Roller Coasters

After graduation, Michael and I planned a small road trip for just the two of us. We ended up making the 7.5 hour drive from Iowa City to Sandusky, OH on Thursday, so that Friday morning we could wake up and go to Cedar Point Amusement Park and ride roller coasters. I had hoped it would be a hot summer day on May 24th, but unfortunately it was cold and windy. The benefit to bundling up in jackets we usually wear in the winter is that we had zippered pockets where we could "secure loose articles." I had also hoped the lines would be shorter because we avoided the weekend and went on a Friday, but unfortunately there were buses and buses full of kids on end of the year school trips. Even considering these things, we had a great time. 

Michael had looked up a couple of roller coaster rank lists and was very excited that Cedar Point had 4 in the top 30 of one list, and another list had different roller coasters in their rankings. We decided to try and ride every coaster, in order to make our own rank list. Around 2 when we went to the car to make our lunch, I was very concerned we wouldn't be able to do it, because the lines were so long. Three or four of the roller coasters had wait times over an hour and a half. The longest line we waited in was for their new roller coaster called GateKeeper. It had only opened 2 weeks before we got there, and we waited for a little over an hour and a half. Even though we waited so long, I felt good about it as we neared the front and looked back to see the end of the line extending even further back in the maze of railings. 

By 5 in the afternoon, I started to think we would be able to ride all of them, because the lines started shortening. I think we would have done it, but when we arrived at the last 2 on our list they were closed for mechanical problems.. We ended up riding 10 of 14 roller coasters, and we were able to ride the one at the top of our list twice. Raptor and Wicked Twister we couldn't ride because of maintenance, and two others we chose to pass up because they were described as a black diamonds instead of black double diamonds (we rode one black diamond coaster and it was decidedly less aggressive and thrilling than the others).

Our Ranking...

1. Maverick. A western themed coaster. It's unique characteristic is that after it shoots you quickly up the first hill, the slope goes past vertical on the way down. There are lots of twists, but the ride is smooth and not bone-jarring. 3/4 of the way through the ride you enter a tunnel and slow nearly to a stop. Then the ride shoots you out of the tunnel, probably the fastest acceleration of the ride. This was obviously our favorite, and remained at the top after our second ride. :)

2. GateKeeper. This ride is touted as a "record breaker" for being the coaster with the highest point of inversion. That's all good and fine, but it is not why we liked it best. The seats are arranged in a bat wing fashion, so there are two seats on either side and looking across to the other set of seats, the rail is just below eye level. It makes you feel like you are on the wings of a plane, and when the coaster twists it is like the plane is banking. This is especially exciting when it comes to the gate. The coaster got its name because it is located at the front of the park and the front gate has two towers going up, like the prongs of a plug-in. Also like the prongs of a plug in, the towers have holes cut from the middle and the track goes through these, like threading a needle. As you first approach the tower, the car is horizontal and you feel like the bat wings will get clipped off. Of course the car twists and you slide through - just like you were flying through canyons or the maze of the Death Star.

3. Consistently ranked as one of the world's best steel rollercoasters, Millennium Force is our third favorite in the park. It doesn't have loops or twists, it's main thrill coming from speed and height. You're pulled to the top of the hill with the same slow steadiness I remember from roller coasters as a kid, the anticipation and the height almost dizzying (plus the incline is at a 45 degree angle to the ground - super steep!). I wasn't so scared that I didn't appreciate the moment to look around and take in the view of the lake. Then you're over the crest and zooming down. I had to check online, because I couldn't remember all the speeds from the day, but this one reaches 93 mph and that first lift hill goes up to 310 feet. 

This is where our lists start to look different. I think Michael ranks Mean Streak next, but I'm going to go ahead and stick to my list. 

4. Top Thrill Dragster is definitely built for height and speed. It was the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world for 2 years after it was built in 2003, reaching 420 feet and 120 mph. Even though it goes 100 feet taller than Millennium Force, you spend much less time at those heights and so you don't get to look around or psych yourself out too much. Also, it's super short. You basically zoom out, getting up to 120 mph in 4 seconds, then go straight up to 420 feet, turn around and come straight down. After that you stop and roll back into the station. It's only as high in my ranking as it is because of the novelty of its height and speed.

5. Magnum XL-200. This roller coaster was built in 1989 and was revolutionary. It was the first complete loop steel coaster to go over 200 ft. Compared to the new roller coasters, it doesn't really compete, but it is a quality ride all the way around with good variety. I especially liked all the little hills it has because I like the feeling of my stomach coming up into my throat (weightlessness?).

6. Gemini. This wooden coaster is named because it has two tracks running side by side, but we road it when only one track was running. It predates Magnum, but is another exciting and enjoyable ride. It comes higher in my list than Michael's because of the importance I put on those hills and weightless feeling.

7. Corkscrew. Also a pre-90's coaster, this one is steel with three inversions, one of which brings your right down over the sidewalk so that you feel like you can touch the heads of the people beneath you (of course there is a grate directly in between). Looking back on this one, I am fond of it, but it featured upside down tricks instead of weightless sensation hills.

8. Mean Streak. This ride is the last wooden roller coaster we made it to. It is in the far corner of the park, and even when all the other lines were half an hour, this one was less than 15 minutes. It was high and had lots of hills, but it was too rattly for me to really enjoy it. I didn't even get the sensation of falling as we went down the first crank hill. The thing I was most amazed with on this one was how long the ride lasted. We kept going and going, racing along within an arms reach of the supports of the track we'd just come from or were soon headed to.

9. Mantis is a stand up roller coaster, but besides that, it wasn't anything special. I bonked my head and hurt my ears on the head rest, and got off of it complaining that it rattled my bones too much. Also, I think it was more of a twisty, inversion thrill ride than a weightless thrill ride, and it really emphasized the twists.

10. Iron Dragon. I'm starting to think this one should maybe go ahead of the Mantis, mostly because I was really uncomfortable on the Mantis. But it sits at the bottom of the rankings because it wasn't very exciting. It wasn't thrilling, but it also wasn't uncomfortable. A good ride, just not a special roller coaster in a park filled with special roller coasters.