Park Review: Canada's Wonderland

Park Review of Canada's Wonderland

The surprise we didn't expect!

  I can't begin to describe the shock and happy surprise we experienced at Canada's Wonderland. We didn't really know what to expect and went into this review rather blind, only knowing basic facts about the park. What we found really was a wonderland of great rides, good food, friendly and knowledgeable employees and a level of cleanliness that I haven't experienced in many years.

 

Day: Friday

Date: May 24th, 2013

Weather: Arctic Tundra followed by Decently Nice.

Overall Rating: Excellent

Ride Rating: Excellent

Opinion:  GO! GO! GO!

 Let's begin, upon arrival in Canada we found the weather had taken a rather nasty turn on us. The promised 73 degree weather took a nose dive and plummeted to 56 degrees as the high. Now I'm not a huge fan of the cold weather to begin with and when you add in riding high speed coasters in cold weather, I'm the first person to begin whining. However, with the application of caffeine and the promise of fun even my southern fried self bucked up and got down to business. 

  Around 9:45AM we arrived, shivering but ready. Meeting our guide from public relations, Gary, at the gate we where escorted in and given some fun knowledge about the park. One burning question we had was why Canada's Wonderland had a Mountain rather then the fairly standard Eiffel Tower which most of the previous Paramount Parks boast. Apparently it was a fairly random decision, a choice between several options and they chose a mountain as their focal entrance piece.  I have to admit, it makes for a far more striking effect, between the fountains and the waterfalls on the mountain its-self.  Afterward, I read a few comments in regards to the mountain and some have said it needs "cleaned" but when you really stop and examine the overall effect, I personally like it better this way. It looks real, like something the park just left when they where building up their 330 acres, simply because it was pretty.

  We had hoped our first stop of the day would be the newest attraction, Leviathan. A massive B&M coaster that is Millennium Forces very angry younger brother. Sadly due to the weather (tundra-like) this wasn't possible as the Mega-Coasters where not running in the cold. Thankfully, the smaller steel coasters and the woodies were not subject to this issue. So while chatting with Gary (who did his level best to convince me to get on Drop tower, which I declined!) we hopped onto one of the parks original coasters, Dragon Fire.  This ride is an Arrow steel looping coaster, built in 1981 for the parks grand opening.  While surely not the biggest nor fastest coaster it the park, it's hard to not appreciate the fact that unlike some other parks they didn't simply remove it once it became dated, they kept their classic and iconic ride. After all these years it's hard not to love the classics and we found this one to be smooth and very well maintained.  Once again I managed to break my previously established rule of "No Front Seat in Freezing Windchills" and froze my hands off while loving even moment of it!

  About this point we parted with Gary to wander about randomly on our own. With a stop for some much needed hot chocolate, we paused and made our game plan. Having found Leviathan still closed due to the cold, we decided a ride on another original coaster was in order. This time, we headed straight for the Wild Beast. This is a classic wooden coaster also built in 1981 for the parks grand opening. Due to the weather the lines were not bad and it seemed to keep the crowds way down during the morning hours. Wild Beast is just that, Wild. Between the cold weather making it run more wicked then normal and my own frozen hands (which I'm completely unable to keep down while riding a coaster) we had a great, if jarring ride.  I have to admit, it's not the smoothest wooden coaster I've ever ridden but it certainly doesn't rank anyplace on the scale of "broke my spine" that some others do! 

   Now, let me pause to wax eloquent about a weird topic for a moment. 

  This park is clean. Very clean. Never once did I spot a single overfull trashcan nor trash dis-guarded on the ground. Which brings me to the bathrooms. I have NEVER seen bathrooms as clean as the ones in Canada's Wonderland, not even at the Disney Parks! I didn't think amusement park bathrooms could be this pristine and even more shocking, they had HOT WATER to wash your hands with! I only wish more parks took a care for making their washrooms half as hygienic. Through the entire day and many potty breaks, I never once found a bathroom dirty nor odorous. I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about but that is easily one concern I don't have with this park.  I'm sure they can get somewhat messy during the much busier season but it seems to me that Canada's Wonderland really cares about their public appearance and do their best to keep things comfortable for their guests.

