Woohoo What a Ride: Day 11 - Cedar Point Here We Come!

As we were getting ready to head to Cedar Point (CP), Mark was watching the news, and a story came on about Walter Reed closing. Molly asked who the president was whose name sounded like Einstein and died in that hospital after having a heart attack. They showed a picture of Eisenhower - Molly said that's him - he died in Woodie Reed hospital. She's such a blond sometimes! (No offense to my blond family and friends.) She's also pretty proud that she's used her eduction a couple of times on this trip.

Our motel is about six miles from CP, so it didn't take long to get there. We headed for the Top Thrill Dragster (TTD) but it was shut down for mechanical problems, which apparently happens often. So we started with the Corkscrew. The ride was the first coaster to feature three inversions and to span a midway. We hit Power Tower to be dropped 240 feet then headed to other rollercoasters:
Iron Dragon - cars that swings and sways and is suspended under the track
Millennium Force - so big and tall, it is called a the Giga Coaster
Millennium Force - the park's star attraction, standing 310 feet above the Earth. It broke 10 world records when it opened in 2000. It dives at an 80-degree angle and reach speeds of 93 mph
Mantis - a stand-up roller coaster that climbs 145 feet into the air before diving into a 119-foot-tall giant loop, followed by a 103-foot-tall dive loop, an inclined loop and a flat spin maneuver.

Lunch was at the Red Garter Saloon. Ah, air conditioning! And, only to eat enough to not throw up on the next rollercoaster.

We headed to the Blue Streak, a classic which opened in 1964, and is the oldest operating coaster at the park. With Lisa and Luke in the front car, we are flying over hills, when a seagull came up off the track and about became Luke's dinner. (But, hey, it would have been a free one...if you didn't count a hospital visit). It was CLOSE! Luke and Nikki (in the next row) had to do a quick duck to miss it. (Pun?)

The day was very cloudy, but the really humid peel-your-clothes-off-to-pee type so it wasn't too surprising that threatening weather came in. CP temporarily closed all rides, but we took the time to get a frozen lemonade which was a good break.

The kids and Lisa went to the Maverick which had an hour and a half wait time. Lisa came off the ride almost crying because it was so wild and unexpected. All, but Lisa and David, went on the wooden rollercoaster - Mean Streak. For someone who had sworn off of wooden rollercoasters after the Worlds of Fun Timberwolf mega-headache I had, there I was on the ride. I don't think this one was as bad, but it was still wooden. Nikki and Emily were the only ones to hit the other wooden coaster - the Gemini. The Magnum, which in addition to the Maverick, was the coaster that finally did Lisa in. As the saying goes - a picture is worth a thousand words!

Various groups of us also went on Wind Seeker, Raptor, Disaster Transport and others during the day

At this point, it was 9 pm, and we had been there more than 11sweat-filled hours, so we were headed to the last ride of the day - Top Thrill Dragster. It's one of the tallest and fastest coasters in the world that goes up and down 420 feet at speeds of 120 mph and is so fast, it only lasts 17 seconds. It's the world's first 'Strata Coaster' and is amazing.

TDD

Our fans took their seats in the grand stand to watch the ride and capture some pictures.

Although the Corkscrew and 90% humidity got to Dave, knocking him out of the rollercoaster challenge for the rest of the day- he wanted to go on this one, so our teams: Nikki and Emily, Mark and Molly, and Dave and I, waited in line. As we're getting ready to board, Molly decides she has to go to the restroom...not happening at that point! When we were buckling in, Dave couldn't connect the buckle without forcing it. Knowing that he was told not to put too much pressure on his relatively new kidney, he opted out, so I was going it alone. We were all SO disappointed for him. After buckling, Molly looked like she was ready to cry, and Emily was a little pale, but we were ready to master the coaster. Our fan caught this picture - the green shirts in the back.