| Early in July, Karen headed out
to Sandusky, Ohio, with our daughter Liz to visit our other daughter Heather,
who was expecting her first child. I was to follow a week later
by train and stay with Karen at Cedar Point, America's Roller
Coast. Because of how quickly Amtrak and Cedar Point
would get booked up, I had to make our reservations in April. We
were hoping that the baby would be born during my stay. But as it
turned out, the baby wouldn't arrive till the end of the month. Liz was going to stay at Heather's house. Karen and I, since we were going to be there an entire week, rented one of the Point's cottages, a quaint six-bed building overlooking Lake Erie. Although I always enjoyed visiting the Point, I was more concerned on this trip with working on my upcoming book about the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round. I figured that a cottage by the lake would offer me some quiet time to do so. But of course, with the park's giant rides a stone's throw from our cottage, I couldn't make the trip all work and no play. The rail trip was generally enjoyable. I had dinner on the train with an elderly couple from Kansas. The husband asked me if I had heard about the big rail disaster nearby. (We were passing through upstate New York at the time.) I told him I hadn't. After dinner I went back to my sleeper car. Within a few minutes, there by the side of the tracks were one smashed and twisted rail car after another. The wreckage seemed to go on for over a mile. That seemed to start the trip on an ominous note. Fortunately, the rest of the ride was uneventful. I arrived in Sandusky at about 6::00 in the morning. Karen met me at the station, along with our son Mike (who had driven up from North Carolina to visit) and our son-in-law's father. We then headed out for breakfast at one of my favorite places, Bob Evans. I was delighted to see that they had brought back their delicious cinnamon hotcakes. We then drove to Heather's house, which was down the street from Cedar Point, and stayed there for a while chatting. Then Karen, Mike and I drove over to the Point to find out what time our cottage would be ready. Usually, hotels have a check-in time of 3:00, and often you're allowed to check-in earlier. For the cottages, the check-in time was 4:00. We had platinum season passes, so we could go to the park any time during our visit. If our room wasn't ready, we could hang out in the park. Mike followed us there in his pickup. We drove across the long causeway toward the park's peninsula. From across Sandusky Bay, the park was always an impressive sight, with the giant coaster hills standing like skyscrapers across a modern city. We pulled into the parking gate and showed our platinum pass, which also gave us free parking (although we also would have a parking pass for staying at the cottage). We then rode along Peninsula Drive, past the venerable wooden coaster Blue Streak, the mammoth silver and blue Millennium Force and the twisted red track of Maverick. We arrived at the resort entrance and pulled into the guest registration area, with the giant wooden structure of the Mean Streak coaster looming in the background. I checked in and was told that they would send a text message to my phone when the room was ready. So we parked our vehicles nearby and headed across the Soak City parking lot toward the park entrance. Soak City was the Point's huge waterpark area and was a separate admission (but was also included with our Platinum passes). The ground-breaking steel coaster Magnum XL-200 was silhouetted in front of us. On the right was the Gemini racing coaster. It was about 10:00 in the morning, and the park was just opening to the general public. It was also a Saturday -- normally a crowded day at any park -- and the Point was expecting some unusually large groups that day. (Eventually, it would be packed with over 35,000 guests.) We entered at the back gate next to Magnum. There was a reason Cedar Point called itself America's Roller Coast. All around us was the track for Magnum. To our right was Gemini. Looming in front of us was the 410-foot-high hill of Top Thrill Dragster. No matter where you went in the park, you were surrounded by roller coasters. The new ride for this season was Gatekeeper, a big steel coaster by the popular Swiss firm B&M. It was a "wing coaster" where the seats were suspended off either side of the track so that nothing was below you. Wing coasters weren't a completely new type of coaster. But in typical Cedar Point fashion, the park got the biggest version it could buy. They also did something clever: they incorporated the coaster into a re-designed park entrance so that the train flew above and between two huge pillars on either side. The previous entrance was fairly generic and low-key. The new entrance screamed, "We are thrill rides!" I had never ridden a wing coaster, and neither had Mike. So we made the trek from the northern tip of the park all the way to the south end. At a half-mile across, Cedar Point covered a lot of territory. But unlike many comparably-sized parks, it was almost entirely flat. And it also had a fairly simple layout, with basically two wide paths running north/south. It took us about twenty minutes to arrive at the queue for Gatekeeper. That coaster wasn't Karen's cup of tea so she chose to sit in the shade near the ride. There were interesting blue metal sculptures in front of the ride entrance. I assumed they represented wings. The end of the queue line spilled out far from the entrance, stretching past the Wicked Twister coaster. There was very little shade in the line. Even though the park was efficiently running three trains (and each train held 24 passengers), the line seemed to move very slowly. We passed by a cart selling frozen lemonade and Powerade. I wanted plain old water, but I didn't see any on the cart. So we moved on. In typical Cedar Point fashion, the line snaked