   We took a few minutes and attempted to figure out where we should head next. We stopped for a few minutes to watch their Vekoma Boomerang coaster, The Bat, which was down at the moment. I fully admit, I'll avoid these style coasters when possible as I've found they really don't age well nor do I enjoy having what is left of the stuffing shaken from my head. So I can't tell you if this one aged as ungracefully as the others I've experienced. By this point, having barely had much of a breakfast, I was hungry. Unsure of where exactly we wanted to eat, we check out several options. Since it was still overcast and rather cold, I wanted something indoors for lunch. Considering I'm not the biggest eater on the best of days we opted to skip the all-you-can-eat buffet and headed across the park towards a promising looking restaurant, Backlot Cafe. 

  Now, about the food. In Canada in general I found the prices of food to be higher then those in the States. While this was a little off-putting, I found their portions to be larger and made with a higher quality ingredients.  Canada's Wonderland is no exception to this either. Like all parks, the food prices are higher then what you'd normally find outside the gates but I didn't find them overly high. Now normally my husband and I tend to share our meals at parks simply because I hate to waste food and we found that a single plate is often enough to share for lunch. We paid $11 for 4 large chicken fingers and more fries then we could eat and around $3 for a soda which was refillable while in the restaurant. This was MORE than enough between the two of us, the portions where large and well worth the price. As we munched away we proceeded to check out what other people had ordered, we found that while the price may be a little higher then expected, the portions are massive. The Burrito was thicker then my fist and easily 8" long and the burgers seemed to be in the 1/2 pound range. The food was good, served hot and very fresh. They had other offerings such as gourmet flavors of Mac'N'Cheese as well as artisan favored pizzas. The selection was surprisingly wide and all the choices looked very appetizing, which isn't at all what I expected from quick service! 

  After a surprisingly good lunch we headed outside, happy to see the cloud cover was finally burning off and the sun was making an effort to put in an appearance. This caused the temperatures to rise slightly, enough that we spotted one of the big coasters, Behemoth, doing test runs. Watching for a few moments, we made our way over and inquired as to when the ride would open. The employee was friendly and said she wasn't entirely sure, if the testing went well they'd open as soon as possible. So we opted to hang around for about 10 minutes and were very glad we did, within that time the line opened up and we rushed in to get one of the first rides of the day.  Behemoth is a B&M Mega Coaster and was built in 2008. It's got the "V" spaced seats (such as what you have on Diamondback at Kings Island). The ride was smooth because you expect nothing less from a B&M and it had enough air-time to make even the hardcore rider have fun even while freezing your hands off. 

  Looking back at the suddenly massive line Behemoth had gained while we where riding, we looked around and decided we'd hit one of the clone coasters all the Paramount parks boasted.  The Backlot Stunt Coaster, now normally I don't bother to report on these but I found this one surprising. It was the standard 3 launch sequences but this one just didn't seem to be as rough as the others I've ridden in the past.  The padding was still soft enough not to crack your shins and the brake run didn't try to snap your neck, I was pleasantly surprised as this is also normally a ride I'd skip over. 

  Up next was Time Warp. Now this thing was simply nutty, I've never seen one built like this in my experience so it was something new! This used to be the Tomb Raider attraction, which I'd heard about but never expected it to look like this. To say it was a surprise would really be an understatement, this thing was fascinating!  It's a single car, four across flying zamperla. You step up onto the train and the back closes over you, then your lifted into the "flying" position for your crazy fast spiral ride up the lift hill. Not many of these got built and this is the first one I've ever had the chance to ride myself.  Now I can't say it was the most comfortable ride and those heartline rolls make you think your going to fall out but it's surely one unique ride that gets your adrenaline flowing well.

  Oh Flight Deck. Your Next. Why did I ride you? I know better but you were there, you had no line and I knew before I even stepped a toe in your line you'd hurt. Yet I rode it anyway. I know, it's just a Vekoma inverted and they get mean over time but we figured "why not?!".  Then we remembered, these things are rough and they will beat you up if your not experienced with riding them. Heck, they beat you up even if you know exactly how to ride them. Of all the older rides at Canada's Wonderland, I have to say Flight Deck is one I wouldn't mind waving goodbye to simply for the pain factor. You can't really blame the park for this one, I've never met an inverted Vekoma that's been nice after more than 5 years. However, even I can admit it's nice they've kept it up as best as possible after all these years. Like many of it's cousins, it was once upon a time "Top Gun" and I admit, they have kept their theming up very well over the years. 

