Park Review- Waldameer Park

Park Review- Waldameer Park


Over the last year or so we've been working on a project, one which will bring the smaller and more local amusement parks into the limelight. Often these small parks surpass the service of the larger ones, leaving them a true hidden gem.

As part of this project, we've been touring smaller parks and giving them the attention they so rightfully deserve.

We've heard about Waldameer, we knew it was up in Erie and that they had a world-class coaster.. but that was it. What we walked into was a happy surprise!

Day: Sunday
Date: July 6th, 2014
Weather: Warm and Windy
Overall Rating: Very Good
Rides Rating: Very Good
Overall Opinion:  Totally Worth It!
Website: www.waldameer.com
Review Team: Carrie, Kitsune and Alex

**NOTE: We where invited by Waldameer to do a park review, this has in no way altered or changed our opinions of the park. All opinions are our own.**

Like many small parks, Waldameer started life as a picnic and scenic spot at the end of a trolly line. The name is German and means "wood by the sea" and needless to say, the park still follows that with plenty of shade and lots of beauty from the lake.

Over the years, the park grew and added attractions to keep guests coming long after the trolleys had ended service.



Along with the amusement park and rides, they also boast a large water park called "Water World" and are currently adding in the largest wave pool in the tri-state area for 2015.

Today, it's what I'd consider a 'hidden gem' park. Meaning it's known but not widely outside of the Western Pennsylvania, North-East Ohio and Western New York areas. While small, it's enchanting and has it's own kind of life. That isn't to say you won't find some classic rides as well as plenty of thrills to keep yourself busy... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Our visit to Waldameer was packed into an already over-full week of driving and park reviewing. Since it was small we figured we would likely only need a few hours, WRONG.  We arrived around 4pm and easily spent the rest of the night, right up till 10pm in the park and wished for more time. We're also already making plans to go back and visit again, easily spending an entire day or possibly two between the amusement park and the water park.

Park Review- Six Flags Magic Mountain

Hello peoples! So, yes this review is months behind BUT there are reasons for that. Most of which have to do with that no one wanted to write it, but since it was decided that I'm "good with the bad" here I am. 

Let me start with the obvious: we were not invited by Six Flags nor given passes so my opinions are my own. We did ask for media passes, but according to the park you need a certain type of credential that is given to TV and Newspaper reporters and the City of Pittsburgh does not require nor issue.

DATE: March 9, 2014

STAFF: +Carrie H.C., +Kitsune Hazard, and myself.

RATING: Broken heart

RECOMMENDATION: Until the MANY issues are taken of; it's a pass.

We started off our morning super excited for the park, we all wanted to do was ride X2 and Colossus.  As you pull into the parking lot you can see the coasters just laid out for the picking and see the fire effects on X2 going off.  We park, grab the cameras (no filming of ANY type is allowed on rides, so no need for the Go-Pro, or so we thought), and head for the tram.
We get into the park, set our plan for the day, and start out.

The first order of business is riding Revolution, the first looping coaster in the world.  As we walked up to the entrance you can clearly see that this ride needs a good cleaning, it is very very rusted.  The ride itself also needs some help because one of the ride cars didn't even line up with the station queues.  In summing up the ride: "Ow Ow Ow pain Ow."

After dropping some pain killers, and cracking joints back into place, we headed to Tatsu.  

This coaster is a B&M flying coaster with a dual load station and a queue that included TVs playing classic Looney Tunes. At the entrance everyone is given a numbered ticket so you can't line jump and if you leave and reenter then new ticket for you. So the wait was a hour and a half, but since we wouldn't be back out to California for a while, it would not be skipped. We played phone charades to pass the time when it finally kicked into our consciousness that we hadn't moved in a while nor had we heard a train move either. It had now been two hours when the ride ops finally decided to mention that Tatsu went down about 45 minutes ago and there was no ETA on reopen. We made the decision to continue on with our day.

Next came the "Big Hill of Death" so we could ride Ninja*. I think Kitsune got the biggest laugh watching Carrie and I walk up this hill, you really have to work for the ride. The theming that was left was wonderful; it was supposed to be a temple. But unfortunately this was also left to deteriorate, you could see where tapestries had once hung from the ceiling and the ones hanging on the walls weren't in great condition. The ride was fun and probably would've been cooler if the water effect was working.

We worked our way down the "Big Hill of Death" and over to their mine ride called Goldrusher.  While this surprising little ride was fun and very fast, the ride ops were distracted and not doing their jobs, one ride op was on their cell phone and didn't notice the couple in front of me that pulled out their cell phone, IN THE STATION RIGHT IN FRONT OF OPS! (trust me a few looked right at his big ass phone and waved), and commenced taping the ride. I spent much of the ride praying that the guy didn't let go and that I wouldn't get a face full of phone. When we got back to the station there were many, many unhappy words.

Finally it was lunch time and it was recommended to us to try JB's BBQ; which we did and it was really really good. Almost surprisingly so, which was a bit funny since most people seem to complain about the food, at least that's what some regulars to the park told us afterwards. While eating we adjusted our plans for the rest of the day.