back and forth in a seemingly unpredictable path. I couldn't figure out exactly where we were overall in the line. After about an hour in the baking sun, I was feeling a bit faint and dehydrated. I texted Karen to have some water for us at the exit. Mike and I spent our time chatting and watching the massive train dive past us. After over two hours, we finally made it to the station entrance, which thankfully was covered. The line split into two sections, one for each side of the train. Mike and I chose the left side. I thought that would give us better visuals. Naturally, I wanted to wait for the front seat, which added another twenty minutes to our wait time. Karen was waiting at the station's exit gate with the bottled water ($3.50 a piece!). I dashed over and took a quick swig. The station itself was a typical Cedar Point angled metal structure. But because of the ride's wing design, the operator's booth was suspended above the front end of the track. Mike took the inner front seat, which had a big semi-circular metal barrier on the right, probably to prevent riders from accidentally touching the track. I sat on the outside. Unlike some other B&M coasters, there was no retractable floor on this ride. The molded seat was pretty high off the floor and I had to hoist myself up into it. The over-the-shoulder restraints were soft rubber straps. I was glad of that; it would minimize any head-banging if the ride was rough. The train seemed abnormally huge up close. I felt like a child in the seat. We rolled out of the station gracefully, turned 180-degrees to the right and were pulled up the lift. The Point made a name for itself by getting the biggest rides in the world. But even though Gatekeeper was the largest coaster of its kind, it seemed dwarfed by the 200-foot-plus rides nearby. At the top of the lift, the track twisted sharply down and doubled back on itself. It was a bizarre and disorienting maneuver. We flew down toward the ground and the swooped up into a sort of half-loop, twisted upright, plunged back to the ground. We then soared over a giant camelback hill. That was the most "normal" coaster element on the entire ride. With the over-the-shoulder harnesses, there wasn't much air time, though. Next was the spiraling hill that took us over the entrance and between the two giant "keyhole" towers. It was a surprisingly unnerving element that had me pulling my legs up, thinking they were going to get lopped off by the structure. We dove down and then up into a lopsided hill that took a sharp nosedive back toward the ground. Then we made the second leap over the entrance, again with the structure seeming too close for comfort. We rose up to a long flat stretch of track (a trim brake) then spun into a tilted helix and glided into the brakes. Outside of some minor vibrations, the ride was surprisingly comfortable. The positive G-forces weren't too extreme. But the changes of direction were dizzying. It was intense, but not punishing (unlike another B&M ride in the park, Mantis). And obviously, it was a big hit with the public. Mike enjoyed it, and I really liked the leg-chopper effects. It wasn't a gimmicky ride, like the one trick pony Top Thrill Dragster. Gatekeeper was simply a good coaster. But it wasn't one that I could ride more than once in a row. Karen met us at the exit. Mike and I were thankful for the water. We headed over to the Gatekeeper photo booth. When Karen and I were at King's Dominion, another park owned by Cedar Fair, their coaster photos could be e-mailed. I liked that option; rather than having to carry around an 8x10, I could print it out myself when I got home. I asked the attendant if that option was available. I was told that normally it was, but their system was down. So instead I got a flash drive with our picture file saved on it -- for $20. It was a bit pricey but at least I could re-use the flash drive afterward. We hopped on the nearby Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad. This year marked the 50th anniversary of that ride. The trains were pulled by coal-fired steam engines, each one named after someone who worked at the park. There were five passenger cars, each with 12 benches that could seat six people each. The park often ran multiple trains. That made it the highest-capacity ride at the park. We had to wait a few minutes for the next train to pull in. As it arrived, the station attendant blared over the microphone, "Stay seated until the train comes to a complete stop. The train will roll back. Stay seated! STAY SEATED!" Many of the passengers didn't seem to listen and attempted to get up as the train was still moving. We boarded near the middle, surrounded by the pungent aroma of burning coal. After everyone was seated, the train smoothly rolled out of the station and followed alongside Peninsula Drive to the north end of the Point. Along the way, both Karen and Mike fell asleep. So we stayed on the train and took it back to the south station. That trip was punctuated by comical scenes through the town of Boneville. Animatronic skeletons were engaged in various slapstick routines: playing banjos, attempting elopement, hosing down a burning building.... Those scenes were interspersed with up-close views of several of the park's roller coasters. We arrived back at the south station and then walked along the east midway underneath the Corkscrew and toward the resort gate. It was about 3:30 and I hadn't received a text saying that our cabin was ready. But by that point, I figured that we should be able to get in. We passed by the big Gemini racing coaster. At the time it was built, it was the largest coaster in the world with a 125-foot lift hill (by today's standards rather small). It also had a really colorful and visually interesting station, a sort of post-modern metal-and-glass structure of curves and angles. More importantly, across from Gemini was one of the highlights of Cedar Point, at