would find out for myself soon enough. Cedar Point was hosting a special charity event on Thursday evening. By donating to the charity (Maria's Field of Hope) you received a special ticket to ride the coaster. So I donated and in 24 hours I'd be one of the first people to experience Siren's Curse. By then it was past noon and I was getting a bit hungry. So naturally, I had to head off for my favorite food in the park. Siren's Curse was next to the Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad, so I queued up for that. The train had just arrived when I got there and the queue line was filled. Fortunately, the train had a huge capacity so I had no trouble finding a seat and soon the coal-fired steam engine was on its way. Millennium Force was running again and had amassed a huge line of people. Oddly, they were running only one train. Further along behind the Maverick coaster was an old CP&LE caboose. That was the first time I'd noticed it. The train stopped at the north station and I walked past Sagebrush Sue's, where I'd usually get my treat. I wanted to check out a different place. I was also really thirsty, so I headed through Frontier Town to get a fresh-squeezed lemonade from Frontier Chill, a little stand near the Cedar Creek Mine Ride. But it wasn't open. So I continued on my way until I arrived at my destination on the Gemini Midway: the Happy Friar. This was where I often got my favorite food, cheese-on-a-stick. The building had been completely redesigned to look like a monastery. It seemed smaller and I wasn't sure what to make of it. So I went inside and was really impressed. First, it was air conditioned. Previously, you had to stand in a line in the hot sun and wait to order at a window. And second, it was a lot more spacious on the inside. Unfortunately there still was no indoor dining. But at least it gave a little respite from the heat. The counter was very well organized and I spotted a whole tray of fresh cheese-on-a-sticks. So I got one. The attendant asked me if I wanted fries with that and I said no. I went over to the cashier, who asked me if I wanted fries with it. I told him no. He said it would be cheaper if I got fries with it. But I didn't want fries. So he rang up my order as if I also had fries and that supposedly was a bargain. They still had round tables with umbrellas outside, so I sat at one and relished my rare treat. It was delicious. Afterwards, I walked across the midway and queued up for Gemini, the park's racing coaster. It used to have the highest capacity of any coaster in the world, running six trains. But over the years the park had cut back so now it had four trains. When I was there, they were running just two. And they were both the blue trains and weren't racing. The line wasn't very long, but it took about a half-hour to get inside the beautiful station. I sat in the front seat and in short order was dispatched up the lift hill (which back when the ride was built was the tallest in the world). The coaster was still a lot of fun, with pops of airtime, lots of speed and a great headchopper moment. All too soon the train sped through the ending helix and hopped up into the brake run. I headed back into Frontier Town and noticed some curious seats outside Stockade Refreshments: they were horse butts, complete with legs and tails. They appeared to be made out of wood and looked pretty fragile. I walked past that and over to Fountains & Floats for a milkshake. But the weary-looking attendant inside told me that their mixer was broken. It was probably just as well. They wanted $10 for a small cup. So instead I hopped back on the CP&LE railroad for an amusing trip through Boneville. When I disembarked I headed over to Iron Dragon. I noticed that the coaster's entrance had been repositioned during the Siren's Curse remodel. It was located further south, and the queue line had been lengthened. For a ride that's been much maligned by coaster enthusiasts, the general public still seemed to enjoy it. It was about a 20 minute wait to get to the station. I queued up for the front seat and we were quickly sent up the short lift hill. About halfway up, the train suddenly stopped. We sat on the lift hill for about five minutes before an announcement came over the PA system that someone had taken their phone out. The operators had to stop the ride and confiscate the device before restarting the ride. After that we proceeded up the lift and then down the first drop and into the first high speed curve. I really enjoyed the feeling of this ride, how the cars would swing out wildly on each turn. The first half of the ride was somewhat leisurely but the second half was more thrilling, with a lot more speed and twisting track. It was still one of my favorite rides in the park. Across the midway, Siren's Curse was still running through its course. Next to the coaster was a new rustic building that was going to be the ride's gift shop when it opened. I headed south down the midway and stopped off at the Cadillac Cars, the park's one remaining antique car ride. (They used to have three!) As always, it provided a relaxing trip through a shady grove. Next door was Cedar Downs, one of the only racing derby rides remaining where the four-abreast horses not only go up and down but also race back and forth. It's an