Apocalypse: Down.

So we headed into DC land because Batman was running backwards...for season pass holders only.  You had to walk up the to ride line to find this out from the park employee; it wasn't posted at the park entrance and since the coaster is in the back of the park it's unfair to guests to not have that out there.  Apparently their stores here also only cater to the main four: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash.  With only the Joker as the only villain making a major appearance.  FYI Six Flags: DC Comics has a huge variety of heroes and villains...take your pick. 

I will give them some credit here because the theming was straight out of a comic book and with a little knowledge you could find Dick Tracy's office and other little tidbits mixed throughout the area. Definitely a nice touch to see.

After walking past Scream and vetoing it (we've ridden these types before so why wait and ride it again?) we came to Colossus. This where Carrie and I said "To hell with this" in regards to our day at the park. 

Now understand that it is a great woodie and was a fun ride, but there was epic line jumping going on and as people were leaving the ride station and even going up the ride hill there were cameras, cell phones, and we think a DS out filming. 

Kitsune pulled out his camera and got photo proof of the passengers going up the ride hill holding camera.  There was no way in hell that the main ride operator could miss it because there are cameras filming you as you go up the hill.  They just didn't care about it and trust me there was epic bitching in line about us being told no filming of any kind and yet this is going on.

This led us to go to share our grievances with Guest Services.  It was here we learned that X2, Tatsu, and Apocalypse had been down pretty much all day; Superman was off and on all day; and here was where we found the sign saying that Batman was closed to the general public.  The woman working was very nice and understanding, but she did try to brush us off regarding her employees actions until it was mentioned that we had photographic evidence from Colossus, which we gladly showed to her.  You could see the poor woman go pale looking at the photos, once of which you can see to the right.


She gave us exit passes, three for rides of our choosing (except Batman), one for Tatsu, and one for X2 (should they come back up).  We chose Goliath, Superman, and Green Lantern.

We headed toward the park's people mover: Orient Express instead of walking up the big damn hill again. Since Superman is on it's own platform the overlook is a hell of a view, but that's all we got to enjoy since right when we got to the ride, mind you again we had to walk all up to the queue line, before the employee standing there decided to tell us that Superman went down again. 

As we were walking away we at least told others so that they knew what was going on.

Since we were already in DC land we headed for Green Lantern, which is a weird little 4D coaster.  Seriously, look this ride up sometime and watch it because riding it is even weirder. The cars only seat four and we are three, I choose to ride with the group of three already in a car because it made life a little on the ride ops.  Lucky me I sat on the side the went down first and I screamed bloody murder, suddenly I'm facefirst looking at the ground.  Kitsune and Carrie have said they were in the station waiting to go (it runs only one car at a time) and I was so loud that they knew when I went over. This was a surprisingly fun little coaster and we are glad we picked it for a freebie.

We used our last exit pass and went straight to Goliath. I loved the ride entrance signage and theming and this was a wondrous coaster and we thoroughly enjoyed our night ride. 

I think the funnest bit with this ride was the kid that bullshited his way on with us, no Flashpass or exit pass just straight bullshit. It was very impressive to be honest but not something we endorse, get on a ride honestly.

 
At this point the park was closing down for the night and as we were heading out we had to walk past Full Throttle; Magic Mountain's new coaster.  Since most park close lines at the end of the day and cycle the riders left we didn't think we'd get on especially because there were fences up and security standing there but nope..we walked right past them and into the line. This was probably the most entertaining line of the day and none of us will ever look at Power Rangers the same again.

But, here again were ride ops and security issues because when riders would get off the ride they would just get right back into the now closed line. And it's not like they couldn't see it happening because the area in front of Full Throttle is wide open and people were running to get back in line with security standing right there. This was a great closer to a really crappy day because the coaster has a loop that it goes through, a part where you get launched backwards, and for the finish it travels on top of the world's largest loop too.

By the end of day we were disappointment all around and except for the bare minimum which we used for food we spent no money. None. We just wanted to put the day behind us and move on.

FINAL COUNT: Over the whole day a total of 7 coasters went down and stayed down or went down and came back up repeatedly. This is nearly half of Magic Mountain's coasters breaking IN ONE DAY!

PROS: The good was stated above where it needed to be.

CONS: Horrible ride ops, dirty bathrooms, dirty walkways, signs for stores that no longer exist, general employees who don't know their own park when asked for directions, foliage WAY too close to rides, general unsafety all around.

To close, we do not recommend this park until they get their shit together and clean up the rides, staff, and the environment for the safety of all involved.

As usual we try to find the bright side of things but Magic Mountain made this rather difficult.

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*Yes, we at  ISI have heard about the accident at SFMM and that's one of the reasons to get this out there so that people can see how much this park needs work. Please read about the Ninja accident here: Article 1 and Article 2.