  After surviving the anger of a Vekoma, I decided I was going to reward myself with funnel cake. It's funnel cake and one of those delicious treats I'm utterly unable to walk past without either buying one or drooling.  Now, apparently in Canada funnel cakes are served with both a fruit topping and ice cream. This was new! Here in the states you can normally find fruit topping with your powdered sugar overload but the ice cream was a new factor.  HOLY FUNNEL CAKE! This was no exception the "slightly higher price, more food" rule I learned.  For the massive funnel cake, the ice cream and a drink it was around $14.  It was delicious and it made the perfect reward! 

  Now sated on sugary fried-dough goodness, we headed straight for another coaster. Up next on our cycle was "Mighty Canadian Minebuster". A classic wooden coaster which was also built with the park in 1981. It's no secret I absolutely LOVE wooden coasters and this one was no exception to my lumber adoration.  It's fast, it's rickety, it screams when angry and even goes under water slides! A good old Philadelphia Toboggan Company coaster, it doesn't disappoint. The trains are so very well padded in all the right spots, more so then others I've ridden, that even a lunatic like me can ride with her arms in the arm and not wonder what will be bruised later. I wish more parks would keep their padding in such top shape and treat their woodies with such love and care!

  Next up we headed deep into the trenches of Kid Zone and Planet Snoopy, because I heard one rumor of a baby wooden coaster that I was simply told "shut up and ride it, don't ask questions". Now considering this advice is normally only told to me when it's something I'm just not going to believe, we headed in. On the way we were rather surprised to find a baby suspended Vekoma lurking inside. This couldn't be right, subjecting kids to a Vekoma? They had to be crazy which meant we just had to ride it and find out how this thing could exist here!  This would be "Silver Streak" a family suspended coaster, it didn't have the normal "lowering platform" for it's load/unload. Nor did it feature the tight fitting restraints which your normally bash your ears against, finding this odd we decided it had to be investigated.  WOW! Why can't all the Vekoma's be this smooth and comfortable a ride? Yes, I know it's a "family" coaster but I've never met a single Vekoma over 5 years old that wasn't out to hurt you. This one didn't so I guess I can no longer say "All Vekomas are evil in their old age" as Silver Streak has existed since 2001 and is still smooth and gentle with the kiddies (and weary adults).

  Still deep into the children's area we come across Planet Snoopy and it's highly upbeat music. We push deeper into uncharted 'married couple without kids' territory in search of this mysterious "Baby Woodie" I was told to ride.  Twisting our way through the brightly colored area we finally stumble across it, Ghoster Coaster. It may not be huge, it may not tower over you but it packs a surprising punch. Another original ride, Ghoster Coaster was built in 1981 and is a Philadelphia Toboggan Company ride. The themeing in this little area is both well done and adorable, done up like a haunted house and graveyard for the queue line. The seats are small to the point my husband and I decided both our butts would not be fitting comfortably into a single seat, so we each picked a row.  Both of us were happily surprised by the speed and airtime this little thing packs into a small area. 41 feet high and a speed of only 35MPH, you spend more time out of your seat then you do in it. Another surprising coaster under the label of "kids". So before you look down your coaster enthusiast nose at it, just shut up and RIDE it! 

 Now, being the ham-ball that I really am, as we where heading out of Planet Snoopy we stumbled upon both Snoopy and Woodstock. Never one to pass up getting my picture taken with characters, we stopped since it wasn't busy and got our photo taken also! Naturally with the help of yet another very friendly park employee.

  That's another thing I'd like to talk about for a moment. Everyone, as in every single employee I spoke to and saw at Canada's Wonderland, was friendly. Not a single one of them looked hassled or like they where having a bad day, concentrating perhaps but not unapproachable. I found each that I spoke to knowledgeable about their park when asked about the closest washrooms, where smoking areas where located and quickest way to other rides. I can easily tell you, this is the happiest and friendliest park I've ever had the pleasure to experience. I don't know if it was just a good day for everyone (and I've worked enough parks in my life to know sometimes you just have to smile through the crap) but I suspect they take great pride in having both friendly and knowledgeable folks working for them. The only minor complaint I found with any of the employees is that some of them have a tendency to staple you into your ride harness. While this is annoying and sometimes a rather uncomfortable way to begin you ride, it wasn't everyone. Just a few minor incidents which can easily be overlooked. Just employ the old tricks of pushing your shoulders or belly forward if you suspect it may happen. 