least for me: The Happy Friar, serving a delicacy I hadn't had in years -- cheese-on-a-stick. For those who might not know, cheese-on-a-stick is pretty much what the name says: a long cube of American cheese dipped in corn meal batter and deep fried. The batter is crispy on the outside and the cheese melts on the inside. My personal goal on this trip was to eat at least one cheese-on-a-stick each day. So I began right then, and it was just as delicious as I remembered. After that snack, we left the park by the resort gate and headed back over to the registration building. I still hadn't gotten a text. When I got to the reservation desk and inquired about our cottage, I was told that it had been ready for a while. I mentioned that I never got a text, but the clerk just shrugged. We were given our swipe cards and shown the cottage location. We got in our respective vehicles and headed there. It was in the first row, number 12, beside Mean Streak. A big tent had been set up in front of cottage 14, and it looked like there were a lot of guests there, perhaps for a party. All the parking spaces near our cottage were taken, so we parked in front of cottage 1. The area was beautifully landscaped, with lush grass, flowers and trees. The water from Sandusky Bay lapped at the rocky shore a few feet from the deck. Boats and jet skiers glided past. The cottages were quaint, with cedar shakes and big windows. To our surprise and delight, they also had central air conditioning and felt frigid compared with the brutal heat outside. The interior had a little kitchenette/living room with a sleeper sofa. A hallway led to the bathroom and a bedroom with bunk beds next to a full-size bed. Michael took the sleeper bed and Karen and I dropped our stuff in the bedroom. The view off the deck was what I had hoped: an expanse of water with seagulls and geese flying about. Karen really liked it too. After we settled in, we went out to eat at a popular local restaurant, Berardi's, that served large portions of really good food at reasonable prices. The restaurant was built from a converted railroad car. I got their tasty homemade macaroni and cheese. Karen got their giant fish sandwich and Mike got a huge Ruben sandwich. As we left the restaurant, a group at another table (obviously new to Berardi's) was served their dinner and began laughing in disbelief at how huge their portions were. We headed back to the cottage. Mike would have to drive back to North Carolina in the wee hours of the morning, so we said our goodbyes to him and went to bed. On Sunday we spent the day with Heather, Andrew and Liz. The next time we ventured out to the park was Monday, another sunny hot day. We left our cottage and walked out onto the nearby dock. A heron was perched on one of the piers. Boats drifted back and forth as water lapped at the breakwater. We then walked past Lighthouse Point, an old stone building that actually used to be the lighthouse for Sandusky Bay. It would have made another beautiful property for the park to rent out, but I was told that the costs of making it handicap-accessible were so high, the park decided to simply use it for storage. We followed a shady path alongside the cottages toward the Breakers Hotel at the northernmost point of the park. After the cottages, the sidewalk turned into an asphalt walkway. The bay and a beach area was to our left and the hotel complex to our right. We passed by the back turn of Magnum XL-200, the first roller coaster to break the 200-foot barrier. The turn was suspended about 20 feet in the air on top of huge steel pylons. It was a view of that coaster I had never seen before. The path continued alongside the back end of Soak City, eventually ending at the long boardwalk area next to the famous old Breakers Hotel. There was another park entrance for resort guests next to the 300 foot high Windjammer swing ride. It was about 10:00 and already the midway was filling up with guests. We were walking by the park's old quirky ballroom building and stopped into the huge arcade there. I didn't see as many pinball machines as in past years. They were relegated to a single row at the far end of the room. About half had a "Temporarily out of order" sign affixed to them. There were, however, two Hercules machines, the largest commercial pinball table ever manufactured. It cost 50 cents to play. I dropped in two quarters, but they didn't register. The coin return didn't work. I dropped another quarter in and finally got one credit to show up. I pressed the start button. Karen and I took turns playing. The flippers were weak. The pop bumpers and some of the rollovers didn't work. It was a pretty underwhelming experience. After that we wandered up the Frontier Trail, eventually emerging in Frontier Town. I got my daily cheese-on-a-stick there. The heat was really starting to settle in, so we headed back for our cottage and escaped the baking temperatures. The heat index climbed up to 110, and that seemed to keep a lot of people off the midway. Karen and I went back to enjoy the park at dusk, something we had rarely done on our previous trips. We paused for a ride on the Antique Cars at the north end of the park. The Point probably had the most automobile rides (three) of any park in the U.S. It was a pleasant trip around a large grove in the Frontier Town area. After that, we walked toward Frontier Trail on the park's west side. In the past, there had been a nighttime parade there. Although the park no longer had the parade, Frontier Trail was still illuminated with thousands of colorful LED lights, making it look like Christmas in summer. Frontier Trail was the prettiest section of the park, looking like an old early American settlement. It was the shadiest section too, lined with tall trees. The exit to the Frontier Trail brought us out near Millennium Force and the train station. In front of Millennium Force was a large wooden sign with