Park Review- Canada's Wonderland

Park Review- Canada's Wonderland

Last season, Canada's Wonderland shocked and surprised us, we had no idea of the hidden treasure sitting north of Toronto. Now that we knew, the park made it to the top of our "Must Visit Again" list.

Needless to say, the second time around just confirmed the fact that this park is the hidden jewel of the Cedar Fair company.

Day: Monday
Date: May 26th, 2014
Weather: Sunny and Warm
Overall Rating: Excellent
Coaster Baiting: Excellent
Overall Opinion: Shut Up and Visit.
Website: Canada's Wonderland
Review Team: Myself, +Kitsune Hazard and +Alexandra F

 **NOTE: We where invited by Canada's Wonderland to review the park as well as their newest attraction, Wonder Mountain's Guardian. This has in no way effected our review or opinion.**

Honestly, Canada's Wonderland is simply a beautiful amusement park with some heavy themed elements. While I hesitate to call it a 'theme park' it's very close since so many of there rides follow the areas which they've been planned in. This year we arrived on a lovely spring morning, much warmer then our previous years visit, as this seemed to be the first fully wonderful weather weekend of the Spring.

(Warning- Post is Picture Heavy)

Park Review - Knott's Berry Farm

Well, I don't normally do the park reviews, just take the pictures and all, but +Carrie H.C. is down and out with pneumonia at the moment and asked if I would step in and get this one out there for you all. Apologies in the delay getting this out and I hope that you enjoy the ride!

Day: Monday
Date: March 10th, 2014
Weather: Perfect
Overall Rating: Excellent
Coaster Rating: Excellent
Overall Opinion: Lived up to the hype!
Wesbite: Knotts.com
Review Team: +Carrie H.C., +Alexandra F, +Kitsune Hazard

Yet another park that we visited during our huge Southern California Tour a couple of weeks ago, Knott's Berry Farm has been one of those "holy grail" type of things for us. We've always heard so many good things about the park, but being on the East Coast, it was never something that was easy for us to get to. So, with us staying only a mile away, it was a no brainer that we had to visit. We weren't disappointed at all either, from friendly staff that went well out of their way to be helpful to some amazing rides and theming, Knott's has it all.

History:

From the humble beginnings of a working berry farm, then growing into a thriving roadside business and later a restaurant, Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant, surrounded by shops and attractions, Walter Knott started the real work on this Southern California icon in 1940. This latest project would turn into the foundation of what we know of Knott's Berry Farm today, the "living ghost town" and included free entertainment into the mix. It was from this that more and more attractions and rides were added turning Knott's Berry Farm into the theme park we know today.

Since 1997, the park has been run as part of the Cedar Fair chain and thankfully, they've kept the park and it's history alive and well, along with adding new rides, attractions and other features. 2014 marks the 30th anniversary of Camp Snoopy as well. While many may think the iconic kid themed area is a Cedar Fair entity, the original was opened up at Knott's Berry Farm back in 1983!

So, what did we think of what Walter Knott's creation has turned into? Keep reading for our review!

Park Review- Seaworld San Diego

Park Review- Seaworld San Diego

Day: Wednesday
Date: March 12, 2014
Overall Rating: Very Good
Exhibit Rating: Excellent
Opinion: Beautiful Park.
Staff: Carrie, Kitsune and Alex


  During our "Grand California Tour" we simply had to visit Seaworld San Diego. Not only had we heard it's one of the prettiest of the many Seaworld Parks but also their newest addition, Explorers Reef, was set to open very close to our visit.

History:
  Seaworld San Diego is located in San Diego California, in the Mission Park area. It's about an hour and a half south of Anaheim in the far southern reaches of California. It's far enough out to be separate from other area theme parks but fully stands on it's own as one of the loveliest parks we've had the pleasure of visiting. Seaworld San Diego is the original "SeaWorld" park, founded in 1964 by four UCLA graduates. The park opened originally with only Sealions and Dolphins as their marine mammal attractions, the parks iconic"Shamu" Killer Whales didn't come to the park until 1965. "Shamu" wasn't originally captured for Seaworld but was purchased from a Seattle Aquarium.

  Seaworld later added additional parks in Ohio, Florida and Texas over the coming years. They changed ownership several times over it's 50 year history, the most noted and longest owner being Anheuser-Busch who grew Seaworld into a household name.

  2014 will celebrate Seaworld's 50th Anniversary which will be celebrated in all the current Seaworld parks, called "A Sea of Surprises".

(Keep reading for Full Review)

Park Review- Busch Gardens Tampa

Park Review of Busch Gardens Tampa

Day: Friday
Date: September 27th, 2013
Weather: Partly Cloudy and Warm
Overall Rating: Excellent
Coaster Rating: Excellent
Opinion: Great Park!
Staff: Carrie, Kitsune and Jennifer


 Originally we planned to visit Busch Gardens Tampa on Saturday but we changed this to visit Howl-O-Scream for their media event. This turned out to be an excellent idea as the sky did look like rain, which kept the crowds nice and low but the humidity was rather annoying.

