Thought I'd do a write up of my trip from the UK to Cedar Point, I only just got back a few days ago and given myself time to digest everything before I made this post.
Just to give some context, this was a bucket list trip to CP for me, I'm 43 years old and have had dreams of going to this park since I was about 15 years old looking at pictures of Magnum then a few years later Millennium Force, wondering if some day I'd ever get to ride them. So after putting it off for one excuse or another over the years I decided this year I was going to go for it and incorporate it into a holiday I was having in NYC. So I took the flight from NYC to Cleveland, picked up a rental car and drove to Sandusky, checked into my hotel (CP Express Hotel) and then had a drive out to the park. Seeing that skyline of coasters for the first time was like a dream come true, I couldn't believe I was finally there.
I had 2 days in the park, both with fast pass and below is my thoughts and feelings on the park in general and a quick review of the major coasters which is where I spent the majority of my time.
Raptor: Loved this ride, I've been on many B&M Inverts and this is definitely amongst the best of them for me, smooth and intense, the line moved very quick especially with my fast pass, managed about 5 rides over the 2 days. My personal fav is still Montu but this moves into 3rd place behind Nemesis.
Valravn: I was really excited to get on this, my only other experience of a Dive Coaster is Oblivion which I've ridden well over 100 times so this was my chance to try something more modern with a bigger drop and elements to the ride. Honestly this was the biggest disappointment in the park for me, the B&M vest restraints kill the floater feeling from the drop as they pin you into the seat too much. The layout itself was uninspiring and felt forceless. Also I felt the 1 train loading system slowed things down as the ride is short and over far too quick meaning multiple trains were constantly sitting on the break run.
Rougarou: A decent floorless that wasn't as bad as I thought It was going to be, the first half of the ride is smooth and good fun but those corkscrews after the mid course breaks were painful. A fun ride but ultimately forgetful. I've been lucky to ride Kraken, Medusa and Scream at other parks which were all better floorless coasters for me.
Millie: Was really hyped for this, I'd been dreaming of going on it since its opening year so this was a defining coaster credit for me. In short I really liked it but didn't love it, great drop, crazy speed, great banked turns, I always came into the break run with a smile on my face. However comparing it to its peers, it lacked those huge floater airtime over the hills moments we all love on a hyper/giga and the ride is so fast it was hard to enjoy those huge sweeping overbanked turns as they were over too quick. I preferred rides like Nitro and Shambhala. My biggest gripe with this ride were the painfully slow operations (easily the worst in the park) and the lack of sun cover in the line after the merge point which made it a killer in the heat.
Maverick: Had very high expectations of this ride based on the hype, it delivered in every aspect and is now a top 3 coaster for me. This ride has it all, pace, airtime, smoothness, launch, inversions, tight turns. Also the operations were really good and the merge point for fast pass was brilliant. Got loads of rides on this, a top coaster by any standard.
Steel Vengeance: This was the big one for me, the hype for this ride was through the roof, I went on this expecting it to be the best coaster in the world and it absolutely delivered. I managed around 9 rides and was blown away by the every element of this ride. The operations were the best I'd ever seen on any coaster, the team almost working like an F1 Pit stop team. Phenomenal rollercoaster which left me breathless every single time and worthy of every last inch of praise it gets. I need to ride Iron Gwazi, Zadra, Velocicoaster and Fury 325 before I can know for sure but as it stands It's my new number 1 coaster and was worth the trip alone.
Magnum: This was the ride that put CP on the map for me as a kid and had waited almost 30 years to ride it. I was comparing it against the Big One which was inspired by this ride. It was great fun, great drop and pops of airtime...for the age of the coaster it lived up to all expectations.
Gatekeeper: The only other B&M wing coaster I've been on was Swarm which I love so I was really excited about this one. Loved this ride, it blows Swarm away, classic B&M smoothness with fantastic elements and was especially good in the front seat, you really feel exposed on those wing seats over some of the elements.
Of course I rode everything else, Gemini, Blue Streak, Iron Dragon etc which were all fun but nothing standout.
The park itself has a very seaside Amusement park feel to it in parts, Lake Eerie is so huge it's easily mistaken for the ocean and there's sandy looking beaches all along the shores. The food in the park was decent, it was very clean and in some parts nicely themed. If you're a lifelong coaster fan like me just walking round taking in the sights of the iconic coasters on the skyline is enough to make you totally nerd out.
Overall I loved CP, I can't believe it's taken me this long to build up the courage to finally go. I can't fault anything about the park, everything was working (Top Thrill 2 excluded) and on most rides the operations were very good. I will definitely be revisiting sometime in the next 2-3 years, after riding Steel Vengence everything else in europe is going to feel a bit boring in comparison.
