While Dave, Candace, Paul and Robin were still in town, we decided to head up to Cedar Point–The World’s Greatest Amuseument Park.
We’ve had great times at Cedar Point before, but this one left us in a bit of doubt about it’s “greatness,” as we hit broken down ride after broken down ride.
We waited in line for the Maverick for two solid hours–during a good portion of which the line moved nowhere, since the coasters weren’t working–before finally making it on the ride.
From there, we headed over to Top Thrill Dragster, where we waited in line for a good hour and a half before the ride broke down once more. We stuck it out for another 30 minutes, since we were super close to the front of the line, but it never reopened. So, we ditched that line and went on the Millenium Force instead.
There, we waited for almost another two hours before we finally made it on the ride. We arrived at the park by 10:00 am and by 5:00 we had only been on two rides. That was without any stops. No lunch, no sitting down and relaxing, nothing but rushing from one ride to the next and waiting in line.
This little one was a trooper–she never complained and tagged along great!
After Millenium Force, we headed back to the Top Thrill Dragster, only to find that they weren’t letting anyone in line since the ride was once more closed.
Needless to say, we were a bit frustrated. Paul made some calls to Customer Service, who sent him over to Operations. By 5:00 I believe Paul had the number for Park Operations on speed dial and their scripted message memorized: “We understand you are frustrated, sir.”
Paul talking with his “friends” in Park Operations.
We had a brief scare once more as we waited in line for the Magnum XL 2000, since the line came to a stand still for about 5 minutes and people started ditching out. Luckily, things picked up and we didn’t have to wait much longer before enjoying a surprisingly good, but noggin’ shaking ride.
With a ‘Go Big or Go Home’ attitude, Scott declared that we weren’t leaving the park until he had ridden on the Top Thrill Dragster. He got in line and waited the long haul. Candace and I snuck off to squeeze in a few more less-in-demand rides and rejoined the boys in line. Finally, after much waiting, we got to board our car for the Top Thrill Dragster.
And then, buckled up and ready to go, with stomaches started to flip-flop, Dave announced that he wouldn’t be too sad if the ride did break down, as it would prevent him from having to “overcome his fears.” He spoke too soon. The ride did break down. We could hardly believe our poor luck!
Buckled in and ready to go. Too bad the ride wasn’t ready.
Let’s just say that Dave did seem to care about not getting to ride. And, as the saying goes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. We got quite a bit of “grease.” After speaking with the manager of the rides, we were given permission to cut the line and enter at the exit of any two rides we chose.
We finally conquered Top Thrill Dragster.
We whizzed through the Millenium Force once more and the Mantis before heading out of the park, happy with our increased ride to wait ratio. Cedar Point deserved the superalative “Greatest” afterall. Despite the setbacks of the day, we had a great time hanging out, listening to Dave scream, “Oh Crap! Oh Crap! Oh Crap!” as the coasters climbed the hills, and eating more than our fair share of fried and greasy food.
Yes, that clock reads 12:40 am. We got home at about midnight to swap pictures and prepare for everyone to return home the next day.
A special thanks to everyone for coming to visit, to Robin for watching The Peanut during our day of roller coaster riding, and to Dave and Candace for reminding us once more why Columbus is so much better when they are around!