 Busch Gardens Tampa is located in Tampa Bay, Florida. This park is about an hour southwest of Orlando and about an hour north of Naples, which gives the park a great location in Central Florida. Far enough from the Orlando theme parks that it can easily stand on it's own as well as offering the best coasters in the state.  Originally owned by Anheuser-Busch it opened in 1959 was a beer tasting center and a bird garden. Over the years the park evolved into it's theme of "Africa" which differs from it's sister park in Virginia.  In 2011 the park changed hands and is now managed by The Blackstone Group, the jury is still out over if this was an improvement or hindrance. Busch Gardens also has a large African Animal collection which is visible in the park, they are accredited by the AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums).

Read on for the Full Review! 

Park Review- Kings Dominion

Park Review- Kings Dominion

Day: Friday

Date: August 23, 2013

Weather: Scotland (Heavy Rain/Overcast)

Overall Rating: Good

Coaster Rating: Good

Flat Ride Rating: Good

Opinion: Visit if Nearby

Staff: Carrie and Kitsune

 To say our day at Kings Dominion was "wet" would be an understatement. Two very heavy thunderstorms moved through during our day visit, which while it kept crowds very low also created a rather odd atmosphere to review in. 

 Kings Dominion is located in Doswell, Virginia. It's about a 20 minute ride from Richmond, VA and about an hour from Washington D.C. which gives the park a pretty prime spot. It began life as a 'Family Liesure Center" park and opened to the public in 1975 with 15 attractions. Much like it's sister park 'Kings Island' it too switched ownership more then once, the second time too Kings Entertainment Company in 1983 and later to Paramount Parks in 1993 which made the largest expansions to the park. As we all know, Cedar Fair bought the Paramount parks in 2006 and is the current owner.  The park is now home to more then 60 rides, shows and attractions with 14 roller coasters and a large waterpark on property. 

Park Review- Kennywood Park

Park Review- Kennywood Park

 

Day: Saturday

Date: August 17th, 2013

Weather: Warm

Overall Raiting: Okay

Coaster Rating: Excellent

Flat Ride Rating: Okay

Opinion: Visit if nearby

Staff: Carrie, Kitsune and Alex

 We arrived at Kennywood around 10am, surprised to see just how busy the park was already even before opening. The front gate area was swarming with groups, most of them appeared to be either bands or dance teams with some folks toting coolers as well. The park didn't open till 10:30am. Two quickly noticeable things is that Guest Services at Kennywood isn't open before the park opens, which I find a little bit odd. The second is the fact they don't want anyone near the turnstiles before the park opens, leading to rather rude "Kennywood Cops" yelling at several dozen guests. You'd think they could just hang ropes or something, rather then resorting to rude voiced yelling.

Just a quick note- Traveling for Parks

Hey Folks,

 Well I hope August has treated everyone well. Personally we here at ISI have had a very busy month and it just keeps getting better as we add more reviews for your late summer and early fall trips. We will once again be on the road from August 22-August 25. We're heading back to Virginia, this time with a full review of both Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Williamsburg.  We'll also have sneak peaks of construction for Howl-O-Scream in Williamsburg.

 So, what does this mean?
 Easy! While we will be dark a few days later this week, we've got several piece upcoming for this week before we head out of town. A review of Kennywood Park as well as Dollywood's Big Announcement on Wednesday the 21st.  Plus any other news that comes to light between now and then! I also plan to post a big list of what parks have Fall hours for you to enjoy!

Until then, Safe safe and Re-ride!
Carrie

Park Review- Knoebels Amusement Resort

Park Review of Knoebels Amusement Resort

Day: Wednesday

Date: July 24th, 2013

Weather: Perfect (Mid 70's and Partly Cloudy)

Overall Rating: Good

Ride Rating: Okay 

Opinion: Worth it within a 3-4 hour drive.

Staff: Carrie and Kitsune

Overview:  Knoebels is a small, family owned amusement park set in the mountains of Central Pennsylvania. It's not the most widely known park and tends to be frequented by folks from the area or those who know about this hidden little gem. While not known for building their own rides, Knobels has a rich history of taking other folks 'unwanted/old' rides and moving them into the park, giving them a new life for folks to enjoy. The park boasts three relocated roller coasters, a classic 'pretzel car' haunted house and carousel that still has it's brass ring. The parks biggest claim to fame (and also their current embarrassment) is that they are attempting to build a wooden bobsled coaster, which hasn't been done since the 1920's. They've won the Golden Ticket award in 2012 for 'Best Carousel' and in 2011 for 'Best Food' and 'Best Carousel'.

Quick Update- Traveling delays Posts!

Hey Folks,

 I'm sorry for the delay in posts that's been this week. It's rather hard to update when your on the road! However, never fear! We will be home tomorrow and work on the picture processing will begin. I expect to have new park reviews, ride reviews and even a few special "around the area" guides coming to you as soon as possible!