ingenious old mechanism that still provides a thrill. And it still goes remarkably fast. For some reason they changed the soundtrack. When the ride started, it used to have an announcer calling the race. But this time it was just generic pop music that played. From there I walked over to the Giant Wheel. It had the longest wait of any ride that day, even though there weren't many people in line. It always puzzled me why, on such a huge ride, they only loaded a few cabs. It took over a half-hour to make it to the front of the line. When I got there, the attendant asked me how many riders. I told him just me. He said I couldn't ride. I had to be with someone. All that time was wasted in line. I was about to leave when a woman with her two boys said I could ride with them. I thanked her. It turned out they were from Virginia, near Kings Dominion, and they were traveling to Milwaukee. One of the boys suggested breaking up the long trip by stopping at Cedar Point on the way. This was their first time at the park and they were enjoying it. The boys, probably 10 or 11, were very talkative, telling me all about the great time they had a Disneyworld. The Giant Wheel was very pleasant, with a gentle breeze off of Lake Erie and panoramic views of the park. When the ride ended, I thanked them again and headed over to Point Plaza, the park's big gift shop, to see what was new. They had a spectacular Siren's Curse t-shirt, but only in small and medium. So I passed on that. By then it was about 3:00, so I let Karen know I was ready to get picked up. On Thursday, Karen, the grandkids and I played a round of mini golf at Goofy Golf downtown. The temperature rose up to 109 degrees, so we didn't last the entire round. Karen dropped me back at Cedar Point at about 1:30 for the charity ride on Siren's Curse (which would start at 6:00). Once in the park, I took the Sky Ride toward the north end. I went to Siren's Curse to see if anything had changed with the queue line. It hadn't changed from the other day. I was confused by the stanchions and wasn't sure where we were supposed to line up. Even though I still had several hours, I planned to get to the line at least an hour early and wanted to be sure of where I was supposed to go. The coaster wasn't running and no one was around. So I decided to have my free meal that came with my charity ticket. I headed over to the Grand Pavilion. It was still a bit early to eat, so I figured I'd just sit at one of the many chairs there and catch up on my emails in air-conditioned comfort. I approached one of the cushioned chairs in a corner of the downstairs area and a guy cut right in front of me and sat down in it. So I headed upstairs. There was a lot of seating up there. I went out on the veranda and sat in the shade. There was a nice breeze coming off of Lake Erie. After about 20 minutes, dark clouds began surrounding the park and a really strong wind began blowing. Dirt from the beach area began blowing into my face, so I went back inside and downstairs. I found a solitary seat at one of the tables in a side room. There was a loud rumble of thunder and some lightning. And then the sky opened up with torrential rain. I'm glad I had found a seat because at that point a rush of people flooded into the building. Sheets of rain driven by strong winds pelted the windows. In about a half-hour, the rain let up and people went back out onto the midway. I took that opportunity to queue up at the serving line and order my dinner. I got baked fish with a side of "cheesy potatoes" and a roll. I also got a side salad (for which I had to pay extra). I showed my ticket to the cashier and went back into the side room. There were quite a few more seats available. I chose one near the center where there was a circular bench with a fake planter in the middle. As usual, the food was really good. A large family sat at a table opposite mine while I was eating. Three small boys in the group decided to have a wrestling match on the bench and nearly knocked over my table. Their parents seemed oblivious. When I finished eating, I went back out onto the midway. The rain had stopped and the sun was returning. The air was thankfully much cooler. For dessert I decided on some ice cream, so I headed over to the ice cream parlor near the south Sky Ride station. I ordered simple vanilla on a waffle cone and went outside to eat it. The ice cream was average, as was the cone. But there certainly was a lot of it. Since I still had over an hour to go, I headed over to one of my favorite rides in the park, the venerable Blue Streak. The entrance plaza looked abandoned. I walked over to the queue line which, for the first time in memory, was completely empty. A train was going up the lift, so I knew it was running. I walked into the empty station and sat down in the front seat of the train. A few more riders drifted in and when the previous train hit the brakes, we were dispatched. This ride was proof that a great coaster didn't have to break any records. It was still running flawlessly after sixty years. The ride was smooth and packed with airtime on every hill. It reminded me of the Mountain Flyer at Mountain Park, with a very similar design. (John Allen, the Blue Streak's designer, worked at the Mountain Park ride for a time.) I returned to the station with a