Cedar Point Roller Coaster Fun in Ohio

Janey and I both enjoy roller coasters although I think that Janey likes them more than I do. The stomach drops, loops and theatrics appeal to me most but the opportunity to go fast or down a steep hill are not that exciting. Since other activities provide more mystery and personal control of my adventure, roller coasters are fun to me but not as exciting as some other things I enjoy.

We arrived Sunday evening since our plans were to go to the park on Monday (I had an event on Saturday). The sign at the hotel was enough to lure us in. We figured since we had the evening to spare, we might as well get some fat.... after all, at only $10, we got a real bargain.

If the parking lot was any indication of how many people would be at the park on Monday, we would be able to ride everything we wanted.

Approaching Cedar Point, you drive across a causeway where the park can be seen far in the distance on the left. The new Millennium Force 310 foot high coaster.

We arrived right around 9:20 AM and waited outside the park gates with about 100 other people initially. More people arrived though. By 9:40 AM there were about 3 lines established and contained a total of probably 500 people. Then a mob of rowdy kids arrived and formed their own line right in front of an empty gate, pissing off many of us who had been waiting patiently. By 9:50 or so, the gates rose and tickets began to be sold. Many people ran past us while we walked to the Millennium Force, thinking that since it was the newest ride, we better get into the line before it was totally impossible to ride. As it turned out, many of the runners must have had a different idea because we ended up being about 100th in line. We got to ride pretty quickly.

The boarding pavilion is a bit different than most roller coasters: The train starts going up before exiting the covered area. It's like you get on an escalator at the end of the building. It takes you up fast to the top and near the top gets even faster. You zoom over the crest and are lifted out of your seat on the first huge hill! It's a 310 foot, 80 degree decline to the base of the second hill which is still bigger than the first hill of the Magnum 200XL (my favorite).

Here's a photo of the first hill. You can see how steep the right side is. (This photo was taken by some guy riding the Magnum 200XL. He gave me this picture.)

The guy gave me this picture too which he said was taken while riding the Mine Ride roller coaster (wimpy).

By the way, the hill on the right is the first hill of Millennium Force. You go up the left side, down the steep right side and swoop around a big loop then up the right side of the hill on the left and then it's pretty much a return back to the station. Did I mention that it goes 90+ miles per hour?

Below is the Raptor. It's a hanging coaster with a nice track...	I don't care for this ride though because of the restraints. A very thick bar comes down over your shoulders, chest and stomach to keep you on the little bicycle type seat. The bar is padded but is not soft enough to prevent my ears from being smashed repeatedly. Pain ensues. The picture below was taken before we rode it.

This is another photo from a roller coaster. This time it's a picture of the best ride in the park.... Magnum XL200.

This is my favorite because of the hills, tunnels and smoothness. I think it's 80+ MPH is plenty of speed... it's the structure that makes it fun and the third tunnel where you can't see the hump in the middle. What's the point of dark tunnels if you don't change direction in them?

Here is another photo of roller coasters and the Power Tower:

We rode everything I wanted to get on (I can't ride the spinning things that Janey enjoys) and got on some things several times. The people below are surprisingly not blurred. I took the picture just a half second after they were launched to the top of the Power Tower.

This is my second favorite ride at Cedar Point. It's called Mantis and is a stand up coaster. It has a lot of track and really delivers a great time!

The blue track in the background is the Millennium Force.

I think the only coaster we wanted to ride but didn't was the Blue Streak. We stood around waiting for it to reopen but after about 20 minutes in the hot sun, we decided to go shopping instead and then never got back to it.

Who's taking these pictures?

You know how they take your photo while riding over a hill or through a tunnel? Well, this one didn't turn out so well. It's good we didn't have to pay for it.

Surprisingly, we rode the Mean Streak 3 or 4 times. During our last trip to Cedar Point, we both decided that Mean Streak was mean and very shaky... to the point where it hurt our insides.

Janey thinks that it's slower now and I agree that the multiple brake points throughout the ride were not familiar and I was much more comfortable this time around. I didn't lean back this time either and that seemed to make a huge difference.

This is the Wild Mouse ride. It doesn't look like much from the ground but it's fierce. It whips you around severely tight corners and drops you at pretty intense angles. Hershey Park has a ride very similar, if not the same as this ride.