 Cause unlike some other sites, I like to give the readers (that means you) something worth reading! So I take a little bit longer but as you can see from previous reviews, if we ride it/look at it/saw it, we report on it! So nothing is left out and you know what opinions we have on what, without a doubt!

 So, hang tight just a little longer. We're traveling home tomorrow (Saturday) and I promise I'll spend most of Sunday chained to my laptop, typing away for you.

 What do you have to look forward to?
 Well, I'll certainly tell you! We've got a review of Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysbug, PA as well as a review of Hershey Park coming. That's what I've been doing all week, well that and being stuck in the car on Pennsylvania highways ENTIRELY too long!

 Until then, please enjoy a picture of yours truly being entirely random..

Floods are bad, I would have drowned!

Park Review: Kings Island

Park Review of Kings Island

Day: Saturday

Date: June 22, 2013

Weather: Hot and Overcast with rain showers.

Overall Rating: Good

Ride Rating: Great

Opinion: Worth the Trip (Provided you ride)

Staff: Carrie, Kitsune, Alex and Tim

History: Kings Island is a former Paramount Park now owned by Cedar Fair. It was built in 1972 and covers an impressive 364 acres of land outside of Mason, Ohio. Home to an impressive number of rides (80) and 14 unique roller coasters as well as a water park called "Soak City". The park boasts 6 "themed" areas and has won the Golden Ticket award for 'Best Kids Area' for the last 12 years.

One Crazy Busy Summer!

Hey Folks,

  Just wanted to give a quick update on all the InSanity coming soon. We've having a crazy busy summer so you can look forward to all kinds of excellent goodies and I'm here to tell you what they are!

In coming months you'll find updates on:
Theme and Amusement Park Reviews
Ride Reviews
New and Coming Soon Attractions
Fun Editorials
And... Much More!


  So with that, I give you our most excellent calendar of events and where we can be found on any given weekend! Also proves just how broke I'm going to be by the end of the year but we'll have an excellent time in the process. So get your butts out there and get riding, why are you still reading? The Parks are OPEN!

Cedar Point Trip Report: The Good, The Bad and the Broken.

Cedar Point Trip Report

The Good, The Bad and the Broken

Day: Saturday. 

Date: May 11th, 2013

Wow, so much to say about Cedar Point for opening day. Within this post you'll find an unbiased report of Cedar Point and the hotel which we stayed in, the Knights in Sandusky. On this journey you'll find opinions of three different people, Myself and my Husband Kitsune Hazard of Kitsuneverse as well as a good friend Alex who (while not a park pro) has been going to CP since childhood. I've divide things up into sections to allow for quick viewing, so you may find the layout a bit odd!

Hotel Review: Knights Inn, Sandusky, Ohio

Address: 2450 Cleveland Road, West Sandusky, Ohio, 44870
Rate Paid: $67.70

Opinion: Very Good

Image from KnightsInn.com

We arrived around 10:30pm on Friday night after a very long and rainy drive from the Pittsburgh Area. This being a new hotel for us, we had no idea what to really expect from the online reviews (which I really don't trust). The front desk staff was nice and quick with check-in, making small talk about Cedar Point. Not only was this person knowledgeable about the hotel, they knew a lot about Cedar Point and I enjoyed gabbing about to torment of watching new rides being constructed while not being able to ride them!

Fast forward to the room. It was goodly sized with two queen size beds, non-smoking (as that was what was available). While perhaps showing a bit of age (slightly worn carpet, older A/C unit and a few paint scratches around the doorways), we found our room comfortable and as clean as possible. All the goodies inside worked perfectly, so while maybe older this room was surely worth the rate we paid! The rooms really are just as nice as what's seen on their website. Unlike most hotels in the Sandusky area, this one also had the train noise issue but we found it to be muted and distant, causing no interruption in our sleep.  We also where located right next to the Sandusky Airport but noticed ZERO airport noise even during the morning, so I wouldn't worry much about it personally unless it gets far busier in the summer. 

The biggest surprise was the continental breakfast. We didn't expect much more then juice, cereal, donuts and coffee. However, we all got a happy surprise. In their central "Florida Room" we found a wide collection of breakfast yummies including the expected but also finding goodies like Bagels, English Muffins, Sweet Rolls, Pop Tarts, Oatmeal and a variety of juices and coffees. It was a nice surprise and a step above your average "cheap hotel" offerings. Naturally we sampled a little bit of most things and found all of it fresh and tasty, so we saved a bit (and our stomachs being chewed up) by skipping fast-food fare.

Overall, this hotel is an excellent deal in my opinion. I'd happily stay here again on our next trip to Sandusky and Cedar Point. I wouldn't pay more then about $125 for it during the peak season but anything less then that and I believe you've got yourself a good deal!  

Cedar Point Park Review 

Admission Cost: $37.99 (Special online rate)
Opinion: Good but Problematic
Weather: Liquid Crap (Cold/Windy)

Part 1: Arrival

We arrived at Cedar Point about 9:36am to find massive crowds and abysmal weather. The crowds we expected but the weather was a bit of a surprise as the weatherman had predicted 67 degrees and partly cloudy all day until a chance of rain around 8pm, needless to say what we got was completely different. Gloomy overcast skies, windy and a high of 56 (all day) caused us some distress but we survived.

