Our first day in the park was Saturday. We headed straight for Maverick. I never realized how large Cedar Point is after I realized it took us 20 minutes to walk from the front to Maverick. The ride unfortunately broke down while we were in line and we left for Millennium Force after about 5 minutes. The ride began working again as soon as we left the line though, but we decided to keep going and ride Maverick later. By the time we got off of Millennium, it was normal park opening time. The order is getting hazy to me, but I know we got one more on Millennium, 2 on Top Thrill Dragster, one on Magnum, Mean Streak (which wasn't quite as rough as I remember), Gemini, Corkscrew and I concluded with Raptor. My friends were able to get one on Wicked Twister, but I took a pass as I wanted to get some night shots of Windseeker, as I have seen some great pictures of one of the other ones here by another member. That really is a great ride for night photography and extended exposure. I just had some problems setting my white balance, but I think many of these turned out well. We left the park after that and had dinner at Thirsty Pony, a nearby bar. At the end of the day, I was surprised at how little of a crowd there was. We were expecting massive crowds for the weekend.
We returned to the park on Sunday at 9am after checking out. We wanted to go to Raptor, but that was closed at the time, so we headed for Windseeker. This was exactly as I predicted, just like a wave swinger, except 300 feet in the air. We then started walking back to Maverick, but I decided to break off and go for a ride on Dragster after I saw the short line. I just can't pass up a ride on that. I met them back at Millennium Force, and we waited for the front row. After I got off, I noticed a bug got splattered on my sunglasses. We hit a few more rides, and concluded with Dragster. We were exhausted from the previous day and had a long drive ahead of us, so we decided to leave for home at about 1pm. The crowds today seemed to pick up quite a bit, and it was getting a lot hotter than it was the previous day. I think the highest temperature was 70 on Saturday, and I know it hit at least 90 Sunday. We left before it got that hot though.
Good quick visit to the park, and made good use of my 4 day weekend (my boss forced me to take Friday off
, might have to call me a WAHHHambulence for that). This was also the first time I saw the Fast Lane system in use. Currently it is a wristband, and doesn't appear to have any limitations other than the rides that are available on it. This means for all rides listed on the system, you can get unlimited rides on each of them after waiting the Fast lane time. It is a completely separate line that merges with the normal one before the station, or in the station depending on the ride. The employees didn't seem too sure of what to do as they had the person moderating the middle of the line like at many Six Flags parks. The one on Dragster was rather irritating on Sunday as he wouldn't let the normal line go for about 10-15 minutes while Fast Lane flooded the line. I'll let that slip as inexperience with the system for now. I hope they have it figured out by next season or the next time I go back.And now for some photos.
I love how Cedar Point did this ride. I love the theme of it since I'm a drag racing fan, and the more I ride it, the more I appreciate this. I love how the train rolls out like it's coming out from under the tower and then it's just out in the open on the midway for everyone to watch the launch. The grandstands make this all the more too. I know Cedar Point is usually light on theming, but this one doesn't need a lot, and they got this one done well. Too bad they just don't run the trains with the fake engine and tires on them anymore. I know the reason, but it just looks plain without it.
For more pictures, go to https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1...=1&l=e294bc6c92