the ride logo on it. The sign had dozens of pins in it, like a pachinko machine. For $5, the barker would give you a disk that you'd place near the top of the sign. It would travel down through the pins to the bottom. If your disk landed in the winning slot, you'd receive a Fast Lane pass for that ride. Fast Lane was Cedar Point's way to allow guests to cut to the front of the line for an extra $60 charge. So if you desperately didn't want to wait in that particular line, the game could be an option. If you didn't win, you got a park discount coupon. There was a large crowd nearby waiting for the Luminosity show to start. Luminosity was basically a big dance party. It was set up in front of the area where the old Wildcat roller coaster used to be. A large stage stood to the right of the Iron Dragon station. Big cylindrical platforms were scattered around the midway in front of it. A makeshift queue line was set up with metal railings to funnel people past the show if they didn't want to watch. We stayed for just a few minutes. Performers jumped athletically all over the stage to pre-recorded techno music. Flamethrowers on either side of the stage shot fire high into the air. Feeble fireworks were set off behind the stage. Large projection screens alternated between showing the performers and showing the crowd dancing. We followed the queue line toward the front of the park. On the ground were moving light patterns reflecting the different areas of the midway. For instance, in front of the Peanuts-themed Snoopy's Boutique were images of the various Charles Shultz characters. In front of the Cedar Downs racing derby were horseshoes. It was whimsical and brightened up the midway. All of the buildings were outlined in tiny lights. Gatekeeper was going through its convoluted course. It too looked impressive at night. The train "wings" had bright spotlights on them, though several were already burned out. We then headed back through the midway to our cottage. A half-moon was reflecting peacefully in the ripples across the bay. Tuesday morning we walked along the beach path to the park entrance near the Breakers. Exclusive Ride Time that morning was on Millennium Force, a ride we both enjoyed. Cedar Point was always at the forefront of the "coaster wars," when there was a rush to build the biggest ride in the world. Even if it didn't always produce great rides, it got the park a lot of publicity. Millennium Force was done right, though. It was the first coaster to top 300 feet with an at-the-time insane 80-degree drop. It opened the same year as two other amazing roller coasters: Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England and Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce. While those two coasters had arguably better designs, MF got all the attention because of its sheer size and speed. And speed was what the ride was built for. Cedar Point already had a giant steel airtime machine: Magnum. To differentiate the two rides, MF was built mostly low to the ground with lots of twists and over-banked turns. Most of the circuit was taken at about 90 mph. Cedar Point had positioned itself as an adrenaline rush destination, so the ride satisfied that. And thirteen years later, it was still drawing crowds. Fortunately, the ERT meant a short wait for us. In about 15 minutes we were strapping ourselves into the front seat. I was glad that the ride still had just the stock T-bar restraint and a seat belt. It was a very comfortable arrangement. The ride attendants were very friendly and enthusiastic. Every coaster had one attendant with a wireless microphone who would pump up the crowd and rattle off the warnings ("No loose articles," etc.). The cable locked underneath the train and dragged us up the ridiculously steep lift hill at a very rapid pace. In about 30 seconds we reached the top and the track disappeared from under us. It felt like we were going to turn upside down. We blasted down the hill, flew through the first over banked turn, raced through the first sewer-like tunnel and then soared up into a giant airtime filled hill. The bulk of the ride was on Adventure Island at the center of the park, twisting back and forth low to the ground to emphasize speed. There was a smaller hill that then dove into the second tunnel, bringing us parallel with the station. A speed bump led to the last over banked turn back to the station. Though the ride was over a mile in length, it lasted only about a minute. But it was a really intense minute. There was hardly time to catch your breath. Karen felt dizzy on the last turn. I felt exhilarated. We headed over to the photo booth. This time the e-mail system was working, so I had a photo sent to myself. Oddly, I still had to buy a physical souvenir in order for them to e-mail me the photo. One ride we couldn't avoid was Top Thrill Dragster, the one-trick pony. The 410-foot high yellow and red tower was visible from everywhere in the park. When passing by the station, we'd frequently stop to watch the train blast off down the track at 120 mph. Karen loved seeing the expressions of the riders when the force hit them. The 17 second ride wasn't one of my favorites. After the blast off, the train negotiated a long straight run and then went vertical up to the top of the tower, rolled down the other side and then hit the brakes. Since not many people had the opportunity to go 120 mph, that was the big attraction. The height was secondary, because you never got much of a chance to realize how high up you were; it all happened too fast. I wish there had been a circle around the tower before the descent, just to get a look the park from that height. Karen went to visit Heather. So I went back to the park by myself and did something I had always wanted to do: create a video walk-through. I started at the entrance and worked my way to the north via the east path (next to Gemini). By the time I got there, I was