Our frustrations of the day begin as we approached the gate. We called Cedar Point no less then 4 times within 24 hours to check the time of gate opening, each time we where assured this would be at exactly 10am. With the weather we figured half an hour early would be plenty of time for us to get a good spot in line and enjoy the "running of the bulls" which is a CP tradition. Imagine our shock and anger when we finally managed to work our way through the massive Passholder Line to find that by 9:45am the gates where already open to general admission! Apparently the gates opened for general admission much earlier then the park advertised, we began our day by being very displeased. If we'd have known we'd have arrived MUCH earlier in the day!  After collecting our "Opening Day Gatekeeper and Coke Drink Huggie" gift from the park we were off, our beacons set for the last known home of Disaster Transport and Gatekeeper.

Part 2: Rides

Holy LINE, Batman! With the unknown early opening, the line for Gatekeeper was completely ridiculous 4.5-5 hours long by this point. After a quick conference with my cohorts, we decided we'd skip it for now and head deeper into the park. Our logic being that 80% of the people where taken up with this line, we'd go ride everything else THEN attempt to jump into line for Gatekeeper later in the afternoon. 

(To read the FULL Review on Gatekeeper please visit: Gatekeeper Review)

Our first stop of the day was predictably Blue Streak, which we where very pleased to find operating after it's close encounter with a dump truck over the closed season. Always a lovely ride, we got  good bit of amusement out of a school group in front of us who seemed to think this classic woodie was "terrifying". After our enjoyable, if half frozen, ride the coaster bug had bitten and all of us where chomping at the bit for our much needed adrenaline rush!

A quick side trip over to Cedar Downs, which is the last remaining Derby Racer left in the US. Think of a carousel that races, it's a flat ride but worth a stop! So, we stopped, we rode, we still love it even if not the most amazing ride in the park! After this we stopped and picked up the "Souvenir Bottle"for the 2013 season. Now if your not familiar with this, it's a good deal. For $12.99 plus tax you get a drink bottle which comes with free refills for the day of purchase and if your coming back to Cedar Point later in the season refills are only $.99 cents plus tax. Seeing as none of us mind sharing (we're all 90's kids, we're not scared of germs) it was an excellent deal considering the price of a single soda at the park!

Next Stop, Iron Dragon! Oh, Iron Dragon, how I love you and your swinging! Okay, so this isn't the biggest or best ride in the park either but all of us must confess, we love suspended swinging coasters. Not many of them are left and they seem to be disappearing quickly, so ride it and show it some love!  Now, Alex and I got the bright idea of "Let's sit in the front". Have I mentioned we're not too smart sometimes? Because this was NOT our best idea of the day. We enjoyed our ride around the random shouts of "I'm COLD! I can't feet my hands! Holy Shit, COLD!" which echoed around us, I'm fairly sure Kitsune was laughing his ass off behind us as we provided the wind block!  Thus the new rule of the day, No front row! 

Moving on we checked the line for Millennium Force and found it at an 1 hour and 45 minutes, Nope! We moved along heading towards Maverick and Mean Streak. We where rather surprised to find a 2 hour line for Maverick. While a good ride, none of us felt it was worth the time so we headed to Mean Streak, or as we call it "Our personal Chiropractor".  We where rather shocked to find it actually HAD a LINE! Granted, not much of one at 20 minutes but still surprising as I don't think any of us have seen such an event. So we jump in and quickly jump on, not in the front seat, we learned our lesson with Iron Dragon! We still froze our hands off as none of us can ride with them properly holding onto something and we got shook all to hell but we loved every damn moment of it. Another classic wooden coaster that lives up to it's name, Mean Streak. 

At this point it's now 11am and the Mine Ride was just opening. Seeing as how it had exactly a five minute wait time, we jumped in line. Seriously, who wouldn't with no line?! Anyway, we spent our massive five minutes of wait time trying to figure out how this tiny coaster got to 40 MPH. The best we can figure it's the helixes which produce the speed, we're still suspicious about this and will have to conduct some testing on our second trip!  This ride is so quiet we proceed to have an entire conversation during the lift hills and during most of the ride, which we found comical (have I mentioned we're a weird bunch yet?). So we ride and once again enjoy ourselves but we're still curious about this speed thing, so we head towards Gemini and Kitsune has a bright idea! He downloads "Ulysse Speedometer" and we decide we're going to test some coaster speeds while we're screwing around! 

