Thrill rides, roller coasters, and fainting . . . almost.

So, we swapped kid-watch duties with our good friends and arranged for a day at Cedar Point, an amusement park near Cleveland, OH. Here are a few facts about Cedar Point (admittedly from wikipedia):

1. Has the world record for the most roller coasters of any amusement park.
2. The only amusement park with 4 roller coasters over 200 feet high.
3. Has more rides than any other amusement park.
4. "The roller coaster capital of the world."
5. Voted the "Best Amusement Park in the World" 12 years in a row by Amusement Today.

So, for the morning, we did a quick (but thorough) clean of our home as we found out just before bed the previous night that a potential buyer would be stopping by our home that day. We dropped the kids off at our friend's home and got to the park at about 11:30. The weather was perfect, meaning, the park was PACKED.

We went on the Raptor first (after waiting in line for > 1 hour). The theme was that your legs hang free and the roller coaster attaches on the top (see picture below, from the web). Lots of twists and turns and no idea what's coming next (the only thing you see is the seat in front of you). But, definitely a fun ride, and a 5/5 "thrill rating" (all of the roller coaster rides we went on were 5/5 on the "thrill rating").

Shelly, after riding the Raptor (Raptor in the background)

Our next stop was the Mantis. The Mantis is a stand-up roller coaster. On this one, you have the floor of the coaster car beneath you but you are standing up. When built in 1996, this was the tallest and fastest stand-up roller coaster in the world. This one seemed to have even more twists and turns than Raptor, as evidenced by the young rider who puked 5 or 6 rides before ours. STINKY!! Here is a picture of some of the loops/twists.



After this ride, Shelly and I both felt a little queezy in the stomach (yes, I had a scopolamine patch on but still had a little motion sickness). We decided we would do at least one more thrill ride and take a break. We knew we had at least an hour of recovery, thanks to the long lines. In looking around the park, there was one more ride that scared me TO DEATH. Therefore, we decided that would be the next stop. The ride? Top Thrill Dragster. Here's what we know:

0-120 mph in 3.8 seconds, shooting up a vertical track (90 degrees) 420 feet high, only to peak and then freefall drop the 400 feet on another vertical track (90 degrees) with a 270 degree twist and reaching 120 mph a second time. This is the first roller coaster in the world to top 400 feet. This was our favorite ride. It sounds really scary, but really it wasn't too bad. Everything happened so fast that we didn't have time to think or worry about what was happening and what would be next. We DID get a little nervous when we saw a sign that said that occasionally the car does not clear the top and is slowly lowered back to starting position. Glad that didn't happen to us (but my uncle reports that it happened to him a couple years ago!). Attached is a video of one of the cars (obviously not our car) that successfully made the loop.

Next, a lazy river water ride that ended up passing under a water fall and drenching Shelly and me.

Then we went on the Millenium Force, one of the longer rides. This one taxied us up to over 300 feet high (another world record--the first roller coaster to reach over 300 feet. When built in 2000, this roller coaster beat 10 world records.), then dropped us at 80 degrees for 300 feet. This is where the blackout almost occurred. After the ride, Shelly confessed that she could never be a fighter pilot, as she felt her vision going and almost blacked out in the initial 300-foot drop. We had 2 more peaks (both over 150 feet), a few tunnels, and a few loops on this trip as well. (pictures from the internet, though I had similar views once on a helicopter flight)





Next was Maverick. This one had a few surprises for us and quickly became one of our very favorite rides. Again, we had an hour-long wait. We dropped 100 feet at a 95 degree drop (5 degrees past vertical). We had a few other twists and turns and then ended up at a screeching halt in a dark tunnel. I sat there for a second and thought, "this is a weird spot to end a ride" when suddenly we shot off from 0-70 mph in just 2 seconds and finished with a couple inversions and twists. Somebody's cell phone flew out at the beginning of the ride, and towards the end, someone's sunglasses zoomed past my head.

The 95 degree drop

A couple twists and turns

Our last ride was the XL-200. This was our least favorite ride and kinda finished us off. As we walked right up to the roller coaster and realized we didn't have to wait 1 hour to get on, we asked each other if it was a bad sign? It was. This one was built in 1989. It was the first complete circuit roller coaster to break the 200-foot mark and was the start of the roller coaster wars (trying to get the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world). However, this ride was very jerky and rattly. We had headaches after the ride. It also caught air going over a couple hills--enough to make me unsure if it was going to land on the tracks again (it did). My shoulders were tense afterwards. Shelly and I looked at each other and said in unison, "that was awful. I'm done now." We couldn't do any more roller coasters after that ride.

So, after riding all the roller coasters, we rode the sky ride (basically a ski lift that takes you to the other side of the park), the bumper cars, and a horse-racing carousel. By then, it was 7:30 pm. We were hungry. We left the park and found a TGIF for dinner. We got home a little after 10 pm, went to bed, and then got up around 9 am to go get the kids. Then we went to a state park and beach for a little swimming, but that's for another post.