sweating profusely. I stopped into a nearby Sundae Shop and asked for a vanilla milkshake. After struggling with the machine for a while, the girl apologized and said she only had chocolate. So I walked over to the nearby Arctic Junction which had lemonade and -- you guessed it -- cheese-on-a-stick. I sat in the shade and re-hydrated (and fattened up). Then I made a video walking from Frontier Town south down the Frontier Trail and back to the front of the park. It took me over an hour to cover the park's 363 acres. It was just about 20 acres smaller than Busch Gardens Williamsburg, but the layout of Cedar Point was much more linear. Whereas Busch had several separate themed areas, the Point (outside of the Frontier section) really had no theme. Maybe that made the park feel larger; it was a continuous giant midway. Before heading back to the cottage, I took in a few more rides. Since I ended my walk-through at the front of the park, I took the Sky Ride to its north station. I watched the popular Raptor suspended coaster go through its paces. Then I headed for Iron Dragon, one of my favorite steel coasters. I liked the swinging motion of the cars; it felt like flying. It was a suspended coaster was built by Arrow in 1987. There was hardly any line for it. As usual I queued up for the front seat and was soon on my way. The typically noisy Arrow lift gave way to the first drop, which plunged into a small forested area. Originally there was nothing else around, making the ride feel more isolated. But now the track was surrounded by other coasters and it lost some of its original character. The second half of Iron Dragon sent the train twisting around a pond between the east and west midways and then back to the station. It was a fun family-friendly ride. It would be nice if the Point gave the ride a bit of TLC; it fills a void left by Busch Gardens' removal of its great Big Bad Wolf suspended coaster which dove into and around a Bavarian village. I got myself a delicious fresh-squeezed lemonade and headed for the shade of the Frontier Trail. Along the way, I stopped at a bridge overlooking the park's central pond area. There was a refreshing looking fountain splashing in the distance. There were also carp. Lots of them. They reminded me of Indiana Beach. They were obviously gathered around in a tight clump waiting for food. There was a fish food dispenser nearby. But at 50 cents for a handful of crumbs, there didn't seem to be many takers. And the fish looked annoyed by that. A woman with two boys walked up beside me. One of the boys exclaimed, "A snake!" He had good eyes. I looked down where he was pointing. Sure enough, a small water snake was hidden among the rocks and quickly slithered away. I was getting really hot, so it was time for me to slither away. The entrance to the modernist station for the Magnum was near the resort gate. Karen wasn't a fan of that coaster, so I knew she wouldn't mind me riding it alone. There wasn't too long a line, so I queued up and heard a guy in line talking about the giant wooden Mean Streak coaster at the north end of the park, and what a painful ride it was. So much wood and yet so little fun. We chatted a bit about it, and other coasters in the park. That passed the time, and soon I was in the front seat of the unique train (basically a modified Arrow mine train). It rolled out of the station and engaged the typically noisy Arrow lift. The view from the top of the lift was still stunning, looking out over Lake Erie. The 60-degree drop wasn't steep by modern standards, but it was still really thrilling. The train leapt over the first giant camelback hill and I flew out of my seat. The next drop curved left and led toward the knot of track at the back of the park. The run back to the station was over one sharply-angled bunny hop after another with violent airtime, and one tunnel after another. We hit the brakes and then rolled through a slow helix back to the station. I still found Magnum an enjoyable ride. The end run wasn't smooth by any means, but few coasters produce such consistent (if violent) airtime. Karen and I met at the cottage and went back into the park to the eat at the Midway Market near the entrance. It had a pay-one-price buffet. It wasn't exactly cheap, at $18 a piece, but the food was good and plentiful. I had green beans, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, spaghetti with marinara sauce and a salad. For dessert I had apple cobbler and ice cream. Then we headed back outside. With a heat index of 105, it wasn't exactly the best amusement park weather, but at least it was sunny. Before I arrived in Ohio, Sandusky had eighteen straight days of rain. So I was grateful for the clear weather, if not necessarily for the heat. To cool off a bit we explored some of the air-conditioned gift shops. The Point offered some of the most unique souvenirs in the industry, from miniatures of their coaster trains to spectacular t-shirts. There were a few new shirts that I set my sights on for later. There were also some nice snow globes encasing miniature versions of all the major rides in the park. We decided to retire to the cottage after that. But first I had to make a stop at the Happy Friar and get another cheese-on-a-stick. Next to our cottage was a small pool, hot tub and water play area. So we changed into our bathing suits and cooled off there for a bit before retiring for the night. The next morning we got up early and sat on our deck, watching the birds and boats out on the water. Then we walked along the shore path to the Breakwater Cafe, which featured an all-you-can-eat breakfast bar. When I was younger, I always searched for those buffet style places because I could clean them out, eating my weight in food at one sitting. But now I would get full after a few forkfuls, so they didn't hold as much appeal for me. The Breakwater was next to the Breakers. It featured large bay windows