A quick stop for a Corn-dog (more to come on the food later) and jump into line for Gemini. Now I admit, this is NOT one of my favorite rides at Cedar Point. Somehow it ALWAYS manages to beat me up in some way/shape/form yet I keep riding it. About 15 minutes later we're next in line when a collective groan goes through the crowd and an employee goes running towards the lift hill. We've found our first idiot of the day! Someone decided to take out a camera and stopped the Blue side, thus causing a delay. So we end up waiting an extra ten minutes because someone can't follow the rules before boarding out "Pain Express" train. Kitsune has his handy little App running and off we go, the entire time I'm wondering why they couldn't have made this ride less pain-inducing or banked the turns a little bit more? Augh! Upon exiting I chew down two advil and we discuses the speed on Gemini, which is apparently 64.7 when cold outside! 

Working our way around, we take a break over in the smoking area of kiddie land. In the process we notice just how creepy and giant this snoopy is. Then us, being us, noticed that it's sitting on top of the bouncy house.. kind of like a toilet.. because we notice things like this. Hey, I never said we where entirely mature either! Needless to say we decided the Snoopy must had have some seriously spicy chili because if the bounce house was the toilet then the kids are.... 

Yeah, Spicy Chili.

So as we're sitting down and relaxing for a few, plotting out next move we hear Top Thrill Dragster launch. This is surprising because it hasn't been running all day due to winds. When we turn around and look, it's full of people! Now we're been in the area a few minutes and din't once hear this thing testing. I can't honestly say if it did or not but we never saw it yet it launched with a full train, this made us seriously question Cedar Point and what the hell they might be thinking. More so when the first loaded launch of the day was a complete rollback, which we found comical as hell.  While laughing at Dragster, we decided our next move which would Mangun XL200 then finally heading over to Gatekeeper.  As we headed towards the Magnum line, it was closed, which was odd but we can roll with it and headed towards Gatekeeper early.

Now, I'm not going to talk about Gatekeeper in this post. Why? Because I've already covered that ride in deep detail in another post. If you'd like to read our adventure and opinion on the newest $30 Million addition to Cedar Point, Please visit: Gatekeeper Ride Review. 

However, while relaxing and discussing Gatekeeper (and how we'd like 3 hours of our lives back) amongst ourselves in the closest smoking area (directly next to Wicked Twister) and with other random folks who stopped by to relax, Alex notices something odd on the ground. Honestly, I'm not paying that much attention until I spot Alex picking something up. Looking over we found a cleanly sheered bolt laying right on the ground.  Well THAT isn't comforting! More so since we're sitting right next to a roller coaster with a semi-crappy history. Now it could have come from the awning but frankly we're still not comforted. So it was at this point we decided not only did we get a FREE souvenir but we'd be skipping Wicked Twister this time around, just in case! 

Now it's begining to get dark and we're heading towards Magnum XL200, which is by far one of my FAVORITE coasters at Cedar Point. Yeah, she's a little rough after all these years but the lady provides you great thrills! Also notice the picture, already on opening day a burned out light bulb. Little did we know that noticing this odd problem would lead into a massive chain reaction of "Broken Rides" for the remainder of our visit.  Magnum was running but as we jump in line we notice, their cycling empty cars. Listening to a few people we found out Magnum had gone down not only the first time when we headed to Gatekeeper but a second time just before we got into the line. This is weird, Magnum almost never goes down in our shared experience and it wasn't nearly as windy as it was earlier. We couldn't figure out what on earth was going on but we quickly got distracted by the fact Magnum is the only ride in the park that plays DECENT MUSIC in the queue line!  We work our way up and get to load, where we proceed to get a good laugh out of the ride crew. They where cracking jokes about getting people to hurry up in storing their personal items and getting on the ride. This is yet another ride which we have our "Lift Hill Conversation" and a chuckle at the kid who's riding beside Alex, he seemed a bit frightened!   We enjoy our ride and decide to purchase the picture because it was funny as hell (Alex apparently isn't good with On-Ride photos). Not wanting to carry both the photo from Gatekeeper and Magnum around, we run out to the car to stow our stuff and decide to grab dinner (Please see the Food Post). However we make a pit stop at the smoking area and notice another problem. Millennium Force is stuck near the top of the lift hill, with people on it. 

While sitting and enjoying our dinner (with beer!) we notice the weather getting more and more gloomy but Cedar Point seems to have a bigger problem at the moment, the fact Gatekeeper has gone down. Looking around we begin to notice the problems for Cedar Point are mounting, Sky Ride has stalled out, Mantis isn't running and Millennium Force is still stuck at the top of the lift hill. At first we wonder if this is due to weather? Nope! It couldn't be weather as Raptor was still running as was Top Thrill Dragster. We found this funny as all hell, Why? Easy! Top Thrill is entirely dependent on the weather, if the winds are too high it simply doesn't run, which leads to that coaster having a LOT of downtime. So Top Thrill is running while 3 coasters, including the newest addition are broken! That's funny as hell. We listen and people are starting to say that Cedar Point is blaming "High Winds" for Gatekeepers closure.  Now we just talked about winds and Dragster, which is running and is 420 feet tall. Gatekeeper is down and only 170 feet tall. Say it with me? BULLSHIT!  Cedar Point has broken their new toy already, on the frist day and it seems like everything else has suffered a serious lack of testing and maintenance over the winter months. 