My top 3 at the park was 1. Steve 2. Mav 3. Gatekeeper.
Just to give some context, this was a bucket list trip to CP for me, I'm 43 years old and have had dreams of going to this park since I was about 15 years old looking at pictures of Magnum then a few years later Millennium Force, wondering if some day I'd ever get to ride them. So after putting it off for one excuse or another over the years I decided this year I was going to go for it and incorporate it into a holiday I was having in NYC. So I took the flight from NYC to Cleveland, picked up a rental car and drove to Sandusky, checked into my hotel (CP Express Hotel) and then had a drive out to the park. Seeing that skyline of coasters for the first time was like a dream come true, I couldn't believe I was finally there.
I had 2 days in the park, both with fast pass and below is my thoughts and feelings on the park in general and a quick review of the major coasters which is where I spent the majority of my time.
Raptor: Loved this ride, I've been on many B&M Inverts and this is definitely amongst the best of them for me, smooth and intense, the line moved very quick especially with my fast pass, managed about 5 rides over the 2 days. My personal fav is still Montu but this moves into 3rd place behind Nemesis.
Valravn: I was really excited to get on this, my only other experience of a Dive Coaster is Oblivion which I've ridden well over 100 times so this was my chance to try something more modern with a bigger drop and elements to the ride. Honestly this was the biggest disappointment in the park for me, the B&M vest restraints kill the floater feeling from the drop as they pin you into the seat too much. The layout itself was uninspiring and felt forceless. Also I felt the 1 train loading system slowed things down as the ride is short and over far too quick meaning multiple trains were constantly sitting on the break run.
Rougarou: A decent floorless that wasn't as bad as I thought It was going to be, the first half of the ride is smooth and good fun but those corkscrews after the mid course breaks were painful. A fun ride but ultimately forgetful. I've been lucky to ride Kraken, Medusa and Scream at other parks which were all better floorless coasters for me.
Millie: Was really hyped for this, I'd been dreaming of going on it since its opening year so this was a defining coaster credit for me. In short I really liked it but didn't love it, great drop, crazy speed, great banked turns, I always came into the break run with a smile on my face. However comparing it to its peers, it lacked those huge floater airtime over the hills moments we all love on a hyper/giga and the ride is so fast it was hard to enjoy those huge sweeping overbanked turns as they were over too quick. I preferred rides like Nitro and Shambhala. My biggest gripe with this ride were the painfully slow operations (easily the worst in the park) and the lack of sun cover in the line after the merge point which made it a killer in the heat.
Maverick: Had very high expectations of this ride based on the hype, it delivered in every aspect and is now a top 3 coaster for me. This ride has it all, pace, airtime, smoothness, launch, inversions, tight turns. Also the operations were really good and the merge point for fast pass was brilliant. Got loads of rides on this, a top coaster by any standard.
Steel Vengeance: This was the big one for me, the hype for this ride was through the roof, I went on this expecting it to be the best coaster in the world and it absolutely delivered. I managed around 9 rides and was blown away by the every element of this ride. The operations were the best I'd ever seen on any coaster, the team almost working like an F1 Pit stop team. Phenomenal rollercoaster which left me breathless every single time and worthy of every last inch of praise it gets. I need to ride Iron Gwazi, Zadra, Velocicoaster and Fury 325 before I can know for sure but as it stands It's my new number 1 coaster and was worth the trip alone.
Magnum: This was the ride that put CP on the map for me as a kid and had waited almost 30 years to ride it. I was comparing it against the Big One which was inspired by this ride. It was great fun, great drop and pops of airtime...for the age of the coaster it lived up to all expectations.
Gatekeeper: The only other B&M wing coaster I've been on was Swarm which I love so I was really excited about this one. Loved this ride, it blows Swarm away, classic B&M smoothness with fantastic elements and was especially good in the front seat, you really feel exposed on those wing seats over some of the elements.
Of course I rode everything else, Gemini, Blue Streak, Iron Dragon etc which were all fun but nothing standout.
The park itself has a very seaside Amusement park feel to it in parts, Lake Eerie is so huge it's easily mistaken for the ocean and there's sandy looking beaches all along the shores. The food in the park was decent, it was very clean and in some parts nicely themed. If you're a lifelong coaster fan like me just walking round taking in the sights of the iconic coasters on the skyline is enough to make you totally nerd out.
Overall I loved CP, I can't believe it's taken me this long to build up the courage to finally go. I can't fault anything about the park, everything was working (Top Thrill 2 excluded) and on most rides the operations were very good. I will definitely be revisiting sometime in the next 2-3 years, after riding Steel Vengence everything else in europe is going to feel a bit boring in comparison.
My top 3 at the park was 1. Steve 2. Mav 3. Gatekeeper.