  Alright, moving out of kids area I spot one of my all time favorite style of coasters. A swinging suspended coaster! I LOVE these things with a passion, they are some of the most unique and fun coasters out there. Vortex was no exception and I found it to be faster than even I expected, giving the swinging trains even more power. Built by Arrow and added to the park in 1991. I'm always so happy when I see these types of coasters still running strong as not many are left. Vortex has to be one of the best of those left, simply for the speed and power this ride provides. The lift hill is disguised with the very mountain that is the focal point of the park. Dropping down it weaves through the trees and over the water of a large pond, tossing you around as gravity dictates. Smooth and wicked at the same time, I hope they never make the choice to remove this gem! 

  Since we are in the area, we head over to the second ride which utilizes the mountain. This would be the surprisingly fast Thunder Run. Thunder Run is a Mack Mine Train and is the 5th and final original coaster which opened in 1981. However, Thunder Run didn't open until May of 1981 rather then with the opening of the park. It was moved from it's original location in 1986 and was placed in the mountain, taking over a walk-thru attraction.  You'll find this mine train a tight squeeze but it's oddly quick and is happily well themed, both inside and outside. Now, I can't find any information online but I suspect the themeing that is located inside the mountain as part of Thunder Run is probably from the Walk-thru attraction who's place it took. You'll find lights, a large beasty and other "mine" type themes as you blast around. This ride also has a second surprise, it does a station fly-by and you can feel it coming! Not the longest nor most thrilling ride but we found it fun and pleasant.

  By this point in the late afternoon, we looked over and spotted Leviathan running. It had been running for some time but we had been busy riding our way back in that general direction. Having finished everything else on our list, it was time. We'd been saving the biggest and the best for last.  It was no shock to find this truly monstrous ride had a decent line but we surely where not stepping foot outside this park until we rode it. Leviathan is a B&M Mega Coaster and their answer to Millennium Force. It's exactly 4 feet shorter and 1MPH slower then it's older brother at Cedar Point but it's also newer and smoother in my opinion.  If Behemoth is built for air-time then Leviathan is built for pure speed and it delivers without fail. The last turn is at such an angle that you feel nearly upside down, which is unheard of on rides of this speed but B&M made it happen. I'm a devoted lover of Millennium Force but I have to say this, I'd take Leviathan over it simply for that last banked turn! This is the party piece of the park, you have to ride it. You'll love it, we surely did!

  At this point it was getting late and we'd had a rather long drive up the night before, having accomplished everything we wanted and more we decided it was time for some well deserved shopping! Where I found the food prices higher then expected (but worth it) at Canada's Wonderland I found the souvenir prices lower then expected.  The only thing we found to be higher then normal where the on-ride photos, which seemed to run around $18 each for a single photo. Otherwise the T-shirt prices were lower than what the Cedar Fair sister parks charge. The same can be said for other goodies like shot glasses, bags and other items. We picked up several good deals and then kept hunting around. Another surprise was when we found several discount racks which had previous overstock designs, these ranged in price from $20-$5. Naturally we picked up a few of these also since they where such good deals. Finally, exhausted and delightfully pleased with every element of our day (minus the cold start) we headed back to our hotel.  

  I do not say the following lightly and I had to take great care to word this properly because I've never once written a review where I simply had nothing go wrong. 

  Overall I found Canada's Wonderland a lot more then I ever dreamed I'd experience when we planned this trip. They surprised and delighted me at every turn from the world class rides and to the simple cleanliness of the park. This is one Cedar Fair park that cares and it shows in every aspect of what they do. Lately I've been very disappointed with Cedar Fair's performance in general but if a park like Canada's Wonderland can exist within their brand, then I have hope for all their parks once again. Canada's Wonderland has given me an even higher standard to hold other parks to, they surpassed my expectations and left them lying broken in the dust.  Now finding my expectations in need of heavy re-evaluation because if this park can do it all right then there is simply no reason others can't give just as good a show.

  I've been telling everyone since the moment I got back in the states that they MUST plan a trip to Canada's Wonderland. This park is something to behold and it's not be missed, you need to see things done right and experience something that was nearly magical in the process. Don't think twice, get your passport out and make the trip. It's worth every nickle you'll spend to have that kind of experience!

  I've also posted up a complete photo gallery from the best pictures we got at Canada's Wonderland so you can see some more of the park for yourselves.
Canada's Wonderland Photo Review

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!