that looked out onto the lake and, appropriately, the breakwater. The cost was $12 a piece, which wasn't too bad. The buffet had the usual offerings: eggs, home fries, French toast, cereals. I was surprised there weren't any pancakes. But it was plenty for breakfast. We had a very pleasant waitress. In fact, most of the help throughout the park was extremely pleasant and helpful. The attendants at the games were great at trying to draw you in to play. As we walked toward the boardwalk, we couldn't avoid the seagulls. They were everywhere, like a scene out of Hitchcock's The Birds, on the ground, along rooflines, on waterslides. There was even one humorously perched on top of a mushroom fountain outside the Hotel Breakers. A long line of resort guests had already formed along the boardwalk, waiting for their early admission to the park. At 9:15, there was an announcement to please rise for the National Anthem. Whitney Houston's version played over the loudspeakers (as it had at King's Dominion) and then the park opened to the resort guests. It was going to be another hot day, so we decided to take it easy. We first headed for the cul-de-sac that was home to Blue Streak, the oldest coaster in the park. It was a classic 1964 PTC woodie, named after Sandusky High School's football team. There was hardly anyone in line, for which I was both sad and glad. I was sad because such a good coaster was overshadowed by the giant steel monsters surrounding it, but glad because we rarely had to wait long to get on it. Of course, we queued up for the front seat and were soon seated. The trains had thick seat dividers, plus individual seat belts. Wispy 90-pound kids probably had no trouble with that. But Karen and I had to first pull out our seat belts and buckle them before we sat down. It was tricky. We pulled the lap bars and were off up toward the cupola at the top of the lift. Unlike Mean Streak (the only other wood coaster in the park), Blue Streak was fairly smooth and filled with one airtime hill after another, even on the turnaround (except for that strange little ground-level flat section of track that John Allen,the designer, included on a few other coasters). Then it was a run of bunny hops all the way back to the station. Next door to the Blue Streak was the station for the Turnpike Cars. That too had almost no line, a rarity for that ride. The cars were obviously made for kids, but we were able to squeeze in. The track was intertwined with the Cadillac Motor Cars next door, which made it feel a lot busier. The Turnpike ran also ran alongside Peninsula Drive, which probably made children feel as if they were driving along a real road. As with the rest of the park, the course was beautifully landscaped. When we returned to the station, it was oddly empty except for the ride attendants. Apparently, a section of track broke just outside the station. If we had arrived a few minutes later, we wouldn't have been able to ride. When we walked back out onto the main midway, we were next to Cedar Downs, one of only three "racing derby" carousels in the world. Unlike a standard carousel (of which the Point had two stunning examples), Cedar Downs had its entire mechanism under the ride deck. That gave the ride a more open feeling. And it was huge, able to carry 156 riders. The horses were mounted on poles that went down into slots in the floor. As the ride got up to speed, the horses not only went up and down but back and forth, giving you the sense that you were actually racing. It was a lot of fun, and Karen won by a nose. Next to that was the Cadillac Motor Cars, the antique car ride intertwined with the Turnpike Cars. It was a shady, relaxing ride except for the occasional roar of Raptor rushing past us. From there we headed for the shade of Frontier Trail. We passed by the giant brutal Mantis stand-up coaster. Karen was wilting in the heat. This was as good a time as any to head for the water rides. The first one we came to was a recent addition to the park, Shoot the Rapids. Next to its queue was a set of digital lockers that could be rented for a dollar an hour. Karen placed her fanny pack inside one and we got in line for the ride. There wasn't as big a crowd there as I expected on such a hot day. Over its history, Cedar Point had three big log flume rides. One was torn down to build Raptor. The second, also named Shoot the Rapids, was removed to build White Water Landing, an even bigger flume. That one was torn down in 2005 to build Maverick. That left the park with just one water ride, Snake River Falls, a big shoot-the-chutes ride. So in 2010, the park built a new Shoot the Rapids, a strange sort of hybrid. It was made by Intamin, the company that also built Maverick, Wicked Twister, Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium Force. It had two lifts and a winding trough like a flume, but it had big ten-person boats like a shoot-the-chutes. The landscaping was attractive, with large rocky waterfalls and rustic theming. It was also placed on the same island where most of Millennium Force's track was located. It was fun to watch that ride fly by while we were standing in line. As we approached the station, Karen noticed that people were taking their shoes and socks off and leaving them in a bin. So we did the same. Strangely, there was a sign at the station that said the boat needed to be balanced, so we would be told where to sit. We were given the second row of seats. The boats had unique restraints, a sort of C brace that rotated down from the headrest. There were also seat belts. When we were all buckled in, we floated out of the station. Normally on a flume, the big hill is saved for last. On Shoot the Rapids, the first hill was 85 feet high. The chain pulled us up to the top, then we rolled down the hill. At the bottom we hit some sort of bump and then splashed into the water, getting mildly wet. From there the trough drifted into a