smile on my face. I went next door for another ride on Cedar Downs. There was hardly anyone there. In fact it seemed like there was hardly anyone in the park. Once again it gave a very enjoyable ride. By then it was 4:45, so I made my way over to Siren's Curse. To my surprise, a line had already begun to form. At least I knew where the entrance was going to be. So I queued up behind those people. To my left was a brand new set of lockers. As with TT2, I couldn't bring anything on the ride with me, so I paid $5 for a locker and stowed my stuff. Since the receipt was on my phone and my phone had to be placed in the locker, I was hoping I'd remember which locker number it was. After I stashed my stuff, someone in line pointed out to me that, just as with TT2, there were free lockers at the station. I didn't need to pay $5. But I guess that was better than $20. So I reopened the locker and retrieved my phone. I was glad I arrived when I did. Within a relatively short time, the line of riders stretched all the way down to Valravn. My son-in-law who worked at the park stopped by to see me, as did his parents who lived nearby. We passed the time chatting as the ride began testing. Siren's Curse was built by the company Vekoma, which had been something of a joke among coaster enthusiasts. The company had acquired design licenses from Arrow, so most of the company's early coasters were built very similar to Arrow's, and that wasn't necessarily a good thing. The most popular ride the company built for decades was the Boomerang. It seemed like nearly every park you went to in the 1990s and 2000s had one. They also mass-produced a suspended coaster that was derogatorily referred to as a "hang and bang". They were often extremely painful to ride. But something had changed at the company in recent years and they were beginning to regain a good reputation. At just before 6:00, the stanchions were moved and we were told to have our tickets ready. As our tickets were scanned we were given a VIP wristband. I was very surprised at the length of the queue line. It was massive and mostly invisible from the midway. It snaked back and forth under three large wooden pavilions and then curved around unpredictably through the structure of the ride. The ride's theming centered on a siren seductively drawing sailors to their doom. To enhance that, there was a lot of eerie lighting throughout the course. There were misters creating fog. The water was tinted green and was bubbling up in certain areas. And the support structure had been painted to look as if it were rusting out. A cool modern effect was that the trains had thin strips of lighting on them that looked like blue lightning. It was a long non-stop walk toward the station. I stowed my phone in one of the free lockers, frantically memorizing my locker number, and walked up the stairs to the station. Attendants were assigning seats and I was placed in the first seat of the second car with a coaster enthusiast with whom I'd been chatting in line. The molded seats were extremely comfortable. The over-the-head lap bar had soft shoulder pads attached, much like a backpack. Those were comfortable too. The steep lift hill was directly in front of us and when we were sent on our way it felt like we were heading into the sky. Each car had an onboard stereo system that played eerie music as the siren's voice beckoned us onward. When we reached the top of the lift, the track straightened out and curved to the left onto the tilt track. I was on the left side of the train and from my perspective looking off to the side, there was nothing under me. It was just straight down 160 feet and very unnerving. The track slowly tilted downward until it was completely vertical, and it just held us there looking straight down. The siren's voice turned threatening and rasped, "Now meet your doom!" The train was released and we plunged downward, curving to the left and then soaring up into the next highest hill on the ride, which produced strong airtime. The train twisted and dove back down in the opposite direction into a heartline roll that produced more airtime. The rest of the course was taken low to the ground and at impressive speed with a blur of twists and turns, all producing extreme airtime, as well as a mist-filled tunnel. And to my surprise, it was all extremely smooth. The trainload of riders returned to the station cheering and clapping. The park had a hit on its hands. It was a great ride. The Siren's Curse gift shop was open and as usual, Cedar Point stocked it with unique and beautifully designed merchandise. I picked up some magnets, an atmospheric t-shirt and a mug. We also received a shwag bag from the charity which included a tall Siren's Curse cup. The catch was that once you accepted the bag, they cut the wristband from your arm; that was the end of your ride session. But by the time my ride was over, the queue line was filling up. It probably would have been an hour wait for another ride, so I called it a day. This was another memorable visit to Cedar Point. I was able to ride two new coasters that were really impressive. And I had fun on some of my old favorites. And of course, I also had cheese-on-a-stick. I look forward to returning to America's roller coast!

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