So we waited, and waited, and waited...... 25 minutes. Okay then, an extra 10 for the front seat. Jeez, what's going on here? I've waited longer in the on ramp trying to get to work! This is NO BIG DEAL! Well, the Raptor is just awesome. We screamed our bloody heads off and loved every (two) minute(s) of it. Neither of us had experienced the thrill of an inverted before and it will be a memory I shall never forget. All of the critics who say this ride bores them and that ride is nothing special..... they should never ride another roller coaster again. May I never get so smug in my "enthusiasm" that I forget to be thrilled.
Again we opted for the front seat and again we were rewarded with a not-soon-forgotten experience. I screamed like a girl - not, it turns out, because of some "army" rebellion, but because it felt great to just let it all out and roar! The Mantis WAS a little bit of a head banger, though. I really think those ear pads do more harm than good. I figure it's gonna take a few times to learn how to ride this mutha. But just like Aahnold says, Ah'll be back.
A walk through Frontier Trail is next. Wow, what a quiet part of the park! I feel like I'm in Branson, Mo. Some of the storefronts are empty or closed though, including my planned BBQ stop. This is kind of a sad little area, the only part of the park that doesn't thump it's chest with a "we're the biggest and best" attitude. And unfortunately it's quite a long trail so I have a long time to pout over no BBQ in the park. Oh well, as long as they have a good snow cone stand. God, this is like a death march. Frontiertown is pretty nice, actually. A breath of fresh air after emerging from the poverty stricken trail. We stop for some french fries and I'm just about fully recovered when I spot the one ride that never fails to send fear throughout my entire body: the antique cars. I always tell Susan I'm going to climb in the back seat and scream my head off out the back window while she's navigating that treacherous track. Needless to say we make a quick exit from Frontiertown. I'm shaking like a leaf.
We board the Red Train, taking the back seat. We hit the first drop and the screaming starts. I'm waiting for that infamous brake to take hold but I can't feel it. That's probably because I'm being thrown around like Robert Shaw in Jaws. I'm grateful blood isn't spewing from my mouth, but the rest of my body feels like it's being put through the garbage disposal. This is not a fun ride, it's a challenge to get through it. I'm reminded of my first-ever ride on a roller-coaster (can you guess which one?), looking back and seeing my poor mother with her glasses all askew, clinging to my little sister, screaming "Hang on, Dee Dee, hang on!" Where is the air time? Where's the magic carpet ride? As we exit the ride I have that same determination that I had at SFOT when I was a little kid - I'm gonna lick this ride and I'm gonna love it! I rub my neck and vow to come back.
And now we have Big Brad the DJ playing.... oh no, don't play that.... oh, come on, things were going so well.... no, Susan, I'm not going to do it..... oh, okay.. it's fun to stay at the... We board the last car and we're off. My God, the view. My God, the lake looks so pretty. My Gaaaaaahh!!!!!!! We get whipped down the first hill, second hill, tunnel, up and whoa!! falling out the side, oh my God, what a bank! Heading back, and UPsidaisy, out of my seat, UUP we go again... and UUUP one more time, through the mist. Wow, great air time, really throws you out of your seat! The ride ends and almost everyone in the train is applauding. I must say this beats Wild Thing, and every other hyper (call me a labeler) hands down. Ties with Raptor for best steel coaster I've been on. Well, we rode the Corkscrew and Disaster Transport after that, along with Chaos and the Log Flume. I liked Disaster Transport, I thought it was kitschy! All it really needs is a good drop, camp it up some more and you've got a funny, scary roller-coaster! And the Log Flume was easily the best I've been on. The front literally lifts off the water after the final drop and you skim the top for a good 50 feet or so. Well, we rode every coaster plus 2 other rides and it's..... 5:00. Three hours to spare. I was led to expect maybe 4-6 rides the entire day. Saturday was certainly more crowded, but we never waited longer than an hour. Big Brad moved to the Raptor on Saturday night and he is an amazing DJ. He even surprised a woman waiting in the queue with a proposal from her boyfriend. It was an amazing scene. The fireworks went off while we were in the Raptor line and that finale tops anything I've ever seen. It must have lasted 5 full minutes of continuous bombs and explosions. The crowd cheered through the whole thing. I left Cedar Point completely awestruck. Well, not COMPLETELY. How a traditional amusement park can not have one lousy snow cone stand is beyond me. And where are all the XXL shirts? Haven't they heard baggy is in? But those not-so-minor quibbles aside, I had an absolutely wonderful time. And all of the naysayers with their predictions of doom were wrong, none of what they said came true. Cedar Point brought out the little boy in me, and I think that's all a really great amusement park can do.
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Email: MarkinArk@earthlink.net