mist-filled wooden tunnel. It was refreshing. We emerged from the tunnel to find signs warning us to turn back, that there was danger ahead. A few fountains were squirting water off to the sides of the trough. Then we went up the second much smaller hill. We rolled down and hit another strange bump at the bottom. Oddly, the smaller hill produced a much bigger splash and we finally got soaked. The boat drifted back to the station. We picked up our sneakers and socks and walked out the exit. We hadn't realized how incredibly hot the pavement was! Since we were already wet, we decided to go for broke and ride White Water Canyon, the park's river rapids ride, which was nearby on the Frontier Trail. We'd been on it several times in the past (notably in a complete downpour) and we always got drenched. It was a gimmicky ride though. Unlike a real rapids ride that would dive in and out of the waves, the rafts in this ride simply floated under huge waterfalls. As we headed there, a big dark blotch suddenly appeared on the white sock I was carrying. I thought a bird had pooped on it. But Karen noticed we were surrounded by trees that had large purple berries hanging from them. A berry had exploded on my sock. The stain would be nearly impossible to get out, so I tossed the socks in a trash can. The ride entrance had a long stack of metal buckets so guests could store their shoes while they rode. That was thoughtful of the park. White Water Canyon had a really high capacity (like most at the park) and the line moved quickly. We were seated with a family in one of the large tubular rafts and were on our way. On some rapids rides, the raft spins relentlessly. Fortunately, this ride was a rather mild trip. As expected, we all were doused by one waterfall or another and left the ride looking like drowned rats. But on such a hot day, it felt great. Karen collected her stuff from her locker, and we moved on. Nearby was the big stone grist mill. It was a real mill that still had the ability to grind wheat. Some of the wooden gears inside were still functioning. It was a nice historical display that also happened to offer some shade. We then walked over to the Town Hall Museum, which had numerous displays from the park's history. It was also air conditioned. And by air conditioned, I mean frigid. The sweat immediately froze in our pores. Besides the traditional displays (including impressive models of their coasters and, ironically, White Water Landing), there was also a section displaying the winners of the K'NEX Great Thrill Ride Build-off that was held at the park. One was a large looping coaster and the other was a six foot tall Ferris wheel. Both, of course, were made of K'NEX pieces. We left the arctic chill of the Town Hall. Across the midway, the venerable Arrow coaster, the Cedar Creek Mine Ride, was whipping through its final helix. Karen wanted to change out of her wet clothes, so we walked back to the cottage. She made plans to go get Liz and see some of the park's shows, so I changed into dry clothes and took a walk back to the park to check out Dinosaurs Alive. Even though I had already seen the similar attraction at Dorney Park, this was supposed to be "bigger and better." Plus, it was a reasonable $5 upcharge. But still, it was a bittersweet experience for me. The attraction had displaced one of my favorite rides at the park, Paddlewheel Excursions, a boat ride filled with terrible puns and silly animatronics. The Dinosaurs Alive gift shop was the old Paddlewheel station. The dock was still there. But that was all that remained of the original ride. A bridge led over to Adventure Island where the bulk of the attraction lay. The twisting path was just like Dorney's, concrete with dinosaur footprints embedded in it. There were the usual assortment of animatronic dinosaurs. Each had a plaque that told you about it (though it was pretty much all speculation). Most of the displays were equipped with optical sensors so that as you walked by, the dinosaur would move and growl. There were displays about supposed events that wiped out the dinosaurs. But while Dorney's exhibit was set up in an isolated area at the back of their park, there was one thing that I found completely inescapable about Cedar Point's version. And it had nothing to do with the dinosaurs. The entire exhibit was surrounded by Millennium Force. It didn't matter how impressive the dinosaurs looked; Millennium Force was the star of the show. I had never before gotten so close to a coaster that was moving so fast. It was awesome, and alone worth the $5 admission. Plus, it was hard to be immersed in Jurassic Park while it was all too obvious you were standing in Cedar Point. As I left the area, I passed by a plaque that had one of the oddest advertisements I'd ever seen, telling me all about the dinosaur Facebookasaurus. My curiosity satisfied, I decided to go get something to eat. I was in the mood for something light, so I headed for Joe Cool's Cafe, located near the 300-foot Windjammer. It used to be called Macaroni's, and was a good if pretty generic Italian/American eaterie. Joe Cool's still had similar fare, but the building was given a complete makeover. It was brightly colored and sported Peanuts comic strips all over the walls. I had a pleasant waiter and ordered a personal cheese pizza and a side salad. I asked for a milkshake, but was told their machine was broken. So I ordered a lemonade instead. There were only a few other people in the cafe. I was glad I had my iPhone with me; it took about 20 minutes for him to bring my salad, so I spent the time checking my e-mail. I texted Karen to let her know where I was. My jaw dropped when I saw the salad. It was huge (again, like everything at the park) and it came with a breadstick. The waiter assured me my pizza would be right out. So I started eating my salad. That could have been my whole meal. After about ten more minutes, the pizza