Broken Coaster Count: 3

So we decide to head over towards Maverick, only to find it's also DOWN. Inquiring with the ride staff, they have no idea when or if the ride will even come back up today. We stop to figure out what to do next and end up chatting with several people, apparently Maverick has been down most of the day only having opened for about three hours in the beginning of the day when we passed by.

Broken Coaster Count: 4

While chatting for around 20 minutes we somehow got lucky, Maverick OPENED! Holy shit! I didn't notice this until Alex grabbed me and began hauling me backwards with a yelled "RUN" with me having no idea what I was running (stumbling) for. We managed to jump in the line quickly while they cycled cars. We raced though the queue line and up the stairs, giggling with glee. We managed a 5 minutes wait, getting on the second dispatch! Maverick is an awesome ride but I refer to it as another "Boob Squasher" due to the harnesses. Seriously, it hurts! Plus Maverick whips you around a decent bit, so if you don't brace your going to exit with a headache! Either way, squished boobs and all we enjoy our ride. As we're pulling into the station the very first drops of rain begin. Damn, we got lucky!

Using the magic of technology and cell phones, we check the radar and see a heavy patch heading right towards us. Quickly we take shelter and hope it will pass, after about 20 minutes this shows no signs of stopping although it has let up to a light sprinkle, the radar isn't looking to promising either. We decide to head over and see if Millennium Force is running yet. On our way we notice that Top Thrill is no longer running and Mantis still hasn't come back up. However, Maverick is chugging away at a now HUGE line. Not really surprised, we find that Millennium Force hasn't yet come back up either, Cedar Points excuse? Weather.  No, BROKEN COASTER! We're rather annoyed at how they are flat out lying to folks at this point. This isn't Disney World, if something is broken you should just tell people "Down for Maintenance" rather then giving them hope that a broken ride will re-open if only the weather will cooperate. Now some rides DID go down for the weather but we know for a fact that M. Force was down LONG before the weather began and had not re-opened at any point in between.  At this point it's around 9:30pm and we decide that with so many rides broken, we'll call it a night.

As we're exiting we take note that Iron Dragon has also gone down as has Raptor. We're not sure if this is really due to the weather or if Cedar Point somehow managed to break these rides also (as Maverick was running a short walk away). By this point we're not inclined to trust Cedar Point's answers very much. We also notice Gatekeeper is not running and by listening to folks chat as we're walking out we learned that Gatekeeper never came back up that evening. So it really was broken, which doesn't seem to bode well for this season.

Overall, we where rather disappointed in Cedar Point's opening day. They where plagued with problems and broken attractions, during the days it's taken me to write up this report we've heard many people saying this is a constant and on going problem this season. Coasters are breaking randomly all over the park, some rides are not opening at all and others are running very limited numbers. This leads me to believe that during the off season Cedar Point did something stupid. They put all their focus and attention on Gatekeeper in the hopes the other rides would simply take care of themselves. They didn't put in proper testing or maintenance time which is now biting them back. We're going back to Cedar Point on June 6th with friends on a Starlight pass. It's our hope that by then that we can give you a much better report, but right now things aren't looking very promising for the 2013 season at Cedar Point.

If you have addition information or if you've been to Cedar Point since then and have noticed rides being down or issues with rides, please comment! We'd like to hear your take on this matter as well as what excuses you may have been told!

Part 3: Food

Cedar Point is no Disney World and the food reflects that. However, during opening day the carnival-esque offerings where even more horrible then normal and the service was abysmal at best. While we understand it was opening day, the staff working food service seemed to have no real concept of customer service nor how to really prepare their offerings.

Lunch

Corn-dogs. Now it's rather hard to screw up a corn-dog but somehow they managed. The hotdog inside was cool to the touch and the crust was still uncooked on the inside. The service was comical in the sense of "are you kidding me?". The girl serving us had no idea how to use the two windows, so we moved to the "pick up" window and found that the people behind us where served before us. This went one twice before we looked at each other and spoke up, at this point we've waited nearly 10 minutes and ended up waiting another 5 for our lackluster food to be given to us. The price for lunch for 2? $10.58

Dinner

Pizza at Hurricane Hannah's.  Now the pizza was much better in quality to the point we thought it was good, it was at least fully cooked and served to us warm. The size was good for the price, $5.99 for pepperoni, and the crust was pleasant seasoned. Even better, this food joint offered beer! Now if you know anything about us crazies here at InSanity lurks Inside, we like to drink. The beer wasn't crap and was shockingly not hugely overpriced. Nearly a pint of beer for around $8 each.

We hope you enjoyed the review of Cedar Point's opening day and sincerely hope you have much better luck with your trip then we did. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and don't reflect the view of Cedar Point. All opinions are unbiased and all the snark is provided as a free service! Please keep watching InSanity lurks Inside for more Trip Reviews coming in the 2013 summer season, including another visit to Cedar Point in June!