arrived and it looked comical next to the salad, as if it were the size of a cookie. It was just as well because the salad was filling me up. Karen and Liz showed up as I was eating. They just had dinner at Johnny Rocket's and were happy to relax in the air-conditioned room as I ate. When I finished, I spent several minutes trying to get the check; the waiter seemed to have vanished. Eventually he showed up, and we headed back out onto the midway. We took a ride on the giant Ferris wheel, which offered us a stunning panorama of the park. Then we headed for the cottage. We all got in the car, and Karen drove Liz back to Heather's. Afterward, Karen and I went out for some late-night ice cream (since I had such poor luck at the park). We chose the Dairy Queen that was right on the Cedar Point causeway. Karen ordered a small vanilla cone and I ordered a vanilla waffle cone. We were given a plastic number and waited off to the side. The place wasn't too busy. We waited. And we waited. There were four workers standing around looking bored and talking with each other. No one seemed to be making our cones. So we waited. And we waited. Lo and behold! I saw Karen's vanilla cone placed in a serving tray at the counter. And it sat there. And it sat there. And it started to melt. The Point must have just closed at that time, because a big crowd piled in. And the workers stood around. I should have simply gotten our money back, but now the place was mobbed and it was chaos. I walked toward the counter to ask what was happening with our order, when to my shock someone grabbed the cone off the tray and threw it in the trash. I looked at Karen incredulously. Then my cone appeared at the counter, followed by a new cone for her. Someone brought them over to us and we high-tailed it out of there. What a farce! And the ice cream wasn't even that good. We should have gone to Tofts.... Thursday was my final day in Ohio, and I was sorry to see it all come to an end. Karen would be staying with Heather until the baby arrived, and I would be heading back home on Amtrak early in the morning. We went to Heather's so I could say goodbye, then Karen and I spent a last day together in the park. Naturally, my first priority that day was to head over to the Happy Friar, where I succeeded at my lofty goal of consuming one cheese-on-a-stick per day. Karen had a hankering for Chippery, the little fresh-baked chip nearby. So we walked over to it, but it was closed. Instead, since we were right there, we queued up for Gemini. There weren't that many people in the station, and we were in the front seat in a few minutes. The train pulled out of the station and rolled over to the lift. At that time of the morning, unfortunately, the park was using only one of the two tracks. But even so, it was a great ride, a sort of figure-8 version of Magnum. The final helix was a bit too intense for Karen's taste. After that we simply took in the sights and sounds of the midway. We were going to dinner with Heather's in-laws, so we left the park and relaxed at the cottage for a bit. After dinner, I went back to the park for the last time. I casually strolled about taking pictures. The heat had finally moderated and the air was comfortable. I walked to the front of the park and watched Gatekeeper go through its paces. Then I went into the Park Plaza gift shop to pick up a few more souvenirs. I heard some strange banging nearby. I walked toward the Sky Ride station to find three people dressed in brightly colored construction worker outfits. One stood behind an overturned plastic trash barrel. The other two sat in front of overturned 5 gallon buckets. They held sticks and were banging out rhythms, similar to other performances we had seen at Hersheypark and Busch Gardens. I watched them for a while then moved on toward the big arcade. With all those pinball machines just sitting there, I had to play some. I walked to the back of the cavernous room. They looked so lonely and abandoned. I chose one of the few that didn't have an out-of-order sign on it and inserted my quarter. Nothing happened, and my quarter wouldn't come out. So I moved over to the next "working" machine and inserted a quarter. That one started up. It looked like a great table, but unfortunately as with Hercules the flippers were really weak and half the pop bumpers were dead. That was the story with every machine I tried: either the pop bumpers or slingshots didn't work. It was really sad. I gave up, wandered back out onto the midway and headed back for the cottage. As I exited the resort gate and walked across the Soak City parking lot back to Lighthouse Point, I waved goodbye to Magnum, Gemini and the rest of Cedar Point. We had a really good week. The cottage was comfortable and relaxing. The staff was enthusiastic. The food was good. The park was wonderful to behold. It earned its nickname, The Amazement Park. It's a shame that the heat was so brutal, but that wasn't the park's fault. Thankfully, there were enough water rides, shade and air conditioned rooms to prevent us from overheating. Although there was an abundance of thrill rides, there were still plenty of family rides and activities to keep us busy. And out of the 16 rollercoasters, there were several that we enjoyed riding. I'm glad we were there for an entire week; I couldn't imagine attempting to explore Cedar Point in less than three days. I reminisced with Karen about the "old times" when we would drag the kids to a different park every day for a week. I couldn't imagine doing that anymore. I much preferred taking my time at the park and feeling no pressure, free to wander about. Cedar Point had so many high-adrenaline attrations, I needed some down time. The cottage made for a perfect little getaway. We didn't want to leave. But soon we would have a grandchild to visit, so I was sure it wouldn't be too long before we returned once again to America's Roller Coast. |